Minyak dan Khabar Angin

By Mullah

Assalamualaikum dan Alhamdulillah, penulis dapat menulis dalam blog ini, buat pertama kalinya dan sebelum ini, penulis hanya 'copy and paste' daripada simpanan koleksi artikel penulis. InsyaALLAH, penulis akan membincangkan tajuk iaitu 'Minyak dan Khabar Angin'. Dalam artikel ini, penulis merujuk kepada laman web 'National Economic Action Council' atau dikenali sebagai

NEAC dan para pembaca pun boleh merujuk kepada laman web tersebut. NEAC menyebut bahawa: -

1. Harga seliter minyak petrol RON 97 yang telah disubsidikan adalah sebanyak RM 1.92
2. Harga seliter minyak petrol RON 92 yang telah disubsidikan adalah sebanyak RM 1.88
3. Seliter diesel yang telah disubsidikan adalah bernilai RM 1.581, dan
4. Seliter 'liquifeid petroleum gas' adalah bernilai RM 1.75 dan telah disubsidikan

Harga setong minyak pun telah meningkat berkali-kali ganda. Bayangkan, harga setong mi nyak adalah USD 3.21 pada 1971 dan pada tahun 2005, ia telah mencecah harga USD 67.29. Dengan berbekalkan kepada fakta ini, mari kita meninjau berapa banyaknya keuntungan yang diperolehi oleh PETRONAS. Merujuk kepada laman web yang sama, pada tahun kewangan 2004/2005, PETRONAS telah mencatat membayar sebanyak RM 31 billion kepada Kerajaan Malaysia dalam bentuk cukai, dividen dan royalti. Pembayaran ini telah meningkat dari RM 21.3 billion pada 2003/2004 dan RM 18.6 billion pada tahun 2002/2003. Dengan pembayaran yang mencecah berbillion ringgit ini, PETRONAS telah melabur semula dalam aktiviti mencari telaga minyak yang baru, samada di dalam atau pun di luar negara, dan melakukan penyelidikan dan pembangunan (R&D) yang lebih berkesan.

Akan tetapi, menurut Saudara Salahuddin Ayub, Ketua Pemuda PAS Pusat, PETRONAS telah mengaut keuntungan yang besar. Dalam laman web rasmi Dewan Pemuda PAS Pusat, PETRONAS telah mencatat keuntungan sebanyak RM 70 billion ketika harga minyak setong bernilai USD 70 dan dengan harga setong minyak meningkat kepada USD 100, keuntungan PETRONAS akan meningkat sekali ganda iaitu kepada RM 140 billion. Persoalannya, adakah Kerajaan masih mampu mensubsidikan harga seliter minyak lagi??? Jawapannya adalah YA. Penulis telah mendengar khabar angin yang mengatakan bahawa :-

1. Harga seliter minyak akan dinaikkan sebanyak 2 kali pada tahun 2008. Kali pertama, ia akan dinaikkan kepada RM 2 seliter dan pada kali kedua, ia akan dinaikkan sebanyak 50 sen kepada RM 2.50 seliter. Jadi, kepada para pembaca sekalian, bersiap sedialah menghadapi kenaikkan harga minyak ini. Kenaikkan ini akan meningkatkan lagi kos sara diri, kos pengangkutan (perjalanan balik kampung pun akan meningkat) dan kos makanan (harga makanan pun akan meningkat), dan
2. Gaji para kakitangan kerajaan akan dinaikkan sebanyak 16% iaitu jika seorang pegawai kerajaan itu mendapat gaji sebanyak RM 2,000, gaji barunya akan bernilai RM 2,320. Kenaikkan ini akan meningkatkan lagi kos sara diri, kos pengangkutan dan kos makanan di negara kita. Kesimpulannya, pada tahun 2008 ini, Kerajaan akan meningkatkan lagi kos sara diri rakyat sebanyak 3 KALI dan adakah kita bersiap sedia menghadapinya???

Akhir kata, Kerajaan mampu menampung lagi subsidi minyak petrol, diesel dan gas asli ini, walau pun harga minyak sedunia melambung ke aras USD 100 setong. Persoalan di sini adalah di manakah perginya keuntungan PETRONAS yang bernilai berbillion-billion ringgit tersebut dan di manakah letaknya kecekapan Kerajaan Malaysia, seperti mana yang diwarwarkan oleh Pak Lah. Fikir-fikirkanlah dan sebar-sebarkanlah.........

Life is a Journey... and it's beautiful

Assalamualaikum...

Bonsoir everybody,
Comment vous-allez? Ca va? (How are you? Fine?)
Moi... Ca va. Tres Bien. (Me... fine. Very good)

Actually... i am more than fine today. In fact right now, i'm sitting in front of my laptop with a grin across my face!

The truth is i don't really know what i'm happy for, but what the heck.. Happy is happy right?!

After a lot of stress lately, this sudden changes of mood is welcomed with relieve. Laughter is the best medicine, and it can't be more true in my case this weekend...

What's better was the fact that it also brought new experiences to me, together with new knowledge and... new friends!

Okay, let me tell you a little bit about it.
It started yesterday (Saturday), when i went to the house of my good friend, Ramadhan, in Cheras. There, i met with another good friend of mine, Nasri. And very soon after that, the chain of event kinda move by itself, which then lead to one the most exciting day of my life. TODAY.

Early this morning, i made something i would never think i'd do if you ask me just a couple of weeks ago. Together with both my friends above, we went to Dataran Merdeka to join Senam Seni Malaysia! You know what is that? It was a 'senamrobik' but using Malaysian music as the background!

For those of you who already have experienced with any kind of 'senamrobik', you should know that it is really enjoyable to move your body, rhythmic with the music. When the music is in upbeat mood, you move faster and when the music comes to sentimental mood, you move in a slow motion mode..

But still, all in all, the better part is, if you do it correctly, you will be sweating all over and feel fresh afterwards. In short, you're actually exercise - which so few people give attention at - and at the same time, you can enjoy yourself.

Although i have experienced a more vigorous 'senamrobik' in the past - when i was still trying to lose my weight, hehe - today's experience still came as a pleasant surprise to me. Why? Because it actually feel close to me, which i think others can feel it too, as all the music used in the session are very well-chosen and very close to our heart. From the malay music (Hati Kama), to chinese, indian (the most enjoyable one), sumazau, tai chi and several others, we actually had listened to them since we were little...

So, in the spirit of health and enjoyment, i consent and recommend you to be involved in any kind of 'senamrobik'. InsyaAllah, you will find it very useful and make you healthier.

Back to my story, the day turns out to be even more interesting after that.

Breakfast this morning was a 2 hour affair full with sharing of so many things and all kind of interesting insights of life. The content of our discussion, let it be secret between us. But one thing for sure, the three of us has agreed on something: we have to move forward to pursue our dream! We are already in our late 20s, and if we don't start any time soon, it will be too late for us. In short, it's like a now or never situation for us.

And that leads to another event that all three of us considered as the first big step to our dreams. Thanks to Nasri, he has a friend, two years our junior, that we think can help us.

And help us he did!

Il s'appele Ridhwan et Il a sa propre entreprise. Il est aussi tres gentil.
(His name is Ridhwan and he has his own business. He is also a very nice person.)

As our conversation goes on, I learned a lot about him and his business. I would say, the excited part is, together with his good friend Humaidi, he just opened a stall at 11th college, University of Malaya, where we sat with him and had a really good conversation over an excellent meal of chicken chop and yogurt drink.

As young as he looked, i also can see the hardship and determination that mirrored across his face which just made us respect him more and more by minute.

He spoke with confidence and clarity that told us the passion he had on his business. And more than once he confide in us that his dream is to help new-and-wannabe-Malay-businessman to be successful. In my heart i applaud him loudly for his good and sacred ambitions to help our race. I even think that i also would really like to help him to help others someday... InsyaAllah.

So many input we shared together and it just made the three of us even more determine to achieve our dreams. Like what my friend Ramadhan said when we first arrived there, 'I feel like crying (of inspiring) seeing these two young guys (in achieving their dreams).

Lesson and knowledge; we can get them anywhere and anytime we want. Providing we really want to find them. I learned a lot from the events that surrounded me today, and i am very grateful to Allah to enable me to see and understand them.

Life is a journey, and the more we learn the better we are to equip and prepare ourselves to face the long and hidden road ahead of us.

May Allah be with us in that journey... and let's together make it beautiful...

Joke #1

My parents had one of those old-time rotary telephones. This drove my brother crazy. Once, he misdialled a long-distance number and had to do it all over again.

''Mum,'' he asked in frustration, ''why don't you replace this thing with a touch-tone phone?''

''If we did,'' my mother said, ''your father would never get any exercise.'' (Reader's Digest)

Unexpected.. yet effective lesson

Assalamualaikum...

It has been a while since i really write something here. It's not because I don't have time or idea to write. It was simply because recently, Allah The Merciful tested me with a major setback in some important aspect in my life. As a human and a weak servant of Allah, there are times when I crumbled with the weight in my gut. And more than often, I even lost in the stormy and unsettled feeling that churning inside my heart.

To my brother, i told him a little bit of it. But to others, i was as happy-go-lucky as the usual me in their eyes. Ah, it's okay. For me, i want to take care of my own problem without affecting other people with it.

At least that's what i thought. Until this very morning...

My boss and I, we were having breakfast in one hypermarket in Puchong when i asked him about my problem. After all, my problem has also greatly affected my work for him. So, he might as well know about it.

And no sooner than 2 seconds afterwards, i know that i've made a very good decision in telling him all about it.

Because, the first thing he did after that is slapping my shoulder once and said, "Be cool, Zahar. Relax. It's okay. In fact, it's normal to have problem like yours. You're still young (I actually flinched a little bit when he said that), and it's better you faced this kind of problem now rather than later." And that's only the beginning... And that, as i found out about an hour later, was what i really need, to ease if not overcome my problem.

My ever-positive boss, as i already know and respect him for, didn't waste time at all in telling me that the first thing i need to do is to find the bright side of my problem! "What if everything going on smoothly for you and you move 5 steps ahead only to fall 10 steps after that, because you never faced these problems before. The hikmah is, maybe Allah wants you to move slowly and learn at this stage before you can move 10 steps straight in the future!" He said.

Later he told me, "You have to remember Zahar, in everything you do in this life you have to balance between the expectations you put on yourself and your capability in achieving it. There's no question that you have to do your best in everything you do, but mind you, everyone has their own limit and it is normal to admit that maybe you have to try another way or start all over again in order to achieve what you want."

After that, he shared something really interesting according to his own observation about life. I would call that as 'driving lesson' as he used the moment you drive your car as the metaphor. But i will share about this later.

As our conversation came to an end, i still remember his last advice to me. "Don't you ever forget Zahar, whatever problems come across you, think of that as a test of Allah. There's no reason to worry if you know that we actually are nothing in this world without Him. What we have and what was taken from us, everything is Allah's doing. He knows what's best for us and we have to be 'redha' with it. Only then, you will appreciate this life as a gift and be really grateful to our Creator!"

At this word, i was subdued for a long time. Am i unconsciously has become a demanding and ungrateful servant to Allah?!
In my heart i silently asked for forgiveness and guidance from Allah. May Allah, with His vast and unlimited Rahmat and Mercy, would forgive and guide me to become His worthy and grateful servant. Ya Allah, I am weak and unworthy of Your love. Without You i'm nothing. Bless me, Ya Allah and forgive me for all my sins...

As for my boss - may Allah bless him always. I can't help but looking forward for another motivational session with him. As he always remind me, "Keep learning and improving yourself. You will never know when you will have to use your knowledge and experience in this ever-changing and challenging life."

Islam Dicemari...

By Mullah

Assalamualaikum dan Alhamdulillah, aku dapat menulis dalam koleksi artikel ini dan tajuk di atas adalah berkenaan dengan Islam. Kali ini, penulis merujuk kepada makalah terbitan Unit Penerangan Persatuan Mahasiswa Islam Universiti Malaya (PMIUM) pada 1 Februari 2008 dan bersamaan 23 Muharram 1429 H.

Makalah tersebut membicarakan keadaan Surau Kolej Tuanku Bahiyah Universiti Malaya (UM) yang telah diceroboh dan berlakunya jenayah vandalisme pada 25 Januari 2008. Vandalisme yang dilakukan dalam surau ini adalah kitab-kitab al-Quran berserakkan dan kerusi meja diterbalikkan. Perbuatan terkutuk ini tidak berhenti pada 25 Januari 2008, malahan bersambung pula pada 29 Januari 2008, di mana dinding-dinding surau diconteng dengan cat merah dan dikunci daripada menunaikan solat secara berjamaah. Siapakah dalang di sebalik peristiwa terkutuk ini??

Makalah tersebut tidak mengemukakan hipotesis tentang siapakah yang bertanggungjawab terhadap peristiwa ini dan ini telah mengajak penulis dan pembaca sekalian berfikir ‘Siapakah yang bertanggungjawab??’. Adakah pihak pelajar terlibat dalam peristiwa tersebut atau pun pihak luar atau pun kedua-dua pihak, yakni pihak pelajar dan pihak dari luar Universiti Malaya merancang melakukan perbuatan terkutuk tersebut?? Adakah ini dilakukan oleh mereka yang bukan Islam atau pun mereka yang mengaku Islam seperti puak Black Metal, yang mengamalkan amalan yang bercanggah dengan Al-Quran dan as-Sunnah seperti membakar al-Quran?? Persoalan demi persoalan timbul dari peristiwa tragis ini, yang mencuit jiwa dan perasaan mereka yang beragama Islam dan simpati kepada hak kebebasan beragama.

Ini adalah peristiwa pertama yang berlaku dalam Universiti, baik dalam atau pun di luar negara, menurut fikiran penulis. Sebagai contoh, Universiti Harvard dan Universiti Oxford, antara 3 buah universiti terbaik dunia, tidak mempunyai kejadian-kejadian yang menghina kebebasan beragama, walaupun ‘Islamophobia’di sana adalah tinggi. Malahan ‘National University of Singapore (NUS)’ dan ‘Nanyang Technological University (NTU)’ yang merupakan antara 50 buah universiti terbaik dunia, pun tidak melaporkan kejadian sedemikian, walau pun majoriti pelajar dan penduduk Singapura tidak beragama Islam. Akan tetapi, di Malaysia, di mana, penduduk majoritinya adalah Islam dan majoriti pelajar, pensyarah dan pekerja di Universiti Malaya juga adalah Islam, kejadian yang biadap ini dapat dilakukan di depan atau di belakang ‘mata’ pentadbiran Kolej Kediaman Tuanku Bahiyah. Memang pelik tetapi benar.

Penulis berasa bersyukur terhadap tindakan proaktif dan reaktif PMIUM dalam menangani masalah ini bersama-sama dengan pihak pensyarah dan pelajar Universiti Malaya (UM). Akan tetapi, pada masa yang sama, penulis berharap agar kesemua masyarakat pelajar UM bangun mengutuk peristiwa ‘hitam’ ini, yang tidak pernah berlaku sepanjang sejarah Universiti Malaya (UM). Pihak PMIUM dapat mengambil inisiatif untuk menyebarkan lagi dakwah Islam dan menyemarakkan lagi perasaan cinta kepada Islam dalam diri aktivis-aktivis PMIUM, pelajar, pensyarah dan pekerja di Universiti Malaya (UM). Sesungguhnya, peristiwa ini adalah ‘wake-up call’kepada seluruh warga pelajar Islam amnya dan PMIUM khususnya dalam usaha membawa Islam dengan lebih proaktif lagi, pada masa kini dan juga pada masa akan datang.

Kematian

By Mullah

Assalamualaikum dan Alhamdulillah, penulis dapat menulis lagi dalam artikel ini dengan tajuk yang ‘lain’ daripada yang lain iaitu tentang kematian. Penulis akan merujuk kepada kematian yang ‘sensasi’ pada bulan Januari 2008 dan InsyaALLAH, ia akan merangkumi 2 episod sahaja. Pertama sekali adalah kematian pelakon Heath Ledger pada hari Selasa 22012008 di Manhattan, New York. Laman web al-Jazeera yang bertarikh 23 Januari 2008 telah melaporkan bahawa, Heath Ledger ditemui meninggal dunia di atas katilnya dalam keadaan tidak berpakaian. Pelakon yang berusia 28 tahun ini telah berlakon dalam pelbagai filem seperti The Patriot (2000), Casanova (2003) dan filem kontroversi Brokeback Mountain (2005). (sila rujuk Wikipedia yang dikemaskinikan pada 24 Januari 2008). Heath Ledger juga telah berlakon sebagai ‘The Joker’dalam filem terbaru ‘The Dark Knight’ yang akan difilemkan pada tahun ini.

Kematian ‘sensasi’ kedua adalah berlaku di dalam negara kita. Pada hari Khamis 24 Januari 2008 yang lepas, Tan Sri Megat Junid Megat Ayub telah meninggal dunia di Pantai Medical Centre ketika berusia 65 tahun. Menurut New Straits Times edisi online yang bertarikh 24 Januari 2008, Allahyarham Tan Sri telah menghidap penyakit kanser prostat, selain penyakit buah pinggang. Allahyarham yang dilahirkan pada 8 Disember 1942 merupakan ‘orang kanan’ Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad dan telah menjadi ‘special assistant’ kepada Tun pada tahun 1975. Beliau pernah menjadi timbalan menteri selama 13 tahun dan sebagai menteri selama 4 tahun. Jawatan terakhir Allahyarham Tan Sri Megat Junid di dalam UMNO adalah sebagai Ketua Penerangan UMNO dari tahun 2000 hingga 2003. Selain daripada kematian Allahyarham Tan Sri Megat Junid Megat Ayub, negara kita juga telah kehilangan seorang peguam yang berkaliber iaitu Rizal Chris Fernando. The Star edisi online pada tarikh 20 Januari 2008 melaporkan bahawa Allahyarham telah meninggal dunia di Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) setelah menjalani pembedahan ‘triple by-pass surgery’. Keadaan Allahyarham bertambah teruk selepas pembedahan tersebut. Allahyarham Rizal Chris Fernando, adalah bekas Presiden Mahkamah Sesyen dan namanya melonjak naik selepas isu pemecatan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pada tahun 1998. Kesimpulannya, melalui 3 cerita kematian ini, kita boleh menilai sendiri dan menepuk dada kita ‘Apakah sumbangan kita sepanjang kehidupan kita ini?’. Adakah sumbangan kita sama seperti Heath Ledger dalam bidang perfileman (terbuka kepada pelbagai intrepretasi) atau pun kita telah memberi sumbangan dalam politik tanah air seperti Allahyarham Tan Sri Megat Junid Megat Ayub atau pun Allahyarham Rizal Chris Fernando?? Ataupun kita hanya duduk di rumah, melepaskan penat dan berehat di rumah, setelah bekerja seharian, tanpa memberi apa-apa sumbangan kepada sesiapa pun??? Ini adalah satu persoalan yang menarik dan terpulanglah kepada kita samada hendak memberi sumbangan, baik kepada diri sendiri, keluarga, masyarakat atau pun negara, atau pun hanya memikirkan tentang masa hadapan kita sendiri. Sesungguhnya, kita hendaklah cuba untuk menyumbangkan sesuatu, paling minima kepada orang lain, untuk menjadikan kehidupan kita lebih bermakna. Kesimpulannya, penulis mengajak diri penulis dan pembaca supaya berfikir iaitu ‘How history thought about us when we have already died????’ Jumpa lagi....

Life and Understanding

By Mullah

Assalamualaikum and Alhamdulillah, I could write in this tazkirah and also in Taman Tun, my former rented house, while I was a student. Today, Saturday 02023008, Abang Zahar, Shah and I have a chance to visit the new-opened shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, The Pavillion. We went there by car and also using public transportations, Monorail and LRT. Alhamdulillah, we reached there by 1535 like and Alhamdulillah, like a new-opened building, there are a lot of crowd, comprising local residents and also foreign tourists.

We are enjoying ourselves at the Pavillion. We listened to the performance of Chinese Performing Artists and not to forget, to visit the new-opened Tun Dr Mahathir’s bread shop, The Loaf. The Loaf at the Pavillion is the second branch, after the first shop in Langkawi. Back to the title, I choose the title after the brief visit to The Times Bookshop. Abang Zahar and I are ‘bookworms’ and in this visit, we explored in different ways. Abang Zahar was searching another section, Shah was exploring deeper into the section and I was looking for the birthday card, that is for my sister.

While I was wandering in this ‘bookish’ and ‘academic’ atmosphere, I glanced to the written walls of the Times. There are two written proverbs, that were catching my eyes and attention. First is by John Lennon that is ‘Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans’. The second proverb is by a renown Nobel Prize winner, Marie Curie. Marie Curie said ‘Nothing in Life is to be feared. It is only to be Understood’. Alhamdulillah, in this brief visit to the Times Bookshop, I had an inspiration that is to understand Life better when in this crisis time. I also tried to understand the hikmah behind in every event. In addition to that, I am also trying to understand my families , friends ,other persons and the conditions that make them up to their present conditions.

Marie Curie got it right with this proverb. I have many fears in my life. What happens if I do this, What if I work in this factory and so on. But the only right thing to do and to solve these problems are to confront it proactively and did the best that I could. Never giving up easily and always striving for a better future. As similar to Tony Fernandes, CEO of Air Asia ‘Believe the Unbelievable, Dream the Impossible and Never Take No for an Answer’. See you in the future.....

Australian Open 2008

Assalamualaikum...

Yesterday, Australian Open 2008 closed its stages, with 2 new champion emerges after 2 weeks of excellent games to beat more fancied seeded player to win the much-coveted grand slam title.
As a tennis fan, i watched with fascination how Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova beat one player after another to eventually win the trophy with USD1.2 million paycheck as the grand prize winner!
As you may already know, Australian Open is the first of 4 Grand Slam series for tennis which being held every year since more than 100 years ago (see Wikipedia). In fact, Australian Open which started in 1904 is the youngest Grand Slam series with Wimbledon being the oldest (1877) which also makes it the most prestigious of all Grand Slam.

I'm not going to bore you with all the facts about tennis and its evolution over the years until it became one of the major sports in the world now. You can find it in the Wikipedia, if you want. It is very fascinating, really...!
What i really want to talk here is what happened in these two weeks, within the heat and hype of the Australian Open. One glance, it's nothing actually, but on the second, fourth thought, i just realized how significant it was (or insignificant, depends on how you think about it).
It's about Badminton, or to be more precise, Malaysian Open and Korean Open which being held back to back, ironically, on week 1 and 2 of Australian Open.
The thing is, i just know Malaysian Open was being held at the time when one of my neighbor innocently asked me about it! Although when i think back about it, maybe i really know about Malaysian Open when there was a little coverage in the news about out top pairs crashed out of the tournament on the second round (which is not unusual at all, right?)
Really... Am i that ignorant? Although i loved tennis very much, it's not like i don't love badminton at all. Okay, maybe i'm a bit ignorant. But the real issue here is the lack of grandeur in badminton, the way tennis and other top sports in this world have. So little coverage, publicity and hype surrounding the tournament, which is very important in marketing the sport to reach out to new fan and peers.
And mind you, i still don't mention about the vast difference between the top prize of those two sports. If Novak Djokovic went home with a big fat paycheck of USD 1.2m in his pocket, Lee Chong Wei can only brought home about - please correct me if i'm wrong - USD 16k worth of grand prize winner. What a difference!
Okay, I don't know why i need to write about this. Maybe, just feeling sad about Malaysian sport in general or maybe i just want to show that we Malaysian, are always way behind the other nations in term of everything; sport, economy, oh everything, just name it...!
Or... maybe I guess i just hope we can think and do something about it. Really!!!
Bonne Chance!

AKU dan CIK NAH

By Mulah

Assalamualaikum dan Alhamdulillah, aku dapat menulis dalam tazkirah elektronik ini dan pada Hari Asyura ini, aku dapat berjumpa dengan Cik Nah, adik bongsu Ayahku yang telah lama tidak berjumpa. Cik Nah telah pergi bekerja di Kuwait pada tahun 2006 dan hampir 2 tahun tidak berjumpa dengan Cik Nah. Cik Nah datang ke Subang Jaya dengan Ayah Pa dan Cik Jah dan Alhamdulillah, aku, Kak Lin dan Emak ada di rumah ketika itu.

Yang menariknya adalah apabila Cik Nah bercerita tentang pengalamannya bekerja sebagai pereka fesyen di Kuwait. Cik Nah menceritakan bahawa 300 ‘Kuwait Dollar’atau KD adalah bersamaan dengan RM 1,200 dan itulah duit raya yang diterima oleh anak-anak kawan Cik Nah baru-baru ini. Cik Nah pun sempat melancong ke Bahrain dan Dubai sepanjang tempoh bekerjanya di Kuwait. Ada satu perkara lagi yang menarik iaitu tentang kereta. Kereta di sana rata-ratanya adalah Ferrari dan Cadillac dan Cik Nah baru terserempak dengan kereta Lumbhogerni (maaf kalau ejaan tidak betul).

Hhm.......... tak mainlah kereta Proton Saga, Toyota Camry dan Hyundai kat sana. Hahahahahahahahaha. Tentang minyak pula, Cik Nah mengatakan bahawa orang tempatan di sana mempercayai bahawa minyak akan berterusan sehingga 20,000 tahun lagi. Cik Jah tidak percaya dengan anggapan orang tempatan tersebut dan aku bersikap mendiamkan diri sahaja. Setahu aku, memang ada pendapat yang mengatakan bahawa minyak ini adalah ‘living organism’ dan ada yang berpendapat ia adalah ‘non-renewable resource’. Menurut al-Jazeera, Presiden Sarkozy, iaitu Presiden Perancis sekarang, mengatakan bahawa sumber minyak akan habis dalam jangka masa 20 hingga 40 tahun lagi dan sumber gas asli akan habis dalam jangka masa 100 tahun lagi. Jadi, aku tidak tahu nak pilih pendapat mana yang lebih ‘sahih’ dan terpulang kepada pembaca untuk membuat keputusan.

Malangnya, Cik Nah memberitahu kami yang Kuwait amat bergantung rapat kepada tentera Amerika Syarikat. Kapal-kapal tentera Amerika Syarikat kelihatan teratur di persisiran pantai Kuwait. Dengan kehadiran tentera Amerika Syarikat di sana, segelintir rakyat Kuwait, menurut Cik Nah, bersikap bodoh sombong. Raja Kuwait yang terdahulu mempunyai isteri yang tidak terhingga dan anak yang tidak terhingga ramainya. Rakyat Kuwait berkabung selama 4 hari berikutan kemangkatan Raja Kuwait. Cik Nah ada juga menceritakan tentang kaum lelaki dan perempuan Arab di sana, dan tidak ketinggalan juadah makanan di Kuwait. Itu semua, insyaALLAH, akan aku tulis pada sesi tazkirah akan datang.....Jumpa lagi.........

Joyeux Anniversaire, Mon Frere.

Assalamualaikum.

Today’s posting is specially for my brother; who, besides my family, is one of the most important person in my life. Without doubt! And I for one, can never be grateful enough to Allah for this lifetime gift to me, that more often than not, makes me feel blessed and lucky, all at the same time.

Alhamdulllah…

"A person is only complete when he has a true friend to understand him, to share all his passions and sorrows with, and to stand by his throughout his life."

The word of wisdom above is what echoed through my head right now as I search for exact words to describe my brother in this entry. Of course, if I have my way, I would’ve changed the word friend above to something more significant to me, frere or brother. Hmm, maybe I will next time, but for today, I guess that will do… for I have more important things to say here.

My brother, as far as I can recalled when I first met him back in 1996 is one of the nicest guy in our school, very well-liked and well-respected. Just name it; ‘budak surau’ or ‘budak lagha’ (like me, hehe), we can’t help but nodding our head in agreement to whatever he said. Even sometimes, when we’re in the middle of big laugh and joking around, everything will be quiet when he arrived or just passing by there… and of course, with a guilty smile on our face…!

Such is the effect of my brother to other people. And such is the quality that drawn me towards him, as we grew closer by the end of 1996.

People always asked me, how in heaven’s name we could become best friends when everybody knows that we are world apart in almost every aspect; attitude, way of thinking, personality, interest, background, et cetera… et cetera… et cetera.

But I always said: First, we are not just best friend, we are brothers… the best one. And second, all the differences that being mentioned above? That’s what make us closer and stronger as brothers! As I always said to people around me; imagine a set of puzzles, only different shape of puzzles can fit each other. Two similar shapes? Try it yourself!

Obviously, the situation in present day is way different from 12 years ago. While he is now happily married with a kid – my cute nephew, Hasif – I’m still single with just a piece of broken heart (sigh). But put it all aside, we are still very much in contact, if not closer. Being Uncle Z to his son, makes me apart of his family and I relish the new position as much as I enjoy it.

As for my brother, he’s still tough and serious as I’m still a happy-go-lucky guy. But deep in my heart, I know we will remain brothers, stronger than ever until death takes us away from this world.

That’s why today, in this column, dated 23rd of January, I would very much like to wish my brother a happy birthday, and to wish him all the happiness in this world with Allah’s blessing in whatever he is doing.

So, to the best brother in this whole wide world, Joyeux Anniversaire, Mon Frere.