You Jangan Nakal Ok?

Dear my fiancée, Cik Maryam Zahaba,

I pergi UK, you jaga diri baik-baik ok?

Jangan nakal-nakal. Hehe...

Nanti I belikan barang hantaran kahwin daripada UK ok?

Summary of 2009

It was an eventful 2009, more ups than the downs. In fact, I tried not to think too much about the downs while I have a lot of ups to make my life cheerful and enjoyable.

I started the year with travelling and I'll go travelling again, farthest for me so far to end the year. I think it's great to spend some of the days with friends travelling around Malaysia because in the coming years, I think it's going to be very hard to have such opportunity again since my status will change to a married man next year. Not to say that it's not going to be fun when I'm married, in fact the fun might be different from that I got from spending time with friends. But yes, life must go on and I choose to get married as soon as I finished my study and get a job so that in everything I do (i.e. ibadah), the rewards are greater when I've found the missing rib bone of mine.

Other than that, in 2009 also I finished my degree study, the convocation, started career life, engagement and a lot more to mention, which have turned me a better man, and not to mention an older me. :D

As I went through the blog entries throughout the year, it made me smile, laugh and up to a point tears tried to conquer the eyes. T_T

It's good to write blogs. Don't you agree?

Sirih Junjung

I have to admit, when I'm engaged, what's inside the heart isn't the same like previously. Ok, stop there. No more about what's inside the heart thing to tell to the world. Ngeee :D

The preparation for the big day has started although it's scheduled in May or June next year. There are some renovations made in my house including making the front yard bigger, installing tiles in some parts of the house, and I hope the other bathroom will be repaired too (because it has been for cats sanitation room for years since it doesn't function properly) so that I will not share my bathroom with my brothers anymore when I have my wife in the house. :)

Other than that, there had been a lengthy discussion about the hantaran for the wedding. We hadn't mutually decided the number of hantarans for the big day, but one thing that had been a long discussion between my family and I was about sirih junjung.

I said no for sirih junjung, while my family said it's essential.

My argument was it's no more consumed by people nowadays. In fact, for other sets of hantaran, I want to make sure they can benefit the receiver i.e. my currently fiancée's family and herself too. So, in case of sirih junjung, I think we have other options other than the not-consumed sirih and other recipes in it. Basically, to me, the sirih junjung is a waste. (Not that I did not respect the culture, but culture may change, not religion. We can change the culture, right?)

However, my family said it's a culture in wedding ceremony that needs to be followed. Without it, the ceremony will not be complete (which I had a big problem to agree).

I brought the discussion with my officemates and one of them shared her sibling's story in which they prepared a combination of sirih junjung and chocolate in one set of hantaran. The sirih was more like a decoration, which to me was a good idea. I will tell my family about this.

Not only sirih junjung, but there are a lot of things in our Malay Muslim community that has cultural interventions, not necessarily all, which make simple thing a hard and difficult thing to achieve. When it comes to marriage and the ceremony, stuffs like pelamin, mas kahwin, wang hantaran are among the issues raised and we need to discuss and deal with it. (I have to be grateful to have future family like my fiancée's that stands strong to the religion and not the culture too much.)

On top of it, I will always make sure to my best that I do not break anyone's heart especially my family members and my fiancée's family. Insya Allah...

May Allah bless and ease our efforts towards the big day. Amin...

Pertunangan: Ikatan yang Belum Tersimpul

Kami akan Bertunang

Bagi yang sudah maklum melalui Facebook, aku sudah umumkan secara rasminya akan berita pertunangan diriku dengan you-know-who, wanita yang beberapa kali pernah menjadi tulisan dalam blog ini.

Setelah menjalinkan hubungan selama beberapa tahun, aku bersyukur akhirnya hubungan kami akan diikat secara sah setelah kedua-dua keluarga telah bersetuju untuk mengikat kami dengan tali pertunangan sebelum lafaz nikah disahkan pada tahun depan insha Allah.

Pada aku, setelah adanya ikatan pertunangan nanti, langkah kami ke gerbang perkahwinan adalah lebih serius. Ia adalah bukti bahawa kedua-dua keluarga sudah bersedia untuk menyatukan antara kami atas dasar ikatan yang diredhai Allah S.W.T. mengikut syariat yang ditetapkan Islam.

Pasang dan Surut

Telah banyak yang kami lalui sepanjang perjalanan kami mengenal hati budi masing-masing. Benar. Pernah ada surut dan pasang dalam pantai percintaan kami. Namun, nampaknya ia sentiasa pasang dan tidak surut-surut lagi (dan berdoa semoga tidak akan surut) sementelah kedua-dua pihak keluarga berjumpa pada majlis konvokesyen yang lepas. Setelah ada restu daripada kedua-dua pihak, tidak lama dan sukar untuk kami putuskan langkah-langkah yang seterusnya. Buat masa ini, cukuplah sekadar yang diumumkan ialah tarikh pertunangan kami iaitu pada 28 November nanti, sehari selepas Hari Raya Aidiladha.

Pertama Kali Berjumpa Orang Tuanya

Sedikit perkongsian cerita.

Yang mula-mula membawa berjumpa dengan orang tua ialah you-know-who. Itupun, bukannya aku maklum bahawa orang yang aku akan jumpa ialah bapanya. Apa yang aku diminta ialah menolongnya mengambil seseorang di Terminal Makmur, Kuantan. Aku tidak pula syak apa-apa melainkan berniat mahu membantunya. Sedar-sedar, lelaki yang muncul di sebalik bas ialah seorang lelaki yang dipanggilnya “Ayah”. Jujur aku katakan, aku tidak menggelabah mahupun bertindak di luar kawalan pada ketika itu. Sepanjang masa pertemuan kali pertama dengan orang tuanya itu, aku melayannya seperti biasa dan yang paling aku bersyukur, orang tuanya sangat budiman. Mujur, ada juga baiknya dia tidak memaklumkan berkenaan orang yang akan disambut. Jika tidak, mungkin aku akan bertindak di luar kawalan mahupun tidak menjadi diriku sendiri.

Ramai Sayangkannya

Aku sedar, you-know-who bukanlah calang-calang orang. Menjadi tempat meluah perasaan. Menjadi kakak untuk meminta nasihat. Meminta pertolongan apa yang dia termampu. Sebagainya! Pernah juga terselit dalam hati bahawa banyak hati yang akan terasa berat mahu melepaskannya kepada aku lebih-lebih lagi ahli keluarganya dan rakan-rakannya. Tapi insha Allah, akan aku jaga si dia sebaik-baiknya.

Apa yang aku harapkan sekarang ialah keredhaan dan kerelaan semua orang yang menyayanginya untuk mengizinkan aku menetap dalam hatinya sebagai seorang suami tidak lama lagi. Aku juga pohonkan doa kalian supaya langkah kami membina mahligai percintaan di atas tanah pernikahan nanti akan dipasak kukuh oleh cerucuk keimanan dan tiang agama, berbumbungkan kesejahteraan dan berdindingkan keredhaan.

Amin...

Pertunangan: Bukan Lagi Satu

Akan mengulas lebih lanjut, kerana apa yang akan dibongkarkan memerlukan persetujuan dua pihak.

It's not about one heart anymore.

:)

Second Time On Air

For the second time, my voice was on air in IKIM.fm today after the first time during last Ramadhan.

This time, the talk was entitled "Pendermaan Organ: Ketakutan Masyarakat". Basically, in the talk, I discussed few common things shared in the community that hesitated them to pledge to be organ donors.

However this time, I didn't manage to listen to it as I got a conference (BioMalaysia 2009) to pay attention on. But, based in the feedbacks that I got from the listeners, they were satisfied with my talk although I frankly thought I could do better.

Just a short post for my record. Yup, I've been busy with life and career currently which explains why it has been long since my last post.

Achievement in Career

Title

Most people know that I'm working as a Research Executive in Yayasan Ilmuwan and one of my job scopes is writing articles.

Recently, I wrote an article entitled "Bijak Menggunakan Teknologi Maklumat Seiring dengan Tuntutan Islam" and it was approved by the higher authority in my company and then submitted to Utusan Malaysia. About a week after that i.e. today the article was posted in a column named Wacana Islam with a slightly altered title "Bijak guna ITC seiring tuntutan Islam". Click here for the article.

Yup, you might question the ITC abbreviation. Why not ICT? I also don't have answer for that as it's what the editor (if that's a right term) from the newspaper did. However, it shouldn't be a big issue anyway as it didn't change the meaning of the title and the content of my article. Thanks to Utusan Malaysia for choosing the article to be posted in your newspaper. :)

Achievement

Apart from that, I take this as a first step towards more developments in my career. As I love writing, having the article posted in a prominent yet leading newspaper in Malaysia is something, I have to admit, I'm very proud of.

However, that again shouldn't be a big issue as, one it's just my personal achievement, and two there is bigger issue to be discussed: the content of the article itself.

Have you read the article? Do you have any additional points? Maybe you want to comment or criticize the article. I'm open for the betterment of my writing skills.

Behind the story

You may also question, of all topics, why write about that?

Initially, I was planning to write something about H1N1 from which I can relate to my biomedical science background. However, my time was taken after I was assigned for the talk on organ donation last weekend. I had to make proper and full preparation as it was, again, my first experience of delivering speech in front of public after I started my career.

Insha Allah, given enough time, I will still write about the H1N1.

But, another question is: how did I find the time to write the above article? Simple: I wrote it earlier than last week. :)

Zaki boleh!

Video: Talk on Organ Donation from the Islamic Perspective @ HUKM

The video above is the last part of my speech during the talk. Pardon the low quality of the audio.

Basically in the video I explained some quotes from the Ulama' regarding organ donation namely Sheikh Yusuf al-Qardawi, Sheikh Zaki Badawi and Ustaz Hasrizal. All of them encourage organ donation and in his blog post, Ustaz Hasrizal declared that he has put his signature to be an organ donor.

I found some minor mistakes in the speech and that's exactly the point for recording the video as I wanted to see how I delivered the speech so that I'll improve what needed to be improved.

May Allah bless my effort. Amin.

Organ Donation Talk: Another Step in My Career

I delivered a speech in Kidney Transplant Workshop organized by the Nephrology Unit of UKM Medical Center of Cheras last Saturday. The speech was regarding The Organ Donation from Islamic Perspective.

Held in Bahasa Melayu, I actually replaced the initial speaker i.e. The CEO of Yayasan Ilmuwan, Tuan Shaikh Mohd Saifuddeen who had other commitments to give more attention on. Thanks to him for providing me the notes and other sources before I actually went to the workshop and delivered the speech.

It was my first time to deliver speech in front of people whom mostly I did not know of. Not only that, other speakers in the slot were all doctors and other professionals who had far more experience in their respective fields. However, having the chance to share same rostrum with them was a great experience.

In my speech, I explained the Islamic perspective regarding organ donation which basically has no problem with it as long as the rules and regulations related are carefully followed. Given only 15 minutes, it was actually not enough to describe all things related to it thus I had to choose some important points such as the Quranic verses, hadith from Prophet Muhammad SAW and other quotes from distinctive Ulama', and not to mention the fatwas in Malaysia regarding organ donation.

Taking it as a gear 1 of my career, I am looking forward to doing more things like this in the future as they are not only beneficial for the public to be given the awareness about many contemporary issues, but for my self development also as I love to be challenged with new things and experience.

And yes, if I had to relate this to my academic background, it was useful to learn about Organ Transplantation as one of the syllabuses in Pathology subject when I was in the third year of my biomedical science degree. When the doctors in the slot explained about, for examples, cadaveric donors, anatomy of the kidney and rejection symptoms, I could only smile for those only refreshed the memory when I was sitting in the front row listening to the lecturers.

Some other interesting stories during the workshop:

1. One of the doctors told me it was good to know that actually Islam promoted organ donation because all these while he thought the religion was the reason for the sadly low number of donors among Muslim Malays. He was a Chinese and thus I believe a non-Muslim.
2. One of the committees said to me: Muda lagi rupanya yang bagi speech ni. Biasanya kalau nak cakap hal-hal agama ni, orangnya tua-tua. I smiled, the most that I would do. No further comment. :)
3. After the speech, one of speakers addressed me as an "Ustaz". During Q&A session, one of the audience also did the same thing. Huhu... (Aku dah pakai tak macam Ustaz pun masih dipanggil Ustaz. Redha je la~ :P)

Bahagian II: Sehari Sebelum Konvo, Aku Panas

Susulan daripada entri pagi tadi.

Pemeriksaan kesihatan aku bersambung hingga waktu petang. Maklum la, kalau mula lewat, habis pun lewat la.

Di kaunter tempat hangen aku berlaku, ada notis baharu ni:

Agak-agak korang la, siapa yang rajin buat benda ni ye?

*wink2* :D

Jawapannya ada di ruang komen.

Sehari Sebelum Konvo, Aku Panas

Aku baru balik daripada hospital kerana mahu menjalani pemeriksaan kesihatan. Saje gedik-gedik nak buat pemeriksaan walaupun aku tahu aku sihat insya Allah~

Ok bohong. Medical checkup untuk kerja sebenarnya.

Punya la aku keluar seawal pagi untuk mengelak kesesakan. Pukul 8 pagi aku dah terpacak kat depan pintu Jabatan Pesakit Luar (JPL) tu. Tiba-tiba aku perasan ada satu notis ditampal di situ,

"Medical check up bagi pelajar IPTA/IPTS bermula pada pukul 10.30 pagi"

Ok fine. Aku bukan lagi pelajar mana-mana IPT. Aku dah bekerja. Yayasan Ilmuwan yang suruh aku buat pemeriksaan kesihatan bagi rekod mereka.

Terus aku meluru ke kaunter. Ada notis yang sama ditampal di situ. Dia ingat aku buta agaknya, notis yang di pintu mungkin aku tak terbaca.

Sampai sahaja di kaunter, aku kata, "Saya nak buat medical check up..."

Belum sempat aku habiskan ayat aku, penjaga kaunter tu potong ayat aku, "Medical check up start pukul 10.30 ye"

"Saya bekerja. Saya bukan pelajar mana-mana IPT."

"Owh untuk yang bekerja pun pukul 10.30."

"Tak tak. Kat notis ni kata pelajar IPT sahaja. Tak kata pun pasal orang yang dah bekerja."

"Er... Semua memang start pukul 10.30, encik~"

"Dah tu sini tulis pelajar IPT je. Notis ni boleh buat orang keliru!" sambil jari aku menunjuk-nunjuk pada perkataan IPTA/IPTS.

"Terima kasih sebab bagitahu pasal ni ye. Nanti kami betulkan."

"Ok." terus aku meninggalkan kaunter. Di pintu keluar sempat aku mendengar penjaga kaunter tu berkata, "nanti datang lagi pukul 10.30!"

"Ok!"

Ni baru pukul 9.45. Tengok la macam mana nanti. Ada tak notis tu. By the way aku kat rumah ni. Nasib baik rumah aku lebih kurang 5 minit je daripada hospital tu.

Aku tak kisah berulang-alik, pasal rumah aku dekat je dengan hospital. Tapi aku rasa tertipu dengan notis tu. Camkel!

Korang Emosional tak?

Situasi #1

Buka blog. Cerita macam-macam pasal diri dan hidupnya. Maklumlah, diari atas-talian katanya.

Sekali dapat komen berunsur kutukan dan cacian.

Esoknya, tutup blog. Taubat katanya.

Situasi #2

Buka akaun Facebook. Add kawan tu, add kawan ni. Makin lama makin ramai. Makin lama makin syok sebab.. ye la makin ramai makin meriah lah kan~

Sekali buat satu kuiz aplikasi Facebook. Keputusannya menggelikan hati. Sekali ada kawan kutuk dan caci.

Esoknya, tutup Facebook. Taubat katanya.

Situasi #3

Facebook lagi. Add kawan tu dah lama dah. Selama ni seronok je bertukar-tukar komen sesama sendiri, bergurau senda bagai nak rak.

Sekali kawan tu bagi pandangan supaya jangan terlibat dengan aplikasi tertentu, terus down.

Esoknya, terus Remove from Friends. Taubat? Entah...

Kekadang aku pelik jugak dengan manusia yang emosional ni... Walaupun aku cuba untuk memahami, kekadang aku gagal juga.

Owh mungkin mereka perlukan masa kot?

Takpe la... Lusa boleh:

1. Buka blog lagi.
2. Buka akaun Facebook lagi.
3. Add as friend lagi.

Kan? :)

Masalahnya pada Kau ataupun Dia?

Situasi #1

Aku beraya di sebuah rumah junior yang pernah kukenal di UIAM. Aku memang maklum dia berasal daripada keluarga yang kaya raya.

Masuk-masuk sahaja ke rumahnya, terus dia tunjukkan seksyen baharu dalam rumahnya yang dipenuhi dengan perabot mahal, pemain piring hitam klasik, dan 3D puzzle berbentuk bangunan-bangunan bersejarah dan terkenal.

Matanya bersinar-sinar menceritakan semuanya. Aku tumpang gembira.


Situasi #2

Aku berjumpa junior yang lain pula di UIAM Kuantan. Dia aktif dengan perniagaan melalui internet.

Dia ceritakan pengalamannya dan tak semena-mena, keluar kenyataan daripada mulutnya, "Semalam baru dapat cek bernilai RM600"

Matanya bersinar-sinar menceritakan semuanya. Aku tumpang gembira.


Situasi #3

Junior yang lain pula. Dia suka berkongsi cerita mengenai keluarganya.

Macam-macam ceritanya mengenai kisah jatuh bangun dalam keluarganya, dan bagaimana dia bahagia dengan keluarganya sekarang setelah apa yang dilaluinya beberapa tahun dahulu.

Matanya bersinar-sinar menceritakan semuanya. Aku tumpang gembira.


Dalam ketiga-tiga situasi di atas, kalau aku jahat:

1. Aku rosakkan semua perabot, alat muzik dan mainan-mainan tu. Biar puas hati aku.
2. Aku curi duitnya. Dia kan banyak duit. Biar puas hati aku.
3. Aku bomohkan keluarganya. Biar kembali tak bahagia. Biar puas hati aku.

Tapi, orang yang kenal dengan aku tahu bahawa aku memang takkan buat semua tu, sebab aku memang suka berkongsi kegembiraan. Tak perlu timbul rasa hasad dengki sebab akhirnya ia akan memakan diri.

Paling jahat pun, apa yang aku nak buat ialah bagi statement kat dia: Ada aku kesah?

Bila kesah sangat, tu yang timbul pe'el jahat tu. Kan?

Kalau puas hati aku pun, Allah puas hati dengan aku ke?

Besen

Situasi #1

Aku dan emak di dapur. Aku tengah masak.

Tiba-tiba aku nampak ada satu objek di raga peralatan dapur yang sangat familiar. Owh, baru aku ingat. Ia ialah besen yang pernah digunakan untuk tujuan sanitari Baba dan Bubu. Aku sudah belikan besen yang lebih besar, sesuai dengan peningkatan usia mereka.

Aku kata kepada mak, "Mak, macam kenal je besen tu?"

Mak faham maksud aku dan menjawab ringkas, "A'ah."

Aku sambung, "Dah bersih kan? Nampak macam baru pun. Takpe la. Guna macam biasa. Yang tahu dulu ia bekas apa, diam-diam sudah. Kan masih boleh guna."


Situasi #2

Dalam kereta. Bosan dengan keadaan trafik yang sesak, aku mulakan berborak dengan kawan aku.

"Weh, ko kenal Minah tu camne eh?" aku merujuk kepada makwe dia sekarang.

"Kat universiti aku sekarang. Sejak sambung master ni, aku rasa dah tiba masanya untuk aku fikirkan pasal pasangan hidup."

"Aku dengar, dia ada sejarah hitam di universiti dia dulu? Betul ke?"

"Aku tak kisah sangat apa yang dia dah lalui dulu. Dia yang aku kenal sekarang ialah seorang perempuan yang sudah belajar daripada kesilapan lalu. Aku tak nak judge dia based on sejarah silam dia. Aku terima dia sebagai dia yang sekarang. Sejarah dia dulu lah yang menjadikan siapa dia yang sekarang, iaitu wanita muslimah yang solehah."

"Kau tak takut sejarah berulang kembali?"

"Pasal tu aku kena mainkan peranan untuk bimbing dia untuk terus ke jalan yang betul. I have to be supportive, not destructive."

"Aku setuju dengan ko. Tak ramai orang macam ko ni. Yang nak jatuhkan orang yang pernah jatuh lagi ada lah!"

"Alah.. Macam kes penagih dadah yang dah keluar pusat serenti lah. Sama je..."

"Betul betul betul..." Aku buat gaya comel Upin dan Ipin.

Raya with SKKD Friends

Please be informed that until today I haven't found a single word to describe how great my raya this year was. Even the word great is an understatement.

After almost 12 years we haven't gathered since 1997 when we were in Standard 6 in Sekolah Kebangsaan Kanchong Darat (SKKD) or also known as Sekolah Kanak-Kanak Degil, the raya celebration has brought us together again.

I have to thank Facebook for all reasons for being the medium of reconnection between my ex-schoolmates and me. It started (to me at least) with the reunion on breaking fast at KFC of Banting, then it continued until raya celebration in which we had few trips of convoy to visit our friends' houses, a trip to send one of our friends to bernikah and also the extended hang out at maplay until 3.30 am. Wahaha... The next day I had a convoy with some juniors of mine from UIAM pulak around Selangor and KL. Pergh!

One thing I'd like to share, my boss said:

Kawan-kawan masa sekolah adalah kawan-kawan yang lebih baik. Mereka berkawan kerana mereka memang mahu berkawan. Bukan atas sebab lain.

When I think about it, I have to agree.

Dulu masa kecik-kecik, otak kita masih bersih. Kan? Nak berkawan tu, sekejap je dah boleh kamceng. Kalau tak percaya, tengok budak-budak kecik bila diorang jumpa budak-budak yang sebaya dengan diorang. Senang je diorang nak berkawan, walhal baru berjumpa.

An Unpaid Campaign

Adoiyai Zaki… Just move on with your career life. No need to think of SCIENCESS anymore.

I believe, if not all, most of the readers of this blog would think like that, aren’t they/you? I respect that but please respect my stand also: I still care about SCIENCESS.

In last Annual Grand Meeting, I promoted few people to hold some posts although I would leave the society in the following year; which meant their appointment in the society would not benefit me that much. In fact, the idea of recommending them was as a guidance for the juniors since not many of them knew the seniors.

This year around, I still promote few people because I think I know their capabilities to hold those posts and bring the society to be better than when I was in the society for 2 years. However, that does not mean that I do not believe in others’ capabilities especially those whom I do not name in this entry.

I name them solely based on my experience knowing, working and dealing with them previously when I was an undergraduate and holding some posts in societal activities in the campus.

For example, Jazli Aziz. He was my subordinate when I held the post of Head Committee of Information and Communication in SCIENCESS 2007/2008. He was a dedicated person who was hardworking and enthusiastic with his work. During IQUEST 2008, I observed his organized yet wholehearted will to finish his job as the Head Committee of Stall Division. He looked very tired throughout the event for reasons he must’s been really proud of. Then he was promoted to be the Secretary General of SCIENCESS 2009/2010. Actually it’s rare for anyone to suddenly jump to be a Mainboard member of a society without experience and thorough knowledge about running the post. But not Jazli. With a little guidance from me (he’s never shy to refer to me as the former Secretary General of SCIENCESS 2008/2009) and mostly his own creativity and ideas to manage the post, from what I’ve been informed, he does his job very well. And yes, if you’re talking about voicing out a lot of great ideas, you are talking about Jazli. However, you might question about his serious facial expression but believe me, dia ni sebenarnya otak tak betul jugak. Haha... That is the only thing that I think would discredit his charm (note: try not to role your eyes) to be elected as a President. Huhu… Need I say about his Aussie blood?

Next, I don’t have to name this guy because most people know that I am very close with him – Danial Efendy. But, please put aside the brotherhood relationship that we have because abang mana yang tak nak promote adik kan? Huhu... Let’s talk professionally. I’ve known him for one year and we started knowing when he was looking for potential exhibitors for his career programme under SCIENCESS and I offered him some assistance and ideas. Thereafter, I observed his accountability to hold post especially related to documentation and writing. Therefore, I appointed him to be my Secretary for the Amazing Explorace programme at which I shared with him some knowledge and thus added experience that he already had about Secretary because he was previously the Secretary in PRESSS back in Center of Foundation Studies (CFS). If I have to share some facts about Danial’s personality, I would firstly mention about his strength in English thanks to his English-spoken family, secondly his ketegasan in his stand and thirdly his passion in finishing tasks given.

Lastly yet coincidently, Danial, Jazli and I, the three of us were very active in being Master of Ceremony (MC) in events until we have to reject some offers because our faces were like everywhere and everytime in events. Kan Jaz dan Danial? Kesian kita bertiga. Kasi la peluang kat orang lain. Huhu...

With the above testimonials and sharing about my experience with the above names, I think the voters have concrete reasons to put an X mark next to their names when they get the voting form. For the rest of posts, I better not talk much because I only talk things that I know. :-)

Happy voting!

Disclaimer: This is an automated entry which is written during last Ramadhan month. The contents might or might not be applicable at the time it is posted.

Aplikasi Pincang di Facebook

Mari letakkan diri kita ke dalam skop ini: Diri kita sebagai Muslim yang menggunakan Facebook.

Kita semestinya tahu, adalah salah apabila kita menghalalkan yang haram dan mengharamkan yang halal. Mari kecilkan lagi skop perbincangan ini kepada yang pertama: Menghalalkan yang haram.

Umum maklum bahawa di dalam Facebook terdapat banyak aplikasi yang seronok untuk dicuba dan diterokai termasuk kuiz, permainan atas talian, pemberian hadiah dan sebagainya. Facebook sudah menjadi lanjutan kepada alam realiti kita yang dibawa ke dalam alam maya apabila kita boleh melakukan bermacam-macam perkara termasuk meluahkan perasaan, berkongsi gambar dan video, bertukar-tukar mesej, dan sebagainya.

Namun, dalam limpahan aplikasi yang terdapat di dalam Facebook, tidak kurang juga yang menyimpang daripada ajaran agama.

Seperti yang hangat dalam perbincangan saya bersama-sama rakan-rakan di Facebook baru-baru ini mengenai aplikasi-aplikasi Fortune Teller Genius dan Ahli Nujum. Berdasarkan namanya sahaja sudah jelas melihatkan pembabitan aktiviti penilikan nasib tetapi dalam versi maya!

Kita sudah biasa mendengar permainan Spirits of the Coin yang memerlukan pemain-pemainnya bertanya kepada makhluk halus yang menggerakkan syiling kepada abjab-abjab tertentu untuk mengetahui nasib masa hadapan kita. Kita juga tahu sindiket tukang tilik yang konon-kononnya boleh membaca nasib seseorang pada sekilas pandangan pada tapak tangan orang yang ingin nasibnya ditilik. Si tukang tilik memperoleh sumber pendapatannya melalui kebolehannya menilik nasib manusia. Tetapi dalam hal yang terbaharu ini, kita dikejutkan dengan kemudahan untuk menilik nasib secara percuma: daftar masuk sahaja ke dalam Facebook, klik pada aplikasi tilikan itu dan masukkan soalan yang anda ingin tahu jawapannya dan nah! Anda boleh dapat tahu nasib anda baik ataupun tidak, ataupun apa yang akan berlaku esok dan lusa!

Ada yang mempertahankan tindakan mereka yang terlibat dengan aplikasi tersebut dengan mengatakan ia hanya sekadar untuk suka-suka. Tak perlu ambil serius, malah belum tentu mereka percaya dengan apa yang diutarakan dalam hasil tilikan tersebut. Jadi, jika begitu, apa rasionalnya anda menggunakan aplikasi itu pada mulanya?

Analogi yang suka saya berikan untuk membidas alasan-alasan tersebut;

Anda membeli nombor ramalan kemudian anda sematkan dalam hati: Alah, aku beli nombor ni untuk suka-suka sahaja. Kalau kena, aku untung. Kalau tidak, sekadar mahu memuaskan hati sahaja. Lagipun ia hanya sekadar nombor yang dicabut. Jika nomborku dicabut, nasibku baik. Tak perlu ambil serius benda ni la.

Persoalannya: bukankah berjudi itu haram? Jadi, adakah berbaloi menggunakan alasan suka-suka untuk menghalalkan tindakan anda?

Isu pokoknya ialah apa-apa yang haram adalah tetap haram. Semakin canggih teknologi yang ada di dunia sekarang, semakin berubah bentuk keharaman itu. Dalam isu tilik menilik, jika dahulu tukang tilik hadir dalam bentuk manusia, pada zaman sekarang tukang tilik hadir dalam bentuk pautan berenjinkan kod-kod berasaskan nombor-nombor 0 dan 1!

Saya amat sedih apabila ada yang mempertahankan tindakan salah mereka apabila ditegur. Malah saya dicadangkan supaya menutup akaun Facebook saya jika tidak sukakan aplikasi tersebut.

Saya suka mengambil pendirian bahawa Facebook ialah lanjutan daripada kehidupan dalam alam realiti. Kita terdedah kepada banyak perkara baik dan buruk dan ia terserah kepada diri sendiri untuk memilih jalan hidup masing-masing. Begitu juga di dalam Facebook; ada yang baik dan ada yang buruk. Apa-apa yang buruk itu saya khususkan kepada apa-apa yang bertentangan dengan agama dan sudah tentu antaranya ialah aplikasi tilik nasib.

Lebih lanjut lagi, jika dalam alam realiti kita boleh menjalankan dakwah, mengapa tidak di Facebook juga, bukan? Justeru, jika ada kepincangan dalam penggunaan Facebook, sama-samalah kita saling menegur dan mengingatkan. Tundukkan ego dan dengarlah nasihat yang berguna. Tidak perlu menunggu diri dipanggil ustaz ataupun ustazah baru kita berani membuka mulut, tetapi tanganilah kepincangan sedaya upaya kita. Beranilah bersuara jika kita yakin kita benar. Bukan isu menang atau kalah ingin dibangkitkan, tetapi isu mengajak ke jalan yang benar yang perlu diperjuangkan.

Hakikatnya, apa-apa sahaja yang berlaku dalam alam realiti boleh dibawa ke alam maya. Internet misalnya yang pada asasnya bagi saya bersifat murni tetapi dicemari dengan bermacam-macam laman web yang pincang dan songsang. Tapi, dalam kepincangan dan kesongsangan itu sebenarnya internet mengandungi lebih banyak kebaikan dan kesenangan yang boleh diperoleh dan diaplikasikan untuk kita sebagai Muslim dasawarsa ini. Gunakanlah yang baik dan tinggalkanlah yang buruk. Mudah kan? Facebook pula ialah subset internet. Sifirnya masih sama.

Nasihat akhir saya bagi pengguna-pengguna Facebook, anda yang membentuk baik buruk penggunaan laman interaktif itu. Fikir berkali-kali apabila anda mahu terlibat dalam mana-mana aplikasi pun. Timbangkan faedah dan manfaat dan tinggalkan apa-apa yang tidak menyumbang kepada kemaslahatan diri.

Betul, katakanlah: Daripada aku main Facebook, baik aku baca al-Quran!

Entri Ini Entri Racist

Tatkala Syawal makin melebarkan senyuman di ufuk timur, tatkala takbir membesarkan Allah mengisi segenap ruang udara, ada yang mencemarkan kesuciannya dengan bunyi-bunyi bingit dan asap-asap racun. Aku sesak nafas menahan benci.

Lantas terjengah dalam minda; kita ini menyambut perayaan apa sebenarnya? Aidilfitri atau Tahun Baharu Cina? Hari Raya Puasa atau Deepavali? Maaf jika kau tersalah tafsir. Bukan niatku menyinggung kiranya kau bukan berbangsa Melayu dan beragama Islam. Tetapi mahu kucuit hati-hati Melayu yang terleka.

Mungkin mereka bangga menghabiskan duit dalam perkara-perkara yang tidak menyumbang kepada kemaslahatan diri dan masyarakat, malah bangga mengorbankan wang dan keselamatan untuk kenikmatan yang bernilai sekadar sebuah letupan. Benar. Letupan itu menyebabkan rembesan adrenalin berkocak-kocak dalam aliran darah mereka. Sebab itu mereka suka. Tapi apa yang lebih boleh diperoleh daripada sekadar itu? Ada apa-apa faedah?

Pelita dipasang menyinari ruang yang terhad. Sinisnya, di atas pelita yang menyala malap, ada pula lampu kalimantang terang benderang. Lalu aku persoalkan kerelevanan fungsi pelita diletakkan di situ. Mungkin dahulu pelita dipasang untuk memudahkan laluan pengunjung yang melawat rumah untuk beraya. Tetapi budaya itu masih diteruskan sehingga sekarang tanpa ada usul periksa tujuan ia dipacakkan lalu menyumbang kepada sebuah lagi jalan ke arah pembaziran.

Aku bukan anti-budaya. Malah bukan juga pembenci bangsa. Tetapi aku bencikan kepincangan dalam masyarakat yang berbuat sesuatu tanpa sebab yang kukuh, apatah lagi jika bertentangan dengan agama. Jika diluah mati agama, ditelan mati budaya, aku lebih rela menelan apa-apa yang perlu. Biar terluah perjuangan menegakkan kesyumulan agama yang jelas lebih relevan dan malar segar.

Wahai kawan-kawan, tidak kira sama ada kau terguris dengan entri ini atau tidak, mahu kuhulur salam kemaafan sempena Aidilfitri yang sedang kita raikan. Tolong wujudkan suasana keraian yang lebih bersesuaian pada masa akan datang.

Selamat hari raya Aidilfitri

Maaf zahir dan batin.

Bukan Pasal Hari Raya

Dulu pernah aku terfikir, apabila dah kerja nanti;

Nak belanja mak dan abah makan macam-macam yang tak pernah mereka rasa,
Nak bawa mak dan abah melancong kat tempat-tempat yang tak pernah mereka pergi,
Nak belikan mak dan abah macam-macam pakaian yang cantik-cantik.

Tapi sekarang, dalam keadaan mereka sekarang;

Mak dan abah dah berusia,
Mak dan abah ada beberapa penyakit,
Mak dan abah punya keinginan yang terhad.

Jadi;

Kalau nak belanja makan macam-macam, bukan mereka yang melantak. Aku juga yang kenyang. Abah tak makan makanan Barat sangat. Mak pula suka mencuba tapi mak setia dengan abah. Jarang sekali mak makan apa yang abah tak makan. Kalau makan pun, cuma nak jaga hati aku pasal aku yang masak atau beli.

Kalau nak bawa mak dan abah keluar melancong jauh-jauh, mak dan abah tak larat berjalan jauh-jauh sangat. Sepanjang aku belajar di Kuantan, tak pernah sekali pun mereka jejak ke situ. Walaupun pernah mak berazam nak melawat Kuantan sebelum aku habis belajar di sana, nampaknya sampai ke sudah tak kesampaian. Lagipun, abah kena jalani hemodialisis 3 kali seminggu. Susah nak buat arrangement.

Tapi kalau nak belikan pakaian yang cantik-cantik, itu yang paling praktikal sekarang ni. Buat kali pertama, aku belikan mereka pakaian untuk raya. Sengaja aku bawa mereka membeli belah di Jusco Klang, bukan di Kedai Bunga Raya di Banting. Biar mereka rasa sedikit berbeza. Tak mengapalah jika mahal sedikit pun, asalkan mereka gembira. Abah pilih baju kemeja dan seluar slack. Baju melayu sudah ada katanya. Mak pula tak minta banyak, cuma kasut sepasang je. Pandai mak pilih kasut tu, cantik sangat. Aku nak sangat emak dan abah nampak berseri pada hari raya nanti.

Tapi, rupa-rupanya bukanlah mak dan abah nak sangat aku belikan mereka pakaian cantik-cantik, bawa mereka jalan-jalan mahupun makan-makan, tapi kehadiran aku di sisi mereka yang paling membuatkan mereka gembira.

Pernah mereka tanya, “lepas kerja nanti balik rumah mana? Gombak ke Banting?”
Aku jawab, “tak tahu lagi la.”
Lantas mereka sambung, “kalau boleh balik la Banting. Boleh berbuka dan bersahur sama-sama.”

T_T

Of a bit Nervous and Excited

This is in response to the entry entitled First Time to IKIM.

The immediate response that I got after the recording was aired was that my voice sounded shaky. Well, to be honest, I didn't listen to that because I was asleep in the car while waiting for 10.30 am! Hahaha...

Anyway, that shouldn't be a big issue. Pardon my voice and I'll improve the delivery next time.

For those who missed the slot in IKIM, I talked about how Ramadhan can be the medium for training to quit smoking. Held in Bahasa Malaysia, I briefly described firstly why smoking leads to invalid fasting in terms of anatomy and physiology and secondly why smoking addiction happens from the pharmacology aspect. Wah, that's so biomed! :P Lastly, I pointed out the main issue of the discussion.

Here are some quotes from the discussion:

Merokok memang tidak mengenyangkan, tetapi kandungan di dalam asap itu akhirnya akan masuk juga ke dalam sistem peredaran darah. Sama seperti makan dan minum.

Jadi sebenarnya bagi perokok-perokok yang berjaya mengatasi ketagihan sepanjang menjalankan ibadah puasa, ia adalah jihad yang sangat besar kerana ia bukanlah sesuatu yang mudah untuk dilakukan.

Analoginya, jika penagih dadah dimasukkan ke dalam pusat serenti untuk mendidik mereka berhenti daripada ketagihan dadah, apa kata kita jadikan bulan Ramadhan ini sebagai pusat serenti diri sendiri untuk mendidik diri kita berhenti merokok.

Any other comments, particularly about the topic (not my voice anymore :P)?

Jaz or Don?

Update: I got a new info that Don is not competing for the President seat. So, this entry merely explains the entry entitled The Initiator.

Not long after I posted the entry entitled The Initiator, I had a conversation through SMS with a junior who questioned the relevance of the entry.

Zaki, ko tak rasa ke ramalan ko dalam blog akan pengaruh pola pengundian. Aku rasa blog ko terlalu berpengaruh, ko ramai kawan junior kat Facebook, and they can access your blog from there.

Yup. So...?

So, adakah ko jadi external factor nanti jika Don kalah?

Well... Can be gak. Hehe... You up to Don?

No. Sangat neutral. I pity him because tak masuk gelanggang lagi dah tewas psychologically. Unfair.

Welcome to politics. ;)

Haha.. What if I say I don't favor your prediction? You accept or ignore my thought.

Well... Then I say everyone has their own opinion and choice and I respect whatever it is. Hehe...

Haha.. I know you will not omit that particular thing. By now almost everyone has read it. If it becomes true, you are the culprit.

...or maybe a "hero" if those people form a great leadership power in Sciencess. I believe them. That's why I name them.

Haha.. Ok Zaki apa kata ko post kat Facebook tanya pendapat dak Sciencess adakah your prediction affects their choice. We'll see your pengaruh from there.

Well... the same post automatically dah ada dalam Facebook pun and I've tagged orang-orang yang berkenaan. I think no need to "measure" my pengaruh sebab it's not conclusive. Tak semua orang akan baca post tu and also tak semua orang baca blog aku. Yang baca pun tak tentu lagi setuju dengan my personal choice.

Haha.. Ok la whatever you say. Aku ingat ko ni macam Mahathir la. Masih berkuasa walaupun dah tak dalam parti a.k.a Sciencess. What you say, people will take it.

Hehe... I take it as compliment. He's a great PM. But thanks to you jugak la sebab point out pasal "Don kalah sebelum masuk gelanggang". But I still think Jaz and Don will form a great leadership in Sciencess just like Izu and Mustakim. Kalau rajin, tengok post-post aku tahun lepas mengenai AGM gak.

I know all your posts. I read blog dah lama dan tak silap ko ada predict gak pasal Izu. Thanks you got my point. Don't be like Samy Vellu. He is very bias, shows to public he supports Palanivel and against Subramaniam openly. Not good election.

The difference is that, I'm not competing for any posts and I'll never be in any position anymore in Sciencess. And that's a huge difference between me and Samy Vellu. Takleh nak analogikan la.

Ha'ah. Macam tak boleh. So harap ko dapat terima my opinion about Don kalah. It's ok if you predict Jaz and Danial. But Don, hmm... Ok Zaki, I say this to you because I'm close to you.

Yup. Dan aku cam happy gak la point-point ko direct kat aku. Serius. Susah nak jumpa orang cam ko yang berani cakap direct and profesional. With that, I compliment you.

Haha.. Malu gue. Mula-mula takut ko marah plak aku sibuk-sibuk nak tegur, dah la ko senior aku. Haha. Tapi I know who you are, open-minded person with big heart. Kudos to you.

Ok. Terharu. No la. Zaki yang dulu memang senang naik angin. Yang sekarang insha Allah lebih calm. Pasal cara ko approach aku tadi, terpuji. So aku layan dengan baik la.

Haha.. Ye ke dulu ko naik angin? Tadi ko balas sikit-sikit je. Aku bajet macam potensi nak perang dah.

Tadi driving la. Haha...

Ok, jangan wat entry kat blog kutuk aku plak. Naya aku. Peace bro, no war.

Haha... No la. Tapi ada gak terfikir nak jadikan conversation ni entri blog aku tapi tak mention nama ko. Hehe... Amacam?

Boleh boleh. Nama aku kalau dijaja memang tak dibenarkan. Sekarang low profile pun dah peminat ramai. Kalau glamour, mati r. Haha..

Haha... STBB kot :P

For now, I still care about SCIENCESS :)

First time to IKIM

For those who don't know IKIM, it's abbreviation for Institut Kefahaman Islam Malaysia. Click here to go the website and to know the FM frequencies in different locations.

Yesterday I went to IKIM to do recording for a slot entitled Sains dan Peradaban (Science and Civilization) and the topic that I chose for the slot was Merokok dan Ramadhan (Smoking and Ramadhan).

In the discussion, I explained why it's hard for smokers to quit smoking and then I tried to relate the topic with Ramadhan - how Ramadhan can be the best trainer for quitting smoking. In the first half of the discussion I shared a bit of my knowledge in Pharmacology that I learned during undergraduate study. Then in the second half of the slot I gave some advice regarding the topic.

The recording will be aired next week, Tuesday 15 September 2009, 10.30 am. I am looking forward to listening my own voice in the radio and judge my performance because I am expected to do the same thing more in the future.

I love my job!

The Initiator

It was in August, last year that I came into the first year students' class (now they are second year). I was planning something and coincidently during that day, my tilawah class was postponed while there was some technical problems in the lecture hall. The lecturer, Kak Wawa (that time she was the Head of Department) couldn't continue her lecture. So, everything was very encouraging for me to complete my mission: to be the initiator.

I had few intentions for doing that:

1. To welcome them to the university and to the kulliyyah.
2. To be the moderator for appointing class reps.
3. To initiate a relationship between the first year and the final year.

Alhamdulillah, everything went well with the session that I had the opportunity to explain to them what Biomedical Science was all about from my viewpoint and to share some experience and knowledge about living in IIUM Kuantan Campus.

In the session as well, I became the middle-man for them to appoint their class reps because I knew someone had to play that role or else they won't have any leaders in their class.

You can imagine in a class with more than a hundred students; how would you manage the class if there's no one to play the leadership role? Living in a community, we always need some leaders to lead the rest of the community towards some goals. And I was glad they chose the right ones and they still continue to be the leaders until now. Congratulations to Saifudin and Huda for being great leaders and for being able to manage your class efficiently. Behind these two strong students, there are few other students that helped them a lot in making life of the rest of class easier than they would've thought.

By the way, I am writing this entry because this week SCIENCESS is organizing the nomination for the new Board Members of the society for the 2009/2010 tenure. I wish you all the best in making decisions because it'll affect the rest of your life in the campus. If you select great leaders, you'll live happily there insha Allah.

So, these are just my choices basically based on my observation from afar and experience from working with them previously when I was in the society. It's up to you la to follow or not. Hehe...

President: Jazli Aziz (current Secretary General)

Vice President I: Don Lukmanul Hakim (current Exco)

Secretary General: Danial Efendy (he was my Secretary in KOS Amazing Explorace)

SK Kanchong Darat UPSR 1997 Students Gathering

Laughter and updates were the main agenda during the event. Held at KFC and Banting Superbowl of Banting, we gathered for breaking fast and immediately played bowling after prayers.

Thanks again to Facebook for being the medium of reconnection beween me and my long-time-no-see primary school friends! The fact that we live in the same village doesn't help much for us to see each other frequently because all of us has our own path to go. However, with such gathering we had today, it was a great opportunity to reconnect the bond we once had one day long time ago back to 1992 - 1997.

I have to admit, all of them have changed a lot in many aspects namely physically, socially and behaviorally. Or maybe it's only me who have changed the way I view friends. Sure I can't compare between how I perceived them as friend when I was in primary school and how I perceive them now. But the difference in perceiving is the one that causes something sweet to think of.

It makes me remember who I was when in primary school and who I am now, how I see them as little children as little as I was and how I see them as now-adult friends and now-adult me. That's really something to me.

Anyway, thanks guys for the great gathering. Nanti nak buat majlis kahwin dah tau kan nak contact aku camne? Hehe...

Official 'Eid Fitri Wish Card from Yayasan Ilmuwan

I never think that Yayasan Ilmuwan gives a lot of priviledges to the staffs, at least up to this point!

Yayasan Ilmuwan prepares for all staffs wish card for the coming 'Eid Fitri. So here I got 10 copies of the card to be given to you!

Yes you!

Only earliest 10 people who give their home address will be given this special card from me. The address must be given in the comment room in my blog (in case you're reading this entry in Facebook).

First come first serve basis yo! :D

Baba and Bubu

I think Facebook and blog have been really useful.

I wrote that I was looking for kittens and immediately I got comments from Wenkt telling that he got kittens for me. That time I didn't know that it was two of them until I reached his home at Shah Alam.

Wenkt got the kittens somewhere next to the road. There were 3 of them. One had been given to other friend of Wenkt earlier than me. The ones I got were a pair of kittens with different sexes.

Once I saw them, I fell in love with them right on the spot, without thinking too much about their look because I knew with full attention and care, they'll grow up great! They looked quite messy at that time.

I named them Baba and Bubu which were derived from the words ibu and bapa for obvious reason; one is male and another is female.

I'm looking forward to raising them up in a proper way thus I need to study the right ways of taking care kittens from the internet. I've watched some tips from Youtube which I found really useful.

You got any tips for me?

Orang Bongok Main Mercun

Disclaimer: Kalau tak nak sakit hati, jangan baca ya.

Sejak masuk bulan Ramadhan, sudah ada kes-kes kekantoian pengedaran mercun dalam berita. Pada aku, padan muka! Padan muka kepada yang mengedar, dan padan muka kepada yang tak dapat main mercun pasal tak ada stok.

Tapi aku hangin betul dengan orang-orang yang masih licik mendapatkan bekalan mercun ni. Aku dah tengok mercun tu macam dadah la pulak. Sama je tarafnya daripada segi undang-undang negara. Haram jika disalahgunakan.

Aku nak kecilkan skop orang-orang yang main mercun ni kepada orang-orang Melayu Islam yang terlalu mengikut kehendak hormon adrenalin dalam darah masing-masing untuk melunaskan kehendak nafsu. Sia-sia sahaja puasa jika nafsu masih gagal dididik.

Kau tahu tak main mercun tak ubah macam kau bakar duit? Cuba bayangkan apabila mercun tu meletup, macam tu la meletupnya duit pendapatan kau, atau mak bapak kau. Kau tak sayang ke dengan duit tu? Daripada membazir membakar mercun tu, baik kau sedekahkan kepada orang-orang yang memerlukan. Takpun kasi je kat aku. Aku pun termasuk dalam golongan orang-orang yang memerlukan. Aku tengah kumpul duit nak kahwin. Ok itu dah masuk cerita lain.

Aku faham. Kau rasa seronok apabila dapat dengar bunyi meletup-letup. Tapi boleh tak kau bayangkan yang meletup tu kepala kau? Tak kan? Pasal kau tak nak bayangkan macam tu. Kau tak fikir bahaya main mercun. Kau cuma fikir nak seronok je.

Aku rasa pelik. Kalau betul nakkan keseronokan mendengar letupan, kenapa apabila kau nyalakan mercun tu, kau campak jauh-jauh? Bukan ke kau nak dengar letupan? Cuba lepas kau cucuh, biarkan kat tangan. Takpun letakkan sebelah telinga. Lepas tu dengar lah bunyi letupan tu puas-puas. Ini tidak, lepas cucuh dengan api, campak dan tutup telinga. Bongok. Tahu pula menjaga keselamatan diri?

Aku paling bengang dengan ibu bapa yang membelikan anak-anak mereka mercun-mercun ni. Eh pakcik eh makcik, itu tak ubah macam pakcik dan makcik belikan motor untuk anak-anak lepas tu biarkan diorang merempit kat jalanraya. Lepas tu kemalangan. Lepas tu mati. Lepas tu pakcik dan makcik juga yang merengek-rengek sedih, konon. Lepas tu menyesal, konon. Susah-susah buat anak, senang-senang bagi diorang mati. Ibu bapa sekalian, tolong lah didik anak-anak tu betul-betul ye~

Aku tak nafikan masa aku kecil aku juga main mercun. Tapi mari bercakap tentang sekarang. Korang yang baca ni pun orang-orang zaman sekarang. Pada usia aku kini, aku lebih nampak bermain mercun tu tak ubah macam orang yang tak bertamadun. Maksud aku, orang-orang Melayu Islam. Aku tak nak komen pasal orang-orang yang bukan Islam. Diorang ada kepercayaan diorang sendiri. Tapi kepercayaan orang Islam lain!

Kita percaya bahawa membazir itu amalan syaitan. Kita percaya bahawa kita wajib menjauhkan diri daripada apa-apa yang boleh mendatangkan mudharat. Kita ada cara tersendiri untuk menyambut perayaan kita.

Ada juga yang kata, main bunga api tak apa kan? Bunga api dengan mercun, lain. Pada aku, tidak. Sama je. Membazir. Tidak ada faedah langsung. Mercun dan bunga api tidak menyumbang apa-apa langsung kepada mana-mana aspek dalam hidup melainkan keseronokan, yang boleh diisi dengan aktiviti lain yang lebih sihat dan berfaedah malah yang paling penting dalam hal ni, tidak mendatangkan mudharat.

Akhir sekali, aku berani kata: Orang yang main mercun ni orang bongok.

Kan aku dah kata jangan baca kalau tak nak sakit hati.

Aku pernah menulis pasal hal ini juga dulu.

Kenangan di UIAM

Aku tidak boleh berbohong kepada diri sendiri, mahupun kepada orang lain. Hati ini rindukan suasana ketika belajar di universiti.

Tidak, aku tidak mengeluh kerana sudah menjadi sedewasa ini. Tapi aku perlu mengeluh jika aku tidak sedar akan hakikat bahawa hidup perlu mengalami proses perubahan daripada masa ke masa.

Ketika di universiti, banyak pengalaman yang telah aku lalui yang tidak aku ceritakan di blog. Jadi, dengan peluang masa dan memori yang masih tersekat di minda ini, ingin aku coretkan beberapa kisah dahulu.

Ada yang sengaja aku biarkan tidak ditulis kerana tidak mahu ada hati yang terluka. Ada yang tidak sempat aku tuliskan kerana masa senggang tidak kutemukan ketika itu. Ada juga yang sengaja aku simpan dalam hati dan ingin biarkan aku tulis pada kemudian hari.

Mungkin kemudian hari yang dimaksudkan ialah hari ini?

Aku ada beberapa pilihan untuk aku ceritakan:

1. Kisah aku masuk ke kelas tahun satu Biomedik tanpa malu. Hehe...
2. Saat mula aku kenal dan saat mula kutemu Fiza.
3. Bengang dengan rakan sekelas.

Kamu rasa, nak dengar cerita yang mana satu dulu ye?

Lorong Belakang yang Gelap

Dengan menaiki kereta MyVi, aku pergi ke lorong belakang yang gelap itu. Sunyi, tapi aku tahu banyak yang menghuni di situ, berkeliaran bagaikan tempat itu mereka yang punya.

Hanya berbekalkan lampu keretaku, aku kecewa dengan penemuanku. Tidak berapa banyak yang berjaya disuluh dengan lampu separas itu.

Lalu aku nyalakan lampu tinggi.

Mak datuk! Banyak gila kucing kat sini rupanya!

Aku biarkan lampu terpasang setinggi itu. Aku memerlukannya untuk memilih mana-mana kucing yang aku berkenan.

Ya. Aku dahagakan kasih sayang seekor kucing sekarang.

Aku turun daripada kereta menuju ke arah mereka. Tidak pula mereka lari daripadaku. Mereka jinak-jinak belaka. Atau mungkin aku yang kelihatan seperti orang yang boleh mereka harapkan untuk mencurahkan kasih sayang.

Maaf. Siapa yang perlukan kasih sayang siapa ni?

Semakin aku dekat dengan mereka, semakin gatal tanganku untuk mengusap mereka. Ada beberapa ekor yang lari daripadaku, tapi ada aku kesah?

Kupilih yang muda-muda sahaja. Mungkin boleh dibentuk menjadi kucing belaan yang patuh dan taat kepada aku sebagai tuannya. Yang tua-tua, not my taste. Berambus kau situ. Ada juga yang muda, tapi badan berkurap-kurap. Ada hati nak bergesel-gesel di kaki aku. Haisy! Tak sedar diri. Berambus kau situ. Ada aku jumpa kucing yang muda dan cantik. Tapi malangnya tidak berbulu tebal.

Memang. Aku demand lebih. Ingat senang ke aku nak bagi kasih sayang aku sesuka hati?

Ok. Mari berhenti di situ.

Cuba analogikan:

1. Aku ialah pelanggan.
2. Kucing ialah pelacur.
3. Kasih sayang ialah... ok tengah puasa.
4. Situasi di tempat yang sama.

How did I Get My Job?

One of the commonest question asked by people about my current job is: How did I get the job?

This is my schematic answer:

1. I have a junior in IIUM Kuantan campus. I knew her from her Friendster and blog. It was my habit and hobby to initiate a relationship, so... Hehe...
2. She has a brother who also wrote blog that was linked from his sister's. Then I started reading his blog and gave comments few times while in the same time did the same in his sister's blog. That time, I didn't know who actually the sister's brother was. Hehe...
3. Amazed with the style and contents of his writing, I sent him an email asking how he started writing. That time, I called him Saudara Kelana. Hehe...
4. He replied my email and he asked me to send my resume. I still didn't really know who he was actually that time. Then I sent my resume in my reply to him. He asked me to call him Abang Shaikh instead of Saudara Kelana. Hehe...
5. Then, no significant development after that till I finished degree study. In the meantime, Abang Shaikh and I chatted few times through Yahoo! Messenger and Facebook but I never actually asked him what he did as his full time job. We only discussed things related posts in our blogs.
6. I didn't do anything at home after I finished degree till that I posted a line in my Facebook saying "Szakif Ramli melalui hari-hari yang tidak produktif". Abang Shaikh commented on it saying "Kalau nak kerja, call abang". And I called him. Hehe...
7. Abang Shaikh offered me a part time job. That time, I didn't know much yet about the institution he worked with. I just came to the office after he treated me a lunch at Cheng Ho. Only after that I know about Yayasan Ilmuwan and who Abang Shaikh was actually in the institution. Hehe...
8. Then I started working as a part-time worker at Yayasan Ilmuwan for about 6 weeks.
9. During that time, Yayasan Ilmuwan posted job advertisement and I was informed about that matter but I didn't pay much attention to it since my focus was just to do part time and that's it.
10. However, due to problem with my application to pursue study, I decided to send application for a job at Yayasan Ilmuwan as Research Executive.
11. I was called to the interview and I came. Although technically I was known to the panelists during the interview, I still did my best.
12. On the very same day of the interview, I was informed that I got the job.

Alhamdulillah~ :)

My point is: Berkawan biar seribu, lebih lagi lah bagus. You have all the internet social networking portals. You can name it, Facebook, Yahoo Messenger, Friendster, Hi-5 etc. Make use of them. Don't only use it to connect with people within your physical range, but open up.

Getting the Full Transcript

In my last visit to IIUM Kuantan Campus, I went there to get the full transcript from the administration of the university. In order to do that, I had to go to few offices to get stamps and signatures. They were namely the Legal Unit, Finance Division, Library, Residential College and the Security.

If you have no problem with those offices, they shouldn't have problem to immediately give you the stamp and signature. In my case, I had no problem and I finished doing the thing just within 1-2 hour.

Unlike some of my friends, they didn't know that they still had debt with the Finance Division that they need to settle before they can get their full transcripts. Surprisingly, the amount of debt was umimagineably high that they didn't notice that they had that debt (you tounge might twist I suppose :P).

Back to my case, since I knew a person from the Finance Division, I referred to him/her prior to the visit so that I could prepare the amount to pay. Yes, I got some unsettled balance from the study fees and that was fully under my knowledge. Every semester I checked my financial statements from the portal and I intentionally let the balance to be paid later. So, it's highly advised to check the portal occasionally in every semester.

I think it's good to give examples. A friend of mine, he/she didn't know that he/she got debt as much as RM690! And another one, +-RM900!

After finishing everything, I went to the start point at One Stop Centre again to submit the form and finally got the full transcript, alhamdulillah~

(Tapi dalam hati sebenarnya menyumpah gak tengok kertas tu pasal perkara ni)

Well... Not much about the clearance. But one thing I will never forget during finishing the thing is when I met a junior in one of the offices. As far as I knew, to me at least, she was not very close with me. She was a cute girl, shorter than my chest, wearing nice long tudung. With an innocent face she asked me this question:

Bro Zaki buat apa kat sini? Menyebok je!

Dik... Pandai kau kenakan aku STBB ye... Kalau kau jenis yang rapat dengan aku, aku tak terkejut kot. Haha...

Apabila Ulasan Ternyata Ada Kebenaran

Saya pernah membuat ulasan mengenai album Mawi yang berjudul Satu Dalam Seribu pada Mei 2007. Antara ulasan yang saya buat adalah berkenaan lagu yang layak ke Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL) 22, Angan dan Sedar. Dalam ulasan tersebut, sangat mengatakan:

Angan dan Sedar
Mawi, sila bersiap sedia dengan idea untuk persembahan di Juara Lagu 22 dengan lagu ini! Jika anda belum pernah mendengar lagu ini, bayangkan sahaja bagaimana hebatnya Lagu Jiwa Lagu Cinta sebelum ini, dan begitu jugalah lagu ini. Atau, tidak keterlaluan jika saya katakan lagu ini lebih bagus daripada Lagu Jiwa Lagu Cinta! Suatu garapan yang mantap! Memang makanan Mawi la!

Kemudian, saya mencari video persembahan Mawi dalam AJL tersebut. Ini hasilnya:



Mawi memenangi persembahan terbaik dalam pertandingan tersebut. Wah!

Entri ini saya tulis bertitik tolak daripada satu komen daripada pembaca blog saya dalam entri yang sama yang mengatakan:

DULU X MINAT MAWI..
TAPI SKARANG MINAT PLAK..
MYB TGGAPAN AKU KAT DYE DLU SALAH XD

*PENAH HADIAHKAN MAK AKU ALBUM MAWI :)

DAN AKU MENYIFATKAN ORG YG MENGUTUK O X SUKE MAWI SEBAGAI PENDENGKI...
SLAGI KARIER MAWI XJATUH,SLAGI TU KEHIDUPAN DORANG X TENANG :)

Saya tidak pasti bagaimana pembaca tersebut boleh menjumpai entri lama tersebut. Malah Mawi sudah keluar dengan album baharu selepas album Satu Dalam Seribu tersebut. Apa-apapun, terima kasih atas kunjungan dan komen yang diberikan.

Kami bukan Drama

Kami dalam perjalanan ke Kuantan untuk urusan tertentu yang perlu diselesaikan dengan segera. Banyak hal yang dibincangkan, termasuk hal berkenaan masa depan.

"Ramai orang tengok kita ni macam watak-watak dalam drama. You heroin, I hero. Orang-orang yang nak tahu pasal kita, merekalah penontonnya. Mereka mahu tahu kesudahan cerita kita," aku memulakan topik.

"Yang peliknya, kenapa mereka sibuk sangat nak tahu?" dia bertanya.

"Itu tandanya mereka prihatin," aku cuba untuk menenangkan hatinya, mengajaknya supaya memandang ke arah yang positif.

Keadaan senyap seketika. Lalu aku menyimpulkan, "Masalahnya kita ni bukan watak-watak dalam drama yang mudah direka-reka ceritanya!"

Letter to Centre for Postgraduate Studies, IIUM

I got a letter from the Centre for Postgraduate Studies, asking me to submit few documents that were not attached in order for my application to be processed. Ironically, one of them was the full transcript.

Alah... Malas nak cerita panjang la. Baca je la my reply letter to the office.

I have decided that I will do my postgraduate programme in other university since I have got a permanent job and have started working since early of this month. I changed my mind from doing master programme in IIUM since the application for July intake was delayed to November which I cannot wait for and which I was not informed by the office until I came on early of July. I understand and admit that I sent the application after the due date on 31st May 2009 but that happened due to some unavoidable problems including the closing of CPS office on 3rd and 4th June 2009. However, I was informed that for ex-students of IIUM, the procedure is easier. But to my disappointment, my application was not touched nor sent to Kulliyyah of Pharmacy just because I didn’t submit the full transcript together with the application. I did attach my partial transcript with the application but obviously it didn’t help anything.

For your information, we, students from IIUM Kuantan campus can only get the full transcript starting on 10th August 2009. That means we cannot apply for any postgraduate programme anywhere since the full transcript is crucial for the procedural sake. However, in case of registration with CPS of IIUM, can’t it be made easier for ex-students of IIUM by having some exceptions? It has to be known that willingness and interest for students to further their study in the same university is mostly based on their belief and confidence that the university can provide some proper settings and capacity for their postgraduate studies. Therefore, I think it should be made easier and more lenient for students from the university to register for postgraduate programme without concern too much with the transcript because sooner or later they will eventually submit the transcript which as far as I know do not has much effect on the application.

Therefore, I would like to forward these suggestions to the CPS of IIUM:

1. Allow application to be sent and processed without the full transcript. Usually, students apply for postgraduate programme because they believe they can finish their undergraduate programme successfully within the expected time. They do not want to waste time and they want to start the postgraduate programme immediately.
2. Establish a branch office in IIUM Kuantan campus for students can reach the office easily without having to go to IIUM Gombak. Therefore, they can get and send the application even before they finish their undergraduate programme. It is not convenient to go to IIUM Gombak to get the application form since usually final year students are busy with their Final Year Project (FYP) and not to mention academic classes. They usually extend the semester up to May even.
3. Set up online application for postgraduate programme as what done in University of Malaya (UM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
4. Allow students to apply directly to the kulliyyah at which they will do the postgraduate programme. This might need some rearrangements with the current procedure. This is especially advantageous for students and kulliyyahs in IIUM Kuantan Campus since they stay there and no branch office for CPS has been established yet there. Each kulliyyah has its own Deputy Dean of Research and Postgraduate and therefore I think registration could be made from the office.

I hope they'll do something to ease the procedure in the future. Takpe la. Zaman aku, aku mengalah. Asalkan junior-junior nanti terbela nasib mereka.

:)

Update: Thanks to Hafizah Reh for the information about the online application. With that, I think point no. 3 has been answered.

I am Now a Research Executive

On 3rd August 2009, I stepped my feet into Yayasan Ilmuwan, not as a part timer anymore but as a permanent worker - a Research Executive.

And today I've completed the first week of the job with calm. It's calm because there's not much to do yet since the other 2 Research Executives are still on their ways.

I've never expected I would work in this field since my focus initially was to be an academician, spreading knowledge through lectures and classes to the students. But now, I think I can share and spread knowledge also but not through classes but through reading and writing to a wider spectrum of readers.

It had been my passion to write since I was a child and that explains a lot why I write blogs. During primary school, I wrote stories. During lower secondary school, I joined Sidang Redaksi Sekolah which prepared magazine for the school. I even won a place in a writing competition organized by Selangor state government. During upper secondary school, I didn't write very much and it longed until I entered Degree level back when I was in first year in Gombak at which I started blogging. It was there and then that I continued writing until today. Not to mention, during studying in Kuantan campus I got involve in societies and activities that required me to write proposals, reports and such.

And now I'm working with something that needs me to read and write and I am so grateful with it.

I pray this job to be the best for myself and for my future.

Note: You might want to know what I do actually as a Research Executive, aren't you? Yes, I write, but what do I write about? I save that for later. Hehe...

Appreciation: It's very rude of me if I don't thank my boss. Thanks Abang Shaikh! :)

Tips for FYP Students

This is an entry by request from Wardah Puteh. Although she's currently a third year student who will start the project by next year but she asked me to write this entry for her reference later. However, to all other juniors out there, you may take this entry as your reference also.

Before the project

1. Set and bear in your mind, it's a 12-credit hour course. Whatever grade you'll get in the end of the project covers both semesters although it's actually divided into 2 parts - FYP I and FYP II. Once you have correctly configured your mindset, you're ready to go.
2. Search as many as possible journals that would help and support your project. However, you also have to know your own limit. Having said that, it doesn't mean you cannot stop from searching because too much information would cause your time to be wasted whereas you have something else that need more attention than journals.
3. Ask the lecturer which online database is the best to search for journals related to your project title.
4. Prepare yourself with some knowledge about statistics. This is most applicable for projects that involve using the statistics for generating results from the data collected.
5. Of course, most importantly, you must have knowledge and interest about the field that you're going to do research on. Don't just randomly select topic or field that you have no knowledge nor interest at all. You must know what you're about to do, or at least you must have rough idea about what you'll go through throughout the year for completing the project.

Preparation for the project

1. Arrange your project accordingly and schedule it in a proper table so that your project will run in an organized manner and you know what to do and when to do it.
2. About booking of chemicals and animals, you must state clearly how much you need and why you need that much. If possible, name also the company you wish the things to be bought from. Don't forget to explain also in written form why you need the things at the expected time (of course since you have your own schedule and the lab management also has theirs).
3. Always update the status of purchase of your bookings. Therefore, it's advised to keep all documents sent to the management for future reference.

During the project

1. Follow your schedule accordingly. You have to push yourself because no one would but yourself.
2. Never expect that you'll get the admired results with only one trial. You may be surprised with the findings.
3. You may need to reset your procedure or method of your project. Maybe you need to change your project title totally even! This is why it's always best to start the project as soon as possible once you get your equipments, materials, chemicals, animals etc to prepare yourselves for any worst case scenario.
4. Never forget to update with your supervisor at least once a week and seek for his/her advise regarding your project. Never be malas or malu to do that since they are the ones who propose the titles in the first hand and quite a proportion of the FYP mark comes from them.
5. Prepare a special log book for your project in which you write everything related to your project.

After the project

1. When you're done with the lab work/field visit/data analysis, it's time to write the report/thesis. Therefore you have to know the right style for writing a scientific thesis. You may refer from the seniors' thesis or you may ask your supervisor directly. The latter is the best and again don't be malas or malu to do that.
2. Never expect your draft have everything needed as a great thesis. You're in learning process and making mistakes are common and thus you must learn from it.
3. Do not be surprised if everytime you see the supervisor he/she'll always make correction again and again and he/she'll add/suggest more and more things to make your thesis better.

Keep on reading this post since I may add new tips from time to time. Should you also have anything to add, leave it in the comment room.