...from generation to generation

1.
Some instances - looks, habits, way we do stuffs, even fate perhaps - that we have been living with, are perhaps being "inherited" from our father and grandfathers...and maybe being passed on to our next generation. Maybe we have not realized it or maybe we'd realized it a bit too late...

One instance that I can claim being inherited from my Abah is - I end to doze in front the TV set if I am tired regardless how bad I need to view that particular program! :o) The funny thing about it is this - I used to laugh at Abah (and so did my kid bro & sis) when he dozed off....now I have that same habit and my kids laughed at me (including my little wifey too!)...heck I can even comprehend what they talked and laughed about even though I was half asleep (I think!).


2.
My parents are teachers, Abah teaches at some sekolah menengahs and Mak at sekolah rendah kebangsaans....of course they have retired for about a decade or so. That is perhaps another instance - teaching & disciplining students/ kids - which I somehow inherited from both of them. Boy oh boy were they strict when it comes to education - especially Mak. Abah is a bit on the relaxed side but from time to time he'd do a "full inspection" and the outcome would be almost the same like what Mak would prescript - if we do not complete or do well our study/ homework, of course. That's what I am doing to my kids now.

Some of my lecturers back in my studying days told me I can be a good educator, the way I present and explain stuff and how I performed in certain education-related subjects or courses....but my parents were against all of their kids to become teachers like them....ahaha!!

3.
I can still recall in my much much much younger years - before primary school - my parents used to bring me for a walk on the stretch of dirt road of our kampung and show me birds nests, make "baling-baling" using mangosteen leaves, make "rocket" using "lalang" leaves....and with the help of my Pak Uda (almarhum Tn Hj Abd. Rahman Harun), I'd also be "shooting" birds with his nicely crafted slingshot or bamboo machine-gun. There are photos of my dear cousins who pushed me in my stroller (with proper cap and shoes) on that same stretch of kampung road.

I guess I inherited that instance too....I spent hours on weekends walking, talking with my twins and Aliya when they were younger...not at their present age, I'll find ways to be their "friends" and do stuff together with them, with my little wifey too.
...oh yes, it's not going to be long before they'd want to do more stuuf with their friends than their parents - like we all used to when we reached certain age, of course - but before that happens, we'd grab all opportunity to do whatever we can with all of them, together.

...and I realized that was also what my parents did...the last opportunity was perhaps when we all did our hajj - the whole family, with money saved on monthly basis and all, before any of us got married. Couple of years before that they went to perform hajj with almarhumah Mak Tua - my Mak's mother, my grandmother of course.

They were happy to be able to perform hajj with their parents and next with their kids - that already fulfilled their ultimate ambition, as far as I know.

Alhamdulillah, they have reached their targeted ultimate ambition....and it doesn't involve anybody else but only the closest of the family members.

Now it's my turn to set my targets as far as the family is concerned.


4.
Those are just some examples. There are many more details and what we may categorized as not-so-worth-to-mentioned stuff in daily life that we may have inherited from our fore-fathers...and as we grew up and become more stronger than them, more educated than them, we'd be more occupied to the stuff that means so much to our future.
Then we have our kids..and truly enough everybody would want to give the best the can for their kids....in doing so, we tend to be occupied with whatever items that we mark as important and spend time on those items....
Before long, we are already wearing the title of a grandfather/grandmother....so, how have we spent our times? Have we spent enough and do enough for our loved ones? In the first place, do we really ask ourselves that question when we reached that age anyway?

5.
Maybe I am digressing....but to be frank, here I am, waiting for my Abah in the observation ward for the memory lost issue he's facing and it has struck me right in between the eyes - we'll only have one chance to take care of our kids, our father & mother....the time could not be reversed nor repeated.
I just told myself again, last night - no matter what is the number of RM I have in my banks, or how many gold bars I have in the vaults of those banks....it cannot be priced as precious as the time and that one chance to take care of the family.

6.
May Allah bless my family members, those older than me, those younger than me, those whom I have had the opportunity to spend my life with and those younger ones in the future when probably I would not be around anymore to kiss and hug....but for my future generations, please know this - I'd probably still be alive in all of you, as like all your forefathers did in me....and so would you, in your future generations....insyaAllah.

Candlelight

1.
Candlelight. A small source of light. Used to be the main source of light for those who came from kampungs, studying and completing homeworks, reciting al-Quran, shadow play - you guys still remember how to "draw" a rabbit using the light from a candle, your hands and the wall of your room as your canvas? :o)
This little source of light helps those knows how useful it is, to do everything else that one would be doing with the help of a modern light bulb nowadays....just like a piece of paper and a pen compared to an iPad or iPad2 or GalaxyTab or...oh well...you name it!!!


2.
So, we have progressed far from having a candle to read and do those humble stuff in the night as far as a kampung kid is concerned, to having what we have around us today.
The question is, have we progressed too? Maybe.

...but maybe not.


3.
With the light from the candle, our grand parents, parents, maybe some of us too, recited the al-Quran, woke up in the middle of the night for prayers, "talk" to Allah for hours...
With the modern light bulbs....are we not supposed to be able to recite the al-Quran more easily? Are we not supposed to be able to do the midnight prayer with more comfort?
Are we not supposed to be able to read the books and kitabs of Islam in a more comfortable environment?
Yes. Generally.

....but maybe not.


4.
There's so much more "interesting" things to be done with all the modern light bulbs compared to the candle.
A candlelight could not power up our Macintoshs...or PC for non-Mac users lah!
A candle light could not power up our modems.
A candle light could not blow cool breeze like our ceiling fans and air-conds.
How on earth are we gonna get connected to the world of internet with a candle in hand?

So, generally, the result modernization would normally bring us to more fun and interesting things to do and indulge in.

...but the candlelight is still used for certain occasions. I can think of two that would mostly involved the majority of us:
- marking the years of age on our birthday cakes
- lighting up the table for a romantic dinner (TNBs blackout is not in the equation though!!!)

So, it's still there. Existing in the middle of modernized and chaotic life we have.

...but maybe not.


5.
So much so, the existence of a candlelight is almost like existence of the teachings of Islam. To the very basic of it.
Let's just take one example - covering of aurah. It has been there for ages. The aurah of a Muslimin. The Aurah of a Muslimah. The teachings are there, still. The actual practicing of it...maybe yes.

...but maybe not.


6.
A couple of days ago, when we were having our family riadhah time, I saw the usual vision that we'd encounter every day of our life today - Muslimah - ladies, young, old, married or unmarried - walking around in short pants (or we are supposed call it hot-pants?)...riding on the motorbikes with their male partners, also in shorts or bermudas...
I told my lovely wife, back in kampung we used to have our non-Muslims villagers sporting those kind of attire but nowadays, the number of Muslimahs clad in the skimpy pants are just almost "at par"...perhaps.

Modernization? Maybe...to their own definition.

...but maybe not.
At least, not mine. (Maybe not yours too....Alhamdulillah).

7.
The sad thing is, we could not say much to them. They have all the reasons to counter back no matter how soft and sincere the way we try to tell them. Not all of them (Alhamdulillah to that!) but most of them, if not majority. They'll tend to get annoyed for being told about the teachings of Islam on aurah...but we just need to do what we are being told to do by Allah, the least would be to go against it in our heart....and make sure our kids won't belong to the same group when they reach the time.


8.
Going back to the candlelight...the fire is small. It gives benefits to those who knows how to appreciate it.
When the fire grew bigger...to the extreme end it would be as massive as the An-Nar.
Engulfed in the flames of An-Nar, the reward for those who are blunt and arrogant to accept the rules of Allah. As simple as that.
No argument....if you insist to have one, please reserve your argument when you are facing HIM in the HereAfter...


9.
Well, that's just one simple example. We can talk about solat too but as many would say - Hey dude, you'll go to your own grave, I'll go to mine.
...and I am not writing it here about the over-ridiculed busana Muslimah...maybe another day.
So, yeah, let them have it their way. As much as possible, we just do our part, at the very least, dislike it in our heart.


10.
At least we still have the time to repent.
And as I said earlier...with the light from the candle, our grand parents, parents, maybe some of us too, recited the al-Quran, woke up in the middle of the night for prayers, "talk" to Allah for hours...
With the modern light bulbs....are we not supposed to be able to all of the above in comfort and ease....?

So, are we doing it already?
InsyaAllah. Yes.

...no maybe. Just a solid YES.

11.
To each, his own.
Light a candle tonight and think about it.

Wassup Doc?

1.
The recent development (if I may use the word) in Malaysia's political scene is rather...urhm...tiring. Boring. Many would say it is almost the same story being repeated with different actors and directors. That DSAI sodomy trial that have been ongoing for many years. The ongoing investigation of the death of Beng Hock. The sex videos revealed by Datuk Trio team....the Omega watch that matters a lot to everybody involved...you can continue with the list (of the same ol' stories!!)
The impact would depends on the ability of the players to win the minds of the citizens - most are already been in deep fatigue and give no ratsarse except on matters that would hit them on their forehead immediately...or let's make it simple - they are just too occupied with the daily roles and responsibilities plus the always sought after opportunity to be in FacebookLand as much as possible...and for entertainment purposes the obvious option would be Astro's sickening antiques - reality shows the like of AkademiFantasia (45th? 67th? I dunno I don't bother following it!)...of course we also have the TV3 and the RTM channels' prime times, "purely entertaining"....

2.
With the elections coming up in Sarawak (sikda tiket untok sidak2 di Semananjung balit siya kah Pehin Sri?? Tehehehe!!) there are just too many "circus" being aired day in day out...promises here and there, one side accusing the other, the other accusing that one side...wahh...so busy lah everybody!! When the election is done...everything goes back to normal. Well maybe some development here and there but comes the next round, we'd probably realized that nothing much that was being promised is actually being done....true?

3.
No lah...I am not going to ramble about politics & the election.....I am apolitical though I have been a victim of political-inclined people since 10 years of age....when it comes to choosing colors, I do love blue but most of the time I end up preferring green...light blue is generally defined as sissy in my dictionary but once in a while it works nicely on certain occasion...and red is always attractive to my eyes but not suitable for my skin. Go figure!! ;0)

4.
Anyway, I have been talking to some people who have been in close contacts with the big-boys in political scenes. Casual chat, over teh tarik or kopi ais...till the wee hours of the mornings...Alhamdulillah they gave me new perspectives to the scene, some very privileged information and second to the actual persons actually telling the truth...in simple word - it's kind of a revelation, a surprising relief...that is why I always would want to hear all possible part of the story and for this matter, although it took me about 13 years to close the loop, well it's better late than never...

5.
Now I am reading the book by Tun Dr M.
...and also "The Malays: Their Problem & Their Future" by Syed Husin Ali (used to be a textbook for some courses by UiTM).
Why? Just to complete "listening" to the story....that has been there since 1998.

6.
...but of course, nothing beats the information and stories that one can get from the people directly involved...

7.
All I can say here is.....don't swallow everything you are being fed with. Read the ingredients on packets from where it came from. Compare with every other available packets. Get the real facts right. If "ketchup & chili sauce" needed to make it more "edible", then the actual content is probably not good after all.

Above all...chew and munch before you swallow....refrain from talking to others before your swallowing is done...because that would probably end you up in a mess...and the others too...

8.
Some leaders have the looks of a pious and religious Muslim...but you would not know the ugly stinking rotten truth unless you really do your homework (FB links, YouTube not in the package ok!). I am not saying A is wrong nor B is right....that, you have to find out on your own....converse, read, do research, try to get connected.....and be neutral.

9.
Just for the record, I don't belong to any political party. Nope.

First Exhibition for 2011

Invitation from TM to showcase works related to "Appreciation of Women" on 23-25March 2010 at Menara TM (Rebung).

Alhamdulillah....
A short period of time to prepare everything. All expenses on our own. The tema did really good, everything was done on time and it went well.
..more to come insyaAllah.