What A Start!

Been Busy. Work. And Play. Also School Reopened. Triple Busy. Parents Were Told No More School Fees. Yip Yip Hoooray! But Other Fees Awaited. Haaa! What? Many Grumbled. And More Protested. Education Minister Merajuk. Said The Government Has Subsidised Millions. Parents Very Ungrateful and Still In "Subsidy Mode". How To Move Forward, Like That?

The Thing Is, Wahai Datuk Minister, Why Bother Announcing The Removal Of School Fees Only To Replace It With Other "More Expensive" Fees. Fees Like Yuran Tandas Or Yuran MSSM. For The Record, My Daughters Never Ever Participated In Their School Sports Day Let Alone MSSM Event. And My Sister In Law (In Small Town Perak) Is Paying Significantly More For Her Son Than Us Here In KL. Why Like That? So Datuk Minister, No Need To Merajuk lah. Just Standardise The Whole System. We Pay. And The Election Is Coming, Kan?

So That's Basically The Start To My 2008. Nothing Exciting, Really. (And I Still Owe Pak Zabs A Tag). Anyway Happy New Year Again.

Yeay!

"Now there are more overweight people in the world than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average… which means, you have met your New Year's resolution."
-Jay Leno.

Really? Yeay!

The Last Weekend of 2007

Time Flies. It's going to be 2008 soon. Just what have I been up to in the last weekend of 2007?

i. Saturday - The plan was to attend the book reading session in Bangsar and finally to meet and get my Growing Up in Trengganu signed by the author Awang Goneng. But I didn't tell a soul of my intended plan. Not even to the wife. Because I just don't want to get my hope high only to be dashed by some last minute thingy. And true to form, I was stuck in the office until late evening on Saturday. Sigh! Its year end where everybody go for a holiday and be merry. And I couldn't even go to a book reading.

Awang Goneng and his better half Kak Teh

ii. Sunday - Daughters said they need to buy more school stuff - seperti bags, tudungs and all. Drove them to Summit USJ, had lunch and followed them up and down the shopping complex. The truth is that both the wife and yours truly do not enjoy shopping with the girls anymore....too much walking around aimlessly. Window shopping. Exhausted, we went back home just in time before Zohor habis. So after Asr, with body aching all over, climbed onto the bed and was snoring away soon after. A couple of minutes later, Arissa woke me up and shoved my ringing cellphone. Naturally I was startled big time. Saw the caller's name: Samantha (hehehe). And I groggily answered the call. (Btw, Samantha is one of my bestest and sweetest friends - but she speaks very loud - quite a lethal combination kan .. sweet and loud!). She informed that she's with Awang Goneng and Kak Teh in Bangsar Village at that moment (they are her good friends masa kat London dulu) and perhaps knowing that how I long for a signed book by AG, she offered to buy me the book kat MPH and have it signed. Now, isn't that sweet? And then she passed the phone to Kak Teh. I was then trying desperately to snap out of my grogginess and sound clever at the same time. Because I look up to well-known writers/bloggers like Kak Teh in a similar fashion like my daughters look up to..er.. Miley Cyrus, that was a real surreal moment for me. Mau tak surreal, tengah ting-tong terkejut dari tidur. After exchanging pleasantries, we hanged up. Then I hit my head onto the wall. Why oh why, didn't I request to speak to Awang Goneng himself? Anyway, just in case I didn't get to see both you in person, Terima Kasih AG and Kak Teh! That gesture means a world to me. And to you Wan, do come over for dinner as the Tiramisu's waiting! Bila nak balik KL lagi?

iii. Later that Sunday- As I was too hyped up to go back to sleep, I decided to pay a visit to the barber - nak potong rambut sikit. As I was preparing to leave, the wife tiba-tiba kelam-kabut nak ikut. I was going: "What for?" She responded: "Nak tumpang baca URTV free kat situ la!". Ooooh!

The Wisdom of Isa A.S

(I do believe this entry is rather appropriate for us Muslims to ponder upon - even more so during tis season where everybody are feeling jolly!)

The following sayings of Nabi Isa A.S from traditional Arabic sources are excerpted from Walk on Water, a book by Hamza Yusuf. Please note that the names in parentheses indicate the hadith scholar in whose collection the hadith is found.

i.
According to Ahmad, Prophet Isa A.S him was known to have said, "Virtuous action does not consist in doing good to someone who has done good to you -that is merely returning a favor. Virtuous action consists in doing good to those who have wronged you." (Imam Ahmad)

ii.
According to Malik b. Anas, Prophet Isa A.S, "Do not speak much without remembering God, for by doing so, you harden your hearts. Surely a hard heart is distant from God though you are unaware. Do not, like lords, look at the faults of others. Rather, like servants, look at your own faults. In truth, humanity is comprised of only two types, the afflicted and the sound. So show mercy to the afflicted, and praise God for well-being." (Imam Muwatta of Malik)

iii.
Once someone asked Prophet Isa A.S ,"How are you able to walk on water?" Prophet Isa replied, "With certainty." Then someone said, "But we also have certainty!" Prophet Isa then asked them, "Are stone, clay, and gold equal in your eyes?" They replied, "Certainly not!" Prophet Isa responded, "They are in mine." (Imam Ahmad)

iv.
Once Prophet Isa A.S met Iblis [Satan ]and Iblis said, "Is it not true that only what has been decreed will happen?" Prophet Isa replied, "That is true." Then Iblis said, "So throw yourself down from the top of this mountain, and let us see if you live or not!" Prophet Isa answered, "The servant does not test his master; rather, it is the master who tests his servant." (Imam Abu Na'im)

v.
Prophet Isa A.S said, "You will never obtain what you desire except through patience with what you despise." (Imam Al Ghazali)

vii.
Prophet Isa A.S , the son of Maryam, said, "God has given me the power to give life to the dead, sight to the blind, sound to the deaf; but He did not give me the power to heal the fool of his foolishness." (Imam Al- Razi)

(Hamza Yusuf is an American convert to Islam who studied for several years under leading scholars in the Muslim world. He is the co-founder of the Zaytuna Institute in California and has translated into modern English several classical Arabic texts and poems.)

Pantun Untuk Anda Semua

Kepada Sekelian Tuan-tuan dan Puan-Puan, Saudara Saudari Semua,

The New Year is coming! And the election is coming! The election is coming! I have stumbled upon a rather appropriate pantun for all of us. It goes like this:

Kalau Mencari Tempat Mandi

Pertama Teluk Kedua Pantai

Kalau Mencari Pemimpin Negeri

Pertama Elok Kedua Pandai.

Just a reminder:

The elok here refers to his or her "keperibadian" and "kejujuran" (not someone who has gone under the knife or has been injected with botox bagai and now she or he spots a brand new look.

And the pandai here refers not to those who are pandai only berkata-kata, pandai using a penyapu to sweep everything under the carpet, or pandai hiding behind ISA, the police and the mainstream media as and when it suits them... etc etc.

Okay? I'm going to work now. Bye!

(p.s: the pantun was apparently uttered by a certain menteri sometime in the 80s. As usual I ciplak it here lah!)