Sunset.... Tanjung Mas Muar....

After waiting several days for the right sunset view, I finally hit the jackpot....that day the weather was hot and the sky was very clear, with only a few patches of clouds with background of beautiful blue sky.... 

I always love blue sky ... and I noticed that I witnessed more blue sky last time when I am a boy than now. Perhaps the global climate change and pollution, increased the volume of airborne particles then formed clouds....and haze...

My son with some newly meet kids and their parent, enjoying the sunset and staring at jellyfish trapped between the rocks in the shallow water...
I can't identify if the fisherman boat was making way for the sea or coming home..... but definitely the sun was leaving this part of the longitude to enlighten other part of the world... It's Maghrib time...
My faithful company and model.....busy looking for mud skipper, crabs, jellyfish etc.....but I hate to say, we found more human garbage on the shore than God beautiful creatures....
The combination of sun ray, reflection on the water surface and rocks, gentle tide, mangrove trees and clear sky.. bring harmony and tranqulity feeling during that very moment.....

evening cloud formation......

As usual, almost every evening if the weather is permissible,  I would go to this place after sending my son for his evening playground routine...

I am wishing for a beautiful sunset even though the current weather is quite unpredictable... Nevertheless I am not so disappointed... the cloud formation that evening was magnificent...

The sky was quite clear for most of it.... only on the horizon, it's seem to be hazy with dark cloud formation..... that's probably the reason why the price of fishes going up recently... our fishermen reluctant to go the sea due to bad weather in the middle of the sea.. in my case Straits of Malacca....

The sun just vanished away under the curtain of dark hazy cloud on the horizon... if not, it will surely be, a beautiful sunset... like at Bikini Bottom...

almost full moon on 14 Zulhijjah...

Each time I went back to Muar, I never felt bored nor tired to snap photo of Muar Jame' Mosque the II.... perhaps I am living on this side of the river ... If I stay on the Tanjung Agas side, perhaps I will be snapping the original Muar Mosque photo...

Ever since I had camera, the Mosque is among my photography obsession... Each photo or moment i captured doesn't seem satisfied me... 
This almost full moon image was taken on 14 Zulhijjah recently.... I was heading home with my son, and I saw the moon almost full... I said to myself, this the perfect time for me to snap the photo since the shadowy side of the moon clearly revealed the craters.... 

By tomorrow, 15 Zulhijjah... the moon will be totally full and brightly lit... I won't be able  to capture the craters image... 

I stop at the roadside, took out my camera, put it under 4 Mega pixel resolution so I can have better zoom of 23x... snapped several shots... If I put it under full resolution, 10MP.... I only have zoom of 18x.

I need to adjust a bit on the result using Irfanview... 

My bridge camera ... Panasonic Lumix FZ28

I finally bought a bridge camera... and currently still around 2 weeks old. The 4 GB SD memory card still have many empty space. With the presence of this new gadget or shall I say toy, I am transform back in time, perhaps 30 years back.... like a small boy experimenting with his new toy.

I need to upgrade to a better camera, since my compact camera have many limitation, not enough zoom, slow in auto focusing and image capture, no enough wide angle.. just to name a few.

I need a camera with quite a powerful zoom so  that I can capture moment..... with normal compact, you have to be so closed to the subject to capture the photo.... which will make the moment less natural or worst, gone... due to disturbance of serenity or harmony.. such as if you want to snap photo of bee or butterfly on flowers.. Or capture human expression... 

The camera come with adequate wide angle although still not comparable with DSLR but better than my compact camera...the above photo show the advantage of wide angle lens.This is Pontelan, the bad cat belong to my brother living next to my kampung house.... I don't know why she kept coming in and pick up fight with our cats, Minciku and Macan Tutul....She's quite heavyweight in size....

My son looking hermit crab among the rocks at Tanjung Mas Muar.

Perhaps the main reason I choose Panasonix Lumix FZ28, is the price... RM1460.  You can get it cheaper in lelong.com.my, but I have more trust on the old face to face  commerce style...especially if you are dealing with merchandise worth more than RM500. 

I read through the comments from users, amateur and pro, most of them give high rating for this camera... This camera is meant for people who want most of the features of the DSLR, lightweight, compact, quite high quality image, wide angle lens with macro to telephoto... without need to exchange the lenses... and capture video...

For me, this camera is good enough for me.... although a few reviews said the image is not as sharp as DSLR.... bridge camera cannot be as good as DSLR. One of the main reasons is, the photo sensor is switched on all the time and exposed to light during the camera operation.... If you remember from the Physics lecture, this will saturate the photosensor and create noise ....

In DSLR, since you are viewing using the viewfinder, the photo sensor only exposed to light in microsecond during the button snapped to capture image.

Furthermore, the photo sensor in bridge camera is much smaller compare to DSLR... Bigger is better ma....

Anyway, this camera is a compromise between function, agility, quality ...and pricing... 

The last factor is the main factor for me....

* Note: Review on the camera http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/read_opinions.asp?prodkey=panasonic_dmcfz28

Visit to Parit Jawa small fish landing port....and mud skippers

Early this week I took my son to watch with own eyes the mud skipper fish ...ikan belacak...ikan tembakul... or ikan belodok. Beside from reading books and watching Natgeo, he never seen mud skipper fish live.

The location was, Parit Jawa fish landing port... this type of creature dwell in muddy river mouth. Normally the fishes will come out from their burrow in the morning.. perhaps to avoid the scorching heat of the sun during noon...

I had hard time waking him up, early in the morning .. since it's school holiday.. After strong persuasion, we finally of to the site.

According to the Jeff Corwin, the mud skipper kept some amount water in their mouth so that their gills can conduct respiration... it's just like us when we do scuba diving, we bring along the compressed air tank.. so we can breathe through our lungs...

I remembered last time when I took scuba diving for the first time in Bali, my compressed air tank... nearly emptied, perhaps due to excitement and wrong breathing technique underwater....The instructor had to gave me his breathing apparatus so I could continue breathing while we ascending to the surface... luckily it's only a 5m deep dive.. If the depth more then that, perhaps I would be another sea creature meals...

Looking at the mud skipper face I remembered the Gungan ... the alien creature in Star Wars...with it famous character, Jar Jar Binks....

the beauty of raindrops....

" Tears from Heaven"....

Yesterday, after 3 long hot and humid days.... rainfall finally pay a visit. I really enjoy each time it's rain in my kampung, although some of the villager may have different feeling... since they can't go rubber tapping the next day... Since the price of palm oil go down badly, some of the villagers resort to rubber tapping... just to meet the end.

The rain started around 3 pm, as anticipated due to heavy dark cloud since in the morning..... 

I sat down in front of the house, enjoying and feeling the cool air and thumping sound as the raindrop hits the zinc roof.... without realizing I dozed off for a few minutes, while Luqman reading book beside me...

The rain subsided late that day, and as the volume of the raindrops decreasing...... I managed to snapped a few shots.... 

The clear and transparent droplets of water falling from the sky, hit the zinc roof and flow down to the earth.... frozen in time captured by photo sensor.....

It's just like diamond ....glittering.....in purest form..  just like  " Tears from Heaven".....

Flight to Yogyakarta and Quantum of Solace.....

Last week I went for "jalan-jalan" to Yogyakarta in Central Java. The flight from Jakarta would only take about 1 hour.......

I could hardly remember when was the last time I managed to sleep soundly, as soon as I buckled my seat belts  ... and only to be disturb by the stewardess asking for my dining menu selection... during that time, we can opted for variety of food selection, even in domestic flight....The time when oil price was still cheap and I don't have to pay for my ticket flight with my own money (hehehe...)... 

Flight was consider among the safest transport for me... Until I watched the documentaries on aircraft disaster, the reason, the stupid mistake by the pilots, ground staff, the plane condition... and the weather itself... Thanks a lots Natgeo.... before that, taking a flight is like taking express bus at Puduraya for me....

The weather was not on our side that day... When the Captain mentioned we'll be facing turbulence due to the heavy rain and bad weathers above Adisucipto airport... my heart just seem stopped momentarily, my hand getting cold, and I just stared down the floor.... A typical sign of people expecting terrifying situation. To calm my anxiousness, I took the flight complimentary magazine... read the content with my mind unfocused....The passengers whose before this talking and laughing,... silent.....

I found short article on Bond latest movie "Quantum of Solace".. It's written here.....

What is a quantum of solace?....

It's actually mentioned in Ian Fleming's For Your Eyes Only. It's a debate Bond had with an ambassador at a party about relationships and when they break down and what moment there's no hope. Once that hope is gone there's nothing left. The quantum of solace is that last little bit of comfort when even at the darkest time in a relationship, you look at the other person and say you still love each other.  For Bond in the last movie he never had that. So this new movie is partly about him trying to find that.

Actually in the movie, Quantum is the secret organization head by Dominic Greene...I do not know what's the relation with the title...

The plane had to hover 15 minutes above the airport, to wait for better weather condition... Once the plane ready for landing.... I just prayed with all the passengers... probably one of my sincere and deep plead to the Almighty.....There's no need for me to describe the turbulence and plane rocking sideways..... sudden increase and drop of altitude... heavy rain.....

The plane finally touched down, and the reversed thrust activated immediately to slow down the momentum... the strip was known for it's short length....

When the air steward announced we have safely landed .... that's moment is my Quantum of Solace.....A moment of feeling grateful and joy for being safe and sound....Alhamdulillah...

Surau kedua Parit Amal Darat Muar Johor....

Salam sejahtera tuan-tuan, puan-puan dan saudara-saudariku sekalian. Syukur ke hardrat Illahi, atas izinNya dan sumbangan derma ikhlas dari para dermawan dan peluh keringat sukarelawan, Surau Kampung Parit Amal Darat, Muar, Johor telah selamat siap dibina..... kira2 90% siap.

Alhamdulillah, setelah hampir 10 bulan dari tarikh permulaan (awal November 2007)  kerja-kerja pembongkaran surau lama, yg diperbuat dari papan dan kayu.... Surau baru yg dibina dari konkrit dan simen selamat menerima jemaah pertama untuk Solat Terawih pada Ramadhan 1429H.  

Menurut AJK Surau, dana yg terkumpul adalah sekitar RM80,000+,  dan perbelanjaan utk kerja-kerja berkaitan pembinaan menelan belanja kira-kira RM75,ooo+. 

Menurut beliau, banyak sumbangan yg diterima dari penderma-penderma yg tidak dikenali.

Sumbangan material yang terdiri dari bahan-bahan binaan dari para dermawan memberikan impak yg besar terhadap terdirinya bangunan ini. Pada hari ucapan perasmian pembukaan, Imam surau sangat terharu.... menangis tak dapat meneruskan ucapan kerana terharu dgn kerjasama dan sumbangan yg diterima.

Tidak lupa setinggi-tinggi terma kaseh atas sumbangan keringat dan tenaga kerja sukarelawan, dari sekecil-sekecil mengangkat papan atau batu, sehingga sebesar-besar mengendalikan JCB... dari yang tiada kepakaran (mcm saya) membina sehingga kepada tukang kayu dan pandai rumah, dgn kepakaran mereka membina surau ini.

Di sini saya ingin mewakili kariah dan penduduk Kampung Parit Amal Darat, Muar, Johor... merakamkan setinggi-tinggi ucapan terima kaseh dan terharu di atas sumbangan ikhlas tuan-tuan, puan-puan dan saudara-saudari sekalian.... sama ada dari segi sumbangan kewangan, material atau tenaga kerja....

Semoga sumbangan dan jasa baik ini diterima Allah sebagai amalan soleh/solehah dan mendapat imbalan yg setimpal sama ada di dunia atau akhirat....

Jasa baik tuan-tuan, puan-puan dan saudara-saudari sekalian tidak dapat kami balas.

Nota: buat masa ini, Surau ini maseh memerlukan sumbangan utk sistem pembesar suara. Kepada tuan-puan yg berhasrat utk memberi sumbangan, sila hubungi saya.

Homemade Rozelle Syrup....

Last week I went to my kampung in Muar... and as usual I must pay a visit to the local market Pasar Parit Jawa, located about 8km from my house. Living in city like Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur, the meaning of sweet fresh fish or seafood is seem non existence... although there's a few places here where you can get decent fresh seafood supply.... Actually I am quite sceptical on the freshness, is it really fresh..... or any additional substances added ...such as formalin....

I was looking for ikan mayong, a not so far cousin of seawater catfish... For me and most Muar people, this is one of the best fish for asam pedas Muar style.... although some people may say, ikan pari (stingray) or ikan parang is better.... for me, ikan mayong is among the best....(almost same ranking with ikan sembilang).... especially the fish head....deliciously succulent, combined with the aroma and smooth taste of daum kesum...(Vietnamese coriander)

I remember when I was little boy, my late father used to buy ikan mayong as our routine source of protein.... that time the size was generous, almost half of my height...whenever we had fish dishes, 80% would be the mayong. Until there were times we all could not bear the taste. I did asked my mother about this.. why this fish became our family main menu... the answer was simple... mayong fish was among the cheapest during that time. Now I understand, to raise and feed 9 children's with income as rubber tapper....taste was non priority....

But don't be surprise today if you couldn't buy the fish at the local market..... the asam pedas restaurant and food stall have already book the fish,.... in fulfilling the local and outsider taste....And the price is not cheap now....

While looking for the fish, I noticed a stalls selling buah ribena (Rozelle) .... and the stall owner advertised that this Rozelle is good for syrup making.. I bought a few kilos. 

We firstly clean the Rozelle's fruits or flowers. Soaked in clean water and washed a few times..... separates the petals and the seed inside.....boiled together with water over a medium slow flame and add sugar slowly to add sweet taste. The raw taste is pure sour.......Boil until the syrup thicken and the taste is balanced, between sour and sweet. Put off the flame, and let it cool down. Sift the syrup and store the liquid inside bottle or any container..... the petals can be eaten directly and taste like preserved fruit....

Not much story about Rozelle syrup.... more story about mayong.....

It's raining again... Alhamdulillah

It's starting raining again here since last week, Alhamdulillah. The cooling effect, temporary fresh air and bright sky after the rain, remind me of my kampung.  Before this, the weather was just dry, hot and you felt very stuffy and stale air due to the high pollution level. Most of the time the air quality is so bad, you throat felt dry and sore, your hair get hardened due to the gratis air pollutant hair gel.....

At least my office is in the south of the city... the effect is lesser. This part of the city is consider the 'the green lung' of the city, lots of trees and a few public park. In spite of that, what i am seeing now, each corner, each patch of vacant land that was previously green and fresh... now explored, building for new mall  and apartment...for the sake of development. Good example is the empty lot behind my office is becoming Bakrie Imperium, high profile apartment and mall.... I don't know the name for another new city under development at Mega Kuningan... Last time i used to fly paper plane from the apartment level 20+ to that open field. The best design was the Paperang glider... it's just glide....like eagle....

Probably, 10-20 years from now, if I return to this city... there's no more empty space of land....becoming mall city. Even today, there are too many malls and ICT.... only a few area gazetted as open air public park such as Taman Menteng or some people called it Taman Kodok (I don't see many kodok there...). Located not far from my office... but unfortunately I seldom go there... 

Today evening, probably it will rain or probably not... People will normally associate rain with macet (traffic jam), wet, going home late or early, slow work progress, network availability compromise... etc.. Let's just see from the positive side, how many disaster happen due to rain. Statistically very few, compare to the rainfall we encounter through our lifetime. Unlike rain,..... ....earthquake or volcano eruption or tsunami, is a sure disaster.

So next time rain falling on our head, be cool and calm like Peter Parker in Spider man 2..... and don't be like Milli Vanilli which only blame it on the rain....

Books for my son

Last night I bought some books for my son.. his birthday is middle of next month. Try to find a decent and educational books, with lots of picture and good story. A few days ago I called him  and asked, what he want for his birthday, he simply answered " Luqman nak buku ".

I went to a nearby mall and went up to Gramedia bookstore, searching for books that's is suitable with his age... hmmm..... There's quite a number of children Islamic book, but I do not prefer them so much, because the book depicted the image of our Prophets in most of the " Kisah-kisah para Nabi " books, although there's no depiction of Prophet Muhammad pbuh.

The price of local published books here is acceptable.... but imported books is expensive...  I managed to buy ' The adventure of Tin -Tin ' books (3 copies) in  Bahasa Indonesia. The original books in English, is expensive... 4 times the local price. I also bought books about pirates with 3D diagram, from a local kid store downstairs. Previously I also bought 3D books about Dinosaur and Jungle animals. It's seem I'm the only person buying books from that kid store.

Probably he will enjoy reading the books, viewing the pictures and learn some Bahasa Indonesia....

It is that time again.....and my memory as Tutor Pusat Asasi Sains UM 93

Dear readers...

I can still remember my first job as part time tutor and lab demonstrator in a local University, back then. My salary was base on hours and each end of the month, I have to submit worksheet for approval to the supervisor or lecturer. On top of that, we also get paid on the numbers of lab report paper we checked....  to be fair, we among the tutors, distribute fairly the paper among us...

The salary was not much and not less.. it's enough for single person like me during that time... just graduated in 1993, where you can still fill a full tank of kapchai with RM2.50... where the price of daily acceptably good breakfast, lunch and dinner, does not cross  RM10 line.... Most of us were just graduated and work temporally, only a few otais were the permanent . Basically I took this job because I have no job at that time..... jobless and living in KL..... I need to pay for the house rent and utility bills also...

After many job seeking, hundreds of application letter, several work interviews...finally one telco contractor company in PJ accepted me. There's no online job application such as jobstreet, jobsdb, jobserve etc like today. Post office during time, is really a post office by function... not like now, where they only busy during festive season handling greeting cards.. and most the people going there now, to settle utilities bill. 

It take quite a courage and nerve to meet my supervisor, saying that I need to resign.. after working there for about 7-8 months.  This was my first resignation tender. He understood and give some encouragement on my future career, though I can sense there's a regret tone in his voice.

After that, I have changed job but not career, many times.. many application.. and many resignation. The longest period job I held was for 9 years....despite the figures, I was never prepared to resign or at least to meet my boss, saying I want to quit.

Once my close friend advise me.... don't get sentimental with your job, love yourself more. People who's sentimental with their job, will have personal feeling affection... they will claimed this were their project, their baby, their hand print were all over, and sometime denying other people contributions... and worst, they feel their jobs and the division he/she leads is theirs... creating a sub domain.. a company within a company. And they think they are the boss, creating their own policy and set new rules.... beside the larger company policy itself.

My current job does not require me to resign.... I will be terminated once the period expire...Once I enter the job, I am prepared for resignation in 6 - 10 months ahead....Furthermore, I contribute to this planet for not wasting a few pages of resignation letter paper....

Nevertheless, I am half prepared...

Why I choose Physics...

"Your grade in Geology is good.. even your Maths grade is quite good.. I don't see any good reason why you need to choose Physics as your major.....you have potential in Geology subject". I can still remember my good lecturer advise me on what Major subject I should take for my 3rd and final year. Its was 1991, ... location Dataran Kimia at Science faculty , or what it is so called with... my friends and I used to 'study maut' there, especially when the final term exam was just around the corner....

During that time, and probably still now, Science student need to take 4 subjects for their 1st and 2nd year course. My choice were.... Geology, Math, Physics and Philosophy of Science. The later is a compulsory subject until the final year. Only during 3rd year and above you are going for Major course... and if you smart enough you can go for double major...  for me double trouble. The basis of selection can be from academic factors such as limited numbers of space for popular subject, prospect for future job, opportunity for further study ...  to very much non to do with the academic .. following friends or girl friends, cost comparison, or just dumb clueless on what subject to undertake...

Despite her advice and disapproval, I chooses Physics as my major subject, not because I dislike Geology... (i have to admit i don't like math.. higher level of math I mean...). I enjoy Geology subject.. and who doesn't... we are studying about the Earth history, learn about dinosaur, precious minerals, Earth formation... and the field trip was entertaining beside educational. My son have hard time believing when he asked me with his eyes wide open "Ayah belajar pasal dinosaur... dia makan orang tak?". Geology is not just a subject, but an adventurous field of study for me that time... 

But due to my budget limitation, I have to choose major subject which was cost friendly at that time, despite my interest and capability.....

I go for Physics.  At my time, Geology student have to spend at least around RM1,000 for their final year project... this cost include the field trip cost, mineral slide preparation, map etc... I do not have that amount of money. My loan was just enough (with most of the time deficit...) to cover my daily expenses, acceptable meals, house rental, decent clothing..... on top of the compulsory course fee, examination fee, lab fee etc....RM1,000 nowadays, is just the value of most student hand phone.

Sometime in life we have to make decision and choose not base on our liking or our ability... but on knowing our limitation... only Allah swt knows better.

I didn't regret of my choice and I am grateful... for which I choose my path, otherwise I would have different career and I might know and meet different peoples in life... and at that time you may perhaps read my blog and know me for just any other stranger...not as friends...Or worth case scenario, I won't be able to complete the course due to insufficient monetary fund

Things happen for reason.... but we can make reason for thing to happens....

SMS Muar batch 86....

Dear readers,

I just viewed my friend Facebook, and he just uploaded a few photos of our Sekolah Menengah Sains Muar batch 1986.  They had a informal reunion and meeting up session last week, I regret I can't joint in with you guys....

From the photos, I could see most of us have changed physically... people always say, if thing can't grow taller, they will expand larger.. heheh... But I was astonish to see a few of us maintain the bodily proportion...  Cayalah beb... 

Our bath is probably one of the oldest SMS Muar batch  (2nd batch of form 4 intake in 1985), correct me if i am wrong. But after seeing all my good old friend in the photos, I thought it's only yesterday when we ran to Dewan Makan together after the prep bell rang, we play football together on field nearby cemetery, sunshine or rainy day.... we fight and quarrelled among us....  have crushed on the other girls from different or same class... 

Lots of memory that make me as what I am today...  Each time when I go back to my Kampung, I would take a left glance when I passed my old school, looking back at the memory, bitter or sweet... and wish my son could have a good experience in his life also...

Inferiority in the making....

It was during Physics subject lab class, when suddenly the teacher asked 9 students to stepped forward (5 boys and 4 girls). I couldn't remember exactly the number of students, but I am very sure the total number of the boys is more than 1 compare to the girls. I was one of the unlucky students to be called forward, and soon enough I know that this so called physics educational charade was for me.... 

The teacher, with his typical smile, make a scenario ...."let's say, during one of the preparatory study (prep) at night, one of you (he addressed to the girls) have sudden urge to go the toilet... the toilet is located far away... and you are the only girl student that night... who would you choose among the boy to escort you to the toilet...remember it's a dark and scary night... you could only choose 1 boy who you really trust".... We were all quite puzzled, because he's quite a strict teacher and does not share any jokes with us before this.... 

I don't know perhaps he got this 'education's game idea' from reading magazine or book.... or after watching some stupid TV programme... Remember, this thing happened on 1985, Leo Burnett haven't come up with idea for reality TV show such as Survivor or The Apprentice... If this thing happen now, I won't be surprise.. probably the teacher is addicted to reality TV show, and want to implement this on us...Or perhaps, Mr Burnett got the idea from this teacher... 

So the game begun... one by one, the girls chooses the boy they taught can be trusted most.... during that time I am sure enough I would be choose by the second or 3rd turn... but I was so wrong... 

The finale.....the finalist were, my friend, the last girl and me...  that teacher reminded again the last girl on the scenario.. on the dark scary night, rainy, thunderstorm... whatever... I think if he want this 'reality show' to be more real, he should bring the audio visual sound effect.. or employed some people to intimidate us more...I can still remember the look of intimidation portray on his face....At this point of time, I am still confident, I would be the chosen one... "just look at my advantage"... I said to myself... 

And the game ended... without hesitation, the last hope of mine, the last girl pointed her finger toward my friend over me.....I was left standing there, alone in front of all the students....With a cynically smile the teacher start lecturing me... on what's wrong with me, why I was not selected, why people don't trust me, .... He's start lecturing me.....on the stupid game that he started and give no option to the poor last girl... he's lecturing me on the future guilt and unforeseen bad behaviour that was not done by me yet..... I was proven guilty.. not because of my current or past wrongdoing.. but by future me... 

The laughter by the rest of my classmate suddenly stopped... maybe they feel sorry or bad toward me.. or the "educational stupid joke" by this teacher ended..... I still remember on the other incident, when I was isolated during the Physics subject lab class... I was directed to seat alone, without lab partner, at the corner back of the lab.....that's another story.... 

You can punished or advice student who's misbehaved, but you can't at anytime......isolate or block educational access to misbehaved student.... This is why the government set up Sekolah Henry Gurney....so they also can get education though they're found guilty by law.... 

If his intention to humour us, then he failed, only a few of us laughed and suddenly stopped..... if he wanted to educate us with his sudden psychological skill, he also failed badly,... if he want me to feel inferior, I have to say sorry... he missed by a mile. So what was his purpose, what was he's trying to achieve ...  

Since he asked me to think of my gulit, I kept on thinking... for about 1 week, 2 weeks.. then I just forget and forgive... though he did ask me after that in another session which was more personal...There's a longer version of the story and the sequel, but I don't see any benefit in writing that... 

If any of you or any person you know, a teacher, lecturer, superior, father, mother, older sibling... please don't try this at your classroom,  your children, your younger sibling or your domain. 

I am writing this not because I have personal grudge or unsettled business with whoever.... or I have been psychologically affected  that my view toward life somehow distorted..... or I have inferiority complex spawned by the incident....

 I writing this.. because for me, this is a very-very wrong thing in education..... You cannot simply just implement or instill the feeling of guilt and inferior to anyone or any being.... for the thing that hasn't been committed yet. Even in the court of law, you're innocent until proven guilty. 

9 years later, among all my ex classmate, I was graduated with Bachelor of Science in Physics from a local University.....not because of the 'psychological educational reality show'... but because of the love of that subject... and the lower study cost... 

I still don't know till now, on what was the motive and what he's trying to achieve....clueless and unexplained.... Perhaps if I asked Chris Carter... he probably reply  "the truth is out there".....

When the purse value is more expensive than the money inside...

Today, I went to Blok M to do some air pistol shooting...  first few shots, the result was not so convincing, perhaps it's has been 2 or 3 weeks I haven't went there.  Second target shooting, the result is quite good... maybe I got back my hand, eyes and finger coordination... and 3rd target shooting, the result went back as the first...

So inconsistent performance.. hahaha...  I maybe should blamed my tiring hand and my impatience urge to just shoot the 10m away target... I remember the owner said "Pak, posisi kaki harus tetap, perasaan harus tenang, koordinasi mata, tangan dan jari harus tepat.... jangan tunggu terlalu lama utk memencit trigger.. nanti tangan jadi cape kerna pistolnya agak berat... tapi harus tenang dan sabar.. jangan buru-buru".... and he's a good shooter, I recalled last time when he demonstrate to me....I will surely miss this activity when I return back... 

After that I went to Pacific Place to check out something... my friend asked me to survey LV items price...  When the sale promoter politely say...  9 to 11 million Rupiah for LV purse...  I either want to faint or just keep cool... that's a month salary for average executive in Malaysia... I just don't understand why woman crazy want to buy this thing.... by hard earned cash or credit... Perhaps if you have this LV purse, you have to have at least RM1000 cash money inside the purse at anytime..... just to give the thing, it's luxurious effect and purpose... any cash amount below that, does not belong inside...  

I took taxi and went to Plaza Indonesia.. just to jalan-jalan.... and watch movie.. 

Segregation base on grade and the long term effect... E1

Last time, during my primary schooling years, there's an English language learning system where group of  students were segregated according to their English skill.  We gone through assessment test and the result will determine where's our group or set... Set 1, set 2,.. up to set 5. Each time during English class, we will go to our determined Set, in different classroom.. mine in Physics lab.

After schooling years, I was lucky enough to enter science preparatory program in one of the local University. First thing after register, we had to take English assessment test, and students were segregated to classes according to the result.. Class A1, A2, A3.. to F1 in my time. 

 Perhaps the idea is,..... it's easier to teach English lesson this way, where's the teacher/lecturer can have different teaching method for each class. True, it's successful in some extend and I am not against the good intention of the system to improve the student English language skill. What I am concern is.... the segregation effect which are base on grade.

We may solved  the English language education, even not fully. While on the hand, we may create other long term, more permanent psychological effect. Such as feeling of inferiority, feel not as good as, not good enough, ... and pressure. Student, or ex student from lesser skill in English will feel inferior with their friends from the upper group...   and student or ex student from the so called higher skill in English feel pressure to maintain performance. It's can't be denied, a small or manageable pressure is good to maintain or improved performance... but too much can be damaging.  When i mentioned about ex student... I meant ex student.. because till now, there's some of our friends out there felt inferior to others, due to this system....

Why don't we classify or segregate the students base on non hierarchical groups..... such as colors... Merah, Kuning, Hijau,... Kelabu... or any names that does not carry any caste, hierarchical position or comparison. People will surely know, 1 is better than 2...  A is better than B... and or t the  way around  (in my case.. the F is the English smart group)..

People may just say, what a 2-3 years period of English classes base on grade, would have any psychological effect on later life.  Adolescent period is a period of our life's where we are searching for our own identity. We perhaps done many stupid things during this periods, caring less about the consequences and the risk, just for us to have our own identity (I still remember the stupid things I have done... kerja2 bodoh). It's very unfortunate if during this fragile period, we introduce the inferiority. Different people have different level of tolerance, many would just go on, forget and forgive. But some of them ... still dealing with the inferiority feeling.

Then again, the reason why the system implemented.... perhaps "the good of the many outweigh the good of the few"... as always dictate by Commander Tuvok in Stark Trek Voyager, in situation where the crews in dilemma.. either to abort the mission and save the team at the expense of the mission..... or carry on with the mission although it's meant their life in danger..

But I do not agree with him..... if the system will make some of our next generation... carry inferiority complex....

Laskar Pelangi... renungan buatku

Aku maseh seolah2 terkesan dari filem Laskar Pelangi... kisah perjuangan anak2 sekolah rendah di sekolah yg cukup dhaif.. kisah kecekalan dan kesabaran guru2nya.... kisah kemiskinan... kisah kejujuran ... dan kisah ketidakadilan

Mungkin kerna kisah ini berlatarbelakangkan tahun 70an.. ia begitu memicu memoriku utk mengenangi zaman sekolah ku sekitar tahun 70an... Zaman abang2 ku berkasut tumit tinggi, berseluar bell bottom... dan baju kemeja dgn kolar sebesar saputangan.. mungkin itu ideanya dulu, tak payah lap mulut pakai sapu tangan, cukup hanya lap dgn kolar baju...  Lagu2 Melayu-Deli selalu berkumandang di radio ... dgn baterinya yg sudah lemah dijemur.. supaya tambah power.

Kisah Harun dan Lintang, membuat aku betul2 terfikir... mungkin kejayaan kita dlm bidang akademik selama ini.. masuk asrama.. SPM pangkat satu... masuk U.. pergi oversea...  bukan semata2 hanya bergantung atas kecerdasan kita sahaja.. mungkin kerna ada insan2 seperti Lintang dan Harun, yg secara tidak langsung atau langsung.... menyumbang ke arah kejayaan akademik yg kita kecapi...  adalah terlalu sombong kalau kita mendabik dada mengatakan kejayaan akademik yg kita capai.. hasil 100% usaha kita... Lantas kita terlupakan teman2 seperti Harun dan Lintang... 

Sebab itu, orang yg kaya ada berhutang dgn org yg miskin dlm bentuk zakat.. dan begitu juga org yg pintar dan bernasib baik... mempunyai 'hutang' dan tanggungjawab sosial ke atas  org2 yg kurang pintar dari segi akademik... 

Mereka yg kurang pintar dr segi akademik.. bukan kerana mereka tidak pintar.. tapi mungkin kerna mereka tidak berkemampuan, terpaksa berhenti mengejar cita2, tiada peluang, disisihkan oleh sistem yg tidak adil........ Dan juga membuka peluang untuk kita  menjadi pintar....

Laskar Pelangi... Terima kasih cikgu dan rakanku...

Akhirnya aku dapat nonton juga filem yg begitu popular di sini buat masa ini.... Laskar Pelangi. Sebuah filem adaptasi dari novel terkenal sekitar 2005, karya Anrdrea Hirata. Filem ini dah ditayangkan sekitar 25 November, tapi mungkin kerana terlalu ngetop... susah nak dapat tiket kalau hari minggu. Tadi aku dapat tiket pun, kira last seat... ada tinggal 3 seat kosong.

Orang Jakarta nih, kalau filem yg bagus, mereka akan menonton berkali2... ada teman aku cakap " pakcik, aku udah nonton kali ke 4... mau lagi ke 5".. aduh gawat.. kalau 30% penonton mengulang nonton 3-4 kali, gi mana aku mau dapet karcisnya (tiket). Dan filem ini temanya sesuai benar utk ditonton seisi keluarga, so kalau famili, mereka akan bawakla anak2 mereka....penuh panggung...dgn anak2..... ibubapa.. remaja dan org dewasa...

Antara tarikan kuat  aku nak menonton filem ini adalah, berdasarkan cuplikan (sedutan) di TV, bahasa yg dipakai dalam movie ini adalah bahasa Melayu Sumatera Selatan... so sebutan 'kenapa jadi kenape... kecewa jadi kecewe....dia jadi die.....kita jadi kite'. Dan ada lagu "Seroja" yg dipopularkan oleh Jamal Abdillah dan Mawi... dibawa oleh pelakon2 cilik.

Filem ini berdasarkan pengalaman peribadi sang penulis, berkenaan perjuangan kehidupan 10 anak dari keluarga miskin yg bersekolah SD dan SMP (SD tu mcm sekolah rendah... SMP itu dari form 1-3), di sebuah sekolah Yayasan Muhamadiyyah di Kabupaten Gantong, Pulau Belitung yang penuh kekurangan, kedaifan dan keterbatasan.... berdekatan propinsi Bangka. Ketua guru Pak Harfan, para guru2 Ibu Muslimah, Pak Bakri (yang akhirnya meninggalkan sekolah itu kerana mendapat tawaran di sekolah lebih bagus)... anak2 murid terdiri dari Ikal, Lintang, Sahara, Mahar, A Kiong, Syahdan, Kucai, Borek, Trapani dan Harun ( si anak cacat)

Kisah dimulai bagaimana sekolah yg daif ini diancam akan ditutup oleh departmen pendidikan negeri, sekiranya gagal mendaftarkan sekurang2nya 10 pelajar pada sesi baru sekitar tahun 70an. Bagaimana ketika Pak Harfan membuat ucapan utk menutup sekolah itu di hadapan 9 anak murid dan ibubapa, dan ketika Bu Muslimah berlari keluar utk mencari juga murid yg ke 10 setelah menanti hampir setengah hari... muncul ibu dan Harun, si anak yg kurang dr fizikal dan pemikiran... menjadi penyelamat keberlansungan sekolah daif itu.. utk sekitar 8-9 tahun lagi... 

Mulai dari itu... maka bermulala kisah sebuah persahabatan, perjuangan, pendidikan formal dan tidak formal... bagaimana sekolah yg daif dr segala segi... boleh melahirkan anak2 murid yg hebat, manusiawi...  dan menjadi dewasa.  

Dikisahkan si Lintang, anak yg genius dr segi mental arithmetik, anak sulung nelayan yg miskin (lakonan Alex Komang) yang kematian ibu.... terpaksa naik basikal ke sekolah sekitar 40km... so total 80km pergi balik. Dan dia setiap hari terpaksa berhenti di tengah perjalanan... kerana memberi lalu buaya yg bersarang di kubang di pinggir laluan dia ke sekolah... selepas buaya berlalu dan berendam dalam kubang, barulah dia meneruskan perjalanan...   Aku dulu pergi keje dr Shah Alam ke KL... naik motor bukan basikal... lalu laluan motor... takde buaya pun duduk kubang tepi jalan... dapat gaji lagi tiap bulan... maseh bersungut. Bagaimana dia kehilangan ayahnya ...di tengah lautan... tatakala dia menang kuiz antara sekolah... Akhirnya dia terpaksa berhenti sekolah utk menyara adik2nya yg maseh kecik... sebab dia anak sulung, dia terpaksa meneruskan hidup dan menjadi nelayan seperti ayahnya.... Anak yg paling pintar, dan yg paling bersemangat utk bersekolah, dan coba datang paling awal... tapi akhirnya menjadi murid yg pertama terpaksa berhenti sekolah.. akibat desakan hidup...

Kisah cinta pertama antara Ikal (penulis) dan A Ling, sepupu A Kiong... A Ling anak tokay kedai Cina kat kampung... kali pertama Ikal ternampak jari A Ling, ketika beli kapur tulis sekolah.... selepas itu dia menawarkan diri utk beli kapur tulis....siap menulis puisi cinta utk A Ling.

Kisah Mahar, si anak kecil yg memiliki bakat istimewa ... dalam bidang seni, dan sentiasa ada radio bergantung di lehernya.... bukan radio kecik.. radio transistor yg besar zaman 70an. Setiap kali baterinya lemah..... dia jemur atas bumbung rumah.... taktik sama aku guna dulu utk panjangkan hayat bateri... maklumla.. dulu mana ada duit nak beli bateri. Mahar ini la yg menyanyi lagi Seroja.... aku pun baru tahu lagu ni dulu dibawa oleh Said Effendi, penyanyi50-an  kelahiran Besuki, Jawa Timur. Tapi anehnya, dalam panggung tu.. aku rasa aku sorg kut yg menyanyi ikut lirik lagu tuh.... penonton lain macam terdiam dengar lagu tu... tapi jadi gamat bila lagu Rhoma Irama.. Malam Minggu.. berkumandang... waktu bila Ikal nak dating dgn A Ling, dgn bantuan A Kiong.... kelakar tengok.

Kisah Kucai, ketua kelas, yang tak tahan dgn perangai rakan sekelasnya yang digambarkan macam setan... dan mahu berhenti jadi monitor kelas.... dgn nasihat Bu Muslimah, dia tetap menjadi monitor.... 

Bagaimana waktu musim cuti sekolah panjang.. si Lintang menjadi nelayan membantu ayahnya, si Kucai membantu ayahnya yg kerja di lombong timah, si A Kiong tolong jaga kedai runcit.... Cuti sekolah, budak2 ini bekerja membantu keluarga... bukan relaks mcm sekrg...

Watak Bu Muslimah seorang guru wanita yg cantik, single, muda... tapi sanggup bersusah payah utk mengajar di sekolah yg sangat daif dgn segala kekurangan.... seorang guru yg pintar dan kreatif, bagaimana waktu sekolah lain menggunakan kalkulator utk menghitung... dia mengajarkan anak murid menggunakan batang lidi utk mengira.... kerna ketidakmampuan sekolah... seorang guru yg mengajar kerna tanggungjawab, mungkin kerana sekolah itu diasaskan oleh arwah ayahnya... dan satu2nya sekolah Islam di Belitung.

Watak Pak Harfan, sekolah ketua sekolah.. yang sangat luarbiasa ketenangannya... sabar... sangat dedikasi dgn kerjayanya... bagaimana dia waktu berhujah dgn sahabat lamanya yg bertanya kenapa maseh bertahan di sekolah yg usang dan hampir tiada murid... dia menjawab... sekolah ini mengajarkan pelajarnya dgn hati... bukan materi...  dan sahabatnya akur.. kerana mereka dari pendidikan sekolah Muhamadiyyah. Pak Harfan terus mendidik sehingga ke akhir hayatnya...  tersungkur di meja usangnya....

Terlalu banyak pengajaran dari filem ini...  ramai orang yg menonton filem adaptasi novel, adalah datang semata2 utk membandingkan dgn novel atau sekurang2nya mencari2 kekurangan filem berbanding gambaran minda yg sudah tertulis setelah membaca novel....  kalau itu tujuannya.. akan hilang manisnya sesuatu filem itu.... kita akan menjadi pengkritik filem yg tak digaji...  Ini terjadi pada aku apabila menonton filem Da Vincci Code setelah membaca novelnya... itu aku dah baca sekitar setahun kut... baru filem keluar... Pengajarannya, aku tak akan baca novel, kalau aku dah nonton filem.. atau aku akan baca novel, dah tak akan nonton filem...... atau aku tak akan buat kedua2nya.. kalau cerita tak sedap... nak buat apa buang masa...hehehe

Filem ini mengikut pandangan aku... selain dari penulis mahu menceritakan perjuangan dari sudut pendidikan dia dan teman2nya... dia mahu melahirkan rasa terima kaseh dan terhutang budi... dgn guru2nya yg hebat... Bu Muslimah... Pak Harfan... dan sahabat2nya... Kalau bukan Harun mendaftar sebagai pelajar ke 10, mungkin penulis tidak akan bersekolah, kerana ketiadaan sekolah utk anak miskin... Kalau bukan Lintang yg terus datang  ke sekolah dan memberi semangat kepadanya selepas kematian Pak Harfan dan Bu Muslimah putus semangat,  dia mungkin tak pergi sejauh Sorbone, Perancis utk melanjutkan pelajaran... 

Dan penulis juga menyindir pemerintah yg tidak mempedulikan pendidikan org miskin, apabila mereka ... anak2 org tak kemampuan, terpaksa bersekolah di sekolah yg dhaif dan miskin.. di salah sebuah pulau yg paling kaya di Indonesia... kaya dgn hasilbumi timah. Bukan tidak ada sekolah di sana, tapi sekolah yg ada memakan biaya yg sangat besar... sehingga tidak termampu oleh ibubapa si Ikal, Lintang, Kucai dsbnya.... disebabkan desakan hidup, ramai yg tidak menghantar anak ke sekolah dan rela membiarkan anak2 mereka menjadi kuli di lombong timah... untuk membantu keluarga....

For me... this is a good film, highly recommended... utk tontonton sendiri, bersama keluarga atau sama pacar... 

http://www.laskarpelangithemovie.com/