Zuhud

"Bukanlah zuhud itu engkau meninggalkan dunia dan menyerahkannya kepada orang kafir untuk menikmatinya. Tapi zuhud yang sebenarnya ialah engkau memiliki seluruh isi dunia hinggakan nilai dunia ini seumpama tanah sahaja dan kau nafqahnya pada jalan Allah"

- taken from my friend's status: very true tho! ;)

Our Responsibility

one way to destroy Islam is simply by making it a RELIGION, instead of a WAY OF LIFE..proof? secularism, of which people try to distinguish between church (read: religion) from state affair..

yes, i have always been told that, orang yang kaya itu susah hendak masuk syurga! (correct me, if i was wrong)..so, thousands of Muslims simply use this excuse so to live in a modest way: working as an ordinary man, and thus living as others do..for them, why should we work hard since the world will be lasting..haha..it seems true tho! why should we put extra efforts so to improve our lives, of which all of us, regardless you are billionaire or not, will be dead sooner or later..so, why bother much???? if you think this way, you are not really a good Muslim!

and how many of us, when being asked about Islam, the first thing that comes up in our mind is Solah, Zakat, and etc??? how many of us would be really interested to know about Islamic-based economics or politics? how many of us would apply their Islamic knowledge into their studies (which means no "tiru" during exam, and etc)? how many of us would ever consider to learn on how to mingle around with people in a very Islamic ways?? and to be frank, i have been taking Islam for granted..yes, i do know Islam, but only in a very surface level..i was used to think that Islam is nothing, but performing solah, fasting, and etc..oh God, please forgive me!  i was part of this fitnah, of making Islam merely a religion! 

p/s: terkesan dengan kata2 seorang teman bahawa Muslims itu menepati waktu/janji

L E T ' S  C H A N G E  F O R  B E T T E R

Daughtry - Life After You

Spiritual Strength

sometimes, i'm just wondering how could great fighters stand all hardships and difficulties tested upon them throughout their struggle? how could they still trust people around them, of which foes and friends look the same? what does really make them consistent on their fighting causes? how could they give up all their personal enjoyment and space for the sake of others? 

..i think, without spiritual strength, no one could ever be a great fighter! but, how could we accumulate this spiritual strength...yes, it could come from many sources: friends, family, spouses, kids, and etc..but, if you seek for the most powerful, and long-lasting strength, you should ask from God! "from Him we come, and to Him we shall return!"   

B  E L I E V E

J E T S!

Good luck JETS! and of course, all hail to mark sanchez (the one with red circle)..my first experience watching NFL live in stadium, and i did enjoy it..

Living in Complacence

i've probably read "Malay Dilemma," written by Mahathir, about few years ago..but, i was, and am still largely influenced by his writings..thus, my only concern is on how to take the Malays out of their inherited plights..

tho we've been telling for many times that we are weak, and thus incapable of doing good things, as a Malay, we should denounce that notion..we should firmly stand to reject the idea of we, the Malays, cannot survive w/o the helps of government..thus, we should ask ourselves, what does really make us inferior as compared to other races? Jews, for example! logically, after the Holocaust, no one could ever imagine that they could once more rise up to the level they are today...Japanese also could be a great example for us to imitate..but, the typical sentiment in Malaysia, largely among the Malays, is that Jews are bad! why we always have to look from dark sides first? i don't understand! sepatutnya, we should learn from them!

but, before we could further discuss, we should ask ourselves one basic question: "what actually hampers us to progress?" if for me, the answer is simple..we are too content living in our complacent zone! in fact, in Malaysia, we are so blessed with too much, i think, privileges, of which sometimes i do think they are unnecessary..well, for example, simply by being a Malay, you will be granted a place in civil sector, regardless of how bad ur university grade is..and then, we complaint that our public sector is inefficient..ya lah, we already fail since the recruiting phase lagi! how could you expect it to become better as time passes by?

again, the overseas scholarship should be reviewed in very scrutinized ways..of course, the gov doesn't want to waste billions of dollars just to produce ordinary students..the expectation then should be higher..if i were the head of the government, i won't make it mandatory for the overseas bounded students to work in public sector..indeed, i would help them to build their own enterprises..thus, this might help reducing numbers of employment in malaysia..well, since i was nobody, this idea remains here, i guess! ;)

some might feel annoyed with this article..i might be labeled with many negative words! but folks, we should call a spade a spade! and as Joseph E. Stiglitz mentioned in his book, "Freefall," the great 2008 recession has begun years earlier when the Bush administration denied the possibility of bad economy in US...consequently, we have seen millions of people, not only in US, were out of jobs during the recession! hence, i wish we won't do the same mistake as Bush and his gangs did..janganlah, bila masalah umat melayu ini semakin sulit, barulah kita mula berbicara/bermuhasabah..at that time, i could say it's too late..when the damage is done, nothing could make it better! 

*Joseph E. Stiglitz is the winner of Nobel Prize in Economics!

Utusan Malaysia Online - Rencana

Utusan Malaysia Online - Rencana

Ramli Sarip & Raihan - Kau Yang Satu (ABP)

MN 10'

Malaysia Night (MN) 10' was over..and i suppose, i'm leaving this school with the greatest MN so far in history..for me, it's not about showing great performances to audience, but the messages laid behind it..and, a friend of mine, who showed up last night, was surprised with the way the night was planned..and for this, i should give credit to all 4 co-PDs and their support teams..good job, guys!

but, i guess, this was a bit new for Malaysian students in Stevens to have a big Malaysians community over here..and of course, as a large community is concerned, there should be a lots of dissent between one group with another..thus, i've seen MN as a big opportunity to keep all together, working as a big group..i really wish that the community can emerge as one strong team, with people, regardless of their beliefs or upbringings will remain unite..unity doesn't mean that we have to agree w/ one opinion, and hence to suppress our own from being heard..it's the tolerance, and consideration that do matter..

yet, typically, the after-MN-effect is what really concerning me the most..looking backwards, the record showed that people were getting closer to each others after MN..and, i wish this could once again occur for this time..again, as i mentioned above, the success of MN is not merely measured on how good performances we could deliver to the audience, yet there are the LESSONS that we learned..and, to all Malaysians community here, i wish all the best..since seniors are leaving soon (in less than 5 months), we really want to see Malaysians over here to be very successful and respected..and, as a matter of fact, MN would be my last active involvement, as i suppose all seniors would do, since i should more concentrate in my Senior Project, of which doesn't look good so far..argh, time runs so fast! ;)

fool vs genius & marketer vs engineer

a fool is someone who never learns from his mistake

a genius is someone who learns from others' mistake

engineer is pessimistic (they are trained that way)

marketing people is optimistic in nature..

engineers see the above picture as half empty glass..

marketing persons, instead, see the picture as half full glass..

so, if you marry with engineers, u should prepare urself living with pessimistic guy; u need to provide them with hard proofs if u try to convince them..i can guarantee you, it's very hard to do so! hahaha

Time

as a saying goes, "time is golden!"

i think the saying comes from the following reason:

in marketing: time is money

in economics: money is backed by gold

since philosopher is very good in combining ideas from various areas, then, i assume, they come up with the above saying: "TIME IS GOLDEN!" 

harharhar ;)

Simplicity is GENIUS!

i finally understand why simplicity is considered to be GENIUS! because, the simpler ur life is, the more time u can save..hence, u can learn a lot more than the others..making complicated things into simpler form is GENIUS! but, this surely doesn't apply for being simple-minded persons..

my saying: complicated in thoughts, but simple in action is truly genius!

Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak, guys! i hope this won't be my last time celebrating Eid in the States..the celebration here is so-so, with no families around, no lemang or ayam masak lemak, and etc..still, i enjoy the celebration here much better than i did back in Malaysia..maybe, in here, i learned that Eid should be celebrated by understanding its wisdom, rather than merely eating good foods..hence, in conjunction with this year Eidul Adha, let's change ourselves for the better..change can be done in minuscule scale; from being lazy to less lazy, from being happy-go-lucky to less happy-go-lucky..change cannot be done in a day, a year or sometimes a decade..it's a continuous process..and for some people, the process might take their whole life to complete..to drive the change, start by listing down our bad deeds, and then our plans to counter them.. ;)

honored!

last week, i have been conferred a membership for two Greek societies; as a member of Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), as well as Tau Beta Pi..the former is a honor society of Electrical & Computer Engineers..the latter, meanwhile, is the second largest engineering honor society in the States..

well, i see this as my opportunity to further develop my character, and attitude..as a saying goes, "you have to be at the right place to do the right things!" and, if God willing, i hope, i could learn something from these societies..as of now, i'm so impressed with the way they work, and attitudes; 

Nickelback - If Everyone Cared (video)

Pura-Pura Bodoh?

bodoh sombong? i'm sure everybody knows its definition..hence, i'm not interested to discuss on it..but, what about pretending to be stupid?? this is totally a reverse version of bodoh sombong, right? but, the latter is much worse..why? because these people don't want to take responsibility..typically, this group is related with all these negative attitudes, shown as follows;

"x apalah, saya tak tau nk buat nie!" 

"oh, si Y lagi bagus dlm hal nie dari saya.biarlah dia buat!"

actually, these people aren't stupid..but, they are pretending to be one..to them, YOU ARE SUCH LOSERS! 

of 5bil Menara Warisan & billions of dollars for overseas scholarship

apabila kerajaan mengumumkan cadangan pembinaaan menara 100 tingkat dalam bajet 2011, ramai yg mula menzahirkan rasa tidak puas hati..benarlah kiamat semakin dekat berdasarkan sebuah hadith Nabi dimana tanda-tanda dekatnya hari Kiamat apabila barefooted, naked, destitute herdsman competing in constructing lofty buildings!"

namun, ramai yang tersalah anggap bahawa projek ini akan dibiayai sepenuhnya oleh kerajaan..jika diteliti, in principal, PNB lah yang akan menanggung sepenuhnya kos projek ini..jadi isu bahawa pembaziran duit rakyat oleh kerajaan adalah irrelevant sama sekali..yet, based on history, we urge the government to give its utmost commitment that for whatever losses that this project might induce in the future, the gov will not interfere..in other words, the people's money won't be affected either the project fail or succeed..we don't want the PERWAJA case to be repeated twice..

anyway, selepas saja pengumuman oleh kerajaan, maka lahirlah protest2 di internet (fb page to oppose this project)..alasannya mudah sahaja; 5 billion ini mampu mendirikan berpuluh sekolah di mana ia mampu melahirkan lebih ramai insan cemerlang..nampak reasonable..tp, PNB bukanlah bertanggungjawab untuk menyediakan public goods, but to increase their investment profit..

moreover, ramai yang membantah projek ini adalah anak-anak muda, di mana ramai di antaranya adalah pelajar2..wow, this is a good sign that our youngsters are more concerned of the way our country is managed; excellent! tapi, pernahkan mereka bertanya, sejauh manakah berjayanya pelaburan oleh kerajaan dalam membiayai pelajaran mereka..apakah sumbangan mereka terhadap masyarakat selepas mereka tamat pengajian? berapa ramai yang benar2 aktif dalam usaha memperkasakan masyarakat? berapa ramai yang mana belajar hanya untuk personal survival??pernahkah mereka terfikir, mungkin di hari pembalasan nanti, mereka akan disoal oleh seluruh warganegara mengenai wang yang diperuntukkan kepada mereka? apa mereka akan jawab jika separuh wang diperuntukkan digunakan hanya untuk personal purposes..well, as i'm mentioning this, i also remind myself that i am entitled with a huge responsibility once i accepted this scholarship..saya terkesan dengan kata2 seorang teman bahawa; "mengkritik itu mudah..namun pelaksanaannya amatlah susah!" 

beauty?

beauty lies in the eyes of beholder? many would agree, but i'm gonna take different view here..

whoever does say that beauty is abstract, you guys should reconsider your view..why? because, we could actually measure one's beauty simply thru mathematical ratio called as golden ratio..to know details, click on the following link: http://www.cojoweb.com/phi.html

well, since mathematics never lie, so thus physical beauty..in other words, phy beauty can be standardized..

hence, we should correct the statement, by saying like this:

"inner beauty lies in the eyes of beholder!" only then, i would agree.. ;)

Tun Mahathir's Biography

i just finished watching the documentary of Mahathir's biography on History channel..and as a matter of fact, i'm so proud to have a great, and visionary leader, like him, in Malaysians history..for me, regardless of how disastrous policies he might have adopted throughout his premiership, that was part of being a leader: to make mistakes..yet, he's not a populist, as some current leaders are..he charted policies for the best of people's interest..and as far as i'm concerned, most of his visions were not warmly accepted by many Malaysians at the very beginning..but, as the time passed by, people started recognizing their benefits

but, i could surely say that i'm one of Mahathir's product, whom values educations and progressive more than my ancestors did..

for Tun, i pray for your well-being, and may Allah rewards you for all good deeds, and i, myself, have already forgiven you for all your mistakes.i will continue your struggle to change the Malays, so to be more progressive..but, in my own way! ;)

" I have failed to change the Malays throughout my 22 years of premiership"  - Tun Mahathir

English Pronunciation is just INSANE!

yesterday, while doing a volunteering work, i met with one old guy..he was also there so to prepare foods for homeless..so, as we were peeling potatoes, he suddenly asked me to pronounce this one word : GOTHI

well, as a non-native English speaker, i pronounced it in a way that the nons are supposed to speak..so, i pronounced GO as go, and THI as tea..and, then, he laughed at me..well, not an evil laugh, as far as i was concerned..and then, he told me that English pronunciation simple doesn't make sense..anyway, he told me the right way of pronouncing that word was as follows:

G as is enouGh

O as is wOmen

THI as is naTIon

and simply by combining the phonetic of each alphabets/words, the word sounds WAAAAAAAAYYYYY different then its spelling..oh, gosh! i never thought that English can be this difficult..anyway, there was a women, whom I called as Elizabeth (Austin girl..no wonder she likes to wear cowboy hat together with her)..she was fluent in many languages, such as Spanish, French, Italian, German, and of course English..and she reaffirmed the fact that among all the languages she has mastered so far, English is the  hardest one!  ;)

Morning Jog & Developed Nation!

aper kaitan morning jog & developed nation?? 

my morning jog:

pg td terdetik nk jog..check weather dkt luar, it was a bit daunting for me, with low temp  around 10C and it was slightly raining...tp. i decided to keep the plan on since my mind was very determined..well, quoting from one aunty i met here, " everything begins in your mind!" 

so, with harsh weather outside, i didn't expect to see many joggers outside..but, surprisingly, my expectation was way far to be true..indeed, i saw many of them were senior citizens, of which most of them were 20-25 years older than me..an of course, 1/3 of them were female..

..as a matter of fact, i jogged around a park, which is facing the NYC skylines..and of course, this was so awesome..thus, while keeping my feet running, my mind was wondering around..in fact, i was wondering, why does make this nation great?? the skyscrapers?? the people??

developed nation:

there was a debate so to argue either Malacca is now a developed state or not? to know more, check the following, and you can determine by yourself:

if you ask me, i would disagree with many elements considered by OECD so to evaluate one country's progress.. but, among all, i do agree with this one key indicator: high life expectancy..and for me, there is one way for us to achieve this standard, which is by having healthy lifestyle..

hence;

i guess, now there would be clear enough for us to see the relationship between morning jog (read as healthy lifestyle), to developed nation (read as high life expectancy)

yet,

i'm a bit disappointed when the government doesn't emphasize it on the latest 2011 budget..i think they might be so obsessed to develop first world infrastructure (which is also important so to attract investors), while ignoring the fact that the people development is much more important..here are some my suggestions that might help our people having healthy lifestyle:

1) the recreational park must be equipped with good fitness equipments..or at least, it must have regular maintenance.. (we need some money here from the gov)

2) organic foods should be subsidized, while, at the same time, tax for fast food restaurants must be increased..

3) cigarette price should be increased

4) to allocate the gov. agencies with sufficient funds so for them to carry out outdoor activities (i know, right now, we have like aerobics every week..and i think, this is a good start)

5) should be more inter-agency sport tournaments..

6) the school canteen should be regularly supervised and monitored by health department so to control the food quality

7) service-work is mandatory to all employees..

 8) and the list goes on...

p/s: all the ideas are free to be criticized..but, only the constructive criticism will be responded! ;)

???

is it true that "orang tamak selalu rugi?"  - i don't think so! haha

Halloween 2010: Math Teacher has trouble playing a video in class

why i love Stevens: reason #1

Reason #1: bcos we have a cool statue..

ain't it obvious?

the only reason for badmouthing people is to make ourselves feeling better..ain't it obvious? but, it's important for us to make a clear line between badmouthing and criticizing..for me, a good, and thus constructive criticism should have the following aspects:

• it must be based on facts, and not individual opinions (consensual opinions might be accepted)
• the pundits must provide alternatives, regardless better or worse, for every problems they mentioned
• the pundits must be humble (tawadu') in their critics..they must acknowledge that their suggestion is neither perfect nor free from any unforeseen mistakes..

i would typically and seriously consider criticisms iff they have the mentioned characteristics..otherwise, i'll "bakulsampahkan" the criticisms..and of course, i don't mind as well for people to ignore my critics if i fail to satisfy the respective conditions..