I’m watching Terminator Salvation on HBO and I think I know why us Asians are so cowed by foreigners, especially Americans. No it’s not the “budaya timur” bit. OK maybe a little bit. But mostly I think because of the indoctrination and preoccupation with all things western, especially American. Let’s look at movies. In Terminator Salvation the world has been overrun by machines. Humans are now at war with the machines. Interestingly enough all this happens in America. From the dialogue I can hear that things are happening in San Francisco and Los Angeles, both in America. For all you know, things are going just fine in the rest of world. Only America is overrun by machines. And only America is at war with said machines. Anyway, that’s beside the point. The point is, the hero is an American, John Connor. And he is like this cult figure amongst the guys fighting the machines.
Let’s look at another movie. I guess most people would remember Independence Day (the one where Will Smith plays a navy pilot, I think). That one was not about machines, it was about aliens attacking the Earth. Apparently the aliens have a grand design of stripping the world of its natural resources before moving to another planet. And these are ruthless aliens too. The plan was to annihilate us humans. To give some length to the storyline, they tell the story of how the Americans tried to destroy the aliens. With nukes, fighter planes and the like. And at the end of it all, who were to lead the others in fighting the aliens (successfully)? Surprise surprise, it’s the Americans, led by their President no less.
I think I can understand the sentiment behind all this. I believe part of the agenda of the movie makers is also to instill patriotism in the hearts and minds of the American public. That’s fine with me. Even the Malaysian government has all sorts of policies, the chief of which is the 1Malaysia concept. So that’s OK. The main question here is, why would us Malaysians (especially the younger set) be engrossed in all the hype and become obsessed with these foreign (and fictional) figures? I must admit that I stand accused (and guilty) of this as well. Err…to digress, am I considered as part of the younger set too?
Anyway, I am also guilty of idolising a western movie character as well. Those who are close to me would know that I’m a James Bond fan. And a hardcore one at that. Before you accuse me of “cakap tak serupa bikin” just hear me out first. I absolutely idolise the guy not for what he stands for (which is capitalism and preservation of western supremacy). In fact I couldn’t care less about those things. The thing about James Bond is, he gives me the inspiration and spirit to know that I can achieve anything. Give a situation/problem to the guy and just watch him go. He can settle any issue you throw at him. His problem solving skills are second to absolutely none. And all the while being impeccably dressed to the nines.
I know about most there is to know about James Bond and my favourite Bond is Timothy Dalton (who happens to be the least favourite Bond to the masses and other fans). I have all the DVDs. Heck, I even have Saville Row shirts! (selling at KL Sogo). For the uninitiated, Bond has his clothes tailored by Saville Row. Or the earlier Bonds at least (up to Dalton). Starting with Pierce Brosnan, they had the suits etc. tailored by Brioni. But don’t get me wrong. I like James Bond because of the abovementioned attributes and absolutely not because he gets the girls! (hypocrisy, anyone?).
Enough of Bond. Let’s think of this for one second. Can you imagine an American movie where the hero’s name is say, Yusri Bakar? (I’m picking a random name here). That would be smashing wouldn’t it? But why would they want to do that if the agenda is to instil patriotism in American hearts? Putting a Malay name (or worse, a Muslim name) would never sell the movie in a million years. You can have the best CGI, robots, UFOs and what have you. But if it involves a hero who is not American, it’s doomed to failure.
In most of the movies I’ve watched (or at least worldwide box office movies) the heroes are mostly Americans. Obviously its no coincidence that the said movies are also American made. So I honestly think we need to get a good grip on our own respective realities. Just take movies as an escapism (just like blogging) and no more. We face real problems and issues on a daily basis. No robot or a swashbuckling pirate will be helping us out on our problems anytime soon. So at the end of the day, it’s just us and the people we care about. But I see nothing wrong in making use the inspiration provided by the character we like. The point is let’s not idolise blindly, let there be a point to it. Then maybe it would not be in vain after all.
Robin Hood is showing now on HBO. Robin Hood fan, anyone?
Timothy Dalton - best Bond ever!
Depending on who you are, this may be interesting news: today I lost my handphones (more on this later. It’s kind of embarrassing, the way I lost them). Yup, you got it right, I have two phones. You see, I have a personal phone (an IPhone 3GS) and a Blackberry. I was kind of upset to lose the IPhone for numerous reasons. The first one and most importantly is I have about 500 plus photos in it, mostly of me and the family. And of course because it is an IPhone. When I bought it, I signed a contract with Maxis for the instalment plan. I have to pay Maxis RM250 per month for 24 months. Can’t really recall how many months I have left on the plan but most definitely it’s less than 1 year. The only saving grace is Maxis will freeze the line for 3 months and not charge me anything during the said 3 months. The other thing is I have an unlimited data plan for my IPhone. What it means is I can use the phone as a modem and connect to the internet without any limit on usage whatsoever. And that I value.
At first, I wasn’t too perturbed about losing the IPhone. I’ve learned to accept that maybe my relationship with the phone has lived its course. So I’m OK with that. The thing is, when I got home, I realised that without the IPhone, I can only connect to the internet with the Celcom broadband modem (the USB thing) given to me by the office. The only issue I have with that is the Celcom broadband’s speed is bloody slow where I am. To be perfectly honest I am really upset at that. When I said the electric shaver was the greatest human invention I wasn’t kidding but right now I need my IPhone to connect to the internet. And I’m genuinely pissed right now.
You may have noticed that I don’t write that much about my Blackberry. Why you ask? The Blackberry is given to me by the office. You know, so I can access my e-mail on the go, things like that. I used to think that the Blackberry is akin to ball and chains. And I still do. You are always expected to answer that Blackberry whenever it rings. You are also expected to read all the e-mails the moment you receive them and where possible, reply. After all, it’s portable isn’t it? I’ve accepted that fact actually. As the person taking care of the company’s legal affairs, I’ve got to be contactable and always be on top of things. So at this time, the Blackberry is on the fringes of being a necessity for me (although it would never take the place of the electric shaver). After I lost it, the company replaced the Blackberry within a few hours. Which was super efficient. Sometimes, not being contactable is a good thing. It’s the only time when you actually taste the sweet nectar of true freedom. I had that taste for the few hours before the Blackberry was replaced.
Now, back to the story about how I lost the phones. This morning, while I was about to leave home for work, I realised that I may have lost my wallet. So I put the phones on my car (notice its ON the car and not IN the car. I think you know where this story is heading) and went back inside my house to look for it. The good thing was I found my wallet. The bad thing was I drove to work with the phones ON my car (and not IN the car). You’ve guessed it. There go the phones. I actually heard a thud as I was driving. Didn’t cross my mind for even a milisecond that that’s the sound of my phone (which one I don’t really know) hitting the car before falling on the road.
When I got to the office, I immediately noticed something was terribly wrong. Went back home to look for the phones but to no avail. I was resigned to the fact. A friend from the office asked me if I heard any sound of the phones falling/slipping off the car and that immediately reminded me of the earlier thud I heard. Went back to the place and my heart skipped a beat when I saw the black casing of the IPhone by the side of the road (wasn’t really bothered with the Blackberry to be perfectly honest). What completely sucked was it was the casing of my IPhone alright. Casing only. Apparently somebody stumbled upon the IPhone, took it and conveniently decided to ditch the casing. Everybody, if you ever decide to steal somebody’s phone (which I hope you don’t), please have the decency to steal everything. Please do not leave the casing behind to add insult to injury.
The thing is, I believe losing the phones is a way of God asking me to be more careful. I have previously left my phones in a public restroom, left it in the office, left it at ATM machines and many other places and have managed to recover them all the time. Today my luck just ran out. And the manner of losing them just fans the fire. Well, things could be worse. I could’ve lost my electric shaver!
I was in legal practice for 8 years before I joined the corporate world. Just had enough of practice. Notwithstanding the fact that I couldn’t stand the practice any longer, those 8 years taught we an awful lot about a lot of things. The obvious ones would be the working experience and some legal knowledge of course. But in all honesty, I believe the most valuable thing I learned during my years in practice is the art of communication, people skills and reading people.
In practice, you meet people everyday, mostly different people. You also learn to understand that different people need to be treated differently. You have clients who are very understanding and at the same time you have client who will call you at 10 pm and ask you about their cases. The last thing you need is getting a call from a client while you are getting comfortable at home with your family watching TV or doing whatever it is that you like. And mind you, it is 10 pm!
I once had a client who is a local Malay lady. Nothing wrong with that. Except for the fact that she’s married to a Mat Salleh. You see, I’ve met some very nice Malaysians who are married to foreigners. Unfortunately, not this one. It started as a harmless property transaction. She bought a property for RM600,000 if I’m not mistaken. Come on lah, RM600,000 aje pun! But she game me hell. Wanted to insert a lot of unreasonable clauses in the Sale and Purchase Agreement (which made the negotiation process extremely complicated), asking me to appeal to the Government on the amount of her stamp duty (nobody does that, ever), threatened to sue me for a delay which was attributable to her in the first place and a host of other nonsense that I had to put through.
The thing is, probably being married to a Mat Salleh gave her a sense of (false) superiority over us locals. Which for the life of me I cannot understand why. If you can please enlighten me. Are they any better than us? Does being married to a foreigner suddenly gives you Superman-like powers? I honestly don’t think so. That is exactly why I decided not to cut them any slack. Although they did put me in a spot of bother, I persevered. After what felt like an eternity, the transaction was over and I moved on (but not without a great deal of resentment against creatures of this sort).
That chapter closed, I had to deal with a business partner who is the most selfish person you’ll ever meet. There’s all this talk of persevering in the face of adversity, but if you go and buy a belt for RM1,700 and I have a take home pay of RM500 a month, that’s hardly an adversity for you isn’t it? But me being the naive one, I kept going on. The amount of stress I was put under was hardly ideal. Being the punching bag for clients (and at the same time maintaining a cool exterior) and at the same time getting all the rollicking from this business partner guy. I honestly believe that was the worst 4 and a half years of my life. The situation then was simply a travesty to the term “partnership” to say the least.
Earlier on, I could never say no to anybody. Every request was met with a yes. Which considering the circumstances prevailing then was probably the wrong thing to do. And it gave me a lot of grief. Thinking back, I should’ve refused a lot of assignments then. But in the interest of the partnership I accepted them. In any case, in my mind it was all for the good of the business. I was asked to be patient. “Good things will come”, I was told. Good things all right. But good things for you and only you. I was left in the lurch. Left with no choice, I quit, sold whatever I had and suddenly I was on my own. That was when my pasar malam phase started. That further trained me in the art of dealing with people. I can honestly say that being at the pasar malam was a truly enriching experience. Here you are, conducting retail business to a wide variety of customers, not only clients who patronise the services of a legal firm.
I remember this guy, Sufian, who had a stall in front of mine. I genuinely liked him and we became fast friends. Whenever I don’t have that many customers, I’d go over to his stall and help him out at his stall. He sells blankets and towels. Simple items, but on a good day he could really make a killing at the tills. We kept in contact for quite some time. Then there’s this kakak with her husband who sells children’s clothing. Quite an elderly couple, but a friendly one nevertheless. I was known at the pasar malam as the go to guy if you need to get small change. As my wife works in a bank, I got a good supply of “duit kecik”. And so I made many friends and slowly learned to understand their way of life. To be honest, those were good times. Sure, I was extremely worried about how I was going to survive and provide for my family, but good times nevertheless.
So I felt when I joined the corporate world with Sime Darby in 2007 I was reasonably equipped with the skills to be able to deliver and perform my duties well. It turned out into quite a good stint in my view. I do hope I’ve discharged my duties well and that people there remember me fondly (if they do remember me at all that is). I’ve always tried to treat people the best way I could as I don’t think anybody deserves to be treated badly. And I think holding on to that principle has served me well over the years. I still remember the heartache I experienced whenever anybody was nasty to me and I vowed never to let others experience the pain I went through.
They say hindsight is a good thing. I wholeheartedly agree. Now, I do not hesitate to say no anymore. But I always make sure I give a valid reason for saying no. I also try my best to maintain a good relationship with people and say things in the best way possible. You can tell people they’re useless in a way that will make them feel good after you’re done with them. So I’ll just continue doing what I do and see what comes out of it.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, I stay in JB alone. And when you’re alone, inevitably you do a lot of thinking. You come back from work, get your dinner, eat in front of the TV (thank God for Astro!) and do not much else. That’s my daily routine. Anyway, tonight’s one of those nights when many thoughts enter this cerebral cortex of mine. About me being far from home, about what I want and I couldn’t get (not at this time anyway), about the perils of staying alone and having my house nearly broken into, those kind of things.
Speaking to my family on the phone brings me great joy. Definitely one of the highlights of my day. As for work, there are not a great deal of things I can talk about. In fact I think there is none. Work is work. It’s no different wherever you are. I generally think I am a person who does a lot of thinking. About stuff which are important to me. Where I am now, where I am heading. There’s a lot of uncertainty involved there. I hope I get the work part sorted out real quick. At least then I can proceed to plan my life. Not that I’m lost or anything like that, but I just prefer to have a little bit of certainty in my life. Having the opportunity to hold the key to our own destiny. Probably that’s just how we lawyers are. Sorry, correction. That’s just how everybody is. You just hate it when you can’t chart your own course and having to leave it in the hands of somebody else.
I’ve looked at how I am doing in my new workplace so far. I think it has gone OK by my standards. Sure, things could’ve been better but you’ve got to be thankful for what you’ve got isn’t it? People around me have been very supportive of my work, I’m beginning to get the hang of my work in a new industry. It’s just that at times I have this nagging feeling that I could do better. I’ve got no distractions to my work so far, which is a good thing. But the thing is I tend to set a bloody high standard where my work is concerned that at times I get a sense of inadequacy. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to do better when I could’ve paced myself. I think I should pace myself from now on. There’s no point of beating yourself up every time something goes wrong. The thing is, things don’t go wrong all the time. Sometimes they do and at times its due to no fault of mine. I guess I just have to remain cool and take one thing at a time.
There, you see what happens when you think too much? At times you tend to overkill it. Sometimes I think it’s just better to go with your instincts. Do what you think is right. More importantly, do what you think feels right. The thing is, I’ve never believed in acting based on an impulse. I’ll always sit back, compose my thoughts and have a re-think. But when you do that, doubts begin to form in my mind. Which sometimes is not a good thing. Because due to this, at times I deprive myself of the good things that come with acting based on an impulse. So from now on I’ll just do what feels right. Probably I’ll get more joy that way.
I am never one to kick the team I support when they’re down. Far from it. I have supported Manchester United since I was in Standard 3, a distant 28 years ago. So neither am I a glory hunter. What I’m about to say may be termed by some as exactly kicking the team when they’re down, but it’s just how I feel. To start with, it was men against boys if I’m being perfectly honest.
I watched the game last night, with a high degree of pessimism I might add. United started in promising fashion. The first 10 minutes was a joy to watch. Barcelona weren’t given the time to settle and was attacked relentlessly. As the saying goes, you’ve got to turn possession into chances, which United didn’t do. Not enough at least. Who are we kidding anyway. This is Barcelona for heaven’s sake! Once Barcelona settled into their rhythm, it didn’t take long. They started asking questions which wasn’t answered in a good enough fashion by United. At first I saw some hope as Mascherano was played as a central defender. You see, Mascherano formerly played for Liverpool. In games against United, he always had this sort of attraction to trouble. If I’m not mistaken, last season in both games against United he was sent off. If only Rooney and Hernandez could rile him enough, last night’s game may well have gone United’s way.
United’s central midfield pairing of Giggs and Carrick to be honest, couldn’t hold a candle to Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. Well, maybe Busquets. But against the true football wizardry of Iniesta and Xavi, Giggs and Carrick didn’t get a look in. Carrick has just signed a new contract which would keep him at United until 2014. What Sir Alex sees in him I honestly don’t know. He couldn’t possibly be the answer to United’s search for a creative midfielder. He didn’t fare too badly, but just didn’t do enough in my view. Giggs looked his entire 37 years last night. Furthermore I think his off-field antics did effect his head. It would be a lie if it didn’t. Therein lies the issue. He wasn’t able to perform to his true capability.I thought he was a perfect fit for the central midfielder’s role as the creativity and maturity would’ve done United huge favours in a game of this magnitude.
Didn’t sleep after the first half though. With the score at 1-1, there was a glimmer of hope (or actually I hoped there was a glimmer of hope), although it didn’t look good for United. After 15 minutes, Barcelona had 63 per cent of the possession. Rooney’s equaliser was totally against the run of play. The thing was United were run over by Barcelona with their slick passing and creativity. And don’t get me started on Messi. The best footballer in the world at this moment in time bar none. He toyed with Giggs and nutmegged half of United’s team. When you have a player like him in your team, success is an inevitability. Coupled with the others playing excellent supporting roles, you are virtually unstoppable.
Last night, Barcelona was unstoppable. No two ways about it. The second half was more of the same stuff, only worse. I was especially peeved with Valencia. Why he wasn’t booked was beyond me. Barcelona, with their marauding fullbacks, effectively snuffed out United’s wingers. Valencia has been storming down the flanks since coming back from injury but last night he was simply overwhelmed by the occasion. Gone is the player who could beat defenders and deliver pin point crosses. Last night he was just going after players’ pins, if you know what I mean. Strangely, United’s defence was in sixes and sevens and couldn’t deal with Barcelona’s attacking threat. I don’t think Vidic and Ferdinand played too badly but Barcelona’s attack was just too good.
The fact was illustrated perfectly by Messi’s goal. After some slick passing (which is the norm with Barcelona), nobody closed Messi down and he fired a drive which was beyond Van der Sar, who didn’t have a final game of his professional career to remember. In the game against Blackburn, United passed Blackburn to death in the final minutes of the game to finally win their 19th League championship. In the Champions’ League final, United was indeed passed to death by Barcelona. If Barcelona had taken all their chances, the score disparity could’ve been bigger. Nani and Scholes couldn’t do much to alleviate United’s troubles either. The commentator remarked that in order for them to be able to do something, they had to have possession of the ball which unfortunately wasn’t the case.
Sir Alex was trying to answer the critics who said United won the Premier League with a squad which was not the best by winning the Champions’ League. Mind you, with the squad he had, he didn’t do too badly by reaching the final. Unfortunately United was given a footballing lesson by Barcelona, the best club team in the world. In any case, this review (review konon!) may be scathing, but it would not stop me from supporting Manchester United. There’s still next year. Time to brandish the chequebook perhaps?
I’m waiting for the Champions’ League final now. It seems the game will only start at 3 am. You see, I’m not the type who’ll sleep first and get up when the game starts. The truth is, I just won’t get up. I may wake up, but I won’t get up. I’ll wake up and just simply go back to sleep. Never had the willpower to get up in the wee hours of the morning. During my university days, I’d rather stay up and study until morning (obviously as people who study at the very last minute would do) or dawn rather than getting up at 4 am and study. Never was a morning person either. Had to drag my self off my bed every single morning. I’d prefer to be lazing in bed (preferably with the TV on in front of me) and get up whenever I please.
And my thoughts on the game? Being a Manchester United fan, the smart money is surely on me being biased. However I honestly believe it’s going to be difficult for United. Barcelona plays the best club football in the world and I have great respect for not so much Messi, but Xavi and Iniesta. They keep it simple but just beautiful. Truly artisans of the game. That combined with Messi makes a lethal combination of highly effective football. Sir Alex revealed that United paid too much attention to Messi and the last time the two sides met in the Champions’ League final back in 2009 and was found wanting when the other players made their move. I just hope United play better tonight. But how can you compare Carrick to Xavi? I don’t see the game going any other way but Barca’s. But who knows?
Now, let’s talk about shoes. I’ve always had an affinity for shoes. In fact, I buy quite a few. They say you indulge in things that don’t come easy to you while you were kids. That’s especially true for me where shoes are concerned. As such, now I’ll buy a pair just on a whim. Not because I need ’em, just because I like ’em. Before you start labeling as being effeminate, I’m sure you have your own affinities as well. Some people collect toys, cufflinks or whatever. For me its shoes. Although I would’nt use the word “collect”. That would simply be unfair. To use “collect” would mean that I have 20 pairs or something like that. Not that many, but definitely more than the average guy.
Anyway, for work I don’t really wear shoes without laces. Just felt uncomfortable without them laces. Probably the fact that I was a school prefect back in VI had something to do with that. I bought a pair without laces a few months ago just to give it a try, but never felt truly comfortable in them. I like loafers too. I call them loafers, but I know they’re actually known as “boat shoes”. Why “boat”? I don’t have the answer to that. Apparently they’re used by people who go sailing. Ridiculous isn’t it? They’re made of leather (or suede) and in the wet conditions they don’t offer much help, do they? Anyway, if you’re curious, this is what a boat shoe looks like:
A boat shoe (credit to http://www.rockport.com)
I have a pair of them currently. Simply slip into them, no socks required. Just make sure you clean them and spray them with that stuff which removes the usually unpleasant odour of feet mixed with leather (I’m sure you’re imagining how that smells, haha).
I’ve had two pairs so far. The earlier one from Rockport served me for a whole 10 years I think. Even wore them while I was in my pasar malam phase. Never failed me. I have a new pair now (as mentioned above) and I know they’re going to be just as good.
The other thing is, I also have some of my shoes custom made (no, I’m not the stuck up, snobbish type who has his shoes custom made. It’s just that I found a guy who could do it for me. And it’s cheap). I have this regular guy of mine (again with the regular guy. Really have to find out his name) who does my shoes for me. He has a small, simple workshop from where he creates quality footwear for either sex. He’s really good. In fact you can print a photograph of a pair of shoes you like from the internet and bring it to him and he’ll start working and have you shoes ready in like 2 weeks. The prices are reasonable too. He last made a pair of work shoes for me about two and a half years ago. And I am happy with them so far.
I think the shoes you wear would to a certain extent define your character. Do you polish (or at least brush) your shoes regularly? Do you clean them? Do you shoes have mud marks on them when you wear them to work? See what I mean? Your character is indeed reflected by the shoes you wear and the state that they’re in. Anyway, I think I’m going to get this pair of shoes made now:
Prada shoes (credit to http://www.rafaello-network.com)
This pair will cost you RM1,965 if bought retail. With my guy, it’ll just be about RM250 or so. If that’s not a good deal, I don’t know what is.
Anyway, the game is starting just about now. Will be watching with a great deal of pessimism. If Barcelona scores 2 before half-time, I’m going to sleep. Till then!
Today’s world is a world of gadgets. At least 7 out of 10 people own a smartphone. I’m guilty of that too. I have not 1 but 2 phones (the other one given to me rather on an involuntary basis if you know what I mean). I would like to think I’m a gadget guy. I’m fascinated by gadgets in general. Was contemplating buying the iPad earlier on and now the iPad 2. Whenever I get trigger happy, the doubt of whether I’ll really be using it would always make me give it a rethink and eventually, a pass. In any case, I know I’m not maximising the capability of my current phone, the iPhone 3GS. I use the iPhone to make calls, send SMSes and play some games. The phone is full of games. Which almost all are for my daughters’ enjoyment. I do watch some videos and access my Facebook account, but that’s about it. They key point is I’m not maximising its potential.
Which brings me nicely to what I’m writing about tonight. In all my 37 years, as far as I can remember there’s only one thing I’ve bought (twice) which I really use and which I feel is a gift to mankind. Before you start speculating, this is a very personal gadget (if you could call it that) which I use almost on a daily basis. It’s not a laptop, or my car, or my bike or anything else. It’s my electric shaver.
You see, I’m generally a lazy person. A lazy person who knows when to become hardworking or “rajin”. It all depends on the circumstances for me. Where office work is concerned, you can’t afford to be lazy can you? Too much at stake for you to be lazy I believe. But I am by no means rajin when it comes to shaving. I think most of the people I know can testify to this fact. Not being a morning person, I just dread standing in front of the mirror every morning (well, almost every morning) shaving. To be honest, I tried shaving the night before but that didn’t work as well.
So one of the first things I bought when I got my Citibank credit card way back in 2000 was a Philips electric shaver. It cost me RM200+ I think, bought in KL Sogo. For some reason, I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. No more getting up extra early everyday to shave. I can now shave while driving or almost any other time. Should I feel all scraggly before an appointment, I can shave then too. I know you may not be able to relate to all this. But let me tell you this, apart from riding, this is the other thing that liberates me.
After 8 wonderful years, I had to retire my poor Philips shaver. I bought a Panasonic shaver in 2008. A new improved model and washable as well. The shaver being washable is like opening a totally new dimension for me. Now the shaver is no longer full of hair and I feel cleaner after shaving (is that important information for the masses?). It being the miracle it is, having an electric shaver does have it pitfalls. Firstly, your skin can never be as smooth compared to shaving the conventional way with a razor and shaving cream. If you don’t mind having some “macho man” stubble (macho ke?) the electric shaver is the way to go.
The other pitfall is if you shave while driving like I do, you damn well be sure that your shaver is charged. It doesn’t come with an in-car charger like mobile phones. It has happened to me before. Leaving home for the office one day, I thought it would be a good idea to shave on the way (how many of you can say that?). Halfway through it, the shaver gradually slowed and finally died on me. So I was left looking like the Joker from the Batman movies with a half-shaven face. Well that’s not what the Joker really looks like but you get the idea. Went to the office and got a lot of sniggers and dirty looks from my colleagues. Which is not a good thing.
There you go. Despite what people say about the mobile phone being the greatest invention yet, I still stick to my guns and say that my electric shaver wins over the mobile phone hands down. Thank you Professor Alexandre Horowitz for inventing the electric shaver. I’d buy you dinner if you weren’t dead.
Two nights ago, something profound happened to me. I had wanted to ride to work on Tuesday. As is always I would make sure the bike is parked outside the house (but still within the compound). I don’t really get to ride nowadays, so naturally I look forward to the moments when I do get to ride. Riding to me, is something very difficult for a non-rider to understand. It’s associated with a high level of risk, a man’s ego and sometimes mid-life crisis (rest assured I do not ride because I’m facing a mid-life crisis although based on the Malaysian male life expectancy of 73.79 years, I’m just about in my mid-life now). I know there’s the risk bit, but I just love the speed. It’s exhilarating, and the sense of freedom is unrivalled. I can be very stressed at work but as soon as I’m on the bike, the stress just melts away. At least for the duration that I’m riding anyway.
Back to the profound incident, that night I went to sleep at about 1.45 am after completing some office work. Barely 15 minutes in, I heard a bike speeding away from what appears to be my home. You know that moment when you are asleep and you suddenly wake up and you’re neither awake nor asleep? I was in that exact place. Not really paying attention to the sound of the bike, I dozed off. About 10 seconds later (I think), I heard my house’s doorbell ringing repeatedly. In a flash I got up and saw my neighbour, Kak Siti and her son standing outside my house. Apparently 2 men were trying to gain entry into my house. They fled upon seeing Kak Siti’s son coming out of his house wielding a parang. Before Kak Siti’s son surprised them, they were able to cut one of the padlocks to my gate (I have 2).
Kak Siti was adamant that they guys were going after my bike and insisted that I keep it in the house. I wasn’t really able of thinking clearly then so without giving it much thought, I pushed the bike into my house which put paid to my intention of riding the next day. The thing is, I couldn’t get any sleep after that (who could?). I closed my eyes but the fear of the b*****ds returning haunted me. As such I wasn’t able to sleep for more than 15 minutes at a time. I woke up the next morning feeling (and I’m sure looking) like a zombie. On a side note, I don’t really know what a zombie feels like, but what the heck. Changed the locks to my gate and went to the office. Arrived at about 11 am, still feeling like a total wreck.
Went to the police station later to talk to the police about my predicament. I was rather pleased with the level of service given to me by the guys at the station. Constable Sofian was especially nice. He helped me with my report, told me what to do and even introduced me to some of his police buddies. I spent a good 45 minutes at the police station. To be honest, I hope my newly found confidence with the police is not misplaced. I pray the time where that confidence is tested never comes. But in any case the police reassured me of my safety (to a certain extent). But come to think of it, how much can the police do, isn’t it? They can’t be guarding your house 24/7 can they? Well, they’re the best hope I have at this moment in time, so that’ll do for now.
My bike is now nicely parked somewhere safe and is guarded by a man with a gun. I do hope it’s safe there. The thing is, once you own a bike, you can’t really imagine not having one. It’s always about the feeling of being able to ride whenever you feel like it. Although again, I don’t think the thieves were going after my bike, but who knows? For now, I’ve just got to tough it out and pray that nothing bad happens, InsyaAllah.
We all have idols we look up to. Well most of us do. So far I see many people idolise our beloved Tun Dr. Mahathir. Not a bad choice considering he was the one who mostly carried Malaysia to where it is now. He is a true statesman. And staying as sharp as ever at 86 years old is certainly no easy feat. I would definitely be a drooling and rambling old man at 86 (if I do reach 86 that is). Recently he was admitted to IJN for a chest infection. I heard he is doing good and is responding to treatment well. That’s good to know. I spent my formative years knowing just him as our Prime Minister. When he came into office in 1981, I was in Standard 1. He stayed in power for 22 years if I’m not mistaken. Of course there’s been mistakes, but the good deeds vastly overwhelm the mistakes committed.
Anyway, now back to my own idol. I have 2. The first is my Abah, Allahyarham Haji Mustafa Albakri Mohd Amin about whom I’m going to write about today. To say that our relationship was bad was an understatement. Earlier on, we were at loggerheads. Abah once said we have the same character. No wonder we couldn’t get along. He was always the rather quiet and understated type. Doesn’t really speak his mind but I know he always had our interests at heart. Way back when I was in Standard 5, we had this Government examination called Penilaian Darjah 5. We were staying in Kajang then. Midway through the year, Abah was transferred to Gombak. He had to commute daily from Kajang to Gombak which was quite a distance. We didn’t move to Gombak as it was my exam year.
I remember him telling me, “Kalau kau tak dapat 5A (which was the best score in Penilaian), nanti Abah pukul kau macam mana penat Abah berulang dari Kajang ke Gombak hari-hari”. If that doesn’t get you studying, I just don’t know what will. So I busted my backside studying. Just after I finished my exams, we moved to Gombak. When the Penilaian results were announced, suffice to say I didn’t get the beating promised earlier. Probably in his own way, Abah was trying to motivate me to study. And man did he succeed. I don’t think that method is applicable anymore nowadays. Now we promise our children all sorts of rewards should he/she succeed in examinations and other tests. I do too. Wouldn’t know if Abah’s method would work in today’s environment, but just see how we turned out to be, right?
I’ve always seen myself as the naughty son. Hanging out with friends, always coming back in the early hours. I know I caused my parents a lot of worry those days (who says I don’t cause Mak to worry about me even nowadays?). Even when I was 18 years old, Abah once waited for me to come home, belt in hand. I was bloody lucky I didn’t get beaten up that day. The thing we had in common was we both went to Victoria Institution. Abah was from batch 1958, I was from batch 1993. I know he’s always been proud to have a son in his Alma Mater.
I still remember vividly during the Centenary Tattoo back in 1993. I was the school band Drum Major then. Coincidentally I was also the School Captain (at some schools they call it the Head Prefect). I remember during the tattoo I insisted that Abah sit with the VIPs who came to watch the tattoo. He would have none of it and sat with the other students. The other thing is in VI the names of all of the School Captains are engraved on a board at the school hall. Most if not all the captains before me had their names engraved in a line on the said board. I could’ve chosen to just have “Shahrin Albakri” engraved to keep with the others. Instead, I insisted that they engraved my full name on the board, even if it would occupy two lines. They obliged.
So that night after the tattoo was over, I brought Abah to the school hall and showed him the board. I remember telling him, “Look, that’s you and me on the board”. It read, “1993 – Shahrin Albakri Mustafa Albakri”. I could see tears welling in Abah’s eyes. He knew what it meant, being an ex-Victorian himself. Let me tell you that’s my single proudest moment in my life. Thinking of it really chokes me up every time.
Eventually, he mellowed. We began to understand each other better. After I got married in 1999, I stayed in his home. Abah renovated the house so we had a place to stay. I remember him telling me, “Duduklah sini, mana tau kalau-kalau Abah sakit ke apa nanti, bolehlah kau tengok-tengokkan”. And just two years later, on 14 June 2001, Abah was gone. We were all there. I didn’t cry by his bedside in IJN. I remember all of us thinking of going back home to get the house ready, which we did.
What I do remember was crying my eyes out in the car on the way back home. I remember saying to Murni, “Saya dah takde Abah lagi”, tears streaming down my face, crying like a child. It was early in my life then. I didn’t have then what I have now. I remember on more than one occasion telling my siblings, if only Abah could see what we’ve become now, he would be so happy and filled with joy.
Abah, I have three beautiful children now. I just bought a house near your house where Mak currently stays with Ajan and Shafiq. It’s a good house, a big one. I work in Johor at this moment. I’m sure it wouldn’t have occurred to you that I’ll be out of KL someday. I have a superbike now, been having one for the past 5 years. I don’t think that fact would’ve occurred to you either. Long story short, I think I’m doing quite well now. Everything thanks to what you and Mak taught me over the years. Thank you Abah. I love you, always. Al-fatihah.
Today, I went for a haircut. There are probably 6 or 7 barber shops near my house. Due to the competition, the various barbers charge you RM7 per haircut for an adult and RM5 per haircut for a child. I’ve always been proud of this distinct advantage we guys have over women. Our clothes and shoes are generally more expensive than those of women’s. However, try and tell me where a lady can get a decent haircut for RM7? Nowhere I tell you! For us guys, it’s always a barber. For ladies, it’s a hairdresser. The term itself denotes a higher price for services. Anyway, something totally pointless to be proud of isn’t it?
You see, I have a regular guy who cuts my hair, say once in three weeks or so. At least three weeks ago was the last time I had a haircut. So today before making my way back to JB, at about 3 pm, I went to my regular guy. Only to find the shop’s closed. Not closed as in closed for the day, just for a while as the shutter is still ajar. Probably the guy went for his Zuhur prayers or is just out for lunch. The thing is, I have this practice of taking a short nap before starting my drive back to JB. It’s just to freshen my senses up before going for the 300 km plus drive. So as I thought I wouldn’t have the time to get my nap (and knowing that there are a few other barber shops around) I just went to the nearest one.
Note to self: If you’ve got a regular guy, stick to your regular guy. To be fair, I didn’t get my hair butchered or anything like that, but I was left unimpressed by the end result. You see, as I said, I went to another barber as opposed to waiting for my regular guy to return. I got the usual question from the new guy on how I would like to have my hair cut. So I told him I just came in for a trim. He replied with, “Jadi yang standard lah ya?”. Therein lies the point of not going to your regular guy. I had no idea what “standard” was going to look like. Would “standard” be number 1? Number 2? For those who are unitiated in the fine art of the male haircut, number 1 means at the end of said haircut you’re just going to have 1 inch of hair for number 1, and 2 inches for number 2 and so on.
I was thinking, my regular guy never had a “standard” before. Just imagine putting your future (at least for 3 weeks until the hair grows) in the hands of a guy who’s not your regular guy. I was terrified if I’m being honest. So the guy started with the thing barbers use to cut your hair with. Not scissors. They use the electric-powered thing nowadays. Can’t really remember what they’re called. Anyway, he started to take away huge chunks of my hair off (can you call them “chunks” of hair? Must be my off day). All my fears were realised.
While he was doing his job, this particular thought keeps playing in my mind – what part of “trim” doesn’t the guy understand? I honestly thought “trim” was part of barber jargon. Unless I’m totally mistaken, “trim” means cut just a bit of hair, not huge chunks (again with the chunks). My regular guy understands “trim”. I’ve always said that to him and my haircuts turned out just fine every time.
I don’t think people will be looking at my hair and sniggering behind me tomorrow. Far from it. But as always, what matters is how you feel about yourself isn’t it? I know for sure this feeling will be gone probably the moment I wake up tomorrow morning, but the niggling regret of not going to my regular guy will linger on for some time. I’ll gladly sacrifice some nap time (not all) in order to go to my regular guy the next time I need a haircut. And I’ll try to ask him his name this time rather than referring to him as “my regular guy”.
daily rants (well...almost) 