*Fragile Reflection*

The Mrs. and I celebrated our birthdays recently. We thank Allah for gracing us with a good life and good health. We are all weak among his creations and we err easily so it is to Him that we ask for forgiveness and good grace.

The last few weeks have also seen people leave this temporary earth of ours. It brings me to a shudder to think how life is so fragile and that when our time comes, there’s nothing that we can do to stop it.

It is so easy for us (especially me); how we are here today, living, breathing and walking thanks to Him. Often I forget how grateful and thankful I should be but I do feel I don’t do enough at times.

The holy Quran says “And We did not create jins and humans other than to submit to Us.” And that should be the essence of which Muslims should lead their life with. That does not mean that we forgo life on earth in search of heaven, life should be balanced.

I believe and I know that I don’t devote enough of my time, effort and energy to His cause and to Him. I am ashamed as I fear that He thinks that I take it for granted the life that He has given me.

As we both thank Him for continuing to bless us with life on this earth, we will constantly remind ourselves how fragile we are in this life. Not a day should go by without being grateful and asking for forgiveness for our sins and the sins of our parents.

My greatest fear is that I love this life far too much and fear death. I pray to Him that such thoughts and feelings are banished from me and my family.

Cheers!!! :D

*Al-Fatihah For Yasmin Ahmad*

Just as we were about to recover from the lost of a legend, we are shocked by the departure of the late, great Yasmin Ahmad. The late Yasmin had suffered a stroke and went through brain surgery before finally breathing her last breath late yesterday.

I won’t even try to write a fitting tribue for the late Yasmin, I’m sure that there are many those out there who are much more talented in writing one. Personally I never met her but she touched everyone through her art.

Her films spoke virtues that the silent majority felt closely in their hearts. She touched on issues that to many sparked controversy, to those who felt such topics should be swept under the rug rather than discussed.

Her brilliance shone through despite all the people trying to keep it down. Not only she was recognized here but her work was recognized internationally via various film festivals.

Her TV ads tugged at the emotional strings in every Malaysian. Again, she appealed to the silent majority rather than the noisy minority. Her appearance on the video for the song “Here In My Home” showed that she was part of the silent majority.

Her family has lost a member dear to them while the country has lost a gem; a gem that comes once every few decades and most of us may not live long enough to see another brilliant and talented person like the late Yasmin.

While we mourn her passing and try to move on with our lives, death brings a reminder to how fragile life is and how in the end, we will all be brought to face judgment in front of Him.

We will all be asked about our deeds and sins and we will reap the benefits or the opposite of what we have done in our lives. Our limbs will speak for themselves in front of Him, telling the life that we have lived on this earth.

For now she rests until the time comes. To those who live it is a stark reminder that when He decides to take us away from our loved ones, it will not be a second too soon or a second too late.

Al-Fatihah to Yasmin Ahmad. May He bless her soul and she is grouped together among those who are obedient to Him.

Amin.

*I Want It Back*

I’m staring at my screen blankly.

Living in this country is getting unbearable.

I love this country too much to see it crumble like a house of cards.

I want to run away to another place but I don’t have the finances to uproot my family.

I’m afraid that Malaysia is going down the path of demise and destruction. The path that has no turning back once you’re on it.

I miss Malaysia. It used to be such a joy to live in the blessed country but I can’t say that I feel the same way anymore. Opportunists take everything and blow it up all out of proportion.

Where have all the level-headed people go? Maybe they’ve realized it much earlier than me and are already somewhere else. More importantly, where has all the common sense gone to?

I miss the time when under a supposed dictator, life was so much more peaceful. If that is the best between 2 evils, yes I’d give everything to have those times back again. Life was so much more orderly back then, how I miss it so much.

I know there’s no place on this earth that is not without its faults but I can name a few which are in a whole lot better condition than Malaysia is.

If only I had the money…

Cheers!!! :D

*Drop The RM1 Charge*

Why is it we as customers of Malaysia’s internet banking services have to pay RM1.00 for transactions involving payment to external parties? How can this be fair? Banks should be thankful that we’re helping to keep their cost down.

Having worked in the financial institution sector for 4 years, I know that banks are always looking to automate their operations in a bid to save cost. One of the reasons why the NUBE and ABOM unions opposed so much “automation” of the banking industry is that once banks go fully automated, there’s no need for people manning branches anymore.

So how is that when we customers use their services such as internet banking and mobile banking, we are charged RM1.00? We are paying for the power that runs the pc or laptop and we’re the one’s paying for the internet connection that we use so what is the RM1.00 for?

I’ll share with you why I believe RM1.00 should be scrapped:

First, most banks run virtualization to cut down the number of servers that eats up power for them to run. The days of having loads and loads of servers are gone. These days, you could fit 6 virtual servers in 1 physical machine.

Second, it costs the bank money to put a person behind the counter. The teller requires wages, benefits and all other amenities that a person working for an employer needs. The machine does not, period. Machines don’t get sick or do they go on annual leave.

Third, it costs the bank to run a branch, make no bones about it. Rental, utilities and security are just some of the operating expenditures a bank needs to incur. Internet banking servers are normally located in places where infrastructure is already there and costs have been accounted for.

Fourth, machines don’t complain. They don’t argue about wages, they don’t need yearly increments and bonuses. They don’t picket outside of a bank to protest wages they don’t really deserve. So much less of a headache for HR and IR who are not cheap to employ.

If each of the above is worth RM0.25 then you can see that banks are making a killing charging its customers RM1.00 for each transaction that an internet banking user performs.

These are just some of the reasons why banks are pushing for consumers to adopt online banking because at the end of the day it makes perfect business sense. What makes no sense at all is the fact despite the customer incurring most of the costs, why are we still charged RM1.00.

I say let’s start a campaign to get the banks to drop the RM1.00 charge, what think?

Cheers!!! :D

*Public Service Announcement: TNB Power Cuts*

Somehow a message of such importance has escaped both mainstream and also not so mainstream media. If you are not aware, TNB is on a massive maintenance exercise of its infrastructure which means, there will be power disruptions.

Here’s a clipping of an article on NST a few days back:

KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly the whole of the peninsula will be affected by power cuts to make way for scheduled maintenance work on power stations by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).

A total of 720 areas in 11 states would be affected by the operation, which would be spread out in stages from now until August.

Only Perlis, Putrajaya and Cyberjaya will be spared.

The length of the power cuts would vary from three hours to 14 hours, depending on the type of work carried out.

For those who would like to find out more details like if your area is affected and when if your area is affected can check out TNB’s site here

This is what happens when gives too much attention to crap than things that really matter to the people.

Cheers!!! :D

*On Play All Day*

Last week of course, the whole world was awoken to the fact that the king of pop, the late Michael Jackson passed away due to cardiac arrest. He was on his comeback trail with concerts slated for the rest of the year.

And so the local music stations paid tribute to the gloved one. Almost all of the English radio broadcasters had MJ on play all day.

Of course, no other artist could pull it off really. No artist or group could have their songs playing all day and not bore everyone to death. That is, ladies and gentlemen the musical brilliance of MJ.

Of course, he was not without his faults, neither are we. People tend to forget that no one is perfect, we’re just made that way.

His music broke racial and color barriers. He was singing about things that most people back then wouldn’t touch with a long pole. He was singing about the environment long before Mr. Gore made a big fuss about it and Mr. Leonardo made a movie about it.

So yes, I was one of many who didn’t mind having MJ’s song on rotation all day long. Beats that rock among all ages and lyrics that means so much then and till this very day hold much value.

Question is, will there be anyone like him after this? Not just in terms of his sheer talent but also who’s death the world will mourn. He is to our generation what Elvis/Beatles was to our parent’s generation.

So how about we all ponder for a bit. Which artist that currently lives who’s death in the future would be as big as the late MJ?

That day will leave in infamy for it is the day that we lost one of the most brilliant human being that we will be able to enjoy in a long, long time. RIP sir, you’ve earned it.

Cheers!!! :D