2012 is less than 24

Sad to say, I didn't achieve my target of reading 24 books for this year, 2012. (For those who don't have a clue about what I'm talking about, please refer to the 2012 Reading Challenge widget on the left panel). People usually brag about their accomplishments and achievements. I think no one would like to tell the world about their failure. Well, no one .... except me, at the moment. Shame on me. Huhu.

One of the main cause, excluding work commitments, is DISTRACTIONS. The whole lot of it. Also, I think I was rather picky. It took quite a while to find a title that would amuse me and grab my 100% attention to read it. Anyway, since I couldn't achieve this, I will maintain the number of books I want to read next year, which is coming in a few hours. So, one of my challenge for 2013 is to improve my reading habit and read at least 24 books. The more, the better.

To achieve that, I had analysed the distractions and now I have to take care not to let them sway me further from the path of wisdom, haha. The key to achieve everything that I want to do is TIME. Once I take care of time well, everything else will be taken care of. I love reading. I love books. All my life I have been enjoying it. All of the 14 titles that I managed to read this year have provided me all the good things in my life; accompaniment, knowledge, motivation, fun time etc. 

So, wish me luck!

The Kite Runner

google image

This book is a worldwide bestseller but I can't help to notice that people gave mixed reviews on it. For me, perhaps I would categorize the experience of reading Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner as one of the most emotional and heartbreaking and the story might be one of the most moving to the heart, because my feelings concentrates more on the storyteller's personal story, feelings and experience. Perhaps the people who doesn't like this book is more concerned on the portrayal of war and Taliban rule in it. The inhumanity of war, the saviour that turned to oppressor themselves of the Taliban in Afghanistan, all the extremes related to the politically unstable nation of Afghanistan at that time, I cannot really comment whether the portrayal is just or unjust to the true situation. Usually I don't pick up books with war theme mainly due to the fact that I loathe its hideousness. I wasn't sure why I finally read it, but anyway, the deed has been done. And this is what I think about it.

But first, maybe a little bit of the story. In The Kite Runner, two young Afghanistan boys' life and relationship change dramatically and drastically forever when on one fateful day, something dreadful happened to one of them. Shortly after, the Russian invasion and then the Taliban rule in Afghanistan occur and lasted and thus further affecting the whole nation, making both boys, Amir and Hassan, lead their own lives separately and differently. In this book, Amir is the storyteller, and what Amir tell in the whole book is actually about Hassan. Both boys are best friends, although they are different in terms of race and therefore also in social standing, where Amir is the 'respectable' Pashtun and Hassan is only a Hazara, whose father is the servant of Amir's father and he too, is also a servant to the family.

As a boy, Amir is so insecure, and always struggling and fighting for his father's love, recognition and affection. Though he gets the best company and friendship from Hassan, and also the best provision from his father, Amir always has a feeling of being less of a son to his father and somehow disturbed by his father's kind treatment to Hassan's family. One day, something terrible happened to Hassan and it really tested Amir's courage and sense of responsibility. What Amir decided later was what I consider as the biggest mistake in his life and the story afterwards is all about how he deals with his guilt and conscience while running away from the country with his father during the political unrest. When things took a lot of different twists and turns, Amir found himself back in his old neighbourhood, with a quest for redemption, salvation and facing the evil the way it should be done many years ago.

Reading this book, one might have to deal a lot of issues concerning insecurities, emotional struggle and bravery and cringe with disgust at Amir every time he always second thoughts the noble actions that he should have done due to fear while all the time he receives the loyalty, protection and kindness by the very same people he 'betrayed'. In the end, Amir gives us readers a streak of hope, and the rest ... you might just need to read the book. I give this book a thumbs up for how it moves me and the rich and detailed descriptions by the author. "For you, a thousand times over."

Title: The Kite Runner
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, paperback edition 2011 (original 2003)
Pages: 324 pages

untitled ... v.2

When a heart is empty
a day's like a million years
a night's like a darken millenium

When a heart is without soul
a laugh's like a chance of a lifetime
a smile's like a winning lottery

When a heart is lonely
the mind is restless
and reality becomes fantasy

no more alive in this shadowed world
fly without wings to a forsaken destiny?
unconscious and unaware
still within sanity?

Lo and behold. my colourful world!
where romance's in full blossom
it's Neverland

but nothing is for eternity
fleeing the fake lines
and lay before me, the hard life
it's me,
depending on me ... to be ME ...


~ January 30, 2000 ; 1st version

The dreamer©2012

Wreck-It Ralph

google image

Wreck-It Ralph is quite a fun movie with very positive values and good for all age range. Its setting of video game characters in an arcade having an "after work hours" life, socializing and even have in-game-out-of-game rules is very creative and interesting. The smooth story line and funny dialogues, not forgetting some 'emotionally intense' moments kept me glued to my seat and entertained me. Although I can't say that Wreck-It Ralph is better than any other animation movies thus far (I still think Toy Story 3 and Tangled are my personal favourites), it's not a bad one either. In fact it's a very good one.

To those who haven't seen it or don't have any idea what's it all about, the story is basically like this; Ralph (full name Wreck-It Ralph) is a video game character in 'Fix-It Felix' game. His job in the game is of course to wreck things which later will be fixed by none other than Fix-It Felix Jr. (Felix). In other words, Ralph is the big bad guy and Felix is the hero. After 30 years of wrecking things, Ralph feels tired of being the bad guy and being alone, and feels under-appreciated by his game colleagues as they ostracized him.

A wrecked party and a challenge later, Ralph sets out of his game to be a hero and most importantly, to be liked and to have friends. This landed him in another game, Hero's Duty. After unintentionally creating a havoc, Ralph somehow crash-landed himself in another game, Sugar Rush, where his path came across Vanellope von Schweets, a challenging yet adorable character in the game who turned out to be a 'glitch' or a 'bad code' (that's my own interpretation). Ralph finds himself making a deal with her, as each of them has a personal goal to achieve.

With that, the adventure (and trouble) continues in the form of the other racers and King Candy, whom at first we cannot be sure whether he is a devil or genuinely care for Vanellope. Felix, on the other hand, is facing his own adventure when searching for Ralph because as Ralph leaves and then stuck in Sugar Rush, the Fix-It Felix game can't be played and the game is going to be unplugged. Follow their adventures with ups and downs moments and later discover the truth about Vanellope and how Ralph finally learns his lessons and earns friends for the first time.

For me, the story teaches a person to be true to his/her own nature, be confident and respect other people. Find good in oneself and hone it to benefit the others. One thing though, there's a lot of swearing in this movie .... but not the expletives ones .. haha. Nice movie.

madah untuk ibu

Sesuci salji yang memutih
Sewangi kasturi bunga idaman
Begitulah indahnya kasih
darimu ibu di kampung laman

Damainya hatimu setenang tasik biru
Walau badai menghempas pantai kesabaranmu
Aku damba ketenanganmu ibu
Tatkala resah mendatangi kalbu

Tiap kali kita berjauhan
Ingatanku tega bak kasih pria dan dara
Harapanmu yang membara bagai dian
Menuntun inspirasiku ke gunung jaya

Ibu, ku tak pandai berkata-kata
Apatah lagi bermadah ria
Namun kemaafanmu amatku pinta
Jua berkat doamu terjunjung di jemala

Wahai ibu permata hati
Usiamu bertambah setahun lagi
Ku berdoa pada yang Maha Mengasihani
Agar dirimu kekal sejati

Rianglah ibu jangan berduka
Agar dikau sejahtera sentiasa
Inilah madah anakmu yang biasa
Tiada istimewa, namun ikhlas sentiasa

~ 18 November 1999

The dreamer©1999

bah.. bah ..

Suatu hari di dalam satu perjalanan berkereta ke satu tempat ... berlaku perbualan di antara orang Sabah (A) dan orang Semenanjung (B) dan lokasi mereka adalah di Sabah.

A : Tuan rumah saya nak datang rumah hari ni.

B : Tuan rumah kamu Melayu ke?

A : ... Dia Muslim.

Sekali imbas, A seperti tidak menjawab soalan. Tetapi sebenarnya dia menjawab soalan dengan tepat sekali. Semuanya berkisar tentang stereotaip bahawa Melayu itu Islam dan Islam itu Melayu. Kenapa saya kata mula-mula bahawa A tidak menjawab soalan? Sebab soalan yang ditanyakan oleh B sepatutnya memerlukan jawapan samada 'ya' atau 'tidak' bergantung sama ada tuan rumahnya berbangsa Melayu atau tidak. Sebaliknya, jawapan yang diberikan adalah agama yang dianuti tuan rumah. Dan kenapa pula saya katakan jawapan yang diberi sebenarnya tepat? Walaupun ia tidak menepati kehendak soalan, ia sebenarnya menepati maksud sebenar yang ingin ditanya B. Ini kerana B berfikir di atas landasan bahawa jika Melayu, pasti Islam, dan sebenarnya B ingin tahu, tuan rumah itu muslim atau bukan.

Sebenarnya B tidaklah bermaksud untuk men'stereotaip'kan faktor itu. Ia berlaku di bawah sedar kerana B orang Semenanjung yang baru sahaja membiasakan diri dengan kehidupan di Sabah. Soalan B sebenarnya tidak salah, tetapi kurang bersesuaian dengan lokasi, kerana telah sedia maklum bahawa di Sabah, majoriti penduduknya berbangsa Kadazan, Dusun, Murut dan beratus-ratus lagi suku kaum beserta cabang-cabangnya. Jika B benar ingin tahu tentang bangsa, maka bangsalah yang patut ditanya, dan begitu juga dengan agama.

Ini juga adalah kerana di Sabah, seseorang itu dikenali secara rasmi identitinya berdasarkan suku kaumnya yang sebenar. Berbeza kalau di Semenanjung, jika orang itu berketurunan Jawa atau Bugis atau lain-lain asal nenek moyangnya, dia tetap dikenali sebagai Melayu di dalam kad pengenalannya. Pendek kata, kalau Melayu itu bukanlah dikira orang Sabah, dan bukanlah majoriti. Masyarakat Sabah yang kaya dengan suku kaumnya yang ramai ini masih kuat mengamalkan adat masing-masing dalam kehidupan. Ini saya katakan hasil pengetahuan yang tidak seberapa dalam adat perkahwinan dan pentadbiran. Sistem pentadbiran di Sabah ini lebih kompleks kerana wujudnya Mahkamah-Mahkamah Anak Negeri di samping sistem-sistem pentadbiran negara yang biasa.

Begitu banyak perkara yang dirasakan seperti rumit, tetapi sebenarnya kehidupan di mana-mana sahaja adalah sama kalau setiap orang menghormati di antara satu sama lain dan tidak membesar-besarkan sesuatu perbezaan yang ada. Dan akhir kata, janganlah disebabkan statistik yang menunjukkan sesuatu angka, kita mula 'stereotaip'kan pemikiran kita. Sebelum berkata-kata, ingat-ingatlah di mana kita berada.

Nota kaki : Islam agama sejagat.

sembang rawak ... merungut

siapa yang suka dengar rungutan orang lain?
berani kerat jari ... tiada sesiapa yang suka mendengar rungutan

saya tidak suka merungut
saya tidak suka cepat marah
kalau saya rasa saya perlu tegur hasil kerja seseorang yang kurang baik,
saya pergi kepada orang tersebut dan cakap pada dia - terus dan elok-elok

tapi sesetengah orang,
suka merungut seperti makcik tua
(maaf, saya tahu tidak semua makcik tua begitu ... )
merungut dengan orang lain, berkenaan orang lain
maaf, telinga saya tidak mesra rungutan

tapi mungkin itu cara seseorang meluahkan perasaannya
meluahkan rasa terbuku di hati
kerana ada orang memang vokal orangnya
tapi maaflah ....
tidak semua orang kelihatan comel apabila merungut

33 Pesan Nabi: Jaga Mata, Jaga Telinga, Jaga Mulut

Comics are always connected to kids, teenagers and younger adults although there are actually many types of comics and the contents varies from those suitable for the younger'uns to those of mature age. However, the younger viewers are more attracted to comics because of the graphics and the stories that are usually funny and comedic.

 

When I was younger I enjoyed reading Gila-Gila and Ujang and I have a few favourite comic and caricature artists from those magazines. I also enjoyed Datuk Lat's work a lot. I have some manga favourites and sometimes I read them on the internet. However this post is actually not about discussing my favourite comics and mangas, instead I am going to introduce an interesting comic book that I have just discovered.

 

The title is "33 Pesan Nabi" (33 Messages from the Prophet), authored by an Indonesian comic artist Vbi Djengotten or his real name, Veby Surya Wibawa. He is, as I quote from an article in Jakarta Post, a prolific artist that can find humour from subjects ranging from the hadith (the words and deeds of Prophet Muhammad) to Facebook. His book that I am reviewing here is Malay Language translated version, distributed in Malaysia by Humaira Bookstore Enterprise. The price is only MYR14.90 and what's inside is the graphic interpretation of 33 Prophet Muhammad's hadiths related mainly from Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim. The way the hadiths were interpreted is so nice and attractive, easy to understand, reflects the hadiths well and the graphics are beautiful and clean. This comic book is sure to connect to readers of all age range and suitable for leisure reading while learning more about hadiths that are also the important source of life guidance to Muslims besides the Quran.

 

A good book to read and to share with others.

 

 

This artist is accessible through Facebook and his website http://www.haltebikumiku.com/

tears of the helpless

damn you o heartless and mindless ones
nay, you are not human
the ones who doesn't have a heart and mind,
do not deserve to be called human

what right do you have,
when you denies the rights of others ...

to live freely
to breathe freely
to grow up freely

what right do you have,
to call something as yours
when you denies the rights of others ...

to be on their homeland

what right do you have
to deny their very existence
to claim yourself the saviour of mankind
when what you obliterate is mankind

what right do you have
to let the helpless's fate lies in your hands
when instead of finding solutions
you leave them to rot
while you bicker with one another

nay, you have no right
and doom will befall on you


The dreamer©2012

personality test

While reading my friends' blogs, I came across one friend's post about a personality test that she has taken. I felt inclined to do it also and the test is here: http://www.41q.com

So, the result is in parallel with my 'dreamer'-sort of personality as I am a 'dreamy idealist' ....

Quiet, reflective and idealistic. Interested in serving humanity. Well-developed value system, which they strive to live in accordance with. Extremely loyal. Adaptable and laid-back unless a strongly-held value is threatened. Usually talented writers. Mentally quick and able to see possibilities. Interested in understanding and helping people.

..though I'm not really sure about the 'talented writer' and 'mentally quick and able to see possibilities' things, hmmmm ....... (reflecting B-) )

In this life, sometimes there is so much fear to face and get over with. I have my fears, I have my concerns. And I do admit that some fears are holding me back from doing and trying something that I think I like and love. 

Just get on with with it, life. Live.

Tawau Hills National Park - phase 1

Tawau Hills National Park or locally known as Taman Bukit Tawau is one of the national parks in Sabah that I had heard about after I started living here. It is where the famous picnic site in Tawau located; the Taman Bukit Tawau Waterfall or famously known by the locals as 'air terjun Table' (air terjun = waterfall). Well, I'm not sure why it is called 'table' ... even after I visited the place last Sunday, I still didn't quite get why.

Anyway, that aside, being not so far from where I live now, I decided to survey the place for future visits, hence the 'phase 1'. I wanted to know what else is there and what kind of things that I can do there. It wasn't very easy to find the direction to the place through the internet, all I could find were just '24km NW of Tawau' but none of the road guide. Thanks to one blogpost and area hints by a colleague, I managed to get there and looked around (phew!...such hilly roads).

This nature park is actually rather big, you can find some additional informations from here. Basically, the general public, mostly families would usually do activities like picnicking and swimming at the lowest part of the park which is near the 'Table Waterfall'. Other than that, there's a bird breeding centre and canopy walkway to the east and Botanical Garden to the west, as well as some chalets and lodges. If you are up for more challenge or feel unsatiable with mere waterfall, you can hike up the nicely marked trails to see the tallest tropical tree in the WORLD, the sulphur spring, enjoy the higher and purer waterfalls and even conquer the 2 highest peaks of the area; Mt. Lucia (1,240 m) and Mt. Maria (1,020 m). Well actually, Mt. Magdalene is the highest (1,280 m) but I was informed that right now the park's authority is in the process of preparing the trails to go there.

map of the area

related fees

(Note: Fees might change, and sometimes they even have a promotion, so please check with the management for the latest info.)

from Tawau town take the road to Merotai-Kalabakan and you'll come across the first ever signboard of the park here

park entrance

one of the lodge at the lower area

don't forget to sort your trash

 

pretty nice signboards at the lower parts

no...this is not the tallest one ... gotta go up higher to see 'em

 

canopy walkway ... sways me even after reaching firm ground

 

giant ants - they are very noticeable even on the ground

youngsters all soaked up

 

 

 

 

Well, I kind of missing out the most important photos, which are the waterfall itself (the part where the water actually falls ... ) and the other nature views. Anyway, I'm definitely going there again another time and hope to explore the place more.

 

Till then.

 

tiada EX, tiada sejarah

Azreen Yusof

EX-BOIFREN

pengalaman saya dengannya adalah seperti memakan nutrition snack bar

sekali kunyah terasa padat dan sendat

zine ini satu pengesahan bahawa

kadang-kadang kita tak perlu tulis berjela-jela untuk menyampaikan maksud kita

SAYA SUKA! SILA TERUSKAN ...

enak menikmati ex-boifren bersama secangkir sebantal kopi

pit stop

Some people, like me, wonder what's going on in their life, when some things that they've learned or do before could only affect or work in their lives temporarily. Maybe my words are kind of jumbled but I hope it is understood here that what I am actually feeling now is that I have been through a lot of ' touch and go' along the way. I have a wide range of interest, but more of an observer or spectator rather than the practical doer. Some things that I have actually tried, even though I really like it, I haven't been doing it consistently. Or, I haven't been able to do it.

Lately, there has been something lurking from within the depths of my soul. Something that tells me that I haven't been doing anything 'real'. I feel like I am more like a 'use when needed' tool rather than a constantly working machine. Well, not that I would like to be a machine, but someone with a real use, and someone who's using her real ability to support and enjoy her life. Not someone who is just filling up an empty position.

With those two paragraphs above, I'm just trying to form the mixed thoughts inside into something comprehensive and to tell myself that I want something that I can 'touch and stay'. Being in focus is one of the problems that I need to work out. The means for life sustenance, freedom of debts ... those are also the things to be secured when trying to change a life.

What has already happened can't be changed. There's always a reason for those things to happen, and there's always something to learn. I'm trying to be happy with all of this. And while enduring this, I wish for the strength to always working my way to a more fulfilling life.

can you handle the Aleph?

Title : Aleph (English translated version from the original Portuguese)

Author : Paulo Coelho

Publisher : Harper Collins, 2011

Pages : 300 pages

googled image

 

How did I start to read Aleph? First, I wanted to try to read a different type of material than the ones I usually read. Then, I asked a friend, what kind of book does he read, and he is not actually a voracious reader, but he said he had read some Paulo Coelho's book and liked it. I haven't heard of Mr. Coelho's name before, and I've never read his books so far, so why not give it a try?

 

I picked up this title because it is about a person's journey of self-discovery and I always like to read about this kind of things, always intrigued about one's personal journey. This novel is an autobiographical of the author's journey to 'find back his kingdom'. For that reason he travelled all the way starting from Africa, and through Europe and Asia on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Just before he started his journey, he met a Turkish young woman named Hilal, a violin prodigy with a troubled past, who seems to be in a journey to find herself back again too, and in order to do that, she must follow the author. Together they travel, with the whole entourage, and during the long ride and the many stops, the author, Hilal and Yao, the author's interpreter with his own story, experienced many encounters that I can't find any simple word to summarize it here. But the main subject of their exploration is the Aleph. What is the Aleph? I don't have any idea what is the Aleph that the author is writing about (but of course he explains it in the novel, and from that explanation, the Aleph is somewhat related to a place where a person can go back to the past and see his past life). In this novel, the author relates how he and Hilal, during the journey, 'find' their past and seek to revitalise their present lives through each other.  

 

Honestly, I am not sure how to review this book, since it is autobiographical, but the concept of the main subject i.e. the Aleph (or the incarnation) is somewhat diverged from my belief and faith. I am not a learned scholar in this matter, suffice to say that I have read some Quran verses regarding it. And so I just leave it to the author and the readers who believe it. However, the things that I enjoy and able to take out from this novel are some of the wise and beautiful words of thoughts that are inspiring, for example, some of my favourites as follows;

 

"Don't be intimidated by other people's opinions. Only mediocrity is sure of itself, so take risks and do what you really want to do."

"A life without a cause is a life without effect."

"If you want to see a rainbow, you have to learn to see the rain."

 ...and some others. Regardless of the difficulty of the topic, when reading with an open mind while keeping my faith intact, I always like the idea of making a journey for life's lessons. Go to new places, refresh our mind and see things in different perspectives. Life is a series of many journeys.

Merdeka 2012 Album 3

Album 1 | Album 2

The End



Merdeka 2012 Album 2

No words...just photos

Album 1 | Album 3