From Papers to Pixels

Hello.

I had just finished my first malay novel in a long time, written by someone I dont really know. This book was suggested by my girlfriend as she really love the flow of the story. The way she described it to me the first time it doesn't really attract me that much. Then yesterday while I was doing nothing, I had an idea. Why dont I just read this book since I have nothing to do, and am looking for something to read. I had not really thought about the whole book, just looking for a review to see if anyone else recommended it. Then I hit the jackpot. It's free online for the first 30 chapters! Without waiting, I delve into the wondrous land of malay literature.

You see, the malay novel that I used to read has this marriage taboo where you dont really talk about what's under the cover, what happens behind closed doors. But I've seen this current trend where they now are converting these cliche novels on forced marriage, love after marriage and the likes of it into drama series. And I'm hooked. Starting with "Jodoh Itu Milik Kita", I'm currently watching "Love You Mr Arrogant", and I now hear that this novel my girlfriend has been telling me is going to be televised soon. That is the main reason I decided to read it. To read the line between the line. To really feel the love they have between the characters (cewah dah start nak berbunga hati ni).

I have been an avid fan of reading. The first book that I read before it was adapted into the screen was Harry Potter. And I was hooked ever since. I do like the movie, or dramas, or whatnots. But the book tells us what the character feels, what the author thinks on the plots, and you are given the power of imagination to create your own Mr Charming or Miss Delicate. Now that is what I like. I finished the book in less than 24 hours. It's called "The Wedding Breaker".

I really love the story. At first it's because of the fact that the main character was of a higher class in society. You see, I really like to daydream about their lifestyle, which I hope would one day be mine. Then it goes deeper, where the conflict of religion came to the picture. This is what caught me. I've always prayed to have a luxurious and glamorous lifestyle where money is not an object, where you can be in Kuala Lumpur in one day and Milan in the other, where people stop to turn when you pass by. Upon reading this, I realised that I should rethink my wish, as these lifestyle come with a mountain of challenges.

Tinggi mana kau rasa kau duduk, tinggi itulah dugaan yang kau dapat. That is what I think. In this story, Arianna Rose has almost everything she wanted, but her life came to a huge bump when she was raped. Living the life she lived, with her naughty attitude walaupun masih berpegang adat ketimuran brought her to where she was. Adam Kamil HAS everything, but his life is empty tanpa cahaya keimanan yang Allah sendiri pilih untuk dibagi ke siapa hambaNya. Their story ended on a happy note where both are struggling to grasp the hidayah Allah gives. What if they don't? What a waste of life.

I had a change in view of those people I wish to be since I was kid. Dont get me wrong I still wish to have that kind of lifestyle, but I hope should Allah grant me that wish, He give me the will and courage to withstand the challenges that come with it, because I know the more you get, the larger the challenge that comes along. 

Respect So Shall You Be Respected

Hi. Have you ever stopped and ponder upon the gift that God has given our country, that it is diverse in many ways you can imagine. From one point, you can see that we have a beautiful contrast of the urban life and the rural life. Some might say that it shows a huge income or lifestyle gap, but I beg to differ. The scenario that we have here depicts the willingness of the people to preserve our traditional ambience while living in a prosperous nation. From the other, we can also see that the residents of this country is multiracial, and I'm not saying just "black and Caucasian" or "Chinese Indian and Malays" but at least 10 ethnics living in one small country, almost absolutely peacefully.

Nevertheless, humankind is a greedy species I assume. Not happy with the current "tyranny" being imposed here in Malaysia, by not being lenient enough to let it be more diverse, more free, more and more. Malay, Chinese and Indian is not enough. They wanted to put lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender to have their place in our Muslim majority society. Malaysia is a country which bans LGBT movements as it is an Islamic country govern partly by the Sharia Law. Should this be a Jewish state, EVERYBODY in the world would shut up. Everybody would respect any of the decision made based on one tragic event, the Holocaust. Nobody would even care about the story of Palestine and Iraq where many muslims have been oppressed.

54 NGO bakal membuat tuntutan di Geneva yang mana tuntutan tersebut ada menyentuh topik seperti LGBT, diskriminasi terhadap wanita dan bermacam-macam lagi. Dah la nak meluaskan pengaruh LGBT kat Malaysia, seboleh-boleh nak mengatakan bahawa Islam ni agama oppressive? Ini sudah lebih.. Sepatutnya kita sebagai sebuah bangsa Malaysia, sudah lama faham bahawa di Malaysia, agama Islam diberi keutamaan. Ini sebab di awal penubuhan Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, Tunku Abdul Rahman telahpun menyenaraikan beberapa syarat Perlembagaan yang tak bole dipinda, dan antaranya ialah agama Islam sebagai agama rasmi Malaysia. Tak ke bodoh dan gila bila sepatutnya Islam dimartabat, LGBT disanjung? Ye memang akan ada yang kata "How do you say Islam dimartabat tapi rasuah sana sini?" Well for one thing, I dont condone the act of bribery. I think it is disgusting. But almost everybody (I hope everybody) is publicly going against it. At least show or act as if you are against it.

On LGBT, many Muslims are BLATANTLY showing an act of support towards it! Itulah yang lebih menjijikkan. Saya sebagai seorang Muslim MENOLAK sekerasnya perbuatan memberi sokongan atau membiarkan tuntutan LGBT ini diteruskan. Somebody has to stop it. Kita tak boleh nak harap orang putih kat Switzerland sana pertahankan hak orang Islam di sini. Sebab mereka pun majoriti menyokong LGBT ni. Sampaikan orang yang menentang LGBT ni dianggap HINA dan KOLOT. This worries me a lot. What has the world become. Sedih. I dont know if this will come to anybody's attention, but saya harap 54 NGO yang bakal mengemukakan tuntutan tersebut sedar bahawa orang Islam di Malaysia tidak akan berdiam diri. Kami akan bersuara atas hak kami. Enough is enough. Cukuplah Islam dihina pelbagai cara belakangan ini. Tolong hormat kami. What you do under your sheets, we dont want to know. Just keep it there.

  

Change Has Come, Or Has It?

Hi. As I woke up today, I realised that it is the day of Arafah, where the pilgrims from around the world gather on one huge plot of land, Arafah. I can still remember this very day, th years ago where my family and I were there, submitting ourselves to the will of God. This year, the jemaah (pilgrims) are very lucky in a sense that the downpour in Mekah happened four days before the day of Arafah. This gives time for the authorities to clean up the place and ensure that the jemaah would feel at ease when they have to camp there for a night.

In 2009, Mekah received rain on the Moving Day, where literally millions of jemaah traveled a distance of around 21 kilometres from Mekah to Arafah. 21 kilometres is not really that far. But imagine this. 2 million people are heading to one piece of land, with a third world highway system. My experience was a 12 pm scheduled beginning journey ending up around 12 am at Arafah. I cant sleep due to the fact that my tent was soaking wet, the mattress was muddy and mosquitoes are everywhere. Thankfully the night ended fast and after subuh prayers I forced myself to sleep.

At 10 am, we went to this open field to wait for the time of Arafah, which is exactly the time Zuhur started at 12 pm. It was scorching hot. Well what do you expect in the middle of the field in Saudi Arabia? But as Zuhur approach, the wind suddenly blows. Out of nowhere clouds begin to form above us, protecting us from the sunlight. All we can hear were the sounds of azan and the military chopper covering the area. If you were there, you would immediately cry, feeling very gracious after witnessing the blessings of Allah with your very eyes. That was what I did. There's no feeling that can beat the ones during the time of hajj.

That was my experience during the day of Arafah. Being there in the hajj seasons offers many colourful experience. Many of them are wonderful blessings that are very hard to be found anywhere else in the world. Most of us would imagine Mekah as a barren land with nomadic tribe without any idea what civilisation is (our understanding of civilisation might differ). Try googling Mekah, and you would be very surprised. At the heart of Mekah is the center point of the Muslim prayers, Kaabah. Sit beside Kaabah (if you can do so quite comfortably) and you can enjoy the view of the marvel of the modern world, the Abraj Al Bait Tower, the second tallest tower in the world.

However, the one thing that I am quite disappointed with the Arabs is the way they treat the others, especially women. As many know during the times of the jahiliyyah, the Arabs bury their infant daughter as a result of their disgust toward womenfolk. Nowadays that barbaric act will be penalised therefore nobody dares to do it. However, I believe it is in their nature to see women as a creature one tier below them. You can see this by their treatments toward the ladies.

I was appalled with the news that Malala Yousafzai was almost assassinated due to her boldness in fighting for women education in Pakistan. Over there in a province controlled by Taliban, girls are not allowed in school, and given treatments of a lower standard. My guess is that they are trying to ensure that the girls are kept inside the house, not being exposed to the eyes of the public. While this might preserve the purity of the girls and Islam as the big picture, it actually deprives the rights of the ladies. Saidatina Khadijah and Saidatina Aishah are the two most beloved women in the life of Rasulullah, and their purity are guaranteed by Allah, but they still are active in their social life. Being active socially does not mean you are giving yourself to the devil, provided you adhere the rules there are.

My rants should stop here before I go on and on and talk about Nada Al Ahdal or Noora Al Shahmi. We might have different views on that, but one thing is certain, women should not be treated badly. They have the right to be treated with compassion, not hatred. The degree of how special women are can be depicted by the fact that Allah reserved a chapter in the Quran especially for them. Who are we to degrade them?

What? I Can't Hear You!

Hi. It seems like a while since the last time I wrote. I really have no idea on what to say. I have lots in my mind but somehow, it’s rather impolite to put it in writing. Not to mention the stringent laws imposed on bloggers nowadays. Now maybe that is what I want to speak of today. The sad reality that we nowadays are too busy on expressing our views to the point where we actually shut our ears and eyes, refusing to listen to others’ views and opinions.

Some people are too busy thinking that they are right and everybody else is wrong. To deal with that kind of person is very frustrating and quite a nuisance. I know because I am one of those people. I understood and realise how that can undermine other people and actually chase people away from me. That is why I am slowly trying to improve myself and the way I treat people, especially the ones that are close to me.

Moving on. This act of stubbornness can actually go on an international scale. Recently, the government of the United States of America, supposedly the Land of Dreams, The Invincible Uncle Sam has been forced to shut down. Most Americans blamed Obama for this, some are mad at the Republican and quite frankly, I say both of them are hard headed, and to be blamed.

Claiming that they are keeping their feet firmly on the ground for the sake of America is utter nonsense. 800,000 Americans went out of job the day they started the shutdown. It has entered the 2^nd week now, and nobody shows the slightest remorse toward the children that can’t go for cancer treatment, the small business owners that consider folding, all because of their dispute on how to save their nation from going down a deep recession. Irony.

We can learn a lot from their disputes. When I started following them, I thought they are fighting for a good cause. It turns out that everybody is actually saving their own asses. It turns out, we are no different than them. Sadly, that is the reality nowadays. People no longer look out for each other. Bottom line is, what will I gain. In my opinion, it is the most dangerous word in English language. I.