Wednesday 30 September 2009

Mother Nature's Rage

my sister told me that her friend had to evacuate from her high-rise apartment because they felt the building shook. and i recalled my experience just 3 hours earlier... although i was in my car, stuck in traffic... i felt the shaking although my car was at halt. it was a good rhythmic shake that made me thought maybe it's the engine... but the shaking was so distinct that it was impossible to ignore. however, my car is brand new so i don't think it has broken down or need servicing since i just serviced it last 2000km.

i looked around, embarrassed if anyone notice my car shook. but everyone was also stuck in the traffic, minding their own business. i also thought it could be the wind... but the trees aren't shaking, even the leaves are still.

so when my sister told me about her friend's experience, it kind of hit me... i asked if it happened around 6-630pm and when she said yes, it confirmed my doubt. i did felt the earth shake...

and then came the 8 o'clock news about an earthquake centred near Sumatera... thousands of miles away and what i felt was only a tiny ripple... imagine what would happen if it was the centre...

and there was the earthquake plus tsunami disaster in Samoa...

typhoon ketsana is overtaking cambodia, phillipines and vietnam.

many were killed... by mother nature's rage... because we are slowly destroying our world...

AREN'T YOU FREAKED BY MOTHER NATURE'S RAGE?

let us pray for a better tomorrow...

Monday 14 September 2009

Just a thought...

only God knows that what we eat, drink, breathe now might take a toll on us... a lot sooner than we think...

Saturday 12 September 2009

Thanks for the memories

a friend of mine passed this morning. she was just 31. she had been coughing for the last 3months. when she started coughing out blood, she finally went to the hospital. what suspected to be a case of TB became the case of lung cancer. by the time, they found out, it was already at stage 4 and was spreading to her spine, causing her to paralyze from waist down.

and she was 7 months pregnant at the time.

i'm still stunned by the fact that she is no longer with us. she was the one who gave warm welcome to me when i started my practical training... she never fail to invite me for lunch, or an outting to OU during the long friday lunch breaks... we gossiped about the people in the office... i visited her home, met her 2 very young kids and husband.

she was one who takes care of her health. she reads the ingredients before she consumes them (makes sure that theyre healthy). she never smokes! never fond of it anyway. when i found out she was battling cancer... i just couldnt believe it. for someone as young and fit as she was... and it felt just like yesterday, we both had lunch, laughing and talking about our last trip to Bali. and now i'm speaking of her in past tense...

when she was diagnosed of stage 4 cancer, the doctors advised that the baby must be taken out. she even texted everyone that her chances of survival was very slim. and she apologized for any of her wrong-doings and she also forgave us. i visited her last monday and that was hours before the c-section is carried out. although she looked frail but somehow she looked so strong... apparently nodding and waving at me like we're having normal conversation.

on tuesday, i was relieved with the news that both baby and mother are in stable condition. although she was still unconscious, i was hoping that she would revive somehow.

but only her baby survived... but she did not. and i'm sorry i couldn't attend the tahlil.

Al-Fatihah...

and k.rida, thanks for the memories...

let us hope that there will be a better tomorrow.

Tuesday 8 September 2009

bagai kacang lupakan kulit.. a story of how some Malays forgot their skin is 'sawo matang' and not putih... (reposted)

I find this blogpost very intriguing. My cousin posted from his from his friend's blog and i like this post so much so i decided to repost it... to share it with my circle of friends because these douchebags, these self-proclaimed "elites" really exists!

This is a msg from my cousin -

The following is a repost of a Facebook note written by my friend Ahmad Firdaus Yaakop, better known among friends as Robo. He is currently studying at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

I reposted this with permission from him because I sincerely feel that the message should reach a wider audience/readership than just his circle of friends. I hope we all (especially Malaysians) can learn a thing or two from his recollections; that for one thing no matter where you are in the socioeconomic ladder, it doesn't mean squat if you don't have manners. Manners can take you further than just plain money and things from your dear ol' mummydaddy.

P/S: I wish I was there to witness it all. And probably take a picture of Robo in his heroic moment of glorious righteousness.

P/P/S: I wish I had written this myself. Kudos to you, Robo.


So here's Robo's story >>>---->

Reposted: bagai kacang lupakan kulit.. a story of how some Malays forgot their skin is 'sawo matang' and not putih...

today i met the absolute representation of the idiots that we should get rid off from this country if we are ever to even DREAM of reaching vision 2020...

i have been observing the people in Malaysia for the past months i been home, and i must say i am not liking what i see. through a myriad of factors intermingling together, including the economic prosperity enjoyed by the middle class and upper class society, many of them comprising of sons and daughters of govt officers (and i am not always proud to say, I myself is a member of this group) we have created a new class of people, who have appointed themselves and regarded themselves as the "elite" Malay group.. (note the inverted comma)

and these are the youth who walks along the street with a certain kind of swagger and pompous arrogance with their proud shirt with the humongous 'horse and number/roman numeral' emblem on their chest.. yes u know which brand of shirt i'm talking about.. ooh not forgetting their fancy rust dyed hair and their huge shades, and cargo pants. and usually they'll be walking in pairs proudly holding hands, gee i sure hope they are married, bulan puasa pon tak reti nak hormat? hmm...

today i met a group of these people, and they were rudely harassing a makcik at a stall at pasar ramadhan.. yes, granted it was hot, and there were a lot of people around the stall, for sure laa the makcik cannot layan everyone immediately.. but these group of people, who always think they are better than other Malays, by the virtue they can afford more stuff (paid by dad of course) apparently dah x tahan sgt nk kene tunggu lama were throwing rude and unneessary comments to the makcik... stupid arrogant people..

"haih makcik, kalau tak reti nak layan orang cepat2, baik jgn bukak gerai" said one of the skinny idiot, while holding the hands of his girlfriend, and this unnecessary comment was greeted by laughter from a few more youth, 3 boys and 2 girls, apparently they were all in the same group..

the makcik, displaying some hurt on her face teruslah melayan si kumpulan Melayu 'elite' ini.. and apparently got the order of these idiots wrong..

"makcik, i said two laa, two! T-W-O.. dua! D-U-A... dua! adoi.. dh laa lambat, x reti bahasa inggeris pulak tu rupanya, cakap 'sorry' pon td tergagap2.. haih, kan elok if science and math ajar in english, makcik ketinggalan zaman!" and the group laughed again..

i could see the makcik was very ashamed and offended, and suddenly i was offended, coz that couldve been my aunt, my grandma, my mother! Think about it, what if that happened to somebody in YOUR family...

so naturally, me with my recently discovered hot head and temper, decided to defend the makcik..

(this is an attempt to recreate the conversation as best to my memory as i could, pls be reminded that i was temporarily insane and blinded by rage, hehe)

"hoi, yang korang ni ingat korg mcm bagus nk mampus ni apahal? bley tolong relax tak kalau nak kutuk2 org pon, pahala puasa tu entah campak ke mana" i said with a stern voice, and oh yes it turned a few heads.. the group was stunned for a bit, then the idiot-leader had to reply..

"oi brader, ni bukan hal lu so baik u jgn masuk campur, kalau tak..."

"kalau tak apa brader, ko nak tampar aku? tumbuk aku? and aku plak tak kan laa nak biar laa ko kutuk makcik yg x bersalah ni lebih2?" yup, i was reeeealllly geting to be pissed off..

"eh bro, jgn cabar aku" said the idiot-leader while his gf was pulling him back asking him to stop, and the rest of the group konon2 nk tunjuk kuat closing in on me..

"1st thing 1st, aku bukan 'bro' ko, and 2ndly, tolong simpan jaguh2 kampung ko ni, mintak maap kat makcik ni.. yg ko mcm bagus kutuk2 makcik ni x reti bahas inggeris tu pehal? ko ingt english ko tu bagus sgt?" i was really pissed by now..

"eh yg ko berani nk marah2 aku ni pehal? ko ingt bapak aku ni org biasa?" the idiot leader replied.. gosh, they all look like they were about 18/19 years old.. arrogant 18/19 year olds who still turn to daddy in moment of need..

at that moment i knew that this was the group i was talking about, the self-appointed 'elite' Malays, the family where the mom and dad made good money, but forgot to teach proper manners to their offspring, and their offspring thought they were better than other Malays, esp those they regard as coming from the kampung.. just because daddy could afford to send them to private college doesnt make them better than the others!

"owhhh bapak ko bukan org biasa? habis dia apa? org minyak? org bunian?" i personally liked this line best, and judging from the laughter of the crowd behind me, so did they.. haha how did i come up with that in the heat of the moment i wonder myself..

"just because ko ni anak org yg ada kuasa, n tahu sepatah dua english, please please la jgn ingt ko tu lagi bgs dari makcik ni, or the rest of us ok? sedar sikit diri tu, manners gone down the bloody drain! urghhh u make soo mad! people like you just makes me sick! dah aku nyer pahala puasa pon dh ke mana ntah sebab aku dok menengking org2 mcm ko ni.. sila jgn perasan ko ni omputih dgn dressing ko n rambut dye laa, jam mahal laa" by now, there was a sizeable crowd against us..

for some reason, the idiots wre quiet, i guess they were shocked, and ashamed coz they know they did wrong.. and i overheard this from someone behind me..
"kalau kulit putih mcm abg baju hijau ni ok laa gak, ni kulit sama jek sawo matang mcm kitorg, tp perangai lebih2 dari omputih la plak" and yes, i was the one who he referred to as 'abg baju hijau'.. lol~

with his face red, and heavy breathing with a pissed off face, he walked off slowly as he was pulled by his gf and his group.. while a group was chanting "belah, belah, belah" to the group.. and as they left, the group clapped.. and the makcik thanked me for standing up to her, and i got some free kuih from her as a sign of her gratitude.. hehe.. thanx makcik!

but i did it not for the kuih, or for the attention, the praises.. i did it coz i cant stand this group of people, who think they are better than the rest of us! come back down to earth please~ and when i wrote this, i AM NOT targeting all polo shirt wearing hair dyeing tindik sana sini people, and also those who comes from a well-to-do family, i know that 99% of u are polite people who knows the boundaries of joking about, and are humble people with kind hearts.. but this 1%, you ppl are the bane of society, and bring shame upon other Malays.. i'm sorry if i offended anybody, but this entry is written with the purpose of reminding us all to be humble, and not to insult others.. your medical degree, tertiary education, overseas scholarship, all these do not make you better than other people, and all these mean NOTHING if you don't have manners, or basic respect for others..

do unto others how u wud expect to be done on urself, and respect begets respect..

p/s: sorry again for the negative tone of the entry.. :)
peace out~

...

KUDOS TO U TOO, ROBO!! LET'S ALL HOPE THAT THESE SELF-PROCLAIMED 'ELITES' WILL SEDAR DIRI SKET SO WE CAN ALL HAVE A BETTER TOMORROW

Sunday 6 September 2009

Professionals

Professionals - a person engaged in one of the learned professions

When u talk about being professional, it means that a person becomes master of it. They have skills and knowledge in their respective fields compared to layman. There are loads of professional fields out there but i can give you the obvious answers such as accountants, lawyers, doctors, engineers and my own field - the architects.

By definition - A professional architect is someone who possesses the specialized knowledge and skills of a professional architect, which are acquired after a course of intensive study and a period of practical training.

however, when we design... it is often that a client disagree with what we do and come up with their own ideas - i am not going to write them down because it may turn out to be rather insulting than just a constructive criticism and plus, it would take me most probably another 2 hours to explain just that. but we design with reasons... rationals... not just because we like it. it is our job... it is our profession's responsibility to bring forth Malaysian architecture... not some photocopy of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. we were trained through at least five years of school, to attain that acquired knowledge and skills. Our job is to advise clients but still clients ended up advising us what to do.

and the reason is... because they pay the fees.

but i wonder... for instance, like my fellow professional... let's say a doctor... whom the client pays and also gives advise on our health is not questioned about his job or his responsibility? Like if he gives you a paracetamol for a headache, does a client suggest to him otherwise?

Cesar Pelli did KLCC without anyone breathing on his neck. so i came to conclude that it is not easy to be a Malaysian architect... HA HA...

but i just can hope for a better tomorrow :)