Words of Wisdom

I went to a workshop a couple of years ago and during that workshop the trainer trained us to try looking at positive thing and say positive things about our team members.

There were about 40 of us in the workshop and we were divided into groups of 7-8 people. Some of them we had known earlier and most of them we just meet for the 1st time.

Anyway there were one session whereby we wrote something positive for someone we had known during the workshop. We were given cards and everyone can write something positive about someone and pass the card to him/her.

And guess what I got 6 of those cards from 6 different person. I was surprise to get them especially from someone I hardly know before. Hmmm nice things to get.

Kung Fu Panda - Learn the Morale of the Story

I am not a fan of movie - what more if its a cartoon movie. Did I tell you that I fell asleep during my first movie date with Ky in Kalamazoo, Michigan - way back sometime in 1984. The movie "The Natural" and the actors if I still can remember was Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glen Close and a few more. It was supposed to a romantic movie but I fell asleep almost throughout the show. What a date? Anyway that is not what I'm going to write. It's about this cartoon movie showing right now at the theater near you - "The Kung fu Panda" hey promo nampak!!!

Anyway Acik was pestering me to go for a movie before the school opens on Monday. As I was never a fan of any movie nor have the patience to queue up for the tickets, I rejected his request. But then again, thinking that I need to be somewhere in TTDI for some Healthpointe program (I write about it later) about the same time after the movie ends, I thought why not I get them to see the movie anyway.

So yesterday I took him and Mimi to One Utama. I picked up Cik Hindun (Ky's sister) from Kota Damansara so that she can tag along. After about 30 mins queuing for the tickets, we got the 11.50am slot for the 4 of us.

What more important is that I didn't fell asleep. In fact I concentrated on the movies as I felt there were so many things to learn from that cartoon characters.

Anyway if you want to know about the plot, please read here.

Po (Panda) who knew he wanted to be somebody but didn't know how to.
But he preservere and became the Dragon Warrior.

But if you want to know what I've learned while watching the movie, please continue reading:

The Plot : Po the Panda knew he wanted to be somebody but he didn't know how to. But he went through the hardship anyway until he was chosen to be the Dragon Warrior.

The Morale of the Story : We may have want or dream something more out of our life but we are not sure of it. We must still continue to search for it and it will come to you one day if you really want it bad enough.

The Plot : Oogway the turtle (the old Master) said something like this : Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is mystery but today is the "Present".

The Morale of the Story : We shouldn't get bogged down with things that happened in our life before. And we don't know what will happen to us in the future. What more important is that we make best use of what we have today as if it a "present" for us.

Shifu and Oogway (the Old Master)

The Plot : When Po opened the Dragon scroll, he didn't find any secret writing in it but only the image of himself. The secret is actually NO SECRET. The secret is actually himself.

The Morale of the Story : Most often than not we try to find what is the best secret to be successful. Only to find out that the secret is actually ourself. If we want to be successful, it has to be us who want to be what we want to be!

The Plot : Initially Po looked down on Shifu (Small Red Panda) until Shifu tested Po and trained him how to be the Kung Fu warrior.

The Morale of the Story : We always look down on people who we thought are smaller than us, less intelligent than us, less educated than us, less qualified, etc. etc. But you know what, these people can be much better than us in many other way. Be humble and people will be willing to help us.

Shifu (The Master) trained Po (The Panda) by using Food as his carrot for training.

The Plot : Po was merely a noodle maker but he was determine to be someone else that he dreamed of. He searched for it and at the end he got what he wanted.

The Morale of the Story : We may have dream of things we want. A better life, a better home, a better person. Keep on dreaming but always have in mind that we must pursue it.

Conclusion :

1. Have a Dream and identify what we want out of our life.
2. Listen and Follow the right people who knew better than us.
3. Preserver and endure the hardship before we get what we dream of.
4. Never get distracted with your enemy but overcome your fear.
   
5. And watch the Movie with an open-mind hehehe...
   

Salam Ramadan

My HP were jammed with messages from relatives and friends. Some came from those who have not kept in touch with me for a long time. How thoughtful were they sending me the messages. Of course I have replied to each and every one of them. One or two of them are those silent people who will only wished me during auspicious day only and they have not even called me a couple of years. Anyway, I always feel blessed to get whatever kind of friends who want to befriend me.

See while writing this blog, another 2 friends text me wishing me selamat menyambut ramadan. Thanks to them.

While I supposed time has changed. I remember we only wish and greeted each other when Hari Raya's coming or any Festivals or New Year. Of recent years, probably we are more exposed to the Fadilat Bulan Ramadan, we now started to greet and wish each other to observe the month of Ramadan.

In fact the Fadilat of doing good deeds during the month of Ramadan is much more compared to the normal month. People are more concern doing good deed this month. The surau and masjids are filled up with jemaah to full brim almost every night.

I once commented to my friend casually about our office surau will be packed during Puasa month. We have to queue up to get space for us to prayer. My first thought was that it's gave me difficulties. That was my perspective then. But my friend told me differently.

He said "Nasib baik surau penuh. At least more people are coming to pray. What if the surau is empty and no one come to pray?" Ah! it smacked me right in my face. He is right. What if no one come to fill up the surau even if it is Ramadan. So now I have different perspective on seeing more people coming to the surau. At least I will meet people whom I seldom see them in the surau too (bukan lah nak mengata hehehee but it's a fact). I guess at least they too want to have more pahala this month. Why not?

So to my readers, allow me to wish you Selamat Menyambut Ramadan & bersama-sama lah kita menghayati Fadilat Ramadan yang penuh Rahmat dan semoga Allah dapat menerima segala amal ibadah kita ini. Insyaallah....

Is Life Fair?

Aida emailed me which I think quite interesting to share with you. Probably you might have read this before somewhere. But if you haven't, do read thru' and ponder.

11 RULES FROM BILL GATES (for your children - & yourself!)

To anyone with kids of any age, or any kid for that matter, here's some advice. Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not & will not learn in school. He talks about how feel good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality & how this concept set them up for failure in the real world. Love him or hate him, he sure hit the nail on the head with this.

Rule 1
Life is not fair - get used to it.

Rule 2
The world won't care about your self esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3
You will not make $60,000 a year right out of high school You won't be a vice president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4
If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

Rule 5
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping - they called it opportunity.

Rule 6
If you mess up, it's not your parents fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes & listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites your parent's generation created, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8
Your school may have done away with winners & losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades & they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This does not bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off & very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10
TV is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop & go to jobs.

Rule 11
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Now you might ponder ... is life fair for you??

I will survive in whatever circumstances!

Look at this picture that I took when I was in JB a couple of weeks ago. While waiting for the rain to stop, I saw these people came out from the mosque to return home from prayers. So what's the catch? Well maybe to you it is of none significant but it is to me.



You see the rain didn't show any sign of stopping within the next 20 minutes or so and I guess these 3 people a grandfather, a father and his daugther can't wait long to get back home for whatever reason so ever. So instead of waiting, they brave the rain using a piece of long plastic banner to cover themselves.

So you might think it is a stupid thing to do right? Why don't they wait for the rain to stop and start walking to their destination, right? But what do you know what are in their mind?

To me there are lots of significant. Firstly, I supposed they have to go somewhere for a reason. Maybe they have to get back home or where ever they want to go. Probably they got to be at their destination at certain time and waiting for the rain would certainly delay their schedule.

So the next thing to do is to think the best way to get to their destination. Probably they don't have a car. And probably they saw a unused plastic banner lying around and ideas came to use it as a cover.

More strategically, with three of them together, they can hold it together to move along synchronically forward. The shorter one in front and at the back whilst the tallest one in the middle. Thus it look like a moving tent.

Yeah for sure they get a bit wet but then again it's better then waiting for the rain to stop rather than missing the time or destination that they are heading for. But at the end, I guess they will get where they want to be.

Thus we can always relate this scenario in life. In life, they are so many things that we want to have, to go, to become, etc., etc. While pursuing to get our Dreams or Goals, we were sometime face obstacles and situation that holds us back. Most of us will taken aback when something came and disrupt our situation: maybe some family matters, work stress, relationship problems, health challenges. So if any of this situation arise, what do we do? Do we fall down and wait and wish for good things to happen us. Or do we get up and continue our journey to get to our Dreams and Objectives. Or do we find other ways and means to resolve those issues. What ever it is, are we doing something about it?

After hearing, Tracy Hutchins in the last Convention with her life's theme song "I WILL SURVIVE", I suddenly thought of this there people braving the rain. Yes they have lots to do about being significant and survive!

Puasa Bulan Rejab

Someone sent me an email with regards to Bulan Rejab i.e. a month in the Islamic Calendar. Rejab is 2 months away from Ramadan i.e. the fasting month. However, it is good for us to observe this month to start fasting.

Me .. I thought why not especially when I read this email:

• Barang siapa yang berpuasa satu hari dalam bulan ini dengan ikhlas, maka pasti ia mendapat keridhaan yang besar dari ALLAH swt.

• Dan barang siapa berpuasa pada tanggal 27 Rejab 1428/Isra Mi'raj (Sabtu, 11 Ogos 2007) akan mendapat pahala seperti 5 tahun berpuasa.

• Barang siapa yang berpuasa dua hari di bulan Rejab akan mendapat kemuliaan di sisi ALLAH swt.

• Barang siapa yang berpuasa tiga hari yaitu pada tanggal 1, 2, dan 3 Rejab (16,17,18 Julai 2007) maka ALLAH swt akan memberikan pahala seperti 900 tahun berpuasa dan menyelamatkannya dari bahaya dunia dan siksa akhirat.

• Barang siapa berpuasa lima hari dalam bulan ini, insyaallah permintaannya akan dikabulkan Allah swt.

• Barang siapa berpuasa tujuh hari dalam bulan ini, maka ditutupkan tujuh pintu neraka Jahanam dan barang siapa berpuasa delapan hari maka akan dibukakan delapan pintu syurga.

• Barang siapa berpuasa lima belas hari dalam bulan ini, maka ALLAH swt akan mengampuni dosa-dosanya yan g telah lalu dan menggantikan kesemua kejahatannya dengan kebaikan, dan barang siapa yan g menambah (hari-hari puasa) maka ALLAH swt akan menambahkan pahalanya."

Well I guess being at this age, I need to do more good deeds. As someone said, " Hari dah senja dah"... Well what it meant is that we are now coming of age. Being nearly half a century old, I guess I now have to think about the days of hereafter.

So today is my fifth days of fasting.. yahoo.. I managed to fast 5 days in a row. But I have to take a break this weekend because there are 4 weddings to go. 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. Well it's also a practise for me before the full Ramadan month of fasting.

Can I continue to fast next week? Well.. we'll see.

Along & Linda officially engaged

Believe it or not! Linda and Along were officially engaged to each other last nite.
Time : 8.00 pm
Date : 2 July 2007
Venue : Kg Tunku, P.J.

Got a ride from my sis & her husband because I was alone. Mimi & Acik wanted to come along but I disapprove because I don't want them to stay late and tomorrow they have a reason for not going to school. Ky had a long day yesterday and she didn't want to go either. So the best thing to do is to get a ride from Zalma who stay just one block away from me.

We arrived before 8.30 pm. The merisik was supposed to be done after Maghrib. So by the time we got there, they were already concluding the discussion. Kak Lang is ready to put the ring to Linda's finger. Of course, I had to take pictures of this ceremony.

Linda was smiling all the way. It was witness by family members from both sides. Kak Miah & Yadin (Linda's mom & elder brother) was there. On our side, my 5 brothers and 3 sisters were there plus my in-laws too. Only Jeman, Kak Ngah and Ina didn't attend. (BTW I have 5 brothers and 5 sisters altogether - and that can make a football team hehehee..)

The discussion cum merisik was smooth. I guess because all of us knew each other since a long time. By the way, Linda's mother (Kak Miah) is Abg Zali's sister and Abg Zali is my brother-in-law. So what makes Along and Linda then. They are both Emma's cousin but from different family line.

Anyway, Abg De was also excited having a soon-to-be daughter-in-law. He has been calling Kak Mah in Labuan telling that everything went smoothly as planned. He even took a photo of Linda and mms it immediately to his family in Labuan.

Thereon, we were invited for dinner. But where is Linda by then???? We were searching for her to be with us for dinner.

We found out that she was in the back kitchen and is already on the HP with Along. "Amboi tak menyempat-yempat lagi dah call Along lah tu ye?" One of the aunties making a statement. "Eh, kan kita dah ada tunang" said Linda and everybody laughed. She is an easy going girl and I can say that the way she talk makes you laugh.

I guess there'll be another wedding before year end. Baru nak rehat lepas Emma kahwin, dah nak kahwin lagi sorang.

Anyway Selamat Bertunang Along and Linda. Uncle berdoa jodoh awak akan berkekalan.

Who do you listen to?

Sometimes you do not know who is the best person you should listen to? Is it people who are older ,wiser, more qualified than you? I am not sure. Or maybe it depends more on the situation or condition at that point of time.

Why do I raise this issue? You see last Saturday night this someone for now just let us know as Abg X called me up to ask for something. (I won't reveal his name because he is close to me). It was a "doa script" that I wanted to get from an Ustaz nephew of mine who read the doa at a wedding. Me, being the person who always got involve in any close family wedding thought that it would be a good idea to get the "Doa script" so that it can be used by someone else in the future. You know lah, sometime it's quite difficult to get someone to read doa especially when they never read doa at a wedding before. So I thought it would be handy if I could get this Doa script.

So at some point of time, I asked this Ustaz nephew of mine for it. Obviously for good intention, this Ustaz nephew is ever willing to give a copy to me without hesitation. But this Abg A, who was seated next to me started complaining and telling me why should I get it. Of course I explain that it can benefit us later. After all, I'm not getting it from him but from this Ustaz.

The same thing happen when I was trying to get the MC script from the so-called professional MC. This guy gave the MC script to my niece who was involve in that wedding. I asked my niece to keep a copy because I'm sure my niece will need to use it in the future ( as she is also the family's MC for some event). Again, when Abg X heard it, he made comments that I don't like to hear. My niece agreed with me on this but Abg X was not. I told Abg A that after all we are paying the so called professional MC so why not we keep the script after all right! After all I not getting it from Abg X so what the fuss isn't it?

So last Saturday Abg X called me asking me whether I still have the Doa script. Of course being a good guy, I told him that I have it. But I ask him for what? He told me that he might be doing the "Doa reciting" at a friend's daughter wedding reception. I gladly told him that I will fax it to him later.

I know I'm a good person but somewhere in me, there is a bad evil.. heheee...now this is a chance for me to get back at him. I told him that "remember Abg X that when I wanted to get the Doa script from Ustaz, you were very sarcastic to me like hell. Now you yourself want to use the Doa script. So next when I get something for our future benefit and use, please don't be so sarcastic at me ok." Wow what a feeling ... to get back at people who had degraded me before in front of other people. I know I'm cruel but what the heck it's so uplifting for me. hahahaaa....

So I told me wife about it so that she knows my situation (as she was seated near me when I got that call). And that was not the only situation I told her.

Another scenarios.
1. We were looking for an bigger size car or MPV as my kids is growing up a few years back. A Proton car is too small for us to travel as a family especially long distance. You see the 3 boys and my little girl are all growing up in sizes and in heights. Thus getting from one point to another is a challenge when you have small car. So we thought it's a good idea to have an affordable MPV to carry us around. A few years back, the most affordable MPV or a van would be Toyota Unser. Well it might look like a van but if can fulfill the purpose of carrying us around, to me why not isn't it?

So I told Abg X about it. You what, the first reaction was... Ha.. kereta Unser tu. If you buy that Unser, don't come to my house. But malu aje! I was stunned by his remarks but I kept it to myself. I put off that idea of buying the Unser then.

A couple of years passed and Toyota came out with a new model of Unser with more accessories and new look. Me and my wife decided to buy the newer version anyway as that the most affordable MPV that can carry us family with comfort. My kids were very happy travelling this time as everybody were comfortable and could even have a seat to sleep in while travelling. It's with Automatic and high-line model.

So one day, somehow or rather God knows how to get me back to Abg X. We wanted to go for Friday payers at Masjid Shah Alam. Since there were many of us and the only transport that can carry all of us, was my Toyota Unser. So everybody including Abg X got into my Unser. On the way, Abg X said " Eh..not bad lah this Unser. Very comfortable and luxury." Ah... should I get back to him? Well since I'm going for Friday prayers to do good deed, I just kept quite. But inside me I said... tu lah dia, dulu sampai tak kasi kita orang datang rumah dia kalau kita orang beli Unser...!!!

2. While I was toying with the idea to buy Unser before he was recommending me to buy Kia Sportage, as he has already got one. He said that it is the best MPV lah... money saving lah...so on and so forth. Well I'm not into Korean cars. My heart was already with Unser.

After a year or so, he started complaining about his Spotage. Banyak pakai minyak lah, not easy to maintain lah mahal lah... blah..blah..Today he has already sold his Sportage and bought another Kia model.

Should I have listened to him before, I think I have the same predicaments as him. I'm glad we bought the Unser. It doesn't gave us much problem and easy to maintain. Now we already sold of the Unser for a smaller Avanza. Even Avanza meets our requirements for now.

So guys, who do you think you should listen to? Somebody who is older and who you think is wiser, knowledgeable, experience or more qualified than you? I guess it all depends. But we have think who is best for us to listen to. He might be older, knowledgeable and experience than you but probably he won't give you the best advice.

Words of Wisdom

I got this sms from Uncle Joe (one of my brother-out-law.. hehehe..) quite sometimes ago but still kept in the inbox cause I thought it's just make sense to me. It reads....

If Allah answer your prayers, Allah is increasing your faith
If Allah delay them, Allah is increasing your patience
If Allah doesn't answer, Allah has better plans for you in the future

So whenever my prayers is not being answer yet, then I will always remember this. There are better plan for me to look for..insya'allah..

Thanks Uncle Joe!

Khutbah Jumaat

It is almost all Fridays that when the Khatib reads his khutbah, I almost be asleep. Why? Entah lah. Probably when your stomach is already filled up with lunch plus you were sitting under the cooling fan .. you'll be dozing off slowly. Or that the syaitan pull your eye lids down and pestering you to sleep.. haa..

But not today. I was paying my attention listerning to the khutbah by an Iman from Jais. It was about Wakaf for Akhirat i.e. your contribution for the after-life. Actually I have heard the same khutbah when we went for Friday prayer last week at Kg Bukit Lancung. But since my colleague was on some safety training course today, I have to go alone. But I decided to go to Masjid Al-Falah at USJ 9 near Taipan, which is air-conditioned.

I still remembered the Khatib said that "Ada 3 perkara yg kita akan bawa ke akhirat"
1. Ilmu yang ajar.
2. Doa Anak yang soleh.
3. Amal jariah.
So for me the no. 1, it good if you are religiously know how to teach good things to other people. As no. 2, you educate your children and they pray for you when you are already gone (Insyaallah my kids will do that). But you wouldn't know what they will do after you are gone. And no.3 is the least you could do i.e. to do amal jariah (good deed) while we are still alive. Thus by doing "wakaf" i.e. do some donation thru' the religious body is the next best thing. The best part of it, it is tax deductable. Wow that's a good idea.

So sometimes it worth to listen to the khutbah instead of dozing off during the sermon. Insyaallah.