The Pandemic

Api: Hafiz, where goes the tea towels?
Me: Not sure. Maybe you forgot to take them from office?
Api: No. I left the tea towels in the drawer yesterday so that I can use them again today.
Me: Owh. Then I guess they'd taken away those tea towels and chuck them out into the bins.
Api: Why would they do that?
Me: You weren't there when Naville explained about the precautions City Council is taking to prevent swine flu, now did you?
Api: [grin]
Me: [laugh] You see, the Wellington City is taking the precautions to prevent swine flu cases here. For that, they are replacing all towels in toilets and tea towels in kitchens with paper towels. They want to stop the spread of flu germs from toilets and kitchens.


Yes, this is based from a real conversation between me and Api (remember him? My co-worker at Wellington City Council who asked question about money. Click here if you don't remember~ *wink*).

Okay, what I was telling Api is for real. The Wellington City Council is going to that extent to prevent swine flu. They readily spent a lot of many to uninstall the old towel facilities in each toilet with new facilities using paper towels. Using paper towels mean there will be more rubbish made which will cause them more to dispose of the waste. But I don't blame them to be that paranoid and cautious over such pandemics. Swine flu has threatened many other neighbouring countries such as Japan, and it is acceptable that Kiwis are afraid of swine flu too though the cases reported here was deemed "light" cases. Isn't prevention has been proven to better than curing?

But what I'd like to share here is Api's response over my explanation. Here goes.


Api: I'm not afraid of swine flu. I think these people (referring back to City Council people) are too paranoid. I think if the higher-ups [pointing his index finger heavenward] want us to get swine flu, we'll get it no matter what we do to prevent it.


You see, Api got a point there. If God decides something, that thing will happen. Even a Samoan like him who believes in animism and their dead ancestors understand that, though through from his own context of belief.

My point here is, we should not get panicked over thing like swine flu pandemics. We should feel a bit worry as that can make us more aware of any danger or hazard and hence, try to prevent them as best we could. But we should not forget to pray to God for protection too. He knows best and has power over everything.


"O Allah! I beseech Thy protection from this swine flu pandemics and any other unseen evils you have sent upon us."


~p/s: I said we should try to prevent too, now didn't I? Here is what I'd do to prevent swine flu! Hee~


*The mask is inspired by Yusman*

Tribute to "The Man"

Do you have someone you look up to?

I have.

But please ask not
what is so special about him.

Because he is not.
Not for you.
But he is,
for me.

But if you insist,
I'll tell you this:
He is no man extraordinary
he's just a man of simplicity.
He's not made of gold nor steel
but he is made
of patience and perseverance,
of wisdom and understanding,
of pride and compassion.
He knows not fatigue
and there always is
hope
faith
passion
endurance
reassurance
in the gleam of
his ancient eyes.
Yes, he is the man.
A man so special
so special to me,
because
he is my dad.



"It doesn't matter who my father was;
it matters who I remember he was."
-Anne Sexton (1928-1974)

Happy Father's Day, abah!

Warna-warni Hidup

Tak tahulah kenapa, tetiba aje terdetik keinginan untuk menulis dalam BM. Agaknya dah rasa muak menulis dalam English kot? Ahaha~ . . . mungkin juga.

Semalam aku pasang niat nak pergi nonton perlawanan badminton rakan-rakan di Pusat Rekreasi, tetapi apakan daya terjaga hanya selepas jam 11 pagi. Inilah akibat tak boleh tidur malam. Dah biasa berjaga ke pagi menyiapkan esaimen la kununnye. Heh.

Selepas membersihkan diri, ku panjat naik ke uni untuk solat Jumaat. Betul-betul depan hentian bas setentang bangunan Easterfield, kelihatan seorang jejaka kacak tersengih dari jauh. Beliau menutup kepala beliau dengan hud jaket beliau. Hanya gigi yang putih berseri menyapa dari jauh. Beliau ialah Paul Takabiri yang berasal dari Kiribati, rakan serumahku tahun lepas ketika aku menetap di 61 Fairlie Terrace. Kami berbual panjang sementara aku menanti bas nombol 23 untuk ke Newtown. Kami berborak berkenaan pelajaran dan haluan hidup. Beliau akan pulang ke Kiribati bulan hadapan setelah menyelesaikan pembelajaran beliau di sini.

Dan bas nombol 23 pon tiba.

Aku naik bas itu dan duduk sambil mendengar lagu-lagu jiwang karat dari mp3. Hala tujuku ialah Newtown - mahu mendapatkan stok sardin dalam tin dari Moshim kerna aku da janji sama Eny untuk sediakan sedikit makanan ringan untuk menonton perlawanan ragbi antara All Blacks dan Perancis. Bas aku naiki itu menyusur perlahan menuruni Salamanca Road, melepasi The Terrace, membuat pusingan di Parliament dan turun ke bandar.

Di persimpangan James Smith-Manners Mall, sepasang suami isteri menaiki bas tersebut bersama tiga orang remaja hiphop. Si isteri menolak kereta sorong bayi dan si suami mendukung anak mereka menaiki bas tersebut. Si suami membayar tambang bas dan si isteri mahu duduk di kerusi istimewa yang telah dikhususkan buat orang-orang kurang upaya dan orang-orang tua. Tetapi ada seorang wanita yang duduk di situ. Pasangan suami isteri itu meminta dengan sopan agar wanita tersebut beralih ke kerusi yang lain kerna mereka mahu menggunakan kerusi itu untuk memuatkan kereta sorong bayi. Walaubagaimanapun, wanita tersebut enggan dan berkeras mahu terus duduk di situ. Si suami membisikkan kepada isterinya untuk mengalah dan duduk di kerusi lain tetapi si isteri berkeras dan tetap meminta agar wanita tersebut beralih tempat duduk. Si wanita hilang sabar dan menaikkan suara beliau. Si isteri tersentak. Dikuasai emosi, si isteri lantas turun dari bas dan berlalu bersama kereta sorong bayi, meninggalkan si suami terkebil-kebil sendirian. Tanpa membuang masa, si suami turun dan mengejar si isteri. Semua penumpang terdiam menyaksikan drama tersebut. Dan bas terus bergerak bagaikan tiada apa yang telah berlaku.

Perlahan, dalam kesibukan lalu lintas, bas nombol 23 meneruskan perjalan menyusuri Manners Street ke Courtenay Place. Tiba di Courtenay Place, bas nombol 23 pon berhenti.

Para penumpang bas nombol 23 terdiam seketika kerna antara penumpang yang naik kali ini adalah pasangan suami isteri tadi. Si isteri, ternampak kelibat si wanita yang terkebil-kebil memerhatikan mereka, terus turun dengan muka yang masam. Si suami, terkesima dek tingkah laku isterinya, pantas memohon maaf kepada si pemandu bas dan si wanita. Berikut ialah perbualan mereka:

Si suami: Maafkan isteri saya.
Pemandu: Tak mengapa.
Si suami: Maaf ye? [memandang si wanita] Bukan salah kamu. Isteri saya memang ada masalah sikit hari ni.
Si wanita: Memang salah saya!
Si suami: Saya betul-betul minta maaf. [berlalu mendapatkan si isteri yang berjalan masuk ke Courtenay Mall]
Si wanita: Salah saya.
Pemandu: Lelaki tu dah kata bukan salah kamu, kan?
Si wanita: [meninggikan suara] Tapi memang salah saya!
Pemandu: Kenapa nak tinggikan suara kat saya? Lelaki tu dah kata bukan salah kamu . . . tapi kalau kamu rasa salah kamu, suka hati kamulah! Tak kuasa aku nak layan! [menekan pedal minyak]
Si wanita: [terkesima]

Tatkala bas nombol 23 mula memacu laju, salah seorang dari tiga orang remaja hiphop tadi bersorak kepada si pemandu bas, "Cayalah brader! Lu hebat dowh!" Bas nombol 23 bergema dengan tepuk sorak dari tiga orang remaja hiphop tersebut. Si wanita hanya mampu terdiam dengan muka yang mula merah penuh rasa malu.

Oh, dan aku? Aku hanya diam dan berpura-pura seolah-olah aku tidak faham bahasa Inggeris sambil kepala ligat memikirkan tajuk entry yang sesuai untuk menceritakan perihal apa yang telah terjadi di atas bas nombol 23.

Deep(er) Conversations

I love deep and meaningful conversations. Because I can learn about a lot of things and about myself from them.

And I had two yesterday - one with R and another one with Z.

I'll share some here.


Conversation with R

I was in R's room. We talked about many things. About people, about our life principles, and about marriage. We revisited our short discussion on YM about early marriage and continued with theme marriage on general.

R: I told my mom I'll find a girl she likes. The girl doesn't have to be my type whatsoever. So long as my mom's happy.
Me: Ohoho~ Good son.
R: How about you?
Me: My mom doesn't mind much. She only told me to find a good girl I can be happy with and she wears scarf. Sounds easy eh?
R: Kinda.
Me: [laugh]
R: Why you wanna marry early?
Me: Hey, that is only if I have a wife candidate!
R: Don't you have one?
Me: [silent]
R: [laugh]
Me: You see, I've been in a relationship once. And I somewhat feel that something is lacking somewhere.
R: Sinful?
Me: That's one of it. But I feel deep inside that couple isn't my thing. Uncomfortable. That's why, when I have a girl I like and she likes me too, I wanna ask her hand in marriage. Get engaged, then marry her.
R: But don't you already have a girl you like?
Me: Sheesh . . . shut up! Damn you.
R: [laugh] I hope she likes you too. And I pray you both are destined to be together, get married and will live happily.
Me: I pray you'll find the girl that can "shake" your heart very soon!
R: Ameen to both.



Conversation with Z

We started with jumping from one topic to another, revolving about one person whose name I will not mention here. And then we talked about how people can be so different.

Me: You see, I'm not as open as some people think. I'm pretty shy. I take time to trust people but when I do, I'll care and concern very much about them. That's how things work with me.
Z: Are all guys like that?
Me: [laugh] Guys, like girls, are different from one individual to another. Some are very introvert, some are more extrovert. Try put them on a continuum [took a pencil]. Take this end [utmost left] as the most shy of people. D (our friend who is widely known as very shy) is here and you are somewhat more to the right.
Z: Are you insinuating that I'm not shy?
Me: No, no, no. I mean you're a bit of both. You're shy but you can be loud and warm with people you know. Like me. Now, we can put M here [the utmost right end]. She's most extrovert here, she likes to social.
Z: But she's not gedik.
Me: No, she's not [laugh].
Z: Yeah, I got it.
Then we jumped to a topic about life partners.
Z: You know, some of my friends (read: girls) complaints that nobody likes them. That they can't find a suitable candidate for life partner.
Me: [laugh] Wanna know what I think?
Z: What?
Me: They haven't tried. That, actually, is their problem.
Z: You mean?
Me: We like to talk about "God doesn't help those who don't help themselves" but do we actually apply it in our lives? I think, both men and women need to put effort to find their life partner. Do you agree about women should just wait for their destined soulmate to find them?
Z: [indifference] Hurm . . .
Me: I think that's bullshit. Allah doesn't help us if we don't help ourselves, remember? This is just my opinion: Everyone should put some effort to find life partner. Okay, don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying girls should go and flirt with guys. Na-ah. That's not what I meant.
Z: Then?
Me: I meant that everyone should do something if they want something, so long it doesn't disagree with our religion. Not all guys are extrovert, remember?
Z: Yeah.
Me: I remember walking down a street, saw two Malaysian girls beautifully scarfed. I smiled at them but they looked away. My intention was to greet them, not wooing them. But you see, things like this turns off introvert guys like me. Now let's get back to the context we were talking about: Girls should put some efforts too. As I emphasised, I didn't mean "flirt" when I said "putting some efforts". But in situations like I mentioned, can't those girls just smile back? We are not in some kind of Hollywood movies where the guys are so charming and confident with girls. We are talking about reality.
Z: So what if the girls smile back? Is there any difference at all?
Me: I'm a guy, my friend. There is a big difference there. When you return a smile, or greet back when greeted; you are actually helping yourself there. By returning smiles or greeting back, you sends a signal to guys that you're approachable. Introverts usually read body language well because they aren't good with verbals.
Z: Owh, really?
Me: I'd say, yes.




Note: I reconstructed some parts of the conversation, omitted some names and turned its content into a more suitable read for public. If I write exactly as the original conversation, there will be more craps to read than the intended contents. Ahaha~

Wind of Change

I remember my Arabic ustazah told me of a story when I had a personal conversation with her - I was around ten or eleven; and every evening after the primary school session, I attended Sekolah Agama Rakyat (Public Religious School) at that time.

In my own words, this is the story as I remember it:

A young man is not satisfied with other youth in his society, of their rudeness and impoliteness. He tries to change it. He goes out every day and catches people committing wrongdoings. He does that for years and he realises one thing: Their attitude hasn't changed at all. He comes to a conclusion that his target (the society) was too big for him to manage and he is determined to narrow down his target to his friends. He gives them advices and reminders but after many long years he realises one thing: His friends only behaves when he is around. He makes another conclusion that his target is still too big for him to handle. By this time, he is a father of two. He decides to narrow down his goal yet again to a smaller one: His sons. He gives advices and reminders as what he did with his friends. His sons behaves only at his presence. The man feels sad about his inability to change others. One night, while brooding about his failures, he sees a bird teaches her chicks how to fly. The bird first demonstrates, then the chicks imitate her. The man's face becomes bright - he now knows the answer about how to change others. It is by changing and improving himself to be a better person first, and then demonstrate good deeds to others - not only with words. And he finds himself changing not only his sons, but also the whole society he wished to change.

Moral of this story: The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands. -Robert M. Pirsig



We often talk about changes.
Wanting to change this.
Wanting to change that.
We want this to be like that.
And we want that to be like this.
But have we
ever
for every little thing we critique
for every little thing we want others to change
reflect on ourselves:
"Am I the way I want things to be?"
"Am I doing what should be done?"
"Or am I just like a crab teaching its descendants to walk straight?"
Perhaps we all
forget
that
if we want to change others,
we have to start by changing ourselves first.

Having said that, here is a piece of wisdom from Sayyidina 'Ali Karamallahu Wajhu:
"Damned be a person whose today is worse than yesterday, whose tomorrow is worse than today."

*This entry is especially written as a reminder to myself who always forget to improve myself each day.

Are You Focused? Or Stressed? Come and Test Yourselves~

Okay. I think I'm stressed. What with this moral panics theory and the low-frequency nonsensical technical terms. I wish I have the enthusiasm to write as I had when I designed grammar workshop for ALIN301. *sigh*

Owh, intrinsic motivation . . . where art thou? Even my extrinsic motivation isn't around. Hurm . . .

As I was losing my focus, I went and browsed through my "magic" folder for some distractions. And I found this interesting test to see whether one is focused or not.

SO. Here goes:



So, take the following test presented here and determine if you are losing it or are still "with it". The spaces below are there so you don't see the answers until you have made your answer.

OK. Relax, clear your mind and ... Begin. WELL, MAYBE NOT THAT CLEAR!



1. What do you put in a toaster?

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Answer: "Bread". If you said "toast", then give up now and go do something else. Try not to hurt yourself. If you said "bread", go to Question 2.



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2. Say "silk" five times. Now spell "silk." What do cows drink?


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Answer: Cows drink water. If you said "milk," please do not attempt the next question. Your brain is obviously overstressed and may even overheat.

It may be that you need to content yourself with reading something more appropriate such as Children's World. If you said "water", then proceed to question 3.



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3. If a red house is made from red bricks and a blue house is made from blue bricks and a pink house is made from pink bricks and a black house is made from black bricks, what is a green house made from?


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Answer: Greenhouses are made from glass. If you said "green bricks," what the devil are you still doing here reading these questions? If you said "glass". Then. Go on to Question 4.



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4. It was twenty years ago, and a plane is flying at 20,000 feet over Germany (If you will recall, Germany at the time was politically divided into West Germany and East Germany).

Anyway, during the flight, TWO of the engines fail. The pilot, realizing that the last remaining engine is also failing, decides on a crash landing procedure. Unfortunately the engine fails before he has time and the plane fatally crashes smack in the middle of "no man's land" between East Germany and West Germany.

Where would you bury the survivors? East Germany or West Germany or in "no man's land"?


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Answer: You don't, of course, bury survivors! If you said ANYTHING else, you are a real dunce and you must NEVER try to rescue anyone from a plane crash. Your efforts would not be appreciated.

If you said, "Don't bury the survivors", then proceed to the next question.



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5. Without using a calculator - You are driving a bus from London to Milford Haven in Wales. In London, 17 people get on the bus. In Reading, six people get off the bus and nine people get on.

In Sweden, two people get off and four get on. In Cardiff, 11 people get off and 16 people get on.

In Swansea, three people get off and five people get on In Carmarthen, six people get off and three get on. You then arrive at Milford Haven. What was the name of the bus driver?


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Answer: Oh, for crying out loud! Don't you remember your own name? It was YOU!!!

~p/s: 95% of people fail in most of the questions.



SO. How was it? Were you focused? Or you need rest? I'm definitely *yawns* in need of sleeps . . . zZz~

Lalala?

I think I like someone.













































. . . wait. Maybe more than just like?


















Ah. Forget it. A stressed Chouji, is the Chouji with mouthful and pocketful of craps.

*goes back to do some readings on Moral Panic and Drugs Abuse Treatment Strategies*