This song caught my attention for the past few weeks:

Meet Uncle Hussein

Putih Lukisan

 

oh dunia
penuh dengan derita
ada suka
ada juga dukanya
yang disana sedang menakluk dunia
yang disini ditimpa malapetaka

 

ow dunia hari ini
ow sedihnya
ow tanah dijajah lagi
ow sengsara

*
jika ku seorang pelukis
akan ku warnai dunia
denga warna putih
agar tiada gelap
lukisannya ow oh oh dan oh

 

oh manusia
tak ku mengerti sifatnya
ada mulia
ada juga kejinya
yang si tua berbalahkan kuasa
yang simuda mengacukan senjata

 

ow maruah dijual beli
ow murah nya
ow bumi terbelah lagi
ow bencana

 

repeat (*)

oh oh oh oh oh oh dan oh lagi

ulang (*)

 

It’s very interesting to find people whom wanted to be good, questioning how they can make the world a better place. I’m VERY sure that they later found out that all the efforts lead them to a no end.  Each time they fix 1(one) nonsense magically 10 (ten) new nonsense came into the picture. Effort has been made, energy, time, and money pumped in the line. But yet the outcome is very disappointing. Why?

For one very simple reason – they forgot the RULES by the CREATOR.

Imagine you own a Beemer; one day you crushed the car. To which repair shop would you turn to? LAU AH YAT Workshop (example)? or a BMW AUTHORIZED service center? Lau Ah Yat might be able to fix the car, but it wouldn’t take long before you find your rear bumper went into MIA and found it actually falls down at the last traffic light. Then you go back to Mr. Lau to complain. Took all the effort to see him just to hear  “Sorry mah, not my fault, this bumper only good for below 20kmh drive, you drove 21kmh –sure la the bumper fall off” or “I told you already – you have money to buy big car better have money to go BMW’s place, my workshop a small workshop only mah…there you get ORIGINAL parts, WARRANTY, GUARANTEE, and all the tees…” . When you’ll get the opposite for the authorized center. Tip top service, ORIGINAL parts replacement that comes with GENUINE WARRANTY or GUARANTEE. The time you feel something is wrong with the repair work you have all the right in the world as the customer. Why does this happen? I don’t think I have to spell them out.

See my point? If you go back to the right source, you’ll deserve the right treatment. You realize the fact that you are nothing being a human living in this Lord’s given land. But you decide to turn your back on HIM, in what mind do you think HE will give you a good, peaceful life?  We pray to god for good health but still we smoke cigarettes, we pray that we can find our soul mate, the one and the only but still we are out to sleep around at different house with different people everyday. We pray for our safety but we never care to put on our seat belt while driving. What a big contradiction of what we hope for life and what we work on in our life.

So, who will be the ‘pelukis’, the painter, the one to color the world with goodness and peace? You know the answer by heart. Its US. You and me, work hand in hand together to get our basic right. If we could – I mean all of us. If we could make ourself obedient enough to just look at a page of our book. One page ONLY. Read it with your eyes, your mind, and your heart. Take a moment to feel each and every verse, find the relation of them and the reality we are facing today. Our books are NOT just an afterlife manual. The main reason why they are here in the first place is to guide (not teach) us how to live a good life in this world too.

So, no matter what’s your belief, I believe if all of us take the chance, this chance to move forward the way it should be – WE can be the best artist in the universe. WE will be the one to color the world. WE can color the world the common color we are all trust – WHITE.

TG

Italy’s earthquake

Death in the mountains

Apr 7th 2009 | L’AQUILA
From The Economist print edition

Silvio Berlusconi announces reconstruction plans after an earthquake kills over 200 people in Italy

AFP

 

THE earthquake that struck the Abruzzo region soon after 3.30am on Monday April 6th was a gruesome reminder of how vulnerable Italy is to natural disasters. The tremors were felt as far away as Naples and damaged the ancient Caracalla baths in Rome.

L’Aquila, high up in the Apennine mountains that form the backbone of Italy, was a few miles from the epicentre. By the following day, when most of its population had fled, it looked like a city that had been extensively shelled. Almost the only sounds were those of house alarms, ambulance sirens and rescue workers’ earth movers. The deployment of heavy machinery after more than 24 hours of painstakingly restrained digging and prodding indicated that, in most places, the rescuers had given up hope of finding survivors.

It is Italy’s most lethal earthquake for almost 30 years. More than 200 people have died and over 1,000 are injured. And, in perhaps the biggest challenge for Silvio Berlusconi’s government, around 17,000 were left homeless.

Mr Berlusconi seemed fully aware of the dangers and opportunities that accompany disasters. His reaction was vigorous. He cancelled a trip to Moscow, rushed to the area and toured it in a helicopter. The following day he returned to announce that tents to accommodate 14,000 people had been made ready and said that he intended to divert to L’Aquila and the surrounding area some of the money set aside for construction projects as part of Italy’s response to the economic crisis. In particular he said he would like to build the first of a batch of new towns alongside L’Aquila for those whose homes were beyond repair. The town could be ready in two years, he said.

Locally, the news was greeted with as much scepticism as hope. Italy has a record of botching recovery programmes. The performance of the authorities following the last big earthquake, in Umbria and Le Marche 12 years ago, is encouraging. By last September, 92% of houses that been damaged had been made habitable again. But what haunts the survivors of the latest disaster is the Irpinia earthquake of 1980. It was the prelude to scandalous waste and corruption. Cash was diverted to the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia, and even today some of the victims are still living in what was intended as temporary accommodation.

. Dan itulah (kisah) kaum ‘Ad yang mengingkari tanda-tanda kekuasaan Tuhan mereka, dan mendurhakai rasul-rasul Allah dan mereka menuruti perintah semua penguasa yang sewenang-wenang lagi menentang (kebenaran).

11(Hood) :59

Fought on uneven ground, yet we need to expect the unexpected…

TG

Those who knows me really well would know that I’ve been going against racial hatred since forever. Though in the past, long time ago I used to have bias towards Kelantanese;reason:  was betrayed by one of them. But as I mingle more, open up my heart and grow older I’m very confident to say that to blame that one sin towards the whole crowd for a person’s bastardness was a  totally unfair, immature, and stupid move.

Those were days when I had to put up lengthy hours debate with Bumis (read – Malay)guys, as well as the Non-Bumis (read – any Non Malays including the aborigins) just to learn to understand their mindset better and to find the thin fine connecting line between the extreme two. You can’t change arrogants but you can help to get the neutrals to think better and not to judge wrongly when people tried to pull their hands to any side and stay neutral in a better way. How? CONVEY, CONVINCE, and COMFORT them with CORRECT and UNBIAS information. If they later still decide to take side, well you just can’t do anything much but to pray that one day they’ll be back on the right track.

The way WE(the vote comes from us, from you and me) run Malaysia today, it seemed we are far way behind the world’s trend towards unification. Indeed we are still somehow in the la la land upholding identification of BANGSA MALAYSIA (funnyly) by clustering ourselves on racial basis. Unlike Indonesia, this very idea of BANGSA INDONESIA has been there since the day of indipendence, lord we are somewhere 50 years behind them.

I bump into an article in QIADAH – the official corporate magazine of Kelantan Chief Minister Incorporated’s, issue Safar 1430H  with TuanGuru Nik Aziz Nik Mat regarding this – shockingly I found this guy and myself possesses the same mind. Below I quote some of his thoughts in that article:

‘Kelainan bangsa bukan kebetulan tetapi sengaja Allah S.W.T cipta. Ia adalah tanda kebesaran Allah’

‘Apabila kelainan itu sengaja dibuat oleh yang Maha Pencipta mengapakah manusia harus bising dan mengungkit perbezaan ini?’

‘Saya dah lama kata, di Kelantan ini walau majoriti penduduk Melayu, tapi kalau ada orang Cina, orang asli, orang India, orang Thai, yang berugama islam bukan setakat pengetahuan tinggi tentang islam tapi bercampur dengan iman, taqwanya, waraknya, maka dia berkelayakan untuk jadi Menteri Besar Kelantan. Saya boleh kempen dia jadi Menteri Besar Kelantan, dia nama Ah Chong tak apa tapi dia islam’

‘Di dalam megara yang majoriti penduduknya beragama islam, soal ketuanan Melayu tidak seharusnya timbul kerana setiap orang islam tahu bahawa di akhirat kelak mereka tidak akan ditanya sama ada kita Melayu atau tidak. Oleh yang demikian megapa harus dibesar-besarkan soal keturunan di dunia ini?’Allah S.W.T menggantikan (pemimpin-pemimpin) Melayu yang tak terima islam dengan (pemimpin-pemimpin) Cina yang bole mendekati dasar-dasar pentadbiran islam’

As to all above – I would like to bring you to observe a verse in the Quran:

O mankind! We ceated youfrom a single (pair) of male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you ma know each other (not that you may despise each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of the God is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquinted (with all the things).

Al- Hujurat (The Inner Apartments): 13

TG

Attended (by leisure) to a political ceramah today nearby my place, the PPSMI issue was the main dish.

It is very interesting to see how people’s mind can be blindly shifted on seasonal basis, just like in this case. Sad to say, ,many people that I love voluntarily joined the crowd too.

I’m in the total agreement to go against the use of English in shool for M3 and Sc for a very simple reason – it didn’t provide a level playing feild for all the kids. I’m not so much into the stand to fight for ketuanan bangsa Melayu (because my god has NEVER differentiate his preachers by race and colors) or anything in rhyme with it. I was there in the education system. I used to teach, I was the freedom fighter for less fotunate kids, and I know how much nonsense it means when each time after UPSR/PMR the main limelight is improvement of students answering their papers in the white man’s language.

Back in the Jahiliyah era in Makkah (get your spelling right -  it’s not Mecca), people fight for the same reason. Each wants to prove their tribe is the best, their culture is the most civilized one. Bare in mind that I’m referring to the whole ERA, everything that happens in the same timeline and has direct impact to the democratic state of Makkah ruled by Parliament House of Darun Nadwah. Look at the Persian and Rome empire – was their battle and mission to conquer merely based on the crave for more power, women, and treasure? NO. They fought for the right to state a CIVILIZATION.  The one to be proven as better then others.

What’s the difference here? Both the government and opposition fought to prove which side holds up higher and better morale highground to another. Both claims they offer the best way of life to achive a better world. Both can turn their skin to be religious, to be moderate, to be open to things they’ve never open myself before, and some could even change/drop their religious tagline to a more ‘soft and common and didn’t hurt other component party’s sensitivity’ in the name of cooperation and joint venture for stronger coaliton for power.

This will be a never ending story for Malaysia. I might not be the person that stands up for every sensitive issue in this country. But I’ve never played down my part as a citizen of this blessed land. The land that has seen the build of various civilizations throughout time from the ancient times, one after another.

To end, just to share how I was tickled by the slogan (not exact word,but carries about the same meaning) ‘Bahasa lambang bangsa, tanpa bahasa musnahlah bangsa’ – the funny thing is…those who says this were those that also upholds the others’ values much more than the Malays…

God, save me.

TG

Being the eldest child in the family is not easy. The first impression to be the best, the pressure to become role model, the one to be the one taking care of the family after parents, etc. Those responsibilities falls right on your shoulder at the back of your neck.

My resolution for the year of 1430H is to be a better person by personality.I want to build a good image, a genuine one. I shared the details with my mom early this year. Rabiul Awal already, the third month in Hegira calendar, the time for first quarter review. The outcome was not as good as I hope but at least I gave her chance to speak her heart out.

So the journey to perfection continues…meeting up with unstoppable demand is not an easy battle, my friend.

TG

When you perform a task, do you do it because for the love or for the others?

Think of an answer now.

-Period-

Now, take a deep look on above and don’t answer it straight away. Give yourself 5 minutes, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and flashback your memories – calm yourself down – >now, RE-ANSWER above.

This is what I’ll always do whenever I’m in my current state of mind. Things that you’ve done good all these while can simply be thrown out of the window just for a small unintended ‘mistake’ (only if it is your mistake)

Walk your head up high, never give up, never say die. They are easy to say but to perform, to live up, to walk the talk – is totally a different game all together.

When you are down, and the world pushes you down even more – and you need the support you need most to bring you up – never EVER put that HOPE on OTHER person, not even the person you trust most. Because if..JUST IF, that one person at that point of time happen not doing what you HOPE they do – you’ll be dead. Even worse, if they join the world of bastards against you…well I just can’t think any word to describe  that situation.

Now tell me – Where can you rely on? Who can you hope for to be there for you at all times?

Look back at the question posted earlier on – if you do it for the love, to whom the ultimate love would you dedicate to? If you do it for others, are you being fair by burning yourself?

My love is dedicated for one entity. The same time I also fulfilling others. It is so happen this ‘other’ is the same entity as to whom I dedicate my love.

So, who’s this ‘other’?

It’s HIM. The one and the only. The Merciful, The Great of all greats, The King of all kings – He is GOD.

Yup, this might sound weird coming from me. But this is the truth. If you do ANYTHING for your love to the GOD – you’ll have nothing to lose. You’ll manage to find a line where you could contribute for HIM and in the same time satisfies your LOVE.

That’s my current definiton of love. Nothing else.

Before close, please bare in mind – the definition of GOD overhere does not limits, and will never be limited to my faith only. I’m a Muslim – thus I trust, believe, and devotes myself to HIM. For my friends with different beliefs – I totally respect your faith and I strongly urge for all of us to work hard to understand our own beliefs to the fullest (myself still struggling hard to understand The Holy Quran). ONLY by this way, we shall make the world a better place.

After years of soul searching and experiments – it all bowls down to a very simple conclusion – go back to religion, get to know your teachings deeply, find the brightest light out of the dark.

You might not understand all above now…but I’m very sure you’ll understand them and beyond someday in the coming days….not too long to come.

tg

dear all, after all the wait, i’m making a comeback. n
hope this going to be a good one.

tg

2 invitations – one is to attend a wedding reception of my friend in which i know the whole family, quite close. its a 2 in 1 thingy-reception for his brother and himself. another is from a friend that plays for a reggae band, the band itself is new but the people in it are the old timers of independent music scene. you may view them on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/rivernation1  (i’ve also create a link in blogroll) - the band is playing today at little havana, bukit bintang, refer below:

 

i want to go to both, i hope i can split myself into two.

since i can’t do that i guess i’ll go with first come first serve basis – i’m going to the wedding. cikgu, i’ll see you in your next perfrormance.

AK

can’t recall the last time i apologise to all of you for not being serious in writing. and at each time i really have to thank magic because at each point of time we meet, there’s none of them ended without she has to remind me on writing. well, i guess she understands me enough on how much i want to write, and yes-i need a derive factor too. visiting her page, each time makes me hope that i’ll be able-one day to have a good blog too.

the key is very simple – be honest, don’t write just to impress others.

the moment she asked me when will i write agin -  i said i’m collecting materials for my next post(besides all other rubbish that i don’t have enough time+need to hav my own laptop before i can write again) but she said why think so much – just write on things that happened to you for the past few months…

i believe all of you can still remember my last post on my stupidity to make friend with Mahira. well, as for today the status remains the same. she still avoids me, just that this time she didn’t literally run anymore. i don’t know if it is good or bad, but as long as she can live her life peacefully, i’ll be more than happy.

its 26th July and i have a news for you. i’m quitting KWE/Texas Instruments. its a long saga but the end result is clear – july 30th will be the last day i can enjoy myself going to work with jeans+round-neck t-shirt+serabut hair.  where do i go next? Aug 1st – i shall march into the new office – 4th largest shipping company in the world – MISC Berhad. (http://www.misc.com.my/) Surprised? Don’t be.

with KWE/TI, i have achieved a lot of things. in few little months i’ve shown my pieces of art. since the past 30 years of TI establishment, shipping department and the staffs, as well as logistics operations has been perceived as ‘the slump’. our place is filled with bunch of mat rempits, low-educated people (some didn’t even finish school), or else – so called ‘gangsters’ in the eyes of the commoners.

but again, with this bunch of ‘hopeless’ guys, we were the first department to be certified 1S (if you know Japanese’s 5-S concept you’ll understand what i mean) the the score of 4.2 out of 5 – HIGHEST. i repeat HIGHEST ever in TI’s history. only after us other departments (within World Procurement and Logistics team) follow through our footsteps to score big. we are the trendsetter. with this buch of ‘gangsters’ we managed to, for the first time ever in shipping department history – passed thru DNV’s TS 16949 audit with not even one observation. with this team, we managed to stop all illegal/immoral activities by the manufacturing team. and with these heroes – we are standing stronger as a family. better bonding, better working environment.

to leave now is actually not i wanted to do. i still have a lot of unfinished businesses. i still see lots of room for improvement here. i want to be here, but its just the situation where i was put into has lead me to this verdict. i’m feeling guilty for a lot of things, to a lot of people too. i know i for sure have broken some people’s hope. though they were willing to let me go, for my own good -  many of them too, told me that they are lookign foward to see me to come back. i better not comment much on that yet. but now, one thing for sure is that i shall miss all these wonderful people, not leaving out the bad ones - at all time. i think, without realizing i’m doing it – i’ve touched the heart of the people. for them i’m not just a supervisor – i managed to be a part of them. living together in one big family. this goes all around to shipping dept, receiving dept, the office people, and some people that works closely with me.

i do have worries about the new job. working with a bic company – i’ll need to learn their culture fast to keep up with the phase. to join MISC has been the dream of my life and i hope i shall not waste this chance to build up myself as a better person. as LT Chng a.k.a Capt Patrick says – this is the time for me to learn, to plant the seed. plucking the fruits is still a long way to go. i don’t know how long, but as fruits the metafore is, we shall know when to pluck when the time comes where it is ready to be plucked. and i am willing to be patient and water the seed day-by-day. witness its grow, until the time is right.

patience, imran.

AK