Kenyataan hidup di sebalik permainan ini

(NB. A friend sent me this article via email. It's long but it's worth reading)

Seorang guru wanita sedang bersemangat mengajarkan sesuatu kepada murid-muridnya. Ia duduk menghadap murid-muridnya. Di tangan kirinya ada kapur, di tangan kanannya ada pemadam. Guru itu berkata, "Saya ada satu permainan... Caranya begini, ditangan kiri saya ada kapur, di tangan kanan ada pemadam. Jika saya angkat kapur ini, maka berserulah "Kapur!", jika saya angkat pemadam ini, maka katalah "Pemadam!"

Murid muridnya pun mengerti dan mengikuti. Guru berganti-gantian mengangkat antara kanan dan kiri tangannya, semakin lama semakin cepat. Beberapa saat kemudian guru kembali berkata, "Baik sekarang perhatikan. Jika saya angkat kapur, maka sebutlah "Pemadam!", jika saya angkat pemadam, maka katakanlah "Kapur!". Dan diulangkan seperti tadi, tentu saja murid-murid tadi keliru dan kekok, dan sangat sukar untuk mengubahnya. Namun lambat laun, mereka sudah biasa dan tidak lagi kekok. Selang beberapa saat, permainan berhenti.

Sang guru tersenyum kepada murid-muridnya. "Murid-murid, begitulah kita umat Islam. Mulanya yang haq itu haq, yang bathil itu bathil. Kita begitu jelas membezakannya. Namun kemudian, musuh musuh kita memaksakan kepada kita dengan perbagai cara, untuk menukarkan sesuatu, dari yang haq menjadi bathil, dan sebaliknya. Pertama-tama mungkin akan sukar bagi kita menerima hal tersebut, tapi kerana terus disosialisasikan dengan cara-cara menarik oleh mereka, akhirnya lambat laun kamu akan terbiasa dengan hal itu. Dan anda mulai dapat mengikutinya. Musuh-musuh kamu tidak pernah berhenti membalik dan menukar nilai dan ketika.

"Keluar berduaan, berkasih-kasihan tidak lagi sesuatu yang pelik, Zina tidak lagi jadi persoalan, pakaian seksi menjadi hal yang lumrah, tanpa rasa malu, sex sebelum nikah menjadi suatu kebiasaan dan trend, hiburan yang asyik dan panjang sehingga melupakan yang wajib adalah biasa, materialistik kini menjadi suatu gaya hidup dan lain lain." "Semuanya sudah terbalik. Dan tanpa disedari, anda sedikit demi sedikit menerimanya tanpa rasa ia satu kesalahan dan kemaksiatan. Paham?" tanya Guru kepada murid-muridnya. "Paham cikgu..."

"Baik permainan kedua..." begitu Guru melanjutkan. "Cikgu ada Qur'an,cikgu akan letakkannya di tengah karpet. Sekarang anda berdiri diluar karpet. Permainannya adalah, bagaimana caranya mengambil Qur'an yang ada ditengah tanpa memijak karpet?" Murid-muridnya berpikir . Ada yang mencuba alternatif dengan tongkat,dan lain-lain.

Akhirnya Guru memberikan jalan keluar, digulungnya karpet, dan ia ambil Qur'an. Ia memenuhi syarat, tidak memijak karpet."Murid-murid, begitulah ummat Islam dan musuh-musuhnya...Musuh-musuh Islam tidak akan memijak-mijak anda dengan terang-terang...Kerana tentu anda akan menolaknya mentah mentah. Orang biasapun tak akan rela kalau Islam dihina dihadapan mereka. Tapi mereka akan menggulung anda perlahan-lahan dari pinggir, sehingga anda tidak sadar.

"Jika seseorang ingin membuat rumah yang kuat, maka dibina tapak yang kuat. Begitulah Islam, jika ingin kuat, maka bangunlah aqidah yang kuat. Sebaliknya, jika ingin membongkar rumah, tentu susah kalau dimulai dgn tapaknya dulu, tentu saja hiasan-hiasan dinding akan dikeluarkan dulu, kerusi dipindahkan dulu, Almari dibuang dulu satu persatu, baru rumah dihancurkan..."

"Begitulah musuh-musuh Islam menghancurkan kita. Ia tidak akan menghentam terang-terangan, tapi ia akan perlahan-lahan meletihkan anda. Mulai dari perangai anda, cara hidup, pakaian dan lain-lain, sehingga meskipun anda muslim, tapi anda telah meninggalkan ajaran Islam dan mengikuti cara yang mereka... Dan itulah yang mereka inginkan." "Ini semua adalah fenomena Ghazwul Fikri (Perang Pemikiran). Dan inilah yang dijalankan oleh musuh musuh kita... "

"Kenapa mereka tidak berani terang-terang memijak-mijak cikgu?" tanya murid- murid. "Sesungguhnya dahulu mereka terang-terang menyerang, misalnya Perang Salib, Perang Tartar, dan lain-lain. Tapi sekarang tidak lagi." "Begitulah Islam... Kalau diserang perlahan-lahan, mereka tidak akan sedar, akhirnya hancur. Tapi kalau diserang serentak terang-terangan, mereka akan bangkit serentak, baru mereka akan sadar".

"Kalau begitu, kita selesaikan pelajaran kita kali ini, dan mari kita berdoa dahulu sebelum pulang..." Matahari bersinar terik takala anak-anak itu keluar meninggalkan tempat belajar mereka dengan pikiran masing-masing di kepalanya...

UMAT ISLAM SEMAKIN MUDAH DIBELI DENGAN WANG RINGGIT, DILALAIKAN DENGAN KEINDAHAN DAN MEMUJA KESERONOKAN HIDUP, HINGGA HILANG MARUAH DAN HARGA DIRI!!

Nasi lemak oh nasi lemak....

Me and a couple of friends were discussing the topic on food cravings a few days ago. Yes it might sound lame discussing about food cravings because everyone craves for that special food every now and then... What's the big deal? Ahahh... For those whose taste buds are 100% Malay, try living in a country where 'nasi lemak' is a rare delicacy... where 'pais daging' is unheard of... What would you do when you crave for 'ikan salai cacah sambal,' 'udang masak tumis' or 'ketam kari masak kampung' but the ingredients to actually make these food are unavailable...

I was watching TV a few days ago and there was this ad saying 'NZ has the best seafood in the world' hmmm... try again... I've been here for more than 6 years but the only real 'ketam' i've seen was when I was dining in this highly expensive highly overated seafood restaurant in Dunedin. There are more fresh ketam in Brunei 'pasar'... or perhaps I wasn't looking at the right places for the 'ketam' here... anyway that's a side track.

Back to the topic of food cravings... the 3 of us agreed that when we crave for Bruneian food here, our imaginations would make it heavenly tasty. But when we are actually at home in Brunei, the food is on the table, when the taste bud finally has its satisfaction... the food that we've been craving for months and months suddenly doesn't taste like what we've imagined. It's just ordinary 'nasi lemak' after all................ But I still love and crave for the 'ketam kari' cooked by my dad ;)

Wanita dalam Islam

Rasullulah SAW bersabda:

"Dunia ini penuh perhiasan dan perhiasan yang paling indah ialah wanita yang solehah."
- (Riwayat Muslim)

"Jika seseorang wanita menunaikan solat lima waktu, berpuasa sebulan Ramadan, memelihara kehormatannya, mentaati suaminya, nescaya dia dapat masuk ke mana-mana saja pintu syurga menurut kehendaknya." - (Riwayat Imam Ahmad)

"Mana-mana isteri yang meninggal dunia, sedangkan suaminya reda kepadanya, nescaya isterinya akan masuk syurga." - (Riwayat Al-Hakim dan Tirmizi)

"Ada empat wanita mulia yang juga penghulu segala wanita di dunia; mereka itu ialah Asiah binti Muzahim, isteri Firaun; Maryam binti Imran, ibunda Isa; Khadijah binti Khuwailid, isteri Rasulullah saw dan Fatimah binti Muhammad, puteri kesayangan Baginda."
- (Riwayat Bukhari)

Just life...

Many people say 'enjoy your student life while you still can because once you start working things will be a lot different.' They claim that being a student was the best time of their life. I agree to this only to a certain extent. This is because now being in the early days of my working life, I feel less pressure compared to when I was still a medical student. Maybe my say here is biased by the fact that my current boss is very approachable, the staff here is extremely helpful and friendly, I have my own flat like I've always wanted when I was still in Dunedin... and not to forget the biggest motivation of all: $$$$ coming in every fortnightly lol.

I do feel the occasional stress especially when things get very busy. And I don't like it when I get home and ready to go to sleep, suddenly my mind is racing and my eyes wide open thinking of a patient in the ward. "Oh no I forgot to stop Mr So and so's clexane... hope he doesn't get a big bleed" etc etc...
It's so hard to believe that I've been working for 6 weeks now.

I remember how stressful and emotional I was during my last days in Dunedin before beginning my new life here in Timaru. Moving to a new place is stressful enough with all the packing I had to do... then the thought of starting work was extremely daunting. Now I realise no matter how stressful a situation can be, I'll just have to face it because once it's done, it's done!

But of course I still miss Dunedin. No matter how much I like this current flat compared to the flats I had in Dunedin, nothing can beat the memories, the experiences, friends, the culture, the supermarket, and the sense of security Dunedin have given and shared with me. Every time I go to Dunedin from anywhere in New Zealand, it feels like going back to Brunei (to a lesser extent). It feels like going home!!!... and certainly Dunedin is my second home after Brunei.

Halal fish??

I feel tired today. My day at work wasn't too bad, by 1.30pm I'd finished the day's job. In fact, it was an 'easy' day compared to the hectic ones I had for 3 days in a row just before New Year's holiday. Exactly at 4pm I went home. I had a headache so I took an early shower to refresh myself. Performed my zuhur prayer and prepared dinner. Just before 6pm, one of my friends knocked on my door... It was Erica.

"Hey Nora, would you like to join us for dinner at Sukhothai?"
"Emm, what time are you guys going?"
"Mark said 7pm"
"I don't think i'm up to it, I kinda have a headache."
"Okay, i'll just tell the guys you're not coming. Take some panadol."

When she left, I thought to myself... 'hmm maybe I should go... I'm keen to try that red curry.' So I went to knock on Mark and Ben's place... We're all neighbours, we live just a few steps from each other :)

"Hey Mark, I'll come if we go a lil bit early"
"How early do you want?"
"Emm say 6.30"
"Okay, 6.30 sounds good"

I ordered stir-fried seafood in red curry (I couldn't remember the Thai name for that dish) but it was excellent. I consider myself as a fast eater and those who are close to me especially back home in Brunei would know how good I am with food ;). Tonight was the first ever I finished last. Savouring the food slowly or these guys eat a heck faster than I am. Usually with my Bruneian friends, I finish the first lol.

Ben: "Let's go to New World (my fav. supermarket) after this"
Me: "Yeah let's go... I need to buy halal beef there which is not sold in the other supermarkets"

Mark: "Nora, does fish need to be halal as well before you could eat it?"
Me: "No."
Mark:"I thought so too, Ben wasn't so sure last time. But why is that?"
Me: "Emm maybe because fish doesn't have much blood in it compared to cows and chicken... so unlike cows and chicken, you don't need to slaughter fish in a specific way to drain most of its blood." "Besides when fish are off the water, they're dead anyway"
Mark: "Hmm true... there's no other way with fish aye. You wouldn't jump into the water and slaughter fish before they're off the water..."

I'm sure there is a better answer to the question. I realise my knowledge about Islam and its hukum is very limited. Sometimes we never thought about these kind of things until we are forced to think about it.

Bahasa melambangkan bangsa

(Perhatian: Mungkin tajuk yang membosankan untuk sesetengah pembaca ...)
Banarkah bahasa ani melambangkan bangsa? Kalau menulis ani pakai cakap melayu baku andangnya payah. Labih biasa mun pakai cakap Brunei atau cakap omputih hehe. Kalau buat karangan sekulah dulu baru pakai bahasa melayu baku. Kali ani ku kan cabar diri sendiri menulis pakai cakap Brunei, inda bolih ada satu perkataan pun omputih ;) hehehe Kan becakap pasal bahasa ani... ku setujulah, bahasa memang melambangkan bangsa. Kalau kitani becampur sama2 orang Malaysia, Singapura, Indonesia, dan Brunei... usul kitani sama, usul orang Melayu. Tapi cuba kitani becakap, barangkali sesama Melayu atu sendiri inda berapa faham kali mun cara becakapnya lain. Orang Brunei cemani bahasanya, Indonesia lain lagi bunyinya. Malaysia dan Melayu Singapura sama sedikitlah kali bunyinya. Tapi dalam Malaysia atu sendiri lagi banyak bahasa2 durang atau dialek durang. Orang utara lain bunyi durang becakap, orang Sarawak lain lagi cara bahasanya.

Tapi walaupun bahasa ani memainkan peranan yang penting dalam perhubungan kitani sesama manusia. Apa yang lagi penting ialah budi bahasa kitani. Apa guna kitani pandai 4-5 buting bahasa mun cara percakapan kitani dengan orang lain kasar dan inda menunjukkan bangsa kitani. Kitani selalu dangar lah promosi2 dalam radio kadang2 dan dari damit lagi kana bagitau orang Brunei ani tinggi budi bahasanya. Jangan saja karang sama orang atasan atau behubung dengan orang kita inda kenal lambut kitani becakap. Tapi mun sama keluarga, sama indung dan adi-beradi kasar bunyi kitani, inda mau mengalah tu. Banyak saja ni cemani ani dan kadang2 ku sendiri pun terbuat jua.

Dan lagi kitani ani luan terdedah arah bermacam2 bahasa di rumah atu. Buka saja TV macam2 rancangan... Indon, Malaysia, Inggeris, Tamil, Hindustan, Mandarin, Korea, Jipun... emm apalagi ah... tapi cuba yang meliat TV Brunei... dalam seratus buah rumah, dapat dikira dengan jari siapa yang meliat TV Brunei. Drama2 dalam TV Brunei atu banyak jualah yang memakai cakap Brunei. Akhir2 ani banyak jualah yang bisai2 dramanya, ganya ku ni jarang banar pulang meliat hehe setahun sekali ada kali lah... tapi kadang2 ada ku liat dulu luan teriak2 kasar bahasanya. Atukah imej yang kita kan liatkan arah orang luar dan jua generasi muda kitani yang orang Brunei ani becakap emosi dan kasar??? Selalunya arah sitcom2 tu... kan cali ani inda semestinya kasar.

Emm kalau ada terkasar atau tersalah cakap seribu kemaafan ku pinta. Hanya kan meluahkan apa yang di fikiran. Ku ni banyak kelemahan...

Middle Earth??

Those who watched Lord of the Ring (LOTR) trilogy would surely know what i'm talking about. In LOTR: The two towers, before the Battle of Helm's Deep, on their way to Rohan, you would notice a lot of these rock formations in the movie. When we (me, Naz, Zanna, Hana & Teo) went for a roadtrip to Central Otago in July 2006, we came across an abundance of these rock formations just before we reached the small town of Middlemarch. The first photo is one of the many photos we took that day. I borrowed the second photo from LOTR card game's fan network website

An unexpected guest ;)

What's a better way to spend the new year's holiday than playing with computer game ;) Delicious deluxe... I finally downloaded it off a bittorrent site last night... I was well into the game when suddenly, the corner of my eye caught a moving black object on the floor!!! Shocked and terrified, I let out a small scream before it finally registered in my mind that the moving black object was a fluffy black and white CAT!! The fluffy little thing managed to sneak in through the open window without my knowledge haha... or perhaps I was too engrossed playing the game... Well anyway he's a very welcomed albeit an unexpected guest. I thoroughly enjoyed his company this afternoon ;)






Meow...............