Monday 10 November 2008

Preach on a Monday

it's amazing how a mind works. i was watching a movie - sweet november - since it is november and i heart keanu reeves and charlize theron combo so much. so it was just a romantic... sweet... kinda boring harmless movie... and turned out, i was slowly having an epiphany.

what caused this?

globalization.

really... i've always known and worried what globalization could do to our culture and values. globalization spreads knowledge and provides exposure but yet, it could also destroy a knowledge and people are easily influenced when they are weak.

it is the modern era.

the needs of people also evolve. culture evolves. i don't deny it. but it must not be destroyed. The eastern culture has absorbed western culture so much that i don't need a whole continent as a case study. just studying people around me is enough to convince how much our culture is deteriorating. and so does the values that our religion has taught us.

yes, you see people dress like westerners everyday, u can hardly tell them apart now with people dying their hair blonds and contact lenses turning our eyes colourful. we are more fluent using their language than our own. but that shouldn't alter who we are inside.

we are malays. by definition, a malay has to be a muslim. but u see Malays everywhere but practicing Muslims very rare. aside from the issue of globalization, the global warming is perhaps a factor that Muslims are wearing lesser cloth. let me repeat - the needs of people change - and touching the opposite sex when they are not your brother or sister is highly normal now, how would our next generation behave then?

is this the kind of values we want to teach our children? do we want to create a generation who never speaks of their mother tongue or practice what is required by Islam?

what is you answer?

life is short. the afterlife is everlasting... and it awaits us.


you decide.

.

Sunday 9 November 2008

Do it for Yourself

there's a huge boundary between being good at something and loving doing it.

when you find yourself being good at something and not loving it - it feels like everything is forced, even though u keep being good at it. it feels like a job... an obligation but not fulfilling.

a few years back, i saw the sitcom - Two guys, a girl and a pizza place - this guy is a good architect but he hates doing it... he loves to be a commentator but lousy at it.
so i thought, not that i'm good at psychoanalyzing wutsoever but i thought he can still do the job he hates forever... but never make the thing that you love to do as your job even though you're not lousy at it.
because loving what you do is about doing it for yourself and when it is a job, you would be doing it for someone else or for some other thing that isn't permanent. and it forces you to fulfill other people's expectations and not yours.

no matter how sucky you are at what you do or how good you are at something u felt sucky doing, do it for yourself... it would turn out to be rather fulfilling than you can imagine.

Thursday 6 November 2008

Take a Chance

i know exactly which people are going to make fun of me after they read this blog. but it's about time i stop feeling bothered by what other people think of me and take a chance...

i should be paying attention to my dissertation or thesis but this frustration is so overwhelming that i need to get it out of my system or else i can't function well.
maybe it's the shouting more than singing in the redbox... maybe it's the coffee we had after that... maybe it's the air... maybe it's someone i met today...

after redbox... i knew i would be drawing attention. i'm not saying as if i'm flattering myself but i was carrying a bottle of sparking grape juice, which very much looked like a bottle of champagne. and for someone like me to be carrying something like that around, it was a pretty odd combination and very provocative sight.

even one indian aunty from McDonald's was very skeptical with the sight of me carrying the champagne look-alike. she kept eyeing me and immediately, to my defense, i said, "This is sparkling juice... not alcohol..."
somehow the indian aunty just couldn't get it into her head. she kept asking me if it was appropriate for someone like me to be drinking... won't i get drunk?? i was done convincing... i ignored her.

we sat outside McD, alfresco style. Just so happen a group of three guys next to us was skeptical as well. one of them asked and i responded to my defense. apparently, one of us (other than myself) thought he was nice to look at. i wouldn't want to go into the details as i'd like the memory all to myself ;) all began with that bottle of champagne look-alike.

it was so unfortunate that i have SHY as my initials. it somehow defines me as well. he asked for my name and number. it was so unfortunate that i care so much about integrity, my friends' feelings and their perceptions towards me... i actually ignored. so all the way back home, i kept thinking what should have happened if i, for once, ignore my fear and took a chance...

maybe not to the extend of handing out my number. i guess he has to work a little harder than that :)