Anon's Advice On Dealing With Others

Our superfluities should be given up for the convenience of others,
Our conveniences should give place to the necessities of others,
And even our necessities give way to the extremities of the poor.

-Schott's Almanac-

Miss Lillian Sees Leprosy For The First Time

I love this poem.

When I nursed in a clinic
near Bombay,
a small girl, shielding
all her leprous sores,
crept inside the door.
I moved away,
But then the doctor called,
“You take this case!”
First I found a mask,
and put it on,
quickly gave the child
a shot and then, not well,
and scrubbed my entire body red and raw.

I faced her treatment every week with dread and loathing
—of the chore, not the child.
As time passed, I was less afraid and managed not to
turn my face away.
Her spirit bloomed as sores began to fade.
She’d raise her anxious
searching eyes to mine
to show she trusted me.
We’d smile and say
a few Marathi words,
and then reach and
hold each other’s hands.
And then love grew between
us, so that, later
when I kissed her lips
I didn’t feel unclean.

Jimmy Carter

President Carter’s mother, Lillian, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in India from 1967-1969. Copied from Peace Corps The Great Adventure, Washington, D.C., 5.

Tahniah!

Tahniah Pak Ishak Ismail si pemandu teksi.

Anda sumber inspirasi saya! (Dan mungkin juga kepada seorang rakan yang masih belum membuat keputusan untuk melanjutkan pelajarannya).

Tahniah juga kepada Cik Subashini Rajandra,wartawan KOSMO yang berhemah tinggi,yang turut mendapat ijazah sarjana dan dianugerahkan sebagai pelajar terbaik di dalam bidang pengajiannya.

Soalan seterusnya - Bila lah pula giliran saya?

Malas

Saya akan ke Bangkok pada hari Khamis ini. Malas hendak pergi.

Malas benar hendak menghabiskan masa 2 hari yang pasti membosankan di dalam bilik persidangan.

Nasib baik ia hanya berlangsung daripada pukul 9 pagi sehingga 5 petang. Yang pasti selepas pukul 5,merayau-rayaulah saya ke HuaLamphong mencari tomyam tersedap di dunia atau duduk bersantai berjam-jam di Asia Books.

'Kanom buang' di Nang Leong juga terbayang-bayang di mata.Hehehe...

Datukship: Between A and SRK?

Let us compare between Shah Rukh Khan and the thousands of our soldiers who gave their lives for our nation since World War 2.

What do they get for their "Taat Setia" motto etched deep in their hearts and minds?Nothing.Some may argue,hey, we gave PGB and SP to some of the brave ones.But then, how about the rest?Don't they deserve a proper recognition as well?

After all, PGB and SP only awarded for those who served the nations after the independence.Not everybody can get it. For those who gave their lives even before that, they were simply names engraved on the wall of Pasir Panjang Memorial in Singapore.Not in Malaysia,even.(I can't even go and visit their graves).

Why don't we award "datukship" to all of them.No need for us to go beyond that - 'Tan Sri'ship or even 'Tun'ship. Just a simple Dato'ship will do.Not one to be left behind and to be given regardless of their ranks.I don't think it will cost the state or even federal government much except for the cost of producing medals and printing the official credentials.

For a start, I copied down some of the heroes (that begin with alphabet A) of Royal Malay Regiments who served and killed during World War 2 from Syed Othman Syed Omar's "Rejimen Askar Melayu DiRaja 1933 - 1968".

A

1. Lt.Muda Ahmad Noordin (1 Melayu)

2.Lt. Ariffin Hj Sulaiman ( 2 Melayu)

3.Lt. Abdul Wahid Mat Kidam (2 Melayu)

4.Lt.Abdullah Saad (2 Melayu)

5.Lt.Muda Adnan Saidi (1 Melayu)

6.Koperal Abas Awang (1 Melayu)

7.Sarjan Abdul Rahman (2 Melayu)

8.Prebet Ahmad Ismail (1 Melayu)

9. Prebet Ahmad Hj.Ithnin (1 Melayu)

10.Prebet Abdul Latiff Kidam (1 Melayu)

Don't you think that 10 names starting from alphabet 'A' from the thousands names, is too much to ask for datukship, before we even put SRK on the list?

The dreaded questions during Raya (and how to answer it)

The usual dreaded question from all those Makcik Bedahs during Raya visits:

Usual Question no. 1

Makcik Bedah "Eh,kau bila lagi?"
Your Answer : "Eh,makcik tu yang bila laginya?"
Makcik Bedah: "Bila apa pulak kamu ni?"
Your Answer : "Bila nak 'gol'..makcik"

(Naahh.. I don't think so it will ever come out from my mouth)

Usual Question no. 2

Makcik Bedah : "Ish, bila lah aku nak rasa nasi minyak kau ni?"
Your answer : "Insya Allah, nanti saya buatkan masa tahlil makcik nanti!"

(Naaah...again don't you ever....)

Usual Question no.3

Makcik Bedah: "Bila kau nak kahwin ni?"
Your answer : " Saya ni gay makcik!"


(Tried this year and it worked! No more questions or even conversations followed after that....)

Lesson learnt: Don't want or like to do it but have to do it (sometimes) and dont' worry, those answers are only reserved for the really annoying ones.

Note: some of the 'expletives' has been edited.Hehe...ramai potential 'ibu mertua' baca blog ini.