I would like to write more...

I would like to write more... but I have so much to do... and so little time...

And yet... I've not started studying... Screwed... sigh...

Interesting quote for the day:
"Time and tide waits for no man"
If only time will wait...

Things to buy and do

Things to buy:
- shoe bag. Adidas, no doubt
- thumb drive
- earphones
- dri-fit / climacool shirt... maybe not
- slippers, suitable for daily school usage

Things to do:
- publicity for Mega Karnival, it's 14-16 March everyone!
- study for CM1131
- watch movie: Leap years? L Change the World?

Anyone wanna join me?

Interesting quote for the day:
"I'm not perfect, but some parts of me are pretty awesome"
-Seen on a t-shirt worn by a girl. I was laughing. Haha.

Dude, where's my wallet?

An alternative title for this entry: "24"

Okay, yesterday I lost my wallet. I realised it when I was making my way to shower at YIH from gym training. Was walking with Syed while carrying my laptop and clothes then I realised, why is it a bit light?

I checked the pockets of my jeans and I realised my wallet was missing. But I was calm. I put down my stuff and checked my bag. Not there. Asked Syed to look after my stuff for a while. My first thought was: My jeans pocket is abit shallow, so the wallet can easily drop out. Where can it drop out? Went back to the gym and searched the place. Not there. Traced my steps to the toilet where I changed... Not there. My wallet dropped out while I was changing before. I did not panic Alhamdulillah. I think all the mental training of "The first step to a problem is not to worry about it" did turn out well. Went back and forth 3 times and Syed even helped me. Matric card... Ez-link card... $80... family picture... okay that's all that's important inside my wallet.

So we tried to find a security office near the area. Didn't know where. I called the Campus Security line and the person directed me to the Lost and Found line. But no one picked up. It was past 5:30... So the office maybe closed. I was like thinking... how do I go home? Oh yes, I have coins what. Oh wait, the coins are in my wallet. Haha. Stupid moment. I had my ATM card with me. Alhamdulillah. I separated my ATM card from my wallet in case I lose my wallet. True enough, it kinda became a self-fulfilling prophecy. And no, I don't carry my IC around.

Tawakal. Maybe this is balasan for my previous dosa-dosa. Hopefully I'll be forgiven. So we went to YIH where I found out from Aizat that the Lost And Found Centre is at the Student Services Centre. Went there but it was closed. Never mind. Kalau tak dapat, takper. Then I began looking at the bright side of things:
- I could have lost more expensive things: my laptop, my PSP, my camera, the watch my mom gave me. So yeah, the wallet is small compared to any of that.
- I could have lost my dignity, or my memory, or myself. Okay, not funny.
- Hey, I can finally use the new wallet I got for my birthday 2 years ago.
- Learn that separating my ATM card and wallet is indeed a good idea. Alhamdulillah.

Had Mega Karnival meeting. After which, I went back home with Khairi and her two friends from NP, Taufik and Bilal. Khairi lent me her spare Ez-link card. Thanks, owe you one.

The next morning, which is this morning, I wanted to call the office again. But since I had lab from 9-12, I couldn't. I called after I finished my experiments. They said since my matric card was inside, if they find it, they would email me. So I just have to wait for the email. No email.

After SEA lecture, I went to Central Library to print my lab report. Borrowed Amirah's card to get in. After printing the notes, I was about to go out of the library when I thought: Why not I check with them here... Talked to the reception lady who asked me to go to counter 4 inside. But I told her I couldn't cos I don't have my card. Hehe, she let me in and I proceeded there. Apparently there was a Lost And Found display and there I saw it... my wallet, with a note tied to it "Reference Section, Level 5. 21/02/2008"
I went to study there before I went to gym yesterday. ALHAMDULILLAH.
The librarian that return it to me asked, "Why so careless?". With an embarassed smile, I replied, "At least I get a second chance". Haha, was so happy. Alhamdulillah. I really thought I had my wallet all the way when I went for gym.

To the person who returned my wallet to the appropriate people, THANK YOU! Owe you one, whoever you are. Karma does go around so hopefully it'll reach you!

There you have it. about 24 hours without my wallet. So morals of the story:
1) Never assume the scenario until all the possiblities have been considered. Like me, I only narrowed my mind to the possibility of dropping my wallet while I was changing.
2) Usaha dulu, baru tawakal. Next time, in any situation I shall try my best to solve the problem from all angles before tawakal.

Interesting quote for the day:
"You don't know how much something means to you until you lose it."
This is a cliche line with variations so I dunno who actually said/wrote it. Of course, this quote applies beyond physical and material losses... Treasure your family and friends before you lose them or you leave them...

Happy Birthday to Zikri!

Today is the 8th Birthday of my youngest brother, Zikri! May he grow up to be a good Muslim and a good son. Oh yah, and a good brother too. Amin.

Well he got what he wished for which are Transformers figures. 5 of them!You know, the toy robots that can transform to vehicles which Universal then based their movie upon. Actually they are something that I would like for myself too. Haha, I just like forming and manipulating stuff. Explains why I love origami, Lego, Power Ranger Zords, mechanic work and basically any other thing that involves fixing and making form. But no, that does not include Bob the Builder cartoon series. Yes we can!

So yeah, I have an excuse to play with them. I had silat so I reached home late. Going back by 963 is not a bad idea. Got to know that Taufik and Din lived in Woodlands too. So the gift-giving was already done and the excited Zikri wanted to transform all of them. Hehe, my father and elder bro couldn't transform Optimus Prime fully but I could. Alhamdulillah. Hehe, they were actually waiting for me to come back cos they kinda knew I would be able to do it. Nice to feel reliable. Yes, even if it is just about transforming a toy robot.

I feel like skipping classes tomorrow. Tired. Haha, I shall write a backdated entry about meeting my JC tutors, Mdm Ong and Mr Akshir.

CM1131 is killing me.

Interesting quote for the day:
"It's more than meets the eye... with you"
- Sam Witwicky, played by Shia LaBeouf in the Transformers movie.
A cheesy line he said to court the girl that obviously is in the script cos it makes use of one of the Transformers slogan.

What will my story be?

Just a short entry.

My family just received the DVD which contains a short video of my abang nikah and sanding. There was even an interview of my bro and Kak Artina. The interview was held a few weeks before the nikah.

It was sweet and interesting. The questions were like:
- What most attracts you to him/her?
- How did you two meet?
- How did you fall in love?
- How many children?

Looking at their smiles and answers to the questions, I can see they really are made for each other. Takdir, Alhamdulillah. I find it especially sweet when they answered how they met and fell in love. Hehe. Sure to be a nice thing to tell the children. Maximum 3, you say? Haha!

Then it got me thinking... What will my story be? Wouldn't it be nice to have a nice story of how you met your soulmate to tell your children. Haha, I'm a romantic at heart. A sucker for love stories and sad songs. And I hope my love story will be a touching one. A story which makes people go "aww... sweet..."
*snap back to reality*
Well, for now I can only dream... Haha, I don't even have the cover page of my love story and already I'm thinking of the story to be a sweet one.
To my future love story, whoever Allah takdirkan for me, I'm not perfect and I hope you'll accept me. I'll be the sunshine to brighten your day. And I'll be the moonlight to guide you through your darkest times. Oops... terjiwang sekejap.

Interesting quote for the day:
"I don't know who you are but I'm with you"
- lyrics from the song "I'm with you" by Avril Lavigne.

That 'special' day

Seumur hidup aku... ini yang pertama... (All my life... this is the first time...)
...
...
...
that I receive gifts on Valentine's day. No no, they were not from admirers. It's from friends who give gifts to all their friends, treating the day like Friendship Day. Really, it's my first time getting gifts on this supposed day of love. Guys don't give gifts to other guys... it's just wrong. Yet another social construct. I got Rocher from Michelle, muffin from Sarah, chocolate from Khairi and my all-time-favourite: brownie from Nani. Thanks to everyone!

On the Tuesday before Valentine's Day, NUS MS had the Intelligentsia Discussion on "Gender Relations". Aptly titled and timed, in my opinion. Had some interesting points that were raised. Learnt about Nikah Gantung which is a Malay adaptation to Nikah Mithiar (unsure of spelling). There were many questions raised but not many answers were given. So, I came out abit disappointed from the discussion.

The question that most interest me was:
Is nikah gantung a good alternative to address the issue of dating?
So here's my take on it. Somehow I get a feeling I may be flamed for this. Nikah gantung works like this: The man and woman undergo nikah or the solemnisation of marriage while both families agree that the man need not give nafkah to the wife and that he can be away from his wife. Both of these actions can result in talak so this agreement prevents that. So this makes the man and woman officially husband and wife but they live in separate homes. Dating will be halal cos they already nikah. And when the time comes when the man can support himself and his wife, the agreement can be changed and he will be a 'true' husband: fulfilling all his roles.

Sounds nice and dandy isn't it? The reason why we are even considering nikah gantung is because we want to be able to choose our life partner. We want to get to know the person better before making the decision to marry him/her. This usually involves dating; which is strongly debated to be haram cos it may lead to zina. Yes, we cannot generalise that all relationships lead to that but take it as a safety precaution. Like the facilitator pointed out, we all want to be the best Muslim that we can be. We want to act within our religion to the best of our ability and not get kemungkaran Allah. That's why we are having this discussion in the first place. To be a better Muslim. So isn't it good that a couple nikah gantung so that they can date without worrying?

But... what if things don't work out? Are they gonna divorce? Yes sadly, that can be the result. Let's face it, we've seen relationships break up after 4 years or 2 years or even 6 months. Moreover, even married couples can divorce in those same time scales. So what, a couple that nikah gantung and finds that the person isn't the one is just gonna divorce? Sesungguhnya antara benda yang halal tetapi Allah tidak suka ialah talak. So are we gonna let people nikah gantung, divorce, nikah gantung again with another person, divorce and nikah gantung again until they find the right one? I may be exaggerating but this can be a reality. There are people with many ex-girlfriends or ex-boyfriends. Divorce will then be taken lightly or worse, the nikah is taken lightly. If it is just so that the couple can go out on dates and hold hands, then it's not worth it in my opnion.

Ultimately, the couple that wants to nikah, be it gantung or not, has to be ready to be committed to each other. I quote from somewhere, "In a relationship, commitment means to stay true to the person even though a better person might come along." So is the couple ready to make this kind of commitment? If so, by all means. As much as we want to avoid zina, we must avoid talak and divorce too. And there can be other ways to get to know a person without dating. So far, I can only think of MSN. You can get to know a person through online conversations, really. Of course, you won't know how the person behaves outside and how he/she treats others if you don't see the person, but hey, it's a start. And I heard it's possible to have a relationship without dating: talk online or phone, share thoughts and problems, send gifts via snail-mail. Or, you can date with that person and you bring someone along, like your siblings or parents. That'll be cool.

In sum, nikah gantung is only a good choice if the couple is mature and ready to commit to each other. In all that you do, let your conscience guide you. Cos the ability to tell right from wrong is inherent. And you get dosa only if you know that's it's wrong, but you still do it. That's why those who do things unknowingly are pardoned. So if you are 'was-was' or unsettled as to whether it is right or wrong, leave it. Better to be on the safe side.

Well these are just my thoughts. Not preaching and not criticising, just writing my thoughts. I apologise for any mistakes. I am only human and Allah is Most Knowing. Wallah Wa'alam.

The Start of Something New

Assalamu'alaikum to all. Peace be upon you.

Here's the entry about my bro's wedding. Cos I don't think the previous entry does justice to such an important, significant event in my life. Sorry for the rather delayed entry... Right now, it still kinda feels unreal that I do have a new sister-in-law. It's like a fairytale... love in JC, stayed strong for 9 years and finally tied the knot. 9 years, fuyoh. Alhamdulillah. Congrats once again to my abang Firdaus and his lovely wife, Artina.

2/2/08, Saturday

So it begins. The day of the nikah. The date is significant cos my parents nikah on the 2nd of Feb. And... Kak Artina's parents nikah on the 2nd of Feb too. So it's uber-cool that they are also going to nikah on the 2nd of Feb! Preparations already began in the morning. Everything is being set up downstairs. Not at my block 237 but at 235 cos there's not much space at my void deck due to the Resident's Corner. Helped out in the setting of the tables and chairs. Jiwa Logistics. Changed to baju kurung around Zuhur cos my abang is gonna go for akad nikah!

That's me and the king for the day

Look at all the barang hantaran

Akad Nikah. One time good one.

Isn't that sweet?

I think the line that we have to say for akad nikah is the second hardest line we have to say in our life... The hardest being 'La illaha Ilallah' before we die. After the akad nikah, I went back and changed out. It's time to wash plates! Guests are already arriving. There were so many of them! We (me and my cousins) worked until 11:30pm! The first time that I see the majlis last so long on a Saturday. Was getting stressed but for my abang, I shall not complain and keep working. Slept around 12:30am. Tomorrow is the even bigger day. Rather... today cos it is past midnight..

3/2/2008, Sunday

In the morning, went to wash plates again. It's fun when you wash plates with your closest cousins. Kecoh.

The unsung heroes

After I barely started, it was already noon. The Kompang Guys were already there. Nice to see faces of old friends. My abang is leaving to fetch the bride at 12:30pm. Which means I have to get dressed nicely so that when he comes back to sanding, I won't be in my wet trousers and shirt when taking pictures. Entertained the guests, meeting old acquaintances. Fairus brought an American girl, Tasha to the wedding cos she's taking Malay Studies and wanted to learn about our culture. My bro and wife were supposed to arrive at 2:30 but they came after 3, kesian that some of his Chinese friends and other old frens waited long for him. Well, can't be helped.

The kompang guys(posing nyanyi)

The main attraction

My family. Notice that my parents on the pelamin.
It's like their 28th Anniversary

Well, I did silat pengantin for my bro. Nervous gila... It was kinda weird to do it while going up the steps and onto the narrow runway. But everyone said it's nice. Alhamdulillah. Zuraimi's one is superb! After phototaking, back to washing plates and it basically went smoothly from then on. My bro went for his honeymoon during the Chinese New Year holidays to Bintan. I rarely see him nowadays cos he's staying over at the in-laws. All the best to him. Amin.

Interesting quote for the day:
"You complete me" - Tom Cruise in the movie, Jerry Maguire

Congrats to my bro and wife

Alhamdulillah, my abang just got married. Yesterday nikah. one time good one. And today sanding. All went well. Not perfect but well. Alhamdulillah. It's tiring for me but it was worth it. Screwed up abit in my silat pengantin debut but nvm... I'll learn.

I would want to write more but I'm just too tired. Gonna sleep now... what would I give for a backrub and massage...

Interesting quote for the day:
"All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing"
- adapted from the National Treasure movie. I can't remember the exact quote.