To kill or not to kill?

Assalamualaikum

A few days ago I had the opportunity to watch the latest movie Ninja Assassin. Starring the Korean singer/actor Rain. I was very intrigue at first as to how they depict the true nature of a ninja. With all the shuriken throwing, katana wielding and all sorts of unsual weaponry. Ninja in its nature also have influenced on their choice of weapon. Silent and deadly accurate. One swing of a katana from a master ninja could be fatal. I've always have an interest in martial arts. Understanding how it functions through mathematical applications and the mastery of the human anatomy.

Back to the movie... Since I was small I've been exposed to many forms of martial arts based movies. Be it American, Japanese or Chinese. During the 80s martial arts based movies are a bit stiff. It's like every single move the combatants made was pre-planned. Well, I don't care what it looked like during that time. What I knew was that I loved martial arts sooo much. It is not until I get myself involved in martial arts then I started to understand a little as to what martial arts is all about. Practising martial arts in real life is not like in the movies where every move your opponent made was pre-planned and choreographed. In real life there's no such thing as "choreographed" movements. The punches and kicks are real and have the potential to fatal if not done in a proper manner. And it HURTS too!

every single punch and kick that came into contact with my body was as real as it gets. But, no worries, when you are learning martial arts in a classroom or a dojo or an open field, you are taught to control your punches and kicks so that it will not hurt your sparring partner. Ninja came about in Japan somewhere during the feudal era where there were endless fightings and killings of between the government and the rebels. To simplify, ninja are highly trainned fighters in the art of stealth. Today, people would see ninjas as assasins. But ninjutsu practitioners would say otherwise. Basically, in the movie, Rain@Raizo was trained to kill. His sole purpose was to obey his master's orders in anyway possible. But somewhere in the story Raizo's subconscious mind (his good side) starts to take over. If it wasn't for the girl whom he came to know at the dojo who taught him about mercy and compassion, which finally got her killed. And Raizo finally founded his humane side and decided to stick with it. The only thing now, is he have to betray his whole clan to protect what he believes is the right thing to do. He ended up being hunt down by his own clan. Basically, his master wants him dead. But he also wanted Raizo to suffer before he dies.

The fighting scene in this movie was cool. But it only had one problem. There are too many special effects. I don't mind the special effects, where they made the ninja like superfast and stuff. But, too much of that will destroy the art of ninjutsu. People will not be able to see the actual technique and style of ninjutsu. All they see was chaotic fighting. A ninja is trained to be calm. Their ability to adapt and manuever in the environment are amazing. This could also be applied in our daily lives. We live now in a world where you are required to be on your feet everytime and are required to make on the spot decisions. I'd say this requires a bit of ninja training. Not to be a killer, but to be a more confident and calm individual who does not act on hastiness. Take your time to think before you do or say something. Becuase it's worth the time insyaAllah.

Teaching is the absolute "coolness"

It didn't cross my mind that one day teaching is something that I would enjoy doing very much. Be it formally or informally. I just loved the idea of imparting and sharing knowledge and information with others. To those who knew me since childhood would somehow cast dispersions on my ability to teach. Not to say that I'm good at it, to be frank, I am terrible at teaching. Most of the people I'd teach would end up more confused or lost. Even though I am a communication student, but still I lack the basic skills that are needed to teach. Very often I stutter when I am standing in front of the class.

I've had experienced tutouring my fellow faculty mates regarding subjects they did not understand. Tutouring was okay for me somehow, just because it was one to one. Yeah, most people wouldn't call that teaching. Hence the term "helping out" a fellow course mate. Despite that, I don't mind. They have their God given rights to their own opinions. I'll take that in a positive way. It's like people's dispersions gave me that needed psychological drive to be better in my teaching.

My first class was actually based in Kampung Sungai Buloh. Well, actually its my cousins place. She turned half of her house into a learning centre for underprivileged kids. In this centre we teach Mathematics and English. Because these are the two basic subjects that students both primary and secondary find it very hard to deal with. At first I was very doubtful of myself. Because I have never teach before. This would be my first time teaching. For the first time, I will not be handling people who are my age. I'll be handling school students. Which I have no experience in handling. I fear that they will get more confused if I have a sudden stuck for words. But my conviction to teach was more stronger than my fear of teaching. Looking at these kids, they remind me of myself when I was schooling. I was having trouble with Mathematics. It was not until quite recently that I have been able to finally grasp the fundamentals of Mathematics. I thought to myself,"O Allah, you have gave me the understanding of this once impossible subject. Now, I figure it is my responsibility to share my knowledge with whomever that seeks my help or assistance.

I was offered to teach Mathematics and English. After a long thought, I've decided to accept the offer. Teaching a whole new crowd was actually very interesting. Through my six months of teaching, I've learned a lot. I was shocked to discover that the immense amount of potential those kids actually have. But sadly, there are nobody there even in their school to guide them through. My class consists of 40 students. The most difficult part in teaching Mathematics to them was to teach them to visualise. In Mathematics your visualisation is very important. The dilemma of most Malay students in understanding any Mathematical concepts is their problem in differentiating from memorisation and understanding. You can memorise all the Mathematical formula all you like. But in the end it's all about application. So its mighty perty important to understand rather than memorise. To master Mathematics all it takes is practice and practice and more practice (insyaAllah).

One more important factor why rural students are more at a disadvantage with Mathematics and English. The first important step is to teach these students to understand and master their own mother tongue. Because, if they understand Malay better, then it'll be no problem for them to tackle any other subject insyaAllah. You see, when you are trying to teach English in Malay, you must first make sure the students are at least above average in mastering their own mother tongue. As this will ensure maximum understanding of that particular subject. I worry for them, when they come to ask me question regarding Mathematics for example. The first thing they seek clarification is to what the questions/instructions wanted them to do. Most of them find it very difficult to comprehend what the questions/instructions wanted. Only a few have some basic idea of what the questions/instructions wanted.

All in all, everything about teaching is very EXHILARATING! Try it for yourselves if you don't believe me. I'll stop my ramblings here. I will write some more insyaAllah but not today.

Assalamualaikum and toodles

Aduhai Asian Politics.......

First and foremost don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to be political here. It's just today... history is repeating itself. Guess what? i've got a 36 for my Asian Politics mid term test. Now, ain't that a refreshing perspective. To tell you the truth, I am clueless when it comes to politics. I cannot understand why politics needs to implemented in our course of study. In Publishing?! At first I thought that it was a far fetched idea teaching politics to publishing students

I've been asking myself for many years what is politics and why do i have to understand it. Forgive me for my rebellious disposition regarding politics. I for once was totally against politics to its violent and constant personal bickering nature. I mean, seriously people! How can you rule a country if you keep digging up the other candidate's personal flaws. I wouldn't vote for a leader or a representative who has a terrible personality such as that. That was the reason why i hated politics so much at first. But the moment I held my mid term paper and analyse the marks given to me by my lecturer and compare my answers with some of the top scorers. Btw congratulations to Yana, Waheeda and Intan Safura for your outstanding performance. Listneing to their answers masyaAllah, I finally understand the reason why i must understand politics. Politics is not just just about ruling the country. It is also about the society within a particular governance. Its the relationship between the government and the people. And we as media practitioners or communicators must be fair and truthful in our conduct.

As a publisher or an editor I am oblige socially to respect the law and at the same time stay truthful to my social obligation. There is so much more to learn about politics. And with that, I conclude my post for the time being. Assalamualaikum and toodles

Being me!

Being me! Is the title of my first autobiography assignment. Simple and straightforward. What I need to do is to publish my own autobiography before my final exam starts. Hmmmm let’s see. I have one, two, three… Exactly WHAT!? FOURTEEN DAYS LEFT TO PUBLISH A BOOK AND I HAVEN’T EVEN STARTED WRITING! Astaghfirullah…calm down… First things first, let’s lists down the assignments I have left:

1. 2 Economics of publishing report
2. 1 Autobiography to publish
3. 2 Voice recording to be done
4. 1 Video recording
5. 1 Presentation on the guidelines of criticizing a talk show

Hmm… hopefully there are no additional assignments insyaAllah. To tell you the truth, the list kinda freaks me out. But, It’s sort of challenging at the same time. At least these assignments are keeping me busy.

Back to Being me!. Since almost everyone of my classmates are going all out at publishing their own version of graphic novels, I’m just gonna go with the conventional one. My focus would be on the content, cover design and trying my best to make the book as ‘user friendly’ as possible. I will use a different approach in writing the content of the book. My writing style is what I came to defined it as creative academics. It’s a fusion of creative writing and academic writing.



My goal is not only to pamper the mind but also to nurture the mind intellectually through my writings. Doing this I am actually going against conventional methods of writing. For that, I am ready to face the consequences. I reckoned that not many would find my idea appealing. But, the truth is, the world of intellectual will never let your mind be constraint by one form of understanding. Your mind must be open to many forms of understanding, only then your mind can grow and see the endless possibilities that it can offer.

Sleep deprivation

As my sleepiness slowly consumes my concious mind, my fingers started to wither...my body is telling me... Sleeeeepppp HAziQ... your body need some rest. for every few second my body tries to shut down. But i tried forcing myself to stay awake. Inhale, exhale, inhale, ex...pffft what's the point? I can't help it. my eyes are already seeing doubles. ..... i......... want to SLEEPPP!!!

A simple truth...

Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica….. sounds kinda cool, does it not? It’s Latin. It stands for the Mathematical Principal of Natural Philosophy. Technically, I have no idea what this book is all about. I’ve heard of it, but haven’t got a chance to read it yet. Well, when Principia Mathematica is concern, all maths geniuses alike would definitely agree that this book is a written work by the famous Isaac Newton (the one who concocted up the law of motion thing)…Uggh, what am I doing!? I don’t know anything there is to know about Newton’s law of motion!…. How many laws are there in Newton’s Law of Motion??? Was it 2, or 3. I’m pretty sure that there are three….(snap) Why am I suppose to know all this?! I’m a communication student for crying out LOUD! What does motion has to do with communication, more specifically, what does MATHEMATICS has to do with communication?! Could you please be so kind as to enlighten ME…!

Have you ever had that feeling? The feeling of not knowing what exactly you are doing. Every second you are haunted by this intense feeling of lashing it out at anybody as to why I am suppose to understand Mathematics when I am just a mass communication student. Is it really that important? During my 3rd semester I was introduced to Statistics. It was a horrendous experience I might add. Learning statistics to me was like doing a complex linear equations with your eyes closed. I was never good at Maths. But, as I progress, I began to understand that it was very important for me to understand Mathematics even though I’m a communication student.

My 20+ years of reading and trying to make sense of the world around me finally got me to grasp the the fundamentals of understanding knowledge(Alhamdulillah). The dilema of today's society is (mostly those who are taught in the time before my time). I have no problem whatsoever with that kind of thinking. You see here, today, Internet has been the gateway not only for communication but for seeking knowledge and information as well. If a person comes to me and says, "You're a communication student, why don't you just stick to your profession. Don't go nosing around in other profession." What did I do wrong? I'm merely answering to what Islam told us to do. Which is to seek knowledge.You see, one of the reasons why Muslim scientists and scholars of the past are well versed in multiple disciplines was that they are trained to use both creative and logic to comprehend a certain discipline of knowledge. Here I’m talking in the context of different fields of study among university students. Don’t you know that each and every field of knowledge are somehow related be it directly or indirectly. Ok. Let’s take mass communication for example. Automatically you will register in that brain of yours that communication students learn everything there is to know about mass communication. Be it publishing, PR, journalism, advertising or broadcasting. These are the five basic majors in mass communication. But the truth is, mass communication is more than just the majors stated above. You can be a doctor and a communicator at the same time... You communicate to the masses regarding public health and how they should prevent themselves from getting sick.You're a COMMUNICATOR, even though your qualification states otherwise.

Now comes the tricky part…heheheh… BRACE YOURSELF!!! You would say that I am not normal, better off just say that I’m crazy for saying this. Would you believe me if I say that mass communication is wedged in the middle between social sciences and the pure sciences (biology, physics, chemistry etc). You don’t believe me do ya? Well, nevermind… What are the fundamentals of a camera or a video cam? How does a camera come into being? Does a camera just magically appeared out of thin air? Most definitely NOT! Cameras have their basics in physics and it has some sort of connection with biology. You don’t believe me? Look up optics and the human eye, how they tend to have similarities in functions.

Basically, cameras are used to take pictures (duhh!). but to grasp the fundamentals in photography you have to first understand the basic elements of a camera. People said to me that, “you don’t need to know all these.”, “what’s the point? It does not make money.”, “it’s a waste of time.” True…it is not obligatory for you to learn all this. But for me, it’s a simple truth that cannot be denied. You can become a great photographer (masyaAllah), but PLEASE, do not deny this fact that every single field of knowledge in this world is somehow interrelated. Plus it adds value to your current skill or it adds up to your understanding of knowledge. InsyaAllah, you don’t have to be a genius to figure this out. Come on peoples...Spend a bit of your time to read and understand knowledge. You will then see that it will open doors to many possibilities(InsyaAllah). I would like to end this post with a quote from Albert Einstein:

“I am not that smart, just passionately curious”

InsyaAllah…

my first posting (Enjoy :D)

first posting ni biaq pi laa tak tau nak tulis pa. yang saya tau minggu ni kerja assignment makin menimbun dan makin tak terkejar. kepenatan sudah minda ni nak fikir untuk setiap assignment nak letak isi ape. Tambahan lagi, tambang bas rapid yang dah naik, HUH! makin depress dibuatnya... tapi nak maki hamun depa ni semua pun tak guna gak. sebab saya memang dah kena guna bas. Lesen memandu dah la takde (tulah, org soh ambik awal-awal tak nak. Kan dah menyusahkan diri sendiri). Inilah monolog harian yang sering mengambil tempat di dalam mindaku. Namun diri yang kerdil ini menyedari bahawa perjalanan menuntut ilmu bukan satu tugasan yang mudah. Bukan namanya menuntut ilmu kalau "jalan pintas" (shortcuts) menjadi panduan kita menuntut ilmu. Sejarah membuktikan bahawa tiada ilmu pengetahuan yang dapat diperolehi dengan cara yang mudah. Tidak ada Imam Bukahri jika dia tidak kembara untuk menuntut ilmu. Tiada Ibnu Abbas jika tidak kerana kesanggupan dia untuk menunggu di depan pintu rumah setiap sahabat walau dalam keadaan panas terik, semata-mata untuk menuntut ilmu. Of course ocassionally, there are those who are blessed with an intelligent mind since childhood. But, the probability of that happening is very rare. So, as a reminder to myself and everyone else in this world, not all of us are born geniuses. We, have to work for it. Intelligence can be trained, InsyaAllah. It is up to ourselves whether we want to make that change or not. Never lose faith in Allah's mercy and compassion. Work hard and pray hard. And never lose sight of your goals...