Happy New Year 2007

My new year's resolution is....... to be happy!

Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha

Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha untuk semua. Semoga Allah sentiasa memberkati dan merahmati kita.

Keep the prayers going

Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. stressed that:
Only sincere prayers can change the way events unfold

and remember...

"Allah does not change a favor that He has conferred upon people until they change their own condition...” (al-Anfal: 53)

What is success?

A majority of us would think that those who have achieved their ambitions in life are the most successful and fortunate of people. Most people work hard to achieve what they want in life and usually it revolves around career and social status. Without ambition, it’s difficult for an individual to be focused in what he/she aims for in life. Without ambition, there would be very little motivation for us to strive further in life, which could result in us feeling confused about life and our direction ahead.

There are people who tend to go with the flow; they are comfortable of being ‘pushed’ along any direction life tends to offer. Nevertheless they never lack the drive to go forward towards the direction of success but probably with less passion. Then there are people who have always had a goal in mind. They work their way towards that goal no matter how difficult the path they’re choosing is going to be, they will continue in that direction. There are also people who are unable to endure the challenges, or have made the wrong choice that they have to find a different pathway to continue.

Whatever direction we’re all heading, we could never get away with difficulties and challenges, heartache and frustration. But bear in mind, it is the hardship that will eventually ‘shape’ our identity, test our maturity and perseverance.

Sometimes when things get really bad, we tend to question ourselves “why did I choose this path in the first place? Why didn’t I go for the easier ride? Will I ever make it?”
During those hard times when we have very little confidence in ourselves, pause for a while and think back to our original goal. What do we want to achieve... Think about the people who have always been there for us, people who have never stopped praying for our happiness and success. Don’t let ourselves down and don’t let these people down. React in a positive way! Accept the challenge and believe that we can do it too.

During our journey towards success, make sure we don’t become ‘slaves’ to our own goals. We must let ourselves enjoy the journey and learn from the adventure. It is the ride that actually teaches us the most about life, not the destination.

Once we’ve achieved our goal, what’s next? Make a new one! :) In my opinion, success is when we’ve achieved happiness. And… happiness is when we are able to share the joy of our success with those people who meant the world to us.

What's for lunch? ;P

French fries, squid rings, pizza and iced milo for lunch... sounds nice huh? ;) I made the pizza myself and turned out i didn't even eat it. Why is it when we put so much effort into cooking something, at the end of the day when it's cooked, we don't have the appetite to eat it anymore?? Especially when we're eating alone...

Shall we toss the coin?

Choices... Decisions... Everyone wants to do the right thing, everyone wants the best to happen. Everyone desires happy outcome in every situation. However we must realise that we live in the real world, not a world of fantasy. We live in a world where wrong decisions have their consequences, where happy outcome is sometimes non-existence. We live in a world where you have to lose something in order to gain something, where hearts and promises sometimes may have to be broken in pursue of the right decision.

Someone once told me not so long ago that if we are faced with difficult decisions and we're not sure which one is the best for us, toss a coin. If after the first toss you're not satisfied and wanted another try, then you know deep down in your heart, you've always wanted the other choice. Sometimes it's really difficult to rationalise why we choose one over the other. Sometimes it seems so obvious why we should choose something over the other but despite this, our heart feels so heavy to go ahead with the choice. Brain and heart might not work hand and hand in many situations.

It's easy to say 'just go with the flow, let the future unfolds itself'. One day we just have to choose one. Maybe deep down in our heart, we've already made the choice but it's just so difficult to let it out in the open. Or maybe it's just still very hazy and waiting for the clouds to clear away so that the answer will be crystal clear. Shall we just follow our heart?? Or shall we sacrifice our happiness for the sake of others??

Islam has an answer for this. It's just a matter of how sincere we are in our actions. Solat Istikharah is Allah's gift for Muslims in choosing difficult situations, bearing in mind our heart must be pure and sincere in asking for Allah's direction. Islam says: if after few repeated solats, we are very incline towards a decision, stick to it because that might be what Allah has chosen for us. What's best for us might not be what we've always wanted and Allah knows best.

Lightning splits the sky

I would like to share a poem i wrote about 3 years ago...

Lightning splits the sky
Thunder shakes the earth
The heart is crying
Over the knotty circumstances

Thunder shakes the earth
Water then showers the land
Over the knotty circumstances
Honesty and prejudice battle each other

Water then showers the land
Washing away the exuberance
Honesty and prejudice battle each other
Victory must go to honesty

Washing away the exuberance
Black curtains blanketing hope
Victory must go to honesty
As prejudice undermines respect

Black curtains blanketing hope
But look within, the candle is still burning
As prejudice undermines respect
Let honesty returns the pride

But look within, the candle is still burning
The inner strength never dies
Let honesty returns the pride
Let trust causes the sun to rise

The inner strength never dies
The lesson is to grasp hope tightly
Let trust causes the sun to rise
Lightning splits the sky.

By Nora

The graduation...

As expected, it was one of the happiest moments in my life. And..... happiest moments in life can only be meaningful if we share it with people we love. Celebrating my graduation and sharing the joy of the day with mama, babah, and my youngest brother was more than i could have ever asked for. Special thanks to mama and babah for being there for me all along, and thanks for being able to make it to the biggest day of my academic life. And thanks also to family, friends and relatives who have supported me all these while from near and far.

It's funny that the years of waiting and hard work all came down to that one day and the piece of paper saying i've achieved what i've dreamt of. However graduating isn't the end, in fact it's the beginning of a whole new journey...

Too cold... brrrrr

During my parents and brother's visit to NZ, I brought them around. We drove to Timaru and Christchurch, and back to Dunedin. Mostly for sight seeing rather than shopping. We had a great time. Amazing time!! However my parents decided that the weather especially in Dunedin was too cold for them hehehe... it hasn't been a good summer so far though in terms of the weather. I must admit myself the weather could still be 'wintery' in Dunedin even at this time of the year.

In Chrischurch we went punting in the park, in Timaru we visited the Rose Garden, and in Dunedin we enjoyed feeding the hungry ducks in the botanical garden haha... We also visited lots of other places and overall my family enjoyed it here. I was quite sad though when they went back, really wish i could go home with them. However i'm sure time flies by very fast...as a lovely old lady whom i met in a bus ride from Dunedin to Timaru told me last week ''the 12 months period will pass by like a blink of an eye.''

The grand arrival.... ;)

I've just come back to work yesterday after a week's leave. A very special week... when my parents and youngest brother for the first time came to visit me here in NZ. They came all the way from Brunei to attend a very special event: my graduation :) Anyway before they came i made some preparations mainly cooking coz i knew they would be starving from the long long flight to Dunedin. I also hired a car especially for them... a good time to finally use my international driving license ;) Having said that... i've never driven in NZ before... and the last time i drove was back in August when i was home in Brunei. I hired a black sporty Mazda...very cute.. My heart was pounding like mad when i first drove the car. I was so scared hehe... and i managed to get a $40 ticket for parking that car in an unauthorised parking area just a few hours after i hired it!!! So unlucky!!! Getting a speeding ticket is probably more like me... but a parking ticket??!!! Tsk tsk.. Anyway when it's time to pick my family up from the airport, i drove the car ever so slowly (so very NOT like me...and my heart was pounding crazily all the way, i was so scared driving for the first time in NZ)... I was a bit late when i arrived at the airport... i parked the car far away from the airport main entrance. Then i went to find them... when i finally found my family, they were busily getting their luggage at baggage claim! No wonder they didn't turn up at the gate where i was waiting... they were at baggage claim already... haha... maybe i was too slow for them... I felt so happy to finally meet my parents here in Dunedin... I had waited 6 years for that moment to come. I confidently told them i would bring them to my place using a car ;) but that confidence was ruined when i had a hard time trying to find the car because i didn't remember where i parked it and i had no idea what the plate number was (i hadn't had the chance to really look at the car yet u see hehe)... all i knew it was mazda and it was black haha... but of course i found it in the end and way we went to my flat. When my dad sat next to me in the car, my confidence level rose significantly and i drove the car like i usually drove back in Brunei...with extra care of course ;)