Tawarikh

Ahad lepas saya dan ayah pergi ke museum tentera diraja darat di Port Dickson. Tiada yuran masuk dikenakan dan rasanya, tiada pak guard pun yang jaga museum. Kalau ada rancangan nak hijack meriam-meriam lama tu mesti berjaya, tak perlu perancangan teliti macam Michael Scofield.

Oh, saya bergurau sebenarnya.

Kebanyakan barang-barang pameran di situ sudah tidak boleh digunakan lagi untuk tujuan ketenteraan. Mungkin sebab itu tidak perlu kepada pengawasan oleh pak guard. Ade beberapa meriam dan kereta kebal dipamerkan di museum tersebut. Paling menarik perhatian saya ialah meriam anti-pesawat ciptaan Britain yang diberikan kepada tentera Malaysia ketika itu. Saya mengandaikan bahawa meriam anti-pesawat adalah satu ciptaan baru rupa-rupanya sudah lama dihasilkan oleh Britain.

Tapi yang paling menarik perhatian saya di museum itu ialah terowong yang digunakan oleh Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM) di zaman darurat komunis dahulu. Terowong itu adalah terowong sebenar cuma sudah dibaik pulih dinding dan struktur dalamannya. Dalam terowong tersebut ada tempat tidur, tempat bedah, tempat latihan menembak dan bilik mesyuarat untuk perbincangan taktikal perang mungkin.

Semua orang tahu perihal PKM melalui matapelajaran sejarah di sekolah. Ketika itu kita mungkin familiar dengan istilah kawasan putih dan kawasan hitam. Seingat saya kawasan hitam salah satunya berada di Negeri Sembilan. Mungkin sebab itu masih ada kesan tinggalan PKM di museum itu. Dalam sejarah yang kita pelajari, PKM dikelaskan sebagai parti berhaluan kiri yang radikal. Ketika itu ada dua blok yang wujud pasca perang dunia kedua, iaitu blok kapitalis dan blok komunis.

Sebelum munculnya PKM, golongan berhaluan kiri yang memperjuangkan kemerdekaan dipelopori oleh beberapa persatuan seperti Angkatan Pemuda Insaf (API), Angkatan Wanita Sedar (AWAS) yang dipimpin oleh Shamsiah Fakeh dan beberapa persatuan lain. Mereka berjuang melalui mata pena yang disalurkan melalui akhbar terbitan mereka. Dalam sejarah, terbukti bahawa penulisan mampu mempengaruhi semangat orang ramai. Penulisan ini boleh dikatakan sebagai satu sumber pendoktrinan untuk mengumpul penyokong. Lihat kepada bagaimana Tao di China menggunakan akhbar-akhbar dan siaran-siaran di radio.

Dalam sejarah tingkatan 1, dalam topik pertama kita diajar mengenai unsur ‘bias’ dalam sejarah fdan ironinya, unsur bias memang wujud dalam matapelajaran sejarah. Kita dikhabarkan persatuan-persatuan ini sebagai golongan berhaluan kiri namun pada hakikatnya, niat mereka ingin membebaskan tanah melayu dari pengaruh jajahan inggeris secara total. Pendekatan kerajaan ketika itu, iaitu parti perikatan ialah untuk mencapai kemerdekaan melalui rundingan. Golongan ini tidak bersetuju kerana pasti ada helah disebalik setiap rundingan. Golongan ini terpengaruh dengan semangat dari Indonesia yang berjaya mencapai kemerdekaan secara total walaupun wujud pertumpahan darah. Saya masih ingat ketika BTN, seorang penceramah berasa bangga bahawa Malaysia mencapai kemerdekaan dengan cara yang lebih baik daripada Indonesia. Pandangan ini salah dan naif sama sekali.

Maka apabila persatuan-persatuan ini ditahan, kemudian dibebaskan setelah tanah melayu merdeka, mereka berasa putus asa untuk terus berjuang secara sah. Di sinilah PKM mengambil kesempatan dan menawarkan mereka peluang untuk kembali berjuang. Ketika itu, PKM boleh dikatakan sebagai satu ‘manhaj’ baru untuk mereka berjuang. Fakta ini sangat menarik perhatian saya kerana saya tidak pernah mengetahui sejarah dari sudut pihak yang satu lagi. Jikalau anda ingin keterangan yang lebih baik, anda boleh tonton ’10 tahun sebelum merdeka’ di youtube.

Walaubagaimanapun, bukanlah niat saya ingin menyokong ideologi yang dibawa oleh komunis. Komunis dan kapitalis kedua-duanya ada baik dan buruknya. Yang hanya adil sistem di atas muka bumi ini ialah sistem perundangan Islam. Amat menyedihkan apabila mengetahui Melaka satu masa dahulu pernah menjadi salah satu pusat Islam terkemuka di dunia. Malah wujud hubungan yang baik antara kerajaan Turki Uthmaniyyah dan kerajaan Johor. Setelah jatuhnya khilafah, tanah melayu hilang masyhurnya kerana nilai-nilai Islam itu semakin jauh dalam masyarakat angkara kedatangan penjajah dengan slogan ‘Gold, Glory, Gospel’. Sultan Melaka yang suatu ketika dahulu begitu berperanan dalam pentadbiran masyarakat. Malah ada sultan yang sanggup meronda di waktu malam untuk menangkap pencuri. Seingat saya sultan itu adalah Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah.

Sungguh negara kita mempunyai sejarah yang sangat hebat untuk ditelusuri dan diambil pedoman dan iktibarnya. Saya dahulu kurang gemar subjek sejarah malahan jika diberi peluang untuk membuang satu subject dalam SPM, aka sejarahlah yang akan saya pilih. Lama kelamaan barulah saya sedar pengaruh sejarah dalam kemajuan sesuatu bangsa. Saya tutup entri kali ini dengan satu quotes dari George Santayana yang mungkin anda sudah dengar berulang kali,

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

p/s : gambar-gambar lain boleh tengok di facebook. sekian.

Bola antarabangsa.

So finally, the World Cup 2010 had ended last Sunday night at Johannesburg. Spain’s golden generation finally fulfilled their prophecy as the best team in the world (currently) after conquering Europe in 2008. Although the way they did it is less fashionable in terms of football compared to the Eurocopa triumph in 2008, but who cares because the outcome is the one that matters the most, world champion. They play their typical game of ball possession and they are rewarded for their faith in their playing style.

I supported England for this world cup as they are the country that I have a bit affection towards them. And honestly, I am very dissappointed with the way England performed at the world cup. They headed to South Africa with favourite tag to lift the world cup and as I have mentioned before, this is the best chance that England have to win their 2nd major title and yet, they screwed it and never make themselves look like a world class team. England are used to be a quarter-final team and it had gone from bad to worse as they could only reach the last 16 and suffered a heavy lost to the young Germans.

To say England is not on par with Germany would be an understatement. Had Lampard’s goal is counted, I believe it would be a different story in the second half. England was in ascendancy as the game wore on and yet, they were unpunished by the breathtaking counter-attack move by the Germans. Arsene Wenger’s opinion would sum up perfectly why England lost, they were too eager to get the goals. And for this to happened to a very experienced side is a bit confused. England got the free kick and yet it is the Germans who ended up with goals.

And speaking of Germany, they are the most entertaining side in this tournament. Most of the players are still young but they outclassed England and Argentina and made it look very easy and simple. Nobody rates them in the same league as Spain or Brazil but it turns out, they are the team to watch at the world cup. This is just a good start for the new generation of Germany football team and they will definitely win something in the years to come. I remembered what the commentator said about Germany that England should take notes about it. 10 years ago the Germany football federation sensed there is something wrong with their national team that they decided to revamped their Bundesliga and the youth program. Whilst the English Premier League continues to attract big names to England and proud of their status as the best league in the world, Germany stick to their own project, modelling the national team in Bayern Munich and now, they are reaping the rewards so kudos to the DFB.

This world cup also showed something that is very significant, the fall of the football biggest stars and the rise of the underdogs. Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo all failed to deliver. Rooney and Messi even exited the tournament without scoring a goal. In the other hand, Diego Forlan almost single-handedly  took his nation, Uruguay to the final of the world cup. Young stars also are emerging form this world cup. The names that attracted me were the German trio of Mesut Oezil, Thomas Mueller and Sami Khedira, Fabio Coentrao of Portugal and Elia of the Netherlands. I hope to see them performing a lot better at the next world cup.

Above all, South Africa deserved a big applause for their success in staging the 2010 world cup. Everyone doubted their ability as South Africa is known to have a high crime record but in the end, it was a successful world cup with less crime reported during the one-month event. So the world cup ended, now everyone will shift their attention back to their favourite club. For Arsenal, I am not sure if this is a goodbye to Cesc Fabregas but whatever will happen, Arsene Wenger must do something for this coming season.

p/s : I wrote this entry on last week’s Monday and yet, I only manage to finish it now. And oh, I think I need to reflect on myself back, maybe there is something wrong with me. I don’t know.

A B C D E F …….

So the government plans to scrap down the UPSR and PMR from the education system as they believe that the education system has become too exam-oriented. Congratulations to government for realizing this matter which I believe had been a problem long time ago. Everyone is debating on this matter, some agree and some disagree.

In my opinion, I do not think scrapping down the UPSR and PMR would have any good impact on the education system if there is no modification or improvement in the education system. For me, UPSR and PMR is quite important as these two exams could help the government in screening excellent students for a place in top schools, particularly the SBP’s and MRSM’s. What is lack in the Malaysian education system is the development of other skills such as communication and sports.

Knowledge-wise, I do not think Malaysian students are lacking compared to other developing countries. The thing that hinders the Malaysian students from being on par with other students is their communication skills. If you have the knowledge but you find it difficult for you to convey your message, then there is where the problems lie. The education system in Malaysia trains the students to just sit in the classroom, or their rooms and do the revisions. This is where the terms nerds or geeks make sense. The students are only care about the final outcome of the exams rather than trying to be an all-round students.

I have the opportunity to further my studies abroad and I could see where is the difference between Malaysian students and the local students i.e the English students. The local students are not afraid to express themselves in the class, answering the questions by the lecturers eventhough they are not sure of the answers. This is where they stimulate their mind to think out of the box compared to us, who prefer to know the answer straight away therefore, you are not stimulating your mind and the way you think of something will always stays that single way.

I read on the newspaper last week and one columnist came up with a brilliant idea, for the education system in this country to adopt the International Baccalaureate (IB) system. I have the privilege to experience IB during my time at KMB. Although I admit it was a tough program, but without doubt the program is the most complete education program I have ever experience. We were always sandwiched with lots of courseworks and assignments during our 2 years period of the program. Most of the assignments required the students to work on the assignments by themselves, look for the reference by themselves and conduct the experiments if they have to. I think this pushed the students to try to think out of the box and being critical about anything that came across in the assignments or courseworks.

Another part of the program also is completing the C.A.S which stands for creativity, action and sports. Creativity is centered around your involvement with clubs or associations, action is centered around your involvement in community works and actions is about your involvement in sports. For every part, you have to complete 60 hours which total up to 180 hours. Seldom the students spend their holiday at schools or hospitals to obtain sufficient hours required. This without doubt will create a student which is not only good in scoring marks in exams, but also good in sports and contribution to the community or simple to say, an all-round student.

I hope the government will be able to find the correct solution to this matter. The education system in Malaysia is excellent, only needs to be modified and re-modelled for a better prospect.

And speaking about England, what happened last night? T_T

bon appetite!

Alhamdulillah, Khamis malam lepas selamat sampai di KLIA untuk pulang cuti musim panas. Cuti selama 3 bulan akan cuba dimanfaatkan sebaiknya. Ada 4 buku yang perlu dihabis baca sepanjang 3 bulan ni. Ada orang cakap that is quite ambitious.

Sabtu lepas pergi ke rumah makcik di Shah Alam untuk family gathering. Kebiasaannya family gathering ni setiap keluarga akan bawa menu masing-masing ataupun istilah lainnya ialah potluck. Saya tidur satu malam di rumah makcik atas pelawaan anaknya. Keesokan harinya, kami makan tengahari bersama. Usai makan, kami berborak-borak di ruang tamu. Banyak perkara yang kami bualkan daripada hal keluarga ke hal memandu kereta hinggalah ke hal makanan. Tapi bagi aku topik makanan yang paling layan sekali.

Saya ada satu soalan, kalau anda makan, anda akan makan buah sebelum atau selepas makan main course? Aku rasa kebanyakan dari kita akan makan buah selepas kenyang dengan main course. Bagi masyarakat barat, buah boleh diklasifikasikan sebagai dessert atau pencuci mulut. Rata-rata masyarakat kita hari ini berpegang pada konsep ini iaitu makan main course dahulu kemudian barulah mengambil buah-buahan sebagai dessert. Sebenarnya, konsep ini lari dari sunnah yang dianjurkan oleh nabi Muhammad S.A.W. Betapa halus agenda barat dalam melarikan kita daripada mengikut jejak sunnah nabi.

Nabi Muhammad S.A.W kebiasaannya akan mengambil buah-buahan dahulu sebelum baginda mengambil makanan yang lain. Kenapa? Baca artikel di bawah ini,

“Satu-satunya masalah yang timbul dalam pemakanan buah-buhan ini adalah kebanyakan orang tidak tahu untuk memakannya dalam satu cara yang membolehkan tubuh badan menggunakan zat makanannya dengan amat berkesan.Anda hendaklah sentiasa memakan buah-buahan ketika perut sedang kosong.Kenapa?Sebabnya ialah buah-buahan terutamanya tidak dihadam di dalam perut.Sebaliknya ia dihadam di dalam usus kecil,di mana ia mengeluarkan gulanya.Tetapi,sekiranya terdapat kanji,kentang ataupun daging di dalam perut,buah-buahan akan terperangkap dan mula menapai.Pernahkah anda memakan buah-buahan sebagai pencuci mulut selepas makan besar dan bersendawa dengan rasa tidak selesa sepanjang malam?Ini kerana anda tidak makan dengan cara yang betul.ANDA SEPATUTNYA MEMAKAN BUAH-BUAHAN KETIKA PERUT SEDANG KOSONG”.(Anthony Robbins, Unlimited Power)

Ada yang mengatakan petua makan buah dahulu turut diriwayatkan dalam sebuah hadith tapi setakat yang saya cuba cari, tiada bukti kukuh yang mengatakan ada hadith sahih mengenai perkara ini. Tapi berdasarkan daripada artikel di atas ini, jelas bahawa selama ini kita (mungkin saya sahaja dan anda tidak) silap dalam mengamalkan tabiat pemakanan yang betul dan sihat. Dalam al-Quran surah al-Waqi’ah ayat 20-21, Allah S.W.T berfirman,

وَفَاكِهَةٍ مِّمَّا يَتَخَيَّرُونَ وَلَحْمِ طَيْرٍ مِّمَّا يَشْتَهُونَ

“ Dan buah-buahan dari apa yang mereka pilih, dan daging burung dari apa yang mereka inginkan.”

Jelas dalam ayat al-Quran di atas, Allah menyebut buah-buahan dahulu sebelum daging. Mengapa? Pasti ada makan yang tersirat di sebalik ayat di atas yang Allah mahu hamba-hambaNya mengkaji dan diinterpretasikan untuk diguna pakai dalam kehidupan harian.

Dan jangan terkejut jika anda dapat tahu bahawa orang Yahudi akan mengambil buah dahulu sebelum mengambil makanan berat yang lain. Alasan mereka ialah kerana pengambilan makanan berat dahulu akan membuatkan kita mengantuk dan susah untuk memahami apa yang kita belajar. Mungkin sebab itu tidak hairan mengapa kaum Yahudi berjaya melahirkan ramai golongan cerdik pandai yang berjaya dalam berbagai bidang.

Saya pernah terbaca satu artikel panjang mengenai usaha barat untuk mendidik masyarakat dunia supaya kerap mengambil hati dalam pemakanan harian kerana khasiat yang terkandung di dalam hati walhal, islam menegah umatnya daripada memakan organ-organ haiwan kerana bahaya yang terkandung di dalamnya (betulkan jika saya salah).

Semoga perkongsian ini bermanfaat untuk anda dan sebarkan kepada rakan muslim yang lain. Wallahu’alam.

Credit to:

1. http://blogs.iium.edu.my/yeop/2009/05/05/bila-waktu-sesuai-makan-buah-buahan/
2. http://mountdweller.blogspot.com/2009/02/cara-makan-yahudi-seperti-yg-tertulis.html

Copa Mundial.

South Africa used to be a nation full with racism and discrimination. Nelson Mandela was prisoned for a long period for trying to free his nation from those negativities. The historic moment for South Africa was when Nelson Mandela wore the South Africa national rugby team’s jersey during a rugby match and paraded the rugby pitch. The Springboks jersey once was exclusive only for the white people. That moment simply marked the end of Apartheid era.

Tonight, it will be another historic moment for South Africa as the FIFA World Cup 2010 will kick off. 32 nations travel to South Africa in their quest to become the world champion. It is the highest football tournament after all. Pavel Nedved, when awarded with Ballon d’Or said, he prefers the ticket to the world cup for his country rather than claiming the award.

The favourites will definitely be Brazil, Spain and England. As for England, this is their best chance to win the world cup. In Fabio Capello, they have someone who could deliver results when it matters. England may suffer a bit with the loss of David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand but in my opinion, given the record of Capello’s coaching career he knows how to utilise the players at his disposal. And let us not forget Capello is the man who solve the long-debated Gerrard-Lampard partnership.

Spain without doubt got the best line-up of players for the world cup. The squad is very balance in each department and possesses a good team chemistry. Only lapses and complacent would prevent Spain from claiming another major championship after Euro 2008 triumph. Plus, history proves that the favourite team would always fail to live up to the expectations, just ask Brazil of 2006 world cup and France and Argentina in 2002 world cup.

I am also eager to watch how Argentina will fair during this tournament. Diego Maradona is a legend as a player but I doubt whether he could have the same stature in his coaching career. I think he put his head on the chopping board earlier berfore the world cup starts when he named his 23-man squad for the world cup. He left Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso, treble winners with Internazionale to accommodate places for Jonas Gutierrez who only won Coca-Cola championship with Newcastle United. Maybe Coca-Cola championship medal is more stylish compared to Champions League medal. Should Argentina fail miserably in this world cup, Diego Maradona will be the first to be blame for another dissappointment.

Another things that would be interesting for this world cup is who will take home the golden boot award. Top contenders would be David Villa and Wayne Rooney. But I think Robin Van Persie stands a good chance to claim the award if Netherland perform very well in this campaign. His current form is excellent during the friendly matches for the world cup preparation and after another disappointing season of a lengthy period on the sidelines, Van Persie would relish the chance to showcase his talents on the biggest stage. I am not saying this because he is a Gunner but I think most people would agree that Van Persie is a world class striker.

They call football as the beautiful game on earth. But the beauty could be tarnished if air of racism is still fresh in the sport. Football can take some inspirations from South Africa in stopping the racist culture. This is the event that unites people regardless of colours and faiths, when everyone raises the flags of their nations and that is why football deserve to be called as the beautiful game on earth. Not only beautiful in the sports element solely, but also the joy, the tears and the unity that it brings to everyone. Let the game begins, lads!

p/s : 1. world cup pun world cup gak, tapi jangan sampai subuh tergadai. kalau subuh tergadai, kesian kat saudara kita di Gaza.

2. I wrote this entry yesterday but due to time constraints, I could only manage to finish it tonight.

Nak buat business?

Have you ever watched The Apprentice series? I used to be a fanatic of that show but like any other TV show, the interest seems to fade away when I went to college at Banting. The American version had Donald Trump as the boss. And I just found out that there is also UK version for the apprentice. And currently, I am following Junior Apprentice on BBC iPlayer.

Well I am not going to write about the TV show.

The contestants of the Junior Apprentice are 17 years old averagely. Yet, it is very stunning at how they speak and work. The way they speak about themselves in front of the camera was very confidence and stylish. If the team lose, they have to go to the boardroom to defend themselves so that they will not be fired. At that period, they have to face Lord Sugar, Britain’s successful businessman and I was very flattered at how they answer the questions and defend themselves. If I am in the boardroom, facing the man with such a status, I would find myself to crumble after being asked questions and questions. But these kids are exceptional. They speak very confidently about themselves and clearly the status of Lord Sugar did not bother them. One thing that you can learn from these kids is how confident they are about themselves and how bad they want to be a winner.

The background of the contestants was also interesting. One of the contestants left school at 14 to start his own business. The business was very simple, selling groceries items yet he managed to make a sum amount of profit within 3 months of business. He even said that his parents’ were against his decision to left the school. Another contestant who is 17 years old, is already the CEO of his own company, doing online business. I wonder what is it that makes them so confidence and bold enough to make such big decision at the age of 14-17 years old. It seems like they have already sorted out their future at such young age and very committed in achieving it.

I reflected back on myself when I was at their age and it is very different. When I was in form 3, I only planned for my PMR and my next school. I started to plan my career after I got my SPM result.

Thinking about these Junior Apprentice participants make me think that how close they are with our beloved prophet Muhammad during his young age. Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h was a businessman and started to work as a shepherd, taking care of sheep. Prophet Muhammad was a good businessman also, entrusted by his wife, Khadijah to be her business representative which I can’t remember the place’s name. And I think there is one hadith by the prophet which says 9 out of 10 income sources come from business. Clearly. prophet Muhammad encourages his followers to do business.

The reason why prophet encourages us to do business is because the importance of a strong economy for a community. History proves that a country with a strong economy will always be steps ahead compared to other countries. We look at Malaysia today, and we could see the major and top companies, most of them were owned by non-muslim. The issue of Muslim consumers being cheated with haram materials is because the Muslims failure to control the economy. Had we have a good grip on the economy, we will start to produce our own products which insha-Allah, halal for the consumers to use it.

I have an utmost respect towards Johor Cooperation , known as JCorp for their effort in doing the “Jihad Ekonomi”. Johor Cooperation is a well-known company which diversifies in their business venture such as healthcare (KPJ), palm oil and others. One of the biggest achievement of JCorp is their success to secure the KFC (M) Holdings under JCorp wing. So, KFC Malaysia is totally 100% owned by bumiputera. Another bumiputera company which also shares the same vision as JCorp is HPA Industries. Most of us may familiar with the kopi Radix advertisement with the tagline “mai secawan”. HPA industries effort is also wonderful. They opened the RFC (Radix Fried Chicken) as an alternative to the western fast-food franchise and produces the Radix Kola as an alternative to the Coca-Cola.

As a Muslim, I think we should support our local companies effort to make their “jihad ekomomi” vision becomes true and successful. I believe if the Muslims are able to control the economy, there will be no longer issues of consumers being cheated with haram materials in their items. And this could be a starting step towards implementing the Islamic economic system which is far fairer than the capitalist system where the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.

Aku dan ayah.

Isnin minggu depan exam untuk Spring sem nak mula. Setakat ini persiapan alhamdulillah. Tapi tu la sem ni banyak subject kualitatif, kurang kuantitatif. Jadi kepala naik ketat kene hafal banyak teori, definition dan seangkatan dengannya. Jadi bila tension, aku pun pergi jalan-jalan kat bandar. Tapi memang nak beli barang-barang pun.

Tengah jalan-jalan kat bandar tiba-tiba teringat kenangan waktu kecil dengan ayah. Aku akui aku memang lebih rapat dengan mak berbanding ayah. tak tau la korang sama ke tak dengan aku. Tapi bila fikir-fikir banyak juga kenangan dengan ayah waktu kecil-kecil.

Kat Kuala Lumpur ada dua taman tasik, taman tasik titiwangsa dan taman tasik perdana. Tiap hujung minggu ayah mesti bawa aku dan adik ke sana. dari aku tadika sampai la ke darjah dua. Taman tasik perdana lagi best daripada taman tasik titiwangsa. Kenapa? Macam-macam perkara ada di taman tasik perdana macam taman burung, bagi rusa dan ikan makan dan palyground yang mencabar. Tiap-tiap kali pegi taman tasik perdana ayah akan suruh aku panjat ke tempat paling tinggi dekat playground tu. aku pun tak ingat apa nama permainan tu. tapi ayah akan tengok dari bawah la. maybe ayah nak ajar aku supaya selalu jadi champion.

Bila dah penat bermain, bagi rusa dan ikan makan roti, ayah akan belanja aku dengan adik aiskrim. Aku selalu beli aiskrim mangkuk. adik dan ayah pun sama. Tiap-tiap kali pergi taman tasik perdana itu la rutin kami tapi tak pernah bosan pun.

Kalau pergi taman tasik titiwangsa, kami bertiga akan dayung sampan dekat tasik yang besar tu. Selalunya ayah la yang dayung. aku degan adik macam biasa, bagi ikan makan roti. Seingat aku ada sekali je ayah bagi aku dayung. Ye la kalau aku dayung alamatnya petang la baru abis pusing tasik tu. Kalau kami datang awal pagi, kami akan naik kuda dulu. Ayah tak naik tapi aku ngan adik je yang naik. itu la rutin kalau pegi taman tasik titiwangsa. Selalunya ayah akan alternate antara dua tempat ni tiap kali hujung minggu.

Masa aku tadika 6 tahun, ayah ada bawak aku pergi pameran dinasour dekat sunway. Aku ingat lagi kami pergi berdua, adik tak tau apa pun kami pergi mana hari tu. Sorry dik.

Masa 6 tahun jugak, aku kena demam chicken pox. Memang sakit betul waktu tu. Ada satu malam ayah bawak balik coklat tango lepas ayah solat isya’ di masjid. Aku ingat lagi waktu tu aku tengah baring depan tv tengok cerita star wars. Oh ayah memang minat star wars. masa masuk rumah, ayah sorok coklat tu dalam kopiah dia. Aku yang macam tau ada sesuatu terus pegi dekat ayah. Sekali betul ada coklat tango.

Lepas tu masa aku naik darjah 5, ayah beli komputer. Satu petang ayah bawak balik CD game FIFA 98. Waktu tu FIFA 98 memang tengah top sebab nak dekat world cup 98. Hari minggu ayah akan ajak lawan. Aku pakai keyboard, ayah pakai mouse. Ayah macam biasa akan pilih team favourite dia, Argentina. Waktu tu Argentina ada Gabriel Batistuta. Aku pulak macam biasa pakai team favourite aku, Brazil. Kata nak jadi champion. Waktu tu Ronaldo kurus dan laju. Tak macam sekarang.

Banyak perkara yang ayah suka aku akan ikut. Eh tak banyak pun. Ayah minat formula 1 dan team Mclaren Mercedes. Waktu tu Mika Hakkinen juara dunia jadi aku pun ikut sokong sekali sebab ayah minat dia.

Kenangan kena marah dengan ayah pun banyak. Pernah sekali aku buat nakal, ayah bawak aku pergi balai polis. Aku ingatkan ayah main-main sekali betul pergi balai polis. Yang aku pelik sampai la hari ini macam mana la polis tu boleh pakat dengan ayah aku pergi soal aku macam-macam. Oh cukup la takat situ yang lain-lain biar aku simpan seorang. Segan pulak nak cerita nanti korang gelak.

Apa pun bila dah besar ni, aku pegang prinsip aku adalah legasi ayah. Kita semua adalah legasi ayah dan ibu kita. Sedar tak sedar, kita ada saham untuk amk dan ayah kita di akhirat. macam hadith nabi cakap,

“Apabila mati seseorang anak adam itu, terputuslah segala amalannya kecuali tiga perkara: ٍSedekah Jariah, Ilmu Yang Bermanafaat dan Anak soleh yang berdoa baginya.” (riwayat Muslim)

Semoga ayah terus sihat dan bertambah iman. Ameen.

Government

So, finally David Cameron is officially the new prime minister of Britain after his party, Conservatives clinched victory in the 2010 election. After 5 days of rumours, finally the Conservatives and Lib Dem managed to strike a deal to form a coalition government as the Conservative failed to secure the majority at the House of Commons.

I read an article about who David Cameron is on the BBC news. Intelligence-wise, David Cameron has a perfect education records. He enrolled at Eton for his high school (Eton is a top school in UK, equivalent to MCKK) and obtained a first-class degree from Oxford University in some politic-related course. His professor describes him as the ‘ablest’ person in his class and some of his work in Conservatives attracted praises from the party’s top level. He begins his politic career in Conservatives by offering himself to work at Conservatives research centre. It is quite awesome considering that he is now the prime minister of Britain.

But in my opinion, the Liberal Democrats should be proud of their achievement and they are also the ‘winner’ in this election. The party that won the least seats in parliament holds the key decider on who will govern Britain. How ironic is that. Moreover, Nick Clegg was appointed the deputy prime minister and 4 cabinet posts will be reserved for Lib Dems MPs plus, they managed to implement one of their manifesto which is the electoral reform. Nick Clegg admitted the reason why he joins politics is to do the reform and I think the Lib Dems would be delighted with this outcome.

This is also a golden opportunity for the Lib Dems to show to the Britons that they have the ability and resources to govern Britain someday in the future. My classmate told me that the reason why he did not vote the Lib Dems was because he did not think Lib Dems are ready to govern the Britain unlike the Labour and the Conservatives which are far experience having govern the Britain for the past years.

As for Gordon Brown, he bid farewell on Tuesday in front of the no 10. Various comments and reactions were voiced about his career as the prime minister. Most believe he is a great chancellor but not a good prime minister. Most credited him for the way he handled the economic crisis. Looking back at his path to the prime minister, he became the prime minister without holding the election. His career path was more likely an unfulfilled prophecies. He aimed at becoming the prime minister when he was very young, create his own team that pushed him all the way to the no 10. An observer says his career is a tragic one, from a promising one to a disaster one.

Whatever it is, I hope the new government will bring some changes in the Palestinian issues or perhaps, playing more prominent role in stopping the blockade on Gaza, having a tough stance in keeping the Americans away from any influence in Palestinian issue. However that is unlikely to happen as David Cameron declared ‘Israel is our friend and we support the two-state solution’. And hopefully, they will do something to stop the Islamophobia created by the mass media.

And speaking about government, Malaysia government approved the legal licence of footballing gamble to BERJAYA this week. Much had been said about this issue and I read various comments from my friends and some prominent muslim scholars in Malaysia so, I have nothing left to say. But I would like to say this to the government, go and look for al-Maidah verse 90 (page 123), understand the content of the verse, search for the definition of haram, and then you will realize that the argument of “menutup kemudharatan yg lebih besar dengan kemudharatan yang lebih kecil” is completely rubbish and not valid.

p/s : entry ini untuk tunaikan janji kepada seorang kawan.

Keeping the flag high.

So EPL has come to an end last Sunday. Final standings, Chelsea finished as the champion, Man United finished second, Arsenal finished third and surprise, surprise, surprise Spurs finished fourth, earning themselves a ticket for Champions League next season. So finally, the top four had been dislodged at the expense of Liverpool.

I haven’t write about football for quite sometimes so maybe this is a good time to do it. Reflecting on the 2009/2010 season, it is a similar performance by Arsenal with 2008/2009 season in which we started with a bang, being in the title race for quite a long period before succumbed to losing our grip on the title when the season enters it most hectic period, particularly March till May.

It is not difficult to point out the reason why we have failed again. Again, injuries had taken it’s toll on our season. Key players like Fabregas, Vermaelen, Gallas and notably Robin Van Persie sustained a long term injury which really dampened our march to the title. Robin Van Persie injuries is the most depressing one as we played most of the season without our main striker. Bendtner is not a top class striker nor Eduardo is. What we lack was the dynamism of RVP in which he could open the defence with his run and movement inside the penalty box. We ended up putting Arshavin at the centre of the new 4-3-3 formation in which we suffered a lot during the games against Chelsea. How would you expect Arshavin to win the headers when he is up against John Terry?

But, I personally think this injury problems could be overcome had Arsene spend some cash during the winter transfer windows. I have no idea why it is very difficult for him to buy players that could remedied our injury problems. I knew Arsene is not a fan of winter transfer, arguing it could disrupts the team developments. But he should know that we have the best chance to end our silverware droughts and yet, he screwed it up.

However, I think there are a lot of positive notes that the Gooners should be proud of. Twice we were written off from the title race, having 12 points off the pace and yet, twice we come back to bring ourselves into the title contention again. If the 2008/2009 season the turning point was Eduardo horrific injury, this season the match against Stokes City saw we suffer another horrific injury to Aaron Ramsey, in which his leg was left ‘hanging’. I personally picked that match as our best game of the season given how we come back from behind to seal a last minute victory. I thought that was a turning point of our season like in 2008/2009 season when Ramsey was tackled. Cesc Fabregas looked depressed and shouting by himself alone, can’t believe that it is happening again and yet, the lads picked themselves up and showed they are maturing. The turning point of the season is definitely against Barcelona, in which I don’t want to talk about it. Barcelona and Leo Messi was just outstanding.

So it is the 6th year without any silverware. Next season, I hope we have a better luck in terms of injury and I hope Arsene will buy a new GK, CF and CB. Finishing third is simply not a champions materials. Of course we prove everyone wrong given how they rate us before the season starts but the first one that counts the most, not the 2nd nor the 3rd.

Election!

Within the next 24 hours, Britons will cast their votes for the 2010 general election. I am qualified to vote but since I am not registered to vote so I have nothing to be excited about come this Thursday. So much issues had been argued in the build up to this election such as economics, NHS, immigration and so on and so forth.

I knew little about Britain economics and their political history so I am not going to write or comment anything about the parties in Britain. The only thing I knew was there are 3 major parties in this election which are Labour, Conservatives, also known as the Tories and Liberal Democrat or famously short-formed as Lib Dem. I chatted with my coursemates about the election, to be precise with two of my classmates. One told me to support the Conservatives and the other one told me to support Lib Dem.

To be honest, if I am registered as a voter, I will give my vote to Lib Dem. The issue that got my attention in the party’s pledge/ manifesto regarding the Palestine issue. All 3 major parties promised they will support the two state solution. Although this is not the solution that is not fair (since Israel never exist as a country) but Lib Dem promised to put pressure on the Israel and Egypt to end their blockage of aids to Gaza. I think as a Muslim, we have a strong reason to support this effort.

Another issue that got my attention is the immigration issue. I think this in one of the major issue apart from the economic recovery. I remembered watching Question Time at BBC when a man questioned Jack Straw whether the rise of the BNP is due to the government failure to control the UK border. That is why this problem need to be tackled intelligently in order to prevent the rise of the BNP. And speaking about the BNP, do you aware that one of their pledges is to stop the building of the mosques all around UK? This is serious.

I am also interested with the way campaigns are conducted in the UK. It is very rare to see one politician attacks the personality of his counterpart i.e personal attack. Maybe sometimes they took swipe at each other but it is based on the subjects of the arguments which are mostly the important issues such as policies and manifestos. I knew that in Islam it is important to select a leader which have a good attitudes and personality. But to expose other people’s mistakes in front of the public is not good, let alone past mistakes. Why can’t they think that people always look up to the leader as an example so to expose their past mistakes would trigger the people to think, ‘ah, maybe it is ok to do that because he used to be like that’. This happens in Malaysia and in my opinion it is not a good environment. Why can’t we give them chances and support them if they were already repented.

And for the first time, Britain has their first ever prime-ministrial debate on various issues. I only managed to follow the first one only. What interested me is how open their politicians are to agree to take part in the debate because in one way, you teach your people many things about the policies and the systems in your country. This could provoke the people’s thoughts to question and criticise certain things and I think this is a good environment rather than we just accept what is said on the mainstream medias. The audiences of the debate were not only people who work in the office with suits but also there are some audiences which work as a teacher or even a bartender.

So on Thursday, the elections will begin and current polls suggested that David Cameron might be on his way to the prime minister office at the Downing Street. There is a high probability that Britain could have a hung parliament which many believe it is not a nice outcome. To those who are registered to vote, Selamat mengundi!!