Monday, January 25, 2010

SIAPA SUDI MEMBELI?







Sebatang selasih setandan pinang
Jarum emas dijemur berjurai
Bunga Jepun kembangnya merah

Berhutang kasih bercagarkan sayang
Sampai penghujung tidak tertunai
Sungguh dimaaf teruraikah resah?






Wednesday, January 20, 2010

MEREKA PRO, KOK!

Telah berdekad, yang namanya ibu-bapa, isteri (juga suami), saudara mara, rakan-rakan, hatta kerajaan, menasihati, menegur, merayu, malah malarang terang-terang orang-orang yang mereka kasihi, yang bergelar PEROKOK, supaya meninggalkan kebiasaan menghisap rokok.


Namun, perokok tetap terus dengan habit yang telah berakar umbi. Ada yang ekstrim. Yang rendah (tiada?) kepedulian kepada undang-undang - norma masyarakat yang tertinggi darjatnya! Mereka menukar kawasan dilarang merokok kepada kawasan bebas merokok – kawasan sekolah, hospital, restoran, rumah ibadat, pejabat, dan tempat-tempat awam lain yang telah dikenal pasti.

Sudah banyak diperkatakan mengenai sikap perokok tegar. Ku hanya ingin menghidangkan saoalan, mungkinkah perubahan melalui budaya (cara hidup) Islam boleh membantu mereka atau menyelesaikan masalah ini. Metodologi “culture-bound change” ini rasanya tidak begitu diperhebatkan di negara kita. Orang-orang agama (berbanding orang-orang sains kesihatan & perubatan) kurang sekali dinampakkan rol mereka. Mungkin teralpa, atau terlepas, tetapi kurasa amat jarang tajuk ini dikupas dalam kuliah maghrib atau kuliah subuh, atau juga dalam ceramah ringkas sebelum Jumaat atau dalam khutbah Jumaat. Juga dalam akhbar, majalah, rancangan-rancangan tv dan radio berkaitan.

Kalau pun ada, kita dinampakkan masalah itu sebagai masalah kesihatan semata-mata. Yang libatkan orang-orang atau agensi-agensi kesihatan. Tidak ditonjolkan dengan mantap, itu adalah juga masalah kerohanian, hatta masalah penghayatan ajaran agama - yang sewajarnya juga ditangani orang-orang agama; juga ilmu-ilmu agama itu sendiri. Kalau ada kempen-kempen pilihanraya yang memetik ayat-ayat Quran tertentu bagi menjustifikasi sesuatu, pasti ada juga ayat-ayat lain dalam Quran yang boleh dipaparkan dalam kempen anti-rokok di sana sini, di dalam itu dan di dalam ini.

Pun amat cetek dalam ilmu agama, aku agak yakin, jika setiap peluang dan ruang penyampaian ajaran agama digunakan untuk memerangi tabiat merokok, termasuklah contohnya semasa pengajaran membaca al-Quran, lambat laun akan ada juga hasilnya, sekalipun diperolehi sedikit demi sedikit (Aku terfikir, guru Quran boleh berkata, kalau mahu sedap bacaan, badan dan kerongkong kena sihat..... Kalau kita merokok, batuk-batuk, nafas pendek, tercungap-cungap, tentulah tak boleh baca dengan sedap dan baik!).
Tidak semestinya dengan kuliah panjang, yang khusus mengenai bahaya merokok, oleh orang kesihatan & perubatan, kita boleh memenangi hati perokok.

Kuperturunkan beberapa catatan/persoalan berasaskan apa yang termuat dalam Utusan Malaysia, 20 & 21 Januari '10, berkaitan dengan permasalahan yang diperkatakan, dan sebuah gambar yang pernah kuambil yang relevan dengan tajuk. Untuk anda fikirkan atau beri reaksi.
Kalaulah yang arif dalam pelbagai ilmu berkaitan dengan agama Islam dapat memberi respon, lebih holistik dan meriahlah idea-idea kita dalam usahasama mencari keredhaan dan kebahagiaan dari Allah.

Catatan .... dan Gambar

01. Paling kurang ada 20 kawasan yang diwartakan sebagai kawasan larangan merokok di negara ini, tetapi nampaknya para perokok bebas merokok di situ.
02. Para pekerja di hospital dan pusat perubatan pun merokok di kawasan dilarangan merokok .
03. Penasihat Majlis Agama Islam Johor (Datuk Nooh Gadut) ada berkata, lebih baik perokok tabung wang rokok untuk pergi haji.
04. Jika disabitkan kesalahan, perokok yang merokok di kawasan larangan boleh didenda sehingga RM10,000 atau penjara sehingga 2 tahun. Pernah dengar ada perokok yang dihukum?
05. Yakah perokok boleh dianggap membunuh diri sendiri secara senyap-senyap dan perlahan-lahan?
06. Perokok boleh menyebabkan orang yang selalu rapat dengan mereka juga mendapat penyakit, dan kerana itu dianggap melakukan dosa.
07. Mengeluarkan fatwa mengaharamkan tabiat merokok itu radikal. Mencukupi jika dikatakan perbuatan itu makruh.
08. Jika rokok terus dijual, orang akan membeli dan menghisapnya, termasuk ‘orang baru’!
09. Kementerian sedang mengkaji kemungkinan dinaikkan harga rokok, 20 batang RM50?!
10. Pedulikan perokok; mereka degil; mereka sendiri yang buat, merekalah yang tanggung. Jangan buang masa, tenanga, fikiran dan wang ringgit lagi untuk mereka! Tapi di mana kepedulian masyarakat?

(Gambar ini diambil di persekitaran sebuah masjid di Kuala Lumpur. Apakah maksud dan implikasi sebenar papan tanda ini?)

Para perokok biasa kata, mereka ada hak merokok. Namanya 'hak kemanusiaan'! Adakah yang menerima asap rokok mereka atau yang menderita hidup ditinggalkan mereka juga ada hak?

Apa para perokok pro atau anti iklan "teruskan, nikmati rokok"? Mereka PRO, KOK! Kan industri rokok juga menyumbang kepada ekonomi negara! Gimana ya?

Monday, January 11, 2010

A TALE OF TWO "KACANGS"


KACANG GROWING I: LONG BEAN

This growing of long bean (kacang panjang / KP) on a very minute scale happened about two months ago.

All the three KP seeds that I germinated in the flower pot (placed close to the fence)proudly showed off their young shoots after a few days. When these young plants grew longer, I let them crawl in different directions around the fence. Some amount of fertilizer was given. Can't exactly remember how much, and how frequent. I wasn't sure too of the fertilizer's NPK contents. I watered the plants quite regularly. Each of the three plants developed several branches and they got entangled with one another around the fence.

After a while, I noticed some flowers coming out from the bushy KP. A few days later, "strands" of KP began to appear, each getting longer and bigger as days went by.



Then came the day for me to reap the reward of my labour. The 1st harvest, 12 strands of beautiful KP. The KP bush looked healthy and green, feeling proud of its first yield!



Two or three days after, the 2nd harvest was done. Total produce = 10 strands, one of which was quite "deformed". It turned to be a curly KP. But, definitely, edible!



Then, the 3rd & final harvest. 10 strands. By then, the leaves of the KP bush had turned yellowish.



So, insya Allah, I managed to collect a total of 30 strands of KP out of my minute project. 100% fresh & crispy KP, harvested at 3 different time. I purposely left one strand behind. The seeds inside it would dry up to be grown when I have the mood later on!



KACANG GROWING II: FOUR-ANGLED BEAN

I also planted the four-angled bean (kacang botol). Unfortunately, after a promising start, the plants just withered, and finally "passed away"! Probably I had over-dosed them with too much fertilizer. Harvest = 000.




Lesson learned: I should be more systematic next time. I have wasted valuable time by not making a proper record of the whole activity. I should have noted down things like which particular mixed soil did I use; how many days did the seeds take to germinate; how often did I fertilize the plants; what were the actual "contents" of the fertilizer used; how much did each harvest weigh, etc., etc. Of course I can gather such information from books, but I should have noted them down based on my own experience.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

FAIQ'S HISTORIC DAY

4th. January, 2010 was Faiq's historic day.























On 4th. January 2010, I accompanied my first grandson, Faiq, to his school - Sekolah Kebangsaan Bandar Seri Putera (BSP), Bangi. It was his first day at school! Faiq's dad had something urgent to attend to and his mum was not that well. So "Tok Wan" had to make a trip to BSP, about 10km away, to attend to Faiq's needs. Really glad to be able to do that.























Together with Faiq that afternoon were about 300 other Year One pupils, some looking happy, some anxious, and I could see two crying! All of them assembled at one of the school halls for a briefing by the teachers. And their curious parents took the liberty to listen to the briefing as well! After several pleas by the teachers, however, these "emak-bapak" (parents) finally moved out of the hall, letting the teachers to proceed with the briefing without any interference.

















I sat down at the school canteen where most of the parents were seated. Some parents, I noted, were flocking at all the hall entrants. Some were lingering around the hall, taking a peep once a while at their children. There were obviously anxious to see whether their loved ones were really okey!

I was smiling to myself, thinking how lucky Faiq was, to have the opportunity to enter a "sekolah pekan" (urban school). To be in such a well-equipped, beautiful brand-new school. To have better trained and more specialized teachers. To be driven to school that's hardly a kilometer away. To wear nice clothings ... to own a beautiful bag that has special compartments for his "air sirap" and sandwiches, etc., etc.

But did I regret not having all those good things during my time? Definitely no! I didn't even realize then that I was deprived of those good things in life. I was just like the rest of the kampung boys and girls. I know that I used to have things that Faiq doesn't have now. For example "papan batu"! And having "kepala gondol" while saving the money that was supposed to be paid to the barber! I too used to have things that Faiq now has, although they were quite "different". For example, a big hand-sewn handkerchief and later, a rattan basket, to place my exercise books! But these things were good enough at that time.


..... I wouldn't remember what my first day at school was like. But I can never forget that my class, and another group of "Standard 1" pupils, were placed in the "sekolah cawangan" (branch school). The "main" school building was about 0.25km away. The sekolah cawangan had "nibung" and "mangrove wood" pillars, planted into the ground to support its "atap" roof. It also had a 3 ft high fragile wooden walls, and natural earth flooring! We had wooden chairs and tables, each set was made to accomodate either two or three persons. There was no piped water . No electricity. This sekolah cawangan had no canteen too. We had to depend on home-made "nasi bungkus" or "nasi lemak" (5 cents/packet) sold by a "mak cik" nearby. I had to walk to school, about 5 km away. The earth path would become very muddy during the rainy season. Sob ... sob .....


At Faiq's school, I stayed until the kids had their recess. Most of the parents too had and enjoyed their "half-time"! These "emak-bapak", together with their children, turned the canteen into a very crowded picnic ground. I was really amused to see them enjoying the food that they had brought from home or bought from the canteen. A large number of the "freshies", unfortunately, couldn't get any seat to really enjoy their 1st recess meal.



















I left the school as soon as Faiq got back to his classroom. I returned to the school in the evening to fetch him. This time, Faiq's grandma (Tok Umi, my other half) also came along. Of course Faiq was excited to have both his Tok Wan and Tok Umi take him home from his "first day at school"!























Faiq, May Allah guide you along the right path. May you be successful in this world and in the hereafter. Amin!