This is just to say...

I feel lucky. I am blessed. I got this picture from an email a friend sent to me. Thought that it'd be nice to get it posted here, perhaps it would make us count our blessings, for God has given us so much and most of the times we tend to take things for granted.

This is the Aboubakar family of Breidging Camp

In front of them are the amount of food they consume in a week. I admit that sometimes when there's still a lot of food in the kitchen, I'd say "Why, can't we have anything other than these to eat?". These people managed to survive, and yet, they have to save a lot for a living. Living is hard for them, what more if they can hardly get food to eat. I'm not that rich, but I have parents who can afford to provide us with healthy food to eat. Good brain works with good food, quoting Mama.

Something contradictory to what I've written above, very often, it's difficult for us to admit that we can be satisfied with what we have today, since everything is rising. The oil price. Should I say more? There goes my dream to drive my own car. Pffft. People who owns their own vehicles thought of selling theirs. But the public transportation is not good enough to cater for a lot of people who apparently decided to go public.

Well, a friend of mine shared his thoughts regarding this minyak issue. As he said, forty percent increase in the market petrol price is high when almost every citizen in Malaysia come from middle-class or lower family. With such increase, everything (price wise) will go up.

To absorb/cushion the impact of price increase, the government came up with the idea of giving rebates to these "poor" people. Ask one question to yourself, are those people who have transport were the only group affected by the increment? The answer is NO. People with vehicles pay for fuel and rebated (so little), that's fine; however they overlooked the other minority, a group which rely entirely to public transportations. They are affected as well, if not as bad as those with cars and bikes. Is there any possible way to 'protect' their right? Not everyone can afford to live like those people 'up' there, right? (unfortunately, truth hurts). Should we be worried?

I'll leave you with those question marks. Till then~

Almost there.

The nearly-3 months-holidays is almost over. Duh! I think I've got a rotten brain now i.e. it's not possible for me to engage my brain with anything (academically, or intellectually, which ever you prefer). Talking about spending the holidays wisely, I think that there's only one time that I was able to be productive enough, in terms of getting to use my brain.

The teacher from a tuition center I went for an interview a long time ago (yes, I did) asked for my help to replace a teacher who cannot make it that day. I have some problems dealing with school kids (primary). I have the tendency to 'loose it', most of the times. Pardon me, I'm a human with many flaws. Ya, lame excuse you'd say. He he.

SO, I taught them English Language. It's more like tutoring because the class is very small. Two standards (2 and 4) combined as one, with only 4 students. I can remember my students names; Alvin, Irene, Ezetty and Ivy. They were students of different proficiencies. But since that was my first experience to teach 'real students' (finally), felt that it was indeed a valuable one. Some of the students were my sister's ex-students, so I was being a bit cautious of my ways in handling them, (talk about being afraid of being compared to her). *laughs*

And that was my first teaching experience. The 'other' time would be during the Teaching Practise some time in 2009. Maybe these will be the only times I'll be teaching school kids, unless I change my mind and decide to be a school teacher (but I think that is almost impossible. Period.) Anyhow, I'm glad that I survived the day. :-) It was not easy, really. Alvin was more enthusiast about folding papers to make a jet rather than writing answers to my questions. He ended up flying his jet for the last 15 minutes before the class ended. Mischievous boy.

P/s: It's been quite a busy week. My younger sister will be doing her degree in Law, heartiest congratulations (Gor2, your orientation starts this Sunday! *giggles*). I know that she'll be doing fine. Good luck!

I can't think*

Careless laaah.
Carelessness.
Sigh

Will get back to you people when I can think straight. Later alligator~

Of Struggle and Hope

Good day, people. I decided to write something that I had in mind long time ago. It bugged me- that if it doesn't get written, so long- then it'll be forgotten. So, here goes. The fact that we experience a lot of things in life, we shouldn't take those lessons for granted. Alas, life is short; which gives us more reason to experience more, trust enough to take, and accept the unchangeable.

"Take any emotion - love for a woman, or grief for a loved one, or what I'm going through, fear and pain from deadly illness. If you hold back these emotions - if you don't allow yourself to go all the way through them - you can never get to being detached, you're too busy being afraid. You're afraid of the pain, you're afraid of the grief. You're afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails.

But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what love is.You know what grief is. And then only you can say, 'All right. I have experienced that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment.' "

Tuesdays with Morrie

Well, sometimes we just don't realize that a LOT of things happen for a reason, and we'll possibly understand that once it's gone - if not the next day, maybe in the next 20 years- it leaves you a little wiser (at least than before). Life isn't always great, ayt? At the age of 21, I can't really say that I've learned 'life's greatest lesson'. There's still a looong way to go, and hopefully more yet to come. As I browsed the net for some enlightening and insights, I accidentally found this.

KITA BERTANYA : KENAPA AKU TAK DAPAT APA YG AKU IDAM-IDAMKAN?
QURAN MENJAWAB
'Boleh jadi kamu membenci sesua tu padahal ia amat baik bagimu, dan boleh jadi pula kamu menyukai sesuatu, padahal ia amat buruk bagimu, Allah mengetahui sedang kamu tidak mengetahui.'
- Surah Al-Baqarah ayat 216

KITA BERTANYA : KENAPA UJIAN SEBERAT INI?
QURAN MENJAWAB
'Allah tidak membebani seseorang itu melainkan sesuai dengan kesanggupannya.'
- Surah Al-Baqarah ayat 286

So here I am, thinking of how I have reacted to events which happened all these while. Those things, they were only phase (a good friend always tells this to me). But yes, I feel that there's a lot for me to change about myself, talk about being a better person(!) I can't say that I'm content (yet) with what I have today, there's so much more to achieve. Nonetheless, I’m grateful for the life I have now, and yes, for every single thing I had had experienced throughout my whole life.

I'm still on a journey to find a better me, do pray for me ya? ^-^

A new day has come

"Love is always patient and kind
it is never jealous
love is never
boastful or conceited
it is never rude or selfish
it does not take offense
and is not resentful
love takes no pleasure
in other people's sins,
but delights in the truth
it is always ready to excuse
to trust, to hope,
and to endure
whatever comes".

This is so far the best love quote. Thanks to Ainuddin, I've watched A Walk to Remember almost 10 times this week, and I still cry each time. It's indeed a movie full of memorable quotes, yet this one is the best so far. I've read the book too, and to compare both the movie and book, I'd say I prefer reading the book. Sometimes our own imagination about things is greater than how people put it in movies. He he.

Just a thought to share, I'm grateful that I'm still breathing as I woke up this morning, and I still have Mama to wake me up for prayers, to have my sisters by my side as I opened my eyes, to realize that God still gives me the chance to live another day. Thank you Allah.

Fatigue*

Finally the nurse said that she can have a good rest at home. A better environment I would say. Sometimes the ward could be a rather depressing place to stay in. It wasn't easy to say goodbye just now, though. The cries and hugs showed it all. I'm glad that I found a true friend like her, a kind of person I don't mind sharing everything I have, to give, give and give, and not expecting anything in return. I got another 'dad' today. Thank you Abah.

Since I just got back from Andalas I didn't meet Ayah before he took off to Terengganu. I missed talking to him since he just got back from Maldives last week. And now he's away. Again. *Sigh* Anyways, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY AYAH! You've always been my savior (and the one I can pour my cries and stories and gossips to).

The best Dad in this whole wide world. :)

Need a few days to get some fresh air. Fresh as in FRRRESHH.. Beaches anyone? :)

Get well soon, dearest.

It has been a long time since I last went to a hospital to visit a friend or relative. Last Wednesday, a good friend of mine went through an operation to remove her salivary glands tumor. But the operation took longer than it should. We were informed that it will take about 3 hours, yet we waited up till 5 hrs 20 mins. To our shock, the doctors informed that there was no problem with the salivary glands. The tumor was actually at the face nerves. So they decided to cut off her face nerves, and after 6 months, if the tumor does not show any possibility to re-appear, they'll join the nerve which they cut off earlier.

All we can do is just to hope for the best. I pray that she'll be doing fine. I don't mind spending my time with her all along, if that's the thing that can make her at least a little bit lighten up. It's not fun to see someone very dear to you suffer. Trust me. But it's also difficult to convince her that everything will be alright. Maybe it'll take sometime. I'll be there for her every step of the way.

Exam results are out. Alhamdulillah, I passed through another test. I hope my friends did well too. Next semester would be our final year. Praying hard that He will give us his blessings for us to sail through the tides. Amin.

Inspiring, Inspired.

So, I consider myself among the luckiest person to get to attend a program called Berilmu Berbakti. The 3 days-2 nights program was indeed hectic, yet I was glad that it started and ended well as planned. This is not the first time that I attend a camp which involves the orphans. The first thing to bear in mind is that, Rumah Anak-anak Yatim or the Orphanage is NOT only for those who've lost a parent or both, but some of them have the history of broken family, divorced parents, and some with stories you can never expect. C'est La Vie. All these somehow or rather were eye openers and I am thankful for what I have and who I am today. When everything seems too much for me to handle, I always question, why ME? But then, when I heard stories from those kids (they're all 11 to 17 years old) I was impressed. They managed to survive regardless of the countless problem they're facing. During one slot called 'sharing', I was touched when they shared their stories. A boy aged 15, admitted that he tried all sorts of 'bad stuffs, be it ganja, gam, or rokok. There's nothing we can actually do about it. - 3 days is not possible for you to change a person as a whole-. Some of them shared stories about their 'Rumah'. To our shock, some of the officers at the orphanage were the kind of people who are not sincere in taking care of them. A boy tells that their pengetua always say bad things to them, (yes, he admitted that they are not good-and-nice kids) but I personally feel that it is not a good thing. They need proper care and people around them should show their concern, and not to call them anak haram! Those kids, their self-esteem is very low. Most of them said that they will definitely work after they finish high school. They have no motivation, they have no reason to move on, they cannot picture themselves in 10 years time, which proves that they have no vision.

We tried our best to encourage them, and guide them to a different goal in life. All we can do now is just to hope that they'll be successful individuals in the future. Anyway, I haven't got any pictures of the camp since I forgot to bring my camera. I'll try to get the pictures from my friends and will get it posted here. :)