Would you prefer fame or respect? Why?
Back in the old days, respect comes before fame. People work hard to gain respect. Thus, it was almost impossible for the young people to get the respect and fame as they had to learn a lot at first. And they need to get to know people really well, and so thus other people.
But nowadays, it is easy for everyone to become famous. With the advent of myspace, facebook, and vox, people can get themselves known to the world with a click of a mouse. Just type some gossips, controversial articles, or do some viral videos, and you get your name etched everywhere.
But to earn respect from that is a different thing. Some people criticise you because they think you can move further, or you are doing a great job. Others are just pulling you down. But whatever happens, it is quite hard to gain respect nowadays, as far as I'm concerned. People are moving about so quickly that they don't even have the time to get to know one another very well. We seemed to be living in an age where a person can easily be described by a sentence.
I would say respect is important to some degree. It makes you more human than being famous. Respect a celebrity for what he/she does to the society, respect a leader for his contribution to the nation. I think that's more important than being presentable to people, but doesn't worth a dime to us.
Did this a year before I went to the UK. It was based on a controversial play that we did a couple of years back. Drew criticism from lecturers and audience alike due to the 'different versions' of each act. I thought of doing the whole of Act 1 and post it on F2.5 (my former class) official website, but I just don't have the time, energy and technology to do it. Now I give part of what I did during my 'creation madness' days. You can visit our website here
Let me apologize to begin with
Let me apologize about for I have done
to everyone whom I have spoken with
argued with or offended
to myself whom I always be cruel
I am sorry for not being able to live up to the expectation
I am sorry for failing my objectives
I may have not learned everything but alhamdulillah I have learned something
Well I learned a lot
of this worldly matters and afterlife
I guess the whole point of Ramadhan is coming to light now. It is not just about the not eating, going for iftar and tarawih, but more than that. At this point I felt I have left a lot of things unexplained, not understood and not developed. Ramadhan is about learning about yourself, your intent, and how you may set your course in future, and in the afterlife. I can't argue that I did a lot of bad things even though this month is a holy month, and even the smallest bid is counted. And I am scared of that. I have lost a lot of time in doing so. In just 29/30 days you will learn about yourself, and your weakness. I know that I am. I am just hoping that I can slowly overcome this weakness. And I am hoping to learn more and be more prepared before the coming of next Ramadhan.
And the concept of forgiving is not just during the Eid. It should be from the start of Ramadhan, to the middle of Ramadhan, to the end of Ramadhan, and up to the next Ramadhan. And patience is connected to that. But only at this month I truly felt the test of patience. It seemed to be emphasised in different contexts. In such a short period of time.
It is like stopping by at a petrol station before reaching your destination. Once the tank is full, you are set to go before your tank is empty again. Unless you are in an accident, you need to set your direction straight. If you can't find the petrol station or you couldn't reach there in time, it shows that you may have taken a different direction and there are lots of things that need to be worked out to get there in time. This reminds me of Surah Al Asr, which basically summarizes everything:
By (the Token of) Time (through the ages)
Verily Man is in loss
Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together)
in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy
(Yusuf Ali translation)
Happy Eid.
It can be assumed that it is already the start of autumn. Plymouth's getting colder now, and it's quite hard to go about the city nowadays. Spent most of my time in front of the laptop.
Now I'm in Dublin for the second part of my Rihla. This time I am following my friend to visit his brother in Galway. So there are three of us. So the adventure will be different.
Travelling in small groups is great in terms of manuverability as we are able to make quick decisions and move as soon as the decision is made. So far we had been travelling from Plymouth to London for 6 hours by bus (due to delay, it was supposed to be only 5 hours), London to Stanstead Airport which is about 2 hours by coach, and Dublin for about one and a half hours (it was also delayed). Luckily we made it in time here.
The thing about Dublin now is that it is not as cold as we expected. And there was no rain! And we are really grateful for it. I hope we are able to enjoy this weather for the next 5 days.
But the food here is rather expensive. Reminding me of Oslo when I first bought a burger for 5 pounds.
What's your favorite Beatles song? Bonus points if you share it with us.
I actually like Yesterday the most, since it reflects my own personality who tends to look to my past as I move along. And it has rhymes, which are easily remembered (I always have a problem remembering lyrics).
I was introduced with "Hey Jude" by my lecturer. Another song composed by McCartney, which is also my favourite. It sort of giving some push to people who are losing (in fact the song was written about Lennon and his failed marriage). So it has kind of a family and love theme in it as well. Then I found this kid singing which is intriguing.
Then, I saw Cartney sang it again with various artists at Royal Albert. This would really bring back memories to people who lived their lives in the 60's. I for one feel like this is one of the most inspiring songs by the Beatles. Keep rocking on!
Hey Jude, don't make it bad.
Hey Jude, don't be afraid.
Take a sad song and make it better.
Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.
You were made to go out and get her.
The minute you let her under your skin,
Then you begin to make it better.And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain,
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders.
For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.Hey Jude, don't let me down.
You have found her, now go and get her.
Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin,
You're waiting for someone to perform with.
And don't you know that it's just you, hey Jude, you'll do,
The movement you need is on your shoulder.Hey Jude, don't make it bad.
Take a sad song and make it better.
Remember to let her under your skin,
Then you'll begin to make it
Better better better better better better, oh.Na na na nananana, nannana, hey Jude...
(repeat X number of times, fade)
We are supposed to be celebrating this holy month with good bidding and good relationship with one another. But just because of some tv advertisement, we are now on a rift. And it doesn't seem healthy at all.
The Prophet does not teach people to fight against one other out of respect of stealing one's culture. Isn't it enough when someone said sorry to what happened? Even if Malaysian Government apologizes to the republic, the matter wouldn't change. It is a long term arguement. It would also show that we are a country who likes to give in to other people's demand. Even when we are not at fault.
Culture does not bring us to Jannah. What brings us there is unity. Since the development of 'nations', Muslim countries do not get well with one another. Culture should bring people together, not break them apart. When there are similarities there is togetherness. It shows that we are not alone.
When I have iftar with Amin, he always said that we have similar traits in terms of food.We try and find things that makes a distinction between the two countries, and possibility the history of such similarites (some of our dish are also derived from Arabs.). So shouldn't the Arabs also be making a claim over our food as well?
This is just a media plaything. If we keep our ethnocentric traits within ourselves, we won't go anywhere. Remember what the Prophet said: “A believer is a mirror to his brother. A believer is a brother of a believer: he protects him against any danger and guards him from behind.” We should not get angry to our own mirror. But instead we are facing another 'ganyang' from our brother, and our embassies are being attacked.
While Obama is addresing about the importance of education, others are still trying to get the curriculum right. People in developed world may find speecehes like this as unnecessary, but this may prove different to children in war torn countries. They hunger for knowledge despite being in such condition that they are not even able to pay school fee. Children living in ountries like Palestine are also wondering how it is like in the outside, how others' -like the US - are thinking about them. Are they going to help us? Or are they against us? With the Made in USA shells lying on our streets as evidence?
Adorable yet I really can't help but to symphatize to the children who becomes the victims of war. It doesn't matter if this video is real or not. Adults had created so many crimes during wars which are unbearable like making experiments (like the twins during WWII holocaust), rape, shelling of schools (like what happened in UN schools in Palestine, particularly at the nursery floor), human trafficking duet to influx of refugees to neighboring countries, and forced labour. That is the ugly reality of war in which the participating countries (particularly big powers) often slip under the carpet. It is time for us to wake up. It is not just about your children, it's about others too.
Children are like white cloth. It is their parents who will decorate them into their own preferences.
Is it possible for Aladdin to summon his Genie in this holy month of Ramadhan?
My mom's school were attended by imams from different places to cast away the evil spirits disrupting the area recently. It was rather devastating, and reason, explained by the imams was that people have been 'behaving badly' in the dirty areas in the school, which makes the evil spirits angry.
And during the month of Ramadhan, some of the members in the school can still feel the presence of the unknown. Does this mean that the Djinns are not handcuffed?
From what I gather through hadith and explanation from teachers is that Djinn and spirits still roam in this month. Only syaitaan or the evil ones are handcuffed. The Prophet s.a.w said:
When there comes the month of Ramadan, the gates of mercy are opened, and the gates of Hell are locked and the devils are chained.
(Reported by Abu Hurairah, in Sahih Bukhari)
We also acknowledge that Djinns are also of different denominations. There are Djinns who adhere to Islamic teachings, Hindu djinns etc. Thus, there is no reason for the Djinns not to do their bidding in this month.
And Djinns in general do not persuade humans to do bad things. They live and eat just like us. And the reason that the syaitaans are handcuffed is to protect us from their evil whispers.
However, this matter is still a subject of debate among scholars. But what I can say is that it still exists out there. And as muslims we should not associate them with God, especially when we are seeking help. This is a lesson Aladdin should probably aware of.
She came with a little one
She came to say hi
Said I won't be here for long
Said I am going back
to that place far away
Appearance may change
But the message was clear
The longing
of home, friends,
and others
not related but worth mentioning
Hope this does not stop me
From working hard for my goal
Oh please if this dream comes true
Let it be a joyful one
For I am not prepared to embrace it
Not just yet
If it is good for me then make this wish come true
If it is bad for me then do it away for good
