Saturday, September 26, 2009

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…

Friday, September 4, 2009

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...