JK Rowling and lessons from the past

J.K. Rowling, the author and creator of Harry Potter series, gave an inspiring speech at the Harvard graduation in 2008. The one thing that stayed with me upon finishing the video of the address is the under-rated value of failure. As she eloquently says:

Intensity of association and songs from the past.

Great works of popular culture, like great works of literature, represents that generation like a stamp mark that does not fade easily. I am reminded of this fact today as I drive to work and am pleasantly serenaded by a song I use to hold close to my heart.

Innocence and maturity of the child

A friend posted this video on face book today and I am captivated by it. It’s a very good illustration of how knowledge (both language and body language/mannerisms) is transferred from parent to child and how the knowledge is acquired by the child.

What improves with age?

A face book friend of mine recently turned 47 and thanked her facebook friends for the birthday wishes. But she also added that even though the “wisdom of age” is great, it is unfortunate that age comes with other added attachments including aches and pains and hormonal imbalances. To which others added a variety of physical pitfalls of aging including dementia, failing eyesight and hearing. And finally, someone suggested the ultimate statement of all, that actually when we think about it, absolutely nothing improves with age.

Xanadu: Songs and Memories

A friend posted a link on her facebook about a song she remembers from the past and the memories it holds for her. That got me thinking about songs that hold similar memories for me. Most of the songs from the late 70s and early 80s hold a lot of memories for me. They were the songs I heard while having breakfast in the morning at 6.50 or thereabouts before the 7 am news on the then Blue Network (which has since been renamed to Radio Four and now, 90.3 Traxx.Fm.)

Tinkerbell, talent and calling.

I was having this ‘conversation’ with a friend on face book about creativity and children and how formal education may hinder their creative streak, when I remembered one of the movies that my daughter and I love watching – Tinkerbell. The opening scene in the movie shows how Tinkerbell ‘comes to life’ and is given a choice of talents to choose from. She goes for things that fascinate her or that has members who are friendly towards her. But she ends with a talent that chooses her instead. Watch this clip and see what I mean.

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

This is a wonderful talk by Ken Robinson about the value of creativity and education which i wish the policy makers will make time to seriously view and consider. (wishful thinking i know!)
There's pleanty of lovely one liners that gets you thinking about the true value of education where creativity is never given its rightful place under the sun.

A blog space of one's own

We now live in an era in which anyone can be a writer, thanks largely to cyberspace. Long gone are the days in which a woman needs a Room of one's own to freely pen her thoughts down. As Virginia Woolf aptly sums it for the women of her era: "Women, then, have not had a dog's chance of writing poetry. That is why I have laid so much stress on money and a room of one's own."

Muslim Girls and Family Honour

I feel blessed to be a woman and a Muslim, albeit it has not been an easy ride all these years especially in a patriarchal community that neither appreciates nor values the female except as bearers of sons. I have a daughter who I hope feels blessed to be a Muslim and a girl in a household that continues to harness her personality and sense of self within the parameters of the faith. But this article on ‘An American Honor Killing’ reminds me of how fragile that feeling is for so many Muslim girls around the world who continue to live in an environment that considers them little more than a burden to bear till they are married off.

In the spirit of Ramadan

Tomorrow is 1st of Sha'ban, which means ramadam is a month away.
Here's a reminder to all muslims. I apologise that the article is in Malay.

In a nutshell the article narrates an event during the times of Rasullah (peace and blessings be upon him) where the Angel Jibrail came to visit the prophet on the eve of Eid and made a doa to which the prophet said amin 3 times. The first doa says no muslim will gain barakah from Ramadan if he has wronged his parents and they have not forgiven him. Second doa says no muslim shall gain barakah of fasting in Ramadan if there is misunderstanding between husband and wife and they've not forgiven one another. And the third doa says no muslim will gain barakah of ramadan if there are misunderstandings between him and his relative or neighbours and they each have not forgiven one another.

Fiction and life: points of convergence and divergence

I want to respond to a blog post I read today by the literary agent Nathan Bransford entitled ‘undercooking a novel’ who comments about how a writer’s task is not to represent life “as its actually happen” for as he assert “we have, well, real life for that”. Instead Bransford’s stand is that a writer’s task is to “elevate life and add spices and all the rest. Writers interpret real life, elevate it, reorder events, and serve up something perfectly balanced and ready for public consumption."

The rapper and the muslim: contradiction?

I caught this short video clip on youtube showing a muslimah, Miss Undastood rapping thoughts about her life. She has just released her latest album 'Hijabi Hip Hop 2010'.

First thing i did was to read the comments left by viewers. You can tell a lot from these thoughts about the state of public sentiments of any given issue posted. And this one is no different. Suffice to say most people who logged in to watch the video are Muslim fans, with comments like

Appreciating the “Hard Headed Woman” by Cat Stevens.

The first time I heard that song many many moons ago, I just took a pause and breathed out a sigh. How wonderful it is to hear a song about male persona pining for a “hard headed woman”. Most songs describe women in a nutshell – beautiful but difficult, seductive and dangerous, or desirable but taken. But this one by Cats Stevens (Yusuf Islam) describes how I would like to be appreciated.

What I like about FB?

I’ve been a FB user for nearly 9 months now and I have 97 friends to date (which actually pales in comparison to my friends’ lists which mounts to the hundreds; beside the point.)

But as I go on FB this morning (before office starts of course, and while having my packed breakfast), it occurs to me what I find fascinating about this social networking site. At one sitting I end up having a mini-conversation with all of my friends who have posted something interesting recently. The lists of running thoughts are endless:

Statement of Petition.

This is the statement i placed on the Perdana Global Peace website to stop Tony Blair from being welcomed into the country:

Malaysian should begin to take a stronger stand against the atrocities happening in the world. It is the only way for us to be true global players. Tony Blair, like his big brother GW Bush, will go down in history as a public figure who played a major role in the atrocities taking place in the world this century. Our children and children’s children will read about them in their history books and question how their forefathers allowed such a criminal a state welcome despite their know atrocities. We also want the Malaysian children, now and in future, to be proud of the role we, Malaysians played, albeit in an indirect manner to curb the respect and accolade showed onto these criminals who still have the blood of innocent Iraqi civilians on their hands. Do not allow Tony Blair to enter the country as a former statesman. Our great grand children will scorn and mock us for our lack of courage and dignity to do the right thing when we had the chance. This is the legacy that we will leave behind, lest we forget.

For those interested to sign the petition, see the following link.

Michael Jackson and My Epiphany: Part 1

I had an epiphany watching the videos ‘Ghost’ and “2 bad” by Michael Jackson:

I love how MJ took the 'man in the mirror' motif and extended it here by playing the antagonist (the White man who is chasing him out) and the protagonist (himself). It’s like the other without (i.e. those who are victimizing and ridiculing him) is at times within him too. He watches himself and sings the words as if he is being critical over another, yet all the time, the other is in fact him in disguise.
It takes courage to be able to admit that at times I am my own ‘nightmare’. I am the one who at times sabotages the good that is going in my life by not giving more of me to the life that I have been given.

Most times, we are our own 'nightmare' and if we can see that, then we can start to live with the craziness that is outside of us.

If this doesn’t make sense it’s ok; it’s a great song and a wonderfully crafted music video, especially the long version which to date stands as the longest music video 41 minutes (which looks more like a short film) .

Allah: What's in a name?

How does God which is referred to by Christians to mean the Father, the son and the holy spirit, i.e. the trinity akin to the God which the Holy Quran names overtly, al-ahad, the One and Only, the Eternal, the Absolute, who begets not nor is It begotten? (See the Holy Quran Surah 112). The Malay word for God is NOT ALLAH. Why is the word Tuhan not sufficient to describe the Creator? Where in the Bible was ALLAH ever used? These are fundamental questions that need to guide our inter-religious discussion on this matter of the use of the proper name Allah if we are to solve this fundamental religious issue.

Just because something has been going on for decades and beyond does not justify it to be correct. Perhaps sheer ignorance of the matter has allowed it to be used thus far. That does not mean that with knowledge the current generation continues to act jahil. God can defend itself sufficiently; The Almighty does not need anyone to defend Its majesty and rightful ownership of life. What the believers in Allah need to do is not to commit shirik, which is the worse act of defilement of Faith a believer can commit in which al-ahad, Allah, is allowed to be associated with any other entity.

This is what Muslims are affected by, which unfortunately is not understood by the non-Muslims. For to them, perhaps, God can beget a son and descend upon the earth and live among mortals, only to die on the cross. But the minute a Muslim allows this belief to be associated with Allah subhanawataalla, we have just relinquished our Faith. As Allah says in Its own words: “Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with It; but It forgives anything else, to whom It pleases; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin most heinous indeed” (Surah 4: 48).

In matters of faith, I believe, one cannot conform to the politics of multireligiousity at every juncture. This is not to say one should not allow for freedom of religion in a multicultural, multireligious nation such as Malaysia. In fact the opposite is true in Islam where as stated by Allah in Its own words in the Holy Quran, we are to accept the faith of the other as their chosen path as they are to accept our faith as our chosen path (See surah 109, Holy Quran). This is also not to say that Allah is a word sacred to only the Muslims. For as Allah says in the Holy Quran anyone who believes in the Almighty is a believer. Thus Allah can and should be used by any human on this earth for as long as it means the One and Only, al-ahad, with no association to any other entity. Until then, my suggestion is for us to use general nouns like God or Lord in English and Tuhan in Malay. In this case, the answer to the age old question, ‘what’s in a name’, would be everything.

Salam.