Salam Merdeka

It's Merdeka Eve! My daughters want to go to One Utama - apparently there's a Midnite Sale or something. They want to do their Raya shopping! So, I'm driving them over. Very not patriotic, no?
Well, we are just being typical and ordinary Malaysians.
Selamat Menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan everybody!!!

Being Bangsa Malaysia!

I grew up in a small kampung in rather a remote place in Perak. It’s called Temoh. When I said remote, its not really secluded, far-flung kind of place. For as far as I can remember, the tarred road has always been there and the bus service (although it passes through hourly) has always been quite reliable. So it’s not that we have to mendayung sampan or anything like that to reach our place.

It’s just that Temoh town is small, sandwiched between the more famous Tapah and Kampar. In fact, Temoh is located right down in the middle that to many locals we also called our place Batu Enam (you see, Temoh is six miles from Tapah to the south and six miles from Kampar at the other end).

However, where most of Temoh kids went to Tapah to do their secondary schooling (Temoh already had a prmary school where my mother attended both as a student and later on a teacher), my brothers and I were sent to Kampar right from Standard One. So in that sense we also consider Kampar as our hometown too. Who wouldn’t if you have to commute everyday for 13 years, right?

Why, Kampar? Well, for one as my arwah Bapak worked in Maybank Kampar, it made sense to send us there. He simply dropped us at school while on his way to work. More importantly, the school that we were sent to – La Salle and ACS Methodist School – were considered good schools then. They still are.

Looking back, I’m thankful that I’ve got the chance to go to these schools where Malays are not the majority. In fact, I remembered when I was in Form 5, there were only two of us Malay boys in my class Form 5(Commerce)II, Adzman and I. And four Malay girls – Salina, Zarin, Dzuraini and Faizah. Because of that I became close with others like Yih Jiun, Wai Seng, Yuen Peng, Yuen Cheng, Lee Yean, Chin Hao, Murugan, Rajendran and many more. Because of that, I think, I accept my non-Malay friends as they are. I don’t consider them my Chinese friends or Indian friends. I simply see them as my friends.

I must say that during those times, almost everybody got along fine, really. Of course there’s cliques and what not. But generally, it’s the bangsa Malaysia that we dreamed of “in action”.

Going to school in Kampar especially in Sek Men Methodist (ACS) Kampar was one of the “right” things that I’ve done. Thank you, bapak and mak!

And I was really delighted when one day a couple of months ago, this email arrived at my Inbox. It came from another former ACS Kampar student now studying in New Zealand. The email reminded me of friendships among the many races that I encountered while in Kampar.
Since I’m in a “merdeka” mood now, I decided to republish the email. It makes me feels good. (To Nav, Boleh ya, I publish your mail)


Encik Mior,
I chanced upon your blog while doing an online search
for Kampar a few months ago, and then decided to trawl
through it and have been coming back ever since.

I grew up in Kampar, and my father ran a clinic in Temoh.
He was the only doctor Temoh had for more than
20 years (clinic opened in 1982 I think and only
closed recently) and I used to accompany him to Temoh
to help out when I was younger.

The reason I enjoy your articles is that it reminds me
of home. Photos of large extended families,
reminiscing about childhood, the funny things children
say, articles about loghat Perak, photos of Kampar,
etc.

I moved away from Kampar after SPM in 1996, and have
been overseas since 2000. I am sure I will eventually
come back home to Malaysia, and would like to settle
back in Perak (and maybe even Kampar if they ever
upgrade the hospital - I am doing a postgrad in
Anaesthesiology) and your blog keeps reminding me
about what I'm missing by not being home, and makes me
yearn to be there even more. For that, I thank you.

May Allah bless you and your family.

Nav Sidhu
Palmerston North,
New Zealand

Pengertian Merdeka

We are celebrating our 50th Merdeka Day this Friday. Everywhere you go, we'll see bendera and more jalur gemilang. Newspapers and TV stations, tak usah cakapla. Every day you'll read and see many many many opinions by Malaysians about what Merdeka means to them. Most of the time, their words are simply, erm, words. Big words with no substance. You find it hard to believe them. Anyway, here is an excerpt of another "what merdeka means to me" opinion which I found in cyberspace. Actually, it's a rambling of a certain niece in her blog. I find her take is refreshing and I believe she writes with her heart. So I sought her permission to republish her entry about Merdeka here. In toto. Read on....

"dh mmg kite pernah dijajah british.. so akibatnye.. minda kite walau tak byk pun.. masih ade yg dijajah.. walaupun sikit.. who to blame? what u expect? we wear kain sarung? we wear baju melayu n pelikat all the time? so.. apabila kite pernah dijajah.. maka.. keadaan akan jd sebegini.. seperti yg sekarang ni.. org ckp.. yg generasi br tak merase kepedihan sebelum merdeka.. kuar² je dr perut dah senang lenang.. tp seriously.. kami tak pernah minta utk lahir lambat ke.. awal ke.. semua tu ketentuan ilahi.. n jgn nk salahkan kami jika kami takde spirit tu.. sbb dh mmg kami tak rase cemane susahnye nk merdeka..
tapi.. itu tak bermakna.. kami tak hargai.. cube tgk kete saye.. ade bendera.. kitorg cube nk bersemangat.. kitorg belajar sejarah all.. n jgn risau.. kitorg tetap bangga jadi anak malaysia.. cume.. bile ade sesetengah golongan yg mule nk marah² ckp generasi skrg tak bersemangat.. itu tak adil.. ketiadaan pengalaman tu yg membuatkan kitorg jadi camni.. kitorg tau dah nk merdeka yg ke-50.. kite kibar bendera.. cume.. tu terase cam anual event jer.. tade betul2 semangat cam generasi² sebelum ni..
but it doesnt mean.. kitorg perlekehkan ape² or mane² pihak.. kitorg bersyukur sgt negara ni aman.. walaupun berbilang kaum.. boleh bertoleransi.. syukur sgt.. sambutan merdeka yg ke-50 maybe seperti sambutan merdeka tahun² yg lalu bg kami.. tp kami tahu.. kami jelas.. bahawa sambutan merdeka yg ke-50 ni even sambutan merdeka pada bila² thn pun.. memberi makna yg mendalam pada yg pernah merasai perit nye kehidupan sebelum merdeka..
bagi kami.. yg lahir selepas kemerdekaan.. ataupun yg lahir selepas malaysia aman dan maju.. merdeka bg kami ialah ialah.. setelah habis semester.. or final exam.. or.. habis spm ke.. pmr ke.. or bile cuti panjang nk start.. or bile mak ayah pg outstation n bleh main je sampai tak hengat dunia.. tp mane dtg nye perkataan merdeka tu kalu bukan dr merdeka yg dulu? yeah.. merdeka yg dulu wujud br merdeka yg baru ni wujud.. merdeka bererti.. bebas!
walaubagaimanapun.. kami tetap rase mereka (org² terdahulu) hebat.. tetap berbangga.. cume maybe tak mempunyai semangat membara seperti mereka.. so.. kemerdekaan ni ialah hari menyambut pembebasan org² lame itu dr cengkaman penjajah.. walau kami ni tatau perasaan tu.. tp.. kami tetap menyambut kemerdekaan ini.. dan berbangga dgn mereka² yg pernah berjasa..

merdeka! merdeka! merdeka "

Well said, niece!!

My Wasted Sunday

Yeah! I slept thoughout.
Woke up for Subuh. Ngam ngam jer before hari terang.
Tengok2kan Mak. Surfed Astro channels. Sleepy still.
By 8 am, sudah masuk bersemayam di kamar beradu.
By 11.30 am, woke up again.
Lucky, as 10 minute later, arwah bapak's cousin Wan Adek and her daughter came a calling.
By 12.30 noon geromobolan from Cheras also came over.
Nisah, Naim, Fudel and Amin.
Fudel brought his Hookah Pipe and Shisha for us to try.
2pm, while everybody busy preparing for lunch, masuk Zohor jap.
Lepas Zohor, konon2 baring sekejap.
Sedar2 sudah pukul 6pm.
Huh! Where did I go?
And I missed lunch.
And swimming session with the gang.
What a waste.

Yan trying on the hookah's

Nisah and Fudel

Naim and Amin

Oh! By the way, the night before, Yan's cousin Kak La and her family - husband Abg Hamid, anak menantu also came over. Had dinner and sembang2.

Twelve Years of Asma

Happy 12th Birthday, My Baby!

Thank You! You Are Simply Glorious!

13 Jangan!

I, more than ever, need this reminder constantly. Mak is sick and its not easy for everybody. Mak, especially. Here goes...

Taat kepada ibu bapa adalah suatu kebaikan yang perlu didahului dengan menghindari daripada sifat derhaka. Apa gunanya melakukan kebaikan tetapi dalam masa yang sama juga kita melakukan kejahatan. Tidak melakukan kejahatan adalah lebih baik daripada tidak melakukan kebaikan.

Apa gunanya hidup bermewah tanpa memenuhi keperluan asas terlebih dahulu. Hidup dengan keperluan asas yang cukup adalah lebih utama daripada hidup bermewah-mewah.

Makanya…

Jangan 1: Memarahi ibu bapa
Kita bukanlah berhak untuk memarahi mereka apatah lagi mengherdik sehingga menimbulkan caci maki terhadap mereka. Jangan sekali-kali menjadikan teguran sebagai suatu alasan untuk membenarkan diri kita memarahi ibu bapa. Allah juga menjelaskan di dalam Quran surah al-Israk ayat 23 yang bermaksud, “…janganlah berkata kepada mereka ‘Cis’ dan juga mengherdik mereka. Tetapi ucapkanlah kepada mereka perkataan-perkataan yang mulia.”

Jangan 2: Memalingkan wajah
Apa yang dimaksudkan dengan memalingkan wajah adalah mengalihkan perhatian semasa sedang berkomunikasi dengan mereka. Maksud lain adalah mengambil sikap sambil lewa tatkala mereka sedang bercakap dan menyampaikan sesuatu kepada kita.Apa yang pelik adalah, kita mudah mengabaikan ibu bapa semasa sedang berkomunikasi. Segala kehendak dan perintah mereka dipandang sebagai sesuatu yang kurang penting dan remeh. Sedangkan mereka adalah orang lebih berhak menerima penghormatan dan perhatian di dalam sesebuah pertemuan atau hubungan komunikasi.Sebagaimana kita mampu menyerapkan sikap menyanjungi orang-orang ternama, lakukan yang lebih terhadap ibu bapa kita. Dengan sikap dan pandangan sedemikian, secara sendirinya kita akan menghormati malah setiap kali kita memandang dan mendengar kata-kata mereka, kita pasti merasakan ia adalah sesuatu yang paling berharga.

Jangan 3: Pandangan tajam
Iaitu menjeling atau menjegilkan mata menunjukkan rasa marah kita kepada mereka. Perbuatan ini mungkin akan lebih memeranjatkan mereka kerana ia menggambarkan lebih kebencian dan keegoan diri kita terhadap mereka. Semasa bercakap dengan mereka, pandang wajahnya atau tunduk sahaja sambil memberikan perhatian terhadap komunikasi yang dibina bersama mereka.

Jangan 4: Tunjuk bosan
Tidak kira sama ada ia melalui bahasa tubuh badan mahupun perkataan terhadap perbuatan dan kata-kata ibu bapa.

Jangan 5: Tinggi suara
Menghormati tidak hanya semasa berhadapan ataupun berurusan dengannya sahaja. Tetapi kehadiran mereka di sekitar kita juga perlu dihormati. Jangan tunjukkan perangai sewenang-wenangnya ketawa terbahak-bahak semasa mereka berada berhampiran dengan kita.

Jangan 6: Menepis malu
Rasa malu mengaku anak kepada ibu bapa sendiri kerana kemiskinan mereka selepas kita mempunyai kedudukan yang tinggi, kaya ataupun terhormat. Malah kita sengaja menyembunyikan identiti ibu bapa kita kerana berasa status mereka akan menggugat kedudukan kita di kalangan masyarakat yang menyanjung kita.

Jangan 7: Menyakitkan hati
Seperti sengaja memuji-muji ibu bapa orang lain dengan tujuan hendak membeza-bezakan di antara mereka. Bahkan memperli mereka dengan kata-kata yang menyakitkan hati.

Jangan 8: Kedekut
Kikir dan kedekut berlaku semasa kita memiliki rezeki atau sesuatu yang lebih dan pada masa itu kita mampu untuk memberikannya sedikit kepada ibu bapa. Kita sengaja tidak mahu menyerahkannya. Padahal yang diminta adalah benda yang ada. Kalau dia meminta benda yang tiada, itu lain pula ceritanya dan tidaklah boleh dinamakan kedekut; tetapi tiada kemampuan.

Jangan 9: Tinggi diri
Jangan lupa asal usul kita sehingga berasa lebih tinggi dan lebih baik daripada mereka. Walau setinggi mana kedudukan kita, kita adalah bermula daripada ketiadaan apa-apa. Orang yang mengangkat kita pada kedudukan sekarang ada ibu bapa kita sendiri yang tidak wajar untuk memandang rendah kepada mereka.

Jangan 10: Kritik
Ia adalah merangkumi kata-kata teguran yang hanya benar-benar mementingkan perasaan diri sahaja. Kita sering menginginkan kepuasan dalam apa sahaja yang kita lakukan. Ia mungkin banyak berlaku dan dilakukan di kalangan kita dengan kawan-kawan. Tetapi jangan sampai diperlakukan kepada ibu bapa kerana mereka bukan hanya perlu dilayan dengan baik, bahkan memerlukan layanan yang istimewa; lebih daripada apa yang diberikan kepada orang lain walaupun sahabat karib kita sendiri.

Jangan 11: Kata ganti diriSeolah-olah merasakan kita adalah sama kedudukan dengan ibu bapa atau lebih mulia dari mereka. Mungkin ada di antara kita yang biasa membahasakan diri sebagai ‘Aku’ kerana ibu bapa mendidik kita sedemikian sejak kecil. Ini mungkin terkecuali kerana bahasa diri itu tidak dianggap sebagai satu bahasa yang kasar dan biadab oleh sesetengah ibu bapa lantaran budaya keluarga masing-masing.

Jangan 12: Melebihkan orang lain
Selalunya terjadi apabila kita sering melebihkan kawan-kawan kita sama ada kelebihan dari sudut perhatian, pemberian, penghormatan dan juga masa terluang.

Jangan 13: Memihak pada siapa?
Kita tidak digalakkan menyokong permusuhan dan pertelingkahan. Tetapi falsafahnya larangan ini adalah mendorong kita memihak dan menyokong ibu bapa kita sekiranya mereka dimusuhi. Apatah lagi sekiranya mereka dicaci maki oleh orang lain.
Sayidina Ali bin Abu Talib berkata yang bermaksud, “Sekiranya Allah mengetahui ada sesuatu kederhakaan yang lebih ringan dari kata ‘ah’ pasti dia akan mengharamkannya. Orang yang derhaka boleh melakukan apa sahaja yang dikehendakinya, tetapi dia tidak akan masuk syurga. Orang yang berbakti kepada ibu bapa boleh melakukan apa sahaja, namun tidak akan masuk neraka.”

Tanpa ibu bapa, siapalah kita.

(adapted from an article from pts.com.my)

Lelaki Ini

Heard this song while driving. Now I'm feeling slushy. Allow me to dedicate this to my Yan.

Lelaki Ini by Anuar Zain

Kasih, kenanganku
Ingatkah saat saat dulu
Kasih, apakah dirimu
Merasakan semua itu

Ke mana pun langkahku pergi
Ku masih melihat bayanganmu cintaku
Dan kemana pun arah anginku berlari
Hati ini masih kau miliki

Lelaki ini yang selalu mencintamu
Selalu, tanpa ragu
Lelaki ini yang selalu memuja
Hanya dirimu
Yang bertakhta dalam sanubariku
Sanubari ku

Aku yang mencintakan mu
Hanya dirimu…
Karena cintaku, tak berbatas waktu
Karena cintaku, tak mengenal jenuh hatimu
Hatimu…

There. I love You!

Bila rezeki datang berkunjung...

Over the weekend, Yan's niece and nephews came over to makan-makan and mandi-mandi at the swimming pool. Here are the August Girls Asma and Nisah potong kek. Ala-ala birthday.

Then on Monday, while I was at work, my uncles - Ayah Anjang and Ayah Chik - and their wives and anak and cucus datang. They came and makan-makan jugak sampai tak hingat dunia yang all of them ada diabetes segala. Anyway, Ayah Chik's youngest cucu, three year old Haifa looks exactly like Asma when she was at her age. You could still see the resemblance here...

Being Fair!

Woke up this morning and The Star screamed into my face with this:

I want to be fair
I have been fair
I'll always be fair

If only...

Ingatan Hari Jumaat

Copy paste this from The Kimster's blog (boleh ya bro?)

Rasulullah S.A.W telah bersabda bahawa, "Malaikat Jibrail A.S, Mikail A.S., Israfil A.S. dan Izrail A.S. telah berkata kepadaKu:

"Berkata Jibrail A.S.:"Wahai Rasulullah, barangsiapa yang membaca Selawat ke atasmu tiap-tiap hari sebanyak sepuluh kali, makan akan saya bimbing tangannya dan akan saya bawa dia melintasi Titian Siratul Mustaqiim seperti kilat menyambar.

"Berkata pula Mikail A.S.:"Mereka yang berSelawat ke atas kamu akan aku beri mereka itu minum dari telagamu.

"Berkata pula Israfil A.S.:"Mereka yang berSelawat kepadamu akan aku sujud kepada Allah S.W.T. Dan aku tidak akan mengangkat kepalaku sehingga Allah S.W.T. mengampuni orang itu.

"Malaikat Izrail A.S. pula berkata:"Bagi mereka yang berSelawat ke atasmu, akan aku cabut roh mereka itu dengan selembut-lembutnya seperti aku mencabut roh para Nabi.

"Wallahua'lam.

As life goes on in Malaysia....

i.

When Sharifah Amani won her best actress award at last year’s Malaysian Film Festival, and uttered the infamous line “I sound stupid when I speak Malay!” during her acceptance speech, many people went into an overdrive and vilified her. One minister was reported to be very angry even! Tiada Maaf bagi mu, Amani!!!
But when a certain Malaysian student in Taiwan (Wee Meng Chee) posted his rap parody of the Negaraku recently, many people also got offended. But two cabinet ministers jumped the gun and came to his defence.
From the Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek: “The MCA has accepted the apology and I hope the government and all Malaysians will accept it too.”
From Information Minister Datuk ZAM: “ He should not be punished but instead be guided and educated to enable him to understand the basics and to distinguish between political and national issues.”
But later on, during a weekly Cabinet meeting last Wednesday, the cabinet decided that it is not in a position to accept Wee’s public apology to the government and Malaysians for mocking the national anthem. Waah!

Bapak: Have watched the video. Don’t understand it as it is in Hokkien. But I’m certainly not happy – there should be a limit to freedom of expression. And if I’m the two ministers who defended Wee earlier on, I’ll be sooo malu I’ll resign right away.

ii.

A close friend is stressed out. He works in a government organisation that gives out funding to new upstart projects. And he’s directly involved in approving and disbursing the fund to those qualified. Only thing is that here more often than not, those who are qualified for the funding is usually based not on the criteria set by the organisation but rather based on the approval and recommendation of a certain Minister. And why am I not surprised?
Recently, his organisation co-organised a certain signing agreement ceremony with a Ministry. You know, the usual works - rent a hotel meeting room, set up table, invite the press, jamuan teh etc etc. From 2pm to 5pm.
Total cost of the event: a whopping RM100,000 (with around RM90,000 went to AV equipment rental alone). And guess which co-organiser had to foot the entire cost?

Bapak: No wonder kawan aku ni stress.

iii.

Elsewhere in Malaysia, everything is hunky dory. No crime, no inflation, no rakyat teraniaya. But got monkeys laaar.

Bapak: Oh! My Malaysia!

A Life Lesson - The Carpenter

A highly skilled carpenter who had grown old was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire.The employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor.

The carpenter agreed to this proposal but made sure that this will be his last project. Being in a mood to retire, the carpenter was not paying much attention to building this house. His heart was not in his work. He resorted to poor workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the job was done, the carpenter called his employer and showed him the house. The employer handed over some papers and the front door key to the carpenter and said "This is your house, my gift to you."

The carpenter was in a shock! What a shame! If he had only known that he was building his own house, he would have made it better than any other house that he ever built!

Our situation can be compared to this carpenter. Allah Ta'la has sent us to this world to build our homes in paradise by obeying His commands. Now, we have to decide how well we wish to build the homes where we will live forever.

Source: www.islamcan.com

Bila Wan Cik and Chu datang bertamu...

From left Razif, Norizan and baby, Wancik and Chu. The rest are my cinta.

They are my favourite and closest aunts. My Wancik and her younger sister Chu. They are my arwah Bapak's younger sisters. Nama jer favourite mak sedara but we have not met like close to two years. Tang mana silapnya, tak tau lar. But once in a while, we still spoke over the phone.

Today, these two aunts came over from Ipoh. Nak jumpa their sister in law - my Mak Temoh. They came with my cousin Razif and his family. Razif anak Chu. And came around noon. Not long after that, their younger brother Ayah Chik dropped by too.

They had lunch at our place. We chatted and chatted. We laughed and laughed. And then told Wancik that Marks & Spencer is having its Sale!!! She brightened up. And decided to go to OU. Chu stayed behind with her cucu as Razif and wife Norizan joined Yan, Wancik and I.

As far as I can remember, Wancik has been a regular Mark & Spencer customer for a long long time. Once when I was in Form Two, I followed her to Penang and remembered vividly pergi Mark & Spencer outlet. It was just a small outlet then. So imagine, how old we are now?

When I was younger and still single-mingle, I used to drive Wancik and Achik (Ayah Chik's wife) around shopping centres in KL. Almost always we went out early in the morning and only came back late in the evening, much to the chagrin of my almarhum Opah. "Tak ingat nak balik rumah ker?" would be the usual greetings from Opah. Nasib baik masa tu tak dak handphone, so nobody could track us down.

So in the spirit of the good old days, we went to OU and then pi Ikea. Shopping. Balik rumah tadi - sakit pinggang, lutut, betis and kaki. Rasa nak demam lar.

Ajeh and son (currently the youngest anak sedara, right?) Rafek Mustaqim. Cute ya amat.

An annual note to my sweetheart!

Happy Birthday, My Sweetheart! You are 13 today. Sudah besar anak bapak. Kalau dulu-dulu ni, sibuk le mak bapak nak cari kan jodoh. Tak pe, tak pe. Kita akan usahakan bersama-sama bila tiba masanya nanti like 10 years from now.

Bapak bersyukur kepada Yang Maha Esa akan berkat ini, di atas anugerah ini yang bernama Alia. Tak terungkai dek kata-kata betapa mak dan bapak amat-amat bersyukur kerana dapat anak yang sihat, cantik dan baik hati. Alhamdulillah.

Sempena Hari Lahir ini, seperti biasa Bapak panjatkan doa agar anak Bapak yang manis ini tetap dalam iman, sentiasa bersabar dan bersyukur dalam apa jua yang dihadapi, dan moga panjang umur. Tetap bahagia.

Doa Bapak juga supaya Alia rajin-rajin belajar. Alia, you must strive for perfection in whatever you do. You must not settle for anything less.

Kalau nak berboyfriend, mintak permission dulu. Confirm jawapannya - NO WAY! Kalau ada calon, just let Bapak know, kita masukkan dalam list dulu.

Apapun, thank you for being a wonderful daughter! Here's to many many more years to come! InsyaAllah!

Dan jangan lupa hari ni, mintak ampun serta peluk Mak. Remember that exactly 13 years ago Mak bertarung nyawa melahirkan Alia.

Selamat Hari Lahir, My Sweetheart!

Laki-laki Sejati

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari bahunya yang kekar, tetapi dari kasih sayangnya pada orang disekitarnya...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari suaranya yang lantang, tetapi dari kelembutannya mengatakan kebenaran...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari jumlah sahabat di sekitarnya, tetapi dari sikap bersahabatnya pada generasi muda bangsa...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari bagaimana dia di hormati ditempat bekerja, tetapi bagaimana dia dihormati didalam rumah...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari kerasnya pukulan, tetapi dari sikap bijaknya memahami persoalan...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari dadanya yang bidang, tetapi dari hati yang ada dibalik itu...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari banyaknya wanita yang memuja, tetapi komitmennya terhadap wanita yang dicintainya...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari jumlah tanggungjawab yang dibebankan, tetapi dari tabahnya dia menghadapi lika-liku kehidupan...

Laki-laki Sejati bukanlah dilihat dari rajinnya membaca kitab suci, tetapi dari konsistennya dia menjalankan apa yang ia baca..

Museum Volunteers Malaysia

Although I enjoy reading historical pieces and watching History Channel, I don’t really fancy going to museums, which as you all know where historical artefacts are housed. I find static display of historical stuff are, well, just plain boring. Big time. I simply don’t have the stomach to do that. Why I even find looking at the crocs in Ikano ever more liberating! Hmm!

I believe for museums to be more appealing, they should make their presentations interactive. You know through technology or at the very least through human tour guides. Like the The Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. I remembered in one section of the museum there was free-flowing of Cokes and being a true blue Malaysian who thrive on barang percuma I drank Cokes until I was really really sick. Whatever it is, that’s my kind of museum.

Which brings us to Museum Volunteers of Malaysia which since April this year have been conducting guided tours done in English and French at Muzium Negara.

The Museum Volunteers of Malaysia is a non-profit, non-governmental, non-political and non-religious group with the aim to promote public and government awareness of museums while encouraging its appreciation among the visitors.

I have been to Muzium Negara previously and did not particularly enjoy it, but recently the group invited me to tag along for a session. And whaddya know? I liked it. I like the fact there’s someone explaining the significance of various displays. I really don’t know how to describe it but having a guide in a museum tour is much better than walking aimlessly from one display to another. You tend to appreciate it more.

But with the Museum Volunteers of Malaysia, I also feel a bit malu as most of these guides are “expat moms”. The one I met, Marie Christine Tseng is French married to a Taiwanese. And she knows a lot more about history of Malaysia than me. A real alamak!!! moment for me.

Currently, the tours are done at 10 am on Tuesdays and 11am on Thursdays where they take visitors to selected sections of the museum that focuses on discovering and exploring Malaysia.

The free tours start at the front of the main entrance desk, which is the meeting point for those interested. Reservations are needed for groups and school tours while dedicated tours and activities for children and schools will be made available soon.

Marie also told me that they are recruiting more volunteers as to offer the tours during weekends.

The Museum Volunteers of Malaysia is hosted by Muzium Negara, which supports and promotes their projects and activities since their inception.

Interested to be a volunteer, you may contact
Marie Christine Tseng
Tel: 017 230 5199
E-mail: mvmqueries@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.jmm.org.my/

That's Marie (right) explaining things to a group of Vietnamese tourists

I'm no Bill Miller!

My daughters told me the other day that I'm just like Bill Miller, the father character in that American TV sitcom, Still Standing.
While I enjoy the show whenever I managed to watch it, I beg to differ. I am certainly no Bill Miller. I can be more cruel. Ha ha!

The cast of Still Standing

And you call him/her.....?

My daughters call me Bapak. They call Yan, Mak. Simple. Very basic.

Both Yan and I call our fathers and mothers, bapak and mak jugak. When I was younger, I remember that many others - friends and cousins - call their fathers, abah. At one point, my brothers and I pun musykil jugak. Why bapak?

Anyway I just remembered that my Mak Temoh called her father (my Tok Temoh) ayah while almarhum bapak called his father, abah. Macamana boleh jadik bapak ni? And get this, both my parents called their mothers, Encik. Funny, is it not? Well, in the good old days ramai my sedara mara call their mother, Encik. Why? Don't ask me. It's a Perak thing, I guess.

Apapun, there's one time when I was in secondary school and somehow I managed to incur almarhum Bapak's wrath (can't remember why though, must be something about my report card, oh well!). Bapak simply went berserk and boomed at me:

"Kepala bapak kamu!!!!"

And I just stood there trying to restrain myself from bursting out laughing. Gila nak gelak, but I was very kecut then.