A pair of red glasses...

I was doing some spring cleaning when I found a picture of a girl who wears red glasses. Instantaneously, my mind was taken aback to the past when I last met her at her wedding.

I don't want to talk much about her and will not reveal her name, as mentioned in my previous post on Christmas 2010. Anyway, looking back at her photos made me wonder how she is.

Wherever she is, I wish her all the best and a blissful life. She will always be in my heart.

Oh no, not this pair of red glasses. This belongs to abang Dan Moroboshi a.k.a Ultraseven. DUA!!!

REPOST: Malam Satu Suro ke Satu Muharram?

Edisi REPOST sempena menyambut Tahun Baru Islam Maal Hijrah 1433H

Kalau disebut Malam Satu Suro, secara automatik kita akan terbayang filem seram Indonesia lakonan aktres Suzzanna sebagai Sundel Bolong. Seramlah juga, bila ditonton berseorangan. Tetapi, adakah ramai mengetahui kisah di sebalik malam satu Suro yang kononnya menyeramkan itu?

Dalam kaca mata Islam, bulan Suro atau Muharram (dalam kalendar Jawa) ialah bulan yang mulia, dalam bulan Muharam tersebut berbagai kisah sejarah terjadi seperti selamatnya Nabi Musa as dari kekejaman Fir'aun, selamatnya bahtera Nuh as dan kisah Nabi Yunus as yang juga terselamat keluar dari perut ikan Hiu, serta perkahwinan Rasulullah juga terjadi pada bulan Muharram. Sejarah paling penting yang membawa nama Islam dalam kancah dunia ialah peristiwa Hijrah Rasulullah saw dari Makkah ke Madinah dan menjadi dasar penetapan tahun Hijrah tersebut.

Sayangnya, bulan yang mulia ini telah disalah guna dan disalah ertikan sebahagian besar masyarakat Jawa yang mengaitkan dengan kekeramatan. Mereka lebih mempercayai kalau bulan Suro ialah bulan khusus untuk Nyi Roro Kidul (Ratu Laut Selatan, juga pernah dilakonkan si Suzzanna), bulan perkahwinan diharamkan, keluarnya pontianak, sundel bolong dan pelbagai macam kepercayaan tanpa dasar. Banyak juga ritual bidaah yang menyalahi syariat dilakukan oleh masyarakat Jawa pada malam 1 Suro, ada yang berendam dalam sungai untuk mendapatkan jodoh, bertapa dan mencuci benda-benda yang dianggap keramat.

Inikah yang seharusnya diamalkan oleh masyarakat Islam? Banyak keterangan dalam Qur'an dan Hadith yang memberikan kaifiat dan keistimewaan bulan ini semata-mata keredhaan Allah swt. Perlukah kita menurut sahaja tanpa selidiki makna disebalik keraian seperti yang diamalkan saudara kita di tanah Jawa?

Harus diingatkan betapa besarnya ujian Allah swt terhadap para kekasihNya di bulan itu. Nah, apakah tidak kita hargai pengorbanan dan insafi peristiwa lalu? Apakah kita sudah lengkap sempurna?

Fahamilah betul-betul pengertian bulan Suro itu. Rasanya perkataan Suro itu dipetik dari perkataan "Asyura" iaitu pada 10 Muharram. "Syura" disebut lama-lama jadilah Suro, ikut pelat Jawa. Tak salah menonton filem Malam Satu Suro, tapi jangan cepat melompat ketakutan bilamana bulan Suro disebutkan.

Khallas.

Two for Tonight

It's going to be a sleepless night for me. I have TWO important matches to see tonight. One in Bukit Jalil, one in San Siro. I didn't get the ticket for Harimau Muda vs Syrian Camels but will definitely on live streaming for Rossoneri vs Barca.

There will be snacks, beers drinks and Internet nearby. Twitter will be on for the whole night. Am so glued to TV tonight, if only I could share this frenzy with someone...

Malam ini, di Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur...

 

 

Sementara itu kemudiannya di San Siro, Milan...

 

Mana mungkin Ultras Malaya melawan kegilaan Milan Ultras!

FORZA MALESIA E MILAN PER IL NOTTE!

Cuti Kerana Menang? Harimau Mengaum Lagi!

Syabas dan sekalung tahniah buat Harimau Muda (Malaysia U-23) kerana berjaya mempertahankan kejuaraan bola sepak Sukan SEA 2011 kali ini. You all memang hebat!

 Setakat dua ekor Garuda ni, gampang aja. AUMMM!

 

Terima kasih, Dahlia Teck! Gebu, manja dan seksi berjaya buat cik abe Apex ni cemerlang lagi. Deserve an AUMMM!

Garuda? Burung mitos tu ke? AUMMM!

Aku respect bebudak ni. Sanggup ambik risiko naik bas ke Gelora Bung Karno, pulang hotel naik APC Barracuda. Bermain sepenuh jiwa raga nasionalis di kemelut kebejatan 100,000 penyokong timnas Indonesia. Saling menyerang berantakan, bermain lagak Panthera Tigris Malayensis dan juga Garuda Pancasila. Akhirnya, the best team wins. Malas nak cerita panjang.

Prelude match aku macam-macam perkara aku kaitkan, dari matawang, perempuan, kerajaan lama, sejarah, fakta, zoologi dan sebagainya. Flooded habis Facebook dan Twitter aku. Match ni pun aku layan kat kafe pejabat, half time sempat memecut laju balik rumah dan bersorak sakan di depan TV dengan jersi kuning tu.

So, kita dah menang. Kita berjaya lagi. Bila Baddrol Bakhtiar scored the winning penalty, tangan aku terketar-ketar update Twitter. Nak pecah dada tulis dalam Facebook. Balas SMS member pun macam nak baling je handphone. Gembira sampai keluar air mata!

Dan seperti kebiasaan, banyaklah orang bertanya soalan cepumas: Malaysia menang ni cuti tak?

What the hell or heaven? Haruskah nak cuti?

Baiklah, soalan aku: Perlukah kerajaan memberi cuti di atas kemenangan skuad Bawah 23 Tahun negara mempertahankan pingat emas bola sepak?

Ini jawapan daripada YAB Perdana Menteri sendiri melalui akaun Twitter beliau (@NajibRazak):

"To my tweeter friends, it is very costly to the nation to have a public holiday. We must not overdo it. We need to work hard."

See?

Call me tak patriotik, tak sporting, poyo, entah apa-apa, pada aku tak perlulah cuti tu. Malaysia ni dah banyak sangat cuti. Dalam bulan November dan Disember je dah ada tiga hari Isnin yang cuti. Cuti tahunan pun tak habis lagi. Banyak cuti, kurang produktif la maknanya.

Masa menang Piala AFF Suzuki tahun lepas dah dapat cuti. Itu menang piala. Ini menang salah satu acara je. Memanglah kita menang "mother of all gold medals" tapi kita kenalah realistik. Sebetulnya jika cuti pun, adakah kita sebagai rakyat Malaysia layak untuk bercuti atas merit 20 pemain muda negara? Dengan cuti itu, kita nak pergi LCCT sambut diorang ke? Kita nak ke pergi ke Wisma FAM merayakan kemenangan tu? Ada ke kita nak berkerumun dengan ramai orang nak sambut diorang? Jangan tipu, mesti tak akan punya. 

Yang layak dapat cuti tu sebenarnya para pemain dan barisan teknikal. Tu pun tak cukup rehat sebab malam ini nak lawan skuad Syria untuk kelayakan Pra-Olimpik 2012 pulak. Diorang tak merungut pun, tak kisah nak minta cuti pun. Diorang cuma nak bermain bola sepenuh jiwa nasionalis.

Nak cuti lagi? Habiskan cuti tahunan tu dulu dan siapkan kerja!

Apa-apa pun, tahniah sekali lagi buat Harimau Muda kerana mengulangi pencapaian cemerlang abang-abang mereka menewaskan Garuda sekali lagi. Jangan persiakan semangat tu, nanti dah leka alpa kami semua akan kepala banakan you all semua. Good luck untuk match Syria... jika kalah pun, aku faham kepenatan korang. Bermainlah seperti harimau.

FORZA MALESIA!

11-Sebelas-Eleven in 3D

Today the world celebrates the most anticipated date of the millennium… 11-11-11. My math sucks, so don't ask me numerology or counts on this occurrence. Nevertheless, it was a good day for me.

It was also the day that Malaysia's premier English newspaper, the New Straits Times (NST) made its relaunch with new masthead, typeface, overall content design and approach to reach wider audience and having more international look. And to further enhance the relaunch, today's issue featured anaglyph images or 3D as we know it, in most advertisements and pictures, as well as editorial contents.

I know people are all in awe of NST's 3D experience… but you know what, the pain of creating 3D ads were hard to bear than said. At the creative unit where all 3D ads are designed, designers and us (copywriters) rolled our eyes, adjusting our sights and visions, tracing, constructing anaglyph images layers by layers, scratch to scratch. Head spinning, neck pain, back pain, stress were staple; worse came when clients became fussy, ridiculous comments swirled, unreasonably demanding, being dissatisfied (obviously, they knew nothing about 3D and its technicals) and changes that kept recurring. Grr! The designers got to tag along sales people to explain design technicalities: colour coding, layering and masking, pixelation, resolution, inks and papers used... oh, I wish I could write a manual to assist them.

But when all is well, there came compliments, appreciation and felicitations from our top management. Pours of congratulatory wishes showered us all, and we were treated with feasts and pats on our backs, acknowledging our hardship in producing the first 3D feature in our history. Oh, we truly enjoyed our fruits of labour.

If you got the special 11-11-11 NST, grab them. It came once only. The best thing is, you can keep the free glasses to view 3D mags or films at your leisure. And if you have sharp eyes, try to spot me among these people.

Again, kudos to all designers and sales colleagues who made this happen. It was indeed a special day for all of us at Advertising Department and the whole community of NSTP.

Forza Creative Services!

Some Aren't Meant To Be Appreciated

There's a scribble that came across my mind when I was in desperation. I posted it on my Facebook and got some responses and views about it. 

Whenever I'm in unstable mood, I tend to write the truth out of my heart. It has to be out.

Here goes:

"Sometimes the canvas reflects colours and art which you didn't wish to design according to your desire. This canvas isn't impressive enough to be exhibited at prestigious events or at established art galleries. How pitiful and sad to see unwanted and obsolete masterpiece. You keep on painting with painful heart and undivided dedication but still fail to impress. Then the canvas is torn; the cycle goes on again and again, failure after failure. The canvas would become a classic once you are gone (lucky enough), but usually be forgotten deep into despair."

Cerita Saya

Banyak benda nak diceritakan.

Banyak perkara mahu diluahkan.

Banyak kisah yang ingin dinukilkan.

Banyak cerita tapi tulisannya tak ada.

Sabarlah, akan dititipkan dalam kanvas merah ini.

Tak sabar, pergi jauh-jauh.