Breeze Ultracolour

I was driving to the imigration office to receive my renewed passport so I could go whiteriver rafting this Friday when I heard a radio commercial:

"Eh Aminah, why do you look so happy?"

"Well Mrs. Chong, my clothes are so vibrant and colourful!"

"But how?"

"I only used Breeze Ultracolour and now all my clothes looks fabulous!"

(together) "Breeze Ultracolour! For more vibrant and colourful clothes!"

I was like....Why is Mrs. Chong so damn aversive to happiness? Do we really need a reason to be happy? Like because of more vibrant and colourful clothes?

Aminah needs to get a damn hobby, that's what she needs! Not Breeze Ultracolour!

Balik Kampung?

After 4 Mentos,
445 kilometres,
RM75 of PLUS toll charges,
and a full tank.

I came home to find an invitation to a prize giving ceremony on Thursday. I was confused. I had mixed feelings.

What if I go and didn't win anything? What if I didn't go and win something? Why didn't Jabatan Filem Negara send this earlier? What is the meaning of life?

But the only thing that came out of my mouth was "Tok Nab.... Afiq lapaq!!!!"

High-End Shopping Bags

I don't know if you've noticed this but lately almost all shopping complexes are urging their customers to bring their own shopping bag to reduce consumption of plastic bags. So in light of this campaign, many shops are selling shopping bags that can be used over and over again.
The diversity of shopping bag designs made it more than a proactive measure to counter global warming and pollution. It is now a fashion statement. I know most of us can't afford to buy high end fashion products to use the bag that came with them as shopping bags but what if we can? Not only is it a fashion statement, you could also keep the bags as one of your shopping bag collection.

Imagine using Jimmy Choo or Burberry bags as your shopping bag:
Or Salvatore Ferragamo and Emporio Armani to carry your groceries or clothes.

The best thing about carrying around high-end bags is that you will be welcomed into other high-end stores without having the promoters shooing you away with their disconcerting looks.

If you're interested to get one as a shopping bag or to add to your collection, you can buy your favourite high-end brand shopping bags at Afiqsells.

If you do buy one, prepare to receive passing remarks like:

"He'eh, anak Datuk la~ tapi kenapa muka cam duduk Kampung Baru"

"Nak berlagaklah tu! Mentang-mentang..."

"Aku tidak mengenal brand itu maka aku tidak memberi apa-apa komen."

"Ape kes pergi pasar ikan bawak paperbag Gucci?"

"Wow! London. Paris. Batu Gajah."

Bedazzled!

At the risk of being called 'Gay', 'Fruity', 'Tak senonohlah budak ni' etc. I transformed by plain Nokia e61i from this:
to this:

Front Elevation
Perspective 1
Perspective 2
Meet Latika!
(from the heroine character in Slumdog Millionaire).

Yesterday. Was. Weird.

I woke up when I heard loud noises from outside. Convinced that it was a plane crashing towards the house, I whispered the Syahadah until I heard people screaming. I peeped through the window and saw 8 motorcycles encircling 3 Sikhs. There was a bit of scuffle when the rempits snatched one of the Sikh's briefcase.
Just before the security guard came to the rescue, the rempits sprinted and escaped. That's the weirdest thing that happened to me in months: I woke up at 7 o'clock! Amazing!

Oh, I've seen at least 4 theft right in front of me (all the more reason for girls to carry around wallets instead of handbags.) and guys to learn the art of buat-buat gila. When you act weird and whacked when a potential thief approaches you, the chances of theft will be greatly diminished.

And then I had to give a talk to hundred of school children about energy conservation just before I was invited to have brunch with four Dato's.
We talked about education, conservation, pollution and Khir Toyo. I realized that I overstepped my turf when I joined in the conversation whenever I can but they appreciated my views so it would be rude to just sit quietly and eat what the restaurant called brunch. Brunch is supposed to be light. If a 7 course meal is considered a brunch, I'm so going to have dinner there soon.
After that I was interviewed by RTM 2 and Bernama reporters. I didn't ask them when I'll be aired because malaslah... cam poyo je.
I learnt my lesson when a magazine did a piece on me and told me that it will be published in 2 months time. I checked the issue two months later and was crushed to find that the anticipated piece on me was non-existent. I called the magazine and they told me that they've already published the piece two months ago. Sejak kejadian itu, I never bothered to check my debut in any medium of the media.
Malaslah...cam poyo je.

Book Karma

I went to KL's International BookFair today hoping to get myself books that are not normally sold in bookstores. But as it turned out, almost all the books sold there were school books and university reference books. The only interesting thing that happened was I met Raja Nazrin, the Raja Muda of Perak. He was very casual and didn't tour around the bookfair with an entourage like I expected.
Hampa dan sedih, I went to KLCC's Kinokuniya so I won't go back empty handed. Kinokuniya by far has the best selection of fictional books in Malaysia.
My affair with novels started 5 years ago. Now I bring a novel everywhere I go like...
when I work,
lepak-lepak,
jalan-jalan,
and even to the dentist!

I got so many novels that I sold them every year in KAED Fest. Now since I haven't got to sell them anymore, I've to bring around 10 kilos of books during vacations (when I have to vacate my room)

So to lighten my load, I figured I might as well sell them online. I'm a firm believer of Book Karma. Book Karma is the cycle of books. I don't believe in keeping books for keepsake except for informative books. So I'm starting a humble blogshop so I can sell hand-me-down books. Then I can use the money to buy new novels!

So if you're interested to read books that is half the price but with stories untainted and unstained with age, visit afiqsells.

Reply to Kekeliruan Kefahaman Islam di Malaysia Salah Siapa?

Oh well, once again... I pissed off some people. I was a sworn enemy to muslim gay bloggers once when I posted my Gay Muslim entry. Apparently Anjingophobia pissed off a lot of 'very good muslims'. You can read the real blog entry here. Here is the blog entry and my immediate reply:


Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh!

Kehadapan saudara saudari seIslam dengan saya serta mereka yang rasa rasa masih Muslim didalam ertikata sebenarnya.Kenapa saya berkata begitu?

Iyalah!

Apa tidaknya?

Manusia manusia sedemikian sudah semakin banyak yang hadir dan ujud dikalangan kita yang mengaku sebagai umat Islam, bertuhankan Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala dan bernabikan Muhammad ibni Abdullah, Khataman Nabiyyi, Rahmatulil Alamin, Rasulullah Sallalahu Alaihi Wassallam, sudah berani mempersendakan hukum hakam Allah Azza Wa Jalla dan Sunnah Nabi?

Saya menerima emel dari seorang saudara Muslim bertanyakan hukum tentang mereka yang berani mempersendakan hukum agama Islam serta Sunnah Nabi Sallalahu Alaihi Wassallam?Berikut adalah isi kandungan emel tersebut:

"Assalamualaikum .........Saya nak tanya .......kalau penyataan macam (dibawah) ni..tak dikira sebagai mempersenda agama ke..?

"The sama' (or samak) procedure haven't been updated for centuries. During the time of Rasulullah, to prevent rabies from infecting human beings, he instructed his followers to wash their hands once with clay and six more times with water because they didn't have Dettol oranti-bacterial soap those days. If you're thinking "Well, we should abide Rasulullah's every action to the latter" then the internet would be unfavourable because Rasulullah used massengers on horses to relay messages and information. "


Saudara saudari seIslam yang saya hargai,Bilamana saya mengkaji isi kandungan blog tersebut diatas, saya mendapati bahawa anak muda itu beriqtikad sedemikian diantaranya berdasarkan adegan didalam filem 'Gubra' arahan Yasmin Ahmad yang memaparkan seorang bilal mengusap kepala anjing ditengah jalan didalam perjalanannya ke surau dan kemudian terus melaungkan azan tanpa menyamak tangannya?

Just because Yasmin Ahmad didn't shot the Bilal performing the samak, it doesn't mean that he didn't. How often do you see action heroes in fast paced action movies take a dump? Never probably. So what's the dilly yo?

Maka nampaknya anak anak muda seperti itu mengambil kefahaman agamanya dari contoh contoh seperti dari filem 'Gubra'. Salah siapa membiarkan gejala ini berterusan?FINAS? JAKIM?

Salah orang macam kamu lah yang lebih gemar menyalahkan orang lain dengan sindiran dan tomahan.

Siapa?Apakah salah kegagalan sistem pendidikan agama kita diperingkat persekolahan rendah, menengah atau tinggi?Apakah salah kerajaan negeri dan negara semata mata?Apakah salah blogger muda itu sendiri kerana keras kepala ingin membicarakan perkara sepenting hukum hakam Islam ikut sesuka hatinya kerana Suruhanjaya Multimedia dan Komunikasi tidak bertaring didalam ertikata sebenarnya?

Blogger ini hanya ingin membuka orang mata orang melayu yang sering menyeksa anjing dengan menggunakan alasan agama tetapi hal-hal kecil pula diberi perhatian macam orang tua mabuk yang suka cari gaduh. Perlukah Suruhanjaya Multimedia dan Komunikasi mengambil tindakan kerana saya mengeluarkan pendapat? Adakah ini cara sebenar Islam dipraktikkan? Dengan cara kuku besi? Saya rasa tidak.

Apakah kerana kelesuan pihak berkuasa mengambil tindakan keatas blogger yang menyiarkan maklumat salah tentang perkara melibatkan hal ehwal agama termasuk kaffir dan munafik yang mempersendakan Allah, Rasulullah serta umat Islam secara amnya?

Perkara kecil sebegini pun nak dibawa ke makhamah syariah ke? Kenapa tidak tumpukan fokus pada isu-isu yang lebih penting seperti mendidik kanak-kanak muslim supaya tidak menjadi muslim yang lebih gemar menghukum seperti kamu?

Siapakah yang bersalah?Ini baru satu diantara ribuan blog serta laman web yang memperlecehkan hukum hakam Agama Islam kita yang maha suci.Apa langkah yang harus kita ambil?Bagi saya, salah satu caranya adalah untuk menguatkuasakan peruntukan undang undang yang sedia ada.Apa gunanya menggubalkan undang undang sedemikian di Parlimen dan Dewan Undangan Negeri jika hanya sekadar menjadi perhiasan sahaja?

Bagus la tu? Daripada menegur, berbincang atau bertukar pendapat, lebih bagus menangkap saya dan mengenakan tindakan undang-undang? Orang macam kamulah yang golongan muda mudi sudah meluat mencuba mendekati Islam. Orang macam kamulah yang memberi imej buruk kepada Islam pada majoriti remaja. Jadi siapa yang bersalah? Tepuk dada, tanyalah mereka!

Negara kita ini kaya dengan undang undang tetapi miskin penguatkuasaan.Itulah diantara punca timbulnya kekeliruan dan salah faham hal ehwal agama dikalangan masyarakat kebanyakan negara ini hari ini.Saya telah membalas emel sipenanya itu dengan maklumat berkaitan. Insya Allah akan saya tuliskan artikel berkenaan hukum hakam agama mengenai masaalah samak didalam waktu terdekat.Tentang blogger muda itu, sama sama lah kita berdo'a agar beliau akan kaji semula akan iktiqad beliau untuk mengelakkan diri jatuh berdosa melanggar perintah Nabi Sallalahu Alaihi Wassallam seperti yang dihuraikan secara terperinci disini.


So now I'm a murtad? That's very convenient, threatening me like I'm an infidel. Who are you to judge me?

Soalnya saya hairan kenapa masih ujud orang orang seperti ini dizaman ini yang bukannya mengkaji dengan mendalam tentang sesuatu perkara bersangkutan hukum hakam agama yang menjadi teras kehidupan kita sebagai umat Islam dengan berpandukan lautan ilmu yang kini mudah didapati dihujung jejari kita di internet ini tetapi berdegil memilih untuk mentafsir akan ajaran Islam menurut hawa nafsu sendiri?

I didn't receive any comment from you to clarify any inaccurate information I posted. Instead, you judge me, suggest that the government to take action on people who have opinions and imply that I may be a murtad. You disgust me because you made Islam exclusive for people with certain upbringings and perception of Islam.

Semoga penerangan singkat ini berjaya menyedarkan mereka yang berkenaan supaya bermuhasabah akan iktiqad yang dipegang masing masing dan kembali kepada ajaran Islam sebenar dan janganlah memandai mandai memperkecilkan dan mempersendakan Nabi Muhammad Sallalahu Alaihi Wassallam?

Sekarang saya memperkecilkan dan mempersenda Rasulullah? Nauzubillah, tuhan saja yang tahu hipokrisi kamu yang membuak-buak.

Teringat saya akan kenyataan Tun Dr Mahathir tentang soal janggut Nabi Sallalahu Alaihi Wassallam dan berkenaan ketiadaan pisau cukur 'Gillette' pada zaman dahulu?Saya pernah mendengar ucapan itu melalui rakaman audio kaset yang dijual ditempat saya dahulu. Memang geramlah bila ingat semula akan keceluparan tersebut tetapi disebabkan saya ketika itu tidak mempunyai kemudahan komputer dan akses kepada internet, terpaksa simpan saja didalam hati dan meredap memanjang terhadap si pengucap yang berkenaan.

Mudah2an sekelian blogger dan penulis berhati hati bila membicarakan bab hukum hakam agama dan beringat ingat sebelum menerbitkan sebarang artikel yang berkaitan perkara yang amat penting seperti ini?'Terlajak taip boleh dipadam semula dengan menekan Backspace ; terlajak tekan 'Enter' tanggung jelah natijahnya!

Mudah2an sekalian orang yang berfikir seperti kamu mengubah cara pendekatan dakwah dengan menggunakan interaksi yang lebih terbuka, penilaian yang tiada prejudis dan perbuatan menghukum orang Islam dengan sewenang-wenangnya kerana berpendapat bahawa orang seperti kamu sudah dijanjikan tempat di Syurga. Setakat apa yang saya nampak, orang macam kamulah yang menyebabkan remaja menjauhkan diri daripada Islam. Saya cuma mendekatkan mereka kembali dengan Islam dengan cara saya sendiri.

'Wabillahi Taufik Wal Hidayah.

Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.