Comparatively Successful

Salam and hi guys!

It is currently raining heavily at where I'm at right now, and there's something that I want to share about, which has been hovering inside my mind for a few days now. Well, more like a week.

So about few months ago, we were 'viralled' with news of a UUM graduate graduating with  3.99  and hence awarded with Anugerah Pelajaran Diraja (Royal Education Award?). Not only that, the course that she was majoring was pretty new at the time, Bachelor of Law, Philosophy, and Business, and from I've read, this course is pretty difficult, I mean combining law, philosophy, and business? Whose idea is that?

Well it's not just her. My fellow highschool mate was also awarded with the same award, and she also got straight A+ for her SPM. And also all other successful, genius, and amazing stories which always got me thinking, why can't I do that?

Why I can't be like them? Why am I not as excellent in my academic or any other area that I can be heavily proud of?

Once back in school, my senior teacher assistant told us during the assembly the story of the youngest writer in Malaysia that debuted her novel in her teen. My thought back then was, why was it wasn't me? I mean I write stories too, I even write Malay poetry back in school. Why I didn't get any of my work published and have something that I can tell? Something that add value to my self worth?

I don't know if it's just me or there are other people who compares themselves with other people's achievements. Like why can't I be the one?

Until one day my economics lecturer said, rephrased, it is normal for students to fail, or to not get what they want or to achieve their target, you may target A+ for this subject but you might end up with a B instead. These things are normal. It is the hardship of a student that you will have to face.

What she said, has hit me in a way.

She made me realised that, I deserve everything that I have received. And in another thought, I also realised that everyone has different capabilities; different speed at learning, different method of studying, different mental capabilities, everyone is just different. And my difference is what God has given me. The UUM graduate's exceptional academic excellence is what God has given her through her mental capability.

I just have to be grateful with what I have, and acknowledge what is it about me that makes me different from everyone else. I need to believe that I am outstanding in a way, and continuously work to that. Improve and work at my own pace, as long as I'm improving, I am doing it right.

It is unhealthy to comparing ourselves success' and others' success. Everyone leads different life, with different background, different mentality, different support system, and so much more. Although that comparative thought often occur to me unconsciously, as soon as I'm putting down myself in that comparative thought, I need to take a break and count my blessings and be grateful.

I need to teach myself that instead of being negative and comparing my success and others' successes, I should be happy for them, learn from them, and be grateful instead. This way I can lead a happier life while improving it along the way.

I've seen that people on Twitter are quoting the tweet that asks 'what's your toxic trait?' and directly answer the question. I don't like the way people are anwering the question, but here I'm gonna put my answer and it is to constantly comparing myself with people that are known for their early successes, and now I'm going to train myself to not do so anymore, and be happier for people and myself instead.

It is time to really lead a positive life, and rocketing to infinity.

Twitter nation and kindness

Salam 'alayk and hi guys!

I'm sure almost everyone that's tech-savvy has a Twitter account, right? So today, I want to share my concern about what's been going on on Twitter these days, or more like these few years and this thing has been frustrating my brain and my heart and it feels it needed to be let out!

So hear my thought.

All of us, generally since little we have been taught to be kind to people. At home our parents keep telling us to be kind to our siblings and share our toys, or be kind to people and always say thank you and sorry when it's due. At school we were indoctrinated to be kind to people in general, to respect the elderly, to say good morning or say our salaam to the teachers, to be nice to the young and with our peers. What more in Malaysia we have Pendidikan Islam, Pendidikin Sivik, and Pendidikan Moral that focus intensely on moral and ethics for schoolchildren.

Basically we have been taught to always be nice and kind to people. It is a common teaching, regardless of our religions or races. So considering all those 18 years of indoctrination to always be nice and be kind, shouldn't it be a common sense to all of us?

This is what my concern is all about.

On Twitter, every single day, I read and see countless of demeaning and degrading tweets that I found unnecessary. People quote a person's tweet and say bad thing about him/her, people reply to pictures and criticize badly about a person's appearance and such, some just find fault in others' tweets and slap slanders onto others. I don't get it. Where gone all our mannerism and kindness?

I know there are kindness on Twitter. However those are kindness that are obviously shown? Like people help finding their lost kin, donation drive and more. It's obvious those kindness. What I want to emphasize is our daily life, daily conversations that may seem unimportant but shows so much of our manners and attitude and most importantly of our heart.

Especially when people exchanges ideas or knowledge or opinions, I don't understand why some people can't show their disagreement with manners. Do they really have to include profanities in their sentences? Do they have to be mean and degrade the person lowly? Just to show how disagree they are? Is it that important? Is portraying and shoving people your ideas/knowledge harshly that necessary?

I just cannot brain this.

What more with the awareness on mental health these days. People advocate for this awareness, but they don't act with it?

They think saying harsh words on screen would not affect much to people? What, they deserve it? How do you know they deserve all the profanities and curses and the inhospitable words you throw? Like I said, do you really know how their lives has been going on?

Stupid. That's it. I said it. People who pretend to advocate for mental health are stupid for not acting like they are. They know depression is a real issue in Malaysia yet they can't afford to be nice to people they don't know? Brainless. WALK THE TALK PEOPLE!

What makes me mad even more is that the people I often see do this unkind and mean things are those. so. called. tweetfamous. People look up to them, they have thousands and thousand of followers from various background, especially the schoolkids, and these people without second thought would follow what they do. These tweefamous (god I hate this word) think they are holy, free of judgment, always right and all because they have their followers who would support them in whatever they do. Not everyone know that they need to filter the things they read and see and therefore know which to take and apply in their lives or which to frown upon. Not everyone know the practicality of buang yang keruh, ambil yang jernih.

So I got disappointed when some Twitter accounts that I respected do these kind of things. Just.. why can't people be nice?


You might disagree with what I said. It is okay. Everyone have their own perspectives and opinions on this issue (yes I think of this as a serious issue that need to be addressed). I am just.. sad and frustrated over this issue. Seems simple but being kind or being awful unknowingly can impact so much in someone's life.

Berbudi & Berbahasa; Kelemahan Bangsa Melayu

Assalamualaikum dan salam sejahtera!

Dalam kesibukkan dan perasaan yang sungguh stress dengan sistem UIA yang tak membantu pelajar ni, ramai betul yang berbalas kata dekat medsos; antara pihak yang tertindas dan pihak yang rasa tertindas ni manja. LOL

Bila tengok/baca pertingkahan kata antara dua pihak ni, tercetus satu perkara dalam fikiran; Melayu dan budi bahasa. Orang kata Melayu ni terkenal dengan budi dan bahasanya. Sopan santun, baik, lemah lembut. Kekuatan bangsa Melayu paling hebat dari zaman Kesultanan Melaka hingga sekarang (walupun santun sekarang kurang banyaknya).

Walaubagaimanapun, saya rasa budi dan bahasa Melayu inilah yang menjadi kekurangan bangsa Melayu. It's like a double-edge sword.

Kenapa budi dan bahasa milik bangsa Melayu ni satu kelemahan?

Bangsa Melayu ni bahasa yang terlalu menjaga kesantunan. Kalau ikut tradisi bangsa Melayu, bahasa yang digunakan mestilah menyedapkan, tak mengguris hati, berlapik dan menjaga perasaan. Eh tapi tu kan benda bagus?

Betul itu perkara bagus. Yang tak bagus bila ia melibatkan permasalahan, perselisihan, atau masalah penyampaian maklumat. Contohnya; peribahasa Melayu: yang tua dihormati, yang muda disayangi. Tradisinya, yang muda tak punya suara untuk meluahkan, dan yang tua punya kuasa. Dalam kes masalah sistem UIA ni, bila pelajar-pelajar meluahkan perasaan tak puas hati, pelajar-pelajar dihentam kembali sebab berlaku & dianggap biadap, kurang ajar, dan tak menghormati institusi akademik yang mencurahkan ilmu kepada pelajar-pelajar. Apa orang kata, tak berkat? Haa gitulah.

Kalau macam inilah bangsa Melayu, macam mana Melayu nak maju? Kena sentiasa menjaga perasaan dan adab kesopanan? Bukanlah saya kata nak selesaikan masalah ktia kena biadap. Tapi kita kena bezakan antara kebiadapan dan constructive criticism. Kalau betul pun orang tu biadap dalam meluahkan perasaan dia, amalkan peribahasa buang yang keruh, ambil yang jernih.

Orang Melayu ni terlalu ekstrim dalam menjaga tradisi dan budaya. Dalam mereka menjerkah orang muda kerana berlaku 'biadap', mereka juga telah melepaskan 'prinsip' mereka dalam berbudi dan berbahasa. Pertelingkahan yang berlaku antara dua generasi yang berbeza ni secara tak langsung menonjolkan juga sikap tidak professional sebab saling menghentam.

I really hate it when the elder ones think they can dictate the younger just because they are older. It's a form of fallacy, you know?

Percayalah, umur bukan ukuran kematangan dalam berfikir.

Ingat, buang yang keruh, ambil yang jernih.

Little Forest 2018 (Korean Movie)

Salam 'Alayk and hey guys!

So right now I want to share with you guys about Little Forest!

Little Forest is a 2018 korean movie that is relaxing, no-conflict, with nature vibe and aesthetic! I love the cinematography, how they portray the whole movie with that soft green nature vibe. It gave me the feeling of calm and makes me suddenly want to go have a garden for myself.

This is Wiki's synopsis on Little Forest:

The story of a young woman who returns to her childhood home, in a traditional Korean village, after leaving for the big city in pursuit of what turned out to be an elusive dream. When she gets home, her mother isn't there - but her mother's "Little Forest", the many ways in which a single mother successfully made a home for her much loved child, unfurl with a long succession of lovingly sketched details involving mostly food preparation.

The unfurling moments are lightly but lovingly shared with two childhood friends, one of whom also abandoned their elusive dream of success in the big city (Seoul) and the other who is still pursuing the small town equivalent of that elusive dream -- without ever leaving home.

Well the movie doesn't really say about the mother, where she gone to, is she dead or what. But it really focuses on the young woman, Hye Won (by Lee Tae Ri), how she lead her life at her home, while actually running away from her reality.

I know it said about cooking preparation. Yes the movie does show how Hye Won uniquely prepares her food, her sentimental elements on the food she made with memories of her mother, and mostly of Korean traditional food (at least I think it is). But the movie also show how she went to her friend's apple orchard, her own garden, how she made food with vegetables and fruits fresh from her yard. It is just awesome.

And from that part itself, it just shows that nature, trees, there are so much things we can do with them when give to them. You know like the phrase that says if you give to nature, the nature will gives you back (not exactly the words, but that's basically what it means). The nature vibe from this movie, it... it really fits its title, Little Forest.

It's like you have your own little forest. The place you seek tranquility, peace whenever you feel troubled. Or when you're having writer's block, or when you need some inspiration, this little forest is where you'll go to clean up you head and take a deep breath and have a new perspective. It's just supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (which just means amazing, but IT IS AMAZING!)!

After watching this movie, what I had in my head for a whole week was to own an orchard, grow my own food, and open to neighbours and friends and family for self-pick their desired food (and pay by weight). Sounds great. Sound like I could really make it real. #butrealitycheck

Either way, this movie is a must for those who are searching for #goodvibe movie, trying to relax and chill with the loved ones. PLUS, Little Forest won top 11 films from 38th Korean Association of Film Critics Award! Very impressive!

So now go head up to Youtube and search for this movie (yes it's there)! I know I don't tell much what this movie is all about, but I can't spoil the storyline! You have to watch it yourself.

Little Forest, definitely my new favourite movie of a whole new genre.