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What is Our Excuse?

I read a recent post by Dr Rozaimi, which claimed that Ibn Qayyim, an influential Islamic scholar from the medieval period, wrote some of his books when he was travelling (musafir).

I did a simple research on my own, and found out that the said books were Zad al-Ma'ad, Rawd'at al-Muh'ibbin, and Bada'i al-Fawa'id.

I never read those books, never even heard them before. But it makes me marvel how Ibn Qayyim managed to pull off such a feat.

Nowadays, people rarely write (let alone writing serious stuff) when on travel. We would rather play with our tablet/smart-phone than pouring our thoughts on a script of paper.

What makes Ibn Qayyim's feat more remarkable is his ability to draw largely from his memory and distinguish facts from fictions from the tip of his mind. 

I read a short memoir of him which states that Ibn Qayyim possessed a library full of books in his house.

But I highly doubt he brought that many books during his travel.

With today's technology and convenience at hand, logically we should be producing more books (or at least write more) and becoming more adept in discerning facts from fictions.

But sadly, that's not the case.

Today, we did indeed write more, but most of what were written are rubbish. 

See the comment section from any particular popular facebook sites for example, it is full of garbage.

But some of us had the tenacity to go through all the comments. 

Looking for jokes, they said. 

That precious time was better spent somewhere...reading good articles/books, for example.

This is a self reminder to me, not to waste any more time.      

P.S I Love You

Several months back, while waiting for GSC to be ready for seating, a friend of Malik directed all his attention into a book. His act grabbed my curiosity. The book was covered with a paper...as if he was trying to conceal the title of the book.

"He's too shy to reveal the title of the book" explained Malik. "People will laugh at him".

I found the same book on the shelf of Malik's room some time afterwards. I was planning to read "The Golden Compass" beforehand...before my hand somehow touched the book.

"Is this book...any good?" I asked Malik, in a pessimistic manner.

"It's good!" He answered...enthusiastically.

I gave him the benefit of the doubt. So I borrowed the book from him.

I don't know what's so special about this book. Some time ago, while wandering around the blogosphere looking for good stories to fill my time, I came upon a blog which bore a name of the same writer.

And in one of the scenes of the recently aired "Sumpah Bunian"...the same book was spotted in Adam's (the lead actor) room.

The book was P.S I Love You. And the writer was Cecilia Ahern.

It took me two weeks to finish this 503 pages book. The story centres around two childhood lovebirds, Holly and Gerry who love each other very much. But the unthinkable happens when Gerry passed away...leaving Holly so devastated.

But Gerry had left her a bundle of notes to guide her out of her misery, each signed "P.S I Love You"

The storyline was weak...there were loopholes here and there. There was no particular chapter that held my attention grippingly...all the chapters were mundane and ordinary. The plot was loose...for instance, Holly's holiday was abruptly brought to an end. And their straying into the open sea, the quick action of the lifeguard to save them seemed...fake.

The plus point was the unexpected ending of the novel. From the beginning, I thought Gerry would eventually end up with Daniel...but it didn't materialize. Cecilia Ahern has a penchant for muscular man...she used this term regularly to give her character a favourable outlook throughout the book. And the novel was written in simple, easy-to-understand English.

I don't see myself reading another novel by her...maybe I am just not into fiction. I am a non-fictional type of person...before this, I never read a novel in my entire life, except for a novel by Ramli Awang Murshit, Satu Janji, during my matriculation year. It was recommended by a friend. It was a refreshing, thrilling novel...the one which were full of surprises. No wonder he has such a huge following.

Non-fiction puts our feet firmly on the ground. It feeds our mind with the inner working of our world...how the world works, why something happens, and what is wrong with our actions...past or current. In this fast-paced world, we need information to keep us on par with other people. Failure to do that is an unmitigated disaster.

As for Cecilia Ahern...thank you for P.S I Love You. Although this novel was average at best, it did touch my heart and offered me some insights into the inner feeling of a girl. I heard somewhere the best way to understand a girl's feeling was through novel. And I read somewhere the most useless thing to do was to try to understand a girl's feeling...they were constantly changing...sometimes in a matter of second.

Going by the simple logic: If reading novel is the best way to understand girl, and trying to understand girl is useless, so reading novel is useless...

So no more novel after this...it's a waste of time...

Books, work, and life...

Just finished reading "China : The Gathering Threat". At 514 pages (excluding endnotes, index) this giant book remains the thickest book I've ever read. I have a bad habit of reading...I failed almost every single time to put the finishing touch everytime I read a particular book. Sayang nak baca sampai habis. Very bad habit...

Microtrends should follow suit...just few pages remaining. So too Zoom. Deep down, I still hankered for Naomi Kleinn's "A Shock Doctrine"...but I don't have enough money left.

Regarding my daily life, nothing much has changed. My workplace is still blanketed by heavy politics..you have to be prudent in your every move to avoid any unnecessary backlash.

I'm no master in politics...but by playing my cards right, I dodged every problems that fall on my path up to this day. I don't how long will all this continue...but I enjoyed my life now very much.

I am at the crossroad of my life...still looking for a tinge of hope. Do I have the necessary ingredients to sail through this chaotic life? And I miss somebody very much...although she would have forgotten me completely by now. All in all, life must goes on...so I don't have much choice then...

Three months after...

The last time I wrote something in this blog, it was a distant three months back.

Nothing much changed then...only I am now three months older. And three months wiser than before, I guess.

I am back in my old room, this time with a better internet connection. I sported a wireless device hanging just next to my room. Maybe that stupid thing improved the connectivity.

Just finished reading three books. I love reading, but I have this one particular bad habit residing deep inside me. Whenever I read good books, I have great difficulty to finish it. I may get bored towards the end...or lose interest entirely. Finally, managed to ward off this stupid habit of mine.

"Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell was an exceptional piece. I read it with great interest towards the end. Then, I re-read "Mullahs, Merchants and Militants" (the first time, I was stuck halfway) and able to finish it some weeks later. I even brought that hardcover book to my sister's house during a visit. She thought it was entitled "Mulan". How funny. I read it on the sofa until I fall asleep.

Next is John Mason "The Impossible Is Possible". Although it was heavy in Christian's value, but it was still a good read.

And just last night, I wrapped up Jane Austen's " Guide To Dating". It was time consuming...as I bought this book almost a year before. But this lovely book gave valuable insights towards understanding relationship between man and woman.

And I currently working towards finishing M Bakri Musa "Towards A Competitive Malaysia" as soon as possible. And almost five to six books are waiting on the shelf...still not sure whether I have the necessary time to finish all those.

"You are what you read". I hold this principle dear to my heart.

There was a time in the past, when I went to state library in Alor Setar. It was Friday, and I parked my motorcycle inside the library's parking area. The library would be temporarily closed during Jumaat prayer's, so I thought it would be better off to leave my Wave 100 there, as I would be coming back to the library later.

The library re-opened at around three, and I went back to the library. I was the last person to leave the library in the evening. As I was approaching my motorcycle, came a shout out of nowhere, with a strong voice.

"So this is the owner of this motorcycle! You know the whole staff are looking for you!"

"Looking for me? What for?"

"You dare asking me what for ?! You left your motorcycle here when the library is closed. They fear someone was left inside the library. They abandon their Friday prayers just to look for you!"

By this period, I knew this guard was exaggerating the incident. The whole staff looked calm and collected inside the library, as if nothing happened. I bet they didn't even knew about this minor incident. This guard was bluffing right under my nose.

"Is it? Pity them then. If they couldn't find the owner of this motorcycle, just go and observe their prayer first. The library's going to open at three after all...no big deal. The owner will come back by then...no fuss"

"How dare you said like that! You want me to call the police? You want to be charged by the police ?"

"Call the police? and be charged on what account? For parking inside a Public Library during Friday prayer's? Or for causing the whole staff to abandon their Friday prayer's in search of me?"

This guard thought I was a school kid, and can be easily frightened when mentioned about the police. The whole staff looking for me was a made up story, at best they didn't even noticed there was a motorcycle left inside the compound. Plus that library is so small that you didn't have to waste your entire Friday prayer's time to locate a person.

The guard left me afterwards, and he headed towards a man who had just about to start his motorcycle. He bad-mouthed me to him...and I could hear it very clearly. He repeatedly told that man that I was behaving "kurang ajar" to him.

He made a mountain out of a molehill.

Then I left, fearing that the whole staff would next abandon their Maghrib prayer looking for a person. Maybe they would abandon Isyak and Subuh prayers as well, if I were to leave my motorcycle there overnight. Pity that guard, and his 'full of exaggerations' story.