Today (2nd August 2008)it has been 10 years he departed this world. It has been 10 years since he departed from my eyes. The same ten years has passed so quickly that I did not even realize that I have lived in this world without him.
I hope he would be able to see me grow to a person I am today and be proud of it. I wish I can show him that I am no longer a kid now. I cannot fathom how wonderful live would be with him today. However, God knows best the matter that we don't.
I pray for him in my every prayers and may God bless him with His Mercy.
Al-Fatihah
Loving son.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
On Malaise
Kurang Ajar by Usman Awang
Sebuah perkataan yang paling ditakuti
Untuk bangsa kita yang pemalu.
Sekarang kata ini kuajarkan pada anakku;
Kau harus menjadi manusia kurang ajar
Untuk tidak mewarisi malu ayahmu.
Lihat petani-petani yang kurang ajar
Memiliki tanah dengan caranya
Sebelumnya mereka tak punya apa
Kerana ajaran malu dari bangsanya.
Suatu bangsa tidak menjadi besar
Tanpa memiliki sifat kurang ajar.
I begin this posting by my long-admired poem by Usman Awang which I think describes sufficiently well some of Malays characteristics. We have long been taught by generations to observe manners and courtesies in daily life. While it is definitive to demonstrate the Eastern values that we carry, sometimes we got carried forward by unduly conducting the same manner in place where we are demanded to be firm and uncompromising. As the last two sentences reveal, the nation will not develop should we stick to be ‘shy’ to demand the rightful things which are ours. In today’s context, striving to top the chart in education, social class and economic well-being of an individual ought not to carry above characteristics to circumvent any obstruction in nation (Malay) development.
Malays are funny people. Sometimes they are ‘shy’ (I find it quite hard to translate the word ‘malu’ into the right context) to do the rightful things but are completely oblivious engaging in immoral activities. They are ‘shy’ when asked to speak up their mind but not when raising voice arguing the necessaries. They are ‘shy’ to challenge the superior but not when criticizing the subordinates. They are ‘shy’ to change what is not right in a holistic systems but not when changes bring individual interests. Worse, they are ‘shy’ to admit they can stand alone but not when provoked for being gullible and start defending his stand. A father is not ‘shy’ to tell the child to abstain from smoking but he himself smokes. Funny eh! I do not know if I can say that Malays are lack of wisdom and perhaps should learn from other nations. Hang on, while Malays are malaise, how can they want to learn from others?! When Mahathir said that loyalty should no longer be the values of Malays, I whole-heartedly agree with him for being loyal means we are trapped to explore further to develop more.
Excuses or finding reasons to move forward have long been the platform that we stand on. We keep on asking what if so and so occur and what is going to happen to me. On a more sarcastic note, we are scared to face the challenge ahead and always find reasons to support our stands to adopt stay back and look attitude. We are still not aware that success comes with risk, it does not come by just waiting for it. We should discard the what-if attitude and step ahead to be at par with other nations.
Undeniably, it can be observed that some Malays are not longer the Malays 50 years ago. But, are we competent enough to ensure the rest of the ‘left-behind Malays’ and our future generations are capable to cope with the changes and challenges in todays’ demanding world? Or should we just discard the ‘left-behind Malays’ (since the malaise attitude is too resistant to change) and move forward (quicker and faster without them) to develop our own new Malay nation? Should we be loyal to our old Malays?
Sebuah perkataan yang paling ditakuti
Untuk bangsa kita yang pemalu.
Sekarang kata ini kuajarkan pada anakku;
Kau harus menjadi manusia kurang ajar
Untuk tidak mewarisi malu ayahmu.
Lihat petani-petani yang kurang ajar
Memiliki tanah dengan caranya
Sebelumnya mereka tak punya apa
Kerana ajaran malu dari bangsanya.
Suatu bangsa tidak menjadi besar
Tanpa memiliki sifat kurang ajar.
I begin this posting by my long-admired poem by Usman Awang which I think describes sufficiently well some of Malays characteristics. We have long been taught by generations to observe manners and courtesies in daily life. While it is definitive to demonstrate the Eastern values that we carry, sometimes we got carried forward by unduly conducting the same manner in place where we are demanded to be firm and uncompromising. As the last two sentences reveal, the nation will not develop should we stick to be ‘shy’ to demand the rightful things which are ours. In today’s context, striving to top the chart in education, social class and economic well-being of an individual ought not to carry above characteristics to circumvent any obstruction in nation (Malay) development.
Malays are funny people. Sometimes they are ‘shy’ (I find it quite hard to translate the word ‘malu’ into the right context) to do the rightful things but are completely oblivious engaging in immoral activities. They are ‘shy’ when asked to speak up their mind but not when raising voice arguing the necessaries. They are ‘shy’ to challenge the superior but not when criticizing the subordinates. They are ‘shy’ to change what is not right in a holistic systems but not when changes bring individual interests. Worse, they are ‘shy’ to admit they can stand alone but not when provoked for being gullible and start defending his stand. A father is not ‘shy’ to tell the child to abstain from smoking but he himself smokes. Funny eh! I do not know if I can say that Malays are lack of wisdom and perhaps should learn from other nations. Hang on, while Malays are malaise, how can they want to learn from others?! When Mahathir said that loyalty should no longer be the values of Malays, I whole-heartedly agree with him for being loyal means we are trapped to explore further to develop more.
Excuses or finding reasons to move forward have long been the platform that we stand on. We keep on asking what if so and so occur and what is going to happen to me. On a more sarcastic note, we are scared to face the challenge ahead and always find reasons to support our stands to adopt stay back and look attitude. We are still not aware that success comes with risk, it does not come by just waiting for it. We should discard the what-if attitude and step ahead to be at par with other nations.
Undeniably, it can be observed that some Malays are not longer the Malays 50 years ago. But, are we competent enough to ensure the rest of the ‘left-behind Malays’ and our future generations are capable to cope with the changes and challenges in todays’ demanding world? Or should we just discard the ‘left-behind Malays’ (since the malaise attitude is too resistant to change) and move forward (quicker and faster without them) to develop our own new Malay nation? Should we be loyal to our old Malays?
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Two Stories
Just something that I think I should scribble here for my own remembrance.
I attended Friday prayer at UWA last Friday. Was on my sick leave. Sh Faizel was giving the sermon and I quite like the simplicity of his sermon this time. He was talking about how strange a believer is, that everything happens may it be good or not to him is a blessing. He related this to a story about a Caliph and his advisor.
There was a day that the Caliph was with his advisor and something grateful befalls him and his advisor says Alhamdulillah. There was another day that he was wit his advisor and accidentally cut his hand and the advisor says Alhamdulillah too. Not knowing what the advisor meant, the Caliph was angry and ordered the advisor to be incarcerated. As per the usual custom of the rulers those days he was set for hunting only he found to be encountered by a group of people looking for a sacrifice for their God. The Caliph was captured to be presented as a sacrifice for their God. Just at the point before he was about to be sacrificed, they found that his hand had a bandage as a result of the cut he had earlier. As as sacrifice to their holy God, they have to present a perfect non-mutilated being. Hence, the Caliph was released.
With this occurrence, the Caliph now understand the wisdom of his advisor. He ordered that the advisor be released. The story did not end there. The advisor narrated that as he was dragged to the prison, he keep on reciting Alhamdulillah. Has he not been incarcerated, he would have followed the Caliph for hunting and would be a perfect sacrifice for the group in place for the Caliph. How strange is the believer, always feels grateful whatever befalls him!
As I was writing this, my chain of thought linked to another sermon I listened sometimes ago at Rivervale by Imam Jalil. He was talking about wisdom of words. He also narrated a story making it easy for me to remember.
There was a King and he had two interpreters for his dream. The King dreamt that he lost all of his teeth except one. He was worried and called one of his interpreter to see the insight of his dream. The interpreter said that all of his family members will die leaving him alone. Upon hearing this, the King was full of wrath and sent him to be beheaded. He called the second interpreter. Upon telling what he had dreamt, the interpreter said that among all of his family member he would be the longest to live. The King was glad and rewarded the interpreter with valuables.
Essentially, the gist of the interpretations are the same just the way it was described by words.
May we benefit from these two stories.
I attended Friday prayer at UWA last Friday. Was on my sick leave. Sh Faizel was giving the sermon and I quite like the simplicity of his sermon this time. He was talking about how strange a believer is, that everything happens may it be good or not to him is a blessing. He related this to a story about a Caliph and his advisor.
There was a day that the Caliph was with his advisor and something grateful befalls him and his advisor says Alhamdulillah. There was another day that he was wit his advisor and accidentally cut his hand and the advisor says Alhamdulillah too. Not knowing what the advisor meant, the Caliph was angry and ordered the advisor to be incarcerated. As per the usual custom of the rulers those days he was set for hunting only he found to be encountered by a group of people looking for a sacrifice for their God. The Caliph was captured to be presented as a sacrifice for their God. Just at the point before he was about to be sacrificed, they found that his hand had a bandage as a result of the cut he had earlier. As as sacrifice to their holy God, they have to present a perfect non-mutilated being. Hence, the Caliph was released.
With this occurrence, the Caliph now understand the wisdom of his advisor. He ordered that the advisor be released. The story did not end there. The advisor narrated that as he was dragged to the prison, he keep on reciting Alhamdulillah. Has he not been incarcerated, he would have followed the Caliph for hunting and would be a perfect sacrifice for the group in place for the Caliph. How strange is the believer, always feels grateful whatever befalls him!
As I was writing this, my chain of thought linked to another sermon I listened sometimes ago at Rivervale by Imam Jalil. He was talking about wisdom of words. He also narrated a story making it easy for me to remember.
There was a King and he had two interpreters for his dream. The King dreamt that he lost all of his teeth except one. He was worried and called one of his interpreter to see the insight of his dream. The interpreter said that all of his family members will die leaving him alone. Upon hearing this, the King was full of wrath and sent him to be beheaded. He called the second interpreter. Upon telling what he had dreamt, the interpreter said that among all of his family member he would be the longest to live. The King was glad and rewarded the interpreter with valuables.
Essentially, the gist of the interpretations are the same just the way it was described by words.
May we benefit from these two stories.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Oriental Modesty
I just recently finished reading a book by Adibah Amin, Glimpses. I first heard of Adibah Amin through her translation of Shahnon Ahmad's book Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan (Thorns Among Roses) and this is the second time I heard of her actually writing a book herself.
Glimpses narrates the norms and unique cultures that Malaysian carries or in her own words it is the cameos of Malaysian life. I find the book is true in its account for capturing the essence of cultural believes and characteristics of Malaysians. I find it nothing new really when reading the books but nonetheless it still brings smile on my face when I nod in agreement to what she wrote regarding the funny and witty attitude that Malaysians possess. In short, the book captures the everyday lives of Malaysians.
Among all the chapters that she demarcates the book into, I find that this one chapter has to be told in my blog for my own future reference. The barely three pages chapter of Oriental Modesty I have to fully agree with her. She begins the chapter with,
"When someone pays you a compliment, do you smile and say 'thank you' western-style or do you respond eastern-fashion with a coy 'no-lah'?"
Personally, I think we have to shift our unnecessary so-called ethically modesty into somewhat that reflects self-confidence in a humble way. Well, that may be a complicated way of putting it. In short, with respect to the above paragraph 'no-lah' actually is an act of rejecting the compliments and to some westerners it may be inappropriate (rude is too big a word). Saying thank you (or better still 'thank you and I thank God for that') reflects self-assurance and a positive of handling compliments. However, being Asians (or Malaysians) that notion may be interpreted as to brag or to boast having been complimented. If this is the case, the complimenter should not have complimented hypocritically if he/she expects such replies. Both complimenter and complimentee have to be true to themselves in demonstrating a non self-denial attitude.
Malaysian are full of self-denial and unnecessary modesty that to them can be construed as humility in disguise. We said 'no-lah' when someone complimented your big house and 'he is just like any other child' when someone congrats on your child's achievements. Our paradigm has to be shifted to a culture that shows more of convincing and positive mind-set instead of denying the true facts of life in the name of modesty.
Glimpses narrates the norms and unique cultures that Malaysian carries or in her own words it is the cameos of Malaysian life. I find the book is true in its account for capturing the essence of cultural believes and characteristics of Malaysians. I find it nothing new really when reading the books but nonetheless it still brings smile on my face when I nod in agreement to what she wrote regarding the funny and witty attitude that Malaysians possess. In short, the book captures the everyday lives of Malaysians.
Among all the chapters that she demarcates the book into, I find that this one chapter has to be told in my blog for my own future reference. The barely three pages chapter of Oriental Modesty I have to fully agree with her. She begins the chapter with,
"When someone pays you a compliment, do you smile and say 'thank you' western-style or do you respond eastern-fashion with a coy 'no-lah'?"
Personally, I think we have to shift our unnecessary so-called ethically modesty into somewhat that reflects self-confidence in a humble way. Well, that may be a complicated way of putting it. In short, with respect to the above paragraph 'no-lah' actually is an act of rejecting the compliments and to some westerners it may be inappropriate (rude is too big a word). Saying thank you (or better still 'thank you and I thank God for that') reflects self-assurance and a positive of handling compliments. However, being Asians (or Malaysians) that notion may be interpreted as to brag or to boast having been complimented. If this is the case, the complimenter should not have complimented hypocritically if he/she expects such replies. Both complimenter and complimentee have to be true to themselves in demonstrating a non self-denial attitude.
Malaysian are full of self-denial and unnecessary modesty that to them can be construed as humility in disguise. We said 'no-lah' when someone complimented your big house and 'he is just like any other child' when someone congrats on your child's achievements. Our paradigm has to be shifted to a culture that shows more of convincing and positive mind-set instead of denying the true facts of life in the name of modesty.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
To Plan is God
I was in UWA for Friday prayer some two weeks ago during the Christmas break. The Imam who led the prayer was Al-Taf, a man with strong voice and sturdy character. He was a replacement Imam as the Imam who should come to give the sermon could not make it. Before he started he apologized for not being well-prepared and he hoped that the people could bear with him. His sermon was nothing special to Muslims, it was the same sermon he had given before. I was in the congregation and told myself that he really was not prepared. He talked about the pillars of Islam and Iman, who is Muhammad s.a.w. and who is Jesus a.s., things that are already well-versed for Muslims. I was thinking that he could have given a better sermon than that even though he was not well-prepared. I persisted through the sermon.
Few days after that, I learned that there is no coincidence in life but has been well-planned by Almighty Allah. A friend of mine told me that apparently a non-Muslim guy was present during the sermon and converted to Islam after listening to the sermon. He could have been exposed to Islam before but I am not sure about the detail of this. The sermon was a perfect introduction to Islam and the simplicity of its beliefs to someone who wants to know the basis of the religion. I was wrong to say that the Imam could have given a better one than that!
Lesson learned: Never underestimate every single detail that happens before you. God is a perfect planner.
Few days after that, I learned that there is no coincidence in life but has been well-planned by Almighty Allah. A friend of mine told me that apparently a non-Muslim guy was present during the sermon and converted to Islam after listening to the sermon. He could have been exposed to Islam before but I am not sure about the detail of this. The sermon was a perfect introduction to Islam and the simplicity of its beliefs to someone who wants to know the basis of the religion. I was wrong to say that the Imam could have given a better one than that!
Lesson learned: Never underestimate every single detail that happens before you. God is a perfect planner.
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