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Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Self-'talk'

In my 20-september entry, I shared a little bit about how I sometimes 'see' visions and 'hear' voices. Based on those weird encounters, I had actually prepared a humourous speech for my Toastmasters speech contest some time ago. Here it is (shorter edition):

Imagine two friends are having a conversation. Tom is asking Jerry for help. Jerry seems to be listening but actually, he's quietly thinking about a movie he had just watched. Have you ever been in a similar situation just like Jerry where your mind suddenly just wanders off?

What happens to Jerry happens to all of us. If only there were a special microphone that could amplify our thoughts, they would be deciphered as spoken words right?

A bizarre incident happened to me one Monday morning. I was on my way to work by taking the LRT. As there were no more seats, I had to stand up. I noticed there was a young lady sitting in front of me. She was humming rather happily and loudly. At first, I was thinking how could she be so oblivious about her humming and let other people hear her. But what I didn't realise was, I was actually listening to her thoughts, until she finally 'said' something to herself, "Hey! that pink gum stuck on the floor reminds me of the pink dress that Romeo bought me the other day. I really love that dress, just as much as I love Romeo....oopsss...that lady just stepped on the gum. Wait lady! Don't leave yet....ahh...never mind."

I had the biggest shock of my life to realise that her lips weren't moving at all. Yet, I could hear very clearly what went on inside her head. I started to look around, wondering if this was a Twillight Zone instead. Then, I saw a man standing not far from me. Not being able to resist, I 'heard' him reading his book, "Harry Potter Jr clambered up the broom and steered it upwards. He literally swept across the sky. From above, he saw his father, the Sr. waving at him.............Gosh, this is the fifth time I'm reading this paragraph. Why can't I concentrate? I guess I just pretend that I'm still reading then. Surely other people wish they could get hold of this book, Harry Potter Jr and The Sky Came Tumbling Down, which is not available here yet. After all, I can set a good example to these people, that reading is a much better thing to do than just staring at a gum stuck on the floor."

During a Toastmaster meeting that evening, I had a similar encounter. A fellow member, Ms. Drew More kept looking at her watch while another member was giving his speech. She was playing with her fingers as though they were a spider crawling on the table. Then she sang in her head, "Itsy bitsy spider, come on just wrap it up. Hello Mr Speaker, don't you know your time is up? Wait a minute, did he just say the word conundrum again? Wow, this is the 7th time he uses the word. He sure has good vocabularies eh?"

That night, I got the chance to watch the 'extended' version of the Titanic movie, as in I could even hear the voices inside the actors' heard while they were acting. In one scene, the hero was saying something to the heroine. Then, she suddenly thought to herself, "Your breath stinks like garbage. And stop spitting on my face while you talk....gross! Luckily I get to wipe off my cheek pretending I am crying.......dirt bag!!"

Before I conclude my speech, just for the record, all the characters I had mentioned are fictitious. Any similarity with anybody is purely coincidental. Well, the characters may be fictitious, but how about my ability of hearing people's thoughts. I leave it to you to decide....and to Mrs. Contest Chairlady, thank you for admiring my tie a minute ago.

© Copyright Abdun N.A. - February 2004, Malaysia

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posted by The Pisces Man @ 5:44 pm 6 people talked at The Boulevard

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

"Plan Your Flight", Don't Take The "Red Eye" (no spoilers!)

When an airplane loses pressure, that is not a good thing. But what happens when there's too much pressure?

I remember in 1998, Hollywood produced two movies of the same genre within that same particular year. Both Armageddon and Deep Impact were movies about meteors heading towards earth. Then, Saving Private Ryan was released five months before Thin Red Line.

This year, we see two movies about two women losing their minds while taking their flights. Not because they are afraid of flying, but because the first woman has a psychopath sitting next to her, threatening her with her father's life if she doesn't cooperate in his assasination plot. While another woman loses her 6-year-old daughter in the 2-storey plane and nobody, not other passengers or even the flight crew, seems to have seen her at all.

In Red Eye, the movie follows the journey of Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams of Mean Girls) to Miami after attending her grandmother's funeral. She stumbles upon Jackson (Cillian Murphy of 28 Days Later and Batman Begins) while waiting for her 'very delayed flight'. To her surprise, Jackson happens to be her seat-mate. But can it be just a coincidence or perhaps Jackson is stalking her?

Jackson menacingly reveals the real reason he's on board and why he is on to her. He is an operative in a plot to kill a rich and powerful minister, and Lisa is the key to its success. If she refuses to cooperate, a hired killer (who is waiting outside her home) awaiting a call from Jackson will kill her father.

In order to help Jackson carries out the plan, Lisa who works as a Manager at a renowned hotel must arrange for the minister to change his hotel room. Trapped at 30 000 feet, where can Lisa run and summon help without endangering her father, her fellow passengers and her own life?

This is an engaging thriller! Watch how Lisa desperately tries to figure out her escape from Jackson's clutch, save her father and at the same time warn the minister and foil the plot. Also, witness how Jackson's character changes from a sweet-talking gentleman to a sadistic and merciless terrorist.

Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy are perfect! They have the talents and the looks to keep you glued to the screen. Both share the chemistry as two strangers who initially seem to be attracted to each other and within minutes, trying to hurt one another. As for Wes Craven, he skips his usual cliché of directing horror movies. But, his ability to make us suspense is still apparent even though the actors are within the confines of a jet.

In Flightplan, we get to see Jodie Foster (Kyle Pratt) springs into action after a 3-year hiatus (her last movie was Panic Room). Ms. Foster is amazing as a mother who frantically looks for her daughter (Julia Pratt) who is missing during a flight. As ridiculous and impossible as it may sound, the state-of-the-art E-474 aircraft is huge and has two storeys, making it rather impossible for other passengers and the flight crew to recall ever having seen her.

Situation turns to worse when her daughter's name is not registered as one of the passengers. Also, a morgue in Berlin confirms that her daughter is dead and that Kyle is bringing Julia home to the US to be buried. She (and the rest of the passengers and flight crew) starts to question her own sanity. But it doesn't take long for Kyle to regain her strength and mind, to realise that the body in the coffin is her husband's and that Julia is very much alive (and still missing). Now, all she has to do is to find Julia quick before the plane touches down or risk losing her forever. At the same time, she has to figure out who and why someone would hide her daughter at 37 000 feet.

The storyline is interesting and creative (if not original). This is definitely one of the best movies in 2005. Jodie Foster gives her engaging performance especially during the scene when she starts to believe that Julia may have already been dead. However, the part about the two Arab men being accused by Kyle of kidnapping Julia is a bit improper. Although it turns out that they have nothing to do with Julia's disappearance and one of the Arabs makes amends with Kyle in the end, I still find it to be a rather sensitive issue to touch on during these sensitive times.

All in all and putting that aside, go watch Flightplan as you won't regret it...

posted by The Pisces Man @ 11:58 pm 3 people talked at The Boulevard

Monday, September 26, 2005

Disturbing....

The following is the email that I wrote a few weeks ago, mainly to warn my families and friends about this group called Sisters In Islam (SIS). The group claims that it fights for human rights (among other things) in the name of Islam. But the truth is, most of the time, they have their own agenda and by fighting for it, they get what they need (which usually contradicts with the true teachings of Islam).
When I sent the email, I also copied it to the group itself, government agencies (including the Prime Minister) and newspapers (including religion gurus of some of the newspapers). My email basically touched on a letter written by SIS, which was published in The Sun paper. I don't intend to enclose their letter here, as I don't want its content to further poison more readers.
A few government officials did reply to my email, expressing their concerns over the group's movement. But SIS never did say anything back, which really explains who they are and where they stand. Otherwise, they would fight for their 'rights' and 'truths' to the end.
Here's my email:
"I would like to refer to a letter published in The Sun newspaper on Wednesday, 03 August 2005. The letter was written by Masjaliza Hamzah (the author) who clearly stated it was sent on behalf of Sisters in Islam (SIS). The letter touches slightly on the issue of Ayah Pin and largely on the freedom of religion. Before I elaborate further, let me clarify that I am NOT going to discuss about Ayah Pin and his movements since I am not qualified to label anyone as ‘sesat’. Further, I am not an ‘alim’ person; I have many flaws and Allah knows the many sins that I have committed. But I do know one thing – that if we are not sure about a particular matter or our knowledge is NOT deep enough, especially on Islamic issues, it is best if we keep quiet.
In the enclosed letter, the author quotes several verses of Al Qur’an to ‘so-called’ support her points. I don’t know whether SIS has intranet or some kind of internal search engine, where upon typing keywords such as “freedom in religion”, those verses come out. But it does seem to me that the author has shallow knowledge about Islam (just like many other Muslims including me) and that she is NOT qualified to compose the letter, let alone send it to a newspaper to be published.
In the eleventh paragraph (first paragraph, third column), I find it very disturbing, when she questions “How can religious authorities and Muslims demand that those wishing to convert to Islam should have all the freedom to do so, and at the same time, deny this freedom to Muslims who wish to leave their faith or believe otherwise”. She also says that, “Followers of unorthodox beliefs should be treated with respect and dignity. Unless they (Ayah Pin’s followers) resort to violence, there is no basis to claim they are a threat to the rule of law, let alone our nation’s security.”
It is true that no one can be compelled to embrace Islam, but those who have, cannot turn their back against Islam and Allah. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, those who ‘murtad’ are punishable by death, although of course there are many stages and procedures to go through, before reaching this final resort. Like I said, I am NO expert about Islam and therefore, I should say no more about this particular matter.
She also questions about human rights issue when Ayah Pin’s followers are detained and separated from their families. It is true that the sensible path should be through education and dialogue. But I am sure that is what religious authorities and government are doing in the duration of their detention, after all other efforts have failed.
It is understandable to defend and fight for human rights, when we are oppressed by another group of people or humans impose rules that unfairly restrict our freedom. However, when it comes to boundaries, rules and regulations as imposed by Allah, the boundaries, rules and regulations are there to safeguard us. They are there for good reasons that we humans may not understand them (yet). And these are the rules that we should never argue and fight against.
Each one of us Muslims has the responsibility of‘dakwah’ whether towards non-Muslims or other Muslims.We can take this ‘dakwah’ very seriously, that is by actively inviting (not forcing) people to follow the path of Allah and Nabi Muhammad, or we can do so quietly/indirectly by setting good examples for non-Muslims to follow and at the same time reminding our Muslim brothers and sisters to stay true to the path.
I would like to ask SIS whether they would also keep quiet and turn a blind eye when their Muslim brothers and sisters are committing sins like ‘zina’, gambling or drinking liquor just because they (the sinners) do so quietly and pose no threat to the nation’ssecurity? Would you uphold our religion or protect their human rights instead? Also, so many of our Muslim brothers and sisters are being killed, maimed and tortured in other parts of the world over the course of many years. Thousands of Muslim’s lives are lost every month, if not every day. Do you really want our numbers to keep dwindling by letting a group of people gone astray from Islam, just because you are concerned about their rights? Obviously, you don’t care about their lives, now and the next. But at the same time, you yourself acknowledge in your letter that, and I quote, “Islam began by inviting and persuading peopleto embrace it on the merit of its rationality and truth”.
The fact that your letter was published by The Sun is another disturbing factor. The English daily is read by large groups of people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, which may lead to these consequences;
1) Muslims, especially those with shallow knowledgeabout their religion like the youngsters (although I’m not targeting them alone), may start to think, it is all right to leave their faith behind, if not openly,quietly.
2) Non-Muslims may want to ‘try out’ what Islam is all about. Should they see Islam as unfit to their lifestyle, they can simply leave the faith, since they think Islam also ‘recognises the freedom of religion.’
Maybe the author or even the members of SIS themselves don’t really mind and care if someone close to them decides to leave Islam and their ‘iman’ behind. But I on the other hand would be very devastated and have sleepless nights should my loved ones break such news to me (and I'm sure many other people would feel the same way too about their closed ones).
Therefore, I would like to urge my families, friends and religion gurus to openly object to this letter, complete with Hadiths and Al Qur’an verses to back up their arguments. Also, I would like to urge the government to look into the kind of activities that the SIS group is having. In fact, it is not too much to ask if the group is banned from continue operating (based on this particular letter alone), or asked to follow certain strict guidelines before making any statements or organizing any activities. This is because I fear for the faith of my loved ones and my future children and grandchildren (and I believe others too), if SIS continues to interpret AlQur’an the way they see fit."

posted by The Pisces Man @ 11:55 pm 1 people talked at The Boulevard