November musings

I don't think there could be enough days off that would make me feel like i want to go to work tomorrow. a week a home is a blessing, even more so when I have used up all of this year's leave. Some people gets irritated being cooped up at home, but i quite like it. I am a homey (or homie), or maybe I'm just a create of comfort, in which 'comfort' means sitting in a semi dark area, watching daytime tv, or reading a book or doing 'research' on the internet about Unsolved Mysteries of The World (that time travelling guy in the B&W photo is really intriguing) or just unsubscribing to the various newsletters that has been taking over my inbox for quite sometime now.

I picked up a few new things over the course of this one week being at home.

1. I have just finished reading Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace.






This guy is probably one the authors that my brain subconsciously favorited, because I have three of his books; Yes Man, Friends Like These and this one. Although consciously I don't really fancy the way he writes (he sounds like me trying to write a novel), but the ideas of his stories are amazing.

Yes Man was an interesting idea to pick up, also what he did in Friends Like These and this one too. He is like a man of 'social experiments' where you do one thing that leads to another thing, which could be a bizarre thing or a superb thing depending on your luck or fate.

Anyways Charlotte Street was quite a challenge to read at times because sometimes Jason Priestley (not of the 90210 fame) is a drag when he yaps about his life. And his life wasn't a very sad one, or a very exciting one, it's just a bit of a ...drag. or a snag, whatever you like. He seems to be falling off a cliff, then hitting a rock on the way down, hooked on a dead tree branch and then falling some more. A loser.

But in the end, something nice happened. A sweet turn around. Which I think was the sort of ending that was much needed. Felt glad that I finally finished reading it. Perhaps it stirred something in me to go out and do something with my life, or make the best out of it. Or just find some interesting thing to do and called it an adventure.

2. A lot of research on the internet, just to fill up my time and curiosity. Well, most of it was to revisit some old blogs that I've bookmarked, read about the Illuminati (what else is new?), Hollywood mind control, what are we to do with them? Is Russia a part of it or are they not? How does North Korea fits into all this secret chaos?

Locally, there isn't anything interesting, but I found that there are Malay atheist blogs, a Muslim gay blog, Malay Christian confessions. Interesting to read their point of views. Now I know why people from Perkasa or ISMA are so worried about. I know it is scary and worrying, But you can't tell others what to believe in, can you? You just can't impose rules on what to belief, because at the end of the day, being religious is a matter of faith. You just can't force someone to be religious if they don't want to be.

I honestly feel that the way to address these issues are not through force or the 'Taliban' way, but through love, understanding and also psychology (do I sound like 2/5 of the Captain Planet team?).

3. In lieu (yes, did just use a lawyer-ish word) with trying not to fall into the Hollywood-Illuminati trap, I went on to find a few independent films on Youtube that I quite like. One of them was Arranged (2009 film). I saw it once before, this is actually the second time watching it again. Some Iranian films. Films about Palestinian-Israelis relationship and a Arab family living in Canada. Well, there's a lot of things to watch on Youtube.

Arranged was probably an endearing one, maybe because it's a friendship story between a Muslim and an Orthodox Jew in Brooklyn, where the story revolves around (guess what?) ... Arranged marriage. It was funny and cringe-worthy seeing all the suitors for these two people. Then I was on-board to doing research about Arranged marriage in Orthodox Jew culture, because in the movie it seems to be very... systematic. I also got a glimpse into the lives of the other 'selected group of people of heaven'.

The internet is really a big web (duh), one thing leads to another, I ended up learning a thing or two about Jewish tribes, the Holocaust, the Torah.. and then.... somehow came back to the Illuminati.

One thing I can say is, this thing is very complicated (the Israel-Palestine issue) and also this religious tension and political power tug of war.

4. Since it got too serious and intense, I decided to tune-out for a bit and sat down in front of the TV and watch this reality tv show that is being repeated over and over again on Lifetime, which is Married at First Sight. (what is it about all this arranged marriage thing?).

At first I though it was a silly gimmick, but then I was HOOKED. Like, seriously hooked and watched the whole season immediately. Bingeing at its best.

They call it 'social experiment', but in truth it was an arranged marriage set up by experts (PhD people really). One of the couple (out of three) was my favorite one. They didn't really hit it off at first, but as the show progresses, you can see how the relationship grows and it is really endearing (I love this word). There was another couple, which hit it off very well at first, but towards the end you could see that they went from 0 - 200 kmh, then lost control; crash and burn. And another couple, who were sweet on each other and they were the lovey-dovey ones, which I think had chemistry right from the start.

Of course, my favourite one was the second one (Jamie and Doug) because it was very endearing (this word!). She has emotional baggage (loads, big bags of emotional baggages) and he was the rock, the kind and patient person. Seeing how Jamie starts to warm up to Doug and how she grows to feel comfortable around him from one episode to the next was heart warming. It was like watching a romantic film as a reality tv show. Haha, I guess this is my guilty pleasures. Luckily the seasons ends and I get to go to work with a content heart.

So we have here various outcomes of arranged marriage. One that was right from the start, one that has potential to grow into something positive and one that seems to be a good match, but turns out to be a very bad mistake. Interesting show, isn't it?

5. And maybe one last conspiracy theory, which is a new one to me:
Stevie Wonder isn't blind (!!??)

Isn't that shocking? Why would a person fake being blind for his whole life?
I think he really is legally blind.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

D

Ending of Things

Quite a number of things that came to an end on Monday.

1. Finished reading "Quiet" by Susan Cain.

Reading this book is almost like reading a scientific study of myself. It kind of explains a lot about myself of the things that I wasn't sure of prior to reading this book.
There is no shame in being socially awkward or the silent observer at a party, or disliking banal chit chat. It is okay to be different and it is important to be true to yourself. Because if you're an introvert trying to be an extrovert, at the end of the day, you'll be unproductive and exhausted (mentally and physically and emotionally).
This book says that being an introvert is not a weakness. Embrace the introvert in you. If this book is anything, it has reinforced my belief that I am an introvert.

2. Finished watching the final episode of Breaking Bad's series finale.

That. Was. The. Best. Series. Ending. That I have never seen in a long time. Like OMG.
Vince Gilligan (Creator) and the writers of Breaking Bad are geniuses. OK, maybe Season 2 was a bit of a snoozefest, but it builds up in the following Seasons 3,4,5.
Following the 'adventures' of Walter White was like riding a rollercoaster. I liked and pitied him in the first season, laughed at his 'newbie-ness' and also his briliance in the second and following seasons. Finally hating him in the fifth, and ended up liking him, cried and felt sorry for him in the final episode. There is an obvious character transformation going-on. And I could say the same for Jesse. He starts from being this douchebag, and only to realise after episodes later that he's like an onion. One layer upon another layer. and everytime he breaks free from Mr White, I secretly hope that he won't go back to his old ways again (but we know he will).
Although the truth of life is that all things must come to an end, including good tv series like Breaking Bad, I am glad that it ended the way that it did.
Yeah, bitch! (this is tv reference Jesse Pinkman, if you don't watch BB).

3. Ryan Giggs has announced retirement.

Ada macam ala2 Johnny Depp sikit kan? Good enough for 15 year old me back then.

The longest serving player, in my mind-lah. Everytime I read the sports section and see a pictures of Giggsy, I often find asking myself, he's still playing on the field?
I am not a big fan of Manchester United, but I was once. Back when I was 15 years old. It wasn't that I really liked football per-se (sorry football fans), I only 'liked' it because I wanted to be 'in' with the gang. Liking football in an all-girls high-school seemed to me like a unique thing to be at that time. It didn't made me popular at school, but it did helped me have a conversation (more like -oh hensemnya Ryan Giggs (that 15 years younger Giggs)) with my friends. Kalau tak, takde benda nak sembang.
So yeah, Ryan Giggs helped my made friends in high school.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

D

Salina -A Samad Said

Baru sahaja selesai membaca novel Salina hasil karya Sasterawan Negara A Samad Said.
Dikatakan ini adalah antara karya agung "must read" di Malaysia dan mungkin juga di nusantara.

Jarang sekali aku membaca novel2 Melayu di luar zaman persekolahan. Kebanyakkan bahan bacaan lepas sekolah adalah majalah2 ringan dan hiburan sahaja. Namun begitu, sejak akhir2 ini (dalam setahun dua kebelakangan ini), aku kembali membaca buku2 cerita (melayu dan inggeris). Mungkin kerana terpaksa membaca buku2 yang telah dibeli semata2 untak menghabiskan kupon Baucar Buku 1Malaysia. Ok, ada bagusnya mendapat buah tangan begini sekali sekala, biarpun tujuannya adalah untuk membeli hati rakyat!

Berbalik kepada intipadi asal, setelah berjaya menghabiskan Salina dalam masa 2-3 bulan (mungkin antara sebab aku jarang membaca, kerana mengambil masa yang lama utk habiskan bacaan!), aku terfikirkan kenapa Salina ini menjadi karya agung?

(Disclaimer: i admit i don't have the credentials to analyse and give reasons as to why this novel is so and so. All i have to offer here are just bits and pieces of my incoherent thoughts based on so little knowledge that i have on this subject. Basically, this is a digital version of a coffee table/kopitiam discussion)

- mungkin kerana subjek utama novel ini adalah mengenai seorang yang perkerjaannya "taboo" di mata masyarakat, dan penulis dapat menyematkan perasaan kasihan kepada Salina dan menjadikannya seorang manusia yang berperikemanusiaan. Penulis membuat kita melihat Salina sebagai seorang manusia dahulu, dan bukan sebagai seorang pelacur dahulu.

- kisah kisah penduduk Kampung Kambing yang serupa realiti. Tiada kesudahan cerita2 dongeng yang memberikan kepuasan hati kepada pembaca. Pembaca tidak dihidangkan dengan kesudahan yang bahagia. Di dalam novel ini, ada wanita yang kena pukul oleh kekasihnya yang curang, ada kematian, orang2 yang baik mendapat kesudahan yang menyedihkan, gadis2 yang lari dari rumah, perjuangan ke menara gading yang terpaksa dikorbankan kerana kesempitan hidup, orang2 Islam yang berfoya2 dan jelas sekali minum arak.

Barangkali kisah yang menyentuh dan bermain-main dengan sensitiviti masyarakat adalah dianggap berani. Walaupun ianya benar2 berlaku di dunia realiti. Mungkin juga sebab itulah novel ini masih belum lagi di buat filemnya. ?

- mungkin juga gaya penceritaan novel ini yang lain sekali. Walaupun tajuknya Salina, ianya bukan 100% berpusatkan watak tersebut. Setiap bab diceritakan dari padangan/perjalanan hidup/pemikian watak2 lain selain dari Salina; Hilmy, Nahidah, Abdul Fakar, Sunarto, Zarina, Razman dan juga si Bulat.



Walau apapun sebabnya novel ini menjadi karya agung, hakikatnya perkara utama yang harus kita ambil sebagai pengajaran daripada novel ini adalah;
- cuba elakkan dari terlibat didalam Peperangan (mustahil untuk rakyat biasa! Tetapi untuk pemimpin negara). Kesan terus daripada peperangan nampaknya banyak yang negatif ( kemiskinan, kesusahan, kehilangan keluarga, kehancuran cita-cita dan juga kenodaan).

- kekurangan pengetahuan agama dan juga pelaksaan ilmu agama boleh membuatkan manusia terus menerus bergelumang dosa.

- meletakkan wang dan kesukaan (enjoy) sebagai Tuhan dan tujuan hidup bisa membuatkan manusia hilang pertimbangan dan kabur akan akibat kesan panjang tentang keputusan yang dibuat terhadap diri sendiri dan orang lain (hubungan Zarina sekeluarga, Abdul Fakar).

- jangan mempercayai kata2 ahli politik. Selepas 2 tahun selesai pilihanraya, penduduk kg Kambing masih tinggal di kandang kambing walaupun dijanjikan rumah batu, dan lebih malang lagi rumah mereka yang daif itu terbakar. Janji tinggal janji.

- setiap orang ada kisah tersendiri. Kadang kala keputusan yang mereka buat untuk kehidupan mereka adalah akibat kesempitan dan keadaan pada masa itu (mangsa keadaan). Kadang kala, kita tidak dapat memahami kenapa mereka buat keputusan tersebut (why they do what they do), tetapi pasti ada sebab disebaliknya. Untuk yang berterusan di dunia yang berbayang, kita janganlah putus harapan memberi nasihat kepada mereka. Akan tiba waktunya (mereka yang tidak kelam hati) akan dapat terima nasihat tersebut dan berubah ke arah yang baik.

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Dinginnya Salju

Sebenarnya tak dingin mana pun masa salju melitupi muka bumi. Suhu terasa agak panas sedikit berbanding hari-hari biasa di mana salji tidak turun.

Akan tetapi malam sebelum turunnya salji, hati seolah2 dapat tahu bahawa pada keesokan harinya saya akan melihat tanah putih dipenuhi salji. Sebabnya pada waktu itu, suhu terasa amat sejuk sekali, sampai ke tulang hitam lah, menggigit-gigit sejuknya.

Heh, cakap macam apa saja... sebenaqnya dalam masa 4 tahun saya dok kat UK, hanya 2-3 kali saja turun salji. Itupun tak sampai 5 inci. lulz. Mat Saleh pun sama excited dengan kitorang nih bila tengok snow.

Baru sahaja selesai baca novel pasal cabaran Malaysian students di Indiana.  (I seldom read Malay novels, to be honest. The last one was Begawan, and it was a really weird book about rearing horses for people to see...them doing 'activities' at night). Terpanggil sangat untuk membaca buku tersebut selepas tengok adaptasi novel dalam bentuk drama tv beberapa bulan lepas. Sangat tertarik dengan cerita itu kerana ia mengimbau kenangan sewaktu kali pertama ke luar negara untuk menuntut ilmu. Novel ini pun tak kurang dekatnya di hati. Ianya berlatar belakangkan Indiana, sebuah tempat yang penuh bersejarah dalam hidup keluargaku. Abah dan Mama pernah belajar di sana dan berkahwin pun di sana. Bulan May 20122, kami sekeluarga telah kembali semula ke Indiana (selepas 30 tahun) sewaktu melawat adik ku yang menuntut tidak jauh dari situ.

Living abroad at such a young age with no supervision from parents is a big challenge, especially in places where the culture is very much different from our own. It is tough and it is also confusing. First, there's moving to a new place where you don't know much of anything, like where's the sundry shop and how to get meals. Then, you have to make new friends with a lot of people that doesn't share the same background or thought as you. And at the same time, you must excel in your studies while managing your finances so that you won't be starving my the end of every third month. And then... there's the local drama, which I don't want to talk about it here.

I've seen a few changes of the heart. Best friends became enemies. Girls and boys living together, although claiming nothing goes on between them. People became fanatic towards certain way of thought. Hijab to free hair. Free hair to hijab.

I really would like to thank Allah SWT that He has sent me there with a group of people who are kind hearted and very nice to take care of me. I am so thankful.

Websites I Found

• Pick The Brain 

I love productivity and motivational websites. Motivation is a constant wavering thing within me. I could be fueled with positivity for a day, a week or two and feel the total opposite, fearing the bleak future in the next following day. Pick The Brain is one of them, having useful articles that I could use. I just pick one of the articles that is related to certain areas that I am lacking, and read them.Hopefully at the end of it, I'll see a silver lining.

• Bitch In a Bonnet 

This is website I chanced upon by luck of Google search terms. I am currently reading Jane Austen's Mansfield Park and was intrigued to read and understand more about the characters, mainly Fanny Price and Henry Crawford. This guy covered 3 Jane Austen books with detailed and satirical musings.

• Wondermark

Amusing piece of comics that has a feel of ye olden days of yore. The 'feel' goes together with the book I'm currently reading, Mansfield Park.

• Serenity

This is a real gem. A collection of podcasts given by sister Yasmin. Topics mainly revolves around Muslims lives. Her podcast are good and most of the time it makes me realise, masyaallah, I should have done better with my life.

• The Holstee Manifesto

25_Your 5 favorite books

dekat2 nak habis meme ni jadi semakin malas nk post.
or.. maybe because...
it's finally Friday! Friday! I'm getting down on Friday. Friday! Friday!

I'm going to do this in a quick flurry.
5 books (read, and also including Audio book heard)

1. Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre - I'm currently listening to it, chapter 25 already. So far I'm very intrigued by this Jane character. She's independent, strong willed, have a mind and opinion of her own. Mind you, this story is about someone living in the 1850's --> 160 yrs ago.
   
2. Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers - This is one book that I liked very much. It's my explanatory book. You have to read the book to appreciate the idea that genius or billionaires just doesn't happen overnight. It's all a mixture of the perfect timing, doing the right thing and passion for something. The perfect storm. Saying that, I actually liked other Gladwell's books.
   
3. Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie - I liked this book at first because it's a story of looking at life in a positive way and doing things that's good for you and everyone else.
   
4. Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Flyer - a very touching fiction about friendship and redemption. It is set during the revolution/ power transfer to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Two boys from different level of society forged a strong friendship, but misfortunes happened to one of them.
   
5. Paolo Coelho's The Alchemist - This was the first book that I actually liked after a veeerryy loonngg time of not reading literatures. It was also the one that made me said to myself, OK let's go to India. (At first I didn't wanted to go because of many things). How's that related? I can't remember anymore.

OK, done. 

Now by the time you're reading this I'm either on my way or already waiting in line for The Shiny. Wish me luck fellas!

Twilight

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Aah...peace and quiet. What a peaceful Monday. I don't know why I always like to blog on Mondays lately, but it seems relevant enough be say Hi to everyone once a week (at least). No, I don't work today, so please don't expect me to rant about that, there's nothing much I could do to make things any easier there. I'm overly spent at that place and my body decided it could not stand it anymore and so, it did something and took control.

I had a fever and I had to stay in for a couple of days. To be honest, I'm secretly glad that I had a fever. It was the only way I could rest and finish reading Twilight. Yes, you read it right.

The Book.


I'm a bit late catching the Edward Cullen bug if I might say so myself, but it's simply because I was a bit skeptical at first. What? Another vampire story? I had enough of Buffy, Angel and Interview With the Vampire stuff already. I was running out of books to read, and there it was, sitting on the shelf, looking devilishly inviting... whispering quietly to me, to pick it out off the shelf and read it.

In the first couple of chapters, I felt that Bella is a bit of a 'poyo' person. I mean, 'Apa ni?"what's wrong with this girl? Gets irritated easily by people calling her by her full name, the attitude and everything... I almost closed the book for good. Then Edward Cullen and his family came into the cafeteria and then it all changed and things became more interesting. Bella is just a distraction.

There's nothing more to this book other than the mysterious family of vampires. I just can't help but to think Edward is like a cat who is playing with his food at first. Waiting for that moment for him to pounce on her and finish her off for good. But that did not happen.

Everybody loves a love story. But a painful love story with one of them being an undead, that's something different that some people couldn't understand as what S.King said about the writer: She can't write worth a darn. Hmm.. looks like somebody's been a little bit grumpy after the last H.P. book came out. No more little wizards for you.

But anyway, he's right. If you put aside Edward's smooth porcelain white skin and nice body odour, you'd see that he's a creepy possessive stalker. Most of the boys (the human boys) in this books have a crush on Bella, and it really drives her crazy that these boys keep following her around. Edward Cullen is also doing the same thing too! But because of perfect masculine feature, handsomeness and super human powers, Bella doesn't care if he sneaks in her bedroom every night to watch her sleep and follows her everywhere she goes.

I don't know, I love and hate the book both at the same time.

The movie. [Yeah, I'm also a movie buff.]

The only scary thing here is Edward's Hairdo.

Twilight The Movie. You might laugh if I say I think this movie is a cross between many series such as Beverly Hills 90210, Pocahontas, Batman and everything else all at the same time. LOL! Well, no matter how corny or cheezy this movie is, I'm still going to put it into my Ipod :D

It's hard to find a movie that actually complements it's original book. All I could say is that, this movie helps with the visualisation.

Ayat-Ayat Cinta

Aku telah menonton cerita yang aku bicarakan pada entri yang lepas (aku rasa ni rekod yang paling pantas aku habis membaca sebuah buku dalam tempoh kurang 1 minggu, selalunya satu bulan baru habis!). Aku berasa sedikit keliru bila nonton cerita itu. Ini kerana ada sedikit kelainan antara novel dan filem. Tapi, tak mengapalah.

Memang diakui tidak mudah untuk mengadaptasikan sebuah novel ke layar perak. Adalah cabaran besar bagi seorang sutradara untuk memberikan pengalaman yang sama kepada penonton filemnya sepertimana seorang penulis kepada pembacanya. Tidak bisa rasanya untuk melontarkan segala isi karya buku ke dalam bentuk visual yang dimuatkan dalam masa dua jam. Betul, kalau cerita itu sebuah kereta, aku rasa macam ia bergerak sangat pantas sekali, mungkin dalam kelajua 150km/j! Sebentar sahaja sudah sampai ke bahagian pertengahan cerita, pantasnya 45 minit kemudian, telah pun ke suku terakhir cerita. Aduh. (Begitulah juga perasaan aku bila aku menonton cerita Harry Potter, Da Vinci Code, etc... mungkin lain kali tengok filem dulu sebelum baca novelnya.)

Aku yang telah membaca buku itu memang berasa amat terkesan dengan kisah hidup dan keperibadian watak-watak utamanya, terutamanya Fahri. Padanlah dalam cerita ini, ramai wanita yang telah jatuh cinta kepadanya, cinta hanya berdasarkan Islami. Tak bergantung kepada harta (beliau miskin) dan juga rupa (aku tak rasa rupanya macam Brad Pitt).

Di dalam karya asal AAC, aku rasa penulis banyak menekankan hal perihal adab dan tingkah laku seorang muslim terhadap orang-orang di sekitarnya. Seorang Muslim haruslah mempunyai keikhlasan hati dan kesungguhan dalam setiap ibadah dan perkerjaannya. Sepertimana Fahri bersungguh-sungguh menunaikan tanggungjawabnya sebagai seorang Muslim (pergi solat jamaah di masjid), sebagai seorang penuntut ilmu (menghadiri kuliah, menulis tesis dan talaqqi mengaji), beliau juga telah mencurahkan usaha yang tak terikira untuk menterjemahkan dan menjawab pertanyaan mengenai kedudukan wanita di dalam Islam hingga berjaya diterbitkan sebagai sebuah buku.

Kita harus menghormati tetangga biarpun mereka tidak sekepercayaan dengan kita. Novel ini juga menyelitkan situasi yang ironi. Di dalam bangunan flat tersebut, kita tahu ada dua keluarga yang Islam (Fahri dan Bahadur) dan satu keluarga Kristian (Boutros). Tapi penulis memaparkan si Bahadur sebagai yang antagonis, beliau menzalimi ahli keluarganya dan bekerja di tempat maksiat. Manakala keluarga Boutros, bersifat ramah, penyayang dan mengambil berat antara satu sama lain. Ini menunjukkan, tanpa rasa ketakwaan kepada Allah dan Rasulnya, Islam hanya tinggal nama sahaja dan intinya entah kemana, menjadikan manusia seolah binatang, dan mungkin lebih dekat lagi kepada syaitan, begitulah Bahadur.

Perkara yang ketika yang menarik ialah harus senantiasa tegar melakukan yang benar biarpun dalam suasana yang mendesak. Tidak kiralah situasinya bagaimana,biarpun melibatkan hal hidup atau mati seseorang. Contoh terbaik ialah tidak memberi rasuah untuk mengeluarkan diri dari penjara biarpun sebenarnya dipenjarakan atas tuduhan yang fitnah. Mungkin yang paling menyentuh hati ialah keenganan Fahri untuk menyentuh Maria yang koma walaupun disarankan doktor agar beliau mendapat ransangan motivasi untuk Maria kembali pulih. Sehinggalah diizinkan oleh Aisha untuk fahri bernikah dengannya. Itupun bukan senang untuk memujuk si Fahri berbuat demikian.

Kesinambungan antara filem dan novel ini mungkin berada di penghujung filem tersebut. Mungkin perkara penting yang harus dikhabarkan kepada para penonton, terutamanya yang lelaki :P , tidak senang untuk berlaku adil jika mempunyai dua atau lebih isteri. Walaupun dengan restu, tak mungkin tanpa disertai rasa cemburu si isteri apabila suaminya berdampingan dengan isteri yang satu lagi. Wang dan harta tak mungkin dapat menghapuskan rasa cemburu. Lantas, bagaimana mahu menjaga hati kedua-dua pihak?

Betul, novel ini adalah pembangun jiwa, pemberi semangat dan menginsafkan.

(hehe.. poyo nye menulis, rasa cam buat karangan utk periksa literature BM je)

Sehari dalam hidupku

Hari ini aku cuti dari bekerja. Selamat. Tak, bukan extend, jumlah cutinya sama dengan orang lain, cuma aku mulakan cuti lambat dua hari. Orang lain sibuk drive balik kampung dan menganyam ketupat, aku masih lagi di pejabat minggu lepas menggaru kepala memikirkan cara untuk menyelesaikan masalah di tempat kerja.

Nyaman rasanya hari ini kerana dapat membuat banyak perkara untuk diri aku sendiri dan seisi rumah. Selalunya sibuk yang tak berkesudahan sejak awal tahun ini, seringkali pulang lewat malam dan jarang ada masa untuk beristirehat dan untuk berlibur. Kadang-kadang kesal sekali memikirkan kesibukkan ku, kurang ada masa untuk diluangkan membantu ibuku di dapur, kurang masa untuk meng'kurus'kan diri(iya, aku semakin mengumpul lemak) , kurang ada masa untuk istirehat. Mungkin ini lah yg dijanjikan pada akhir zaman, kurang masa lapang untuk umat manusia. Mungkin juga aku patut mula mencari perkerjaan lain yang kurang terkejar-kejar seperti di tempat sekarang. Ya, aku akan mulakan pencarianku (nanti).

Aku bangun seawal 6.30 pagi. Selalunya selepas menghantar adikku ke sekolah, aku akan tidur semula dan bangkit lebih kurang 1 atau 2 jam selepas itu. Tapi hari ini, agak bersemangat produktif. Dua-tiga hari ni asyik mengikuti rancangan pagi 'Nasi Lemak Kopi O' di Tv9 buat aku rasa nak juga, maka aku pergi mencari Nasi Lemak dan minum kopi 'O'. Bestnya.

Selepas tu, mengumpul baju-baju untuk dibasuh. Kemudian menyimpan semula lampu-lampu lip-lap ke dalam kotak untuk disimpan sehinggalah datang Hari Raya Haji pula bulan depan, InsyaAllah. Lepas tu pergi membersihkan kandang kucing. Hairannya aku bila membuka pintu dapur, ku lihat Mek (nama kucingku) berada di luar sangkar. Bagaimana dia keluar, aku pun tidak tahu, tak nampak pun lubang-lubang yang boleh dibolosnya. Entahlah. Padanlah anak-anak Mek asyik mengiau-ngiau sejak pagi tadi.. lapar susu. Sungguh dashyat keadaannya kandang kucing ku ini, aku rasa kesal kerana semalam bagi kucingku makan sosej, mungkin tak sesuai dengan perut mereka.

Attack of the clones. Comelkan? Rasa macam nak picit-picit.

Selesai dangan urusan kucing, aku mencuci lantai dapur. Dalam masa-masa lapang inilah yang paling sesuai untuk mengemop lantai. Waktu yang tidak sibuk, seisi rumah telah keluar ke tempat kerja. Aku paling obses dengan kerja-kerja mencuci ini. Mungkin ini kesannya selama berkerja sebagai cleaner selama 4 tahun ketika di UK dahulu. Kalau sudah mula mencuci, tak kiralah, lantai ke, kereta ke, cermin, tingkap, dapur, dinding jubin, tandas; aku pasti akan obses mencucinya sampai bersinar-banar (bak kata orang kelate). Aku suka melihat hasil kerja ku bersih dan berkilat-kilat. Kadang-kadang sampai terbongkok-bongkok mencuci. Pasti Cindarella juga akan insaf melihatkan kesungguhanku.

Terkadang, aku tewas juga dengan kotoran yang degil dan enggan hilang walaupun dilawankan dengan klorox, terpaksalah aku mengalah. Tak mengapa, lain kali. Sekarang aku putuskan untuk berehat dan menonton siri Ugly Betty epi 1 musim 3. Musim ini ada Lindsay Lohan (LiLo), Benarkah dia g@y? Kadang2 aku bertanya soalan itu setiap kali melihat berita tentangnya di E!New$. Li-Lo memegang watak sebagai supervisor di sebuah restoran makanan pantas (fastfood) dan ada satu adegan di mana Betty bergaduh dengan Li-Lo sambil membaling kentang goreng (fries) ke arah satu sama lain. Melihatkan kentang goreng yang enak itu, aku berniat untuk ke McD0nald$ selepas selesai menonton bagi mendapatkan fries.

Kadang-kadang aku rasa ada irasnya aku dengan Betty. Iyakah?

Pulang dari McD0nald$ (berpuas hati), aku sambung membaca buku ini:
Aku membaca sampai terlelap. Hanya terjaga apabila aku berasa lenguh tangan kiri dan sesak dada. Entah kenapa, mungkin dah banyak lemak kot. Esok juga aku akan mulakan senaman (mengapa bukan hari ni?).

Pertama kali aku mendengar tentang novel ini ketika aku berceloteh tentang kurang puasnya hati ku ketika itu kerana kurang karya berbahasa Melayu yang bisa dicanangkan kehebatannya dan setanding dengan hasil Mat-Mat Saleh seperti karya-karya terdahulu yang dihasilkan oleh penulis-penulis hebat seperti Usman Awang, A. Samad Said dan sebagainya. Kalau tak silap Dith mencadangkan aku novel ini. Kemudian, ketika musim Raya ni, keluar banyak iklan dan promo tentang filem adaptasi novel ini. Dengan alunan lagu 'Ayat-Ayat Cinta' nyanyian mendayu-dayu penyanyi Rossa, aku rasa terpanggil untuk membaca novel ini sebelum menonton filemnya minggu hadapan. Aku ke kedai buku Ahad yang lepas untuk membelinya dan sekarang masih lagi membaca buku ini. Terbukti, ada pengaruh yang kuat ke atasku sampaikan aku menulis entri blog hari ini pun seperti meniru stail penulisan Habiburrahman El Shirazy. Hehe... kononnya, tapi yang pasti aku tidaklah sehebat beliau, jauh sekali. Aku picisan.

Esok pun aku cuti lagi. Mula-mula ingat hendak pendekkan cuti dan pulang ke pejabat awal, tapi aku rasa amat senang dan aman pada hari ini. Mengapa hendak stresskan diri awal-awal? Selayaknya aku harus merehatkan fikiran dan jiwa esok. Dan juga mula mencari tujuan baru , banyak perkara yang aku telah aturkan selama ini yang masih lagi belum aku tunaikan (sejak awal tahun), esok adalah harinya. Semoga berjaya esok. InsyaAllah.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It's done! Took me a week, a tad bit longer than some people who read it in a day, skipping every meals; including lunch and dinner :P. And me on the other hand, had to spell out each and every word of it.

Ok, confession time: I was among one of the people who woke up abnormally early on a Saturday morning the day the last Harry Potter book came out onto the bookshelf exactly on 7.01am at Tesco. (Hoho!)

(Warning spoiler coming thru.... stop here if you really don't want me to spoil your day).

I'm so glad that I have finished reading the last installment. Felt like a whole load of weight have been lifted from my chest. J.K. Rowling did quite an impressive job spilling out some beans (but not too much) a few weeks/months before the book came out telling us fans that she did not only killed one main character, but more than that. Packed with an inquisitive curiosity , surely I had to read page by page to find out who died. Yes, the deaths really mounts up to so many that I can't even remember how many was it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is not as thick as her previous books (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince), but sometimes, I still think it is quite draggy and bla,bla,bla... but still, I dare not skip any words and jump paragraphs. That's why sometimes, I get annoyed with Harry when he starts to act all selfish, short tempered, whiny, confused and childish. However, I can't blame Harry for this, simply because he's just a teenager full with angst. Poor guy... having to carry the responsibility of saving the world from extremely evil Voldermort in such a tender age of 17.

The brilliant part of Rowling shone out during the time when Snape reveals his secret to Harry in the Pensieve. It was really shocking to know that Snape and Lily had a history together in the past. To top it off, Dumbledore's pack with Snape on how to bring down Voldermort by using Harry Potter was not a pretty bad plan.

I was quite disappointed with Rowling about two things. She should have taken the liberty of explaining more on some stuff especially about the baby at King's Cross. After all we all can do with an extra chapter. Secondly, I personally feel the ending Rowling had put in the end is not really a good ending if you asked me. She could have just put down her pen after writing down the second last chapter. That's just my opinion.

I think I'll give this book 4 out of 5 stars. ****

Note:
Harry Potter's new film came out at perfect timing with the last book. I've almost forgotten about most of the characters and places described in the last book, watching the movie help me regain my memory back.

Book Review: I am Muslim

I've just finished reading Dina Zaman's I am Muslim, it took me 4 days, and that is quite fast considering that I am a slow reader. Before I got hold of this book, I heard a lot of things about it, some praising it and some questioning the author whether she has the 'right' to write about such a sensitive topic.

For those who's not familiar with the author, she is a well versed Malaysian writer, written for NST, Malaysiakini, etc. I think she's pretty good.

She writes about her experiences and observations of Muslims (practising and non-practising) mainly in Malaysia, a couple of chapters about Muslims in Indonesia and a little bit about the rest of the world.

And this is my opinion and bla,bla,bla:

While reading this book, chapter after chapter, I came to agree with the author that we Malaysians are a very confused bunch of Muslims, and this is not a fiction.

Since the era of the Sultanate of Malacca, Islam has been the official religion for this country and to be specific, the Malays. As time goes by, religion began to mix with culture and the line that separates the two has faded and forgotten by most of us (apart from accredited Ustaz and ustazahs). That's is the reason why we still have Muslims seeking help from intermediates like bomohs (shamans) for beauty, to gain love, achieve success and even to get 'lucky numbers' and these people pray 5 times a day.

From what I can see, we lack total understanding of Islam, our own religion. Yes, we may know what the 5 pillars of Islam (Rukun Islam) and the 6 pillars of faith (Rukun Iman), and it would be totally embarassing if we didn't, since we are all made to take Kelas Agama 3 to 4 times a week since Standard one ('till up to Form 5) and most of us are sent to Sekolah Agama and Kelas Fardhu A'in after school. But knowing doesn't makes us a true Muslim if we don't take all that knowledge to heart and practise it in our everyday lives. That is why we have high rates of drug addicts, immoral youngsters, incest and rape cases, bribery, white collar crimes, and everything else, enough said.

And then there's almost no understanding between the Muslim and other religion followers. When another person from another religion converts (or reverts, as some people say it) into Islam, they would say 'Masuk Melayu' (becoming a Malay), which is totally wrong because there's no gene changes involved.

I noticed that there's also a certain tension between Muslim and non-Muslims, which is totally unecessary. There was an incident at the end of last year, where an SMS circulated telling its recipients to go to a certain church and protest against Christian converts. So down they went to the church will their banners and all, only to find it's actually a baptism ceremony of some indian children and not like what is described in the SMS. The scene almost turned ugly.

Somehow our multiracial community don't mix together with the spirit of muhibbah anymore. Everyone is so damn scared of each other, we don't hang out with each other anymore since we are 'different' we think others who are different than us are lesser and 'jelik'. I don't know how we became so shallow and narrow minded up to this extent, and this has to stop. Have we not learnt from our dearest Propher Muhammad SAW (peace be upon him), that he treats everyone nicely no matter what religion they are?

I count myself as lucky to be sent to study abroad for a few years, being there halfway across the world, seeing how Muslims from other countries practises their beliefs has opened my mind towards Islam and adds into my already known knowledge of the conventionally Malaysian taught Islam. I am now more tolerable of other religion, I share and reveal my knowledge and some fascinating facts about Islam with my non-Muslim friends and listen to what they have to say about their religion as well. Dan banyak lagi...

There's a lot more issues being touched by Dina Zaman in her book, and this means, there's a lot of things which is currently happening in our community that has be put back into the right path. As time grows, I hope more people will read this book and come to realise that we need to change and we need to learn and know by heart and practise about Islam and not leave it to ustazs and ustazahs to do the job.