What life has got to do with bowling games?

Life is like a bowling game. It is very hard to get a perfect score.

Life is like a bowling ball. Once it leaves your hand, you are no longer in control of its destiny.

Life is like a bowling alley. All sorts of people crowding that place.

Life is like a bowling shoes. You have to wear stockings for hygienic purposes.

Life is like a bowling ball. At last the weight of the ball suits you, but the holes do not fit your fingers.

Life is like a bowling lane. After sometimes, it needs to be oiled.

Life is like a bowling ball. Once it goes down the drain, you just have to accept it.

Life is like a bowling game. There you stand, focussed and determined. You make your move, raise your hand and the ball slips from your fingers and falls flat on the platform, and rolls to the back.

Life is like a pair of bowling shoes. From far it looks nice.

Life is like a bowling game. You will exaggerate your first strike.

Life is like a bowling game. Your first night can't beat the adrenalin rush as you line up for your first perfect score.

Life is like a bowling game. You can play it alone, two some, three some, four some or whole some. It is within your basic human rights.

Life is like a bowling ball. The sway of your body will have no bearing on the ball's direction.

Life is like a bowling alley. Sometimes it is crowded and sometimes it is deserted.

Life is like the bowling pins. They take a lot pounding and get up and be ready for the next pounding. Over and over again.

Ladies.. do you agree?

MY MAIN JOB IS TO MAKE WOMEN FEEL LESS ABOUT THEMSELVES.

It was the answer given by a Brand Manager with a leading departmental store in KL. I read it in a magazine, I can't remember which one, in early 90s when I worked in Alor Setar.

And this is also one of the first thoughts that I shared in my fb. Consequence of it I was deleted by a female fb friend whom I never had the chance to meet in person. I never thought that this can be taken personally by her.

Ok. Back to the issue in hand, the Brand Manager who is a woman, aptly explained that we can't sell our products if women in general feel good about themselves. So, we have to picture this in their mind that they are not complete if they don't buy a certain product, or they will not be accepted if they don't have that particular product in their possession. To create urgency is utmost important. The faster they go and buy that product, they will be the first and will be envied by their friends.

This is more apparent as advertisements normally targeted woman as their main audience. The next time you watch tv or listen to the radio, listen and watch attentively to a a particular word or sentence. That word or sentence holds the key to successful advertising.

This is the power of advertising. And the fact that it is repeated over a period of time in a day can have a profound effect on the target audience. And their mind tend to believe it over time. The moment they start to glorify the product or feeling less about themselves by not having that product, they develop the urge to know more and make a bee line to the store and buy one.

And it does not stop there. Advertisers will hold another campaign to entice existing customers or users of their products to remain loyal.

Breakfast with Sdarians

We have been having this Monthly Breakfast session since February 2007. This is the day where sdarians Melaka Chapter gather once a month  to meet up over breakfast.

Almost every session, we would have sdarians from other states coming for our monthly breakfast. And today we have sdara Zul Anuar from Seremban and Dr Ahmad pauzi Abu from Muar.

This breakfast is held every last Sunday of the month at Na Ngis Kitchen. This kitchen is located just outside Al Azim Mosque, Bukit Palah and behind MAIM Complex.

Zul Anuar, Madolah, Kamaludin Niat

Abd Haris Ali, Mohd Amir

Hj Rezo. Sdara 1st Batch. Maaf gambau tak jelas.

Hujung sekali ialah Chef Selebriti, Mr Na Ngis

Hj Jalil Morah, Tajuddin aka Wood

Dr Pauzi Abu, mantan Pengarah Hospital Muar.

Those in attendance was:-

1. Hj Rezo Sedik, SDARA 1st Batch
2. Cikgu Hj Abd Jalil Morah + wife, former HM SDAR
3. Hj Muhammad Abdullah 68
4. Abd Haris Ali 82
5. Tajuddin aka Wood 77
6. Zul Amuar 77
7. Kamaludin Niat 80
8. Dr Ahmad Pauzi Abu 74
9. Hj Abd Rahman Meran 72
10. Rosman 84
11. Shamsul Ariffin Senin 84

Those who could not make it with permission:-

1. Hj Azhar Ismaun 82. Son is admitted to GH because of accident.
2. Datuk Hj Azhar Wahab. TYDP SDARA. We sent him to Europe.
3. Hj Ninggal. He forgot to come, according to his sms.
4. Hasmady Majid. Sdara monthly golf tournament.
5. Aliff. Uncle passed away in Muar.
6. Edeyus. Jamming session.

See ye all at our next month Breakfast session.

Eh Eh!

Eh Eh! Kenapa dengan aku ni? Tiba-tiba ghasa lain macam je...

Eh Eh! Macam mana pulak boleh jadi macam tu? Kau tak pandang bawah ke masa berjalan?

Ada oghang panggil eh eh! tu satu penyakit... 'cuba kau tengok pakngah kau tu.. penyakit eh eh! dia dah datang...cubalah masa nak bangun tu, pelan-pelan sikit...ni tidak...kan ke dah terpeleot kaki tu...'

Kesian kat pakngah, masa nak bangun daghi duduk, badan tak stabil. Menjajau tangan mencaghik dinding sambil mulut berkata 'eh eh!'

Anda ada penyakit eh eh!?

'Eh eh! awak ni... ke situ pulak. saya cakap hal lain, awak pulak paham tang lain.' Anda biasa dengan dialog ni? Salah satu cara nak menangani salah faham adalah dengan menggunakan perkataan 'eh eh!'. Eh Eh! sudah memadai untuk merungkaikan salah faham.

Anda sedang beratur dan tiba-tiba ada orang potong Q. Anda berkata "eh eh! aku penat beghatur, dia dengan senang hati potong Q'

Atau anda tidak suka dengan godaan seseorang, anda kata 'eh eh! apa ni. saya tak sukalah'

Atau pun, anda tidak faham apa yang saya cuba sampaikan, anda boleh kata

'EH EH! APA YANG MAMAT NI BEBELKAN?'

I was not raised at your house.

There are two sides of a coin. Two different sides make a coin.

We have different opinions on a same subject matter. We see the same thing from different angle. We differ in interpretations on matters close to our hearts. Even siblings can't see eye to eye on certain issues even though they were raised by the same parents.

Why we argue? Why we belittle others just because we have differing views? Why must we show our ignorance in the name of democracy? Why should we expand our stupidity in the name of human rights?

When we judge others, most likely we use our own standards as yardstick. Then of course, we are always right and they are always wrong. But then again, when they judge us, they use their sets of values to condemn us. 2 x 5 = 10.

We have a lot of similarities, yet we choose to highlight our differences. Maybe this differences being highlighted aggressively by those in the circles of influence indicate their true strategy to be in the forefront all the times. Divide the masses and be a hero.

You forced, influenced and persuaded me to agree with you. And you refused to listen to my side of the story. Do you realise that we experienced life differently?

And, I was not raised at your house!

Three things that never come back.

Here I am, pondering over three things that will never come back. May this will somewhat make my life beter than yesterday.

The first is lost opportunity. How many opportunities came our way that we seem to ignore them? It was already late when we realised that we passed the opportunity. It can be through ignorance that we didn't see it coming. Or because we lack drive that we just look at it without any enthusiasm. Once the opportunity's gone, there's nothing that you can do about it. The same opportunity may be seized by someone else and made a fortune out of it.

The second is the spoken word. This is hell if you uttered the wrong words. Haste is often the cause. Anger also contributes to the wrong choice of word. It is better to think before you speak. When anger controls you, you can't control your emotions. Be careful with the choice of words because when it is said, you just can't take it back.

The third one is time. Time flies very fast. Time waits for no men. Do you procrastinate? We are given a lot of opportunities everyday to say 'I love you' or to hug and kiss our loved ones. Ample time to ask for forgiveness, yet we wait until festive season to do that. We delay doing it tomorrow things that we can do today. We can't find the right time?

What if we ceased to be today?

11 years ago, today.

Yes.

I became a father the second time. This time around, I was ready. More alert and better father. Not like when my first born arrived one and a half years earlier.

So, I brought my lovely wife to the hospital. Trying my best to comfort her by joking around. She must be very lucky to have me as i was, and still am, a jocular person. Hehehe. It was late in the evening. The nurse wheeled my wife to the emergency department before proceeding to the labour room.

I was not at all nervous or having anxiety whatsoever. So, I waited patiently outside the labour room. Looking at other would be parents, I slowly approached a man, younger than I was. He looked nervous and he just kept looking the floor.

After saying my assalamualaikum, I put my hand on his shoulder and quipped

"Your first baby?"

He just nodded his head.

After talking to him for a few minutes, he started to smile and asked my situation. Laughingly I said "I killed a few chicken while riding on a motorbike before Subuh, looking for the village midwife when my wife suddenly went into labour the first time"

It was well after 8 and we were still talking when the door open and we heard the loud crying of a new born...

It was my second son, Muhammad Akmal, wailing his lung out.

I left my new found friend, and walked beside my wife to the ward. I spent sometime with my wife and our new born until I was asked to leave the ward. So I left after the female guard brought along another male guard to make sure that I left the ward.

The next day, when everything was in order, I brought my wife and our new baby home.

The rest is history...

p/s

Sometimes I envy those fathers who stopped by the road side to prepare milk for their babies.....

Sikit-sikit ajak main!

Jangan kuningkan otak anda. Kih kih kih

Dah macam jadi budaya orang kita, perkara yang serius, yang betul-betul, bukannya cobaan, dibuat main-main. Bila kita nak serius, akan ada seseorang yang mula main-main. Kalau dia seorang jer tak apalah, ni tidak, dia mula pengaruhi orang lain untuk main sama-sama. Akhirnya tidak terkawal dek pujukan ajak main-main ni....

Tak percaya, cuba tanya mereka yang jadi ketua, supervisor, atau mereka yang cuba buat ceramah, taklimat atau penjelasan. Dalam reramai yang hadir akan ada seorang yang anggap perkara yang hendak kita kongsikan itu, sebagai main-maian. Dan mereka akan mula main-mainkan perasaan kita, mula kacau dan pengaruh agar akan ada hadirin yang beralih arah.

Ada tu pulak, dia suka main macam-macam.

"aku la ni main saham. adalah untung sikit2. kau mainlah saham sekali dengan aku. adalah aku kawan nak lepak ngadap screen kat syarikat saham tu.."

"aku pulak main mlm. produk boleh tahan. ghamai yang masuk. kau ikutlah aku main mlm. produk baik ni..."

"aku dengau, jiran aku buat duit main online business. aku ghasa macam nak main online business je. manalah tahu, boleh buat duit mcacam jiran aku tu"

Bila pulak orang main saham? main mlm? main online business?

Bila penggunaan bahasa tak betul, macam mana nak dapat hasil yang betul2 jitu?

Pelaburan saham dikatakan main2. Menceburkan diri dlm mlm dikatakan main2. Bila ungkapan itu menunjukkan kita tidak faham apa yang kita ceburi, maka dengan sendirinya kita akan buat kerja main2. Tidak serius.

Pelaburan dalam saham atau amanah saham, perniagaan mlm dan online business memerlukan ilmu dan semangat yang jitu. Kerajinan di tahap tertinggi. Bukan main2 punya kerja.

Ni tidak, sikit-sikit ajak main....

Kids with that question.

Inquisitive kids will bring you down to earth with a barrage of simple yet shattering questions. Phew! How am I gonna answer all that. Google can help me ek? How 'bout wikipedia? Encyclopedia? Only if I have the time to refer or search for that elusive answer....

Do you think your children will give you ample time to answer their questions? Only if you give them ample time to finish their chore, then maybe, just maybe, they'll reciprocate.

Hahaha. Wishful thinking..

In my case, maybe around 100 questions asked, I might give the favourable answer, not the right one yeah, not more than five. How about you?

Just in a day, how many times our children ask 'that' questions? It sounds easy when you first heard it, but the moment you try to answer, you made a fool of yourself by their asking the next question. Try as you may to please them, they are always ready with another shattering question.

'Dad, where do I come from'?

A simple question. Those who are not married or have no kids yet, why don't you rehearse that question and provide with an answer. Later one, when you a a kid, try to answer that and see whether your kids will be satisfied with the answer given. Hehehe

Last Saturday, at my late cousin's funeral, my son kept asking me who that person was whenever someone came approaching. I said, he/she is my cousin. Then he asked what is a cousin? Then I have to explain that. Then someone came and we exchanged greetings... Then of course Akmal asked who she was. So I said she was my niece, the daughter of one of my late cousins. Then came the killer question...

"Ayah, if she is your niece, how can she be older than you... I mean she is very old..."

I said, could you please shut your mouth up just for a second?

Life interrupted

I woke at 5. I checked my hp and there were 4 messages. Three from my cousins, who are sisters, and one from my nephew. I could sense some bad news. The previous night I was informed that one of my cousin sisters was in icu.

So, the sms confirmed that Kak Pipah has gone to meet our Creator, ALLAH swt. She passed on around 2.30 in the morning. Just now I managed to talk to her youngest sister. Apparently Kak Pipah had a heart attack and fell at her house.

Arwah Kak Pipah was the one who took care of their aged mother at home. I pray that for her kindness and patience taking care of her aged mother, Kak Pipah will be rewarded with Jannah. InsyaALLAH.

Now that she has gone, it is up to her surviving siblings to appoint or collectively taking turns caring for their aged mother.

Another Looong Holiday.

Yes!

Chinese New Year falls on Monday 23rd. January. So, Tuesday is a public holiday. Some schools are closed for the duration of next week. All in, 9 days, inclusive of two weekends.

Good news for school children, teachers, and admin staffs. They don't have to see each other for five days. Hehehe. And the schools will have to replace the extra three days holiday on any Saturdays.

But for religious school, the holiday is only until Tuesday. It means, either parents have to cut short their holiday or the children will have to skip school. Your guess is good as mine. Hahaha. I know that we will be in Chemomoi. My son, expressed his disappointment that he has to attend religious school from Wednesday. I guess I have to cut short the loooong holiday. Or........

So, happy looong holidays to you. Stay alert, drive safely. You can make the difference.

Wired Differently.

Hahaha.

Yesterday, i went to pay a visit to a friend at Dataran Pahlawan, his name is Jamil Sulaiman. Commenting on my postings on fb, he asked me a question...

"why don't you write a blog?"

Believe me, he was not the first one to suggest that I should pour my ideas in a blog. Then another friend quipped...

"bang, you have good followers in your fb"

I left Dataran to fetch my son from school, as usual. Sending and fetching my son to and from school is what i do everyday since 2003.

So, this morning while sending my son to school on motorbike, I can't help thinking on the suitable title for my blog. Knowing that we have different opinions, perceptions, etc. Stereotyping also is part and parcel of our mind game.

We made decision or cooked up a perception simply based on presumption first, to some. We judge others based on our values, of which sometimes are morally corrupt. We have our own beliefs system, and found it hard to accept others. When someone shook our belief, sometimes we say "what does he know?". To me it is just a cheap way to pacify ourselves.

While you are comfortable with your daily life, a friend came and shared with you a new idea to improve your life, more often than not, you take it reactively or defensively. It should be taken pro-actively.

But then again, we are wired differently. This difference in thinking and social behaviour makes our daily lifes interesting.