Sofeah is Cute and Faridatul is My Wife

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything about my daughter. She is now a very cute and adorable girl. She was cute before, but now, she’s way cuter.

This is simply because she is now able to respond. She is now able to play and is able to focus on her surroundings. She lights up the whole house with her smile. Her smile is just great.

Now she can giggle and knows how to attract our attention. If we let her be for a few minutes, she will be calling us with a grunt. Sometimes when we eat, we let her accompany us at the side (laying in her bassinet), after awhile she will voice out a long sigh - bored because we’re not entertaining her.

Sometimes that’s all she wants us to do, entertain her. She’ll force herself to be awake because she wants to play.

Also when she wants to play and we do not do just that, she will start to be in a certain mood. She will moan until we do actually play with her or pick her up. And we do pick her up she will sulk and not look at us. Even if we turn her head towards us her eyes would roll and look elsewhere. How cute is that?

Good thing she sleeps soundly at night though. So far waking up early morning is not in our daily schedule. She will sleep latest by 12 (rarely happens) and wake up earliest at 5. It’s good that she heeds to our training because it would be troublesome if she wakes up early morning and the next day both of us need to go to work.

Sofeah has been a really good girl. So far she will only cry if we leave her alone for too long a time or if she’s hungry. Apart from that she will remain a good girl, squirming at times but not crying excessively.

She also adapts well. Before, she would scream on top of her lung if we sit her in her car seat or on her bouncer, but now she accepts it with little protest. If we let her be in the living room, we will turn on Playhouse Disney to keep her company - and she will actually watch quietly and at times excitedly (her eyes can’t really see clearly yet and will supposedly only see colors when she reaches the 4^th month, but she can now respond to sounds and not see in double vision)

One cheeky trait of hers has got to be her persistent leg kicking and climbing. It’s not troubling for us, but it is for her. If we lay her in the middle of the bed, she will kick her way up to the point that her head touches the pillows at the headboard - in which time she will cry because she is stuck.

We also have reasons to believe that it won’t be long until she rolls over. She has been kicking herself up and lifting her body sideways these past few weeks - but just barely turning herself over.

Best of all is the fact that she is really close to her mother. Just seeing the mother makes her smile. At night when she cannot sleep, her mother just needs to hug her close to her chest and she’ll sleep soundly. She also responses to her mother’s voice - sometimes it seems like she’s trying to say something back.

Just now I had my longest conversation with her thus far. I accidentally clipped her ears (not much just a pinch) and she wanted to cry. But she didn't. Instead she smiled and talked (gugu gaga) to me. That's her funniest and cutest moment for me. When I asked her "did it hurt?", she actually answered "enggak", which me and my wife wittingly translate as "nope". We also have reasons to believe that she will speak Indonesian as a third language. Hee.

Nur Alya Sofeah, stay as nice and cute forever and I’ll support your higher education. Haha kidding! I’ll support you if that’s what you want and if I am able too. Love you!

We Are 1 Year Old!

Happy anniversary to me and my wife. Our marriage is 1 year old today. Hooray!

Throughout this 1 year it has been nothing but exciting and wonderful. Here's hoping that the years ahead would be just as blessed and tremendous as it is now.

This entry would not be long for the simple fact that I've documented most of the events that happened during this past 1 year and therefore no use describing the same emotions, events and happenings again right?

Probably just the highlights...here goes:

- Moved in to my in-laws'

- Finished my degree and then looked for work (found out that the wifey is a prego)

- Got work and moved in to my mum's

- Baby's first whatevers in the tummy (burp, fart, wiggle, punch, etc.)

- Looked for an apartment and rented our current home

- Moved in to our home with nothing but a fridge and a mattress (and this computer)

- Started filling the house with stuffs...slowly but satisfyingly

- Threw a house warming cum raya celebration open house which most of our friends attended and we were very happy about that

- Sofeah was born and very happy about that too

- Sofeah got mild jaundice and very worried about that

- Me and wife celebrated my birthday at home with Sofeah (for the first time!)

- Very happy with how the one year has turned out...been absolutely blessed

Happy :)

Saya, Dr. Love

I’ve recently witnessed something that made me think? Apakah cinta dan bagaimana seseorang itu mengetahui samada dia sedang dilamun cinta atau ia hanyalah permainan perasaan.

Saya tidak takan tackle persoalan ini based on my analysis only, tapi saya akan relate sedikit sebanyak dengan pengalaman sendiri.

The thing is, baru-baru ini saya perhatikan salah seorang rakan lama saya bercinta. Memang, pada pendapat saya, ini adalah cinta pertamanya. He is not the same person as he was before (which is shy and just an alpha male sort of guy - but shy). Ini bukanlah sesuatu yang tidak baik untuk dirinya - sometimes people need to overcome their ego, in fact most of the time people need to do that!

Bagaimanapun, as is anyone who wants to commit to something, perasaan tidak yakin (syubhah) itu sentiasa berlegar dalam dirinya. Adakah dia ni the right one? Adakah ini cinta hati saya? Bolehkah saya dapat yang lebih baik? Adakah rugi jikalau saya lepaskan dia? Pada pendapat saya dia ni 50-50, macam tu dah cukup baik ke? Questions that can never be answered.

So let me relate to my own past... *Play in your mind the typical reminiscing sound*

Saya dan isteri saya telah berkenalan selama lebih kurang 3 tahun. Kami telah berkahwin selama 1 tahun (29.12.07 - yeah anniversary!!) dan sebelum itu pernah ”berpacaran” selama lebih kurang setahun lebih sikit.

Waktu kami berjumpa, isteri saya merupakan ”milik orang” dan dia kelihatan ”ok”. Tapi what can you do when you want someone kan ? Tidak lama kemudian saya dapat tahu dia tidaklah sebahagia yang disangkakan dan saya offer diri saya untuk membahagiakan dia - which turns out great.

So anyway, walaupun kami merasakan cinta kami tulus, ikhlas, setia and what not, still the relationship went like a rollercoaster. Kejap kat atas, kejap kat bawah.. Kadang-kadang mabuk, kadang-kadang sakit, kadang-kadang bosan, kadang-kadang gembira sangat-sangat. Biasalah kan? Naik rollercoaster pun macam tu.

Isu yang sentiasa menjadi penghalang kepada ultimate happiness waktu kami dating dulu ialah, kepercayaan dan karakter. Saya macam ni, dia macam tu. Dia ni tak yakin saya ni pula tak kisah. Lepas to top it all of, komunikasi kami hanyalah terhad kepada ”I Love you” dan “buat apa tu?”.

Adakala kami akan bercakap tentang masa depan, expectations, and everything else. Tapi masih, pada pendapat saya, kurang berkomunikasi secara mendalam tentang apa yang kita mahukan dan penerimaan kita terhadap karakter masing-masing. Bagi saya ini penting kerana jika dibiarkan, sampai satu tahap kita akan jemu atau berasa jengkel.

Tetapi yang paling penting ialah kepercayaan. In fact, waktu kami mula bercouple dulu memang isu paling serius yang boleh dikatakan menjadi penyebab kepada constant argument ialah ’trust’.

Waktu kami dating dulu kami berdua belum betul kenal diri masing-masing. So akibat saling tidak mengenali ini, kami sentiasa syakwahsangka dan berasa tidak senang hati. Dia ada kawan lelakinya dan saya ada kawan perempuan saya. Normal isn’t it?

But I had one friend whom she had always been jealous of (people who knows me well knows who this girl is). I know this and I didn’t care (at that time).. Bukanlah saya tidak kisah langsung, pada mulanya memanglah saya kisah juga. But even with the most outstanding assurance pun dia masih ragu-ragu, saya pun concede to my rebellious side.

Sampai satu tahap, saya kata saya sudah tidak larat dan saya pun minta clash. That, people, is both the most stupidest and the most intelligent decision I’ve ever made.

Stupid why? Because not only did I convinced this girl to leave another man for me - which was a rollercoaster ride of its own, emotionally and physically - but also because I deep down knew, dia ni lah gadis yang I want to spend the rest of my life with tetapi disebabkan perasaan ragu-ragu yang hanya wujud kerana ego saya sendiri saya lepaskan dia.

Intelligent because, ia mengubah diri saya dan juga diri dia. Kami somehow jadi lebih matang mentally dan juga memberi kesedaran tentang apa yang kami lepaskan, iaitu cinta. Well at least itu yang saya fikirkan. Bukanlah kami tidak berpeluang bertemu dengan orang lain, (because trust me, we were in the hunt and we both almost got something out of it - and almost miss out on each other for eternity) tapi takdir dah ditentukan, Alhamdulillah.

So my point is, walaupun cinta macam pasti dan cinta tu jelas, tidak semestinya ia tidak akan menyebabkan sebarang percanggahan pendapat antara dua pasangan dan tidak akan menyebabkan pertalian itu tegang. Cinta bukan perfect. Tetapi pada masa yang sama, tidak semestinya kerana adanya ketegangan itu maka itu bukanlah cinta. Again, cinta bukan perfect.

So apa yang pasti, ego tu mestilah dihadkan dan sebarang permasalahan mestilah diselesaikan dengan berkomunikasi. Sebab dengan hanya membiarkan ia, i.e. malas nak layan, taknak jawap SMS, taknak jawap panggilan semua tu memang tidak akan menyelesaikan apa-apa.

Pada setiap masa kita malas nak layan, kita merugikan masa kita mengenali diri masing-masing. Ia juga merugikan masa kita untuk menentukan perasaan kita sendiri, samada hendak meneruskan hubungan ini atau tidak. Apa gunanya kita merugikan masa kita untuk menentukan perasaan sendiri apabila akhirnya kita decide untuk tidak meneruskan hubungan tersebut?

Spend as much time as you can muster learning about each other or better yet just marry and spend your time learning about each other then. Itu bagi saya, adalah cara yang terbaik. Perkahwinan memang akan mengubah segalanya, and trust me, it’s way better.

Tolak ego, tolak cacat cela, tolak perasaan ragu yang disebabkan perkara remeh dan fikirlah, adakah cinta ini boleh kekal? If it an instant, yes, then just marry. Kahwin ni elok sebab kita tidak akan berasa serba salah dengan Allah (which is the main reason why we start to have doubts) and also, kita akan lebih rapat dan sebarang masalah mesti diselsaikan tanpa boleh didolak dalih.

*Ini sebenarnya a form of advise tapi tidak mahu ‘directly’ advise the intended subject. Harap faham.

Grand Dinner, and Then Some

Last Friday night 3 important things happened; first of all, it was the first time me and my wife went out without bringing Sofeah (we left her with my mom), secondly me and my wife got to eat Arabian food (I mean like real Arabian food) and lastly I saw what the real world is really like (having been cooped up in UIA for years).

The 'leaving Sofeah at home without us part' went great. She drank 2 bottles of milk, she slept and also played with my mum. My wife is very happy that went well because in less than 2 weeks time, she has to go back to work (with a heavy heart I'm sure) and leave Sofeah in the care of my mum. She has to learn to drink breastmilk from a bottle and do all those baby stuff without her mum.

Arabian food is sour. Well not he food, the dips are. I think we had like 7 different dips that night and most of them are sour. Why did we eat Arabian food? Because last Friday night, the organization I work with had their Annual Grand Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental and the theme was "Arabian Night".

Surprisingly, me and my wife enjoyed the food. It was a 3 course meal and for the first course they provided us with different kinds of bread and a variety of dips. My wife really enjoyed the first course. The main course that night was rice (briyanni I think but I'm not sure) and kebabs. That was ok. For desert, pudding with grounded nuts. All in all, 7 out of 10.

Also that night, my eyes opened up to the real world. It's not that I don't know what the real world is actually like. But having lived in UIA for years and having my mind and sight protected from a lot of distasteful deeds, my droopy eyes opened up wide yet again.

Believe me, I was not prepared for what I saw that night and my wife was also in similar a state of unpreparedness.

Back when I was a child, my dad used to bring me to one of these events and during that time also I was exposed to these things. However, I was too little to appreciate any of it and the worst I saw was celebrities in skimpy dresses singing on stage (that I can watch on the Tele right?). But I also remembered watching a burlesque show (not all out) when I went on a holiday in Australia, but those are of white people, so that was different.

Back to Friday night, when the room to the grand ballroom was finally opened that night, we were welcomed by belly dancers shaking their hips to loud music on a platform staged all across the room. It was like entering a strip club (which my only experience is seeing it on TV).

Then these belly dancers started dancing all over the place. They circled every table and moved their hips to ogling eyes of the male patrons (well not patrons we were there for the Grand Dinner and not all were ogling I'm sure).

Being in that situation, I didn't know what to do. It was so weird. I'm sure some people consider it as something normal and all, but seriously, I miss the time when I was cooped up in an Islamic environment - belly dancers just doesn't bode well with me especially since my wife is right next to me!

But the platform dancing didn't last through out the night. It was just the night's opening show. Then we were treated to a less sultry but still distasteful shows - especially because the performers are my colleagues!

They have this competition for best performance and the participants are the organization's fellow employees. I think the winning group gets something like a thousand ringgit. There were 5 performance that night (3 for the competition and the 2 others were for show I guess). During all of the performances, I can see my friends on the same table looking at each other feeling awkward and unsettled.

The thing is, next monday we will be seeing those belly dancing, bootie shaking, breasts bouncing performers and are they expecting us to watch them in the same light again? They went from polished sophisticated executives to...I don't what to call them that night.

I can see the older experienced people looking at things rather normally and appreciating the fact that those performers have got talent. The Chairmen actually said that she didn't know they had it in them and was pleased with how the night went. Some of the more conservatives were probably not looking at the stage for the whole night (except for a lame magic show which was totally lame!)

Well that is life I guess.

However, on lighter note, I did win something that night from the lucky draw. That part was pleasing to me (but the grand prize was a home theatre and there were also holiday prizes and a Samsung handphone which I missed out - I got a slow cooker...at least I won something right? Hmm...)

I Want Me My Music

One thing I really miss right now is my passion for music.

It’s not that I don’t love music anymore, it’s just that I find myself less enthusiastic about finding the newest up and coming bands, buying CDs from my favorite music store and also updating myself on the latest news of my top 5 favorite bands (in fact I don’t do any of these things anymore).

A year ago I would have been standing in front of the CD stack in Music Centre Atria Damansara checking out new CDs to add to my collection. The raw sounding of The Script’s music would have attracted me no doubt and I would have downloaded the new Phantom Planet album - or even order it through the net if I have the money to buy.

Now I’m too lazy to do any of those mentioned above, and more.

I guess my enthusiasm stems from having nothing do back then and also having no responsibility and I had too much time to spend - now I have a family.

Though I do believe that having a family should not have stopped me from continuing my love for music, it just so happen, my enthusiasm now lies with creating a sound atmosphere for me and my wife. Music takes too much of my time and money which I can’t possibly share with my wife.

What saddens me though is that I listen to a lot of radios nowadays and having to listen to the same music again and again makes me miss my old passion for music.

During my university days (which was when I started crazing for alternative music) I would spend hundreds per month for CDs. I would spend hours per day just listening to music, singing along like crazy in my room (which I do not know to what extent would annoy my roommates) and exploring and searching for new bands to admire (and sometimes regret).

The last album I downloaded was Bloc Party’s (woohooo!) and also Interpol’s (weeehuuu!). Other than that I’ve lost touch. Sadder, is the fact that I have not listened those albums thoroughly yet. I can’t even name the 2 albums’ titles! Waaaaaa!

Here’s a little known fact about my passion for music. I’ve been listening to music since primary school. I remember liking Greenday and also The Offsprings (but regrettably I also had a slight fondness for 911 and ehem…BSB - very slight!! My God! So slight! If you blinked you’d miss it!) Ehem…moving on.

Then my dad also exposed me to some old school rock like Deep Purple, Eagles, The Beatles, White Snake, Scorpions, and some other bands also. He also liked Mariah Carey which I was also influenced (I can sing along to most of Mariah Carey’s hit songs…haha).

But my real passion for music started when I was 18, with a little band called….wait for it…believe it or not…here goes…All American Rejects! Haha. Not an influential band nor are they revolutionary, they are just a fun band to listen to at that time. We were flanked with a lot of Linkin Park, Korn, Limp Bizkit and the likes of Simple Plan and Good Charlotte for lighter sounds, so AAR is kind of a breath of fresh air (now there are tons of similar sounding American trad brick bands).

Well from then on I really like music. I've moved on to more alternative sounds like The Strokes and The Hives and explored those areas. So my interest varies from classic epic rock band like Led Zeppelin to modern epic rockers like Mars Volta and Sigur Ros. I am very fond of old classic rock and rollers like Buddy Holly, Elvis and Chuck Berry to new rockers like Interpol and The White Stripes. Also some smooth sounding Corrine Bailey Rae, Lene Marlin and James Morrison is good as well.

But that has all past and now I can only look forward to hearing some Rihanna and David Archiletta in the morning whilst I drive to work. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy some of the music I hear in the morning (I think Flo Rida is quite a good rapper and anything from Chris Brown is good to sing along).

Well, I leave you with my 5 favorite bands which I recommend:

1) Bloc Party

2) Interpol

3) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

4) The Strokes

5) Arctic Monkeys

(Guns n' Roses, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Oasis and the likes are known to be great! No need to mention)

Happy Birthday To Me...

Yes I'm 23 years of age today and I don't think I look a year older than I was in 2007. But a lot has changed apart from that.

A year ago my status was still 'in a relationship' and not yet 'married'. A year ago I was still attending classes and did not have any income. A year ago I was staying with my mum and was lazing around most of the time. A year ago, I cannot even imagine having a child of my own, a child now named Sofeah.

I remember at about this time last year I just told my friends that I'm getting married and the shock on their faces were priceless. Mujahid and Zarep were talking about marriage and their 'plans' on their future and I suddenly bud in to say "by the way, I'm getting married on the 29th". They stopped their conversation right away and barraged me with endless queries - funny.

At the age of 23, married to a lovely lady and being a father are probably 2 of the best gifts I could ever ask for. I am thankful for the sheer loyalty and trust my wife has given me this past year (the 29th is our anniversary) and the effort she has put in, in order to make this marriage a blissful one for me thus far.

Sofeah is the best thing that has ever happened to me this past 23 years. I've had quite a hard time since getting married from being unemployed, a parasite of so many homes, having to deal with the wife's pregnancy and having nothing at all; Sofeah however has really shed light on all these hurdles and brought about the most invaluable reward a man could ever ask for in this world.

My colleague asked me this morning, how does it feel like being 23 (relatively young) and already a father. I had no answer for it. All I could say is, I feel alright. But now that I had time to think, the most appropriate answer for me would be: Sofeah makes me feel 12 and at the same time she makes me feel 50. With her I am both the youngest and the oldest at heart. She makes me feel special in a way that I am both matured and child-like. That's what makes her special for me regardless of my age.

Therefore, after 23 years living in this unpredictable world, I look forward to another 50 years (If Allah permits) of joy and happiness shrouded with unpredictability together with Faridatul Bariza and Sofeah and hopefully Sofeah's little brothers and sisters to come. Insya'Allah.

My Lovely Family...Love you all!

When I Grow Up I Want To Be...

Today the family went to Midvalley to buy some stuffs for the baby. We bought a blanky, towel and some small but necessary stuff. It was good fun. I had to carry Sofeah using a carrier, one of those hugger thing that compels the baby to hug you. That thing is quite comfortable, but, after some time I kind of feel a back pain.

This was taken on 30/11/08. Later you'll see the picture of her bald and chubbier

We walked for almost 3 hours around the mall and of course the back pain got worse. Which got me to do some thinking, how old am I? I felt old. Joe got it right, "kecik-kecik dah ada osteoporosis". It's not that I got it, it's just something which led me to think along that line. Huu~

Then at night I watched Camp Rock with my wife (since there's nothing on TV), and that got me to do some thinking as well. Rock, music, performing - something which I had passion for. Not performing as in musical theatre or anything, just plain rock band kind of performance.

See, since I was little I had a dream of becoming so many things and these dreams continues to vary itself even till now. I remember answering the age old question "what do you want to be when you grow up?", at the tender age of 9 and answering, "a lawyer". Back then I didn't know squat about being a lawyer or what it actually is, it's just something I hear a lot perhaps.

That dream didn't last long of course. I remember also wanting to be an entrepreneur, a shoe designer to be more specific. Don't know why, I don't really care or even like shoes. But at that time I remember shoes being the big thing (I don't know if that is still the case).

Later on there's also that dream of becoming a comic artist. I can draw a bit, but very lousy compared to those professionals. In fact crappy if you want to set a standard in my family. My brother is an accompalished comic artist and my dad used to publish the first superhero comic in Malaysia, Supermat (at least, I think it's the first - well that project didn't last long).

Then came high school and that period was a confusing one. I really don't think I knew what I wanted to be. At one point I did think of becoming a religious teacher. But that didn't work out either. Yeah, high school was a lost cause for me. I blame the education system.

At the end of high school I had a choice, but since our education system has set a certain standard upon what we can and cannot be based on our performance, I didn't have that much of a choice.

Wanted to do economics but I didn't do so well. Wanted to do a degree in Arab language but I was too afraid. Then I focussed on three options; english, law or becoming a teacher. My passion lies with the first option, but my greedy nature went with the second - the third was just a safety net.

So that got me on track to my first ever "dream" which is becoming a lawyer. But, I never really wanted to follow through with it anyway. I know I will not end up a lawyer, nor will I ever enjoy studying law. Just went with the flow.

Funny enough, on course to becoming a law related professional, I had other dreams as well. Sad but true - sad because I'm old enough to know what I want, but still dream of what I know I won't get to be. I remember wanting to become a chef. I had passion for cooking, but no real skills.

Here's the kicker though, I picked up on learning the guitar and wanted to become a musician. I was crazy about music. I love rock. People would say that I don't have the mainstream ears, but that's just because we're living in a country that doesn't really expose us to more music. So anyway, I learned music pretty well (I also enrolled in organ classes when I was in primary school), so I wanted to do that as a living.

However, I know I won't get the chance at all. I wrote some songs, created some of my own brand of music and also recorded a few things (sad quality by the way) but I never had the resources. I never had the money to pursue it, not even to buy a decent guitar (mine was the cheap kind) or to buy a good set of microphone and recording stuffs to record my music. So I lost any hopes for it and decided to be logical and abandon it all together.

My only performance on stage with at least a hundred people in the crowd. I totally sucked that night

Plus, knowing the talents that are out there really put me off. It's not that I don't want to fight for my place on the big stage, but ekh, why bother?

But I must say, I've performed a few times in my university days and I kind of like the feel of it. Maybe one day I'll just do it for fun.

So now, I'm nowhere close to being any of the people I've just stated earlier and I still do not know what I want to be. Politician is an enticing option, but the thought of getting roped in into our political landscape have somewhat got me to think more than twice. I guess doing what I do now is okay. It's not the 'wake up every morning can't wait to go to work' kind of thing, but at least I provide food on the table everyday and a roof on top of my family's head right?

I guess after a certain point in life, you don't do what you want to do but do what you have to do. I applaud and am quite envious of those people who gets to do what they want to do. I know those who have become lecturers who just love teaching, or the lawyers who are happy to be knee deep in documents and papers and also those bankers who are just crazy about saving other people's money and keeping some for themselves as well.

I kind of feel that my passion lies either in writing or teaching. Writing is something that soothes me and I'm totally crazy about, but teaching is something noble and ultimately, that's what I want to be as a person.

I guess, my time will come. Just have to wait and see. But hey, even if I don't get to be something that I'm totally passionate about, if I can make money of what I don't really want to be then that's a win-win situation right? Hmmm...

Owh, the back pain is gone by the way. Sofeah has really grown these past few weeks, she's heavy. So cute now. Hope she can avoid going through what I'm growing through right, not knowing what I want to be. When she grows up, she can be whatever she wants to be (provided it is Syari'ah compliant). Hopefully I'm able to let that happen without intervening too much.

Sofeah puked on herself and well I decided to take a picture. See how she's grown?

Rumorists

Some say 99% of rumors in Malaysia turns out to be facts. Is that true? No doubt rumors have been a constant torn in today’s highly developed and yet narrow minded world. As a result of globalization and the perversion of privacy in every corner of the globe to every being of that same globe, the world all and all would one way or another be affected by - rumors.

The global economic crisis is testament to this. One of the big firms, Morgan-Stanley, stocks for this firm fell sharply due to rumors, started out by those who stand to gain from the loss of this big firm. The price of oil shot up during the June-July period because or rumors that oil would be scarce in several years time. Therefore, rumors are that dangerous.

Skip ahead to my point, rumors that are in those grand scales are worrying but it does not affect us directly. Sure we could lose our ability to provide sufficient food on the table in a couple of year’s time because of these global rumors, but I say, let the future us worry about that.

Unlike rumors spread concerning our private lives though. Don’t be a fool into thinking that since you’ve been extra nice to everyone it is impossible that anyone would ever create lies or misconstrue the truth about your life - that’s just childish.

Rasulullah s.a.w has already warned us about rumors, and we the people as usual, ignore such warnings (as we ignore several other warnings by him). Male, female and whoever you are of whatever gender you may be, cannot run away from rumors - creating one, joining one, being a victim of one or even over hearing one and reinvent your own version of those miscomprehended realities.

Sure probably half of the rumors you hear are true, but does the subject of that rumor really wants you to know the truth without him being consulted first? Is spreading news about one person without prior knowledge of the aforementioned person desirable?

At my age, the most constant rumor that swirls around is regarding one’s love life. This guy is with this girl, this guy likes this girl, this guy doesn’t like this girl but cannot turn himself away from her, etc. Fortunately this type of rumor does not affect your livelihood but does that little fact give you a huge relief? It probably does not.

Being a married man, I’m not worried about rumors that surround me - I doubt people talk about me that way anymore, anyway. However, I did hear some distasteful stuff about me before, in my university days. I don’t really mind because I never really found out the details. It’s not that I don’t want to - it just never reaches my ears.

I kind of like rumors about me. It shows that I’m thought of by others. Be it good or bad I don’t really mind. Good rumors are definitely welcomed. Bad rumors are slowly swept away under an already bulging rug. But as people continue to talk about me, at least my lone-ranger, island man, self-sufficient-self-made-man image I was trying to portray does not just leave a dumbass that people do not care about. I’m not ‘that guy who just passed by’.

Having said that, I don’t want rumors about me to destroy my reputation if it’s left untouched, i.e. not fixed, either. I’m not condoning rumors, I just think; it’s nice that people talk about me.

I worry for my friends though, in particular, one spectacle eyed boy.

Rumors are swirling and spreading like wild bonfires ready to engulf the surrounding boy scouts. He doesn’t mind, so that’s good. But he does worry about one thing, that it will ruin his relationship.

Now the question is this, why would he be worried if it’s not something that he wants?

I understand him thoroughly and I seriously do not condone rumors. It is one of the many things I hate, including among others, chewing with you mouth open (and creating those annoying nyap-nyap sound), disrespecting the elders, loud talkers who screams on top of their lungs to people mere inches away and lousy drivers who thinks signaling is lame and just so uncool.

Taking this to the blog is way out of hand so no more touching on this issue. I don’t want people to start spreading rumors about pink ponies, doctors or marriages now do I?

Sofeah Is So Cute!

Sofeah's bald now! Hee...

Read more about it in her memoir http://sofeahsmemoir.blogspot.com/

So cute :)

That's all for this entry. Haha.