I'm almost 30 years old next year, so I'm almost set in most of my way
I believe certain things have to be done in a certain manner because I am convinced that, that is he best way to do it.
But people might not agree. Or they might not even understand what you are saying. They have their own way of doing things too
However I have realized recently that I've been stopping myself quite often from saying, "but you're missing the point!"
Maybe the reason a person doesn't get your point, is because you don't understand him in the first place.
So I thought to myself, it's not knowing what is important, rather it's accepting and understanding others is what is crucial.
I think I've earned my almost-30 years of age. Haha.
************************
On another note, I bought a DIY shoe rack for my office. It required assembly so some of my colleague helped in assembling it, along with commenting on the design of the cheap rack.
It was a commotion.
After around 15 minutes the rack was assembled. Then came along another colleague who was sitting silently all this while and said, "Aku rasa kan, rak ni elok kalau pasang macam ni."
To which I promptly replied, "Ahhh takdak takdak. Bila dah siap pasang banyak la hang punya aku-rasa."
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Friday, February 12, 2016
Monday, October 13, 2014
Marketing Maggenie
My sister in law came to our house for a few days recently. Trying to be a good host, I was appalled when I discovered her eating Maggi instant noodle.
Me: Aik. Awat makan Maggi. Banyak-banyak makanan kat dalam rumah ni.
She: Saja, lama tak makan. Tak beli lama dah. Asam laksa yang jenis lain tak sedap.
Me: Awat lama tak beli?
She: Kami boikot. Tapi ni dah ada kat rumah, Kak Sarah makan ja la.
It then just occurred to me that Maggi is a brand of Nestlé, a brand that I have been actively avoiding. But somehow Maggi slipped past my radar.
To me, Maggi was... Maggi. Something that has been there since the moment I can remember.
Just shows how strong branding/marketing is.
Pic: my attempt of making Maggi more 'healthy'
Me: Aik. Awat makan Maggi. Banyak-banyak makanan kat dalam rumah ni.
She: Saja, lama tak makan. Tak beli lama dah. Asam laksa yang jenis lain tak sedap.
Me: Awat lama tak beli?
She: Kami boikot. Tapi ni dah ada kat rumah, Kak Sarah makan ja la.
It then just occurred to me that Maggi is a brand of Nestlé, a brand that I have been actively avoiding. But somehow Maggi slipped past my radar.
To me, Maggi was... Maggi. Something that has been there since the moment I can remember.
Just shows how strong branding/marketing is.
Pic: my attempt of making Maggi more 'healthy'Sunday, February 24, 2013
Me-ow
I've been sleeping this few past days on the floor, instead of on the bed. I know it's not good for my body, but the carpet feels so much more comfortable than a bed. Seems like I'm turning into a cat, which likes to laze on the carpet.
Maybe I'm turning into one. I keep lazing around all day, looking at people passing by. What's missing now is just whiskers on my face.
Suddenly I'm reminded by a story wrote by Roals Dahl(I think) where a beekeeper slowly morphed into those he loves the most and spent most of his time, the bees. Thing is tho, I don't have any cats at home right now. Need to get one in the near future, I guess. Until then, I'm much human and none feline. No worries that I turn into a cat, any time in the near futu… hey, butterfly!
*goes away and plays*
Maybe I'm turning into one. I keep lazing around all day, looking at people passing by. What's missing now is just whiskers on my face.
Suddenly I'm reminded by a story wrote by Roals Dahl(I think) where a beekeeper slowly morphed into those he loves the most and spent most of his time, the bees. Thing is tho, I don't have any cats at home right now. Need to get one in the near future, I guess. Until then, I'm much human and none feline. No worries that I turn into a cat, any time in the near futu… hey, butterfly!
*goes away and plays*
Monday, January 7, 2013
Today at Rapidkl
Hello there. I'm writing this now from Malaysia. I've been back for two weeks now and still working my mind to adjust to the idea that I've left germany for good. Oh well.
Anyway I went out today and met a friend of mine, Ixa. I'm not one who shares what he ate and did but I'd like to write this up since I just used the public transport in KL after almost two years time.
Was quite surprised when I bought a monorel ticket from Raja Chulan to Medan Tuanku(RM 1.20) and was given a blue token. I knew it was a token but I had no idea what it was for. I asked the cashier and her face was like,"whatt? u never seen a token?"
Honestly I thought i had to cash the token with a machine nearby to get a ticket. watanub, aite?
but come on guys, in my defence, there was no country that I've been to that uses a token for the metro. funfair ada la pakai token.
well anyway, later I went for another trip and had to buy a ticket from machines. i was in a hurry and the silly machine didn't accept my ten ringgit when suddenly an african man came and said, "one ringgit twenty cent. one ringgit twenty cent?"
I said,"dude I can't even buy my ticket," and went to the counter for ten ringgit change. I directly went back to the machine to buy my ticket with the ten one-ringgit notes, while avoiding the african man. I quickly went to platform 4 (to Sri Petaling).
As I waited for the train, I saw the african man coming down towards the opposite platform and as he saw me, he looked at me with a hard stare.
I then felt guilty that I had not helped the man. Who knows if he was in a hurry? Who knows if he had an accident and lost his money and urgently needed to get back. And on retrospect it seems very stingy of me to even not help a person for only a few ringgit.
What's more, it hurts my conscience that I was once an auslander, a foreigner, someone who often needed help but just as soon as I had felt homely in Malaysia, I forgot the feeling of helplessness and begins to become so suspicious that I distance myself from helping people. I used to silently condemn people who are unfriendly and sometimes plain hostile to us Asians while in Europe, but it seems that it's harder to be just when you 'have' the upper hand.
So what do u think? Should I stop feeling guilty, or should I not?
thank you for reading.
Anyway I went out today and met a friend of mine, Ixa. I'm not one who shares what he ate and did but I'd like to write this up since I just used the public transport in KL after almost two years time.
Was quite surprised when I bought a monorel ticket from Raja Chulan to Medan Tuanku(RM 1.20) and was given a blue token. I knew it was a token but I had no idea what it was for. I asked the cashier and her face was like,"whatt? u never seen a token?"
Honestly I thought i had to cash the token with a machine nearby to get a ticket. watanub, aite?
but come on guys, in my defence, there was no country that I've been to that uses a token for the metro. funfair ada la pakai token.
well anyway, later I went for another trip and had to buy a ticket from machines. i was in a hurry and the silly machine didn't accept my ten ringgit when suddenly an african man came and said, "one ringgit twenty cent. one ringgit twenty cent?"
I said,"dude I can't even buy my ticket," and went to the counter for ten ringgit change. I directly went back to the machine to buy my ticket with the ten one-ringgit notes, while avoiding the african man. I quickly went to platform 4 (to Sri Petaling).
As I waited for the train, I saw the african man coming down towards the opposite platform and as he saw me, he looked at me with a hard stare.
I then felt guilty that I had not helped the man. Who knows if he was in a hurry? Who knows if he had an accident and lost his money and urgently needed to get back. And on retrospect it seems very stingy of me to even not help a person for only a few ringgit.
What's more, it hurts my conscience that I was once an auslander, a foreigner, someone who often needed help but just as soon as I had felt homely in Malaysia, I forgot the feeling of helplessness and begins to become so suspicious that I distance myself from helping people. I used to silently condemn people who are unfriendly and sometimes plain hostile to us Asians while in Europe, but it seems that it's harder to be just when you 'have' the upper hand.
So what do u think? Should I stop feeling guilty, or should I not?
thank you for reading.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Lifeboat
Everyone's growing up lately.
Life seems to progress everywhere else.
Just look at facebook, photos of weddings all over the feed.
Let's not even mention the baby pictures.
People have proceed in their stages of life, working, furthering study and what not. Look at a friend of mine, who recently wrote a blogpost about buying property in Malaysia. She is no longer a 'noob' and now talking about buying homes. I wonder about others then, who even before working, had been thinking about work; would they be thinking about retirement plan now?
Come to think of it, there's a positive aspect that I didn't went back for Hari Raya this year. I'd imagine the dialogue during conversation would be about beaching their bosses.
"Bos aku kedekut gila cuti. Ni aku nak cuti pon, dia tak mau sign mula."
"Eleh, bos aku lagi teruk. Kalau aku tak pi kerja isnin ni, dia nak potong gaji. Tapi aku tak kesah."
"Aku," I would probably say, "aku punya prof teruk gak." Crickets.
As a child, I bought into the idea of Peter Pan initially. To stay young and have all the fun in the world, being a child forever. But then I thought being a child is not that fun; it's not like in the books. First of all, you can't fly.
Add to that, you had to do chores and homeworks, follow instructions. You can't do this and that ("Why!" "Because you're a kid."). And most important of all, you don't have any money to buy all the icecream to your heart content. So I altered my thought a bit, maybe growing up is not that bad and as the youngest child in the family, I sometimes wished that I would grow up faster(in certain aspects) so that I could 'catch up' with my siblings. Do things that 'budak kecik takleh buat' do.
Life's a bit like that right now. I don't really wish to grow old any faster, but I feel that I've been in the same phase for too long. What can I say though? We plan, you plan but He ultimately plans.
No matter how sure, or even if we have a plan, life depends on circumstances.
It's like I'm sailing in a boat right now, going to my island of desire. Unfortunately the winds blows against my travel, so the sails are not use. Sailing am I, no more. So I took out the paddles and splish-splosh to my destination, but rowing is hard. Sometimes I just paddle with my palm while I lie on the boat.
There is always land in the end, I do believe in that, but the time seems so long when you are stuck on a boat and the silence sea surrounds you.
A boat commercial with an unrelated theme. Click here for better version(can't embed that).
Still.
Time as being time, cannot be tamed to our desires. Thus the best way there is, is to tame the heart itself to be patient.
So dear readers who might be reading this and find themselves to be in the same shoe(or boat): Patience!
And to those who feel they have passed this(or even future me!) : Spare your prayers to me, and goodluck in life.
Thank you for reading.
Life seems to progress everywhere else.
Just look at facebook, photos of weddings all over the feed.
Let's not even mention the baby pictures.
People have proceed in their stages of life, working, furthering study and what not. Look at a friend of mine, who recently wrote a blogpost about buying property in Malaysia. She is no longer a 'noob' and now talking about buying homes. I wonder about others then, who even before working, had been thinking about work; would they be thinking about retirement plan now?
Come to think of it, there's a positive aspect that I didn't went back for Hari Raya this year. I'd imagine the dialogue during conversation would be about beaching their bosses.
"Bos aku kedekut gila cuti. Ni aku nak cuti pon, dia tak mau sign mula."
"Eleh, bos aku lagi teruk. Kalau aku tak pi kerja isnin ni, dia nak potong gaji. Tapi aku tak kesah."
"Aku," I would probably say, "aku punya prof teruk gak." Crickets.
As a child, I bought into the idea of Peter Pan initially. To stay young and have all the fun in the world, being a child forever. But then I thought being a child is not that fun; it's not like in the books. First of all, you can't fly.
Add to that, you had to do chores and homeworks, follow instructions. You can't do this and that ("Why!" "Because you're a kid."). And most important of all, you don't have any money to buy all the icecream to your heart content. So I altered my thought a bit, maybe growing up is not that bad and as the youngest child in the family, I sometimes wished that I would grow up faster(in certain aspects) so that I could 'catch up' with my siblings. Do things that 'budak kecik takleh buat' do.
Life's a bit like that right now. I don't really wish to grow old any faster, but I feel that I've been in the same phase for too long. What can I say though? We plan, you plan but He ultimately plans.
No matter how sure, or even if we have a plan, life depends on circumstances.
It's like I'm sailing in a boat right now, going to my island of desire. Unfortunately the winds blows against my travel, so the sails are not use. Sailing am I, no more. So I took out the paddles and splish-splosh to my destination, but rowing is hard. Sometimes I just paddle with my palm while I lie on the boat.
There is always land in the end, I do believe in that, but the time seems so long when you are stuck on a boat and the silence sea surrounds you.
A boat commercial with an unrelated theme. Click here for better version(can't embed that).
Still.
Time as being time, cannot be tamed to our desires. Thus the best way there is, is to tame the heart itself to be patient.
So dear readers who might be reading this and find themselves to be in the same shoe(or boat): Patience!
And to those who feel they have passed this(or even future me!) : Spare your prayers to me, and goodluck in life.
Row, row, row your boat,
perservering through the sea;
when you see the distant land,
don't forget the sea.
Thank you for reading.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
"Express your feeling."
I dislike writing about my feelings and I seldom talk to people about them. Among the few times I wrote about how I really feel, was back in high school, when my teacher prod me to. Other than that, I usually keep my feelings to myself, or express them in other ways.
I guess that's why I write stories. My stories are kinda like hand signals for the mute but I even with all that, I am not actually telling about myself. There are some people that I talk to, but I view them as very unlucky because in all truthness, who wants to hear other people's lamentation. Right?
That being said, if someone comes to me and decide to talk to me about their problem, I totally understand. It's a natural human need, to be able to talk to someone. I think I have that need too but most of the time I feel that the need is a nuisance. Or maybe I'm not human? :-O
I guess that's why I write stories. My stories are kinda like hand signals for the mute but I even with all that, I am not actually telling about myself. There are some people that I talk to, but I view them as very unlucky because in all truthness, who wants to hear other people's lamentation. Right?
That being said, if someone comes to me and decide to talk to me about their problem, I totally understand. It's a natural human need, to be able to talk to someone. I think I have that need too but most of the time I feel that the need is a nuisance. Or maybe I'm not human? :-O
Friday, September 7, 2012
Bertunang dan adat Melayu
A friend of mine is getting engaged in the near future. He asked me a few things about 'bertunang' that I asked back, "tak pernah tengok orang bertunang ka?"
His answer was no.
'Biaq betoi,' I thought.
But then again, I haven't seen one too until I was 23 years old, so it's understandable. I then proceed to tell him what I know and observed about 'bertunang'. Keep in mind that this are my views and if you find that the 'adat' that you knew is different or I get it wrong somewhere, feel free to comment. Because honestly, going to one 'bertunang' event doesn't make me a pro.
My cousin is an avid photographer and take better photos so I asked, "Awat abang mat tak tangkap sendiri ja?"
Of course I knew he can't be the photographer for his own event! Was just kidding him. But then he replied, "mana boleh, laki mana bleh pi bertunang sendiri."
"Eh, yakaa??"
Didn't know that before.
Rupanya lepas tu baru aku tau secara adatnya, orang lelaki tak pi majlis bertunang sendiri. Tapi kan, bukankah tak logik orang yang nak kahwin tu, tak tengok bakal isteri dia. Kan Islam suruh tengok dulu bakal pasangan tu?
Haa, di sini lah adat melayu ada proses merisik. Merisik tu lah untuk pergi tengok muka orang tu, ada hidung ka takdak. atau dengan kata lainnya, waktu merisik tu lah waktu 'menengok'. Waktu bertunang ni, nak selesaikan benda-benda lain, macam mas kahwin, hantaran dan sebagainya. Kalau waktu merisik/menengok tu dah bincang benda-benda tu, susah la nak jalan. Kena bagi yang nak kawin ni tengok sama sendiri dulu, pastu balik rumah, bagi angau sat. Pastu baru pi balik, bincang-bincang hal seterusnya. baru lah semua lancar.
But that was in the old days. sekarang, tak merisik pon dah angau. whatsapp, facebook, twitter; pick your choice. Unlimited source to 'menengok'. Amikau, tengok la sampai puas.
Anyway back to my cousin's engagement.
So on that day, the family and relatives gather up and convoyed to the girl's house.
Kami sedara mara pon bergeraklah 4 biji kereta. Yang muda-muda, setiap sorang tolong pegang la dulang hantaran bertunang. Bila sampai kat rumah perempuan, dulang-dulang ni diletak kat ruang yang sesuai (meja, ruang tamu, bilik perempuan; ikut tuan rumah la kot). Kebanyakan benda yang dalam tu, seingat aku adalah makanan. Tips: letak 'double-sided tape' antara bekas makanan dan dulang. Kalau dak, dok angkat pi mai pi mai, nanti jatuh. Paling koman, kek kemek. lulz
Lepas tu mula la upacara sembang-sembang. Wakil dari pihak masing-masing pon mula bercakap. Normally the representatives is the relatives eldest uncle.
"Kami datang ni dengan hajat..." bla bla bla and all those stuff. Kalau lagi 'challenging', wakil tu buka bicara dengan pantun. Dem, susah kot nak pantun 'on the spot'.
Maka selepas cakap sikit-sikit, persetujuan pon dicapai. Serius, aku tak paham sangat macam mana boleh selesai cepat gila. Rupa-rupanya dah 'kawtim' sebelum tu. Logik la kan, mesti bincang dulu. Bertunang is to finalize the on-going discussion.
Oh satu lagi, kawan aku cakap zaman dulu orang bawak tepak sirih, dengan bilangan daun sirih tertentu. Tepak sirih ni bagi la kat pihak sana, untuk makan-makan sambil bincang/bersembang. Tapi bilangan daun sirih tu, ada fungsi lain kononnya. Bila pihak sana setuju, wakil makan lah sirih. So in the end, when the guys back at home received the 'tepak sirih' back, they can count the number of sirih and discover how many of the request were agreed upon. Halus kan adat dulu-dulu?
Cuma satu ja la masalah. Kalau lepas habis makan, pihak perempuan pi top-up daun sirih tu, tak ka naya(masalah besar). Lelaki tu ingat dia kena reject lak. terpodol.
Masa sekarang ni, mana ada orang makan sirih dah. Daun sirih pon tak kenai, sesetengah tu.( I was 10)
Berbalik kepada bertunang sepupu aku, lepas semua pihak setuju dan perbincangan selesai, wakil pon baca doa sikit-sikit. Pastu mula sesi tangkap gambar.
"Ni kameraman, mai sini tangkap gambar."
Aku pon tangkap la gambar tunang, gambar kek, gambar tunang lagi, gambar bakal mak mentua, gambar sarung cincin dan sebagainya. You get the point.
Waktu ni jugak la, bakal mak mentua kena cakap, "Cantiknya bakal menantu saya," bla bla bla sambil cium pipi kanan kiri. CLICK! CLICK! Tu gambar mahai, kalau boleh tangkap waktu tu.
Setelah habis semua, selalunya ada jamuan sikit. Lepas makan, rombongan pon balik. "Ni jangan lupa hantaran ni haih!" tuan rumah cakap. Hantaran yang dibawa tadi, tinggal, hantaran yang perempuan bagi, dibawa pulang. Exchange. Apabila sampai rumah, hantaran tu diselongkar dan apa yang boleh dimakan, akan dimakan. Meanwhile the relatives would congratulate the fiancee, "Tudia mat, pandai hang pilih calon. Lawa aihhhh." In which the guy would smile widely. Untuk pengetahuan anda, dari sini lah asal perumpamaan seperti kerang busuk.
As you notice, the guy didn't go to his own engagement. He just sat at home like a boss and waits for the pictures. Seems more befitting, I think.
But each is to his/her own, I guess. If you want to go to your engagement, there's nothing wrong in it.
Just don't do a wedding photoshoot. You know, hug and stuff.
"Ni kawin ka bertunang ni?"
Anyways, I wish my friend all the best in his engagement, and afterwards, wedding
And as put by a blogger crudely, "sekarang ni musim mengawan", I would also like to wish all those that are going to get married, to have a barakah marriage.
May Allah bless us all.
Thank you for reading.
Here's a song about a man who should get a job.
*dialog adalah rekaan semata-mata
**for the record, I'm a bad cameraman. sarung cincin tu kena ulang dua kali, pause, untuk aku tangkap gambar.
His answer was no.
'Biaq betoi,' I thought.
But then again, I haven't seen one too until I was 23 years old, so it's understandable. I then proceed to tell him what I know and observed about 'bertunang'. Keep in mind that this are my views and if you find that the 'adat' that you knew is different or I get it wrong somewhere, feel free to comment. Because honestly, going to one 'bertunang' event doesn't make me a pro.
A few years ago.
One day my cousin came to me and he said, "Faris, nanti tolong jadi kameraman abg mat bertunang boleh dak?"My cousin is an avid photographer and take better photos so I asked, "Awat abang mat tak tangkap sendiri ja?"
Of course I knew he can't be the photographer for his own event! Was just kidding him. But then he replied, "mana boleh, laki mana bleh pi bertunang sendiri."
"Eh, yakaa??"
Didn't know that before.
Rupanya lepas tu baru aku tau secara adatnya, orang lelaki tak pi majlis bertunang sendiri. Tapi kan, bukankah tak logik orang yang nak kahwin tu, tak tengok bakal isteri dia. Kan Islam suruh tengok dulu bakal pasangan tu?
Haa, di sini lah adat melayu ada proses merisik. Merisik tu lah untuk pergi tengok muka orang tu, ada hidung ka takdak. atau dengan kata lainnya, waktu merisik tu lah waktu 'menengok'. Waktu bertunang ni, nak selesaikan benda-benda lain, macam mas kahwin, hantaran dan sebagainya. Kalau waktu merisik/menengok tu dah bincang benda-benda tu, susah la nak jalan. Kena bagi yang nak kawin ni tengok sama sendiri dulu, pastu balik rumah, bagi angau sat. Pastu baru pi balik, bincang-bincang hal seterusnya. baru lah semua lancar.
But that was in the old days. sekarang, tak merisik pon dah angau. whatsapp, facebook, twitter; pick your choice. Unlimited source to 'menengok'. Amikau, tengok la sampai puas.
Anyway back to my cousin's engagement.
So on that day, the family and relatives gather up and convoyed to the girl's house.
Kami sedara mara pon bergeraklah 4 biji kereta. Yang muda-muda, setiap sorang tolong pegang la dulang hantaran bertunang. Bila sampai kat rumah perempuan, dulang-dulang ni diletak kat ruang yang sesuai (meja, ruang tamu, bilik perempuan; ikut tuan rumah la kot). Kebanyakan benda yang dalam tu, seingat aku adalah makanan. Tips: letak 'double-sided tape' antara bekas makanan dan dulang. Kalau dak, dok angkat pi mai pi mai, nanti jatuh. Paling koman, kek kemek. lulz
Lepas tu mula la upacara sembang-sembang. Wakil dari pihak masing-masing pon mula bercakap. Normally the representatives is the relatives eldest uncle.
"Kami datang ni dengan hajat..." bla bla bla and all those stuff. Kalau lagi 'challenging', wakil tu buka bicara dengan pantun. Dem, susah kot nak pantun 'on the spot'.
Maka selepas cakap sikit-sikit, persetujuan pon dicapai. Serius, aku tak paham sangat macam mana boleh selesai cepat gila. Rupa-rupanya dah 'kawtim' sebelum tu. Logik la kan, mesti bincang dulu. Bertunang is to finalize the on-going discussion.
Oh satu lagi, kawan aku cakap zaman dulu orang bawak tepak sirih, dengan bilangan daun sirih tertentu. Tepak sirih ni bagi la kat pihak sana, untuk makan-makan sambil bincang/bersembang. Tapi bilangan daun sirih tu, ada fungsi lain kononnya. Bila pihak sana setuju, wakil makan lah sirih. So in the end, when the guys back at home received the 'tepak sirih' back, they can count the number of sirih and discover how many of the request were agreed upon. Halus kan adat dulu-dulu?
Cuma satu ja la masalah. Kalau lepas habis makan, pihak perempuan pi top-up daun sirih tu, tak ka naya(masalah besar). Lelaki tu ingat dia kena reject lak. terpodol.
Masa sekarang ni, mana ada orang makan sirih dah. Daun sirih pon tak kenai, sesetengah tu.( I was 10)
Berbalik kepada bertunang sepupu aku, lepas semua pihak setuju dan perbincangan selesai, wakil pon baca doa sikit-sikit. Pastu mula sesi tangkap gambar.
"Ni kameraman, mai sini tangkap gambar."
Aku pon tangkap la gambar tunang, gambar kek, gambar tunang lagi, gambar bakal mak mentua, gambar sarung cincin dan sebagainya. You get the point.
Waktu ni jugak la, bakal mak mentua kena cakap, "Cantiknya bakal menantu saya," bla bla bla sambil cium pipi kanan kiri. CLICK! CLICK! Tu gambar mahai, kalau boleh tangkap waktu tu.
Setelah habis semua, selalunya ada jamuan sikit. Lepas makan, rombongan pon balik. "Ni jangan lupa hantaran ni haih!" tuan rumah cakap. Hantaran yang dibawa tadi, tinggal, hantaran yang perempuan bagi, dibawa pulang. Exchange. Apabila sampai rumah, hantaran tu diselongkar dan apa yang boleh dimakan, akan dimakan. Meanwhile the relatives would congratulate the fiancee, "Tudia mat, pandai hang pilih calon. Lawa aihhhh." In which the guy would smile widely. Untuk pengetahuan anda, dari sini lah asal perumpamaan seperti kerang busuk.
As you notice, the guy didn't go to his own engagement. He just sat at home like a boss and waits for the pictures. Seems more befitting, I think.
But each is to his/her own, I guess. If you want to go to your engagement, there's nothing wrong in it.
Just don't do a wedding photoshoot. You know, hug and stuff.
"Ni kawin ka bertunang ni?"
Anyways, I wish my friend all the best in his engagement, and afterwards, wedding
And as put by a blogger crudely, "sekarang ni musim mengawan", I would also like to wish all those that are going to get married, to have a barakah marriage.
May Allah bless us all.
Thank you for reading.
Here's a song about a man who should get a job.
*dialog adalah rekaan semata-mata
**for the record, I'm a bad cameraman. sarung cincin tu kena ulang dua kali, pause, untuk aku tangkap gambar.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Ramadhan and Raya 2012- To Travel or Not
Today is the 27th of Ramadhan 1433. Quite hard to imagine I've been through this summer fasting, but thankfully the weather on most days are mild and very pleasant. None of the heat wave.
Still, my sister said I looked very thin. Maybe the lack of sleep and insufficient water.
I've celebrated Raya Aidilfitri once here in Germany, which was followed closely by exams. Compared to that, this time I have some lax time and initially wanted to travel to Bavaria(Bayern) and celebrate the end of Ramadhan there. But then the guys down under had to move out of their big house with super cosy guest room(I'm taking the liberty to call it a guest room, here) so accomodation became a concern. I can still stay with others but my plan seems not so concrete then. Plus I haven't bought a ticket yet so I was still 50-50 on where to celebrate Raya. A friend (Fathi) suggested I first end Ramadhan at home, then travel to Bavaria.
"Bergilir-gilir raya?" I thought. no way, I'm not married yet.
The thing is, I've never had a problem of 'balik kampong' and 'raya kat mana tahun ni'. My parents were both Kedahan and my house neighbours my paternal grandmother. My mom's kampong is in Jitra, which is only 30 minutes by car. Hence it's not a riddle how I spend raya in Malaysia every year: at home.
Faced with choosing between spending this year down in Bayern or here in Nord-Rhein Westphalia(NRW), I feel blessed that all my life, I was never plagued with this problem before, mainly because it's cumbersome and annoying to plan and secondly it takes time and money.
My eldest brother had the luck to be married to her wife whose kampong was 15 minutes from his. My second brother remarked, "Kahwin orang dekat la senang faris*, tengok abang ali. Bukak posa sini, balik terawih rumah mentua." I can see the wisdom in that, as nothing beats breaking fast at home, right.
In the case of my second sister, she married a Selangorean/KLite but since she worked at KL, they normally spend Raya in Kedah. On the rare occasion her family was to spend the 'first' Raya in KL, we at Kedah would call her and tell her all the special things we eat and stuff. Hahaha.
This year my mother said they're going to skype, and probably show all those ketupat through the videofeed.
T.T padan muka hang faris.
Anyway, I've decided to spend Raya in NRW, my current resident since there's no cheap tickets plus the hassle of travelling haunts me. I'd love to go down to bayern, but maybe not this Ramadhan. minta maaf rakan-rakan, lain kali ada rezeki jumpa lagi.
So the question of where to be on Aidilfitri 1433 is settled. I hope in years to come, I won't be bothered by the same question. What about you guys?
Ever had the dilemma and if you were to choose, would you prefer a person with a kampong nearby to yours? but then again, love beats all. Kalau dah suka, seberang dunia pon sanggup. dak?
Thank you for reading and have a blessed Ramadhan.
Still, my sister said I looked very thin. Maybe the lack of sleep and insufficient water.
I've celebrated Raya Aidilfitri once here in Germany, which was followed closely by exams. Compared to that, this time I have some lax time and initially wanted to travel to Bavaria(Bayern) and celebrate the end of Ramadhan there. But then the guys down under had to move out of their big house with super cosy guest room(I'm taking the liberty to call it a guest room, here) so accomodation became a concern. I can still stay with others but my plan seems not so concrete then. Plus I haven't bought a ticket yet so I was still 50-50 on where to celebrate Raya. A friend (Fathi) suggested I first end Ramadhan at home, then travel to Bavaria.
"Bergilir-gilir raya?" I thought. no way, I'm not married yet.
The thing is, I've never had a problem of 'balik kampong' and 'raya kat mana tahun ni'. My parents were both Kedahan and my house neighbours my paternal grandmother. My mom's kampong is in Jitra, which is only 30 minutes by car. Hence it's not a riddle how I spend raya in Malaysia every year: at home.
Faced with choosing between spending this year down in Bayern or here in Nord-Rhein Westphalia(NRW), I feel blessed that all my life, I was never plagued with this problem before, mainly because it's cumbersome and annoying to plan and secondly it takes time and money.
My eldest brother had the luck to be married to her wife whose kampong was 15 minutes from his. My second brother remarked, "Kahwin orang dekat la senang faris*, tengok abang ali. Bukak posa sini, balik terawih rumah mentua." I can see the wisdom in that, as nothing beats breaking fast at home, right.
In the case of my second sister, she married a Selangorean/KLite but since she worked at KL, they normally spend Raya in Kedah. On the rare occasion her family was to spend the 'first' Raya in KL, we at Kedah would call her and tell her all the special things we eat and stuff. Hahaha.
This year my mother said they're going to skype, and probably show all those ketupat through the videofeed.
T.T padan muka hang faris.
Anyway, I've decided to spend Raya in NRW, my current resident since there's no cheap tickets plus the hassle of travelling haunts me. I'd love to go down to bayern, but maybe not this Ramadhan. minta maaf rakan-rakan, lain kali ada rezeki jumpa lagi.
So the question of where to be on Aidilfitri 1433 is settled. I hope in years to come, I won't be bothered by the same question. What about you guys?
Ever had the dilemma and if you were to choose, would you prefer a person with a kampong nearby to yours? but then again, love beats all. Kalau dah suka, seberang dunia pon sanggup. dak?
Thank you for reading and have a blessed Ramadhan.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Fasting: a Bridge from Information to Knowledge
Hikmah Berpuasa: Ce Rasa Tengok!
I wrote two versions, both have the same intention but ended up with slightly different expressed messages. Read both, maybe?
Malay Version
Hampa ada dak kawan ni, yang semua benda dia tau. mengalahkan pakcik-pakcik kat kedai kopi, semua benda dia tau. Sejarah Obama, fakta pasai das Auto, sebab-sebab cabai rasa pedas; tu antara contoh maklumat yang dia ada. Tapi, bila suruh tukar tayar kereta, garu kepala. Suruh masak sambal, pi order kat kedai jugak akhirnya. Pendek kata, cakap banyak, kerja takdak. Orang macam ni bukan orang jahat, cuma susah la nak diharap. Kalau mak aku nak buat menantu, aku bangkang awai-awai.
Tapi syok kadang-kadang dengar orang macam ni bercakap. Depa banyak fakta, banyak maklumat. Jimat masa sebab tak payah nak pi kalut baca. Cuma bila bagi pendapat, selalu memang ke laut. Contoh hiperbola, untuk elak kemalangan, perempuan dan orang tua tak boleh bawak kereta. Sapa nak setuju, kan?
Selalunya bila bersembang hal-hal berat, ayat yang orang akan kata ialah, "tapi awak/hang/ko/tuan/Datuk kena ingat, benda ni kena ambik kira aspek ini, itu, dan sebagainya." Paling kurang kalau tak cakap pon, mesti ayat tu muncul dalam pikiran orang yang dengar.
Dan bila selalunya aku kena ayat tu, aku pon berhenti. Baru sedar, aku dah over dan cakap tak guna otak. Hanya guna fakta.
Selalunya bila bersembang hal-hal berat, ayat yang orang akan kata ialah, "tapi awak/hang/ko/tuan/Datuk kena ingat, benda ni kena ambik kira aspek ini, itu, dan sebagainya." Paling kurang kalau tak cakap pon, mesti ayat tu muncul dalam pikiran orang yang dengar.
Dan bila selalunya aku kena ayat tu, aku pon berhenti. Baru sedar, aku dah over dan cakap tak guna otak. Hanya guna fakta.
Aku taktau betapa susahnya orang nak buat benda yang aku cadang tu, sebab tu aku boleh pi bagi idea ekspress yang cap ayam.
Macam tu jugak lah dengan berpuasa. Puasa mengajar manusia erti bersyukur (ayat PMR). But seriously, it does. Contoh kalau kita tak dikehendaki berpuasa, berapa orang yang tiba-tiba nak berpuasa?
Contoh lain, berapa orang akan berhenti kereta untuk tolong motor yang pancit? Selalunya, orang yang berhenti tu, cuba kita tanya tengok, jawapannya mesti dia pernah bawak motor dulu. Jadi dia tau betapa susahnya kalau tayar pancit.
 |
| photo googled. credit |
Macam orang bawak moto tu, ada ka orang yang tak pasai-pasai dia nak bawak moto tengah panas kalau dia dah ada kereta yang sejuk. Siap ada supir lagi. Mau ka pi rasa naik moto, Dato'?
Puasa ni, mengubah kita dari hanya mengenal fakta, kepada manusia yang berpengelaman.
daripada hanya tau lapaq tu wujud, kepada rasa sendiri lapaq dan tak minum air selama 18 jam (sini summer woi!)
daripada hanya tau lapaq tu wujud, kepada rasa sendiri lapaq dan tak minum air selama 18 jam (sini summer woi!)
Puasa paksa umat Islam belajar rasa susah. Sebab kalau nak belajar ini, semua benda awal-awal kena paksa. Human always need the initial push. Kalau tengok semua rukun Islam, lepas syahadah, yang lainnya semua kena paksa. Sebab kalau dak, sapa sanggup bayar 2.5% duit. Sapa sanggup bermusafir jauh sampai mekah untuk haji. Mungkin ada segelintir yang sanggup, golongan ni memang bagus, tapi Islam nak semua umat buat benda-benda ni. Sebab contoh zakat, kalau tak diwajibkan, rosak la ekonomi. Kalau tak puasa dan tak rasa susah orang miskin, macam mana kita nak simpati sekaligus runtuh lah masyarakat bila semua penting diri.
Jadi hadirin hadirat, saya duduk saja-saja dan terpikiq, puasa ni mengubah dari mengetahui kepada mengalami, maka saya pon tulis lah post ni sebab rasa ada faedah. Kinda like an epiphany.
Maka doa-doakan lah kita semua jadi lebih banyak mengalami, iaitu ambik tindakan, daripada hanya mengetahui. Amin.
Versi Inggeris
Have you not meet some people, who knows a lot? Ranging from history of Europe to the reason why chillies are spicy, these people can talk about a lot of things. Wikipedia is their middle name and google is their friend. Yet when they are brought to settle a problem, their solution are most of the time ridiculous and unrealistic or selfish. It is a wonder all those things they know, are not much of a help. They know what (theoretically) make chillies taste spicy, yet they can't cook up a simple dish. They know the Keynesian economics, but left unattended at a stall, they'll manage to lose all the customers and small change.I talk to them, because nothing beats a walking internet; you spare a lot of time searching and reading since they have a lot of information, yet to talk and converse for a long time is something I would avoid.Conversation are taxing. One way to identify them is when they present an idea, an automatic response in our head is,"but, that is ridiculous! you have to consider etc." When someone says something like that to me, I realize that I have become a person with Information, but not with Knowledge.
Ramadhan is a month where Muslims are required to fast. Muslims are not encouraged, it is enforced on us to fast and it is one of the pillars of Islam.Imagine if we are not required to do so, would most of us fast? Would a king, who everyday have more than enough to eat, wakes up one day and decides, "I want to not eat anything for a day, and experience how the poor feels like." Heck, even a normal white collar wouldn't do that, let alone a king.
The key word here is Experience.
The king knows the poor (nama pon poor) have less to eat.
But he hasn't experience the hunger. No, not without fasting.
Thanks to Islam, which forces us to fast, it cause us to take the first step, to feel how the poor felt. To take the Action.
What is then the connection to the first two paragraphs?
In some sense, the person who knows a lot, has Information. He is informed but the information is of not much use. Only after he takes any action will he has the Experience to accompany it, and in the end make a better decision. Fasting and Islam, causes you to bridge the gap between being a person with information, to a person with knowledge. From a person of memorizing, to a person of understanding.
Thank you for reading.
p.s. I wrote the English version and had to translate it to Malay. itulah bahana ketidakseimbangan artikel ilmiah dalam bahasa.
Friday, May 25, 2012
How I Met
I've been watching the series HIMYM recently, which I would not explained what the acronyms are since if you know what they mean already, it doesn't matter. And if you don't know what they mean, you won't prolly relate with this post. And if you won't bother googling the acronyms, I'd bet you'd prolly won't read this post to the end.
Anywaaaayyyss... I know I'm a bit slow, because I am not a 'following' type. Following is when you like some series/comics/something-to-those-extent, and you wait them to be released every week. I hate the waiting.
My friend argued that, 'following' is fun as it gives a sense to fill the activity through the days, where he proceed to explain that at mondays, he can wait for Manga A, on tuesdays for YoutubeChannel B, on Thursday for One Piece and etcetera.
As for me, I'll usually take anything that I like in one gulp. Not exactly a marathon, but kinda mania. That's why I don't watch/read series that haven't ended, usually. So about HIMYM, I've watched one of its episode, while on a bus with mawas, and felt it was okay. But since it's a series and it doesn't have a foreseen ending("takkan bersiri-siri pon dia tak habis cerita bini dia sapa? mohong gila!") and the fan are strong, which always turn non-fan off("hang kata best gila. lame ja barney ni"), I haven't taken the interest. Recently I read somewhere the MOTHER is made known to the audience so since I was searching some movies to watch while I eat, so I think why not.
So I began to watch.
HIMYM is most ways, I agree with another friend, not as funny as Big Bang's theory(I'm not following this one too, I only watch occasionally when people watch it). However HIMYM does have, loosely, a plot. Although their jokes seems tame and the hillarious ones seem scripted, I like the dialogues more. They feel more real(except Barney's lines) because when you're with friends the normal thing to happen is you make small snides and snigger, not make clever remarks/comebacks and walks off nonchalantly(like in most comedies). HIMYM fall to this too, because they have too, but most of the times the scripts are palatable(<---I thought I just made this word up, but turns out I didn't.)
Writing script is hard.
Why did I say that? Because believe it or not, I tried once. Kids, when I was in high school...
*****
...my school had a new foreign English teacher. He was from England, I think. Or Australian. Whatever. You see, normal English teacher won't normally have time for conducting theater for student to perform in. By normal, I mean the Malaysian teacher who are pressured to tell the student that The Pearl by John Steinbeck actually have morals in it, and to be able to regurgitate them back on exam papers. So this new foreign teacher doesn't have those so he did a theater, and began auditioning. I went to it.
Not many went, so I wasn't surprised I got a part. Plus there are those that went and got the part but 'tarik diri'. They said they were just trying their luck. One of them was a girl named Blabla.
The audition needed us to walk by twos, from the back of the hall to the front where the teacher sat. During the catwalk, we had to act an emotion/characteristics that the teacher thought up on the spot. It turn out I was paired to this girl named Blabla. Blabla was in a different class from me and although I seldom talked to her, I knew her. As I was wondering what the emotions I had to do, the teacher said the word, "Talkative!" or something like that.
You see, Blabla was among the most talkative and noisy person that I ever knew and I knew a lot of talkative person(anyone who talks more than me, is talkative). I was thinking, "What? This girl IS the epitome of talkative! Of course she's going to do it better than me. Of course I'm not going to get any part and me being called pansy was for nothing. Of course... hey she's walking first!"
Blabla was already walking so I quickly followed suit (up!) and walked besides her. Plus I tried being the character that was given, talkative. If you know me, I was everything but that. However I really wasn't going to 'lose' to Blabla so I talked myself out. Mostly nonsense but those words are the few occasion in my life that I 'talked' a lot in front of strangers/not-friends. And the first time I talked a lot to Blabla. The first of many? Maybe.
No, Blabla isn't your mother.
Anyway the audition ended and initially the teacher gave the participants the chance to pick their own scripts so we decided to wrote one. The idea of the script was someone else's but I gave my agreement so it was much my fault too. I was tasked to write the dialogues, so the words, in English, were mine.
It was about some girl/boy who got ditched and died. And became a ghost.
Yes, it was that bad.
Fortunately the teacher scrapped the script and plucked out some funny, albeit meaningless, script which consisted mostly of puns and misheards. Prolly he got it from Little Britain.
I remember one of the scenes were about a policeman catching a thief who got bad luck due to his mispronunciation and puns. I got to play the police officer. Yeah, me.
okay, stop laughing.
So that wraps the story about how I wrote a story.
Oh your mom? You guys were adopted.
*ends with theme song*
Thanks for reading.
Anywaaaayyyss... I know I'm a bit slow, because I am not a 'following' type. Following is when you like some series/comics/something-to-those-extent, and you wait them to be released every week. I hate the waiting.
My friend argued that, 'following' is fun as it gives a sense to fill the activity through the days, where he proceed to explain that at mondays, he can wait for Manga A, on tuesdays for YoutubeChannel B, on Thursday for One Piece and etcetera.
As for me, I'll usually take anything that I like in one gulp. Not exactly a marathon, but kinda mania. That's why I don't watch/read series that haven't ended, usually. So about HIMYM, I've watched one of its episode, while on a bus with mawas, and felt it was okay. But since it's a series and it doesn't have a foreseen ending("takkan bersiri-siri pon dia tak habis cerita bini dia sapa? mohong gila!") and the fan are strong, which always turn non-fan off("hang kata best gila. lame ja barney ni"), I haven't taken the interest. Recently I read somewhere the MOTHER is made known to the audience so since I was searching some movies to watch while I eat, so I think why not.
So I began to watch.
HIMYM is most ways, I agree with another friend, not as funny as Big Bang's theory(I'm not following this one too, I only watch occasionally when people watch it). However HIMYM does have, loosely, a plot. Although their jokes seems tame and the hillarious ones seem scripted, I like the dialogues more. They feel more real(except Barney's lines) because when you're with friends the normal thing to happen is you make small snides and snigger, not make clever remarks/comebacks and walks off nonchalantly(like in most comedies). HIMYM fall to this too, because they have too, but most of the times the scripts are palatable(<---I thought I just made this word up, but turns out I didn't.)
Writing script is hard.
Why did I say that? Because believe it or not, I tried once. Kids, when I was in high school...
*****
...my school had a new foreign English teacher. He was from England, I think. Or Australian. Whatever. You see, normal English teacher won't normally have time for conducting theater for student to perform in. By normal, I mean the Malaysian teacher who are pressured to tell the student that The Pearl by John Steinbeck actually have morals in it, and to be able to regurgitate them back on exam papers. So this new foreign teacher doesn't have those so he did a theater, and began auditioning. I went to it.
Not many went, so I wasn't surprised I got a part. Plus there are those that went and got the part but 'tarik diri'. They said they were just trying their luck. One of them was a girl named Blabla.
The audition needed us to walk by twos, from the back of the hall to the front where the teacher sat. During the catwalk, we had to act an emotion/characteristics that the teacher thought up on the spot. It turn out I was paired to this girl named Blabla. Blabla was in a different class from me and although I seldom talked to her, I knew her. As I was wondering what the emotions I had to do, the teacher said the word, "Talkative!" or something like that.
You see, Blabla was among the most talkative and noisy person that I ever knew and I knew a lot of talkative person(anyone who talks more than me, is talkative). I was thinking, "What? This girl IS the epitome of talkative! Of course she's going to do it better than me. Of course I'm not going to get any part and me being called pansy was for nothing. Of course... hey she's walking first!"
Blabla was already walking so I quickly followed suit (up!) and walked besides her. Plus I tried being the character that was given, talkative. If you know me, I was everything but that. However I really wasn't going to 'lose' to Blabla so I talked myself out. Mostly nonsense but those words are the few occasion in my life that I 'talked' a lot in front of strangers/not-friends. And the first time I talked a lot to Blabla. The first of many? Maybe.
No, Blabla isn't your mother.
Anyway the audition ended and initially the teacher gave the participants the chance to pick their own scripts so we decided to wrote one. The idea of the script was someone else's but I gave my agreement so it was much my fault too. I was tasked to write the dialogues, so the words, in English, were mine.
It was about some girl/boy who got ditched and died. And became a ghost.
Yes, it was that bad.
Fortunately the teacher scrapped the script and plucked out some funny, albeit meaningless, script which consisted mostly of puns and misheards. Prolly he got it from Little Britain.
I remember one of the scenes were about a policeman catching a thief who got bad luck due to his mispronunciation and puns. I got to play the police officer. Yeah, me.
okay, stop laughing.
So that wraps the story about how I wrote a story.
Oh your mom? You guys were adopted.
*ends with theme song*
Thanks for reading.
Friday, November 11, 2011
A reminder to self and others:
There is a condescending connotation when a person begins to talk about religion.
"Wardina ni dah jadi ustazah? Jadi ustazah lak dah," the words were said much less so. I was dissappointed to hear that.
I used to think humans were good and bad but needless to say that is a simpleton view of the world. And by labelling someone who preaches towards betterment as an ustaz/ah, is misleading. It is as if anyone that reminds another to do good, is a saint. In Islam, no one is too good that he is not open to criticsm and no one is so foul that any words that they say have no value. By labelling people like wardina, the person seems to me to distance itself by stating, 'she is an ustazah' and himself not, so that he doesn't have the obligation to remind people to do good.
So sad.
Analogy wise, you don't need to be the police to stop a thief, and when you stop one, you are not automatically a police.
You are a responsible citizen.
So be a responsible muslim and try to spread words of wisdom and not only share funny videos.
thank you for reading.
"Wardina ni dah jadi ustazah? Jadi ustazah lak dah," the words were said much less so. I was dissappointed to hear that.
I used to think humans were good and bad but needless to say that is a simpleton view of the world. And by labelling someone who preaches towards betterment as an ustaz/ah, is misleading. It is as if anyone that reminds another to do good, is a saint. In Islam, no one is too good that he is not open to criticsm and no one is so foul that any words that they say have no value. By labelling people like wardina, the person seems to me to distance itself by stating, 'she is an ustazah' and himself not, so that he doesn't have the obligation to remind people to do good.
So sad.
Analogy wise, you don't need to be the police to stop a thief, and when you stop one, you are not automatically a police.
You are a responsible citizen.
So be a responsible muslim and try to spread words of wisdom and not only share funny videos.
thank you for reading.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Auf Wiedersehen, not Goodbye?
Salam and Selamat Hari Raya.
Fortunately this year, Eid al-Adha fell on a weekend. Woke up and went to the Turkish mosque. Apart from the last part, where jemaah shook hands with each other, the prayer's not much different. I have no idea where they do their qurban, as it is the rule here that you can't kill animal for food, unless you're a licensed butcher. So the qurban was probably done in a designated place.
We went back and didn't feel like eating the small fest after prayer. Plus we(Azhan) were sleepy since the night before was spent preparing for our own 'makan-makan', which also acts as a farewell party for Azra. Yes, two of the girl that I mentioned in my previous post, coincidentally have finished their study and are now going back for good. And one of them happened to be a Gelsenkirchener and since we were quite free, we decided to do a get together over lunch. Around two, everyone gathered for 'makan-makan' and when the plates are mostly empty, the slideshow were played, one that was done the night before with the intention as stated by Fathi,"misi kami nak bagi rara nangis."
The slideshow was composed of Azra's picture over the years in Germany; some of them silly, some embarrassing but all true. During the slideshow, it occurred to me that the pictures, shallow as they are as a portrayal of life, they are true.
They are not what could have happened, they are what happened.
When I try to remember the past, 'kalau' is a favourite word that crops up quite often. However when the slideshow was done, it dawned on me that there is in reality no 'kalau'. Azra's picture could have not been any other way, such as she falling in snow etc, the pictures are 'proof' that it could not have been a different snow, a different person smiling together, a different time that the picture was taken, even for one second.
Simply said, the past is the past. There is no going back.
Which has a great weight coming with the realization, as our actions will define our future and will become our past. The fact that there is one and only one past, is overwhelming which altogether makes which decision to take is harder than if say, we have two or three tries in life. I can't go around carefree as the wind, or when faced with a problem and simply say "fak it, I dont care, it doesnt matter" because in life, it really matters. There is no second try to a previous minute of our life.
Then again, what if we have planned and done our best yet our life turns for the worse?
Imagine if you have tried so hard and worked so hard for something yet in the last minute it failed due to small things such as the wind, the disappointment would be paramount. Some can't barely live with the failure, after all the effort poured into it. So how can we, mere humans, were entrusted with such heavy burdens?
Alhamdulillah for us Muslims, we have Allah to depend to and when the plans are planned and the actions are in past tense, the only thing in presence is for tawakkal to take place. The disappointment will be subdued and forgotten, when we realize that Allah has better results, planned, if not in this world then in the hereafter.
Corny as it is, I'd quote the saying, that everything will be okay in the end.
If it's not okay then it is not the end.
So to fellow friends who are going back, good luck to you guys. Plan, act and live with it. Tawakkal and redha. Auf wiedersehen Azra(noob!), thanks for everything. Even your leaving had taught me something.
Thanks!
p.s.
1. The slideshow and Azra's reaction watching the video is still in keeping. I think I won't upload it here since the world could see, maybe only on facebook. Did our mission to make her cry succeeded? Well.... you have to see it later, or asked her yourself. (clue: asma did . . . )
2. Auf Wiedersehen literally means "On See-later" which translates see you later. It's a formal/outdated form of goodbye but after some thoughts, I think the Germans has nailed it better with the term Auf Wiedersehen.
After all, there is no goodbyes, right? Only see you later.
3. Thanks for reading!
Fortunately this year, Eid al-Adha fell on a weekend. Woke up and went to the Turkish mosque. Apart from the last part, where jemaah shook hands with each other, the prayer's not much different. I have no idea where they do their qurban, as it is the rule here that you can't kill animal for food, unless you're a licensed butcher. So the qurban was probably done in a designated place.
 |
| Bersalaman dengan lelaki turki di perkarangan masjid |
We went back and didn't feel like eating the small fest after prayer. Plus we(Azhan) were sleepy since the night before was spent preparing for our own 'makan-makan', which also acts as a farewell party for Azra. Yes, two of the girl that I mentioned in my previous post, coincidentally have finished their study and are now going back for good. And one of them happened to be a Gelsenkirchener and since we were quite free, we decided to do a get together over lunch. Around two, everyone gathered for 'makan-makan' and when the plates are mostly empty, the slideshow were played, one that was done the night before with the intention as stated by Fathi,"misi kami nak bagi rara nangis."
The slideshow was composed of Azra's picture over the years in Germany; some of them silly, some embarrassing but all true. During the slideshow, it occurred to me that the pictures, shallow as they are as a portrayal of life, they are true.
They are not what could have happened, they are what happened.
When I try to remember the past, 'kalau' is a favourite word that crops up quite often. However when the slideshow was done, it dawned on me that there is in reality no 'kalau'. Azra's picture could have not been any other way, such as she falling in snow etc, the pictures are 'proof' that it could not have been a different snow, a different person smiling together, a different time that the picture was taken, even for one second.
Simply said, the past is the past. There is no going back.
Which has a great weight coming with the realization, as our actions will define our future and will become our past. The fact that there is one and only one past, is overwhelming which altogether makes which decision to take is harder than if say, we have two or three tries in life. I can't go around carefree as the wind, or when faced with a problem and simply say "fak it, I dont care, it doesnt matter" because in life, it really matters. There is no second try to a previous minute of our life.
Then again, what if we have planned and done our best yet our life turns for the worse?
Imagine if you have tried so hard and worked so hard for something yet in the last minute it failed due to small things such as the wind, the disappointment would be paramount. Some can't barely live with the failure, after all the effort poured into it. So how can we, mere humans, were entrusted with such heavy burdens?
Alhamdulillah for us Muslims, we have Allah to depend to and when the plans are planned and the actions are in past tense, the only thing in presence is for tawakkal to take place. The disappointment will be subdued and forgotten, when we realize that Allah has better results, planned, if not in this world then in the hereafter.
Corny as it is, I'd quote the saying, that everything will be okay in the end.
If it's not okay then it is not the end.
So to fellow friends who are going back, good luck to you guys. Plan, act and live with it. Tawakkal and redha. Auf wiedersehen Azra(noob!), thanks for everything. Even your leaving had taught me something.
Thanks!
 |
| Tamakninah |
p.s.
1. The slideshow and Azra's reaction watching the video is still in keeping. I think I won't upload it here since the world could see, maybe only on facebook. Did our mission to make her cry succeeded? Well.... you have to see it later, or asked her yourself. (clue: asma did . . . )
2. Auf Wiedersehen literally means "On See-later" which translates see you later. It's a formal/outdated form of goodbye but after some thoughts, I think the Germans has nailed it better with the term Auf Wiedersehen.
After all, there is no goodbyes, right? Only see you later.
3. Thanks for reading!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
when friends break the news they're getting married
Some comic strips about breaking the news.
Click on the pictures to view in Lightbox.
Comics were done totally on the phone.
Apps used : Photos, Strip Design, SketchbookX, Livesketch, Photoshop Express, Juxtapose. and fathi's bamboo pen
When a woman tells a man the news.
A man to a woman
A woman to a woman.
typo: believe*
typo: believe*
A man to man.
Thanks for reading!
p.s. comic is still considered reading, right?
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Of goodbyes and regrets, falls after summers
I am back in Germany. Everything seems like it was before I went back, except the bus stand which got wrecked by a storm.
Anyway the journey back was eventful. I wouldn't like to write it all though I'm afraid I'll forget it or have a hard time to recall it later, so here's the bullet point.
Went for JPJ's test. Yay, alhamdulillah. yeah, I know it's late but still... a license is a license.
Met with my long-missed biology teacher at Alor Star and took the same flight and she gave me a lift to KL afterwards. She haven't change a bit (in a very good sense!).
Said goodbyes to some friends, though I wished I could see a few others. Other.
AOR-KUL-DXB-FRA: approximately 30 hours
So the goodbye was said again. After lots of them, I seem to appreciate them much often these days because I came to realize that goodbyes are most likely to be the last. Or might as well be treated as the last. One of the goodbyes that I tread particularly with care is with my family, especially my mother. It is a wide accepted fact that mothers are fussy and very likely to 'harass' their children, which grates most of us, right? Especially when you are about to travel for another 24 hours and your mind buzzing with the plannings while your heart is busy yearning and moaning of wishing not to go back. Add to that your mom's scolding, things can get tense.
However this year and these days, I seem to get a good grip of myself, not to boast but to point out to myself that things improved when you do something, insyaAllah. The thing with getting mad when stressed, I experienced it when I was going oversea for the first time, which was with my father. The disagreement was about putting my money in my wallet which my father deemed dangerous, an opinion which I did not share. Needless to say, it was a small thing but like all things you quarrel with family and parents, rarely would it be something 'heavy' such as the NEP, quantum theory, the effects of Arab revolution to the world and whatnot. It is the small thing that grows into problems, and if not dealt, will turn into regret.
I disagreed with my father at that time and my goodbyes then was a bit tarnished with the negative feeling. Later about 6 months later there was a call from my brother saying father was hospitalized. Almost a week later he passed away. My father was those kind of fathers who picked up the phone and say, "Nak cakap dengan mak ka? Sat na," which made the last time I talked to him was at the airport. Quite sad that a dispute about a wallet gave a gloom that day. Kinda like in the drama but that's life. So here's the cliché moral, treat your goodbyes as your last and be nice to your parent(s).
A few months after that a friend of mine also lost her father and recently another friend lost her father too. Both are studying abroad, in Germany. I feel sorry for them but frankly I don't really know how to react to others when someone passed away, especially when it happened thousands miles away. Of course comfort is the keyword but how should it be applied. Should you treat as if there's nothing wrong or should attend to him/her as if they are sick? On the day I got the news, amazingly (I don't know how they heard) some friends wished condolences through SMS, which left me thankful to have close friends but somehow wishing those who barely knew me/acquaintances to not have any news of it. Kinda like wish it to be within close circles. Anyway I went to class that morning as usual but halfway through I felt like standing up and yelling, "My father just passed away and we are at this same shit again?!" Of course that didn't happen but what I am trying to tell is that MY feelings at that time was very conflicting and volatile and although I didn't show it, a bad move or something wrong/remotely inappropriate at that time would affect me greatly. Hence when I heard my friend losing her parent, I would be reminded of my experience and always wonder what would be the best actions. Currently in my limited life experience I would suggest to stay at a safe distance and act cordially, unless you are close to the person. To assume you share their feelings is a bit dangerous, even if you have lost your parents yourselves because death, like many other events in life, affect different people in different ways.
Life's events are like fireworks. Some see the burst, some hate the noise.
In the process of leaving home, I also have to say goodbye to my paternal grandmother who lives next door and usually one of the things she would say is, "tak tau la tahun depan boleh jumpa dak lagi."
Her worries are not unwarranted, as a year is a long time and lots of things could happen. Plus she is of old age. However as Muslims, the fact that death could come at any moment echoes throughout our religion. She have said to me the same thing at every parting for almost four times yet my father who didn't mention anything passed away before his own mother. Of course I didn't say all this; I only asked her to doa that we meet again next year. Point is, treat goodbyes as your last but try not to drill on it.
I hope this post make sense and would in some way help anyone who reads it to make peace with inner self. (Pengaruh tengok 'Kung Fu Panda 2' dalam flight la ni. haha)
Thank you for reading!
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