KEEP COOL..CHILL OUT

May peace be upon you


A father was concerned about his son who has an anger management problem. The son got angry almost everyday. He will  shout profanities to anyone in front of him.

One day, the father said to his son, "Son, every time you feel anger welled up, go to the barn. Take with you a hammer and some nails."

"Then drive in the nails using the hammer until you feel satisfied."

So...every time the son feels angry, he takes the hammer and drives in the nails on the walls of the barn.

After one month, the father said to the son, "This time..pull out all the nails..."

Even though he felt peculiar, he just followed his father's instruction.

"What can you see on the walls, son."

"The walls are full of holes and they look rather ugly."

"Son..what you see is the effect of anger. When you get angry at someone you will not only hurt them but yourself. They might forgive you but the hurt might not go away. The wounds you inflicted on them might heal, but the scars may stay forever. And you also hurt yourself by becoming a bitter and unhappy person."

Anger can consume a man just like fire.

May Allah bless us with patience and calmness.

TOMORROW STARTS TODAY...

In the name of Allah The Most Beneficent The Most Merciful


Sometimes I wonder why do we worry about the future. The fact is we  cannot predict the future. Que sera...sera...whatever will be, will be, the future is not ours to see...

I used to sing that song over and over again when I was kid. But...I really didn't even understand what it means.

 We really do not know what the future holds for us. So, why do we worry?

I am a pathetic worrier...I wish I'm a warrior instead. But I'm not. I was preoccupied worrying about so many things and so many reasons. Then I realized that most of the things that I worried about didn't happen.

So...I just wasted a lot of my precious time worrying about nothing. I am still a worrier..a bit. Just can't help it...a habit if you like.

The truth of the matter is...the most important thing that we have to worry is ....now.

The key to the future is...now.

What we decide, what we do NOW affects the future. So the thing that really matter is the people and the the problems we are facing at present.

Don't worry about the future...it has already been decided today.

IKHLAS

In the name Allah The Most Benificent The Most Merciful

Once,  a large consignment of wine was being brought on a ship for a despotic king who was notorious for his tyranny. A pious man who happened to travel by that ship broke all the bottles or casks of wine except one. Nobody could stop him.

Everybody wondered how he dared to do this for nobody had the courage to face the cruelty of the king.

When the king was informed about it, he was surprised to learn that an ordinary man had the audacity to do all that . He also wondered why he left one cask intact.

The man was captured and interrogated. He said, "My conscience had urged me to do this, you may punish me as you like."

He was then asked why one cask was left unbroken?

He replied,"At first I broke the casks of wine out of my religious sentiments, but when only one was left....my heart felt elated. I then felt that breaking this last cask would be for the satisfaction of my ego. I, therefore, did not break it."

Finding him selfless in what he did, the king ordered his release.

To do good deeds you need 'Ikhlas'. It requires words, thoughts and deeds that should be compatible...
only for the pleasure of Allah s.w.t alone. Thus, we must constantly looked inside our heart whether our deeds are indeed because of Allah or because of our desire for worldly things.
    

HAPPY DAYS!

May peace be upon you.

I've been wrapped up doing translation which seems to be an endless effort. It gives 'Lost in Translation' a whole new meaning to me.

You know guys..sometimes even a mundane and boring work can be rewarding. It's how you look at it.

So today I decided I want to be happy.

 No matter how much work we have, how much problems burden us, how things don't go our way. Decide to be happy! Most importantly make someone happy today.

Buy a cup tea/coffee for a stranger, give a bouquet of flowers to your wife, give hugs to your friends, and to the old lady that pass by your house every morning...just give her a smile and say hello.

Giving doesn't need to be monetary. Giving is actually happiness.

I LOVE EXOTIC FRUITS!

      

May Peace be upon you.

It's the fruit season in Malaysia. Durians, rambutans, mangosteens can be seen almost everywhere especially sold by the roadside.

When I was a kid my family and I will usually spend our school holidays in my kampong (village).
The name of my kampong is appropriately known as Kampong Seronok. Directly translated 'Seronok' means Fun.

My kampong is in fact a really fun place to be. Well, when i was kid anyway. We didn't have to buy these exotic fruits. They were free. The only thing is you have to go and find them.

My late aunt lived in our old ancestral home. At that time, there was no electricity, no gas stove and the bathroom was outside the house. We went to sleep early since there was not much you can do without electric lights. But the nights were filled with my aunt's bedtime stories.

                       This is not my real ancestral house...but you get the idea how it looks like so many, many years ago. Now it is a brick house.

She would tell me a whole chests of stories which I would treasure for the rest of my life.

During the durian season, I would follow my aunt to the fruit orchard before dawn, when it was still dark, searching for the beautiful, pungent fruits. To people who do not know... you cannot pluck durians. You have to wait for them to fall on their own sweet time.

And why do we have to find them so early in the morning...? Simply because, any later, all the fruits would be missing. Durians are prized fruits, known as the king of the fruits, they could fetch quite a handsome sum of money.

Armed with just a torchlight, we would search for the fruits on the grounds under the durian trees. My aunt would say, "If you want to find durians, follow your nose not your eyes."

                                                            DURIANS

To me durians have a lovely,unique smell but to some especially foreigners, the smell is so strong that they even describe them having the same smell of a sewage?!

Another fruit that perhaps the young generation would not know is 'keriang'. A boy in my kampong would invite me to join his 'gang' to find this fruit.

 We had to go across the cemetery grounds where my dad was laid to rest. and climbed the hill and at the edge of the jungle we could find the 'Keriang' trees. I have no idea whether somebody planted them or they were wild fruit trees.

The fruits are deep purple in colour and if you're eating them, make sure you're not wearing a white shirt because the stain will stay forever...

                                              KERIANG/ KERIAN FRUITS

The Keriang fruits taste sour yet slightly sweet and bitter. Well... I had a great time finding them with my friends. This fruit is not popular nowdays, perhaps unknown to many youngsters today. What a pity because it is such an exciting, beautiful fruit with  a real exotic taste.

 

THE PRECIOUS THING IN YOUR LIFE

May peace be upon you.

Late one night, a man came home from a long tiring night working. When he arrived home the only thing on his mind was to rest and go to sleep before he started work all over again tomorrow morrning.

But to his dismay, he found his young son not asleep yet. He scolded his son and told him to go to bed.

Instead the boy asked him,

"How much do you make per hour, dad ?"

The question made the man angry.

"What? Non of your business, son."

"Oh! Come on dad, please tell me...how much do your boss pay you for one hour?"

Tired and thinking that his son will get off his back if he answered  the question,

"$100 an hour. Are you satisfied!?"

"May I borrow $50. I pay you back when I have the money."

The man was furious.

"You have the nerve to ask me for money! Do you know how hard I have to work everyday to earn that money? And you're going to use that money on some useless things. You go to bed right now, young man!" Ordered the man angrily.

The young boy marched to his bedroom gloomily.

After some time, after his anger subsided, the man started to think, and said to himself,
"What on earth does a small kid like him want that kind of money? There must be something more to this.."

So he decided to go and ask his son,

"Son, are you still awake?"

"Yeah..dad."

"I'm sorry I scolded you just now. Here's the $50. What do you want to do with the money?"

Gratefully the boy accepted the money and almost at the same time he took a few crumpled dollars under his pillow.

When his father saw this, he started to get angry again because he thought he was right that the boy just wanted to buy some useless expensive toy but before he can say anything, the boy said,

"All this money is for you, dad." He handed all the money to his father.

"Why? What for?" said his father bewildered.

"I would like to pay for one hour's of your time, dad so you could spend that time with me. I really miss you dad..."

The man hugged his young son with tears welled up in his eyes and just realized he was too busy with his work that he forgot the most precious thing in his life.....

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY MALAYSIA !

May peace be upon you.

Tomorrow MALAYSIA will be celebrating her 56th Independence Day. If she is human, she probably have a few grandchildren...

But most importantly...she is definitely matured and learned a lot through life experiences.

We live in a country where we have different races, religions and cultures. Malays, Indians, Chinese, Kadazans, Iban, Murut, Bidayuh.....

However... our differences are in fact our strength and not our weaknesses.

Let us respect each other...live together...help one another...so we can build a great nation.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, MALAYSIA !

                           MERDEKA!
                            
                           MERDEKA!

                           MERDEKA!