Posts (page 2)
When was the last time you received a hand-written letter in the mail? Who sent it?
A cheque from a hotel. Took it as my 'ang pow' (pocket money) for Eid.
What's the best new TV series this fall?
I've watched the first two episodes and I found them very interesting.
Which do you prefer? City life or country living?
Though sometimes there isn't much of entertainment going on, I prefer living in the countryside. Listening to chirping birds, the insects, looking for fireflies. Walking about town. It's just great.I wonder if I am able to visit one of the farms here. Starting to feel like a kid again.
If you were going to write a book, what would you write about?
Loads of stuff. But I would like to write a story about an individual going through his life. Kind of like relating to my own world, my own experiences. Then I might be able to write a story that is truthful and simple. I want to write about things that are affecting everyone and how they deal with it. And I may sometimes change the setting according to my preference.
I've been thinking of compiling the stories which I've written back in school. I'd probably won't sell it, but keep it as a memoir. It is more of a diary of people around me, so I'd better keep it to myself before I change my mind. The story of a legend.
Before I went to Wales a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to celebrate Raya in London. Coincidentally, the day the event was held was the day when our Super Junior (SuJu, derived from a Korean band name) arrived. So, I sort of hitchhiked our college's bus to London. We departed in midnight and arrived there very early in the morning. I also met some of my friends who just went back from holiday in Malaysia in the airport.
After having a cup of hot chocolate and went for our Subuh prayers we saw a bunch of students -well quite a number of them- wearing blazers lining up at the waiting area. I thought it was like the largest student gathering in the airport that I've ever seen. 50 students cramming the waiting area, some trying to give space to some other arriving passengers.
I went to the Raya Open House somewhere in the afternoon. Dressed in modest Baju Melayu, I just went along with the flow. The open house was under the Malaysian Student Department, and most of the people who attended were students. But there were also people from different background getting a taste of Malaysian cuisine here. I managed to get to know a BBC media technician who had a Malaysian wife and was planning to move to Penang some day. I also met a mother who came all the way from Malaysia with her husband to visit their child. Reminiscence of the time when I brought my family to celebrate Eid Ul Adha here.
I also came across a lovely couple enjoying the food at my table. The wife was studying while her husband follows her here. He is a very supportive husband and parent and gave me advice about marriage and wife. An interesting thing to note was that it doesn't matter whether your wife is from Kelantan or Negeri Sembilan or in any part of the country, what matters is that the destiny of the family is determined by God, but we can work hard to create harmony in it. He also talked about his travels in the United States, and how his missed his travel companions as they roll across the continent.
I stayed around until the end of the event. Then, I went to Hyde Park and had a walk across Oxford Street and to Victoria Coach Station, where I took my bus to Wales.
We still have a lot to learn about not being racist and respecting other people's custom. It isn't as easy as it looks. When I went in the Arrow project last June, we tried to discuss to which extent we are being 'racist'. I remembered one of us from Plymouth recalled when her friends pulled a prank on her. They would switch off the lights and asked where she was. Then I recalled my friend who were always in the same situation back when we were in Malaysia.
To what extent can we be called racist? In Europe, people are sensitive when it comes to colour skin. Historically, the term 'racist' came from the classification of human race based on colour skin. In Asia, the term 'racist' is more complex, it goes into our roots and culture. But do we really mind about colours? If it is mocked within the racial group, it probably wouldn't matter (like saying I am darker than my friend). But when other race is making a judgement against you, then things can get sour. The level of sensitivity can sometimes turn into absurdity.
As a sign of precaution, I'd say we should try our best not to incite hatred towards any community. Sometimes it is unintended. But people, particularly media, are good at exploiting our mistakes. That's why in some communities, when someone gives a speech, he or she would say sorry at the end of the speech if he or she happened to offend anyone. But people who are offended must also forgive if the one giving the speech is sincere. Probably we can try and practice that. And the thing is, the crime is not just about being racist. Even making fun of people itself is a crime. People are entitled to their own opinion. But have some degree of respect. This is what our generation needs.
What's the last thing you won? How did you win it?
I had a go with Metal Gear Solid 4 which was bought by my friend. It was an exciting experience as it utilises the real time military engagement system including espionage, close quarter combat (CQC) and making allies. The storyline was also related to the current political agenda in the world: war economy. The game tried to explore the idea of future human soldiers, being injected by nanomachines, so that they can be controlled by Artificial Intelligence (something like universal soldier). They can be bought as Private Military Contractors (PMC), and their weapons are ID tagged so that they would not have total control of them (The AI can stop the weapons from functioning). Then, these PMCs were bought to create havoc across the world. Sometimes I wonder if such war economy is being practiced today (sending soldiers to Iraq/Afghanistan to try out new weapons bought by the governments, when they know that the country is weak enough for them).
I won this game before I went off to Wales, which was great. But it was rather hectic, since I wasn't sure how to work on the CQC against the enemy. It took me a total of 24 hours to finish the whole game (after accumulating), when actually it could be finished in less than 5 hours (excluding the cutscenes, which was about 2 hours). But it was worth it. The storyline, the special effects, the music, matching those of Hollywood movies. It felt like watching a Hollywood movie, with the player as the main character. I hope that they would release a film based on this game one day. Kudos to Hideo Kojima, its creator.
There has been an ongoing debate on the wearing of niqab as essential for Muslim women. Even Al-Azhar University has started banning the wearing of it. Niqab is a veil that covers the face, and is part of the hijab. It is most famous throughout the Arab world. Some of the people -particularly feminists and Orientalists- find this as a sign of oppression from men, while others believe that it is part of submission to the religion. There has been ahadith stating that wives of the prophet covered their faces when they meet with strangers. But we weren't sure whether this practice is consistent throughout their lifetime.
But one thing is for sure, everyone agrees that it is important for women to wear the hijab, particularly covering their head, and the whole body. This has been mentioned in the Quran. But let me rectify this: It is not a sign of oppression. It is an obligation. Responsibility. Even the nuns cover their head. But nowadays it has been mixed up with several cultural practices such as honor killing etc.
Back when I was in Malaysia, there are people who oppose to the obligation of wearing headscarf, particularly in schools. I can understand this, as based on the declaration of human rights, it is up to the female individuals to decide whether they want to wear it or not. But it is the obligation of everyone to remind one another the importance of covering oneself. So Muslims should not be annoyed or threatened if their friends tell them that it is good to cover their heads. God will not help those who do not help themselves. So everyone is responsible of their own well-being, and the well-being of their brothers and sisters. Plus, it is also part of freedom of speech, isn't it?
But people with authority should not take this to their advantage. Using this excuse to punish their own wives and children through physical abuse, does not help in developing better Muslims. This is when men's ego is tested, and women's patience takes place. Both should try to sort this out peacefully. But as I said, covering oneself is an obligation, to both men and women.
Some people find the concept of hijab as lifting the status of womanhood. I guess it would probably take some time for some of the feminists to believe so as well.
Ireland. I didn't manage to visit the northern part of Ireland, but it was good enough that I managed to cover some parts in the south. Our journey started with Dublin, followed by Galway (where my friend's brother currently studying), and Cork, the former capital of Ireland. Our journey to Galway took us to some of the most exotic places in Ireland. We even went as far as to the cliff of Moher, where the "My Love" video by Westlife was shot. It was unfortunate for us that we were not able to make a video similar to it. With only two hours before going back to our tour bus, we only managed to go to the restricted area and took some pictures there.
The bus tour itself was interesting. The bus stopped at some of the tourist attractions such as the castle and villages. I didn't buy any souvenirs here, other than those asked by my family.
And at night, we had our dinner with my friend's brother's friends. We also had a chance to watch a Bug's Life and Hannah Montana! It was funny since there were all boys staying in the house. Well, we were really obsessed with the remote control since that the telly in the UK had turned digital. We had to get a decoder if we want to watch it. Our hosts here owned their own set of decoder, which was much cheaper than Sky.
We had rice and chickens for the two nights in Gallway. But when we were in Dublin, we only had a burger and some fries to break our fast. But alhamdulillah, when we were in Cork, we managed to get into a Halal restaurant and ate some delicious Indian cuisine.
I remembered my friend singing this song in the common room when we were back in Malaysia. It was a very nice song, taken from the movie Anniyan. I didn't go to see the movie though, but the song itself is very interesting. Though it was a Tamil movie, there was no subtitles during its premiere in cinema. I'm just hoping that next time if there's another Tamil movie they would provide a subtitle (or at least have a sub committee online!). Correct me if I am wrong, my friend told me that the song has got something to do with calling out one's love (thus the kumara in return by the girl). Enjoy.
