Hello, Mr.Karadzic!

Finally, he can face the music for what he had done in the past.

Dewan Keaiban!

Dewan Keaiban!










Dewan Kemahsyuran!

-somewhere in Hulu Langat........

Cukup Makan??

You said, "Rakyat cukup makan?"

Look at the stuff we bought for the poor for our Ramadhan's Feed The Fasting program. RM50 for all that and to feed a family of five. And due to price increase, the items is less than what we bought last year. Do you think they will 'cukup makan' with that for even less than a week?

Damn Shabery!

Note: I will update you on how you can feed the poor during Ramadhan 1429H with just RM50.

50 Kedai Buku Terbaik!

Saya benar-benar teruja apabila 2 daripada 50 kedai buku terbaik di United Kingdom yang disenaraikan oleh akhbar The Independent UK baru-baru ini,ternyata saya sudah lawati dahulu.

Saya kira tinggal lagi 48 buah kedai buku yang saya harus tanda dalam senarai tempat-tempat yang perlu dilawati sebelum ajal.

Saturday's thought

Yesterday, I was talking to a friend and she told me that she just lost her relative to cancer. We talked for quite some time, so today I’ve decided to be a bit in touch with my sentimental side.

After working with a cancer charity for years, meeting people who are dealing with death, you must think that I’m used to the idea of loss. The truth is, I am not. So I take it as a reminder that life is short. I take my time to rethink about people that I have in my life. My family, my friends, people that I know through my variety of projects. And I am thankful everyday for being able to be me and get the support from the people that I care about.

Talking about how short life is, it’s amazing how time flies. In our life, we are gifted with so many relationships that complete us. Everyone we have in our life helps us to fulfill our every different side.

I want to talk about the comfort of having somebody who knows you for so long, so well. When you know somebody for more than a decade and she had been your prime witness through all your ups and downs in your adult life, it’s hard to describe that sense of comfort. It is such a relief to know that I have someone to talk to, whenever I want to talk to, whatever I want to talk to. I can have a crappy week, get a major headache from weird friend all week, feel like the whole world is my enemy but then, a few minutes conversation with her and I am ok again. She is my loudest cheerleader, my worst critic, she can my greatest supporter at one time and become totally indifferent the next. It’s weird that sometimes I think I know her so well but there are times where I asked my self ‘Who are you?’

But most of all, it’s just amazing how well she knows me. What ever my concerns are, I’ll just blurt it out and she helps to describe my issues to me. She listens well, supports well, acts well and exaggerates well. To have somebody who accepts me for what I am, wants the best for me without prejudice or hidden agenda, I am a lucky man. That is how I can afford to be me, share my passions with others.

There is never a right thing to say to people who are coping with death or losing their loved ones. As for me, whenever I think about the people that I lost, all that I can think about is how lucky I am to got to know that person. It’s the time that I have with him or her that I cherished. I take it is as a reminder to count my blessing, to celebrate every relationships that I have in my life. I am so lucky just to be able to be me, do the work that I enjoy, living my passions, keeping the connections with people that I care and welcoming new friends in. So busy counting for my blessings that I have no room for complaints, regrets and craps.

I got to talk about this the next time I see her, but then again she’ll probably has the same thing in her mind, preparing to describe my own thoughts for me completed with her versions, emotions and exaggerations.Well…… on the second thought, I got to recount my blessings now…

I Pray For You

I pray for you.

If the biopsy result turns out not to our favour, I still pray for you.

If it turns out to be alright,I still pray for you.

Kedai buku

Sejak kecil lagi saya suka merayau-rayau di dalam kedai buku.

Tabiat yang terbawa-bawa sehingga kini.

Semasa kecil, Kedai Buku Dian Enterprise di hadapan Balai Polis Jerantut menjadi sasaran.

Semasa alam sekolah menengah pula, kedai buku Novel Hut di Yik Foong pula tempat saya melepak.Minat kepada Reader's Digest mula bercambah di sini.

Ketika menuntut di Bradford,UK, kedai-kedai buku seperti Waterstone's dan Dillon's di Kirkgate, memberi saya ketenangan semasa 3 tahun "menderita" menghabiskan pengajian di universiti.

Saya sanggup ponteng kuliah (selalu ponteng pun!) dan berlari-lari menuruni bukit sepanjang Richmond Road semata-mata hanya mahu 'lemas dalam aroma kopi di Waterstone's dan bersila selesa dicelah-celah rak buku sambil melayan antologi puisi Pablo Neruda.

Kadang-kadang menyelinap ke Haworth dan leka di antara rak buku di kedai buku di pekan kecil itu.

Semasa saya bertugas di Vientiane, saya gelisah kerana tiada kedai buku yang agak baik di kota itu. Ada 1-2 kedai buku, tetapi buku-bukunya mahal dan judul-judulnya terhad kepada novel-novel Inggeris.

Sama juga di Thailand. Banyak kedai buku tetapi kebanyakan buku dijual di dalam Bahasa Thai. Cuma semasa singgah di Bangkok saya dapat melepaskan kerinduan dengan mengunjungi Kedai Buku Asia Society berhampiran Stesen MRT Nana.

Apabila pulang ke Malaysia, Kedai Buku Kinokinuya di KLCC pula menjadi tumpuan. Sekali-sekala sempat juga menjenguk timbunan buku di Pasar Chowrasta,Penang.

Bila berpeluang ke New York City tidak berapa lama dahulu, Barnes and Noble di Washington Square menjadi tempat persinggahan.

Dalam banyak-banyak kedai buku yang saya sudah lawati, kedai buku kecil di hujung pekan Wigtown, Scotland menjadi pilihan utama saya untuk kembali semula menjenguknya.Anda harus ke sana sendiri untuk mengetahui sebabnya!

Train rides

I love train rides.

Yet, I can still clearly remember my first train ride from Jerantut (the station is just few hundred yards from my parent's house) to Pasir Mas with my aunt. I was seven at that time and that was my first time taking ride on a train by tagging her along during the school break at her place in Rantau Panjang.

It was a terrifying journey. Not because of the many hours-long and arduous journey plus the never-ending stops at small and remote stations like Dabong or Manek Urai during the journey.

But rather, her incessant blabbering for 12 hours straight and only ceased for a little while when she went to the cramped and smelly toilet at the end of the 3rd class coach and came out again looking very fresh. Apparently she was perhaps the only one in that coach who had the pleasure taken the bath. How I wish back then I could jump off the train and cried out aloud,

"She's not my auntie!!!!!"

Langkawi, Hay-on-Wye, Wigtown

(Kg. Buku Langkawi dalam kenangan)

Ini entri tentang 3 tempat berbeza tetapi mempunyai persamaan.Masing-masing terkenal dengan gelaran Kampung atau Pekan Buku (Book Town) yang dipelopori oleh jutawan "eccentric" bernama Richard Booth dari Wales. Langkawi di Kedah.Hay-on-Wye di Wales dan Wigtown di Scotland.

Kampung Buku Langkawi saya pertama kali bertandang semasa saya menuntut A-Level di PPP/ITM Shah Alam.Saya berkenalan dan berbual panjang dengan Pengurus Kampung Buku Langkawi waktu itu, Hj Ismail, bekas Pegawai Pendidikan Langkawi. Melalui beliaulah saya mengetahui tentang sejarah kewujudan pekan-pekan buku seperti di Hay-on-Wye, Redu dan di Amerika. Sejak itu, saya memasang niat untuk ke setiap pekan buku yang ada di seluruh dunia. Sayangnya Kampung Buku Langkawi di Lubuk Semilang itu telah berkubur sejak beberapa tahun yang lalu.Entahlah idea bagus tetapi perlaksanaannya mungkin tidak segigih pelopor agaknya.

Apabila saya melanjutkan pelajaran ke UK, saya mengidam-idam untuk mengunjungi Hay-on-Wye dan Wigtown. Hay-on-Wye dapat saya kunjungi semasa cuti musim panas tahun 1998. Saya dan rakan-rakan dari Bradford ketika itu sedang melawat Stratford-upon-Avon yang tidak payah diperkenalkan lagi sebagai kota kelahiran Shakespeare, Bandaraya Cardiff dan bandar tepi laut Aberystwyth di Wales. Oleh kerana Hay-on-Wye terletak tidak jauh dari Stratford-upon-Avon, saya tidak melepaskan peluang keemasan untuk memangkah nama Hay-on-Wye di dalam senarai tempat-tempat di dunia yang saya harus lawati sebelum saya mati.

(bersambung....)