Proving Eleanor Wrong

Eleanor Roosevelt forgot what important thing when she claimed that absence makes the heart grow fonder. The heart does not grow fonder for free. There is certainly a price to pay. Absence, my dear friends, makes you go through one hell of a pain first. And believe me that part is not easy.

Abou Ben Adhem & My Hope for Tomorrow

Abou Ben Adhem

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An Angel writing in a book of gold:

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said,
"What writest thou?" The Vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."

"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow men."

The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!

- James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)

We need leaders that see their position not as an opportunity, right or privilege , but as an obligation, responsibility and duty. We need those that love, and above all, respect their people.

My prayer for fellow Malaysians to get their message sent loud and clear tomorrow. All the best Malaysia!

Malaysiakini Goes Free

Malaysiakini, a renowned local independent online newspaper has decided to make its website free starting yesterday for the week leading up to the vote casting day this Saturday. Having been around for a decade, Malaysiakini promises to cater for the need of its hundreds of thousands of readers for fair-minded news and articles relating to the country, especially the ongoing election fever. So what are we waiting for people? Let's now hit the keyboard, for we need Berita Harian or The Star no more.

Campaigning for Nik Nazmi

Let me tell you why I seem to be so inclined at taking the opposition stand as far as the field of Malaysian politics is concerned. No, not because I did not get a JPA scholarship. I am not a huge supporter of Anwar Ibrahim either.

But it is because of Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

I came to know this guy while I was still in koleq, upon reading a wonderful fictional article in the 1999 college magazine penned by him. In the following months, I came across his name in few other occasions, including in a particular edition of Buletin MCOBA I read in which Nik Nazmi was one of the editors, the youngest of all I believe. Later I came to learn that this guy has a blog, and made an effort to check on his writings whenever I had the chance to. It is quite easy to assume that my first try at blogging world was inspired by him, albeit not directly. Beginning from those days, I would always seek and check on his updates on a regular basis; from his personal life like marriage to his rise in student bodies in both Malaysia and UK and much later in the realm of Malaysian politics.

You see, sometimes we see a person early on and we could feel some kind of intuition that tells us that what he is doing is right, and we should just follow on his path regardless of whether we do it closely or from far. We might not have any direct contact with him at all along the way but like I said, we just follow our hearts. Perhaps the link is there because Nik Nazmi, like me, is a budak koleq of later generation, much criticized for our lack of contributions to the outside world unlike in the past. Or perhaps it was because I have never seen people his age that have already gone up there to his rank, and between admiration and envy I just decided to give him sheer respect. It could also be because I was paying too much attention to him, that I kind of shut my eyes on his flaws. I really cannot explain. One thing I am fairly sure however is that he holds true to the value of Malay and Islam, which is starkly lacking in many of our leaders today, and that he loves this country so much he would wrestle any hand that tries to take it from him.

But regardless of what I felt, I am writing this piece this time around in the effort of campaigning for Nik Nazmi for his first try at entering the real politics, where he is contesting for the Seri Setia state seat in the coming General Election under the banner of Keadilan. Up against him will be UMNO incumbent Seripah Noli Syed Hussin. It is a battle between a 26-year-old novice and a seasonal player. David against goliath I shall add. Odds will certainly be against him, but with the kind of support I see he is and will be getting, I cannot see why we shall not get a new face for this Seri Setia state seat come the night of 8 March. May God be with him.

Akmal Nasir, another strong supporter of Nik Nazmi, also a two-year senior of mine at koleq also has something to say regarding this effort that I think is worth paying attention to.

I shall leave you with Nik Nazmi’s website in case you are keen to look for more information on this. Given the fact that the frequent readers of my blog are mostly my age and do not count to more than ten or fifteen perhaps, I doubt that this writing will have any significant impact on Nik Nazmi’s campaign. Thus I will appreciate if you can do more than just read and bury them in your head; just take a little step forward and start talking to your relatives and friends and its ilk into paying a closer look to Nik Nazmi’s effort. Quoting Nik Nazmi himself- we need change, we need now.

Beauty Has A New Name

Peugeot 908 RC. Isn't it a beauty?