Dunia Z.A. Imad

Pengumuman: Bersosial di dalam Bahasa Inggeris

2012-02-05T19:36:00.001-08:00

Memandangkan semakin banyak entri di dalam blog ini yang ditulis di dalam Bahasa Inggeris, maka saya telah mewujudkan sebuah blog khusus menggunakan bahasa tersebut. Blog tersebut boleh dilawati dengan klik di sini.

Sebahagian entri berbahasa Inggeris yang ada di sini akan diposkan sekali lagi di dalam blog tersebut. Sementara itu blog ini akan lebih memfokus kepada dunia penulis, penulisan dan reviu buku.

Terima kasih kerana terus menyokong DZAI!

The Untold Diary of A Mu'allim's Seasoned Car (Part 3)

2011-11-22T08:18:00.000-08:00

You scratch your head. It has been spontaneous for you to do that whenever you are seeking for some sort of enlightenment.

You are looking for a conclusive solution. Therefore, you decide to make a phone call. The head scratching removes the blockade in your blood circulation around your cerebrum. You've got an idea. You call your dad. He has been your problem solver since you started to breathe.

You listen closely to his suggestion, give a little thought about it and decide to take his advice. So, you try pull a wire or two on your engine and try to start it again. You succeed but you know it will not last long.

Nervously, you drive the car to the nearest workshop. The time is ticking up. You need your Sweetheart to be repaired immediately.

You tell the mechanic about your problem. He and a few others diagnose it. As they are doing their job, the Queen of Your Heart and your VIP wait on a torn couch inside the workshop. The smell of oil and smoke sticks up deep into your throat. You believe that your passengers feel the same if not worse.

You move back and forth waiting anxiously the result of the diagnose. You are hoping that the damage is minor but as the time passes you know that you have to expect for the worst.

You scratch your head again. You have an appointment to catch and the time is moving. You must make a move. Therefore you opt to... (To be continued)

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The Untold Diary of a Mu'allim's Seasoned Car (Part 2)

2011-10-15T04:22:00.000-07:00

Luckily, you manage to start your engine and continue with your journey.

Your sigh of relief tells the whole story. However, the challenge doesn't end there.

In a very short moment, your Sweetheart begins to show the same symptom again. The engine rumbles but the movement is not as smooth. It is as if someone is having hiccups. Your worriness turns to a nightmare. Once again, the engine stop.

"Oh, no. Not again!" You say to yourself. The embarassment becomes unbearable. It grows into frustration and that frustration almost turns into anger.

You move your Sweetheart to the side of the road. You open its hood and look at the engine trying to figure out what is really happening.

As you are doing that, you start questioning yourself. Your Sweetheart seemed okay yesterday. It was okay early this morning when you were driving it to look out for breakfast. Then, why oh why does it become like this at this moment? Why must it shows problems when it matters the most?

The questions are unsolved so as your search for the real problem of your Sweetheart. You are not a mechanic. You have to resolve to others to help you. You almost feel insignificant.

You take a glance to the passengers' seat and you can see a look of concern from both your passengers. You can feel the burden weighing on your shoulder. You can almost feel that your feet are sinking into the earth. (To be continued...)

What would you do? Cast your vote below.

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The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: Lost

2011-09-27T03:09:00.000-07:00

He owned a pen. He used it to mark his students' books, tick the attendance, draft his meeting minutes, and write something into his diary. One day, he lost the pen. He borrowed it to someone and that someone passed it to another person and so on.

A moment later, he realised that the pen was missing. He tried to track it to the first person who borrowed it. That person said, "Oh, I passed it to another person. Maybe you can ask him."

So, he asked the next person. To his dissappointment, that person also had no clue of the whereabout of the pen as he thought that he had left it somewhere for someone to take it.

He kept on looking. He went around here and there like a cat missing its kittens but to no avail. He went back to the first person who borrowed the pen. That person asked him, "Why are you so gloomy? It is just another pen."

He sighed and looked at his friend.

"Well my friend, it is just another pen. It's not the pen that I am worried about. I am worried about myself."

"Yourself? Why?" His friend looked confused.

"My friend, I am a teacher. A mu'allim."

"So, do I," said his friend.

"My friend, imagine that the pen is one of my students. One day, that student will be passed on to another teacher. He will bring together whatever I've thought him. He will bring along my legacy. However, I have failed to make sure that the student is handed over to the right person and thus I've lost him. I don't know what will happen to him. My friend, I've failed to make sure that I can take care of thing as small as a pen. What is the guarantee that I can take care of something bigger?"

His friend swallowed the thing said by the mu'allim. Eventually, he said, "Indeed, my friend. It is a lost for both you and I. It is OUR lost."

Crossover: The Untold Diary of A Mu'allim's Seasoned Car (Part 1)

2011-08-23T00:43:00.000-07:00

You are moving to the next phase of your life. You put together a plan towards that phase. Today, an important event is going to materialise. You are nervous but prepared. Someone really important is going to be there. It makes you feel more nervous. You take a deep breath and pray to God that everything will go smoothly.

You take your Sweetheart; a seasoned car which age is the same as yours. You love your ride but you know its capability better than anyone else. Bringing together that important person on that ride has become a big concern for you. You whisper to your Sweetheart, "Please, I need this. Please bear with me."

As the engine starts, it begins to rumble. So, as your heart. You bring together The Queen of Your Heart because you need her to be there for both you and that important person. You finally pick up that important person and start the first journey together inside your Sweetheart.
Suddenly, something happens. Your sweetheart seems cannot carry on with the journey. True enough, not too far away, it stops.

You're really embarrassed. You can feel that one of the passengers behind is staring at you. You try not to look back. You are too terrified.

"Come on Sweetheart! Don't do this to me!" Your heart is crying out loud. You push the ignition key a few times to get the engine starts again but to no avail.

You sigh. You can feel that your plan for today crumbles into pieces.

You take another deep breath. You try not to give up. No matter what, things must go as planned.

You hold your key and start to push it one last time.... (To be continued)

So, what will happen next? Cast your vote below.

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The Diary of A Seasoned Car: 555

2011-06-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

It felt like sailing a boat on a wavy ocean when driving this car. The absorbers had lost its function. I'd been considering to change them for a while.

So, finally I decided to do it. The comfort of my potential passengers was my motivation. Furthermore, I might take this car for a long journey in the near future.

However, the budget was a little bit overshot. It was my ignorance that I did not make an adequate research for the best workshop with the best price. It was a little bit impromptu.

Earlier in the morning, I went to another workshop to replace the damage front number plate. The plan after that was to replace one of the door knob. Halfway through I changed my mind. My mind was actually elsewhere. I was thinking about a potential passenger. And then the thought of replacing the absorbers suddenly became imminent.

Money was not a real issue. I had my savings and with that money I went to a workhsop in Bandar Baru Bangi to have the job done to the car.

To my dissappointment, it took them almost 3 hours to get the job done which was about 2 hours and 15 minutes later than what had been promised. There were even additional charges to the charge that had been initially agreed. Contractually, I could have cancelled the service. However, the work was half done (They had disassembled the necessary parts before leaving the car like that for me to wait for almost 2 hours. Great tactics!). Should I revoke the contract, I would be in a very disadvantagous position. They could leave it like that and let me reassemble the parts myself! Should I decide to continue, I had to pay a hefty price, yet affordable, for their service. Either way, I was sucker punched.

However, considering the lesser of the two evils, I took the latter. I'd get at them back later. From RM 490 to RM 561 to RM 555, I felt like I had been conned. I could only blame my stupidity should that feeling was not just a feeling. I admitted that I couldn't really think straight that day.

At the end of the day, no more wavy ride of the car. It felt better than before when driving it on bumpy roads. But at RM 555? I felt like that amount should had been put in a small tiny book called '555'. Well, lesson learnt; Do not go to an unfamiliar workshop to get your car repaired and when you couldn't think straight, avoid riding a seasoned car.

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: The Truth

2011-06-19T01:14:00.000-07:00

A lecturer once told him.

"There are two types of truth. The truth and the real truth."

The statement caused him to raise his eyebrow, "What's the difference?"

The lecturer said, "Well, you see... when two persons argue, both of them are telling the story based on their own exclusive perceptions and evidence, if any. What they present are the truth exclusively to themselves. Why? Because they believe it to be the truth."

"Okay," he said. "But then, how do we get to know the real truth?"

"It's all about belief. Which facts are more believable to both parties."

He chuckled, "I guess we won't find the real truth then."

"Well, I guess that's the painful truth that we have to accept, isn't it?"

There's only one thing about the truth that he know. It hurts. Recently, he had a 'Meet the parents' session at his workplace. It was a time where the performance of the students will be revealed to the parents. He thought this was a really good opportunity to dig up the real problems of his students, if any. He needed to know of any space that he could use to improvise both himself and his beloved students.

He had positive meetings with the parents. Both him and the parents knew that they share the same goal. To build a better tomorrow. The children are the future, there is no doubt about it. A parent told him in Malay, "Teacher, you can do anything to my child. Punish him if necessary. You can do anything as long as you don't break his bones. I just want my child to be a better person."

While he was not a keen supporter of physical force to use againts a 10-year-old child, he was left numb witnessing the determination of the parents to see their children to become better persons. Their eyes were glaring with hopes. He felt burdened but it was a burden that he had to carry when he decided to hold the title as a teacher. That's the truth.

However, in a very isolated case, a guardian of one of his students just couldn't accept the truth. The meeting was very short. There was not much talking. The guardian just asked him to pass the student's examination result. The guardian took off his spectacles and seemed to scrutinize it. He glanced at the student. She didn't look back at him. Her face was gloomy. That gloomy face left him wondering the reason behind it.

Then, without even asking him to explain the result, the guardian started to curse. Unpleasant words were heard. He hoped that only he could heard the guardian's voice. So, he took the best measure for the moment. Keep smiling and let the guardian talk. After all the mumbling finished, the guardian took off without even saying thank you.

He felt so devastated and terrified. He was terrified with the truth that the guardian was trying to convey. He didn't have the chance to know the real problem of this particular student and the guardian was so overwhelmed with his emotion to even try to discuss what really went wrong.

The beautiful world crumbled before his eyes all of the sudden. He was humbled by the truth. It is indeed painful to accept the truth.

Singapura Yang Tidak Kukenali: Ubah

2011-06-06T01:22:00.000-07:00

Walaupun memegang taraf warganegara Singapura, tidak banyak yang boleh saya ceritakan tentang negara tersebut. Negara itu tidak lebih daripada Bedok Reservoir yang merupakan kejiranan di mana nyai tinggal ataupun taman permainan di Blok 9 Holland Avenue yang menjadi tempat saya bermain bersama-sama adik-adik dan juga sepupu saya setiap kali pulang ke negara ini. Singapura bagi saya tidak lebih daripada kunjungan hari raya ke rumah sanak-saudara ataupun menziarahi saudara terdekat yang meninggal dunia.

Jadi, apabila saya pulang ke Singapura, pasti ada sahaja perkara janggal yang akan saya temui. Negara ini cukup pantas berubah; orangnya, insfrastrukturnya, budayanya... Setiap kali saya pulang, ada sahaja bangunan baru yang naik. Kalau dahulu tidak ada Marina Bay Sands, sekarang tempat berkumpulnya tahi-tahi judi itu menjadi sebuah destinasi utama yang menjana ekonomi Singapura. Peluang-peluang pekerjaan terbuka luas dengan pembukaan tempat-tempat seperti itu. Ada yang menjadi penyambut tetamu, ada yang menjadi GRO, ada yang menjadi pembancuh arak, ada yang menjadi tukang cuci, ada yang menjadi pemandu, oh, pintu rezeki terbuka luas di sana. Berpusu-pusu gerombolan anak muda ke sana untuk mencari sesuap rezeki. Hasil yang diperolehi menjadi darah daging masing-masing. Darah daging anak-anak. Darah daging cucu-cucu. Cukup hasil itu untuk dirasai oleh 7 keturunan yang seterusnya. Hasil yang dijana daripada judi dan arak.

Bayangkan apa akan jadi Singapura di masa akan datang? Generasi-generasi yang darah dagingnya terpalit dengan hasil judi dan arak.

Perubahan-perubahan yang saya lihat itu sudah tidak menjadi satu kehairanan lagi. Saya tidak hairan lagi apabila masyarakat Singapura tidak lagi mempunyai tatasusila ketimuran. Saudara-saudara seagama saya juga tidak segan silu membuat maksiat malah ada pula yang mendabik dada membuka pekung masing-masing.

Tatkala saya meniti pinggiran Sungai Singapura, saya terpaku kepada tugu Stamford Raffles yang ada di situ. Masa depan beginikah yang dirancang oleh penjajah Inggeris ini? Masa depan yang dipenuhi dengan tahi-tahi judi, kaki botol, penzina dan anak-anak luar nikah? Nyata jika demikian, agenda penjajahan itu masih berjalan seperti yang dirancang.

Setiap kali menyeberangi tambak, saya akan menoleh ke pulau kerdil itu. Entah mengapa, setiap kali saya menoleh, pulau itu kelihatan semakin kerdil. Mungkin inilah perubahan yang paling jelas dapat lihat. Kekerdilan.

The Diary of A Seasoned Car: Blinded

2011-06-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

The journey continued. A few days earlier, recklessness had costed it 'an eye'. Immediate replacement was necessary as without the 'eye', the vision would be blinded when darkness falls.

After replacing the exhaust pipe, the next stop was a place to change the right front light of the car. The first visit to a scrapped car cemetery was not fruitful.

The search resumed to a nearby a workshop in Kajang. The place was suggested by the mechanic who repaired the exhaust pipe. True enough, it was much easier to find spare parts for the seasoned car there. It took about 3o minutes for the light to be replaced and the cost was reasonable.

Although it was not an original part, at least the view will no longer be blinded.

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: Starry Night

2011-05-31T22:09:00.000-07:00

There were hundreds of them in front of him. All eyes were on him. They awaited eagerly. He made them wait. He screened the floor. It was always the youngs sitting at the front. No stage was necessary to make him feel superior. He could just feel it. That nostalgic feeling.

It had been years since the last time he was doing this. He was really nervous about it. He thought his time was over but when an old friend came knocking on his door, he couldn't say no.

It wasn't a big part that he played that night. Yet, it was a really significant moment. He wasn't the real star that night. The real star was a group from a neighbourhood country. He knew little about them before they met eye to eye but when they did, he realised that they had one thing in common.

He couldn't thank more to all the people involved that night; his partner who had been brilliant with his artistic instinct, the organisers, an old friend and of course the real gem that night, Izzatul Islam.

He almost couldn't believe it that, the event that night went really smoothly despite the impromptu preparations. There was not enough time, not enough people to handle the event and considering the nature of event, there was not enough time to prepare for it but yet it still happened. It only took him a glance to the sky to figure out whose hands were handling those difficulties. Subhanallah!

The night felt beautiful and he thought of what more wonders awaiting in the future.

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: Dream

2011-05-23T05:10:00.001-07:00

He was there wearing an expensive black suit. Black and white. He didn't really love the colour but still he could feel the pride in wearing it. Sitting beside him was a really nervous defendant. He believed that guy was innocent.

It was time for the man in wig to give his judgment. Innocent. He inhaled deeply to surpress his excitement and exhaled in relief. He looked at the opponent and smiled triumphantly. Justice had been served. It was like a dream.

To his horror, it really was nothing but a dream. He couldn't afford those expensive suits. He had never been inside a real court. The nearest he had been was the lobby. It was just a dream.

The reality was far from that. The reality was he woke up early everyday and drove his seasoned car to a place he had never dreamt of before. The school. It was his battlefield with everyday struggles while craving for his dream to become true.

That struggles made him almost forget about his shattered dream. He had become more and more attached to the school. The people, the children, the place. There was something about this place that made him felt safe.

Until one day, that dream came knocking again. He was about to begin his class when one of his children asked him a question.

"Teacher, did you ever dream of being here?"

He couldn't answer the question. He couldn't lie too. With a fake smile he tried to swallow the reality. It was painful as hell.

The Diary of A Seasoned Car: Roar!

2011-05-21T19:01:00.000-07:00

Nissan Sunny 120Y. That 1983 model car was as old as the driver. Rusty voices annoyingly disturbed other road users. Such nuisance was understandable. The driver understood it.

The engine was still working although the strenght was fading. He loved the car and decided it was to time for a total make-over.

Considering his financial ability, he had to do it phase by phase. First of all, he wanted to get rid of the noisy roaring caused by some leakage to the exhaust pipe. That thing had to be replaced.

The journey began at 10.30 am in a serene Saturday morning. He didn't really know where to go so he asked his old man to facilitate him. Together, they went to the usual mechanic. Due to lack of tools and equipments, the mechanic suggested another workshop and they took the advice.

Situated at the side of Jalan Reko, the workshop was easy to find. There was a lot of exhaust pipes could be seen inside it. As described by the usual mechanic, they were the specialists.

They took less than an hour to make the repair. At the cost of RM 150, the annoying coughing was no more. The car was partly revived. The driver was fully satistfied. TG could be 'young' again.

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: Teacher's Day

2011-05-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, he used to persuade his parents to buy a lot of gifts for his teachers. He eagerly wrapped the presents with the help of his mother. The wrapping looked clumsy but there was no question about his sincerity. He loved his teachers.

This time around, things were different. Instead of wrapping a present, he would be doing the opposite. His hands were full with presents. His stomach, with foods. It was not just him. His colleagues were also having the same symptoms.

From day one, the feeling blossomed into something mutual. Love. He became more and more attached to the children, something he tried to avoid when he stepped into this profession. It was not because he hated commitment. It was a necessity. He realised one day, he would have to leave them. He would hurt them so bad to make him regret it for the rest of his life.

The future for him was an irony. He wanted the children to become better persons than him but at the same time he was terrified that he would have no chance to see it with his own eyes.

He sat on at a corner with a plate of unfinished moist chocolate cake on the table. He looked at his children happily chatting with each other while enjoying the meals. Slowly he tried to swallow the painful reality. Slowly he wonder the pleasure behind such pain.

He was waiting for a present. A special present.

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: English Week

2011-05-15T03:03:00.000-07:00

Teaching English as a second language was not an easy task. We had to pause several times to make sure that what we taught was listened to and understood. It was a really challenging task. Patience was always at stake.

So, creative ways were invented to ensure effective learning. Children nowadays are different. A thin rattan cane is not the immediate answer to their development unlike old days. A pinch on their cheek and the teachers will start receiving enormous assault from the parents. That's one of the biggest challenge in a profession as a teacher.

All that angers were kept deep inside their hard. Slowly, they developed a rationale and overcame that disturbing emotion. God created humans with special ability. A mind to think and a heart to emphatise. It was a really tiring process for some but as teachers, it was inevitable.

Thus, he joined the other teachers under the English Panitia brainstorming the best creative ways to make learning English cool. Again, the process was energy and time consuming. They managed to meet twice to finally deliver the best activities for English Week.

The pre-event went as planned. He filled the school building with promotional posters. Students started asking him questions. He just smiled and said, "Just wait for it. It's something BIG!"

As the event kicked off however, not all thing went as planned especially with the activities in which he was in charge. There was a lot of last minutes changes. Things became a little bit out of his hands. Oh, he felt so sorry for those children who were really eager to join the fun but yet he had to deny them.

Despite that defect (he knew none from others), all in all, English Week had became an illustrious event for him since joining this profession. He saw the unexpected. The Speaker's Corner was hot and sizzling with unpolished talents.

It was a really fun week. The teachers really worked hand in hand to make the event successful. He had never seen such enthusiasm before. They really loved their job and he hope he could imitate such passion throughout the remainder of his tenure here.

The only regret was however, he still felt that he had yet to fully deliver. He knew there are still more of him inside. He just needs to discover. Yes, he must.

He must dream BIG, plan BIGGER and achieve the BIGGEST. And the BIGGEST achievement is of course, MARDHATILLAH.

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: Judged!

2011-05-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

A big mouth, a watch, a hanged-man and a book of statutes were chosen to symbolise himself by his old friends. Those symbols corresponded with his educational background in law.

He was deemed to be talkative (the big mouth), precise and punctual (the watch), knowledgable of the law (the book of statutes) and punishing bad people (the hanged-man). This was how people judged him then.

Standing there by himself, his educational background had little to do with what he was facing now. He was judged again. All plans went haywire and he could feel that he had lost his grip. He could only sigh and nervously waiting for the result.

As he expected, there was much flaws. Technically, as one of the freshies, those flaws could be forgiven. He realised that there was still a lot of room for him to improve. He felt relieved because he knew that he was yet to reach his peak despite the fading color of his hair.

But one comment really stung his conciousness. He knew that his pupils loved him but the rationale behind that love was a little big worrying. It was a real big question mark. An unsolved mystery.

It was never his intention to make them loved him because of his jokes. He didn't think that he he had that much sense of humour to make laughable jokes. He had never been a funny guy. But, yet, jokes were still used to attract his students to what he taught. It became a worrying realisation that the students might be attracted to him more rather than his teaching.

He cleared his mind and made some reevaluation. There might be the slightest of truth in it looking at the overall performance of his students. Some showed some improvement. Some showed none.

That comment had been a reminder for him. He might be loveable but not his teaching. Or he could do otherwise.

However, he knew that they were not the only choices he had. Why not be loveable and at the same time make his teaching loveable?

Looking forward, he understood that he would be facing a new challenge. He felt so excited!

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: Cross!

2011-05-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

He had been waiting for this moment. Once in five years. The waiting was lenghty enough to make him felt the excitement of the day itself.

Together with his brothers, they marched towards the land. Being far from his country, he had to travelled far. He woke up as early as 4 in the morning. The water was warm enough to make it easier for him to clean up himself. But the unfortunate still happened. He slipped and fell onto the bathroom floor. He managed to break a bath sink on his way down.

The other members of the family woke up and wondering what had happened. The truth made them burst into laughter. He could only scratched his head.

The journey from his family house to his homeland finally began. The whole 5 hours that it took was full of thought of the accident earlier. He wondered whether it was a bad sign.

At about 11 a.m, he went to the polling station with his brothers. He was excited. It was only the second time he would vote.

He went through the usual procedure. Along the way, he met some familiar faces during his NS days. He passed up his slip together with his ID. His name was there on the list. Then, he was given the polling paper.

He took less than a minute to make his choice. He put the paper inside the polling box. He smiled in relief. He thought he had done a good job.

Later, he was joined by his brothers. One of them asked him, "Did you tick of did you cross?"
It took a moment before something struck his mind. "Oh, my God!"

Now he realised what the accident that morning tried to signal him. Wasted. Five years and a 'tick'!

"Well done!" he said sarcastically to himself.

When the result came out, 1288 of the votes for his constituency were spoilt. He looked at the number with full of regret. He believed that he was one of them.

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: Moving On

2011-05-08T00:42:00.000-07:00

From a boy to a grown up. From there to here. From a graduate trainee, to a special constabulary to a teacher. Life for him was all about moving around. He had never stopped at one place for so long. It seems that he was destined to be a wayfarer.

He thought that with all the movements, he hadn't been at static. He felt dynamic. And he was happy living with that perception until a student of him asked him one question.

"Teacher, have you ever thought of building a new life?"

He smirked at the question but trully amazed that a 10-year-old girl could come out with such question.

"What do you mean?" He asked for clarification.

"You know. You have to move on, aren't you?"

He had a little knock on his head with that question. For him, this was something new.

"Teacher, how old are you now?" That little girl asked him again. He could see her friends giggled at her back.

"I thought I've told you of my age."

"I know. Poor you."

"Why?"

Ignoring the question, the girl asked him once more, "Teacher, why aren't you married? My brother is younger than you and he was married."

He was stunned. He looked back and reminisced of all his old friends. Some of them were already blessed with two children. And they were either younger or of the same age as him. He looked back at the girl and began to swallow the meaning of her words. When she said moving on, it was not about moving around. It was about settling down with a person and began a new journey together for eternity.

He smiled at this bright little child. "When the time comes, when I meet the right person, insyaAllah, I will move on."

The little girl giggled with her friend. She seemed glad to hear that. "We can't wait."

"Of course, you can."

There was a sigh. He was relieved. At the same time, he was also burdened with one question, "When, oh when that moment will come? When, oh when will you appear?"

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: Home

2011-05-07T06:14:00.001-07:00

The definition of home had always been vague for him. Was it the place where he was born? Or was it the place where he was raised? People from both the former and the latter kept questioning him of where does his loyalty lie. Where's home?

Being in both world had not been easy for him. Perhaps, people were looking at him with much suspicion to his loyalty. For them, he had to choose a side. He had to choose his colour.

Some people from the soil he was raised, perceived him as a person coming from a damned land. Due to his naivity, he didn't realise that he was discriminised. They took some of his right. They even played with his dignity.

Despite such ill-treatment, he kept a belief that this was his home. He had found more friends than foes. He found love.

Then, one day he had to return to the place he was born. To serve the nation. At that time, he was a grown up. He felt so proud that despite limited knowledge of that land, he was still called upon to form an integral part of the nation.

However, he was dejected for the emptiness he saw. People there had lost some hearts. People had lost their humanity. People had lost faith.

Despite all that, he still believed that this was also his home. His blood was spilled on this soil.

So home for him remained as vague as it was. He didn't care what people say. The only one clear thing for him was.. home is where there's someone waiting for him to come back.

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: MASMA (Part 3)

2011-05-06T07:40:00.001-07:00

They said it was melancholic. He could only smile cynically to himself. He knew the truth better.

He tried to be sincere in his words but he knew only God could judge that. The prayer was uttered. He chose his mother tongue to form the primary parts of the doa. He raised his hand. He began with basmalah and salawat to his beloved Prophet (PBUH). And then he said...

" Ya Allah Ya Tuhan Kami, Tuhan Sekalian Makhluk, Tuhan Yang Maha Pengasih Lagi Maha Penyayang

Dengan Rahmat dan KeredhaanMu, ampunilah dosa-dosa kami, dosa kedua ibubapa kami, dosa guru-guru kami dan dosa sekalian orang-orang yang beriman. Limpahilah nur dan hidayahMu agar kami tetap di dalam kembara menuju syurgaMu. Agar kami tidak tersesat. Agar kami tidak tersimpang. Agar kami tidak tercampak ke dalam kehinaan dan kemurkaan.

Ya Allah Yang Memperkenan Segala Doa

Kami tadahkan tangan kami dengan harapan dan penuh keyakinan. Kau permudahkanlah segala urusan yang kami rancangkan. Kau cekalkan hati-hati kami dalam mencapai segala yang kami cita-citakan. Kau hindarkan kami daripada segala halangan dan rintangan. Kau jadikanlah kami redha dan menerima segala yang Engkau tentukan. Kau bersihkanlah jiwa kami dari segala sifat yang membawa kebencian dan permusuhan. Kau eratkanlah hati kami dalam usaha meletakkan Islam agama yang diagungkan.

Yang Allah Yang Maha Berkuasa di atas segala-galanya

Kami ini sangat lemah. Berilah kami kekuatan. Kami ini sangat keras, Berilah kami kelunakan. Kami ini sangat bakhil, berilah kami sifat kedermawanan.

Ya Allah

Kau janganlah jadikan dunia cita-cita kami yang utama. Dan janganlah jadikan orang-orang yang zalim sebagai penguasa kami.

Ya Allah Ya Tuhan,

Seandainya ada kebaikan di dalam usaha kecil kami ini, Kau terimalah amalan kami yang secebis ini. Jauhilah kami daripada sifat riya’, ‘ujub dan takabbur. Lindungilah kami daripada berasa puas dengan amalan yang sedikit ini. Limpahilah jiwa-jiwa kami dengan kesungguhan, kesabaran dan ketabahan untuk terus menggali dan menggali dan menemui kepingan-kepingan rahmat dan keredhaanMu untuk kami jadikan bekalan apabila menemuiMu kelak Ya Allah.

Seandainya usaha kami ini masih kurang Ya Allah, bantulah kami untuk melakukan pembaikan. Agar lompong-lompong itu tidak lagi mencacatkan. Lindungilah kami daripada sangka buruk, dengki dan busuk hati. Buangkanlah titik-titik hitam itu daripada hati kami. Sesungguhnya sangkaan-sangkaan tidak mempunyai nilai apa-apa terhadap kebenaran. Kerana sangkaan-sangkaan itu akan menggelapkan hati-hati kami. Supaya kami tidak tersesat dan terjunam ke dalam Jahannam.

Ya Allah Yang Maha Pemurah Lagi Maha Mengasihani

Kami yakin kebenaran akan mengatasi kejahilan. Sebagaimana yang telah kau tunjukkan pada generasi-generasi terdahulu. Dan kami yakin bahawa generasi akan datang juga akan terus memikul amanah ini.

Ya Allah Ya Rabb Al-Malik Al-Quddus As-Salaam Al-Mukmin Al Muhaimin Al-Jabbaar Al-Mutakabbir

Kukuhkanlah institusi Al-Amin Bangi dengan dasar takwa. Suburilah ia dengan baja iman. Kembangkanlah ia dengan pohonan tawadhu’. Tumbuhilah pohonannya dengan putera-puteri yang berjiwa secerah matahari di tengah hari. Hiasilah ia dengan bunga-bungaan mahabbah dan aroma ukhuwwah.

Ya Allah Yang Maha Mengetahui Segala Rahsia dan Yang Nyata

Kami merayu dengan rendah hati dan kelemahan kami. Janganlah kau hina kami kerana dosa yang kami lakukan. Janganlah kau biarkan kami di dalam keadaan kebingungan dan meraba-raba di dalam kegelapan kejahilan. Sinarilah akal kami dengan makrifah dan ilmu pengetahuan. Siramilah jiwa kami Ya Allah dengan sifat takwa dan istiqamah. Balutilah jasad kami dengan kesihatan dan kesejahteraan. Berkatilah rezeki kami yang telah kau kurniakan. Peliharalah kami dan keluarga kami dari segala fitnah dunia dan cubaan.

Ya Allah kami hanya mampu memohon kepadaMu. Dan Kaulah yang Maha Mengetahui dan Maha Berkuasa untuk menentukan apa yang terbaik buat kami."

May Allah hear his prayer.

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: MASMA (Part 2)

2011-05-03T05:25:00.000-07:00

The stage had always been his playground. Electrified by watching eyes and listening ears, together with his friends he gave the audience what One Faith was all about. It was not just about entertaining. It was about educating people to think.

But, that was history. He was alone. All alone on this stage. And he was given a different task. He was not there to entertain anymore but nevertheless he was still obliged to serve the same purpose.

In front of hundreds pairs of eyes and ears, he could feel his body trembled. He was so confused to describe it. Was it excitement or was it merely a sign that he was nervous?

When the MC called his name, he walked calmly onto the stage. He opened his netbook and put it on the rostrum. He didn't dare to look down to the crowds. Suddenly, he felt that the stage was too big for him. He suffocated.

He tried to be as calm as possible. He recited the doa which he had prepared earlier. Along the way, he stammered. He lost some of his words. Worse, he almost lost his mind.

He hid his shaking hand behind the rostrum. He felt that he had rushed his recitation. He felt odd but carried on anyway. He just hope the heaven heard his prayer.

There was a sigh of relief as his prayer reached its final dot. He knew it was not his best 'performance' , maybe the worst. Maybe there was a little tiny black dot in his heart which prevented him to do so. In silence, he asked for forgiveness.

The Untold Story of a Mu'allim: MASMA (Part 1)

2011-04-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

It was Saturday and he still didn't get it. Tasked with reciting the doa for the closing he was still combining the perfect words to make it memorable. He took out his tiny netbook, switched on to Microsoft Word and looked intently to the cursor waiting for the words to appear by themselves.

It didn't.

He looked at his maroon coloured shirt specially tailored for this day. It cost him RM 75 but he didn't care. This should be a special day. He wanted to make it speacial. All the burden was onto him as he thought of the people who gave him the task to recite the doa.

He felt so lost.

And then, he went deep further into his memory. He remembered. He remembered the most precious thing he ever met or would ever meet. It was not the all the VIPs who would sit there and waiting patiently to finish up his recitation of doa. It was not the people who gave him the piece of cloth which was transformed into a pretty nice shirt. It was not the eyes and the ears that would observe every words he would utter.

It was the children of Al-Amin. The future.

Then, like a fresh stream of river, the words came through his mind, through his little tiny netbook and finally filling up the empty pages. He shared what was written with his father, his father shared his thoughts. And there was only one the thankful to. It was the Almighty Lord.

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim: PERTAH

2011-04-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

Back to school. Back in uniform. He hate to say this but he felt a little bit restricted when wearing a uniform. Less freedom, he mumbled.

The colour changed from dark blue to green but none can be said about the colour of his heart. He stood there bearing hardly with a fake smile and enthusiasm. He did it not because of love but because of necessity.

He thought he suffered the most. He was wrong.

PERTAH was a camping programme where he had to accompany a group of students as a mentor. On the outside, nobody could question his commitment in doing his job. With limited knowledge and skill he tried his best to fulfill the need of the whole system. He felt exhausted, tired and almost frustrated. He avoided himself from cursing his luck because doing so would be a betrayal to his faith. He felt doomed.

Then, the night came. It was time for evaluation of the programme for the day. As the students were fast asleep, a group of mentors sat in circle sharing their mind about the programme so far. They concluded that the activities prepared by 'the host' was regrettable. Shortage of time and exahaustion were pinpointed as the culprits.

He listened hard and shared the feeling of the other members of the circle. He was touched when one particular mentor almost burst into tears expressing the burden that all the mentors had to bear. Then, he realized that he was wrong.

He was not doomed. He did not suffer the most. Others carried more burden than him and they had every right to complain but they didn't. They just did what they were obliged to do with tears of pain streaming from the bottom of their heart.

He emphatised and pray that all deeds done were seen in the eyes of The Most Merciful. In the still of the night, he looked upon the heaven and asked himself, "How could I say that I am a believer when I am yet to be tested?"

The Untold Story of A Mu'allim

2011-04-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

It was 2:20 pm. Finally, the final class of the day. He walked to the class thinking of the relief afterwards. What a long day, he thought. As a newbie, everyday is a challenge for him.The first challenge was a new working environment; all of a sudden he got children. Not only one, but hundreds of them. As a single, he was struggling to defind the true meaning of fatherhood.

The other challenge was a new bunch of colleagues. He couldn't deny that all of them were great persons, with great visions. They even had greater commitment than him as some of them had a family of their own. The problem was, that commitment had become an undisputable justification to put on most of the burdens to singles like him. He sigh but never made any complaint. There's always a rainbow after a rainy day.

He made his walk with pride carrying all the burden on his broad shoulder. His new children greeted him. He replied with a smile. He taught and did everything to the best of his limited knowledge and skill to discharge his responsiblity for the day. So far, so good, he thought. The children were doing what they were asked. Everything was good until suddenly, he started to lose his grip. The children started to lose their attention. Some started to play. He moved around and patiently asked them to sit and do their work. They obeyed except for one particular child.

With a badminton racket on his hand, that child ran out of the class and aiming the racket like an M-16 and start making firing sound along the balcony. It was a very hot day, and the teacher lost his patient. Almost losing his mind, he shouted to the child. Suddenly there was silence. Suddenly, there was order. But it didn't end there, the teacher kept on scolding the child in English until the end of the day.

The next day, he went to the same class. To his surprise, the child that he scolded yesterday came to him and helped him to carry his things. He thought that this child had learnt something from yesterday's scolding. Before he began the class, the child looked at him innocently and asked him in Malay, "Mu'allim, apa yang mua'llim jerit-jerit dekat saya semalam? Saya tak faham lah." Dang!

Lelah

2011-03-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

Penjara-penjara yang telahku letakkan hingga aku terlupa bagaimana membukanya. Lantas, aku berputus asa. Membiarkan diri terkurung selamanya.

Penjara-penjara itu aku letakkan untuk menyembunyikan diriku yang sebenar. Bukan aku mahu dilabel hipokrit tetapi diri yang seringkali menyakitkan hati orang-orang yang ada di sekelilingku itu harus dikurung. Aku tidak mahu menyakitkan hati orang. Aku tidak mahu menyusahkan orang. Lantas satu lapisan penjara dibina untuk mengurung diri tersebut. Semakin ramai manusia yang penting hadir di dalam hidupku, semakin bertambah lagi lapisan itu.

Aku cukup gembira dikelilingi orang-orang itu tetapi sesekali walau sesaat, hati itu meronta-ronta mahu keluar daripada lapisan penjara tersebut. Cukuplah memahami orang lain. Fahamilah pula diriku ini.

Namun, setiap kali aku cuba untuk melakukannya, setiap kali itu juga ada yang tidak dapat menerima. Kerana takut menyakiti, aku membiarkan diriku terus sakit. Biarlah mereka bahagia. Aku akan gembira apabila mereka bahagia. Itulah pujuk rayu yang sering aku lontarkan kepada hati yang meronta-ronta itu.

Namun, hati itu terus meronta-ronta. Barangkali aku telah terlupa bagaimana caranya untuk membuka penjara itu tetapi aku tidak pasti berapa lama penjara itu akan dapat bertahan. Hanya satu sahaja yang aku pasti. Andai dinding penjara itu pecah, aku pasti akan menyakitkan ramai orang.

Hari Sukan SRIAAB: Hari Pertama

2011-03-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

"Weilawei..lawei,lawei,lawellok, olalek, o,ooo...". Pasukan Hijau memulakan sorakan,Merah, Biru dan Kuning menyusul dengan sorakan masing-masing. Hati yang lara sungguh terhibur melihat gelagat anak-anak itu.

Padang yang tadinya sunyi mulai bergempita dengan sorakan anak-anak. Masing-masing mahu menang. Masing-masing mahu menjadi juara.

Laungan semangat hanya sekadar mukaddimah kepada satu proses pentarbiyahan yang panjang. Generasi Insan Rabbani, itulah misinya. Insan Rabbani yang lahir melalui kekuatan jasmani.

Setelah berhempas-pulas dengan persiapan dan latihan selama dua minggu, hari ini mula menampakkan hasilnya. Acara yang dipertandingkan adalah sukaneka. Saya terkekek geli hati melihat kesungguhan anak-anak untuk memenangi acara. Wajah mereka mempamerkan suatu semangat yang mungkin sudah hilang di kalangan orang-orang dewasa.

Sudah menjadi adat permainan. Ada yang menang. Ada yang kalah. Cetusan emosi adalah akibat yang tidak dapat dielakkan. Tiada salahnya bergembira. Tiada salahnya merasa kecewa. Yang penting adalah cara kita mengawal emosi itu supaya tidak melarat kepada sesuatu yang memalukan dan mungkin memberi kesan yang buruk terhadap orang lain terutama kepada anak-anak yang sentiasa memerhatikan tindak-tanduk orang yang lebih tua.

Tamat hari pertama, pasukan Biru mendahului setelah memenangi banyak acara. Syukur alhamdulillah, hari pertama berlalu tanpa insiden yang tidak diingini. Mudah-mudahan hari-hari seterusnya juga begini jika tidak lebih baik.

Pengumuman!

2011-03-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

Atas sebab-sebab tertentu, kisah di USS terpaksa ditangguhkan buat sementara waktu. Diharap kepada sesiapa yang menanti sambungan kisah tersebut agar sabar menanti.

Universal Studios Singapura: Fana

2011-03-02T07:10:00.000-08:00

Pengalaman di USS mengajar saya tentang sesuatu: Jiwa tidak boleh dibiarkan kosong. Ada sesuatu yang sentiasa mengisinya. Sama ada baik ataupun buruk. Apa yang mengisi jiwa itulah yang akan membentuk manusia keseluruhannya.

USS mengajar saya tentang kekosongan tersebut. Jiwa yang memerlukan sesuatu tetapi di dalam tidak sedar, masing-masing masih bingung. Lalu, apa yang terhidang di hadapan mata itulah yang mengisi kekosongan tersebut. Hiburan.

Tiada salahnya berhibur kerana sesekali jiwa yang lelah memerlukan istirehat untuk mengembalikan sinergi. Saya tidak menafikan bahawa pengalaman di USS adalah sesuatu yang tidak mampu dilupakan. Sebuah cerita indah yang mampu mengepam pantas adrenalin saya apabila dikongsi bersama. Namun, di sebalik semua senyuman yang terlihat, 'kekosongan' itu ternyata belum terisi dengan sebetulnya.

Entah sampai bila USS ini dapat mengisi kekosongan tersebut. Apabila hilang manisnya, apa pula peranannya selepas ini?

Hati yang dahagakan hiburan, akan sentiasa dahaga. Apabila diisi, hati itu akan basah sementara. Kebasahan itu cepat pula tersejat. Lantas, hati itu menjadi kering dan mati sebelum hancur berderai menjadi cebisan debu yang berterbangan tanpa arah.

Mati hati, matilah manusiawi. Sesungguhnya Dia lebih mengetahui.

Universal Studios Singapura: New York City!

2011-01-28T04:51:00.000-08:00

Klik.. klik.. Bang! Bang! Akhirnya pengembaraan saya yang sebenar pun bermula. Saya berada di New York! Hampir-hampir sebenarnya. Jalan yang diselusuri itu sedaya-upaya dicipta menyerupai kota metropolitan tersebut. Suasana retro cuba dihidupkan dengan muzik dan barisan pelakon-pelakon yang menghuni jalanan. Hampir-hampir saya merasakan yang saya berada di kota itu kalau tidak kerana cuaca yang membakar epidermis. Panas, sungguh panas. Cuaca terlalu terik sehingga mata saya hampir terpejam menahan silau mentari.

Bagaimanapun, mood untuk menyaksikan apa yang bakal terhidang di sini semakin membuak-buak. Adakah mana-mana bangunan di sini boleh dimasuki untuk melindungi diri daripadan sinaran yang boleh menyebabkan kanser?

Universal Studios Singapura: Senasib

2011-01-04T07:18:00.001-08:00

Pertemuan itu langsung tidak dirancang. Sewaktu saya sedang terkontang-kanting di tengah lautan manusia itu, saya tiba-tiba terserempak dengan mereka mereka berdua. Salah seorang daripada mereka dengan kamera yang serba canggih meminta saya untuk mengambil gambar. Saya menurut permintaan itu dan setelah itu kami semua seolah-olah berjalan di dalam satu garisan yang sama.

Sedang saya mengingati nama Latif, nama seorang lagi kurang melekat di dalam kotak ingatan saya. Bagaimanapun, saya tetap ingat akan perbualan panjang yang terbit daripada mulutnya. Dia seorang yang begitu tertarik dengan Wing Chun dan juga spesis-spesis dinosor.

Tidak banyak keserasian di antara kami sebenarnya. Kami cuma ditakdirkan berada di tempat yang sama dengan nasib yang sama. Sedang yang lain-lain menikmati keseronokan bersama-sama di taman tema itu bersama-sama keluarga, kami bertiga hidup sebatang kara.

Universal Studios Singapura: Teruja!

2011-01-03T07:32:00.000-08:00

Kembali menyambung cerita di USS. Sejurus tiba, saya tidak tahu hendak menuju ke mana. Tomoji yang bersama-sama saya di dalam bas sudah pun memberitahu ada seseorang yang menantinya di pintu masuk nanti. Melihat kepada ekspresinya, saya dapat rasakan bahawa orang itu adalah orang yang istimewa.

Rasa sesal menyelubungi kerana tidak mendapatkan tiket kedua supaya sekurang-kurangnya saya dapat membawa teman. Tidaklah saya terkontang-kanting seorang diri di situ.

Mujur saya bertemu dengan seorang lagi sahabat, SYJ. Dengan rasa simpati dia mengajak saya menyertainya dan juga abangnya masuk ke USS. Saya berasa agak canggung tetapi saya pasti lebih canggung andainya saya keseorangan.

Pintu pagar elektronik yang menghalang saya daripada terus meneroka akhirnya terbuka dengan memasukkan tiket yang telah diberi. Hati saya berdebar-debar. Sebuah dunia yang lain terbentang di hadapan mata.

Saya benar-benar teruja.

Universal Studios Singapura: Langkah Bermula

2010-12-12T19:28:00.000-08:00

Kesabaran menanti akhirnya memberi pulangan yang dikehendaki. Walaupun tidak berpeluang untuk menyertai cabutan bertuah yang diadakan, saya tetap berpuas hati setelah mendapat tiket yang diidam-idam. Sayangnya, seorang rakan tidak dapat turut serta kerana terikat dengan komitmen lain. Saya benar-benar berharap dapat berkongsi saat-saat sebegini bersama seramai mana kenalan yang boleh. Memori yang mahu saya simpan sebelum kelak berpisah.

Saya menaiki bas rombongan bersama-sama seorang lagi rakan Tomoji Fujiyama (Bukan nama sebenar). Bas itu dipenuhi dengan penumpang-penumpang dari tempat yang sama. Sayangnya masing-masing seolah-olah membawa hal masing-masing. Ada yang datang bersama-sama keluarga. Ada yang datang bersama-sama pasangan masing-masing. Dan saya tersangkut bersama-sama rakan saya yang seorang ini. Saya tahu saya tidak akan tersangkut lama bersama-samanya kerana dia juga ada 'seseorang' yang menanti di destinasi nanti.

Bas tersebut meluncur dengan kelajuan yang ditetapkan mengikut arus lalulintas. Di dalam perjalanan yang singkat itu, saya cuba merancang apa yang perlu saya lakukan apabila tiba di sana nanti.

Universal Studios Singapura: Prolog

2010-11-24T17:51:00.000-08:00

21 November 2010 adalah tarikh yang amat saya nantikan. Saya berpeluang untuk ke Universal Studios Singapura dengan percuma. Ya, dengan PERCUMA!

Tiket yang sepatutnya berharga S$ 72/- itu saya perolehi hasil ihsan pihak G Care demi menghargai jasa dan sumbangan anggota-anggotanya. Namun, segala-galanya tidak bermula dengan lancar.

Seawal jam 8 pagi saya telah keluar dari rumah. Seperti biasa, nyai akan bertanya, "Kena panggilkah?"

Saya hanya tersenyum dan berkata, "Tidaklah. Mahu ke Sentosa. Makan angin."

Sebaik tiba di tempat berhimpun sebelum berangkat ke USS, saya ke meja pendaftaran. Sudah ramai yang tiba dan menanti untuk diangkut ke USS. Saya dapat melihat wajah-wajah yang teruja kegembiraan. Manakan tidak. Tiket percuma ke USS! Mungkin ini adalah pengalaman seumur hidup untuk sebahagian orang termasuklah diri saya.

"Nama?" Tanya pegawai yang menjaga bahagian pendaftaran. Saya teringat pernah melihatnya di unit kebajikan tetapi tidak pula saya ingat namanya.

Saya berikan nama saya dan pegawai itu mula mencari-cari nama saya di dalam senarai penerima tiket.

"Nama awak... Tidak ada pun."

Terlopong saya seketika. Adakah perjalanan saya akan berakhir di sini? Bakal musnahkan harapan saya untuk mengunjungi USS yang mungkin merupakan satu-satunya peluang untuk saya ke sana?

"Tidak mengapa," pegawai itu berkata. "Awak bagi nombor telefon dan nama awak. Sekiranya ada tiket yang tidak dituntut, kami akan hubungi awak."

Di atas sekeping kertas putih, saya meletakkan nama dan nombor telefon saya. Begitu juga harapan saya. Di atas kertas itu, saya juga terlihat satu lagi nama yang cukup saya kenali. Rupa-rupanya ada orang lain yang senasib saya.

Program lawatan dimulakan dengan acara cabutan bertuah. Semua orang menanti kalau-kalau mereka akan menerima mana-mana hadiah cabutan bertuah tersebut. Saya pula berdebar menanti nasib saya. Adakah saya akan berpeluang menjejak USS hari ini? Atau adakah saya akan pulang hampa?

Yang Mana Satu PIlihan Kalbu?

2010-10-26T19:40:00.001-07:00

Kurang dua bulan lagi, kaki ini akan melangkah ke satu dunia yang baru. Terbentang pilihan-pilihan di hadapan mata membuatkan fikiran jadi tidak menentu. Matlamat utama itu sudah jelas. Cuma soalnya, jalan mana yang harus menjadi pilihan.

Hati tambah tidak keruan apabila orang-orang di kampung mula bertanyakan bila akan berumahtangga. Khabar-khabar angin membuatkan diri menjadi tambah tidak tenteram. Dengan hidup yang kusut-masai dengan persoalan-persoalan peribadi, mampukah diri memimpin jiwa yang lain di atas titian yang lurus?

Keraguan masih menghantui perasaan. Diri ini sedar bahawa ragu-ragu itu adalah bisikan daripada suara yang tenggelam-timbul. Memang menjadi tugasnya untuk sentiasa menimbulkan keraguan. Diluah mati emak, ditelan mati bapa.

Berada terlalu lama di persimpangan adalah suatu kezaliman. Tidak seharusnya perkara itu menjadi suatu kelaziman. Diri ini pasrah. Sungguh, kaki itu masih teragak-agak untuk melangkah.

Kelahiran 'Anak' Ke-2

2010-10-15T21:54:00.000-07:00

Telah lama saya merancang untuk mengembangkan 'keluarga' DZAI. Maka, pada hari ini telah dilancarkan satu lagi sub-blog DZAI yang khas menceritakan tentang filem-filem, drama mahupun animasi yang telah saya tonton.
Blog yang dinamakan Layar DZAI adalah suatu perkongsian tentang apa yang saya perolehi setelah menonton sesuatu tayangan. Apa yang baik, moga dapat dimanfaatkan bersama. Apa yang tidak, sama-samalah perbetulkan.
Para pembaca adalah cermin bagi diri saya, Tanpa anda sekalian, saya tidak akan dapat melihat kecacatan yang ada pada diri saya.
Jadi, terimalah anak saya yang kedua. Layar DZAI!

Menghitung Hari, Menghitung Cinta

2010-10-09T21:58:00.000-07:00

Lagi dua bulan. Sungguh tidak disangka, tempoh dua tahun kini berbaki dua bulan sahaja. Apabila saat-saat 'kemerdekaan' semakin dekat, semakin terjelma perasaan bernama rindu. Akan saya rindui semua saat-saat ini biarpun yang dirindui itu tidak semuanya yang indah.

Saya tidak mahu terburu-buru meniti hari-hari terakhir sebagai anggota kerahan tenaga sepenuh masa. Ya, memang benar saya akan kembali sebagai anggota kerahan tenaga simpanan untuk tempoh dua puluh tahun mendatang. Namun, pastinya pengalaman dua tahun ini adalah pengalaman yang terbaik pernah saya alami. Saya menemui suasana yang baru. Saya menemui rakan-rakan yang baru.

Walaupun dilahirkan di tanah ini, segala-galanya adalah terlalu asing buat diri saya. 27 tahun usia yang dikurniakan kepada saya setakat ini, jodoh saya bersama tanah kelahiran ini hanya berpanjangan untuk tempoh yang singkat sahaja. Namun, untuk tempoh yang singkat itu juga saya telah jatuh cinta.

Kenapa tidak? Tanah inilah tanah tumpah darah saya. Tanah tumpah darah ibubapa saya. Patriotisme adalah sesuatu yang tidak dapat dielakkan. Saya tetap bangga mengibar bendera merah putih dengan bulan sabit dan lima bintang itu. Cinta adalah suatu lumrah. Cara menyintai itu yang kadang-kadang berbeza. Ada yang menyenangkan. Ada yang memudaratkan.

Di dalam menghitung hari, saya juga menghitung cinta. Perhitungan itu berbahagi-bahagi. Namun, tidak syak lagi, cinta kepada-Nya juga yang paling utama.

Hari Ke-30: Kejutan

2010-09-28T00:38:00.000-07:00

Cuti sudah disahkan. Tiket kapal terbang juga sudah dibeli. Hanya menunggu masa sahaja untuk pulang ke kampung. Sayangnya, saya terpaksa menunggu beberapa hari setelah hari raya untuk berbuat demikian. Apa boleh dibuat? Beginilah nasib hidup di perantauan.
Setelah pulang daripada kerja, saya merebahkan diri di atas katil. Tergerak pula di hati saya untuk menjengah seketika laman FB saya. Berantai-rantai ucapan selamat hari raya telah saya terima. Ada juga yang menghantar kad raya maya sebagai pengganti diri. Namun, ada suatu kejutan yang telah saya terima.
Adik saya telah menulis pos di dinding FB saya yang mengatakan bahawa mereka sekeluarga akan datang beraya ke sini! Hati saya melonjak-lonjak kegirangan. Lafaz syukur saya lantunkan kepada-Nya kerana mengurniakan kegembiraan di hari raya nanti.
Sungguh, nikmat yang diberi tidak terkira. Nikmat diberi walau tidak diminta. Telapak tangan ditadah agar tidak dijadikan sebagai manusia yang alpa. Menikmati segala pemberian tetapi kufur dengan nikmat-Nya.
Amin.
Ramadhan akhirnya melabuh tirai. Ummi, Abi dan adik-adik telah sampai ke sini dan kami sempat berbuka bersama-sama. Hari yang cukup menggembirakan. Saat yang penuh bermakna. Namun, di sebalik kemenangan itu, hati masih berdebar-debar. Selesai sudah 30 hari Madrasah Ramadhan, namun apa pula keputusannya? Masihkah saya berada di tampuk lama?

Resident Evil: Afterlife

2010-09-22T01:59:00.000-07:00

This is the first movie I watched more than a month after the last one. Back to cinema, back to business, back to reviewing movie.

I chose not to watch the 3D version of the movie so that I won’t be drown into the excitement of watching things popped out of the screen. Such excitement shall blind my judgment.

I believed I made the right choice.

Storyline wise, it was quite straightforward. The only unexpected twist happened after the show comes to an end. There's a shocking revelation. My advice, do not leave your seat immediately after the show ends. Wait and you shall be surprised of what comes next.

The action was cool. Well, with Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter kicking zombies’s a***s, I had no complain about it. Love the action since the first movie.

The shock element put inside was electrifying. In few occasions, a fellow viewer sitting beside me jumped off his seat. I found it very hilarious. I could feel my seat shaking.

Compared to its game franchise however, the movie franchise is less scary. It didn’t have the goosebumps effect that makes us want to close our eyes while still watching it.

For the franchise’s lovers and admirers, watching this movie is worthwhile. But, if you do not want your judgment to be clouded, please watch the normal one.

Hari Ke-29: Muncul Akhirnya

2010-09-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

Jikalau di kampung, saat-saat ini, orang-orang sudah bersedia menanti di hadapan peti televisyen menanti pengumuman raya oleh Penyimpan Mohor Besar Raja-Raja. Kalau nampak anak bulan pada malam ini, maka bermakna 1 Syawal akan jatuh pada esok hari. Maka, esoklah raya. Walaupun dewasa ini, anak bulan agak segan untuk memunculkan dirinya namun, debaran menanti pengumuman itu adalah sesuatu yang amat nostalgik.

Pada malam ini, saya bertugas bersama-sama rakan-rakan sekerja yang lain. Berdasarkan perkiraan, hari raya akan jatuh pada hari Jumaat yang kebetulan jatuh pada hari kelepasan kedua syif kami. Alhamdulillah, dapat juga beraya pada tahun ini. Bagi yang bernasib baik di dalam cabutan undi cuti raya, cuti mereka dilanjutkan sehingga ke hari Sabtu dan Ahad. Para NSF seperti saya pula kurang bernasib baik kerana tidak dibenarkan mengambil cuti pada hari Sabtu dan Ahad kerana kekurangan tenaga kerja.

Bagaimanapun, kami tidak boleh merungut kerana kami tetap diberi peluang untuk bercuti dengan syarat kami dapat mencari pengganti dari pasukan lain untuk kedua-dua hari tersebut. Kami memilih untuk tidak mencari pengganti.

Saya sudah mengagak akan berhadapan dengan situasi seperti ini. Oleh itu, saya telah memilih untuk mengambil cuti pada syif yang seterusnya. Dengan itu dapatlah saya pulang ke kampung beraya bersama-sama keluarga tanpa perlu berebut dengan orang lain ataupun perlu mencari pengganti.

Saya amat bersyukur kerana cuti saya diluluskan. Di dalam fikiran saya berangan-angan memakai baju melayu dengan kain sampin sambil menaiki kapal terbang untuk pulang ke kampung.

Oooo... balik kampung. Oooo.. balik kampung. Oooo... balik kampung. Hati girang.

Hari Ke 26-28: Tiga Hari Biasa Yang Luarbiasa

2010-09-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

Semakin menghampiri penghujung, semakin kerap saya mendongak ke langit. Akhirnya, setelah 26 hari, pada malam ke-27, saya berupaya merasainya. Manik-manik jernih menitis, mengingati kekotoran yang melekat di dalam hati ini. Saya terasa kotor. Jijik.

Kemudian, hati bergetar saat mengalun surah al-Waqiah di dalam tahajjud. Makin galak manik-manik jernih itu menitis. Sungguh luarbiasa sekali rasanya. Seolah-olah neraka itu terlalu dekat dengan diri ini. Neraka yang bahan bakarnya daripada batu dan manusia. Terbayang kengerian apabila mengingati bahawa kekotoran yang tidak dibersihkan mungkin akan menjadikan saya salah satu daripada bahan api itu.

Segala sendiku longlai. Hampir saya terjelepuk tatkala menyedari diri ini dikelilingi dengan noda. Sampai ke satu tahap, lidah ini merasa tidak sanggup lagi untuk meneruskan bacaan surah di dalam solat.

Ya, Tuhan ampunilah dosaku. Lindungilah aku daripada mengulangi kesilapan yang bisa mendatangkan kembali kekotoran yang sama. Kotor yang bermula dengan satu bintik hitam. Supaya yang satu itu terpadam dan tidak menjadi dua. Yang dua itu tidak pula menjadi berganda-ganda.

Luarbiasa. Sungguh luarbiasa.

Hari Ke-25: Luarbiasanya

2010-09-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

Kesibukan yang dialami mendatangkan kepenatan yang tidak terperi. Memang sibuk yang luar biasa. Bermula daripada waktu mengambil alih tugasan sehinggalah kepada menyerahkan tugasan segala tulang-belulang terpaksa dikerah sepenuhnya sehingga ada yang mula mencuka kerana merasai tekanan.

Saya juga tidak terkecuali sehingga ditegur sebelum dimarahi oleh pegawai atasan kerana mengulangi kesilapan yang sama. Apalah nasib?

Namun, bukan itu yang mahu saya ceritakan. Kepenatan, tekanan dan kesibukan adalah lumrah tugasan. Sekali-sekala pasti ada yang terguris. Yang menjadi kegelisahan adalah jumlah orang yang masuk ke dalam tahanan di hujung-hujung bulan Ramadhan ini.

Semalam begini. Hari ini juga begini. Sedih apabila melihat anak bangsa sendiri meringkuk di sebalik jeriji. Namun, apakan daya? Inilah jalan yang mereka pilih.

Hari Ke-24: Luarbiasa

2010-09-13T05:42:00.000-07:00

Tatkala saya sedang mencari tanda-tanda kehadiran Lailatulqadr, sesuatu yang agak luar biasa telah berlaku. Orang yang ditangkap kerana disyaki melakukan jenayah terus-terusan datang sehingga menguji kesabaran dan keimanan. Tambahan pula, kesalahan yang dilakukan kebanyakannya sama. Semakin hampir ke garisan penamat, semakin ramai pula yang membuat onar. Agak menyedihkan apabila yang melakukan onar itu kebanyakannya ada 'Bin' atau 'Binti'. di tengah-tengah nama mereka. Apa nak jadi?
Walaupun kita semakin hampir mengucap selamat tinggal Ramadahan, harus diingat bahawa ketika ini syaitan masih dibelenggu. Ini bermakna syaitan-syaitan itu sedang tertawa sekarang kerana di neraka kelak mereka sudah ada pewaris yang nyata.
Haruskah Ramadhan sebenarnya begini?

Hari Ke-23: Tanda

2010-09-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

Apabila berjalan dari rumah ke masjid yang berdekatan, saya sering mendongak ke langit. Tidak kira waktu pergi atau pulang, perkara tersebut seolah-olah sudah menjadi satu tabiat kepada saya apabila tiba bulan Ramadhan. Kadang-kadang saya mengira bintang di langit. Kadang-kadang terpesona dengan terangnya bulan. Kadang-kadang saya mencari tanda kehadiran Laila.
Teringat saya kisah-kisah pernah diceritakan kepada saya tentang gelagat manusia mencari Laila. Ada di antaranya yang bisa mencuit hati. Ada yang bercerita tentang kisah pokok-pokok bersujud pada suatu malam. Ada pula yang pintu rumahnya diketuk dan diberi salam tetapi apabila dibuka pintu tiada sesiapa di situ. Apa jua kisah yang diwar-warkan, kebanyakan mereka hanya menyedari apabila Laila sudah berlalu. Lalu mereka akan berkata, "Rasa-rasa macam semalam?"
Maka, masing-masing mula berkongsi cerita. Adakah mereka melalui pengalaman yang sama? Adakah anda merasa apa yang saya rasa pada malam semalam? Mereka berbincang dan mencari-cari sebarang titik temu. Akhirnya, mereka berpuas hati dengan hasil perbincangan tersebut. Beruntunglaj mereka yang tidak lupa memperbanyakkan ibadat pada malam tersebut. Ganjaran satu malam berganda menjadi seribu bulan. Baarakallahufikum.
Secara peribadi, saya belum pernah melihat pohon-pohon bersujud dengan mata kasar saya. Pintu rumah saya juga tidak pernah diketuk atau diberi salam tatkala sedang bertahajud. Biasanya, apa yang berlaku adalah, ada satu malam di mana saya berasa benar-benar malas untuk bangun malam. Hati ingin bangun tetapi rencana itu ditangguh-tangguh hingga terlelap semula. Apabila celik mata, sedar-sedar tinggal beberapa minit lagi azan Subuh! Lewat pagi kemudian, terdengarlah perbincangan-perbincangan yang saya sebutkan tadi.
Hati bergetus, "Sudah lepaskah?"
Saat itu hati mula merasa sesal yang amat sangat.
Itulah yang sering berlaku kepada saya pada Ramadhan-Ramadhan yang telah lepas. Tahun ini, perkara tersebut belum terjadi lagi. Mungkinkah saya masih berpeluang? Laila oh Laila...

Hari Ke-22: Seks

2010-09-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

Seorang rakan bukan Muslim pernah bertanya, "Bulan puasa boleh melakukan seks atau tidak?"

Tanpa berfikir lebih panjang, saya menjawab, "Boleh. Jika dilakukan pada malam hari."

Dia bertanya lagi, "Adakah perkara tersebut dibolehkan untuk semua orang?"

Sekali lagi, tanpa berfikir panjang saya menjawab, "Untuk suami isteri, mereka boleh bersama pada malam hari di dalam bulan Ramadhan."

Kemudian, rakan saya itu tersengih-sengih bagai kerang busuk.

"Kalau bukan suami isteri bagaimana?"

Saya terkedu seketika. Seolah-olah saya telah terjerat dengan jawapan yang telah saya berikan. Di dalam fikiran saya, saya berkira-kira ke mana perbualan ini akan dibawa.

Akhirnya, saya menjawab, "Kalau bukan suami isteri, tidak kira siang atau malam, tidak kira bulan Ramadhan atau tidak, perbuatan tersebut adalah dilarang."

"Kira haramlah, ya?"

Saya mengangguk-angguk.

"Tapi, saya tengok ramai sahaja orang yang buat. Maksud saya, orang Islam yang buat benda tu."

Saya terdiam seketika. Saya sudah mengagak perbualan ini akan sampai ke tahap ini jua. Lalu, secara berseloroh saya membalas, "Awak tengok? Ish, haram tu!"

Rakan saya itu terkekek geli hati. "Bukan begitu. Saya ini sudah berkahwin. Saya tahulah kalau seseorang itu ada melakukan seks. Tambah-tambah lagi kalau mulut sendiri yang bercerita."

Saya hanya tersenyum. Fikiran saya cuba mengagak siapalah orang Islam yang dimaksudkan itu.

"Yang peliknya, orang itu berpuasa."

"Entahlah. Hak itu biarlah diuruskan antara dirinya dengan Tuhan."

Perbualan kami terhenti di situ. Fikiran saya mulai menerawang. Teringat akan sebuah hadith tentang kahwin. Nabi kata, kalau mampu kahwinlah. Kalau tidak mampu, berpuasalah. Sesungguhnya puasa itu adalah perisai. Tapi, andai benarlah bagai didakwa, perisai itu sudah tidak ada gunanya.

Lantas, membuatkan saya terfikir, di manakah punca masalahnya?

Hari Ke-21: Laila oh Laila

2010-09-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

Menjelang 10 hari terakhir bulan Ramadahan, maka semakin meriahlah susasana di masjid-masjid. Tidak kurang juga meriahnya di bazar-bazar Ramadhan. Soalan seperti, "Kau sudah beli baju Raya?" semakin kerap menyinggah telinga membuatkan hati terasa semakin syahdu. Apatah lagi bila diri berada jauh daripada Ummi, Abi dan adik-adik.

Sesekali rakan-rakan mengusik dengan lagu-lagu Raya. Hati merasa bersemangat bila mendengar lagu Dendang Perantau tetapi bertukar syahdu apabila Dari Jauh Kupohon Maaf menerjah gegendang telinga. Namun, apabila lagu Balik Kampung berdendang, semangat itu kembali semula.

Tinggal 10 hari, fikiran hanya mengingatkan 1 tarikh; 1 Syawal. Sayangnya jika hanya satu hari itu sahaja yang kita ingat dan dambakan.

Adakah kita terlupa akan Laila? Di sebalik namanya tersemat seribu nikmat. Nikmat yang berpanjangan untuk 1000 bulan. Soalnya, bilakah akan bertemu? Mungkinkah bertemu?

Ada yang berkata malam ke-27 adalah malamnya. Ada yang berkata pada malam-malam ganjil di dalam 10 malam yang terakhir. Ada yang berkata pada salah satu malam di dalam 10 malam terakhir. Apa jua pendapat dan pengalaman mereka, yang penting, kita mungkin akan bertemu Laila di dalam salah satu malam di dalam bulan Ramadhan. Syaratnya mudah. Kita perlu mencari.

Soalnya, adakah kita mencari? Atau fikiran kita hanya mengingatkan kepada Syawal berbanding Laila?

Hari Ke-11 Hingga 20: Bahagian Kedua

2010-08-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

Tidak banyak yang mampu diceritakan di dalam bab kedua ini. Semuanya rutin yang sama. Jam 5 pagi, nyai akan mengejutkan seisi rumah untuk bersahur. Setelah itu solat Subuh berjemaah di masjid. Pada malamnya pula solat terawih di masjid jika tidak bertugas. Itu sahaja rutin yang mampu saya buat.

Terasa diri ini lemah. Terasa kerugian. Sewaktu di kampus dahulu, saya mampu melakukan lebih daripada ini. Adakah ini merupakan tanda-tanda penuaan? Semangat memudar. Begitu juga ingatan.

Saat yang lain-lain meratap mengharapkan pengampunan-Nya, kadang-kadang saya masih mampu tertawa dengan senda-gurau yang berpanjangan. Seolah-olah tiada salah yang pernah saya lakukan.

Mungkinkah saya sudah dijangkiti penyakit nyanyuk?

Hari Kesepuluh: Tamatnya Bahagian Pertama

2010-08-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

10 hari terasa begitu pantas berlalu. Di dalam sepuluh hari itu, rutin yang sama dilalui. Saya akan ketinggalan solat terawih setiap kali malam. Sesuatu yang amat saya sesali. Namun, melunaskan tanggungjawab juga adalah satu ibadah seandainya kita ikhlas melakukan. Mudah-mudahan Tuhan mengurniakan ganjaran di atas segala perkara baik yang telah kita lakukan.

Sepatutnya pada hari ke sepuluh ini, kita sudah dapat merasai perubahan ke atas diri kita. Saiz pinggang yang susut, suara mulai serak-serak dan tidak lupa juga bilangan jemaah yang semakin kurang bersolat terawih di masjid. Ini adalah tanda-tanda fizikal yang biasa dapat dilihat sebaik tamatnya bahagian pertama bulan yang mulia ini.

Adapun begitu, alangkah baiknya jika kita dapat melihat perubahan kepada rohani kita tatkala masa semakin berlalu. Adakah ikatan kita dengan Tuhan semakin erat atau adakah ikatan itu semakin terlerai? Adakah kita melakukan sesuatu seolah-olah kita melihat Dia dan Dia melihat kita? Sejauh manakah kita sedar bahawa segala gerak-geri kita diperhatikan dan dicatit Raqib dan Atid di dalam buku amalan kita?

Saya mahu memberi satu analogi yang mudah. Filem The Matrix ada 3 bahagian. Di dalam bahagian yang pertama, Neo berjaya menemui potensinya sebagai The One. Bagaimana dengan kita pula? Kepada apakah kita berubah sebaik tamat bahagian pertama bulan Ramadahan kali ini? Adakah kita sudah mampu melihat?

Hari Kesembilan: Langit Ramadhan

2010-08-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Langit begitu cerah. Bintang-bintang kelihatan begitu jelas butirannya. Langit itu kelihatan istimewa. Begitu lapang dan mendamaikan. Tidak pernah saya melihat langit seterang itu. Barangkali kerana saya jarang melihat langit pada malam-malam yang lain. Atau, sememangnya memang langit itu istimewa.

Langit yang terbuka luas segala pintu syurga. Yang tertutup padanya segala pintu neraka. Tatkala doa-doa orang yang ikhlas terus sampai ke langit. Allhumma inna ka 'affuwwun tuhibbul afwa fa'fuanna. Allahumma inna ka'affuwwun tuhibbul 'afwa fa'fuanna. Allahumma inna ka 'affuwwun tuhibbul 'afwa fa'fuanna.

Saya mendongak ke langit. Tidak puas melihat keajaiban alam itu. Keajaiban yang membuatkan diri ini terasa amat kerdil. Amat berdosa. Terlalu banyak khilaf yang dilakukan sama ada sedar atau tidak. Namun, masih dikurniakan mata untuk melihat kebesaran-Nya. Masih diberikan nafas. Masih diberikan nyawa dan kudrat. Hidup yang bersisa untuk benar-benar mengabdikan diri kepada-Nya.

Langit itu ditenung lagi. Mengharapkan rahmat dan hidayah-Nya melimpahi hati ini. Seumpama cahaya bulan yang mulai mendekati purnama. Supaya hidup ini terpandu. Umpama si bintang tiga beradik menjadi peta langit yang mengelakkan kita dari tersesat.

Hidup ini begitu indah. Tetapi keindahan itu sementara cuma. Hidup ini adalah pengangkutan. Kerana kita semua sedang menuju destinasi abadi. Destinasi yang lebih indah.

Allhumma inna nas aluka ridhoka wal jannah wa na'uzubika minannar.

Entri Ke-100! Dan sub-blog terbaru!

2010-08-24T23:42:00.000-07:00

Entri blog ini akhirnya mencapai angka 100. Dengan entri ini turut dilancarkan sub-blog terbaru seperti yang dijanjikan sebelum ini. Blog ini tercetus dek hobi saya berkaitan bolasepak. Saya berharap dengan blog terbaru ini, saya boleh mengembangkan bakat blogging saya di dalam arena bolasepak pula. http://wardrob-bolasepak-dzai.blogspot.com/

Hari Kelapan: Pesta

2010-08-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

Bulan Ramadhan begitu sinonim dengan 2 jenis pesta; Pesta Ibadah dan Pesta Makan.

Hanya di dalam Ramadhan ini sahaja kita dapat melihat ramai manusia berpusu-pusu ke masjid, surau atau di bawah kolong apartmen HDB untuk menunaikan solat secara berjamaah. Di penghujung bulan pula ramai yang beriktikaf di masjid untuk mencari malam yang lebih baik dari seribu bulan, malam al-qadr. Malah ada yang sudah mula beriktikaf semenjak malam pertama lagi. Masjid begitu meriah dengan jemaah. Di corong-corongnya terdengar suara imam mengalunkan ayat-ayat al-Quran yang cukup mengasyikkan dan menyentuh perasaan. Sesekali diadakan ceramah dan tazkirah dan pelbagai majlis ilmu sebagai peringatan bagi yang memberi dan yang menerima. Tangan-tangan pula cukup ringan mengeluarkan infaq demi kebajikan mereka-mereka yang kurang bernasib baik.

Masing-masing berebut-rebut. Masing-masing berlumba-lumba demi untuk mencari keredhaan-Nya. Sememangnya suatu pesta ibadah.

Di suatu sudut yang lain pula, pesta yang lain turut berlangsung. Khemah-khemah telah dibuka semenjak hari pertama Ramadhan. Operasi sudahpun bermula sedang belumpun masuk waktu zohor. Terik mentari menjadikan keringat yang dikerah berganda-ganda. Peniaga-peniaga tersenyum melayan kehendak pelanggan-pelanggannya. Puas dengan rezeki yang dikurniakan di dalam bulan yang penuh barakah ini.

Di dalam bulan ini sahajalah kita dapat melihat dan menjamah pelbagai jenis makanan yang ada di antaranya tidak pernah kita lihat sebelum ini. Apabila kaki mula menjejak ke bazar Ramadhan, mata mulai rambang untuk memilih makanan apa yang terbaik untuk berbuka puasa. Itu mahu. Ini pun mahu. Sudah-sudahnya, pukul rata. Itu beli. Ini pun beli. Perut yang kosong dijadikan alasan untuk menghadam semua makanan yang telah dibeli itu.

Sayangnya, tidak semua yang berjaya dimakan. Sudah-sudahnya, ada yang terbuang begitu sahaja. Hendak disimpan ke sahur, dikatakan takut basi. Padahal diri sendiri malas untuk bangun bersahur.

Di dalam bulan Ramadhan ada 2 jenis pesta. Pesta manakah yang menjadi pilihan kita?

Sub-Blog Terbaru! Wardrob Bolasepakku

2010-08-22T23:16:00.000-07:00

Saya bakal melancarkan sub-blog baru. Khas untuk pengumpul jersi bolasepak. Setiap jersi ada cerita dan falsafahnya yang tersendiri. Nantikan kemunculannya!

Hari Ketujuh: Cepat

2010-08-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Sedar tidak sedar, sudah seminggu berlalu. Begitu cepat Ramadahan tiba, begitu cepat pula ia mahu meninggalkan kita. Saya tidak tahu adakah kecepatan masa ini adalah kerana bulan, bumi dan matahari semakin pantas berputar pada paksinya atau disebabkan oleh perasaan sahaja. Barangkali ada pakar astronomi yang dapat menjelaskan fenomena yang pelik ini. Barangkali juga saya patut merujuk kepada pakar psikologi.

Dikatakan masa pantas berlalu kerana di hadapan saya terbentang sindrom-sindrom pra-aidilfitri. Di antara sindrom-sindrom itu adalah radio-radio sudah mengumandangkan lagu-lagu raya sedang anak bulan Ramadhan belumpun menampakkan dirinya. Ya, anak bulan Ramadhan, bukan anak bulan Syawal. Geylang Serai sudah mula meriah dengan gerai-gerai yang menjual pelbagai kuih-muih, baju raya dan juga pelbagai lagi barang bagi persiapan raya. Di dalam otak masing-masing, apa yang terpapar adalah hari raya.

Betapa kita begitu bersedia untuk menghadapi 1 Syawal sehingga kita sudah bersiap-siap untuk menghadapi hari tersebut awal sebulan bahkan ada yang lebih awal daripada itu. Tiada celanya untuk bersedia. Di musim-musim perayaan ini, sememangnya kita dianjurkan untuk merancang supaya poket tidaklah berlubang apabila tiba hari raya nanti.

Sungguh, kita sememangnya makhluk yang waspada.

Namun, mungkin kerana kesibukan kita merancang dan melaksanakan perancangan tersebut, kita tidak sedar masa berlalu begitu pantas. Kita tidak sedar bahawa masa-masa yang berlalu itu merupakan detik-detik yang paling berharga untuk kita kutip dan titip sebagai bekalan kita untuk ke destinasi terakhir kita. Satu hari menjadi seminggu. Seminggu akhirnya menjadi sebulan tanpa kita sedar apa sebenarnya yang telah kita lepaskan.

Ruginya... Rahmat, kemaafan dan kelepasan daripada azab neraka semuanya terlepas begitu sahaja. Sayangnya...

Hari Keenam: Sentuhan Ramadhan

2010-08-22T07:15:00.001-07:00

Solat terawih di masjid hari itu hanya ditunaikan sebanyak 8 rakaat. 3 rakaat witir menjadi penutup pada malam itu. Sewaktu hendak pulang keluar dari masjid, saya terpandang susunan buku kecil berwarna biru yang sengaja diletakkan di atas sebuah meja berdekatan dengan pintu keluar. Buku itu adalah buku program yang diberi nama 'Sentuhan Ramadhan'. Lantas memori saya terbawa ke zaman kampus saya. Lebih tepat lagi, zaman saya bersama rakan-rakan One Faith dan juga Al-Masaar.

Saya gagal untuk mengingat pada tahun apakah peristiwa tersebut. Apa yang saya ingat, waktu itu merupakan kali pertama One Faith dibawa membuat persembahan di Singapura. Untuk pengetahuan semua, One Faith merupakan kumpulan seni yang ditubuhkan oleh sahabat saya, Radzlan. Pada mulanya kumpulan tersebut hanya membuat persembahan nasyid. Kemudian, idea baru tercetus. Grup itu akhirnya memasukkan sketsa sebagai sebahagian daripada persembahan. Ketika itulah saya diserap masuk ke dalam One Faith.

Berbalik kepada Sentuhan Ramadhan, One Faith dan Al-Masaar (Satu lagi grup nasyid yang cukup disegani di UIA kerana kemantapan vokal dan jatidiri ahli-ahlinya) telah dijemput untuk membuat persembahan pada majlis pelancaran Sentuhan Ramadhan. Saya menyelongkar fail-ail foto yang lama dan saya menemui foto yang disertakan di atas. Foto itu menunjukkan anggota kumpulan One Faith dan Al-Masaar bersama-sama dengan Aaron Aziz dan isterinya. Di dalam majlis itu, Aaron Aziz diberi peranan sebagai pengerusi majlis. Suatu pengalaman yang indah.

Tahun itu merupakan tahun kelahiran program tersebut bagi memberi kefahaman yang jelas kepada masyarakat Singapura yang berbilang kaum tentang bulan Ramadhan yang penuh barakah. Selain itu, pelbagai aktiviti peringkat nasional telah dianjurkan di bawah label program tersebut.

Beberapa tahun sudah berlalu, apabila saya membuka buku biru tersebut, saya merasa kagum kerana program itu masih bernyawa. Di timur, di barat, di utara dan selatan, pelbagai aktiviti disusun demi memakmurkan bulan yang mulia ini. Saya tertanya-tanya berapa ramaikah yang merebut peluang itu?

Beberapa tahun sudah berlalu, dan saya merasa bangga kerana pernah menjadi sebahagian daripada detik bersejarah yang merintis jalan kepada aktiviti-aktiviti untuk memakmurkan bulan Ramadhan di peringkat nasional. Cuma harapan saya agar Ramadhan berjaya menyentuh hati-hati insan secara hakiki. Adalah sesuatu yang amat menyedihkan seandainya Sentuhan Ramadhan itu hanya dikenali sebagai nama program yang dibesar-besarkan tanpa impaknya yang sebenar. Ramadhan yang menyentuh hati. Ramadhan yang menyentuh sanubari.

Hari Kelima: Kegembiraan Yang Pertama

2010-08-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

Dikatakan bahawa orang yang berpuasa itu dikurniakan dengan dua kebahagian. Yang pertama, sewaktu berbuka. Yang kedua, sewaktu di syurga.

Sedar tidak sedar sudah lima hari berlalu. Buat kali kedua di dalam masa yang singkat itu, saya tidak dapat berbuka di rumah bersama-sama ahli keluarga yang lain. Nyai membawakan saya bekalan untuk berbuka yang pada saya cukup untuk dikongsi bersama-sama dengan dua atau tiga orang.

"Macam nak kenduri sahaja?" saya berseloroh.

Nyai membalas, "Kalau tidak habis, boleh dibawa ke sahur."

Dengan bekalan tersebut saya ke tempat kerja. Hari ini syif malam. Sewaktu saya sampai di tempat persalinan, tiada sesiapa di situ. Saya sampai terlalu awal. Selang beberapa minit kemudian, barulah seorang demi seorang rakan sekerja sampai, John, Cool Man, Ronaldo 12 Tahun, Tomoji, Woger Ross dan Yebda Wannabe (Semuanya bukan nama sebenar). Masing-masing datang dengan bekalan berbuka puasa masing-masing.

Saya dapat melihat keletihan pada wajah mereka. Namun, pada wajah yang sama juga, saya dapat melihat kesungguhan mereka menunaikan tanggungjawab masing-masing sebagai seorang Muslim.

Memandangkan bilik loker itu tidak mempunyai meja, John mendapatkan sebuah supaya masing-masing dapat makan dengan lebih selesa. Yebda Wannabe pula mengorbankan i-Phonenya untuk mendengar azan setelah telefon LG saya hanya mampu mengeluarkan bunyi 'hujan' apabila fungsi radio dibuka. Kami menanti. Apabila radio mula menyiarkan tazkirah, kami tahu bahawa waktu berbuka semakin dekat.

Kami tidak banyak berbual. Saya tidak tahu kenapa. Mungkin letih. Mungkin juga kerana tiada apa yang mahu dibualkan. Apa yang pasti, kami tidak sabar menanti azan berkumandang.

Apabila akhirnya suara muazzin bergema melalui corong radio, kami mula menjamah juadah berbuka. Mengikut sunnah, saya mulakan dengan kurma yang dibekalkan nyai. Rakan-rakan yang lain sudah mula menjamah menu utama.

Ketika itu saya sedar sesuatu. Tiada satu pun yang mempamer wajah penuh keletihan. Yang ada adalah mimik kepuasan. Seolah-olah telah tiba kepada mereka suatu kejayaan. Sememangnya, suatu kejayaan. 12 jam berhempas pulas menumpaskan lawan yang bernama nafsu. Saya rasa mereka berhak untuk menikmati kemenangan tersebut. Kemenangan yang membahagiakan.

Semoga Tuhan menerima ibadah kami semua. Amin...

Hari Keempat: Katak Di Bawah Tempurung

2010-08-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

Syif pagi yang pertama dalam bulan puasa benar-benar menguji ketahanan dan fokus ketika bekerja. Ada yang tersangguk-sangguk menahan rasa mengantuk. Ada yang perut mulai menyanyi lagu keroncong seawal jam 10 pagi. Mujur hari itu tidak begitu sibuk. Mungkin ini adalah rahmah yang dikatakan menghujani awal bulan Ramadahan.

Tatkala jam mencecah 6 petang, mulai kedengaran soalan, "Siapa yang beli makanan untuk berbuka?"

Jelas, soalan itu ditujukan kepada orang yang paling tidak sibuk pada hari itu, saya. Seperti biasa, saya mengeluarkan senarai beli makanan dikepil bersama-sama beg plastik kecil untuk mengisi duit. Pesanan diambil, duit dikumpul. Rasanya saya perlu mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Mr. John (Bukan nama sebenar) kerana menemani saya untuk membeli juadah berbuka.

Jauh di sudut hati, saya begitu kagum dengan keazaman rakan-rakan sekerja saya untuk berpuasa. Ada di antara mereka yang baru tahun ini mula berpuasa. Ada juga yang jenis jinak-jinak merpati. Namun, kebersamaan berpuasa membuatkan saya tidak sabar menanti melihat kegembiraan yang diserlahkan sewaktu berbuka nanti.

Tempat jualan juadah hanya di seberang jalan. Kami melintas penuh berhati-hati hanya untuk ditemukan dengan wajah-wajah yang amat dikenali di seberang jalan. Dengan sepuntung rokok yang masih berasap di tangan masing-masing mereka membalas senyuman kami. Saya mengerti kenapa rokok itu berasap kerana masing-masing bukanlah orang yang di tengah-tengah namanya ada 'Bin' atau 'Binti' kecuali seorang. Orang itu sedikit tertunduk-tunduk dan saya mengerti kenapa dia berasa sedemikian. Sekurang-kurangnya ada sedikit malu di dalam dirinya apabila menyedari dirinya mencemarkan kesucian bulan Ramadahan secara terbuka.

Dalam pada itu, saya juga merasa betapa selama ini saya ibarat seperti katak di bawah tempurung. Saya sentiasa berada di dalam ruang selesa saya. Kawan-kawan yang baik, bi'ah yang solehah, ibubapa yang sentiasa melindungi saya daripada anasir-anasir mungkar. Saya bersyukur untuk semua itu.

Namun, kini saya sudah keluar daripada tempurung itu, di tempat di mana manusia tidak segan silu melakukan kemungkaran. Di saat ini saya cuba memahami alasan di sebalik perbuatan-perbuatan tersebut. Adakah kerana jahil? Adakah kerana tiada yang mahu mengambil peduli? Adakah kerana sistem yang tidak mengizinkan? Atau adalah hanya kerana sewenang-wenangnya tidak mempunyai azam dan keinginan?

Saya juga tertanya-tanya, adakah mereka mampu untuk keluar dari ruang selesa mereka? Tempurung mereka?

Teringat saya akan kata-kata seorang sahabat saya, "Kalau kita hendak mengeluarkan orang dari lumpur, kita juga akan tercalit dengan lumpur itu demi menyelamatkan mereka."

Sesungguhnya Dia sahaja Yang Maha Mengetahui...

Hari Ketiga: Yang Terindah

2010-08-16T20:56:00.001-07:00

Hari Jumaat, penghulu segala hari. Cuaca juga tidak seterik semalam. Mendung. Awan berkepul membuatkan langit tidak bisa mempamerkan warnanya yang biasa. Hujan sesekali mengacah. Butirannya hanya menanti masa dan keizinan-Nya untuk gugur ke bumi.

Saya melangkah keluar dari rumah ditemani sekaki payung yang saya beli dari 7-Eleven. Kaki dua kerat saya menjadi pengangkutan. Saya terserempak dengan beberapa pejalan kaki dan penunggang basikal di tengah-tengah jalan. Ada yang menuju ke tempat yang sama. Ada yang tidak.

Kurang lebih 10 minit perjalanan, saya akhirnya tiba. Ruang masjid sudah mula dipenuhi jemaah. Saya mengambil tempat di sayap kanan.

Selesai khutbah dan solat, bilal memanggil jemaah yang berdekatan untuk menunaikan solat jenazah. Saya terkedu seketika. Jumaat pertama di bulan Ramadhan dan sudah ada yang dipanggil kembali menghadap-Nya. Alangkah indahnya penamat ini.

Yang terindah pastinya dapat kembali kepada-Nya dengan segala dosa terhapus. Dengan wajah yang putih dan bukan dengan yang hitam legam. Yang terindah pastinya menerima buku amalan dari sebelah kanan, bukan dari sebelah kiri. Yang terindah, kesudahan yang terbaik, yang sempurna.

Dari-Nya kita datang, kepada-Nya jua kita kembali...

The Common Lawyer

2010-08-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

Summary:

Andy Presscott is the most laid-back young lawyer in Austin, Texas. Specialising in traffic law, he operates from a small room above a tattoo parlour. Ambition has never been Andy’s strong point-he prefers to take it easy.

That is, until one of Texas’ wealthiest men comes knocking on his door. On the spot, billionaire Russell Reeves retains Andy as his lawyer and pays him more money than he has ever earned before. Andy’s life is transformed.

Of course, nothing comes for free. Russell is desperate man whose sole aim is nothing but to save his eight-year-old son’s life. Zach is suffering from cancer. As such, Russell is willing to do anything-even if it means putting Andy’s life in danger.

With the retainer, Andy’s job is to find a list of women claimed by Russell as his ex-girlfriend. Once he finds any of these women, Andy are to report back to Russell after which Russell will wire in 1 million dollars into their accounts.

Unknown to Andy, Russell is actually looking for Patient X who carries the immune gene that might be able to save Zach. Unknown to him too, other people is looking for the same thing-only with totally contrasting intention.

Andy’s search finally brings him to Frankie Doyle and her daughter Jessie. Odd things begin to happen and Andy sniffs something is wrong. Andy finally get to know the truth and his job now is to protect Frankie’s and Jessie’s life even though he has to breach the lawyer-client relationship with Russell.

Comment:

The Renaissance of legal thriller. When John Grisham’s touch looks like fading with mundane work such as Theodore Boone and compilation of short stories, Mark Gimenez emerges to save this genre.

The introductory pages are wonderfully crafted to make us wonder where the author wants to bring us in this story. I’m the Virgin Mary is the clue that may solve the whole mystery in the story if you are a kind of I-told-you-so person when reading a novel.

It is a really exciting reading. I skipped some details such as the descriptions of Austin as I have never been there and I can’t imagine all the places that are mentioned. A map is provided which can be helpful. However, I am not the best of man to read a map. The dialogues are ample and non-exaggerative and able to connect the characters with the story and with each other.

Some interesting information about surrogation, traffic law in Texas, US social security, GPS and triangulation, that red hair is recessive and so on can be found through out the book which makes it entertaining as well as informative.

The Times can rate Mark as The Next Grisham. What I can say is Grisham has finally found a worthy competitor.

Hari Kedua: Cobaan!

2010-08-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

Saya tidak tahu berapakah tahap darjah celcius cuaca pada hari ini tetapi panasnya memang membahang. Namun, keterikan hari tidak menghalang saya untuk keluar merayap setelah cukup hibernasi selama empat jam di atas tilam yang empuk. Usai jam dua petang, setelah solat Zohor, saya mengatur langkah ke City Hall.

Cuaca yang panas benar-benar menguji ketahanan diri tambah-tambah kepada yang sedang berpuasa. Tekak yang sememangnya kering mula terliur apabila melihat apek-apek menjual aiskrim di Bedok Bus Interchange. Cobaan!

Pandangan segera dialihkan agar iman tidak tergugah dengan cubaan tersebut. Tidak namanya puasa kalau tidak merasa lapar dan dahaga. Ujian ini cuma ujian kecil agar kita mengingati saudara-saudara kita yang makan dan minumnya tidak pernah cukup saban hari. Beras dan gandum dicatu. Air juga terpaksa dikongsi di dalam satu bekas. Sedangkan kita... berlambak-lambak kedai menjual juadah berbuka. Rangkaian makanan segera juga menawarkan promosi berbuka puasa yang mengiurkan. Makan bukan lagi cukup-cukup. Bahkan sudah melebih-lebih. Kita makan demi sedap tekak. Mereka makan demi untuk hidup.

Dari ujian yang kecil, berpindah pula kepada ujian yang lebih besar. Berapa ramai di antara kita yang puasanya hanya setakat lapar dan dahaga sahaja? Barangkali kerana cuaca yang agak panas, maka ramai yang 'terpaksa' mendedahkan kulit mereka yang kepanasan itu. Mata terlihat. Kurang lagi satu pahala. Cobaan!

Kesabaran juga turut teruji. Apabila masa mula mendekati waktu berbuka, maka mulalah ramai yang tergesa-gesa untuk pulang ke rumah. Fikiran mula tertumpu kepada juadah apa yang bakal menjadi suapan. Untuk pulang ke rumah pula terpaksa menunggu bas. Penantian itu semenangnya suatu penyeksaan. Apabila bas sudah sampai, hati merasa lega kerana penantian itu bakal terakhir. Disangkakan panas hingga ke petang, rupa-rupanya hujan di tengah hari. Sudahlah kaki lenguh beratur di dalam barisan yang disediakan, ada pula golongan manusia yang buta peraturan memintas barisan itu seolah-olah bas itu hanya mempunyai satu tempat duduk. Hati mula memaki-hamun. Tolak lagi satu poin. Cobaan!

Sesungguhnya bulan puasa adalah bulan rahmah. Untuk mendapat rahmah itu semestinya bukan dengan percuma. Ada ujian yang perlu dilalui supaya layak untuk kita memperoleh rahmat tersebut. Ada yang berbentuk fizikal. Ada yang spiritual. Tepuk dada, tanya iman. Adakah kita mahu puasa kita setakat lapar dan dahaga?

Hari Pertama: Niat dan Harapan

2010-08-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

Telefon bimbit saya berbunyi. Bunyi itu kedengaran amat menjengkelkan kerana telah menganggu lena saya. Padahal saya sendiri yang menetapkan supaya jam loceng pada telefon bimbit itu berdering tepat jam 4:30 pagi. Segala-galanya gara-gara hari ini. 1 Ramadhan.

Tangan saya pantas mencapai telefon bimbit itu dan mematikan jam penggera. Ah, aman akhirnya. Saya memutuskan untuk kembali terlena. Bantal yang ada di kepala terasa terlalu empuk. Tilam yang lembut turut mengundang saya untuk kembali kepada mimpi yang tersekat di separuh jalan.

Baru sahaja minda saya mahu melayar bahtera, tubuh saya terasa ditepuk-tepuk. Kedengaran nama saya dipanggil-panggil. Dengan penuh malas, saya memaksa mata saya untuk terbuka.

“Boleh tolong tukarkan tong gas? Gas sudah habis…” Pinta nyai. Saya tidak membantah. Tidak sanggup membantah. Siapa yang sanggup membantah permintaan ibu kepada 11 orang anak, termasuk ummi, yang telah menjaga mereka bagai menatang minyak yang penuh? Anak-anak itu sudah besar dan bisa menjaga diri masing-masing dan kini, wanita itu menjaga cucu-cucunya pula, termasuk saya; anak-anak mereka. Siapa yang sanggup membantah?

Dengan mata yang terkebil-kebil, saya ke dapur membantu nyai menukar tong gas supaya dia boleh memasak. Tiada ucapan terima kasih yang saya terima dan saya tidak mengharapkan ucapan itu daripadanya. Sekiranya terucap, saya hanya tambah terhutang kepada dirinya yang tidak pernah lelah berkhidmat untuk anak-anak dan cucu-cucu.

Kemudian, saya teringatkan sesuatu. Saya belum tahajjud. Terasa amat rugi jikalau saat-saat sebegini disia-siakan dengan tidur sedang yang lain-lain sibuk beribadat mencari keredhaan-Nya di dalam bulan yang penuh barakah ini. Bulan di mana semua pintu syurga dibuka. Bulan di mana pintu neraka ditutup

Allahumma inni as-aluka ridhoka wal jannah, wa a’uzubika min sakhoti ka wannar

Harapan saya hanya syurga. Harapan saya dijauhkan neraka dan kebencian-Nya.

Allahumma innka ‘affuwwun tuhibbbu ‘afwa fa’fu ‘anni

Harapan saya, dosa-dosa saya terampun. Biar tidak lagi bersisa di dalam diri walau satu titik. Agar titik itu tidak dapat membesar, hitam, legam hingga cahaya hidayah-Mu tidak dapat menembusi hati ini.

Wa ‘an wa lidayya…

Dan juga dosa-dosa kedua-dua orang tua saya. Tanpa mereka tiadalah diri ini. Tanpa didikan mereka, tidak mungkin saya akan mampu keluar daripada belenggu kejahilan.

Wa ‘an jamii’il muslimina walmuslimat, mu’miniina wal mu’minat.

Dan juga dosa-dosa seluruh muslim dan mukmin. Saudara-saudara sedarah sedaging saya. Saudara-saudara seagama saya. Teman-teman ketawa dan menangis. Semuanya…

Sungguh saya bukan seorang ustaz. Apatah lagi wali. Ini cuma harapan seorang hamba yang biasa yang cuba sedaya-upaya untuk memenuhi tuntutan peranannya di muka bumi ini. Semoga Ramadhan kali ini lebih baik daripada Ramadahan yang lepas. Semoga Ramdahan kali ini dapat menghancurkan hati-hati yang keras bak kerikil dan menjadikannya lembut ibarat sutera.

Nawaitu sawma ghadin ‘an adaa’i fardhi syahri Ramadhaana hazhihissanati lillahi ta’ala

Sesungguhnya, solatku, ibadatku, hidupku dan matiku hanya kerana-Nya. Ramadhan Kareem, mulanya pesta ibadah…

The Last Airbender

2010-08-05T04:54:00.000-07:00

Many criticisms were given to this movie. It is an adaptation of a Nickelodeon animation series of the same name. For its followers, they might be disappointed with some elements of the movie. The acting needs to be polished due to the inexperience of its actors, Aang was not charismatic enough and so on.

I’m not a follower though. So, The Last Airbender is a new experience for me. This show is just the First Chapter of it. So, do expect a sequel/sequels of it.

It started a little bit slow for a reason; the background of The Last Airbender had to be adequately explained so that for first timer like me, the movie would make sense.

Scene after scene, we would be able to see the story ‘grew’. The actors’ inexperience was could be a mild distraction (Not to forget some distraction from an audience who seems to have a problem with his mucus… yak!). They could be seen soulless and nervous at times but I am willing to forgive those glitches when the movie reached its climax.

The first lesson from this series is that let your emotion flow like water. Let it flow… When Aang managed to control the water element, he didn’t use it to injure other. He couldn’t. So, he raised a big wave amplified by flowing emotion. From his face, we could see Aang was really hurt as he reminisced his past. His flaws in acting suddenly became a past. With the help of a soulful background rhyme, Aang finally touched the heart of the audience. Touché!

The climax was a satisfaction. With a cliffhanger ending, The Last Airbender began to drug the mind of the audience. As for me, I might just become a follower. How I wish I could bend air like Aang.

Salt The Movie

2010-08-05T04:48:00.000-07:00

Who is Salt? CIA or KGB? When is Day X? What is Day X? These are among the questions revolving around the show being the first one as the main theme of it.

In the beginning, I almost believed that Salt was a CIA agent. A special one by the way. I almost changed my mind in the middle of the story when she actually initiated the plan to kill the Russian President. The President was shot and there she was, Evelyn Salt, the Russian agent.

However, there was something wrong. I took a glance at my watch. Of course, the illuminating light from my G-Shock gave a slight distraction to fellow persons watching beside me. There was still time. The movie was just half way through.

I took a quick travel to the past. There was this spider which some liquid was injected out of it. Hmm, that must be something. And then, all the CIA agents that were attacked by Salt were spared their lives. And then, the most obvious one, this is a Hollywood movie. Non-U.S can’t win in a Hollywood movie. And there she was again. The great betrayal. Salt was brought to the lair of the Russians agent, saw his husband safe and alive for only a few seconds before he was shot dead right in front of her. She got acknowledgment from her fellow Russians and then, she killed them all. She killed those who called her ‘sister’. She was a CIA agent after all. It feels good when your prediction hits the target bulls-eye.

This is a typical Hollywood movie to propagate that U.S is the savior of the world by having the best intel in the world. Salt is just one of them, or so. The best part was that the Russians almost succeeded in implicating U.S for a potential bombing of Mecca and Tehran. Saudi is known to be a close ally of the U.S… but Iran? That’s interesting!

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

2010-07-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

Irritating… Completely irritating. Dave was irritatingly nerdy. Nicholas Cage was irritatingly predictable, the storyline was irritatingly cliché.

The movie failed to make the unbelievable, believable. I was intrigued when Dave asked, “Was it magic or was it science?” and Nicholas Cage answered, “Yes and yes.” I was looking for a scientific explanation of magic, but none was adequately given.

All the magic shown had been seen before except for one. A mirror to trap someone inside another dimension. Well, okay. It’s also an old trick. But it is always interesting to see the other side of the mirror especially when you are car chasing!

A nice movie to watch together with family or if you simply believe in magic.

Tekken

2010-07-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

Summary:

Tekken is an adaptation of the popular Japanese video game.

In the future, the world was ruled by corporations. These corporations were known as The Iron Fists. The most powerful of all is Tekken.

Once a year, a tournament is held called The Iron Fist Tournament which gathered the most skillful fighters representing each corporation.

An orphan, Jin, entered the tournament after his mother was killed by an army of Tekken. His purpose was to seek revenge. After the preliminary round where he was victorious, he was brought to the tournament and was dubbed as The People’s Choice since he came from the outskirts of the main city.

In the tournament, he finally found out that he was one of the two heirs of Tekken. The other was his father.

His father perceived Jin as a threat and as such he did everything possible to end Jin’s life. In the final encounter, Jin managed to beat up his father but not to the extent of killing him. He left the tournament as a champion and was later known as The People’s Champ.

Comment:

The People’s Champ? That’s so WWE! However, how lame it is, the show represent a strong message that is tyranny would lead to rebellion. People who are dissatisfied about something will one day rise up and fight to overthrow the tyrant.

When I first saw the trailer, the first thing came into my mind was that the movie is lame and will be another disaster like Street Fighter. How disappointed I was that my perception was not accurate to say the least. Jon Foo put a good fight as Jin Kazama while characters were alive and managed to interact with each other well. If only Hwoarang was there. His fight against Jin Kazama will make me salivate. Perhaps, there is a sequel to this movie.

Biasalah...

2010-07-20T05:14:00.000-07:00

Apabila diri mulai selesa membuat kejahatan, bersedialah untuk menerima seksaan yang berat dari Tuhan. Beberapa hari yang lalu, Singapura dilanda banjir kilat. Dahulu, banjir bukanlah suatu perkara yang biasa berlaku di sini. Singapura mempunyai sistem perparitan yang boleh mengatasi masalah sebegitu sehingga seorang menteri meluahkan keyakinan bahawa kejadian sebegitu tidak akan berulang lagi sehingga 20 tahun akan datang.

17 Julai 2010... hujan lebat bermula sewal 4.40 pagi. Hari yang cukup malas untuk bekerja. Bantal dan tilam yang empuk memujuk dan menggoda supaya jangan meninggalkan mereka. Saya tidak boleh berbuat demikian. Ada tanggungjawab yang perlu dilunaskan.

6.30 pagi... hujan masih lagi lebat. Saya mengeluarkan payung 7-11 berwarna merah untuk melindungi diri dari kesejukan air hujan yang menyengat. Seperti biasa saya mengambil bas yang sama untuk ke tempat kerja. Saya tidak mengesyaki apa-apa melainkan berpandangan bahawa hari ini adalah hari yang teramat malas untuk bekerja.

Jam 8 pagi... Hujan masih belum reda. Saya mendapat tahu bahawa beberapa kawasan di Singapura ditenggelami air separas lutut. Di sebahagian tempat, sehingga meneggelamkan kereta. Saya benar-benar terkejut. Sangka saya hanya K.L sahaja yang terdedah kepada bencana sebegini. Banjir kilat selama 30 minit itu bejaya menimbulkan huru-hara dan panik ke seluruh negara. Tiba-tiba saya teringatkan satu dialog Ahmad Nisfu di dalam filem Seniman Bujang Lapok, "Sekali jentik, bersepai semua tulang!"

Saya tertawa sendiri. Ini baru satu 'cubitan' kecil. Cubit-cubit sayang... Ada kuasa di atas sana yang mahu memberi peringatan. Sayanngnya, bila hilang lebam cubitan itu, manusia kembali lupa.

Sehari selepas kejadian, saya terdengar perbualan berikut.

"Apa yang awak buat di Phuket?" Tanya L.

"Enjoy... Tiap-tiap malam minum," jawab F.

"X.O..whiskey?" Tanya L lagi.

"X.O.. tapi rasanya kurang sedaplah..." F memberi komen. Kemudian menambah, "Orang Thailand suka minum beer."

"Memang pun," sampuk S. "Beer di sana murah. Lebih murah daripada minuman biasa."

Dan mereka pun terus larut di dalam perbualan berkisar tentang air kencing syaitan itu. Saya boleh faham kalau yang berbicara itu bukan dari kalangan Muslim. Tapi, di antara tiga orang yang berbual itu, dua daripadanya adalah Muslim dan mereka pula yang melebih-lebih bila bercakap seolah-olah minum itu adalah perkara biasa.

Apa nak jadi? Apa nak jadi? Takkan nak tunggu tsunami dan bah jadi perkara biasa di pulau yang sekangkang kera ini pula?

Inception

2010-07-20T05:07:00.000-07:00

Summary:

Inception is about what happen when you mess with someone’s mind. A group of people steal somebody’s idea by extracting it from a chosen target. Their attempt backfired because the target knew that they were trying to extract his idea.

As a result, this group of people ended up working for the target. They set up a new target, only this time their goal is not to extract idea from the new target’s mind. It is to put in a new idea into it which is called ‘Inception’.

They set up a team which consist of an architect (The one who design the dream), an impostor, a sedative expert, and the leader himself with his loyal deputy.

The plan was good but the main problem lay with the leader himself. In his sub-conscious mind was a dark secret which he was unable to get rid off; his deceased wife. He was accused of causing the death of his wife (which he didn’t do) and had to leave his children behind in order not to get caught. That idea was so strong that it may have consumed his subconscious mind. Since they were together inside a dream, their subconscious minds were co-related and as such would affect others.

They finally manage to instill the new idea inside the target after almost get themselves trapped in the dream. As to return his favor, the charge against the leader was lifted and he was able to see his children again.

Comment:

When I saw the name Christopher Nolan, the images of surreal cinematography unseen before in silver screen popped up in my mind. Remember The Dark Knight?

At the beginning, he managed to make us wonder a lot of things? We started to question which one is real and which one is just a dream. In the end, those questions were beautifully answered with another big question.

How could you not curse him when the spinner keep on spinning at the end of the story and when the spinner started to wobble a bit, the story ended? So, was it real or was it a dream?

Bravo, Chris! You’ve managed to create a movie that is not just entertaining but also mind blowing. The Matrix, your throne is already taken away…

Theodore Boone

2010-07-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Title: Theodore Boone
Author: John Grisham
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Year: 2010

Summary:

A 13 year old boy, Theodore Boone is the only child of a lawyer couple, Woods & Elsa. As such, Theo knows a lot about the law, its system and the people in his locality. His advice was sought by his friends and some of the adults known to him.

One day, a murder happened. Theo was attracted to the case. However, he knew too much. He knew a witness who could implicate the accused. The problem was, the witness was scared to appear in court because he was an illegal immigrant.

Since the stakes were high, Theo thought that it would be wise for him to let the adults help him. With the assistance of his parents and his uncle, they manage to find a way to make sure justice is served.

Finally, the court decided on a mistrial which means that a new trial will be held in the near future. Should Theo fail to bring up about the new witness on time, the accused might be acquitted and no trial on him can be held again on the same ground. The case will remain unsolved and justice will never be served.

Comment:

One of my favourite authors is back with his latest works. However, do not expect your adrenaline pumping by reading this novel.

This book is targeted to a younger reader. The story is short with little twist and turns. It was a very easy reading. I found it is very cute when Theo was described to fall in love with someone who is far older than him.

It is a good try by the author. Maybe it won’t hit like other teen-flick novels with surreal characters like vampires, werewolves or wizards. However, it is good to see that someone can kick in some reality into the borderless imaginations of youngsters. This is real!

Viva Espana!

2010-07-12T05:34:00.000-07:00

Glory

It's a painful win but finally Spain was hailed as the new Kings of The World for the first time ever. Thanks to a powerful shot by Iniesta, Spain clinched the win after 116 minutes of play. Paul was right again.

Misery

This glory could only mean misery to the other side. So close but yet so far. The Netherland's misery was obvious in the expression of their faces. Some were crying, some could only wonder when their wounds will heal. Why oh why Paul was right again?

A Shining Star

Kudos for the Spaniards. I could only wait for the Spanish team jersey with a star embroided on it to be put inside my jersey wardrobe. Paul oh Paul... you were right again.

The eight tentacles

All emotions aside, I gave a thought of Paul. His predictions were right. Eight out of eight since he came into the scene of World Cup. Because of the accuracy of his predictions, many start to believe that Paul can see the future. How ridiculous a human can be?

Paul was not an astrologer nor he was a football analyst. He is an octopus! An octopus!

Ridiculous

I was amazed at how people manage to ridicule themselves by giving too much attention to an octopus. Seems that they had forgotten their ability which made them better than other creatures. The intellect. Moreover, they had put themselves in a position more inferior than an octopus. A protection order for Paul? Come on... an octopus is below us in the chain of food!

Answer

There is only one answer to this ridiculessness. Gambling. Paul's prediction is very much related to this activity. Let's face it. Gambling is beneficial in a sense. It is also damaging in a sense. But, the damage is more than its benefit. People gamble, may win. May lose. But the addiction craves greed. Such craving is unstoppable. People just want to have more. One thing leads to another. Mounting debts started to choke them. Ah Long became their immediate answer. Those with family started to destroy the institution. When all solutions were exhausted, so as their mind. Final way to get over it; take away their own lives.

Paul oh Paul... look at what you have done? Is this the future you foresee?

Predators

2010-07-12T05:22:00.001-07:00

Meaningless

“A meaningless story,” commented my uncle who had watched the movie earlier. I asked for his opinion before making the decision to watch the movie or not. After getting his opinion, I decided not.

The decision

However, I overturned my decision eventually. It was my second off-day. Routinely, on that day, it is movie plus swimming day for me. I had 2 choices of movie to watch; the other one is Twilight: Eclipse. Since I thought that the latter was too teen-flick for a grown up (old) person like me, I chose the former.

Within expectation

As expected, the movie was packed with blood, killings and all the gore scenes which were not suitable for all audience (It was rated NC 16). The storyline was predictable. Why was it always left with no more than 2 persons alive in the end? Why not all?

The idea

However, that issue aside, it was always interesting to see how a movie/story was created to provide an ideal world for mankind to live. It was always interesting how human instinct would react in desperate moments. People would do anything to save themselves including sacrificing other’s life. That’s what happened throughout the movie. But despite that ugly side, it also shows the ideal side whereby some of the characters were willing to sacrifice themselves in order to save others. In fact, most of the characters were willing to do such noble thing leaving the predators and one serial killer as the bad guys. Come on, would we really sacrifice ourselves for others, especially for those who we barely know in order to save our backside?

The reality

In reality, with exceptions of few, human are selfish. How many unborn child were killed just to hide the fact that we love sex but we don’t want to carry the burden to take care the upcoming result of it? How many people complaining about the tax they pay when they perceive that the government doesn’t really deliver what they want (not what they need)? How many people had a fierce fight in court over the right of custody over children just to prove that ‘I was right and you were wrong’ without thinking the devastating damage done to the children psychology as a result of a divorce? Human are as ugly as predators because of their selfishness.

Suggestion

This movie suggested what kind of human we should be. Don’t be selfish. Be selfless. Do not unleash the predator inside. A simple idea but difficult to execute.

In the end, I beg to differ my initial stand about the movie. It is not meaningless after all.

Despicable Me

2010-07-12T05:09:00.000-07:00

Nothing too special about the movie safe for the characters that were created to be cute and able to make people laugh with their appearances and acts. The yellow minions were funny. However, that adorableness still fail to prevent me from falling asleep at certain point of the show. It's not the show though, it's just my tired body after a sleepless night. Just lucky that I did not fall asleep until the end of it. It would be a waste of my dollars then.

The storyline was a cliché; a super-villain who would do anything just to prove that he was a better villain. He came up with a plan but thing didn’t go as he wanted as three little girls came into his life and changed his life forever. From a super-bad he became a super-dad. A good movie for father’s day anyway.

Knight and Day

2010-07-12T05:05:00.001-07:00

Storyline:

Non-stop action. Unreal. A movie suitable for those who don’t like to think too much or those had enough of thinking. A straightforward movie. The storyline is predictable.

The actors:

Cameron Diaz looks old. Not a kick-ass babe like she did in Charlie’s Angels. However, Tom Cruise is old too. So, this is a movie of the veterans. Still worth watching it though.

Toy Story 3

2010-07-12T04:53:00.000-07:00

Summary:

Times went by. People grew up. So as, Andy, the owner of Woody, Buzz & the gang. He was going to college. As such, he needed to leave something behind.

Woody & the gang had accepted the fact that Andy had grown up. Their attempt to make Andy play them ended up in a failure. So, they decided to move on also. Except for Woody, who believed that they should be there for Andy when Andy moved out.

Led by Buzz, they headed to a child day care gentre. They thought they had found a better place. However, that place was actually ruled by a manipulative strawberry smell teddy bear. Buzz & the rest of the gang was put inside a room and played by small kids who simply smashed & crushed them upside down.

Meanwhile, Woody accidentally ended up in a small girl’s house who took care of her toys. He met up with new toys and even played the small girl which reminisced his moments with Andy.

One of his new friends however mentioned about the brutality of the child care. This concerned Woody who decided to save his friends.

Another adventure took off. He even had to meet face to face with Buzz who had been ‘brainwashed’ by the evil teddy bear.

In the end, all of them were saved and they decided to return to Andy’s house. Just before Andy left, Woody left a message to bring them all to a new owner. It was the girl whom Woody accidentally met earlier.

Andy had a moment to play with the toys again together with the little girl. The toys were passed over to the little girl and they had a new owner who would take care of them like Andy did.

Comment:

This movie made me remember the times when I was a little kid with a lot of toys. Those lifeless toys became alive and I could become any toys I wanted. The imaginations were borderless. Those moments aside, I could hardly find this movie disappointing. Throughout the show, I was able to join the laughter. It’s not just entertaining. It’s soothing and reminiscing.

The Beautiful Game Is Dead?

2010-07-04T03:30:00.001-07:00

I was wearing the blue & white stripes jersey. Since there was no live telecast on mainstream television channel, I had opted to watch the game at my favourite place, the nearby coffeshop. Joined by my uncles and cousins and other customers, we cheered for our favourite teams. It was Argentina vs Germany.

It was a dissapointing night for Argentina. I felt almost embarassed walking out of the coffeeshop wearing my no. 10 jersey. Cheers roaring everytime a goal was scored. I felt very disgusted to watch. So, when it was already 3-0, I took out my PSP and engaged into the virtual world instead. Reality hurts.

There were smiles all over the faces of Germany fans. To be truthful, I didn't really think that Argentina could overcome Germany. Not this time. The defence were very vulnerable. Messi was underperformed. Maradona was simply insane. However, these had become the reasons for me to support Argentina. They added colours to the beautiful game.

At the end of the game, I walked away feeling dejected with the loss. I envied those smiles and cheers of the Germany fans.

On my way back home, I met up with one of the fans. He was wearing a polo t-shirt bearing a Germany emblem. He looked at me. I didn't look back. Instead, I looked somewhere else. The guy expressed his happiness about the win. I kept queit. I let my uncle do the talking. My despise kept on growing inside my heart.

Then, came the part that hurt the most. That guy said, "I bet for Germany."

Ok, fair enough. That explained the annoying grins on his face.

"I also bet for Holland."

Wow! Maybe you also bet for Uruguay? How lucky you are? Those words almost burst out of my mouth.

Then, I wonder. Those cheers I heard, was it merely because of the beautiful game? Or was it because of money piling up inside their pocket everytime a goal was scored? Does anyone really cheer for the sake of the game?

Betting, be it legal or illegal, is killing the beautiful game. People won't cheer because of the game. People cheer because of money. How could you possibly ensure that the players and the officials are not sold out? One thing is sold out for sure. The betting tickets...

As World Cup 2010 makes its way towards the end, I can see the beautiful game moving towards its demise...

The Karate Kid

2010-06-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

Plot Summary:

Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) was moving out of the States following his mother to China. He had difficulty to get used of the environment. As a thirteen-year-old boy, he faced all a normal boy would face in his journey towards adolescence.
In China, he met face to face with his arch rival, Zheng who happened to be a martial artist. Since then, Dre’s life was not a pleasant one. He’d been bullied time after time by Zheng.

One day he retaliated only to beaten again by Zheng and his gang. Fortunately enough, an old grumpy plumber (Jackie Chan) came to the rescue. Eventually, Dre was taken as his student to learn kung-fu.

Dre and Zheng met again in an open kung-fu tournament where finally Dre was able to defeat his nemesis. His determination and the spirit of never say never subsequently owned Dre his nemesis’s respect.

Comment:

A typical Disney’s movie. The movie starts off with a scene whereby Dre is moving out from his home in the State. There was a wall height scale at the edge of a door whereby Dre scribbled what happened when he reached certain height. I could hear someone sobbing when the height reached “Daddy passed away”.

I didn’t understand why the movie was called The Karate Kid when in fact it was not karate that was shown in the movie. The Kung Fu Kid should sound more accurate. Perhaps, it was for commercial reason.

However, with title issue put aside, I had something to say about the movie.

First, Jaden Smith needs some polishing in his acting. He kept moving his eyes away every time he needs to stare at something are someone. His eyes were just not in place. But, since this is his debut, I thought that his groovy dancing and martial arts moves overshadowed that discrepancy.

Second, the girl was just so cute.

Third, I loved the kung fu lesson thought to Dre. Kung fu is not about fighting. It is about a way of life. You could even learn kung fu just by putting on and off your jacket. How cool is that? Fourth, the finishing move was outrageous. It started with the crane stance, be calm, empty our mind, become a mirror to your opponent. The opponent will start to follow our movement without realizing it. Wait until the opponent charged forward and then when he is in a perfect distance, push yourself to the air and while in the air, make a summersault to gain some momentum. Before reaching the ground, hit the opponent hard using the same leg that push your body up. Nice move huh? But was it a realistic move? Who cares as long as it looks cool inside the movie!

Hantuuu!

2010-06-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Title: The Ghost Writer
Author: Robert Harris
Publisher: Arrow Books
Year: 2010

Summary:

A writer was appointed to replace a deceased writer, Mike McAra in writing a biography of Britain’s ex-prime minister, Adam Lang. His ancestor was found dead and it was believed that he committed suicide.

Continuing on the unfinished works, Mike’s predecessor found something more than he should. In the meantime, Adam Lang was accused of war crimes and on the brink of a trial in the international tribunal. The writer’s kept on investigating until he found out that Adam Lang was not telling him the truth. He suspected that his client was keeping something from him.

When he found about Prof. Emmett and Arcadia, he decided to betray the trust given by his client and reveal the information he had to Adam Lang nemesis, a former Foreign Secretary during Adam’s reign, Rycart because he believed that Adam was involved in a war crime.

Indeed, Adam was involved. However, it was not his decision alone. It was revealed that CIA was involved in British government policy making during Adam’s reign. However, it was not Adam they recruited. It was Ruth, his wife. Prof. Emmett was the one who recruited her.

It was a tragic end to Adam as he was killed in a suicide bombing incident. Ruth was appointed as a Senator in the House of Lords so much so to ensure that the Americans continue to be the invisible hand inside British government. The fate of the ghost writer remained unknown. Most probably he received the same fate as his ancestor.

Comment:

It is about ghosting. Ghosting means writing a book for somebody (usually biography) and the real writer’s identity is unanimous. Interestingly, the name of the main character was not mentioned at all. A real ghost.

I can’t stop flipping the pages towards the end of the story. Unexpected ending. A scary one too. A very dark novel indeed. This is also the first time I read a story based on a first person view. It is like reading someone’s diary. I can’t stop asking myself the same question; ‘What happened next?’ while reading this novel. In the end, one question still remains; ‘Is the ghost writer still alive?’. This question itself has a ghostly whisper into my ear. It is not a horror story. It is a thriller.

As I was looking for inspiration to blossom my dream to become a writer, I think I had found one. Thank you Robert Harris!

The Missing Piece

2010-06-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

As I was cleaning up my dusty room, I came upon a box. I opened it and found a puzzle board with a picture of a castle. My hands was shaking. My heart was trembling. It was not just another puzzle board. I am not even a fan of it but there it was in my possession. The only one in my possession. A puzzle with a missing piece.

I was so in love that time.

"You're my missing piece. You complete me," I thought. A piece of the puzzle was taken out and given to be kept by someone while I keep the rest.

As times goes by, people move on. Some are able to realize their dreams and promises. Some are not destined to it. For the former, they should be greatful for that as their sweat and tears at last means something. For the latter, their shattered dreams could only mean frustration and sadness. Hearts were broken. Fingers blamefully pointing at others as the culprit. Some even curse their destiny.

I could only have myself to blame. My ignorance and immaturity. Oh, how powerful love is until we are blinded from seeing the reality of life! As I looked at what happened, I know I had done the right thing to repair the damage I made. It comes with a price though... a piece of the puzzle.

In the Spirit of World Cup!

2010-06-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

I was doing my night shift with my partner, Ashaari 'The Cool Man' when I received the news. At first, it didn't really struck to my mind. Israelis attacking the innocents, what so new about it? Tsk... They were the one who killed their Prophets anyway. They treated others as their chattels as mentioned in their Zionist protocols. So, what so different about hijacking a humanitarian convoy ship? There's nothing much to talk about, isn't it? Why not we talk about Shrek or Prince of Persia or i-Pad or the best makan place in JB or the new motorbike model or the latest gossip inside our office? That'll be fun!

Fun it is but when my HP received an SMS from a colleague, I read the SMS and my heart trembled. It was trembeling with sadness and anger. Among the names that were believed to be inside the vessel looks very familiar. It is not a relative or blood bound. Not even a friend but yet a brother to me. In fact, all of them are brothers. A bind thicker than blood. A bind by faith.

All the interests in the worldly matter suddenly faded. So as my patience. How the world will respond to this is not worthy to wonder. Strong statements from the world leaders condemning the acts are expected so as the aggressive road demonstration to make our feeling felt. Oooo I See... No Action Talk Only... Bla, bla, bla...

The inability to force an effective action against the offendor ignites fury and at the same time pours the sadness to my heart. As a small tiny dot... no.. smaller than a dot of this huge universe I could only do this and pray. Should my brothers die there, they will die with honor. Should they live, they will do it with dignity.

When will I? When will we? When will we unite together? In the spirit of the upcoming World Cup, I could only ask myself this question "When will we grow stronger?"

Sehingga bebiri menjadi singa

2010-05-28T21:19:00.001-07:00

Rise and rise again until lamb becomes lion. Robin Hood or Robin the Hood was a misunderstood hero. He was more than a thief who was glorified by the people. A Machiavellian he is but what he did was out of necessity.

Imagine The Gladiator with an archer. Robin Hood was a freedom fighter. He managed to unify all England to fight against France. Forget about the funny and adorable Robin Hood as played by his predecessors. Russel Crowe is much cooler. His version of Robin Hood is more macho and those spirited eyes were really burning with fire!

Robin Hood was so cool until the King couldn't stand him. He was declared as an outlaw after he saved the Kingdom of England from France and the danger of disunity. Hang Nadim could be our local hero but received the same fate as Robin Hood after he saved Singapore/Temasek from the attack of swordfish. Why would the people with authority always be the bad guy?

It is very difficult to fight againts tyrant leaders. They have powers. Their action could always be justified even though it is not. It is because of this, some people decided to choose another way to make their voices heard. They choose to become the outlaw.

But as Robin Hood says: "Rise and rise again until lamb becomes lion." Never give up!

Jalan-jalan Cari Masjid- Episod 4

2010-05-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

Bangunan usang itu dibayangi rimbunan flat HDB dan juga bangunan-banguan komersial yang ada di sekelilingnya. Pemandangan itu kelihatan cukup janggal. Jalan utama dipenuhi dengan deretan kedai-kedai dan juga kelab-kelab malam. Pasti janggal sekiranya didengari kumandang azan apabila tiba waktunya. Bagaimana pula keadaannya tika tiba Ramadahan?

Begitulah ironinya kedudukan masjid yang bakal saya tampilkan di sini. Diberi nama Masjid Kampung Holland, nama itu sudah cukup menggambarkan kejanggalan yang menyertai.

Saya tidak tahu sudah berapa lama masjid ini berdiri teguh di situ di celah-celah arus pembangunan yang rakus mengikis adat dan jatidiri penghuni di sekelilingnya. Andai masjid itu mampu bersuara, pasti masjid itu meraung. Kenapa kamu menjawab laungan muzik yang membingit di pub-pub tetapi tidak azanku? Mengapa suaraku tidak mencapai hati-hati kamu?

Dikatakan masjid ini dekat di hati kerana masjid ini terletak berdekatan dengan Holland Avenue, tempat di mana saya pernah menghabiskan waktu-waktu kecil saya bersama arwah nenek. Di sini jugalah tempat kami sekeluarga menginap setiap kali pulang ke Singapura. Masih saya ingat, apabila tiba hari raya ataupun hari Jumaat, saya, Abi dan adik-adik akan berjalan bersama-sama menuju ke masjid tersebut sambil berkongsi cerita. Selepas solat, kadang-kadang, kami akan singgah di Holland Shopping Centre untuk membeli sesuatu atau sekadar mencuci mata.

Masjid Kampung Holland… Dahulu aku lihat kenangan. Sekarang aku lihat derita. Namun, semakin engkau derita, semakin engkau gagah berdiri di situ tanpa mempedulikan arus pembangunan yang menghakis adat dan jatidiri. Engkau tetap bertahan kerana engkau pasti, suatu hari nanti, jiwa-jiwa yang kosong pasti mencari dan menemui. Di saat itu, engkau sudah sedia menanti…

Kemudahan sudah ada, kenapa kufur dengan nikmat yang dikurnia? Jumpa lagi di episod akan datang… kalau kali ini dekat di hati, akan datang dekat di mata pula.

Jalan-Jalan Cari Masjid- Episod 3

2010-05-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

Rahsia… Itulah perkataan yang dapat saya ungkapkan bagi episod kali ini. Namun begitu, sebenarnya tiada apa-apa yang rahsia mengenai masjid yang bakal saya paparkan. Masjid ini merupakan masjid yang mendapat pengiktirafan MUIS. Cuma, masjid ini mengingatkan saya dengan karya Dan Brown di dalam Angels & Demons, Da Vinci Code dan juga The Lost Symbol.

Waktu itu sudah masuk waktu Asar. Saya baru sahaja menghabiskan masa saya mencari ilham di sekitar muara Sungai Singapura untuk projek novel terbaru saya. Ilham sudah diperoleh, masanya untuk beralih. Namun, sebelum pulang ada baiknya saya menunaikan kewajipan terhadap-Nya terlebih dahulu. Manalah tahu… siapa tahu ada aral yang melintang? Mana tahu ada angin yang bertiup? Tidaklah nanti mati katak jadinya.

Maka, saya mengeluarkan peta yang sedia tersimpan di dalam beg galas saya. Orang Melayu kata, malu bertanya sesat jalan. Saya ini orang yang malu bertanya. Maka peta inilah harapan saya untuk tidak tersesat jalan.

Saya mencari masjid yang berdekatan di dalam peta itu.

“Ah, ada pun!” Saya tersenyum keriangan. Selepas ini, maka tidaklah menjadi masalah bagi saya untuk bersolat sekiranya tersangkut di kawasan ini.

Sungai Singapura direntasi meniti Jambatan Cavenagh. Bangunan Maybank menanti di seberang. Saya menelurusi tebing sehingga sampai di Bonham Street. Saya masuk ke dalam lorong itu sehingga sampai ke simpang yang mempertemukan lorong tersebut dengan Battery Road. Saya belok ke kanan. Battery Road di sebelah kiri saya sementara Bnagunan UOB di sebelah kanan.

Saya terus berjalan sambil mencari tanda-tanda kewujudan sebarang masjid. Mana bulan bintang? Mana kubah?

Sedang tanda-tanda biasa sebuah masjid itu dicari, saya menemui sebuah papan tanda. Papan tanda berlatar putih dengan bingkai berwarna biru. Bulan dan bintang berwarna hijau terkepung di dalam satu lagi bingkai simetrikal. Papan itu terpacang di pinggir jalan.

“Masjid Moulana Mohamed Ali.” Nama dan alamat masjid itu tercatat pada papan tanda itu.

Tanpa usul periksa terlebih dahulu, saya melewati papan tanda itu untuk mencari pintu masuk. Hampir lima minit saya terpinga-pinga mencari. Papan tandanya ada. Bangunannya mana? Pintu masuknya di mana?

Akhirnya, saya mengambil keputusan untuk berpatah balik ke papan tanda tersebut. Astaga! Rupa-rupanya, laluan masuk ke dalam masjid itu terletak sebelum papan tanda itu. Jelas terpampang pada dinding laluan itu sebuah papan tanda berwarna hijau dengan simbol sebuah masjid dan tanda arah di bawahnya.

“Masjid bawah tanah?”

Seumur hidup saya saya tidak pernah berjumpa dengan sebuah masjid yang dibina di bawah tanah. Saya masuk ke dalam laluan itu dan ditemukan dengan seorang pengemis wanita. Saya hanya menyedekahkan senyuman saya pada wanita tersebut. Tangga yang terbina dituruni penuh hati-hati dan setelah beberapa anak tangga saya sampai juga ke dasarnya.

Oleh kerana masjid itu dibina di bawah tanah, maka penghawa dingin disediakan untuk mengelakkan ketidakselesaan para jemaah. Pengalaman masuk ke dalam masjid ini membuatkan saya terasa seperti Robert Langdon yang menelusuri terowong-terowong rahsia di Vatican City dan juga Washington D.C di dalam karya-karya Dan Brown yang saya sebutkan di atas tadi.

Masjid Moulana Mohamed Ali… Terbenamnya bulan dan bintang bukan di ufuk. Tenggelamnya di bumi di sisi punca hidup. Namun, dari yang terbenam itu terbitnya hati-hati yang bercahaya. Andai hati itu mengingati dan tidak terpesona dengan dunia yang ada di kelilingnya.

Bagi sesiapa yang gemar bersantai-santai di muara Sungai Singapura, (Esplanade, Merlion Park Boat Quay, Supreme Court, Parlimen dll) seandainya muazzin sudah memanggil, inilah masjid yang paling dekat dengan kalian.

Kemudahan sudah ada, kenapa kufur dengan nikmat yang dikurnia?

Jumpa lagi di dalam episod ke empat. Pembayangnya… dekat di hati.

Agora

2010-04-28T22:05:00.000-07:00

Hypatia (played by Rachel Weisz) was a woman philosopher who was really obsessed on proving that earth moves. At the end of the story, she managed to do that.

My obsession was h/ever to prove that Quran had already provided the answer about the movement of earth. Instead of being stucked with philosophical debate on whether the earth moves or not and how does it move, there are many verses in the Quran which state that earth does move. So as the moon, the sun, the stars and other planets in this large universe.

We had to bear in mind h/ever, Quran was revealed long after Hypatia’s mind breaking’s finding. There might be allegation that what was written in the Quran was a copy of what was found by people before the coming of Islam. Fortunately, this allegation is refutable but it is not my intention to discuss it here.

Getting back to the main concern, the movie itself, Hypatia was an atheist. She believed in philosophy. At the time when Christianity emerged as the next religion, there were many obstacles faced by Hypatia in her course to fight for what she believed in inter alia, religious extremism and gender discrimination. Because of this, she was accused of witchcraft and was eventually killed. A tragic ending for such a brilliant scholar. Finding the truth at that time was considered a taboo. An offence against the word of God.

H/ver, if we looked into the verses of Quran concerning what was sought by Hypatia, we’ll find that Quran treat such thing differently. Quran encouraged us to seek knowledge. It is because of this encouragement, Muslims scholars were born. He created everything for one purpose. To understand. (See Quran 3:27, 22:61, 31:29, 35:13, 39:5, 50:7, 79:30, 21:33, 25:61-62, 36:38-40, 2:164, 2:258, 3:190, 6:96, 10:5, 14:33, 16:12, 36:38-40, 39:5, 91:1-4) .

On Hypatia accused of witchcraft...

A blatant move by the Christian at that time. It is not very clear from the movie how such accusation came about. Is it because she believed in something other than the Biblical God? Is it because she managed to influence not only one, but three men to support her either directly or silently? Prophet Muhammad was also accused of the same thing. Ironically, the reason being was because he preached the word of God. Hypatia said that the earth moves. Others believed otherwise. Prophet Muhammad preached the words of God which include the same thing. People still wanted to reject him. Get the point? People just don’t want to accept the truth.

On gender discrimination against Hypatia...

The Bible, as read by Bishop Cyril in the movie, wants woman to submit and keep silent. I believe the verse cited was interpreted literally and not thorough. I did not study Bible but I am against gender discrimination. Islam treats woman differently. We may make a slight comparison between Hypatia and Sayidatina Aishah R.A. (Prophet Muhammad PBUH wife) whereas after the death of the Prophet, Aishah became one of the references to study the traditions/sunnah of the Prophet. She was not killed nor treated with gender discrimination. She was even called Ummul Mukminin (The Mother of Believers) for her role.

On the fight between Jews and Christians...

The Jews claimed that without them there will be no Christians. Jesus was one of them. As such, they were more superior to the Christians. The Christians then counterclaimed by saying that the Jews slayed Jesus. As such, they should be condemned. The battle of egos went on and on until a war erupted between them. During the time of the Prophet Muhammad, after the pilgrimage to Madinah, the Christians and the Jews were not condemned. Instead, they were allowed to stay in the state of Madinah. Of course, there was an agreement between them to ensure the safety of the society as a whole. The first written constitution in history. The Constitution of Madinah. From this, we learnt that it is important to have written rules which lay down the basic rights and responsibilities of people inside a state. If not, there will be anarchy as what happened in Agora.

The Inheritors of The Will of Fire- Naruto Shippuuden Movie 3

2010-04-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Inheritors of The Will of Fire connotes the never give up attitude within oneself. Naruto, once again defying all odds, tried to save Kakashi from being assimilated with Hiruko. The dilemma h/ever was that, Kakashi was willing to sacrifice himself to protect others.

Those that break the rule are considered a scum. But, those who leave their comrades in order not to break the rules are worse. My opinion… depends on what rule are you talking about. We must differentiate between principle rules and subsidiaries. In certain circumstances, we may break the subsidiary rules. Example of the situation is when choosing a lesser of the two evils.

What was portrayed in the movie is a good example of this. Kakashi and the others believe that by sacrificing one’s live (Kakashi’s), others’ live may be protected. H/ever, Naruto saw beyond this. He didn’t want the future generation to know that their predecessors allowed sacrifice to be made in order to save their lives. Why not save the others without making any sacrifice or at least have a try at it.

What Naruto wanted was that the Will of Fire will continually be instilled inside the future generations so that they will live with dignity and die with honor. Never give up finding a better solution towards our problems. There’s always a better solution. The Will of Fire could be felt burning inside while watching this movie. Masashi Kishimoto had never failed to inspire through his artworks. For me, this movie is the best of Naruto franchise so far.

The Associate

2010-04-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

Title: The Associate
Author: John Grisham
Publisher: Arrow Books
Year Published: 2009

I am a fan of J.G. so there’s no doubt that I would make this as one of my collections. The Associate brought back the memory of the book that made the author famous and defined the legal thriller genre: The Firm.

This novel taught us that everybody has secrets and that secrets might haunt you back should it be revealed to the wrong persons.

Kyle McAvoy, the main character, portrayed the young, idealistic law graduates, almost every legal student dreamed of becoming at the beginning of their terms and fading towards the end of it. H/ever, his past history, when we were so young, reckless and stupid, haunted him back.

We can’t just erase our history. Should we have a dark secret, better keep it to ourselves. I hope this one will make it to the silver screen. Along with the King of Torts and The Innocent Man.

Dari Paris Dengan Cinta

2010-04-22T05:22:00.000-07:00

Another film to propagate fight vs terrorism. The Good Guy is of course The U.S. The Bad Guy… some Pakistanis with the help of a gorgeous French woman, Caroline.

It started off with main character being tasked to do the ‘dirty’ job for the government of US. He had a fiancé, Caroline. Little he knew that this girl was actually a member of a terrorist group who intended to attack American convoy at an international summit. (Tsk…)

It was a non-stop action all the way since the main character met his partner, Max (John Travolta). Busting a group of drug dealers and finally met with their actual nemesis. I didn’t know that French allows 5 gram of coke for personal consumption.

A point that is interesting to be raised here is that Caroline was being brainwashed by the alleged terrorist. In a sad telephone conversation with her fiancé, she revealed that she met a guy who told her about his faith. She finally found a purpose of life and felt at peace.

Although, it is not said what faith is it, it is clear throughout the movie that the director tried to imply that the faith is Islam. Pakistanis, Arabic words including Allah’s name written on the walls, some utterance in Arabic before the terrorist committed a suicide bombing… what else can you imply?

Yes, you’ll find peace in Islam. You’ll find purpose if you commit yourself to this religion of peace. But what was portrayed in the movie can be misleading should the viewer not treat it with critical mind.It is unfortunate to see that some people were used to serve a purpose they can hardly understand. What happened to Caroline can be seen happening to our local girls who had been used in drug trafficking. A soul searching for the purpose of life can be easily manipulated should it falls to the wrong person.

Jalan-Jalan Cari Masjid-Episod 2

2010-04-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

Pada mulanya, saya mahu memasukkan entri ini seminggu selepas Episod 1 dimasukkan. Namun, atas permintaan seorang sahabat, saya mengubah perancangan tersebut dengan memasukkan entri itu pada hari ini. Saya ucapkan terima kasih kepadanya sekiranya dia membaca entri ini kerana kalau tidak kerana permintaan tersebut, saya mungkin merasa bahawa apa yang saya tulis ini cuma syok sendiri.

Untuk episod kali ini, saya akan membawa anda ke sebelah timur Singapura. Kalau episod pertama dahulu, stesen MRT yang paling berdekatan adalah Bugis, maka apa yang anda perlu lakukan untuk ke destinasi seterusnya adalah menaiki MRT dari Bugis terus ke Tampines. Masjid tersebut terletak tidak jauh dari stesen tersebut. Naik bas pun boleh tetapi saya lebih gemar berjalan kaki. Sebabnya, masa yang diambil untuk berjalan kaki tidak sampai 10 minit. Kalau naik bas, kena tunggu lagi. Kena bayar tambang lagi. Tak berbaloi untuk dikorbankan hanya untuk perjalanan yang sejauh satu perhentian bas sahaja.

Eksterior masjid ini diwarnakan biru sebiru air laut di East Coast Park. Diberi nama Darul Ghufran ataupun dalam Bahasa Arab yang bermaksud Taman Keampunan, masjid ini merupakan tempat kegemaran saya sewaktu hari tidak bekerja.

Dari segi kedudukan, masjid ini merupakan yang paling strategik yang pernah saya jumpa di Singapura ini. Masjid ini terletak di dalam kawasan tumpuan ramai. Sekiranya anda turun dari MRT untuk ke masjid ini, anda akan mendapati bahawa terdapat 3 pusat membeli-belah di sekeliling stesen tersebut; Tampines One, Tampines Mall dan Century Square. Jadi, bolehlah anda menunaikan segala kemahuan dan keperluan anda di sana.

Di sebelah masjid itu pula terdapat pusat aktiviti sukan. Ada stadium, ada kompleks renang, ada gelanggang street soccer, ada gymnasium. Jadi, bagi yang gemarkan aktiviti-aktiviti sedemikian, maka amat mudahlah bagi mereka. Apabila azan sudah berkumandang, masjid pun dekat sahaja. Maka, berhentilah bola dari ditendang-tendang. Begitu juga yang sedang berenang-renang.

Kemudahan sudah ada, kenapa kufur dengan nikmat yang dikurnia? Jumpa lagi di dalam episod ketiga pula. Ke mana destinasi saya seterusnya? Rahsia…

Jalan-Jalan Cari Masjid-Episod 1

2010-04-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

Terletak di pinggir North Bridge Rd. Masjid Negara De Facto bagi negara Singapura. Masjid Sultan.

Tidak syak lagi, masjid ini adalah yang terbaik untuk dipaparkan di dalam episod pertama memandangkan berdasarkan kedudukan dan kepentingannya kepada masyarakat Singapura.

Saya tidak akan membincangkan masjid ini dari segi sejarah mahupun anatominya. Apa yang saya akan paparkan di sini adalah sesuatu yang lebih praktikal untuk kehidupan dan kemudahan kita sebagai masyarakat Muslim, khususnya yang pertama kali berkunjung ke negara kota ini. Tambahan pula, faktor-faktor sejarah mahupun senibina masjid ini boleh didapati maklumatnya dengan mudah dan blog saya ini bukanlah salah satu daripada sumber tersebut.

Apa yang ingin saya katakan di sini adalah lokasi masjid ini dan sigfifikannya kepada kehidupan sehari-hari terutama sekali kepada musafir-musafir yang gemar berkelana.

Di sekeliling masjid itu kebanyakannya merupakan premis perniagaan. Hotel yang paling dekat adalah Golden Landmark Hotel yang hanya berada di seberang jalan sahaja. Sekiranya anda terasa lapar, di hadapan masjid itu terdapat sebuah restoran mamak yang agak terkenal. Anda boleh mencuba Murtabak Singapura di sana. Jika tidak, di sekeliling masjid itu bersepah-sepah kedai makan yang boleh menjadi pilihan anda.

Bagi yang gemarkan sejarah, masjid ini sendiri terkenal dengan sejarahnya yang tersendiri. Istana Kampong Glam pula hanya terletak di bahagaian belakang masjid ini.

Bagi yang gemar membeli-belah, seperti yang saya katakan tadi, di sekeliling masjid ini kebanyakannya adalah premis perniagaan. Jika anda lebih gemarkan tempat membeli-belah dengan hawa dingin, anda hanya cuma perlu berjalan kaki beberapa minit ke Bugis Junction ataupun Illuma. Kalau mahukan barang-barang murah ala-ala Petaling Street, di hadapan Bugis Junction, terletaknya Bugis Street yang menjual barang-barang sedemikian. Sudah tentunya anda boleh melanjutkan perjalanan beli-belah anda ke Sim Lim Square dan kawasan-kawasan sekelilingnya jika anda mahu.

Apa yang mahu saya katakan di sini adalah, kedudukan masjid ini yang cukup strategik di mana ia berada berdekatan dengan kawasan membeli-belah, tempat makan, tempat sejarah, hospital dan juga stesen MRT. Jadi, apa masalahnya untuk anda berhenti seketika di masjid tersebut untuk menunaikan solat yang tidak sampai 10 minit daripada masa anda setelah penat melancong ataupun melencong?

Kemudahan sudah ada. Kenapa kufur dengan nikmat yang dikurnia? Jumpa lagi di dalam Episod 2 pula!

Jalan2 Cari Masjid (Singapura)-Episod Pengenalan

2010-04-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

Kalau di Malaysia, masjid bersepah-sepah di sana sini. Kalau tiada masjid pun, masih ada surau/musolla di tepi-tepi jalan, shopping centre ataupun stesen petrol sebagai tempat untuk menunaikan kewajipan lima waktu. Cukup mudah tapi masih susah nak ditunaikan.

Bagaimanapun, berbeza dengan Singapura, tiada surau/musolla di tempat membeli-belah. Stesen petrol pun jangan harapla.. Maka ini dijadikan alasan untuk tidak menunaikan solat pada waktunya. Saya mendapati semua itu tidak benar. Sebenarnya, kebanyakan masjid-masjid di Singapura terletak di tempat yang cukup strategik. Soalnya, mahu atau tidak?

Oleh yang demikian, saya telah memulakan jelajah saya ke negara yang sekangkang kera ini untuk mencari masjid-masjid dan memberi input sedaya yang mungkin sebagai kemudahan kepada Muslim yang MAHU solat.

Jadi, enjoy!

The Fourth Kind

2010-03-25T21:15:00.001-07:00

Characters

Who would forget Dr. Abygail? Milla Jovovich really brought the character to live. Milla really stole the show. A fan of her since Resident Evil... Job, well done...

Storyline

It’s a semi-fictitious thriller. Through out the movie, actual video and sound recordings were shown. The authenticity of the recordings is debatable. I’m still not fully convinced that there’s such thing as alien abduction. H’ever, I really don’t want to become the one abducted should there be such.

Extra

It’s really testing my curiosity. I had a different view about alien abduction or even its existence. If this thing really happened, I could only say… PRAISE THE LORD! I view this as a test. A test of our belief. When I saw the actual video & voice recordings, I could not resist myself from comparing it with possessed or hysterical incident. The change of voice, the unbelievable strength, the change of characters, the trauma… it’s almost the same. So, is it the devil or is it the alien?

Viper's Creed

2010-03-25T21:01:00.001-07:00

Anime series: VIPER’S CREED

12 episodes

Comment:

Characters

I could only remember 2. Saiki, because he’s wearing a pirate-like eye cover. Ageha, because she is a minor, a genius one who’s able to hack a computer system and make it all go haywire.

Storyline

It started a little bit slow at first few episodes to develop the main characters. A lot of twist & turns towards the end of the series. A sad ending to the Viper Unit since its members died one by one. Rudra’s ending was the coolest one, though.

Extra

The battroid-maneuver was cool but not a memorable one. If only the red one used by Saiki and Hound’s leader could last longer…

The Chosen One (Part 2)

2010-03-04T02:03:00.001-08:00

Morpheus was right when he believed that Neo was The Chosen One. For those who watched The Matrix, they know what I was talking about. However, before he began his journey to become The Chosen One, Neo had to choose between the red pill and the blue pill. One of the pills would make him stay inside the Matrix. The other would awake him and he would be out of the Matrix. As the story goes, we knew which pill he took.
Life is about making choices. Of course, to come out to this world is not our choice. So as to die. However, we may choose our way of life bearing in mind that action will lead to reaction. Each choice has its own consequence. Whether good or bad the choice we made depends on the results that follow.
In making choice, some people rely on their intellect, some use their instinct. Others, rely on revelation.
Therefore, if life is about making choice, what results awaiting us when we die? Should there be no heaven or hell, nothing will happen after that. That’s the end of us. Our flesh will be decomposed and we become part of the ecosystem. We will become a non-existence except for the fading memories that stay put in the mind of our beloved one. If we do good deed, people might remember it and felt indebted to us so long as they live. If we do bad, people might still remember it. Worse to worst, such deed will end up in criminal records which will disposed off after a period of time.
The question is, what if there is heaven and hell? Some choice will lead to heaven. Others, to hell. Action, reaction. Choice, consequence. Will we become The Chosen One? Will we be able to see through our walk of life? What is our choice? The blue pill or the red? (To be continued…)

The Chosen One (Part 1)

2010-02-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

It was almost lunch time. As usual, I would print a food order list, stapled it with a small plastic bag to put cash in it and started taking orders from my colleagues. Oh, my… A bachelor degree holder and my job is a food delivery boy? Sigh… But as I looked at a brighter sight, I felt relieved to see the happy faces and listened to the words of appreciation came out from their mouth each time the food were duly delivered to them. I felt that it was my personal happiest time in a lengthy not so happy time.
That story aside, as we were enjoying our lunch, one of my colleagues expressed his desire to eat something.
“Eh, cannot lah…” said another colleague.
“Why?”
“It’s not halal.”
“Is it? Then how about this…” And the conversation went on and on about this and that food whether halal or not.
As I was listening, I found out that most Muslims here in Singapore really care about what they eat and drink. It gives them serenity to eat something when they know it is halal to consume.
It is therefore, some food retailers here in Singapore found that it is important to get a halal certificate from the local Muslims governing body. With this certificate, they can cater the needs of their Muslim customers. Without it, their customers might be limited to only non-Muslim customers and Muslims who do not care what is halal and what is haram.
In my previous article entitled ‘We are so deceived’, I had mentioned that despite that we were so deceived; there is still hope for us to get out of such deception. It is a matter of choice; Halal or haram? What say you? (To be continued…)

Andai Filipina, Malaysia dan Singapura Berperang..

2010-02-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

Tajuk: Kudeta Intro
Penulis: Khairul Nizam Khairani

Penerbit: PTS Publications Sdn. Bhd

Tahun: 2009

M/surat: 313

Bahasa: Melayu

Komen:

Tema

Apabila saya membaca sinopsis novel ini, saya menjadi tertarik. Tema novel ini cukup mudah: Konspirasi perang yang melibatkan tiga buah negara, Filipina, Malaysia dan Singapura. Wow, dekatnya!

Jalan Cerita

Jalan cerita buku ini agak perlahan dengan penulis cuba membina karakter dan latarbelakang watak-watak utama di dalam cerita.

Watak Utama

Saya percaya, penulis cuba menonjolkan Arman sebagai watak utama di dalam cerita ini berdasarkan blurp yang tercatat pada kulit buku itu. Bagaimanapun, kemunculan Arman terlalu terbatas dan karakternya belum benar-benar menunjukkan kesan yang agak signifikan di dalam cerita. Sebagai protagonist utama, sepatutnya ada sesuatu yang ‘luarbiasa’ yang boleh ditonjolkan di dalam watak Arman. Apa yang saya lihat pada Amran adalah seorang usahawan yang biasa-biasa sahaja yang terperangkap di dalam konflik tersebut. Dia kelihatan lebih seperti mangsa daripada seorang hero. Mungkin keperwiraan Arman hanya akan tertonjol di dalam konklusi cerita ini di dalam buku kedua nanti. Strategi yang baik oleh penerbit!

Haus

Bagaimanapun, sebagai pembaca yang hauskan novel genre thriller Melayu, saya tidak rasakan karya ini sebagai sesuatu yang mengecewakan. Perlahan…mungkin, tapi tetap tidak mengecewakan. Konspirasi politik dan penggunaan perang sebagai alat untuk mencapai memenuhi kemahuan untuk berkuasa merupakan suatu tema yang cukup berani digunapakai oleh penulis. Saya kagumi keberanian penulis ini di dalam menonjolkan idea yang sedemikian.

Secara keseluruhannya...

Sebagai naskhah individu, 3 daripada 5 bintang. Bagaimanapun, memandangkan ceritanya belum lengkap, saya menangguhkan penillaian mutlak saya sehingga saya habis membaca sambungan yang juga penamat cerita iaitu Kudeta Klimaks.

A lonely V-Day…

2010-02-14T07:25:00.001-08:00

14 Feb… Yay! I’m still alive. Still a Muslim. Still a guy. A lonely one by the way. Oh, I’ve forgotten something! It’s V-Day!
No offence to you love birds out there, V-day actually means nothing for me except for its historical facts which I believed remain unknown to most people who celebrate it. It is not my intention to lay down the story behind V-day.
Other than a reminiscent of history for me, this year’s V-day had been a really lonely day for me. Actually, I don’t mind be alone. Less people to love. Less people to hurt.
Speaking about love, I wonder what is the real purpose of love? Do love really need a purpose? I’ve fallen in love many times with many girls. It is to be noted that falling in love does not necessarily mean being loved. Except for one, others are one sided.
Fall in love, know your acquaintance and get married. I used to have this perception of love once. I believed that when we fall in love with someone, eventually it will end up by tying the knot of an everlasting relationship as husband and wife. But then, why are there an increasing number of divorces every year? What’s the purpose of love? Where is the love?
I walked on the brink of Singapore River, pondering the mystical questions about love. I saw the Statue of Stamford Raffles and his love to the country he found. I saw the memorial of war and the martyrs’ love towards the country they defended so dearly. I looked upon the sky. I felt the sea breeze embracing my skin. I breathed and I felt so alive. Then I realized, I was not lonely after all.

We are so deceived!

2010-02-14T06:39:00.000-08:00

When I first came to know about English football, I did not know much about the teams and the players. Thanks to my father, who is a Liverpool fan, I get to know bit by bit about the game and eventually became a die hard fan of the Red Devils. However, initially, Man Utd was not even in my mind. It was Liverpool. Yes, it was but the love story was cut short because of one reason… Carlsberg.
Before I go far, let me remind you that this is not an article intended to defame Carlsberg. It is just when I like something, I would like to express such feeling. In this case, I would love to wear a Liverpool jersey as a sign of support to the team I love. Unfortunately, since the main sponsor for the team at that time was an alcoholic drink brand, it is inappropriate for a Muslim to wear the jersey as it bore the brand name in the middle of it. It is in fact prohibited in Islam as it considers promoting alcohol. There is a clear and direct prohibition regarding this in one of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad which I do not intend to mention here. I believe such prohibition is common sense. Doing drugs is wrong but promoting it is right? Duh…
Anyway, as my love story went on, I had to forget about Liverpool because I couldn’t show my love to the team. So, the next team that came to my mind was another team in red. So, go Liverpool, come United. I bought the jersey. No liquor, check! Finally, a halal jersey!
The love blossomed between United and me until one day I just realized something odd on the jersey. I looked at the team’s crest. What the hell? Is that Satan? Sadly, it was too late to realize. I’m already married to the Red Devils. Oh, shoot! I’ve been literally deceived by the devil.
Well, Satan is good at deceiving people. People were so scared about hantu, black magic, santau, jangan pandang belakang, congkak, ju on and other things which are related to Satan but they forget about the one which always whispers inside our heart to do bad things. To make human inhumane. To make men satanic. We were so consumed with the scary portrayal of Satan; with horns and tail and sharp teeth and ugly face and so forth. Sadly, we don’t hear that he whisper something into our heart, the most vulnerable part of a creation called human. And you know when he whispers, he deceives.
Deception is his part and parcel. He cannot overthrow God from His throne. But he can do one thing; to deceive as much human as he can as his successors in Hell. Oh, how deceived we are! The proof is everywhere if we open our eyes, open our mind and take a moment to think.
To think about it, next season, Liverpool will change its main sponsor. I question myself, “Would there be any chance for me, for us, to get out of this deception?”
As I was sitting on my prayer mat after
tahajjud in the darkness of night, I believe I can see a ray of light at the end of the tunnel.

(Disclaimer: Forgive my bad English. This is my first time trying to post something in language other that my mother tongue)

AFA 09 (Bhg 1)

2010-01-26T05:48:00.001-08:00

Entri lewat

Tarikh: 22/11/2009

Tempat: Pusat Konvensyen SUNTEC

Semasa di kampus dahulu saya mula menanam minat terhadap anime. Semenjak itu, saya ditemukan dengan budaya-budaya dan terma-terma berkaitan anime. Otaku, cosplay, seiyu... Demi untuk mendalami budaya-budaya ini saya telah berpeluang untuk menghadiri Festival Anime Asia 09 yang berlangsung di tempat yang tersebut di atas. Apa sebenarnya yang hype sangat tentang budaya anime ni?

Sebaik sahaja menjejak kaki ke tempat kejadian, saya disambut dengan kehadiran beberapa cosplayer yang memperagakan watak-watak tertentu di dalam anime. Saya begitu teruja dengan apa yang bakal menanti saya di dewan pameran nanti. Namun, apabila sampai, rupa-rupanya untuk masuk, bayaran sebanyak SS$ 12 dikenakan. Demi rasa ingin tahu, saya korbankan sejumlah wang tersebut walaupun di fikiran saya melintas sedikit rasa ragu sama ada pengorbanan itu berbaloi. (Bersambung...)

Simbol Yang Hilang

2009-12-25T17:45:00.001-08:00

Tajuk: The Lost Symbol
Penulis: Dan Brown
Genre: Novel Thriller
Versi: Kulit Tebal
M/s: 509

Catatan:-

Setakat ini saya susah sampai ke Bab 97. Hero saya, Robert Langdon kembali di dalam cerita kali ini. Kali ini, Langdon perlu menyelesaikan teka-teki simbol di sekitar bandar Washington D.C. Siapa sangka di bawah tanah bandar tersebut ada piramid?

Perkara yag paling menarik di dalam cerita ini adalah kaitan Freemason dengan negara U.S. Setakat ini saya difahamkan bahawa gerakan Freemason adalah satu gerakan rahsia yang cuba mengawal dunia. Dan Brown cuba mengubah persepsi tersebut melalui cerita ini. Baginya, Freemason bukankah satu gerakan rahsia tetapi Freemason adalah gerakan yang mempunyai banyak rahsia sebagaimana gerakan-gerakan lain yang ada di muka bumi ini.

Saya mendapati tulisannya, walaupun di dalam bentuk fiksyen, amat kuat dan berpengaruh ke atas pembaca-pembacanya. Expsose yang cuba dilakukan membuatkan saya semakin tertarik untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut. Saya percaya dengan mengetahui lebih banyak, kita akan dapat membuang rasa sangsi yang berjelaga di dalam fikiran kita.

Kata orang Melayu, "Tak kenal maka tak cinta." Robert Langdon juga berkata, "We are afraid of the things we do not understand (Kita takut dengan perkara yang kita tidak faham)."

Jadi, marilah sama-sama kita membuang rasa sangsi dan ragu tersebut dengan terus menggali ilmu yang ada di dalam dunia ini. Buat masa sekarang, saya akan terus mengekskavat apa jua rahsia yang mahu didedahkan Dan Brown melalui karya terbaru beliau ini.

Balik Kampung!

2009-12-23T06:05:00.000-08:00

Rumah adalah tempat di mana di sana ada seseorang yang menanti kepulangan kita. Keluarga saya adalah rumah saya. Tempat saya pulang. Justeru apabila diberikan cuti pada 15 Dis 2009 yang lalu, saya tidak teragak-agak lagi menggunakan waktu itu untuk pulang.

Ummi, Abi, Mu'az, Izzat, Nazeer, Anas, Athif, Syifa' dan Zilal; saya bernasib baik untuk bertemu mereka semua pada kepulangan kali ini. Terlalu banyak yang mahu diceritakan, tetapi terlalu sedikit yang dapat diungkap. Rindu saya sedikit terubat, tetapi tidak semuanya.

Hmm, rindunya pada rumah...

Robert Langdon di Singapura?

2009-11-25T00:32:00.000-08:00

Salah satu projek yang telah saya mulakan sewaktu mula-mula berada di Singapura adalah sebuah penulisan yang berkonsep "memburu harta karun" di Singapura. Projek itu sudah hampir sebulan tertangguh dek kesibukan dengan tugas.

Mana ada duit nak jalan-jalan? Duit elaun yang dapat pun cukup-cukup untuk makan minum sahaja.

Bagaimanapun, janji telah dibuat. Saya mesti siapkan buku itu secepat mungkin. Mesti!

Pengumuman: Projek Keraguan Munasabah

2009-10-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

Sewaktu mula-mula menerjunkan diri ke dalam bidang penulisan, satu hasrat yang terpendam di dalam jiwa saya adalah untuk menulis karya thriller undang-undang. Waktu itu, sebagai pelajar undang-undang, saya begitu terpesona dengan karya-karya John Grisham. Memandangkan di rantau ini belum ada ikon bagi penulisan berbentuk sedemikan, maka saya terfikir, "Mengapa tidak saya?"

Maka 'The Grisham Wannabe' ini telah menulis satu novel berbentuk sedemikian. Maka, lahirlah Keraguan Munasabah. Novel tersebut mendapat kritikan yang cukup pedas daripada rakan-rakan yang telah saya minta bacakan manuskripnya. Saya masih ingat satu kritikan tersebut. Kritikan tersebut disampaikan melalui SMS sahabat saya, Fadhil oleh seorang pelajar tingkatan 3 yang telah membaca manuskrip tersebut. Kata adik itu, "Abang, dia ni tulis novel ke tulis apa?"

Saya benar-benar tersentak dengan kritikan tersebut. Jadi, saya melihat kembali di mana silapnya. Saya baca kembali novel yang telah saya tulis itu. Saya dapati ada banyak kisah-kisah yang perlu diuraikan. Soalnya, bagaimana?

Kemudian, saya mendapat gelaran The Jigsaw (Rujuk entri 29 Ogos 2009). Maka, tercetuslah idea untuk saya melengkapkan kepingan-kepingan puzzle di dalam Keraguan Munasabah. Projek ini akan melibatkan beberapa siri. Setiap siri akan menekankan tentang isu-isu tertentu di dalam undang-undang. Dua daripada siri tersebut telah saya siapkan sinopsisnya.

Dengan projek ini dan beberapa lagi karya yang di dalam tahap 'pembinaan', maka akan bertambah sumbanglah kera yang sumbang ini... Hmm, sunyinya....

Pedra Branca

2009-10-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

Judul: PEDRA BRANCA; THE ROAD TO THE WORLD COURT
Oleh: Tommy Koh & S. Jayakumar

Catatan:

Buku ini mengisahkan tentang kes perebutan Pedra Branca atau Pulau Batu Putih oleh Singapura dan Malaysia. Ditulis sendiri oleh mereka yang terlibat di dalam kes tersebut, buku ini menceritakan secara kronoligikal persiapan pasukan Singapura, perbicaraan kes tersebut dan juga pasca perbicaraan.

Secara keseluruhannya, berdasarkan buku ini, saya mendapati bahawa pasukan Singapura lebih bersedia untuk menghadapi kes tersebut berbanding dengan lawan mereka. Semenjak isu timbul pada tahun 1979 di mana Malaysia telah memasukkan Pulau Batu Putih ke dalam peta Malaysia, pasukan Singapura telah memulakan langkah untuk memastikan hak mereka ke atas pulau tersebut terjamin.

Akhirnya, berdasarkan hujah dan bukti-bukti yang dikemukakan oleh kedua-dua pihak, Mahkamah Keadilan Antarabangsa telah memutuskan bahawa Pedra Branca adalah milik Singapura. Kes ini agak menarik kerana ia bukan sahaja melibatkan isu undang-undang tetapi juga politik di antara kedua-dua negara.

Catatan ini adalah berdasarkan kepada buku ini semata-mata; cerita satu pihak. Suatu pembacaan yang amat bermanfaat sekiranya anda berminat dengan undang-undang antarabangsa (dan juga politik).

Bagi pengamal, pelajar, pengkaji dan pengajar undang-undang, lampiran-lampiran yang disediakan saya fikir boleh dimanfaatkan sepenuhnya di dalam pengkajian lebih mendalam tentang undang-undang antarabangsa. Bagi pembaca biasa, kisah yang dipaparkan pasti membuka mata bahawa hitam putih undang-undang juga ada corak-corak yang tidak membosankan.

Belajar Bahasa Baru

2009-10-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

Dengan kebanjiran pendatang dari Tanah Besar China yang belum mampu bercakap di dalam Bahasa Inggeris di Singapura, saya mendapati bahawa mempelajari bahasa mereka adalah sesuatu yang perlu terutamanya di dalam kerja yang saya lakukan. Tidaklah nanti yang seorang bercakap bahasa itik, yang seorang bercakap bahasa ayam.

Sebagai langkah pertama, saya telah membeli buku Everyday English Mandarin Chines And Malay Conversations sebagai alat bantu belajar saya. Maklumlah, nak ambil kursus, mahal sangat...Tambahan pula, kerja syif menyukarkan saya untuk mengatur jadual pembelajaran saya nanti.

Tiba-tiba rasa menyesal kerana tidak mengikuti kursus bahasa yang ada sewaktu di kampus dahulu... Menyesalnya...

Apa seterusnya?

2009-10-14T20:03:00.001-07:00

Akhirnya berjaya menyelesaikan reviu buku The Best I Could oleh Subhas Anandan. Buku pertama yang menjadi mangsa reviu saya. Ada beberapa lagi buku yang berada di dalam koleksi saya yang sedang menanti untuk menjadi mangsa seterusnya. Di sini saya letakkan 3 buku yang saya rasakan menarik untuk direviu:-

1- Why Men Want Sex and Why Women Need Love oleh Alan & Barbara Pease

2- The Associate oleh John Grisham

3- Pedra Branca: The Road to The World Court oleh S. Jayakumar & Tommy Koh

Yang mana satu pilihan kalbu ya?