The new year ...of time and how it passes us by...
It's the new year again!For school kids, the end of the year 2008 meant the beginning of their new school term.
Speaking of school holidays, Malaysia has four school term breaks a year with the one at the year end being the longest - about 6 weeks off. Usually, during school holidays, I'd try to avoid going to the shopping malls as much as possible. Why? The malls would be flocked by school kids and the sights of them sometimes suffocate and sicken me. Well, not all of them of course, but yeah, for most of them. From the way they behave (how can kids of the opposite sex who are no older than 15 years of age, can be holding hands and hugging each other in public?), to the way they dress (tattoos, piercing, skimpy clothes) and talk (talking and laughing so loud with no manners towards other people whatsoever).
Now, let's not talk about how they behave elsewhere (surely you've seen young kids on 'their' motorcycles, speeding and riding dangerously while on the roads, without helmets and and licenses). We've also heard from the news, about school boys who rape their peers and in some cases, adult women or how about those school girls who got pregnant after willingly having sexual intercourse with their boyfriends?
I may not be a social person or an extrovert during my school years but as I recall, even those school mates who were social, they were not as 'wild' as some kids these days.
Speaking of remembering the yesterdays and yesteryears, those whose puberty years were in the 70's, 80's and (early) 90's, would remember what I'm about to reminisce here (some of them may only be experienced by the Malaysians though):
Great outdoor activities would include playing pebbles or spinning tops, 'galah panjang' (a game where you stand in the middle of a court, preventing your friends from crossing over to the court section behind you and should you be able to touch a person in any way, you shout'JADIK' meaning 'your turn to be in the middle'); 'main kejar-kejar' (need I explain more? - basically you just run and run and run and run...), 'tarik upih pinang' (one or two people pulling the coconut or palm leaf around the neighbourhood, with a person sitting on it), rounders, swimming in the rivers,'nyorok-nyorok' (hide and seek), and many others.
How about indoors games like checkers (some of us here use bottle caps as the pieces), board and card games (remember Happy Family anyone?), or the 'fancy' electronic game like the one featured below. For some, they didn't even need to have the electronic game to enjoy one. They could enjoy the same with a friend by clenching each other's fingers and use their thumbs (those who played this before, would know what I'm talking about).
Other than playing those indoor games, the cartoons on t.v. were cool too. Just to name a few - Doraemon, Thundercats, Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, M.A.S.K (my favourite), Smurfs, Jem (yeah, I watched this too ;pp), Transformers, Woody Woodpecker Show and The Simpsons (another of my favourite which is still around till today... yeah!!).
Some hit t.v. series would be like Captain Power, Battlestar Galactica, 'V' (yes, the letter V), McGyver, 21 Jump Street, Beverly Hills 90210 and Knight Rider.
Let's not forget those prime time soaps like Return to Eden (an Australian show - my whole family was a big fan), Dallas, Knotts Landing and Dynasty (remember Joan Collins anyone?).
The sitcoms were really funny and great back then and also ran on many seasons. For examples, Saved By The Bell, Full House, Family Ties, Growing Pains and of course the greatest sitcom ever... Friends.
We had some really cool movies back then, very creative and original in ideas, very entertaining and for some... very scary. I love horror movies like Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist, House, The Kindred, Candyman, The Shining (arguably one of the scariest - All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy....spooky), Halloween, Fright Night (also a favourite), Gremlins (ok, for some kids, this could be scary), Hellraiser (ugh! the brutalities...), Little Shop Of Horrors (funny and scary), Alien and Aliens (my favourites), The Thing (what a scary thing!) and Friday the 13th.
Other great movies are like Back To The Future series, Star Wars series, Indiana Jones series, Gandhi, Airport 77, Jaws series, Labyrinth, Rambo series, Rainman (a great one) etc etc.
It was a pop era. For some singers, they really had the spotlights shine on them (although for some, they are no longer heard of anymore). Big names with big hits are like Madonna, Michael Jacson, Richard Marx, Rick Springfield, Belinda Carlisle, Def Leppard, Miami Sound Machine, Rick Ashley (and his goofy dance moves), Milli Vanilli (oh, the deception), Vanilla Ice (a white who didn't know how to be black and went bankrupt in a blink), Cindy Lauper, Martika, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton (remember the voice?), Bonnie Tyler, New Kids On The Block, The Bangles, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Extreme, Chicago, ... the list really goes on....
If school kids these days compare what handphone brands they use, back then we compared pencil boxes and cases. Some pencil boxes were like a James Bond gadget - press here, one compartment would pop up, press another, another compartment would pop up. We were very good in Geography too coz the erasers had flags of different countries imprinted on them :))How about indulge in the many junk foods available and for most of them, they came with free toys too. Remember Sumi jelly, Chickadees and Tora? These foods were usually advertised over the t.v. using Mat Sentul as the voiceover.
Aaaahhh... the tiny little biscuits with icing on top. Usually ate just the icing, without the crackers, heheheee...It feels like yesterday that I had one of these foods, heard one of those songs, watched one of those movies/tv series/cartoons, owned one of those pencil boxes and played one of those games. Since it feels like yesterday, guess I'm not really that old huh? Hahaha...
What would I hope for 2009 and years to come? Very noticeable changes of course - in many, if not all, aspects of life - changes that come from within me... spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and physically.
Hopefully, the environment is treating me right too, and by environment, I don't mean just the world climate but also the economy, the political arena and most importantly, the environment within my family, our house and our neighbourhood.
I think I'd like to become a little bit of selfish too from now on, by always asking myself questions like 'oh yeah? so?', 'what's in it for me?', 'what do I care?', 'so what's it going to be?' and 'why the heck would I care/help/bother?'
Anyway, last 29 December 2008 (a national holiday here) also marked the new year (1430 Hijrah) for us Muslims. So, to my non-Muslim friends who always wish me Happy New Year during the Eidul Fitri, Eid is not really the new year for us Muslims, Awal Muharam is (Muharam is the first month in the Islamic calendar)..... ok? :))
HAPPY NEW YEAR 1430H AND 2009 TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE!!!!!! MAY ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE (THE GOOD ONES AND MAYBE SOME BAD ONES TOO?, HAHAHHAA).....
P/S: Speaking of being selfish just now, lately, I see myself transformed into some stubborn and hard-headed person (as in 'keras hati'). I don't know whether being the man in the family had played any part in that, or it's the life experiences that taught me to become one. My wife sees that change in me, others too and once, my 'keras hati'ness had shocked a friend. Is that a good thing? (being hard-headed and not easily swayed). Guess from now on, no more Mr Nice Guy huh!
No resolution?.......... Of children and freedom and safety....
On average, I update this blog once a week, with occasionally two updates within a week and sometimes it takes more than a week for me to update on something. For this week, it just feels so wrong (and selfish) if I still want to write about other things (especially personal stuffs) instead of this particular tragedy that have befallen another family and this..........'disease' that is plaguing the country now. Not that I'm forcing myself to write about this matter just so that I look good in front of everybody or anything. Hopefully, by the time you're done reading, you'd feel that what I wrote came from my heart.
The nation was still in grief and schocked (well, to some of us at least) over the kidnap-cum-murder of Allahyarhamah Nurin, when an eerily similar kidnapping incident happened to another little girl less than 5 months after Nurin was laid to rest.
The kidnapper/murderer of Nurin is still at large. He has been linked to 'abang kucing' (catman) who had kidnapped 5 other young girls and molested 3 of them, the same way what was done to Nurin (any inaccuracy to this piece of information is deeply regretted). He is nicknamed that way because he tricked these girls into going with him, to search for his missing cat, or to feed his cat (although in at least one occasion, he did forcefully grab a girl without her will).
The intelligence of the Malaysian police is being tested and they are under close scrutiny of the public eye as no one has been convicted for these heinous crimes yet. A few arrests were made, but all of them was released wihtout bail as they were found to be not involved to (at least) Nurin's case.
The 5-year old goes by the name of Sharlinie Mohd Nashar (above) who disappeared while playing about 200m from her house. To this day, she is still missing. No news of her whatsoever, and possibly no leads either?
Police are not ruling out the possibility that the 'catman' molester is behind these kidnappings. Only two days before Sharlinie went missing, a six-year-old girl was abducted by a man on a motorcycle when she was playing alone near her flats, about 2km from where Sharlinie was last seen. The girl was found three hours later some kilometres away. All these crimes had raised us some questions; of whether these crimes were committed by one man only; does he have an accomplice?; police have released a few photofits - are they of the same person or different people?; could it be the culprits are foreigners or immigrants, which is why no close families or friends of the culprit(s) come forward?
This is indeed a tragedy... Not just to the victims and the families involved, but also to the Malaysian community and to the country. With us just welcoming the year 2008 and 1429 (new year for the Muslims), people always talk about new year's resolution and Hijrah (for the Muslims). But to some of us, come new year or not, a psycho is still a psycho. A sex addict would only have one thing in mind.........., and I dare not finish this sentence. My heart goes to Sharlinie, may she is spared from being harmed in any way.
What 'disease' has plagued this country, Ya Allah? Is this the result of us adults, having too much freedom, where boundaries are easily crossed and limits are easily discarded away? Now, our children have to suffer. They shouldn't need to worry about their safety, (and neither should their parents), I mean as long as they play safe and they are in a safe environment. I mean, these are children, for God's sake. What kind of an animal (or a devil disguising as a human?) would want to harm them? They just want a little freedom, for them to be themselves - for them to be children.
Ya Allah, the rewards for reading/listening to this Al Qur'an recitation, I pass on to little Sharlinie.... Aaaminnn.....
I remember a few months after I got married, my wife and I went to Kota Kinabalu Sabah with my parents and my sister and her family (darn, I have yet to document that particular trip and share with you some fabulous photos taken there). That was the time when my wife got closely acquainted with my nieces, who started calling her Auntie Ija (the second niece was overly excited to use it.... the name Auntie Ija kept echoing in the apartment we stayed in, and even while we were in the aeroplane).
Whenever there was free time, the eldest niece liked to hear to my wife's stories, from Cinderella to Snow White and stories of her own creations. In all those stories (just like in most other children stories), my wife spoke of the bad characters involved and how their schemes/plots/devious plans hurt the good ones. This was my niece's response whenever she heard about those bad characters:
"Mana ada orang jahat.... orang semua kan baik-baik aja...." (Translation: "There's no such thing as bad people.... all people are nice.....")
Gasp, to this day, her answer appalls me. But can you blame her for being naive? She actually represents all other children in the world, and perhaps us too, when we were young kids. After all, there is this common analogy that goes, children are like a piece of white cloth (represent naiveness and how they are without sins), it is up to the parents/guardians how they wish to paint it. But then, no matter how beautifully crafted the 'cloth' turns out to be, it is common for parents to worry/fear lest someone or something would tarnish their precious 'masterpiece'. Therefore, other than the parents/guardians, the society is also responsible in shaping all the children.
I think when children reach a certain age (boys or girls alike), we have to sit down and really really talk to them, letting them know that not all people out there are good and not all things are always great. For Muslims, perhaps we can also insert/teach the elements of Haram and Makruh, and tell them there's NO such thing as mildly or moderately or extremely Haram. Haram is Haram, full stop.
We often hear that, one of the things grown ups always tell children is not to talk to strangers. But would you agree telling them just that is no longer enough? I can recall in one episode of a US tv series, a paedophile upon introducing his name, where he lived etc etc to a little girl, he said something like this to her just to persuade her to go with him, "Well, now that you know my name and I know yours, don't you think I am no longer a stranger....?"Freaky huh, but yet such a scenario can possibly happen in the real world.
Gasp, it's like we parents have to think through and explain to our children all the possible scenarios that our children need to know in order to avoid them from mixing with the wrong company or get into unnecessary troubles. I've said this before - raising children nowadays proves to be far more challenging than what our grandparents experienced in the past (minus the war and lacking amenities and stuffs of course).
Some of us may think that good and bad is a subjective matter (or perhaps it's their excuse of doing something bad...?). Hopefully, as the children grow up, their empathy would make them understand why certain people do certain bad things. But let them learn that in their own course because for as long as they are still kids and live under our care, I think we need to clearly define what's good and what's bad, not only to prevent them from doing bad deeds, but also for them to avoid bad people.
A colleague of mine raise three kids with the first two are daughters. She completely agreed with my suggestion the other day that we should keep all the criminal cases reported in the papers, especially those that involve children, as our reminders. In case somewhere down the road, our children (with their raging hormones) can't accept why we are being protective, perhaps laying down all those paper clippings in front of them, can make them understand why....
We can call life all we want, that life is harsh, hard, s***ty, whatever... but no matter how difficult life can be, we still hope whatever problems that we or our children encounter, are something that we can cope with and is common for other people to have encountered the same one way or another, instead of something that NO ONE WOULD WISH FOR, Insha' Allah...
When Manal posted an entry in her blog about caning sentence for drug dealers, she included a link to a videoclip showing a drug dealer getting 20 rotan lashes on his buttom for the drug crime. I visited the site that hosted the video and in the website, a number of people (most of them were British since the site is hosted in the UK, I think...) had commented on the video. Some said it was cruelty to human beings while others supported it and even suggested such a punishment should be introduced in their country as well.
Of all the comments, one had struck my interest. He said he used to live in Malaysia for many years and during his long stay in this country, he had never heard of young people attacking old folks or women and people really treated each other with respect. Therefore, he thought the caning sentence must have worked well in preventing crimes in Malaysia.
At the time when I read it, I was thinking 'when did this guy leave Malaysia anyway, a zillion years ago?' We now have had gruesome cases, just as worse as what normally happens in the western countries. Cases like a 12-year old stabbing his tuition teacher's 10-year old daughter repeatedly to death; a 15-year old teenager joined his friends (friends huh?) to gang rape a 30-year old woman; women brutally raped and killed and some of them were elderly or pregnant; snatch cases that had resulted in the deaths of the victims; old folks (above 70 years old) beaten and strangled to death when they were robbed while they were alone in their houses; people killed by road bullies over minor accidents etc etc. As gruesome as they can be, sometimes we heard cases of similar nature, happening again within a short span of time.
I was so compelled to reply to him by saying, 'Things have changed mate, we are no better than you guys or the States. We've had people who were killed so brutally, like they were animals.' But then, due to my patriotism that had kicked in, I didn't really want to defame my own country in the eyes of international people.
Aug 20, 2007 was the day when an 8-year old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin left her house in Wangsa Maju alone at night to go to a nearby night market and went missing. It was reported that she was last seen being dragged into a white van by a man.
According to her parents, they had never allowed their children (the eldest being 9 years old) to wander off by themselves unless in groups or at least in pairs. But on that fateful night, little did the mother know that when Nurin asked for money to buy hair clips, she had told her sister not to follow her as she wanted to go alone.
Nurin's uncle also said it was common for children living in those 2-bedroom flat houses to venture outdoors due to the houses being rather small. I could imagine and understand why... When I was a bachelor, I too lived in such a house. Having three people living together is a full house already, let alone six people (Nurin had three other siblings).
Weeks passed by but still no news of Nurin. Some organisations were willing to reward those who found and returned Nurin to her parents. The parents even gave their contact numbers but only to receive some prank calls. To add salt to injury, some people had the heart to ridicule and poke fun at the parents, making phone calls or sending sms'es to say Nurin, nicknamed "Kak Ngah", was with them, was dead and body in a river and scolded them for being negligent. Talk about some inconsiderate Malaysians huh..?
Then came one Monday the 17th September which marked the day that had shocked the nation, especially the families of Nurin. An employee of a book distribution company found a sports bag at the bottom of a staircase of a shoplot in Petaling Utama and brought it into her workplace, thinking that it belonged to her boss. Her boss later opened the bag and discovered the naked body of a girl, in a foetal position in the brand new bag.
The DNA of the dead girl stuffed in the sports bag matched that of Nurin's parents. Nurin’s dental records also matched with the body. Initially the parents refused to accept that the body was Nurin (they said they were convinced Nurin was still alive), probably due to the nature of her killing and that the body was so skinny. Understandably, any parents would be in denial their child would die in such a horrific way.
Nurin was believed to have been killed 24 hours before her nude body was found. Bruise marks on her body suggesting that she was beaten. Post-mortem also revealed the murderer had inserted a brinjal and a cucumber in her private parts, forcing the rupture of her rectum and to be infected with bacteria, resulting in her gruesome death.
Nurin was buried after the Friday prayer on 24 September. Many shed their tears, including me. The hunt for her abducter(s)/killer(s) continued, not only by the police but also the public. In time, justice will be served, and the criminal(s) will be punished - if not in front of a judge and before our very eyes, they will still have to face Allah, the ultimate judge of all, on Judgement Day....
Al-Fatihah to you, Allahyarhamah Nurin Jazlin......You can read more about Nurin here.
The abducter(s)/killer(s) of Nurin is a really really sick man. To equalise him as animals would be an understatement, coz he is worse than iblis (mother of all devils). Why did he keep Nurin for so long, subjecting her to such tortures, for what, to satisfy his sexual needs (if any)? What kind of pleasures did he get by stuffing brinjal and cucumber into her intestines? Why did he keep Nurin for so long despite her parents' pleading, did he really 'love' or 'hate' Nurin so much? What outcome did he expect would come out of his actions; that Nurin would survive and live long enough to probably forgive him and that he would escape from his heinous acts? Where did he put his brain, mind and soul - down the toilet?
Apparently, Nurin's case was not the first to happen in this country. There were other young Malaysian girls who suffered just as worse as Nurin. They were sodomised, raped, had objects shoved into their private parts, strangulated and killed, only to be found hours or days later in conditions that evoked our sadness and anger.
Is this the kind of society that we can be proud of as we march to become a 'developed' nation? I strongly feel that Islamic (i.e. hudud) elements should be introduced into our laws. It has been shown that countries which practise them have very low crime rates.Heck, their shop owners can leave their shops/stalls unattended during prayer times, not having to worry about thieves for there are hardly any around. Imagine doing the same here? You wish...
Raising children nowadays proved to be far more challenging than what our grandparents experienced. If they are daughters, we fear for their safety and if they are sons, we fear they would inflict harm on other people, especially women, Na'uzubillah.....Now, let's not even go to the many other countless bad influences out there....
Ya Allah, semoga keluarga Nurin diberi ketabahan oleh Mu Ya Allah. Lindungilah kami semua dari hasad dengki dan kekejaman manusia, dan hindarilah kami dari berhasad dengki dan berlaku kejam kepada manusia yang lain, Aaaaamiinnnn.....
(Translation) Ya Allah, may you give strength to Nurin's family during such hardship. Protect us from the cruelty of other human beings, and prevent us from inflicting any harm towards other humans Ya Allah, Aaaaamiinnnn.....
P/S: I value my families, close and far, just as much as I value this country. In case you haven't noticed, I had removed 'old' postings that I deem unnecessary to be published in this blog.
Safety Issue 1: The day it became front page news, I was down with fever and recuperating (or should I say sleeping) was pretty much the main activitiy of the day. Although my wife's long extended maternity leaves were still not over yet at that time, she was too occupied with baby Ikhwan. So, we didn't buy any newspapers that day and neither did we watch the news on tv.
We both learned about the tragedy only the next day. The tragedy that tore our hearts out, after seeing the photo of the bus with the roof completely torn off. The bus that had plunged into a 5-metre ravine, killing 21 people (including the driver himself) after the driver had lost control of the machine.
The bus accident was reported to be the worst ever happened in the country (to me, cases with 20 deaths or 1 death are just as serious - precious lives are lost!). Apparently, this driver had 13 traffic-related fines and 2 arrest-warrants slapped against him, while the bus itself had 19 fines against it and was not 'fit' to be on the road in the first place. Not to bad-mouth the dead or anything, but I think for anyone with that many fines issued against them, we can imagine how badly those people drive.
Not long after the above accident happened, authorities launched their Ops Bersih, preventing (or arresting?) drivers with fines and warrants under their belts, and disallowing buses under poor conditions from operating.
I guess the Malay proverb that says 'sudah terhantuk, baru terngadah' exists for a reason, huh? I mean, knowing how most Malaysians are quick to jump/react/get angry when something untoward happens as a result of one's negligence but then we are also just as quick to cool off when it's no longer in the news. I wonder whether such Ops Bersih would be an ongoing one, or just this one?
I mean, drivers (buses and lorries alike) with bad traffic/criminal records of any kind shouldn't even be allowed to start the ignition or warm up the engine for someone else, let alone drive people/things around. They would probably consider their vehicles and other people as meaningless toys that could be tossed around and crushed as they pleased.
Safety Issue 2: Speaking of toys, now how about this? A popular toy manufacturer, Fisher Price has issued a major recall of several lines of its popular toys, due to a risk of lead contamination in their products manufactured in China. This recall affects specific toys manufactured at a certain plant since May 1, 2007. The paint on these products could contain amounts of lead that are higher than normal. When ingested, lead can be toxic causing adverse health effects.
Gasp.... Imagine buying yourself a tin of lead paint and then put the tin right in front of your kids for them to smell and play with? Any parents with the right frame of mind would not even dream of doing that for sure.
Fisher Price and Mattel (Fisher Price is a division of Mattel) are cooperating fully with this recall, allowing consumers to check their websites for their recalled products (look for the links about product recalls), as well as telling them what to do if they discover they have the products.
According to Mattel, should the toy that we have bought be affected, we can send it back to them and they will send us a voucher for the retail value to allow us to purchase other Mattel or Fisher-Price products.
This is plain rude if you ask me. Obviously, the company doesn't want to be the losing end here and they still expect us to buy their other toys? Why can't they just reimburse us, full stop! Why should us, the consumers have to suffer? How can we know for certain the new toy that we buy using the voucher is not toxic and will not be recalled too in the future? I'm sure, taking another trip down to a toy store is the least thing that bother us parents. It's our children's health and well-being that we are more concerned about. Will they be willing to cover all medical costs that arise should our children get sick due to them sniffing, biting and playing with their toxic toys?
With the news on toxic toys is out, if you think now is safe to get your kids some new toys, think again... I wonder how come some of those affected products are still available in the shopping stores (like the one in the above photo). It's always possible there are those who are still not aware of the risk and end up buying the toys for their young loved ones.
I really don't have the answer to that question, at least not yet. But I intend to call up the Mattel Care Line in Malaysia soon. If you wish to do the same, get it here.
Meantime, if you are curious about which toys that (should) have been recalled off the shelves, you can view them here and here.
Conclusion: In life, we are always exposed to risks, one way or another. While we cook or sleep at home, while we play, while walking to a grocery store, while driving etc etc. However, we can minimise or completely eliminate the risks by taking necessary steps like making sure all doors and windows are locked before we go to bed, doing some warm-ups before playing a sport etc etc and not to forget our do'a and tawakkal to Allah.
However, in some situations, with the exception of reciting our own do'a, we have to trust other people to take those other necessary steps. Like in the case of tavelling by express buses, we expect the companies who run them have made sure their buses are under optimum condition and the drivers are polite and have enough sleep before taking the wheels. We prefer to reach our destinations safe and sound and in one piece mind you.
Also, when we buy toys to help our children play, learn and grow, we expect the companies who make those toys have complied with all the safety standars available out there. The last thing we need is to be somewhat responsible for intoxicating our children.
Failure to ensure the safety of their clients will only make those companies look real bad and prove they are profit-oriented with no regard on the well-being of other people.
The Oxford Dictionary says "boulevard" means wide city street, often with trees on each side. As for me, "boulevard" is the path that I thread my way through in life. At times, the trees give me protection from the hot sun above. While at other times, no amount of trees can comfort me when it pours. Come rain or shine, the road continues to provide me with the journey of life until it reaches its destination.
People say I'm sweet, kind, a gentleman, caring, romantic and observant (let's just concentrate on the good attributes). I love those who matter to me, and care about things that count. I'm a Malay Muslim and proud to be one. I DON'T think Islam should be judged by those nasty followers. Islam should be judged by the religion itself; its teachings and the purpose behind them. I mean, humans will still behave like humans right? Usually, regardless of religions that they embrace. It is also in my nature to please, since I believe that TO PLEASE EVERYONE IS AN IMPOSSIBLE FEAT, BUT NOT TRYING TO PLEASE ANYONE OTHER THAN ONESELF IS A POSSIBLE DEFEAT (own quote). Apart from sharing the things I read, watch and listen to, I'd also share my thoughts and feelings, and express my views on certain issues. Last by no means least, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM EVERYONE OF YOU OUT THERE ABOUT ANYTHING! If we knew each other 'in the previous life' and had lost contact, or we hardly contact each other nowadays, do email me or comment on my entries. Feel free to explore my blog & website (http://members.fortunecity.com/abdunmy/). Cheerio & Wassalam.
Sometimes, to boldly go (where no one has gone before) at warp speed may cause you unnecessary troubles.
Own quote, based on Star Trek
Lesson from the quote: Rushing to reach your destinations or goals may get you there fast, but may not always be the smartest thing to do!
"Note The Quote (Malay translation)"
Kadang kala, perjalanan (ke tempat yang tidak pernah ditujui) pada kelajuan maksimum boleh menyebabkan kesusahan pada diri sendiri.
Rekaan sendiri, berdasarkan dari Star Trek
Pengajaran: Terburu-buru untuk sampai ke destinasi atau matlamat hidup mungkin boleh membawa kita ke sana dengan cepat, tetapi langkah itu tidak semestinya yang terbaik!
You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle.
George Lucas (Film Director and Producer)
"Favourite Note The Quote 2"
A sign in a mosque on the need to switch off handphones:
P/S: Email me if you wish to receive a "Weekly Note The Quote" newsletter, a compilation of quotations that appear here in this column or in any of my blog entries within a particular week. Please put Note The Quote in your email subject. TQ.
If you have a specific field/term to search on Islam, you can also enter your search item(s) at Islamic Web Directory, available at the bottom of an entry entitled Proofs. For your convenience in accessing the Directory, Proofs is available in "Other own (cool) stuffs" column. Thank you.
Penguin Rush
It was a pop era. For some singers, they really had the spotlights shine on them (although for some, they are no longer heard of anymore). Big names with big hits are like Madonna, Michael Jacson, Richard Marx, Rick Springfield, Belinda Carlisle, Def Leppard, Miami Sound Machine, Rick Ashley (and his goofy dance moves), Milli Vanilli (oh, the deception), Vanilla Ice (a white who didn't know how to be black and went bankrupt in a blink), Cindy Lauper, Martika, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton (remember the voice?), Bonnie Tyler, New Kids On The Block, The Bangles, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Extreme, Chicago, ... the list really goes on....
How about indulge in the many junk foods available and for most of them, they came with free toys too. Remember Sumi jelly, Chickadees and Tora? These foods were usually advertised over the t.v. using Mat Sentul as the voiceover. 
It feels like yesterday that I had one of these foods, heard one of those songs, watched one of those movies/tv series/cartoons, owned one of those pencil boxes and played one of those games. Since it feels like yesterday, guess I'm not really that old huh? Hahaha...
