He was rude...

Err…where do I start? Okay, when I was little, my grandmother always teaches me to be courteous and considerate among other things. So, back in the kampong, we were taught phrase like “May I help you” or “May I join you” or “May I take your glass” or “Excuse me” so on and so forth. But I think the values are disappearing.

I went to one of the hypermarket last night with my wife and my daughter for our monthly groceries shopping. Nothing was wrong. Everything went well until I was in the cooking oil aisle. This guy with a trolley came and just shoo me away from the spot I was standing. He went like this “Pissst..pisstt… (then raising his eyebrow asking me to get on my way)”. I was still looking at the label on the bottle. *Gosh* What is the hurry is all about? Or can’t you ask me politely. I mean the words can be “Excuse me, may I take such and such” or “Excuse me, you are blocking my way” but no, to this guy…”pissst..pisstt” is better to him I supposed. My ears turned red immediately (I know because I feel hot flashes on my ears). Well it was not my bloody supermarket but show some courtesy. Other people can wait so why can’t you. Other people have to rush too but they were not rude. That was not the only incident. As I was following the man, I saw his wife doing the same thing with better ways “Shoosh…shoosh” as if people were dogs. I guess they have perfected the skill of shooing people… I thought to my self… wow… what a disturbing family and surely, this is not the couple who I want to have next door.

Things don’t stop there. I noticed certain things which don’t reflect us as Malaysian (who are known for their kindness, courtesy and most consideration). We don’t say thank you (no wonder The Star came out with a survey) when people do something for us. We don’t acknowledge people enough and more disturbing thing which I shall not list down here. We don’t appreciate people “period”. We have lost the kindness in us or we have lost the good moral values. The behaviour displayed by the man at the cooking oil aisle at the hypermarket is not what any society would approve. Some people may not agree with me but in any civilised society we are taught to be nice to other people unless we are living with a group of chimpanzees or orang utan. But I think these animals behave better than us at times. When people give way, smile… not give them the face as if that what they ought to do because I have the right to pass first or when people stop the elevator for you, say thank you. Don’t just go into the elevator and keep quiet.

Why can’t human being (who is equipped with brain etc) be nice and courteous to his fellow human being? As far as I am concerned last night, I didn’t do anything wrong but then again, I may be wrong as I am also a human being and we make mistakes. But I thank god because I kept my temper down last night if not, another scene will be created….

Stop Bugging Me...

that's the thing i said to a telemarketer who can't stop calling me. i have been receiving calls from him since a moon ago, eventhough i have clearly, unambigously and unequivocally told him i am not interested and to stop calling me. but today he called again...twice and leave two messages on my voice mail. the same line: "En. Orang Darat, Mohamad di sini... Hai... please return my call at +603-27711569" ( yeah that's their real number). my patience is wearing thin. Which part of the word no is not clear to you? it's just two letters "N" and "O" and it means no, no and no. that's a negative answer. Dok pahe ko? Apo demo ni bengong bedo'oh.

so, i decided to call his manager and complain. He was nice enough to listen to my grumbling and swearing and politely apologised to me and then asking me what can he do to "fix" the matter. i said "stop calling and an apology is enough". (WHAT? you mailto:&&%$**#@$ the answer should be "is a stay at your presidential suite and a nice lunch at your cafe possible?" not "stop calling and an apology is enough")

may be the "sakit perut" had taken some of my "professional" ability to think today. i let them get away easily. How was that possible? Do i feel okay today? These people has been harrassing me since the past one month and a half. At least get something out of it...

may be it's just not my day today

Why?

i received yet another wedding invitation today and it is in Melaka, lahanat betul. the groom has been my roommate since i was in the matriculation centre until i got a new room mate (my wife lor). so, we spent almost 7 years together. the other invitation was from my other room mate (this one is in Segamat) and he's quite a character.

despite all the invitations, nobody had guessed that i would be among the first to get married and yes to be a father. of course i didn't bother to invite any of them except for certain couples because of several reasons (i don't want to deliberate the reasons here). the crux of it all is because most of them didn't grow up. they still have the undergrad mentality. They go out with the same group still. yes the same people they go out in the university and they still talk about the same things... which karaoke place should they go or who's dating who or who sleeping with who? oh *gosh* people grow up. that were the questions an 18 year old would ask lah...not a 28 year old person would ask...

at my cousin's wedding (yeah i introduced them to my cousin not knowing that they will be in my life for eternity) i met a couple of them who still think that they are still in the university and suprisingly one of them is already married. but no, he choose to cling with his "buddies" and leave his wife at home... feeding on something i supposed. why? why?why? don't you have some kind of responsibility to fulfill. what's the possible excuse can be given to explain such behaviour?

don't get me wrong here, i am not telling the world once you graduate you have to forget all your friends. keep in touch, yes but do you have to cling to them like a group of monkeys? i hope for those who are getting married (HH and RY) will take the extraordinary steps forward and take the role of being a husband (well i have yet to fill in the shoes properly). there are 1000000 things for me to learn (being a husband and a father) and i am at no 99. so i have another 999901 things to learn (if i live that long). but i think i have evolved from being a student to a person i am today. why can't these people?

life could have been more difficult...

I just realised that I have things that need money to settle. I have yet to service my car and my daughter need her immunisation and we are already late. On top of that the banks had already called me to remind me that they need my cheque for my credit card bills. To complete all, I have less than RM1k in my current account and today is only the 14th (it’s not even half month yet). What should I do then? What would my father do in this situation?

I remember the times when my parents used to tell me stories about their lives when they were at my age and my situation. Be it in school or when they started to work. Most of the stories make me feel and say to my self “life could have been more difficult”. I joined the rat race hoping that I can have a good life and good career. But I was wrong and no work in the world can make you happy unless you don’t work. No matter how much you work, you have to work anyway.

Let me start with the story from my mother. I was told that my grandparents work hard to raise their family. My grandfather was a “kuli” in the Public Work Department and my grandmother was a homemaker. My grandfather’s pay was less than RM100 then so to make it they have to do something else for the side income. So, they decided to sell nasi lemak and pulut inti/sambal (my grandparent makes nice pulut inti/sambal). So, in the morning, they will wake as early as 3.00 a.m. to cook the nasi lemak and pulut. It will take some time to cook and pack the nasi lemak and pulut. After all is done in the morning, at around 6.30 a.m. or 7.30 a.m. my grandfather will bring the nasi lemak and pulut in a basket on his bicycle to a coffee shop near the place where he works which is about 10km from their place. He will then leave the nasi lemak and pulut at the coffee shop to be sold. One pack would cost 5 cents at that time (the price we can never dream now due to inflation). The shop will take 1 cent from each sale as commission and leave 4 cents to my grandparent for the price of the nasi lemak and pulut. So, my grandfather will sell about 100 packs of nasi lemak and pulut per day and that gives him RM4 each day and if we were to take out RM2.50 from the income of the day as capital, that will leave them with RM1.50 as profit. So, per month they will earn about RM36 extra but not without the hard work.

This goes on and on and on until my mother and my uncle start working in the early 70’s. But not without having to gone though several incidents. One of them was when my late grandfather was hit by a motorcyclist and all the nasi lemak and pulut were thrown over and scattered all over the road. When my mom was on the way to school, she saw all the nasi lemak and pulut on the road and she stopped with tear rolling out from her eyes as she knew that was the nasi lemak and pulut from my grandfather’s basket. My grandfather was not there since he was already at work wringing his sweat out at that particular time. Thus, no income for that particular day since the road has taken the income of the day.

Comparing it to my life today, I don’t have to wake up at 3.00 a.m. (I will if there is a Champions League match) to start work. I don’t have to cycle to work and I don’t have to go through all the things they have gone through every month some time ago. So I tell myself again, LIFE COULD HAVE BEEN MORE DIFFICULT.

I will narrate the story from my father some other time.

The Malaysian Way...

I am touched by the generosity of Malaysian who contributed to the “Malaysian Tsunami Fund”. Millions of Ringgit has been collected so far from individuals and corporate entities. In addition (this phrase is over utilised in my line of profession), there are those who contributed in kind (such as clothes, food, mattresses, pillows etc.). This shows that Malaysians are “prihatin” towards their fellow citizens. I feel proud to be under the same blanket and be a Malaysian.

But if we flip the coin and look at the opposite side, one will be humiliated by the facts that to some Malaysian, “donating” means clearing your closet, almari baju, gerobok, storeroom etc. Whatever we don’t need, just “donate” it to the victims. “I can’t wear this anymore, that’s no zippers on these trousers or baju kebaya I ni dah ketat la bang, nak bagi kat mangsa tsunami boleh?” These are the usual words heard from any of us when it comes to giving “donations”.

If we look at some of the clothes donated to the victims, the only word to describe it was “junk”. You should see what have been given to the victims. Some of the clothes can be even be made into “kain buruk”. No buttons, no zippers (for seluar and some skirts), “dah koyak” et cetera... et cetera…et cetera… so, how on earth should the victims wear the clothes (may be some of us think that the victims need the “kain buruk” anyway to clean their houses)? Then we say the victims are choosy and there are piles of “baju” and we have stock of clothes. Don’t get me wrong here, I am not saying that you should go out and buy new clothes and throw it to the victims, but what I am trying to point out here is when you’re giving something like clothes and “kain baju”, please make sure that the person receiving the clothes and “kain baju” can actually use it. “If not why bother?” Keep your belonging at home and if it is bungled, throw it away. These people have enough junk in their houses to clean. They don’t need your junk to dispose. That’s about that. What about those who give money? Some of them really-really want to help. But what about those who present their “donation” in front of the camera and giving huge phoney cheques?

Some of us or corporations need reporters to present the mock cheque to the Fund, and yet we say the American Government has political agenda when they give aid to the victims in South Asia and South East Asia. Do we have agenda of our own? Do the political parties have their agendas? Do we need to look good on the people’s point of view? Or do we get something in return by doing that (I mean giving our “donation” on the stage in front of the camera? Whatever it is, I think we don’t need reporters to be present to give “donation” or do we? Well I give to the unfortunate whenever I have the opportunity (not that often though) but then again I am not Dato’ XYZ or ABC Corporation. For these people and/or Corporations they need to look good and let people know that they care. Odd enough I didn’t see Petronas giving the huge fake cheque but one thing I know, they did send lorries full of supplies to the victims in Kedah. So, where does this leaves us? If we say we don’t have anything to gain out of other people’s misery, then we don’t need to wear the vest with logos of certain entity (“the Vests”) to help this people don’t we and we don’t need to talk cock? We don’t need to show million of viewers at home that we care. Show that you care by helping them sincerely. The victims do need help but not the help given the Malaysian Way.

Thousand of thanks should be given to those who helped and donated sincerely. People like “my boss”, the employees in SIRIM, several law firms and several governmental agencies (who didn’t go on air) should be given the credit… Thank you and may god bless all of you.

Some people say...

I can’t help myself listening and watching to a live show some time ago where people from Perlis to Kg Ujung Ketun and to Long Pasia (in Sabah) and Tebedu (in Sarawak), calls the TV station and give their view and say what they think was right and what should be done on the topic of the day. The topic of the day is tsunami that hits Northern part of Peninsular Malaysia.

One of the callers suggested that we should have planted mangrove trees along the shore so that if the wave such as the tsunami hit, it will not damage the part stricken by the wave so badly. And then another caller gave his point of view and the suggestion for an early warning system was brought into the viewers’ attention. By having this early warning system, people are notified beforehand and the place where they are actually can be evacuated before the tsunami comes. Frankly, some of the suggestions amused me.

How can you warn people on something you don’t know? Why don’t we ever say that it was from god? We human being can plan the course of our existence, society and our civilisation. But can we know for sure that the arrangement will work or will be carried out as planned? Something we have to comprehend is that how smart human being is (even if you bring the smartest person in the world you know), you can never envisage what god will send you or will take from you. Allah has said so in the Holy Quran: “if the ocean is the ink to write the knowledge of Allah, the ocean will soon dried up and still you cannot finish writing the knowledge of Allah even if you put in the same amount”.
The existence of earthquake, tsunami, volcano eruption and all other major “act of God” as we know it has been at least mentioned in the Holy Quran. For example, the movement of the tectonic plate was mentioned in Surah Maryam verse no 91-92 (if I’m not mistaken). So there is no reason that man does not know the existence. It is only the matter of timing. Can we see whether is going to rain today? Well, with today’s technology, I think it is possible, but do we know for sure whether it is going to rain or not? Do we have control of the whether? Do we have control of the earth’s movement? Do we have control of what’s going to happen next? Do we have control of what’s going to happen in the next two seconds? My answer is no. So, people can always talk. But Allah knows best.

Malaysia Oh My Football Team.

I learned from the news paper today that Malaysia lost to Indonesia 1-4 in the 2nd leg of the Tiger Cup ½ final. I didn’t bother to watch the game last night since I have anticipated the result of the game. However, I didn’t expect the score was going to be as we see it today. So where do we put the blame now? Was it the coach? Or was it the players? Or the field was not flat enough? Whatever it was we gave in after the break when we were leading Indonesia 1-0. Not a safe gap in goal difference but we were leading and in aggregate we were leading by 3-1.

Let's take a look at the string of coaches appointed to train the Malaysian team. We have been appointing foreign coaches as far as I can remember except for the like of Chow Kwai Lam, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim etc. Are they good? Let us list out the name of the coaches. Some of them lead other countries to the world cup final. Josef Venglos led the former Yungoslavia to the 1990 world cup final. Claude Le Roy led Cameroon to the 1994 (if I’m not mistaken). Then we have Allan Harris, Hatem Soussi and now Bertalan Bicksei (I don’t know whether I spelled it correctly). I think all of them are coaches of calibre. If not, how on earth were they appointed as coaches? They must have very strong strings if they are not good (pulling string is common here). So, who do we put the blame on?

I still remember reading news about the Malaysian football team when they qualify the Olympic in Munchen in 1980. Players like the late Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh etc have played games at almost the highest level. Malaysia was ranked at less than 100, in the world ranking I think (pardon me if I’m wrong because I can only remember this vaguely since I was only 4 years old in 1980). These players have no luxury of driving a nice car but when they are on the pitch, they get their job done. The scenario changed in the 1990’s or when the Semi Pro League started. The ball went downhill after that. The last proud moment I remember for us Malaysian was when Malaysia won the gold medal during the SEA games in Kuala Lumpur. After that, I didn’t really bother even so, I still keep tab on the state team especially Kedah (my beloved state. They have a theme song which is embedded in my head and it plays over and over again at times).

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)’s intention was dignified, uncomplicated and obvious when they started the Semi Pro League. It is to prepare the country’s football hamlet for the full fledge Professional League. So, players are employed by a football association and no longer employed by the banks, semi governmental bodies and government agencies (I think Ali Bakar was attached with the Prison Department and Datuk Dell Akbar Khan (the present secretary of FAM) was with the police force). So the player get “real” footballers pay compared to footballers in those days. They learn about money. So, the current motivation is all money, money and money. They don’t have the pride of wearing the state and even the national jersey anymore (well, to be fair, may be some but no more than the pride felt by the footballers in those days). So, when money is the motivation, when they don’t hear any lucrative incentives at the end of the tunnel, the play sucks. They really do. They play like kids in the primary school (sometimes it is better to watch kids play).

But don’t get me wrong, I am not pointing at the players alone or on the coaches or the FAs. All quarters share a little bit of the blame and the glory. But if you turn professional, you are promised with certain amount of compensation for your service and you are expected to give certain kind of service, what else can you expect? It is always money and success. Thus, all quarters have to be mentally and most important, financially stable so that nobody (including but not limited to footballers, management team and the supporters) is a victim. The footballers have to understand that, it is not always money and the management must be able to meet the need of the footballers. Then we can move forward little by little to see our country’s football team in the same wave as the other teams in the region. The players have to be more confident (but not over confident), believe in their selves and their team mates, work as a team, be more discipline and fight wholeheartedly. Let us put the name of Malaysia back to where it belong, let us cherish the days where we can be proud of our country and may the days came back to us so we can taste the sweetness of joy (and the smell of the players sweat). Now, the Kedah team theme song: -

Yakinkanlah diri sendiri
Berjuanglah sejiwa murni
Tekun berani
Sesungguh hati
Demi sukan mengharum negeri
Biar jasa jadi kenangan
Hijau Kuning lambang kemenangan
Jelapang padi tempat sanjungan
Negeri Kedah Darul Aman
Kedah, Kedah pantang kalah
Walau sakit jatuh dan rebah
Bangun lantas semula gagah
Bujur lalu melintang patah
Hijau Kuning tanahku
Darul Aman Negeri ku
Hijau Kuning darah kuNegeri Kedah Negeri ku (2x)