What's the bill of the rain?

It is always bright and shiny in the morning nowadays. Things will quickly change in the evening. The rain will pour its heart out, and the earth is blessed with source of life. Allah said in the Holy Qur'an (if you can quote the verse Iching, you are welcome to leave your comment) Allah send the rain to give life to the death earth. A fully dried river in Africa can suddenly flow again after a heavy rain. And not long after that fish that has disappeared in the warm summer days will be seen swimming again. The appearance of the fish is like magic; coming out of nowhere. Allah said further that all these are for human to think of Allah's greatness; for those who are always thinking. If we put a bill for the amount of water that pour down in that one instant occasion, how much would we have to pay for it? Truly Allah is great. Think about that; for those who always think.

Let our similarities bridge us together

The world is full of people of different colours, nationality, creed, religion, belief, language and way of life. It is our differences that make the world so rich. My neighbour is an Indian family. I treat them like my own clan. Whenever I cook something extra, I will give some to them. I learn about their culture from their way of life. One of my best friend is a Chinese. She is Lee or Iching that you see leaving comments on my chatter box. Hi Lee. I know you will read this. Thanks for your love, support and care. Allah stated in the Holy Qur'an the purpose human are created in different races is so that we will get to know each other and love each other.

On my way home from class today I listen to radio IKIM. Ir Ahmad Jais, the director of radio IKIM, was interviewing Dr Lim Swee Kim (hope the name is right), a Professor of Kesusasteraan Melayu in UPM. Dr Lim related how as a child when he came back from school and there is no food on the table in his kitchen he will go to his neighbour's house and eat even if the owner of the house is not around. His mother got a foster mother who is a Malay woman. She will take care of Lim's mother in her confinement period after giving birth to each child. Just imagine how harmonious such life is.

We have a lot of things in common beside our differences. If we concentrate on our similarities, we will cross the bridge and overcome the river that keeps up apart all these while. But if like to focus on our differences, even siblings can't see eyes to eyes.

So let's cross that bridge together. Good luck.

Hang on there

Facing problems, we need to sit down and think straight. At first things will seem foggy to us, blur and undecided on what to do. We can't think clear. Who do we turn to?

In the face of problems I always remind myself to turn to Allah first. I do not have any answer as to what I should do or which options is the best. Even while driving I will pray to Allah to help me solve my problems. The knots will untangle by itself after that. MashaAllah! Allah is great. The solutions will come in many forms. Some unexpected, some just so miracle. Some in just a short time. Some will take years with its own reason and wisdom.

No matter what is your faith, deep down we know that super power is always watching us. Keep that close to your heart.

May peace be with you.

Take time to think

In this modern life, time is not a luxury but a constrain. Those who manage to use it wisely are the ultimate winners. We always look forward to the future but seldom think about the past. Have we done it right? Was there a better choice that we should have taken instead? If he or she is still alive how should I do differently? Shouldn't I take that chance or risk?

The past is the past. Time is the most valuable thing in the world (as stated in chapter Al-Asr in the holy Qur'an) because once you lose it, it will never come back. But the past serve to prepare us better for the future; that is if we learn from its lessons. If we learn from the past, there will never be a third world war (or will there be one after all?). Those who learn from the past will be better prepared for the future. Will be a lot wiser. Will make less mistake (though mistake is inevitable because human being is full of weaknesses).

So take time to sit down and do some thinking. Grasp back what you are losing slowly. Like friendship or the love from your spouse. Take that chance. Whatever. Hopefully when we sit down to think some time in the future, we can contentedly say to ourselves that we have done our best. The result might not be as good as we expected, but we are satisfied because we have done our best. So take your time to think. May Allah bless you with wisdom. Amin.

Reflection

The glorious sun is setting down. Its ray touches the surface of the water and is reflected back. The beautiful sky is mirrored on the water. Beautiful sun ray will give beautiful reflection.

Reflecting my past, I know I have my ups and downs, my mistakes and my successes, my bitterness and my content, my dreams and my reality. As human we are constantly making mistakes for we are mere immortal. Only Allah is almighty and all knowing. I rest my mind knowing that Allah knows my weaknesses and will forgive all my sins except the sin that I make against other people (because I will have to seek forgiveness from that person myself) and the sin of comparing Allah with others for Allah is one and only and has no partner. That is what almighty means.

What ever is your religion, reflect yourself constantly. Everyone of us has a quest to search for the truth, for peace of mind, for ultimate happiness. My prayer is always with you. May you find what you are searching for. Amin.

Give and you will receive

There is this one special box. It is empty. The owner put a lot of beautiful things inside. One day when the owner open the box to put another beautiful thing inside, he can smell perfume. It is so refreshing and soul inspiring. That made his day beautiful. The next day he open it to put yet another nice thing inside it. This time the box emit another exhilarating smell. Now putting beautiful thing the box has become a source of happiness for him.

Helping others is like putting nice things inside the box. When you keep on helping others, one day it will pay off for you. You may not get the reward from those you have helped but it might be from others because your rewards actually comes from Allah the almighty.

Keep on putting beautiful things inside the box. Allah bless you.

Learn to forgive

To have a grudge against somebody is like having a fire inside you that will burn you down slowly. It eats you up without you realizing it. Let it go. Learn to forgive. When you forgive, you learn to live in harmony with your environment. If your enemy is in your environment then you won't feel happy living in it. But if you learn to forgive, your environment no longer acts as a source of pain to you. You learn to live in harmony, harmony with your environment and harmony with yourself. Don't torture yourself, be in peace with yourself. Good luck. Allah will always be with those that always remember Allah.

Give her a chance.

From the name list in my hand I just randomly called a name. Salina (not her real name) was chosen to answer the question I have already delivered. "Teacher, she... she.... cannot.... dengar. Dia tak dengar teacher. Dia pekak," one student said. "Call orang lain, teacher," another said. My students understand the rule well. No bahasa in my English class. Full English or a rojak one will do. "You mean she's deaf". "Yes teacher, she's deaf". They know that they have to repeat my sentences every time I translated something into full English for them. "Well class. She deserve to learn too. Salina, answer the question please". She answered the question but it was difficult for me to understand her words. I moved beside her and try to understand her words. From then on I always make sure I'm in front of the class when I'm teaching so that she can read my lips. I never give her any special treatment nor do I neglected her. That was back in 2006.

Yesterday I came back to the school for a visit. A lot of my ex-students greeted me and said how they miss me. On my way home I stumbled with Salina. She was walking towards the canteen with her friend. When she noticed me she immediately came towards me. I offer my hand to her for her to salam. To my surprise she hugged me and said "Teacher I miss you so much. Thank you teacher for everything you have done for me. I will never ever forget you," she spoke in perfect English. Even her words sound clear, very easy for me to understand her words. She won't let me go. I was in her hug for a long time. I was off balance. I didn't expect this. She seem so confident of herself now. Even her words are much clearer than before. "Salina, you must work hard. Proof to the others that you can do much better than them".

Give everybody a chance.

Can I do it?

I have asked myself this question countless times. Venturing into a new field? Doing something new that I have never imagine I'll be doing it someday?

Life is about meeting the challenges. When we explore we will discover our potential. When I first got a lap top for PPSMI (I'm a maths teacher) back in 2003, I kept it in the locker for a few months because it was too complicated for me to operate. Now I'm doing my master degree in Multimedia without any proper background. Of course it was hard at first. When my coursemates mention words like operating system, metadata, metaphor, codec, open source and such, I feel like they were talking in a different language that I can't understand. I asked them the meaning and make a point to jot down in my notebook. Or I will search in the internet. Now I'm like a butterfly just transformed from a moth. A completely new person. And I'm glad I choose this path because I have learn a lot.

I am taking part in an expo at my university end of this month and will display my product - a courseware on mathematics that can be exported to iPhone or iPod so that students can do mobile e-learning. Sound unbelievable isn't it?

Good luck in your new ventures. May Allah bless you in all your efforts to contribute to humankind in any form possible. Amin.