Olympiad...and the story of Boabdil, the Last King of Alhambra

1. I had a chance to make a short 10-day trip back to Malaysia couple of weeks ago before the final exams. Doing pretty much nothing at all at home, I started back my old habit of spending literally hours to read the daily newspaper(I like malaysian papers for some reasons). I came across an article in a local paper that was about a group of Malaysian students who won a gold medal in Robotic Olympiad (in Korea I think).

2. Congratulation to them, on the other hand it somehow reminds me of those days when I had the chance to represent my beloved country, Malaysia to the Olympiad. Different ones of course, I went to the Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO) as well as the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO).

3. Olympiad, is the highest level of competition for any student in this world. It's just like the Olympic for a sport person. Among the oldest and most prestige ones are the Maths Olympiad, Physics Olympiad, and the Chemistry Olympiad, all started around 1950s or 1960s. (Nowadays, surprisingly there are more than 12 Olympiads are held annually). The other Olympiads including Robotics, Geology, Astronomy, Biology, and many more that I will never know the names...most started in the early 1990s and the 21st century.

4. In Robotic Olympiads, students are supposed to design a prototype and marks will be given by judges, while for Maths or Physics, they are almost all calculations, experiments and manipulation of both based on theories we had learnt in school. Basically, the former one is about creativity and subjectivity of the judges, while the latter one is totally based on understanding, mathematical ability and manipulation of concepts (how the students could turn and twist their brains to solve them).

5. Any students who have enrolled in a university are prohibited from participating in Olympiads. But based on my own experience,even second year university level physics knowledge is not sufficient to solve a physics olympiad question correctly. 3 questions in 5 hours. Thats all you need to do in APhO & IPhO. But somehow, you will still wish that you have 24 hours or maybe one week to do those 3 questions. There is also an experiment to be done the next day, in 5 hours too.

6. Back in 2004, I was pretty lucky to get picked to go to APhO in Hanoi, Vietnam. In the first round for qualification, 40 STPM and Mara college students were picked based on some multiple choice questions. They were cut down to 13 students after the second qualifying round. There were 11 chinese students and 2 malays including myself. 8 will be pick to go to APhO in coming final qualification round. Traditionally, APhO was held a few months earlier than IPhO.

7. We had one malay physics lecturer, one indian (or maybe serani kot) maths lecturer from UKM and 3 more chinese STPM teachers who will teach and assess us based on past year papers. I remembered all of them saying something like this to me and Nazri Kasuan (the other malay guy in the team) ,

"It's OK for you both coz you both need to just compete with each other to secure 1 place. We always have 1 place ( out of eight) for Bumiputra in our team. But the rest will have to compete for the other 7 places."

8. I never felt any more insult than that in my whole life. Coming from a chinese school, I always believe in fair competition. IT IS TRUE that me and Nazri were ranked 11th and 12th in that group of 13 students based on our previous round result. IT IS ALSO TRUE that ALL malay participants in previous physics Olympiad managed to be in the Malaysian team due to that 'one special place' due to our special privilege. I believe that the lecturers are saying that to stimulate us to work harder, but both of us do not like the fact that previous malay students have been relying on that 'privilege', nor the way the other students of other races might be thinking of us.

9. For the first time in a Malaysian team to physics olympiad, 2 malays managed to get through --- through merit, of course. Fortunate enough (plus DAMN LOT of hard work okk), both of us were ranked 6th and 7th in the team of 8 students who will be going to Hanoi. We are more than happy, of course.

10. The malay lecturer was so happy of course, but I believe he did not put much expectation on us in the coming APhO since there wasn't any malay participant who had won anything in APhO or IPhO before us. So he said ,

"I'm more than happy for you guys, that both of you made it to the competition. This is the first time that 2 malay students qualified together. Previous ones had all relied on the quota to make it to the competition. You made me proud. But as you already know, only 5 out of these 8 will be going to the international one, IPhO. We gonna pick the student based on the your results in this coming Asia one. But in case none of you make the cut to be in the top 5, one of you will still represent the country with the quota. There's always a place for one of you in the team. Just make sure both of you work hard k?"

11. We did not say much. But we are determined and we know what we have to do. For the final 3 weeks before departure, both of us spent days and nights studying just physics. College works are pretty much had been abandoned. I even remembered not going out of the room for 1 whole straight week, relying just on the instant noodles, Mee Maggi to survive. I even had an argument with one of my group mates for not doing my part of the group presentation (The truth is I actually have an exemption for that assignment). I believed that I'm doing something more important for not only myself and my family, but for the team, our college and most importantly, the pride of my race. We don't like the fact that some people think that malays are relatively inferior to other races in Malaysia, especially in Maths, Physics or other science and calculation-based subjects.

12. Our efforts did not go waste. I won an Honourable Mention, and was the only one who won something for the team (There are 4 types of prize : gold, silver, and bronze medal, and the Honourable Mentions. More than one participant can win the same prize. 1/4 of the participants receive atleast an Honourable Mentions). Nazri did pretty well too, was the fourth best in our team. Both of us surprised our lecturers for making the cut to the international physics olympiad, by being the 1st and 4th in the malaysian team in asia physics olympiad.

13. The malay lecturer was really delighted with the result. I was even more excited to be the first and only malay student to won something in an Olympiad, even tho it's just in the Asia level(I'm not being racist here, it's a matter of fact that chinese students usually do better than the malays in previous Malaysian teams. See: http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/~ipho/participate.htm).

14. Good things never go too long. In the preparation for IPhO, I was the one who was less determined and less hardworking than the others. Partly was due to busy catching up with studies in college, and partly because I was busy applying for entry to universities. Or maybe I was just feeling too complacent with what I've got. I do not know why.

15. I guess my father had seen enough of my lacklustre, half-hearted, and unmotivated preparation. Knowing his son well enough, he told me a story about Boabdil, the last Arab King in Spain.

16. Boabdil was the last muslim king in Spain. He was supposed to defend Grenada, which was the last stronghold of muslims in Spain at that time. Being surrounded by the Christian crusaders lead by Queen Isabelle and King Ferdinand (these crusaders just lost a crusade battle in the Middle East, they were basically an army which was defeated by the muslim army in Jerusalem and had came to revenge in Spain on the way back to their respective country), Boabdil eventually surrendered Grenada to them in January 1492 without any fight. In return, he and his royal family were granted a safe passage to Morocco.

17. On the surrender of his muslim kingdom, which was witness by every citizen (including Christopher Columbus who later found America), he kissed the hand of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabelle. He passed the key to the gate of Alhambra(his palace in Grenada) to them, and he cried together with the crowd. All the muslims were in tears while all the Christian crusaders were in joy. That hill later was called Hill of the Arabian Tears (translation: Bukit Air Mata Arab. I just could not imagine how he could surrender his kingdom without fighting at all to a weakened crusade army which had just previously lost a battle at somewhere else.It is very sarcastic indeed).

18. While crossing the Gilbratar Strait to Morocco, the king regretted the surrender and cried on the ship. His fellow companions asked him why he is still crying while he is already safe now.

He said, " I cried in fear of my people who will be killed after I left." Which turned out to be true, 2 million muslims and jews were believed to have been killed or forced to convert to Christianity a few years later. (More sarcastically, one of the largest mosque in this world at that time in Grenada, was converted to a church. All are results of this lousy king who surrendered his kingdom. )

His mother, who was unsympathetic at that time, replied him, "You do well...to weep like a woman for what you did not fight like a man." She was saying he did not deserve to cry at all when he DID NOT TRY HIS BEST to defend the country.

19. My father was actually trying to say that if I do not make it in the IPhO, I will regret for the rest of my life for not trying my best. He said that people generally regret when they did not do their best, but they will never feel bad if they had done to the best of their ability. Anyways, I did not take his word seriously in the end.

20. On the plane to Pohang, Korea, my malay lecturer told me that he had put a very high hope on me for the first time. " I can see that you are different than the others. You have the talent to do it. For us, for you and me, for your family, and for our race, please make them all proud. I want you to bring back a medal." There was never anyone from Malaysia brought home a medal from IPhO before that. (There was one before in APhO but not IPhO)

21. My father was right. I failed to deliver. I screwed up my theory paper badly. All four of my team mates including Nazri, won a total of 4 Honourable Mentions(HM). I was the only one who did not get anything. Nazri eventually was the first out of only two malay students (later one was 3 years after us) to win something in the IPhO, the International Physics Olympiad.

22. I was devastated. On the other hand, our lecturers and the rest were very happy cause it was the best ever result achieved by a Malaysian team. The others tried to console me and said that I was the one who drive them and make them wanted to work harder after the APhO. The team achievement was somehow owed to me in a way.

23. I know they were just trying to make me feel better, but the cruel reality is I am THE ONLY ONE WHO FAILED to deliver. Don't think about a medal, I could not even get an HM.

24. When I finally reached Malaysia, me and Nazri prayed in the mosque in our college together. In the final rakaat, I could not help but cry. I remembered the story of Boabdil that my father told me. But I could not help but crying when thinking of how I had disappointed my lecturer, my father and my family, and others who have been so supportive to me. My friends, my teachers in the college, everyone who was waiting for a good news from me, I know I'd let them down. I regret, and I cried for the first time in more than 4 years...my father was right about me after all. I know I don't deserved to cry at all cause I never tried my best in the first place, but I could not help.

25. I am sorry everyone. I know I can't turn back the time...but saying sorry was all I could do now. I will remember this failure for the rest of my life but for sure, I am really sorry for letting all of you down. I AM SORRY.

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1. As a matter of fact, Malaysian team in physics olympiad (and in Maths Olympiad too I believe) usually did not do too well compared to other less developed countries in this region. As an example, Thailand managed to get couple of medals every year. In APhO 2004, 1 bronze and 4 HM for Thailand; 1 silver and 2 bronze for Indonesia; a few silver for Vietnam. In IPhO 2004, the same team produces 1 silver and a few more bronze for Thailand; 1 gold (I think) and a few gold, silver and bronze for Indonesia; and 3 gold and 1 silver and 1 bronze (I think) for Vietnam. Most of them are around 16 years old, and one gold medalist from Indonesia is just 15 years old. As a comparison, Malaysia got 1 HM for APhO 2004, and 4 HM in IPhO the same year. Not even a medal. And we all are 18 years old.

2. First ever medal which was produced by Malaysia was in 2005 or maybe 2006. A single bronze. And another silver the year after in IPhO. Good improvement, but it is still a relatively slow and small achievement compared to our neighbors. Something for us to think about.

3. I believe it's down to 2 things: preparation and education system. We spent 3 weeks on physics camp for our preparation for APhO, and one month plus in total for IPhO. Oppositely, Indonesia spent 45 days for APhO and 3 months for IPhO.

4. In Vietnam or Thailand (countries which have been MUCH SUPERIOR than Malaysia in past Olympiads), has a special school for talented students. Students who are recognized as 'having special ability' in a certain subject, will take a test and go to these special schools around the age of 14 and learn only one subject, in order to get the best out of them. By the age of 16, they could enter the university and specialize in their respective field of talent. In that education system, age is not the benchmark of education level for those kids, unlike Malaysia. Intelligence level is the sole determinant of which level will these kids be. But of course, they have normal school for normal kids too.

5. Malaysia only have one system, that is based on the age (except for international schools). But I'm not sure which one between these two are the best education system for us. Talented students in Vietnam are well polished to suit their ability, but for sure they lack the 'normal' development and 'youth experience' like other kids. However, Vietnam are now attracting the highest FDI, Foreign Direct Investment in the ASEAN region, thanks to their low cost but abundant human capital, as a result of their education system. It is something that we should look into.

6. Even though Malaysia has PTS system where students cut short their education by one year, it is still different than the one in Vietnam. Vietnam's gifted kids only study and specialize in one subject, unlike Malaysia where all of us have to learn all other subjects (in example all 3 science subjects have to be taken for all science stream students, we can't study Chemistry only or Physics only). Don't forget we all have to take some other compulsory subjects, that most of the students end up taking almost 9 subjects in SPM.

7. In Malaysia, scholarships are given based on the overall SPM result and the interview. This means we might have overlooked students who are particularly good in one subject but did not do well on the overall. So how are we going to know if one student who got only 3 As might be much better in Chemistry (as an example) than another 10As student? If we really are going to produce a Nobel prize winner by 2050, I think we should start to review our education system now.

8. A lot of Malaysians have the mentality that being a researcher does not get you anywhere nor make you rich. Hence, a lot of brilliant students end up taking courses like Medicine, Engineering, Commerce or IT. Not many really interested in specializing in Science or Life Science subjects. Even the government did not provide many scholarships to study science courses compared to other courses like Engineering or Medicine.

9. Singapore did not do too well too (compared to Malaysia lah) in the Physics Olympiad. But they are smart enough to try to lure those smart students from other countries. Many of my chinese friends end up studying and working in Singapore after getting the scholarship to study in universities in Singapore. When we were in Vietnam for APhO, the Singaporean team try to court us and lure us to go Singapore after we finish our college and STPM, by offering us a full scholarship to study in the Nanyang University or the National University of Singapore (NUS). We kindly rejected them because me and Nazri already have scholarships, but we are not too sure about the others in our team if they accepted it or not. The rest in the team are studying STPM which means they do not have any scholarships yet, but I heard that all of them got 5 As in STPM in the end. I am not too sure of their whereabout now but last time I met them I do hear some of them are complaining about not getting proper recognition for their effort and their time spent for the country in the olympiad. It won't be a surprise to me if later I find out that some of them really went to Singapore.

10. I heard that there are more and more Malaysians, including some malays, who have openly asked the government to scrap the privilege/quota for the malays (and the other indigenous people of course) nowadays. Partly it is because we have a weak government, partly I think it is because they believe that those privileges are no longer relevant to our society. For the chinese, they long for a more open economy, more placement in the universities and scholarships. For the indians, they want more protection and opportunities from the government. And for those ungrateful malays (I'm referring to those who asked for abolishment of our own privileges), they are either politically motivated or they are blinded by what they think they have achieved with their own hard work. THE FACT IS WE STILL NEED THOSE PRIVILEGES. From my own experience being in a chinese school and the physics olympiad, we could see that the malays still have a long way to go before we are really competent to compete with other races on equal platform. If we don't have the quotas, I believe most if not all of our Malaysian team members to IPhO or maths Olympiad going to be of that one race. If we don't have the quotas, malay students will definitely be outnumbered in universities, especially in overseas. In Sydney, even with scholarships (majority of malay students are sponsored students), malay students are still far outnumbered by the non-malay Malaysian students ( I believe it could be as worst as 3 or 4 non-malays to every malay student). Without the scholarships, I strongly believe it's just gonna be much worst than this. Someday maybe we really do not need the privileges anymore, but before that day comes, we should maintain it. Or maybe the abolishment should be a slow, well-planned, and well-executed long term process, in order to make sure that the malays are always competent as well as competitive.

11. Anyways, back to the topic of our education system, I remember having read somewhere in the newspaper a few years ago, that one smart kid who could read by the age of 3, he end up dropped out of the school (he said the school was boring because he knew everything already), and in the end became a penebar roti canai (a person who makes roti canai). What a waste of talent actually. Maybe this should be a lesson for all of us...

Cheers!

Footnote:

To look at the history of Malaysia's achievement in International Math Olympiad (IMO), available here, http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~do3/imo-malaysia.html For International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) & Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO), visit http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/~ipho/participate.htm Nazri and I participated in IPhO and APhO in 2004. And I'm happy to see that Malaysian teams are performing better year by year since our days. Some even managed to get bronze and silver medals.

A little story from Egypt

1. I went to Egypt when I had my very first summer holidays in 2005. Just me and my elder sister, and two of her friends. A half-guided, half self-explore, 11-day trip( 7 days with a guide, the rest on our own basically). I went there, partially due to my promise I made to travel there with my sis; another reason was that she already booked everything for me half a year before that, believing that I will further my studies in UK like herself, in which I actually ended up in a totally opposite side of the world(thanks to PETRONAS for that...).

2. Egypt fascinates me in many ways. Much more than other countries I have been to. Different culture, different ancient buildings and tombs, and different kind of people. A whole new world in short.

3. The story starts when we were bored of staying on the Nile cruise everyday. After begging the guide for many days to bring us to explore places in the city where the locals usually hang out, he finally agreed. Mind here he was not supposed to do that, considering our safety is not guaranteed outside of the ship.

4. Things started when we were hanging out in a cafe in a small alley. Only locals hang around there most of the time. The place is quite a run down by the way. Much worse than mamak stalls in Malaysia definitely. I saw a couple of small kids from another end of the alley walk towards us (me, my sis, her two friends and our guide) the moment they saw us, just when we are about to order our food. They are about 5 or 6 years old. Or maybe younger than that, I'm not sure.

5. The waiter/cafe boss who was serving us, left us in a sudden, walk towards them, and without a single word, starts to beat them with a stick that he picked up along the way. That really caught us all in surprise. And surprisingly the guide(his name is Romany) is not disturbed by the scene at all. He even ask us to just ignore the kids.

6. Out of all the anger, I shouted "Stop!". The waiter, everyone in the cafe including the patrons and our beloved guide, were surprised by my action ( I later learn that I was the first tourist to do that). "Ask them to come here, NOW!!" I shouted. He was reluctant to let the kids go to our table, but he did anyways. The moment they arrived, they show me a small packet of tissue. One in each of their hands.

7. I understood everything in that instance. These street kids are selling tissue papers to the tourists. But they were hated so much by the business owners. They are such a nuisance to them because these kids annoy the tourists sometimes. Some will go as far as pulling the sleeve of the shirt of tourists to sell the tissue papers.

8. I pity them. Very much. The only thing I could do at the moment is to grab the tissue packet from them and ask how much. 2 fingers, they showed. Two Egyptian pound for one small packet of tissue is indeed VERY expensive. (note: 1 Egytian pound is one tenth of British pound, or ~ RM0.60. You can buy a whole bag of breads there in Cairo). I bought all anyways. The other thing I could do is to stare at the cafe owner with a look full of hatred. He simply ignore that and chase those kids away with the stick in his hand.

9. Mood spoiled. We left without even giving tips to the waiters (it is actually almost a 'must' for the tourists to do so). We move on to a market. It's like a pasar malam and it is definitely not a bazaar like we thought. It's another place that is NOT for tourist, definitely. Me and my sis stop at a stall to buy some bread (1 pound could buy a BIG bag of bread), and we were left behind.

10. We have to walk abit faster to catch up with the rest. I walk behind my sis as a precaution, when I noticed that someone is following us. We tried to walk faster but he is catching up behind us and is getting closer till within a hand's reach. Then I notice that he while walking, was handing out his hand, as in trying to get something from us. He is about my age, or maybe older, early 20-s maybe. Afraid of danger(we have lost track of our guide and our friends), we run crossing the busy main street.
(Note : jalan yg memang busy sehingga kita orang bersyukur sebab tak kene langgar masa lari lintasjalan)

11. After feeling that we are safe, we turned around, and finally saw that he is actually HANDICAPPED. He lost an arm. He was actually just trying to beg some food for himself, coz I was carrying the bag full of fresh bread over my shoulder. He must have seen it and he wants some. "Ya allah!" we shouted. I almost cried. I felt that I have been very, very cruel, to someone who was very, very unfortunate. I wanted to cross back to the other side of the road to give him some money, but he left.

12. I never felt this bad before in my whole life. I realize that I have done something that is very wrong. Allahualam. We continue our walk to catch up with Romany and co, but deep inside I was praying to God all the way, to give me another chance to redeem my mistake.

13. The Al-Mighty showed His might. Maybe He really is giving us another chance. A little kid came running at us at a harbourside. About 5 years old too. And you could guess, with a pack of tissue papers in his hand. I noticed that the label, design and size of the packet is EXACTLY the same as the ones I bought before that.

14. I'm in a dilemma. I'd just realized. They are all controlled by the same syndicate. I wonder whether the money I spent on the tissue papers just now will go to those kids or not. If I buy the tissue papers, surely the big 'boss' in the syndicate will recount all the tissue packets left by the end of the day and then ask the money from kids. BUT if I simply give the money to the kids without buying, I am indirectly teaching them how to beg from tourists. Begging is not a good thing either. These kids are still young and learning.

15. If I simply give money to them without buying the tissue papers, they will learn that actually they don't have to sell tissue papers to get money anymore. They will know that they just need to beg for money, from the tourists. Even if one in every one thousand tourists give them money, they could make a living already. I don't want to 'spoil' them in that way. I don't want them to be like those kids in India or Indonesia where they chase after tourists for money. No one is begging for money in Egypt by the way. Our guide confirmed this too.

16. I'm in dilemma. I am not quite sure how to help. I was about to give them money when my sis stopped me. "Don't teach them begging. At least now they are learning to sell stuff for a living. That is MUCH BETTER than begging for money," she said.
But I want to help them. I don't wanna feel bad like before for not helping the poor. But yet I don't wanna help the syndicate who were using these little kids to make money for themselves. For god's sake, these kids are uneducated nor in a good health. Most of them are skinny.

17. I remembered about the handicapped young man just now in a sudden, and I remembered the bread that i have with me. I showed the kid all four packets of tissue that I have and say, "Look, I don't need your tissue papers ok. I have four already. How bout I give you one piece of bread?" while pointing to the packets and the bread.

18. He didn't quite understand. (Silly me, was I expecting a 5 year-old kid in Egypt to understand English? hahahha). Never mind. Bagi jer lah. I passed one to him. He grabbed it and simply put it in his mouth and start eating it on the spot. Like he never eat anything for that day. It is 7p.m. and yet he is still selling. He must be hungry.

19. He showed up 1 finger while another finger from the other hand pointed to my plastic bag. He wants more, I believe. "Must be hungry," I thought. Tak pe, kasi jer. I gave him another piece. He grabbed it, went around a wall, and reappear with a small girl. About four years old. Must be his sis coz he was holding her hand. She's not selling anything, maybe due to her younger age. Her hands were holding the bread that I gave to the young boy just now...

20. I was moved. Both of us are speechless. Such an act of caring, unselfishness and responsibility showed by a 5 year-old. Hardship really shaped him into such maturity... ... ...We end up giving them two pieces of bread each before moving on.

21. After meeting up with the rest, watched some belly dancing in a club. We went back to our boat. On the way back, we saw that small kid and his sis again. But this time with a big group of kids. about 8 of them. And they were all sharing the bread that I gave to the small kid before that...

22. We watched them without uttering a single word. Unselfishness shown by the little kid is really amazing. For a kid as young as 5 years old to share with the others while he is not having enough for himself, is such an admirable act. We gave all of them some food that we take away from the restaurant, before we board our ship for a rest.

What a long day we had! But I'm definitely going to remember this day for the rest of my life. It has really changed a lot my perceptions about the reality that is happening in a different corner(or many other places) of this world that I am living now... ...I wish that the world would be a better place to live for ALL of us.

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1. Egypt is a country which relies heavily on its tourism industry. (I was told by Romany that they have 7 million TOURISTS visiting every year. As a comparison, Malaysia received around 15 million or more VISITORS, whom most are from neighbouring countries like Singapore and Thailand who came for business purposes/weekends shopping trip.) There are a lot of the so-called "tourism police", a special kind of enforcers who patrol the street to make sure the safety of the tourist. That is one of the reasons I believe why there is literally no beggars on the street of Egypt. These tourism policemen prevent the beggars from disturbing the tourists, but they won't interfere when little kids try to sell tissue packets to the tourists.

2. I am shocked to know how the street kids are treated there. I understand that the cafe owner was trying to 'protect' those tourists, and his business as well of cause. But, where is the HUMANE SIDE of him? Beating up 5-year old kids with a stick for that reason is just unacceptable. I would understand if he is not kind enough to give them free food, but that is not the way to deal with them. Most of these street kids have scars on their arms by the way, I noticed. Due to these kind of beating I believe.

3. Another outing on a different day, my sister and I went to a convinience stall on the street to buy a bottle of water (The air in Egypt is full of sand particles, it makes us feel thirsty all the time). There was no one attending the stall. We called a few times until someone appeared from a bush behind the stall. Right after we paid and left, the owner quickly went behind the bush. Out of curiosity, we try to see what is happening from far. We finally saw that he actually rush back to chase a teenager who was trying to escape from the bush. The young man was VERY weak obviously, could not run fast. (lari terhuyung hayang lah basically).The stall owner caught up with him, pinched him down and started to punch him. We could clearly hear the young man shouting for help, as well as the sound of the struggle (or maybe the sound when punches landed on the body?). I wanted to help (darah muda, biasalah), but my sister stopped me.

"Don't. I know you pitty him, so do I. But we are not supposed to interfere. We are tourists here remember? By the way maybe he is a thief, and he got caught stealing. He is not a kid anyways." she said. But she suggest me to return the drink we bought and ask for refund. She doesn't want to drink that water for what the owner did to that young man. I did not do that cause the guy is quite far away, but I throw the bottle away without drinking it, in a disgust and anger.

4. I learned many things in this trip. Maybe because this is the first time that I tried to explore corners and places, where tourists do not usually go, in a third world country. I believe that sometimes when we are in our comfort zone, we tend to forget the struggle of many others who are less fortunate than us.

5. I sometimes ask myself, what can I buy with one ringgit in Malaysia? or 1 dollar in Australia? Maybe some sweets and chocolates. But what can these people buy with one ringgit or one dollar in Egypt? A whole bag of bread for 8 little kids ----enough for the day. Or a whole meal for one family in Aswan (a very remote and poor town in Egypt, accessible only by train). But yet sometimes we are so reluctant to give/donate one ringgit to other people. If spare changes mean little to us, it could mean a living for a poor family in Egypt. That is why the Al-Mighty always ask us to give away what we have to the less fortunate people , even if the things that we give away mean little to us. I have many of those 'fortunate' friends who were born into a wealthy family, I wonder if they have this kind of awareness. Being too pampered with luxury, I doubt so. I do not blame them, cause most of them do not have the chance to 'feel' what the unfortunate people felt. Most of them don't even notice what's going on in this world. If they ever travel to a third world country like Egypt, I believe they will only experience the first class traveling, without realizing what really is going on behind the alley.

6. I believe that many people are willing to help, but they don't have the mean and the ways to do so. How many charity organizations out there helping these people? I am not sure, and I admit that I myself do not know how and where to get in touch with these people. That is why we have to have more organizations like Mercy. Sad but true, Islamic charity organizations are far outnumbered by charity organizations of other religion especially Christian. Sarcastically, Christian charity organizations even outnumber the Islamic charity organizations in these poor but predominantly muslim countries like Egypt.

Something that we should look into seriously. If we think that we are unfortunate, there are more more unfortunate people than us out there.

7. For those who are interested, there are neutral organizations that are not based on any religion like the UNHCR (UN refugee agency directly under the United Nation). The branch in Australia in example(http://www.unrefugees.org.au/), accept payment from individual donors through a monthly direct debit from any Australian bank account. To my surprise, Australians are one of the most generous and biggest donors. From what I know too, 40 dollars a month could help the agency to give vaccinations to hundreds of children in war torn countries every month. A 25-dollar donation could help them to give free food to one family for a month, n etc. What is 40 dollars A MONTH to people of Australia? I am not too sure but I know some students who are working casually/part-time in Australia (Note : international students in Australia are allowed to work up to 20 hours a week) are getting atleast 300 dollars EVERY WEEK. Maybe we should ask them how much is 40 dollars (or 25 dollars) a month compared to the 1200 dollars that they are getting and they could save up every month from their part time job ( since a lot of those Malaysian students who are working part-time are under scholarships, they could spend the allowances they are getting from the sponsor for daily expenses. Some don't really have to use their hard-earned money for daily expenses).

Should we sacrifice 4 meals of McDonald's every month(each meal costs around 10 dollars, 4 meals = 40 Australian dollars), for the good of hundreds of children in refugee camps in Africa?
Something for ALL of us to think about, but I believe that the more we give, the more we get. Cheers!

Peluang memilih harta atau politik

Ruang & Waktu Oleh Adam. A. Kadir

SUATU ketika dahulu saya suka memandang padang lumba kuda dari tingkat tertinggi Hotel Hilton di Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Kehijauan yang segar menentukan bentuk bujur sirih yang dilingkungi oleh trek di mana kuda berlumba.

Kini segalanya itu sudah tiada lagi. Ia telah digantikan dengan Kuala Lumpur City Centre atau ringkasnya, KLCC. Menara Berkembar Petronas sebagai bangunan paling tinggi di dunia mendominasikannya. Di sebelahnya tegak bangunan Maxis yang sangat harmoni dengan arkitektur menara itu. Maxis, seperti diketahui umum, ialah syarikat telefon selular.

Selepas disenaraikan, Maxis masih terus senama dengan T. Ananda Krishnan, selaku pemegang saham terbesar. Beliau ialah orang yang paling kaya di Malaysia, menurut majalah Malaysian Business. Kekayaan beliau yang solid bermula dengan idea mengambil alih tanah arena lumba kuda itu dan di atasnya ditegakkan kompleks KLCC dengan penyertaan Petronas.

Itu sepuluh tahun dahulu. Sejak itu beliau juga membuat nama selaku pemilik Astro, stesen penyiaran TV dan Radio secara kaedah kabel, lain daripada kaedah langsung TV Malaysia. Seorang profesor Universiti Harvard memberitahu saya bahawa Ananda Krishnan ialah seorang dermawan. ``Krishnan ialah seorang siswa saya. Dia banyak menghulur derma kepada fakulti kami,'' katanya. Krishnan ialah lulusan MBA dari Harvard Business School (HBS) pada tahun 1964.

Apa yang hendak saya perkatakan di sini bahawa kekayaan ialah sesuatu yang tidak boleh disisihkan sahaja dengan kata-kata kekayaan atau wang adalah durjana atau wang tidak boleh dibawa mati. Sebenarnya wang bukan semata-mata kertas atau akaun dalam bank.

Ia ukuran pemilikan harta yang datangnya dalam pelbagai bentuk. Pemilikan harta membolehkan seseorang membuat amal jariah, dalam bentuk derma, bantuan dan sebutlah sahaja berpuluh malah beratus cara yang lain.

Saya selalu mempunyai anggapan bahawa orang seperti Azman Hashim, Ibrahim Mohamad, Syed Kecik dan Rashid Hussein adalah kalangan Melayu terkaya di Malaysia yang mengatasi Syed Mokhtar Bukhary dan Mohamad Kamal. Sebaliknya, Syed Mokhtar dan Mohamad Kamal merupakan dua Melayu yang terkaya di sini.

Ini membuktikan kekayaan bukanlah sesuatu yang senang ditangani. Disiplin diri dan disiplin terhadap faktor-faktor yang boleh menjadi asas membuat keputusan pelaburan adalah sangat penting. Membuat keputusan yang baik atau buruk beberapa tahun sebelum ekonomi jatuh dalam tahun 1997 membawa hasil atau padah yang boleh disaksikan sekarang ini. Pelbagai maklumat tentang pelaburan Azman Hashim, Rashid Hussein, Syed Mokhtar dan Mohamad Kamal membuatkan prestasi dan tahap buruk-baik pelaburan mereka kini tidak memeranjatkan.

Dari segi peribadi, saya suka menyatakan pengalaman diri yang boleh dijadikan teladan atau sempadan, terutama untuk mereka yang sedang menaiki tangga kehidupan. Satu keputusan perlu diambil dalam tahun-tahun 1970-an, sama ada memilih kerjaya politik atau bisnes. Nilai hartanah dan harta lain menjaminkan pemupukan pelaburan seterusnya akan menambahkan saiz pemilikan harta saya.

Keputusan memilih kerjaya politik bererti terbantutnya sebarang tujuan pemupukan harta seterusnya. Namun 11 tahun selepas mendapat tempat di Parlimen, saya menghadapi realiti kehidupan di luar Parlimen pula.

Menoleh kembali, saya teringat ungkapan `bagaimana kalau'. Untuk itu satu soalan selalu timbul dalam minda: Bagaimana kalau diteruskan usaha dalam bisnes dan bukan politik?

Begini. Ramai menjadi kawan selepas saya mengikuti ilmu pengurusan bisnes di Harvard Business School dalam tahun 1981. Seorang dari Paris ialah ketua eksekutif sebuah kompeni besar yang membuat bisnes membina lebuh raya. Seorang lagi ialah presiden syarikat kereta api di Washington, ibu kota AS.

Pulang ke Malaysia, saya hendak menemui Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad bagi mencadangkan sistem lebuh raya moden dibina di negara ini. Tetapi saya terpaksa membatalkan idea itu kerana Perdana Menteri mahukan orang politik dan orang bisnes bertumpu kepada kerjaya masing-masing dan tidak dicampur-adukkan. Membuat pilihan untuk berpolitik bererti saya melupakan cadangan joint-venture dengan syarikat kawan di Perancis itu. Ketika itu, tidak ada pihak Malaysia yang berpengalaman membuat lebuh raya.

Dalam tahun 1986, tahun pertama saya menyertai Parlimen, Menteri Kewangan (Daim Zainuddin, belum Datuk atau Tun) menawarkan Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) dengan harga RM1 (satu ringgit) dalam ucapan bajetnya. Harga itu tentunya termasuk menanggung hutang KTM sekali. Selepas berhubung dengan kawan di Washington, beliau lebih cenderung menjadikan KTM satu pengangkutan kargo dengan mengurangkan tekanan terhadap pengangkutan penumpang.

Bagaimanapun, senggang tidak berapa lama, peluang bisnes besar ini juga harus dilupakan kerana saya dilantik ke jawatan Setiausaha Parlimen, iaitu jawatan yang tidak membenarkan penyandangnya terlibat dalam bisnes langsung. Nasib politik Adib Adam atas sebab begitu sentiasa menjadi rujukan.

Selain daripada peluang-peluang begitu, saya juga berundur diri dalam kegiatan bisnes dalam negeri. Akhirnya rekod bisnes diri hanya berbangga dengan pemilikan bangunan terbesar di Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

Bangunan 20 tingkat yang patut menjadi bangunan kepunyaan Melayu yang ketiga terbesar di Kuala Lumpur tidak menjadi kenyataan kerana tiada bank yang sanggup memberi pinjaman RM20 juta. Selain daripada sebab itu, kerjaya politik juga yang menghindarkan saya berusaha mendapat pinjaman segigih mungkin.

Saya kagum dengan kejayaan mereka yang memiliki kekayaan. Kini saya berpeluang berkawan dan melihat bekas ahli-ahli politik, termasuk menteri dan menteri besar. Tanpa jawatan dan tiada kemudahan untuk menjanakan harta (bagi mereka yang ada harta), mereka kelihatan begitu susut dan jauh berbanding dengan mereka yang hidup tegap di atas kekayaan yang terbentuk atas usaha sendiri. Buatlah pilihan dari sekarang, sebelum terlambat.

- DATUK ADAM KADIR ialah bekas Yang Dipertua Dewan Negara.

*petikan dari Utusan Malaysia, Ruang & Masa, 05/03/2003

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1. This is another article that I have kept for more than 5 years. It was written by the author, after being in the politics for more than 10 years. I believe that he regreted his decision to join the politics which automatically rules him out of the business world.

2. Sad but true, political power does not last long. Once he retired from the office, he finally noticed that he is just no one, with no power, with no more authority and followers. The author regrets that he did not proceed with his business back then, even after he finished his MBA from Havard Business School (one of the leading business school in this world). He lost a few chances to persuade his business career because he was a senator. And once his political career was over, he found out that THE ONLY POWER THAT LAST FOREVER, IS MONETARY POWER---POWER WHICH IS GENERATED BY THE MONEY THAT ONE OWNS. He even envy some of his friends who are so successful in business such as Ananda Krishnan (the richest Malaysian and they both went to the same business school coincidently). He wished he could retire like them.

3. I have read somewhere that there was this former Mentari Besar(MB) from a northern state, beat an airport worker up cause the worker was not helping his mother who was ill and on a wheel chair. The MB has already retired at that time obviously, and I guess it started when the worker was too slow or refuse to help. Apparently the MB was frustated for not getting the attention. He was the former head of state. He should get special attention, he believes. But one thing surely, he has forgotten that in the eye of the worker he was just like everyone else in the airport, he no longer the once powerful MB. The cruel fact is, when a person joins the politics, someday he will definitely have to retire and subsequently lose ALL the power that he once owned. But for monetary power, YOU WILL HAVE IT AS LONG AS YOU COULD KEEP THE MONEY. Will Lim Goh Tong ever be treated like the former MB? I don't think so. He died rich. He even pass the baton---his power, to his beloved son.

4. If someday I have the opportunity to make a choice between politic and business, I think I know what I want. I won't deny that political power and connections are important, but I know I don't have to own them directly. Befriended with them is enough.

5. I remember once asking one of my chinese friends, "Which one do you wanna be, the US president or the Jews in US?"

"I wanna be like the Jews definitely. We have seen a few US presidents for the past 20 years that I hardly could remember their name now, but I see the same people controling the business and the big corporations in US over that same period. Anyways, these are the people who are controlling the white house indirectly with their money..." He answered without hesitate. Frank, but true...

Heh, I forgot that he's a Malaysian chinese. That is EXACTLY their mentality by the way.

Cheers!

Kasih Ibu

KASIH IBU MEMBAWA KE SYURGA

HARI ini 11 Mei, adalah Hari Ibu yang disambut di seluruh dunia oleh ramai manusia yang berstatus anak. Ada yang sekadar menghantar kad atau menelefon ibu yang tinggal berjauhan; ada yang bertandang ke rumah ibu dengan membawa sejambak bunga dan ramai juga yang berkumpul adik-beradik dalam majlis jamuan khas untuk ibu.

Hari Ibu berasal usul di Amerika Syarikat. Ia dianjurkan oleh seorang wanita bernama Anna Jarvis pada 1907. Menurut cerita yang tidak rasmi, Anna berasa amat bersalah kerana ibunya telah meninggal dunia sebelum dia sempat menuntut maaf setelah mereka bertengkar.

Lalu Anna berniat di pusara ibunya untuk melakukan sesuatu bagi mengenang jasa ibunya. Dia mula membayar niatnya dengan menghadiahkan 500 jambak bunga teluki putih untuk diagihkan kepada setiap ibu yang datang ke gereja St. Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church di Grafton, West Virginia. Pada 11 Mei 1908, gereja tersebut mengadakan majlis membaca doa khas untuk semua ibu.

Lebih kurang begitulah cerita yang Awang ketahui mengenai asal usul Hari Ibu yang dirayakan di seluruh dunia pada 11 Mei setiap tahun. Bagaimanapun, ada juga negara-negara di Eropah yang menyambut pada hari Ahad terakhir bulan Mei dengan mengadakan majlis membaca doa di gereja.

Sambutan Hari Ibu ini lebih popular di kalangan penganut agama Kristian, tetapi ia kini turut dirayakan oleh sebilangan orang Islam. Perkara ini tidak seharusnya dijadikan isu polemik.

Anggap sahaja Hari Ibu sama seperti Hari Guru, Hari Bapa, Hari Kebebasan Media dan sebagainya. Ia tiada kaitan dengan agama, cuma sekadar hari memperingati pengorbanan seorang insan yang paling berjasa kepada kita. Insan yang dipanggil ibu, mama, ummi, amma, bonda, emak atau apa sahaja ganti nama. Terpulanglah kepada individu sama ada mahu menyambut atau tidak Hari Ibu.

Namun dibandingkan dengan Hari Kekasih, merayakan Hari Ibu tentulah berbeza nilai dan martabatnya.

Awang sendiri tidak pernah menyambut Hari Ibu kerana ia bukan budaya generasi Awang. Lagipun Awang menganggap insan yang bernama ibu wajib diberi layanan istimewa sepanjang masa kerana syurga berada di bawah tapak kakinya. Tiada sifat kasih sayang yang boleh menandingi perasaan ibu terhadap anak-anaknya.

Sebenarnya Tuhan menzahirkan sifat kasih terhadap kita melalui ibu. Sebab itulah menderhaka kepada ibu tergolong sebagai dosa besar dan perbuatan yang amat dimurkai Allah.

Namun ramai manusia pada zaman ini semakin sibuk dengan urusan dunia dan kebajikan anak isteri sehingga terlupa kepada ibu, terutama ketika mereka tua. Ingatlah, jangan sampai hati ibu terluka kerana kasihnya terhadap anda adalah kasih Allah. Murka ibu juga bererti murka Allah terhadap anda.

SESAL KEMUDIAN TIDAK BERGUNA

BERCAKAP fasal ibu, teringat Awang kepada satu pesanan dalam majalah Mastika keluaran September 2002. Disebabkan pesanan berkenaan agak panjang, disiarkan semula versi yang diringkaskan:

``Ketika berusia setahun, ibu suapkan makanan dan mendidik kita. Cara kita ucapkan terima kasih kepadanya hanyalah dengan menangis sepanjang malam.

Menjelang usia tiga tahun, ibu menyediakan makanan dengan penuh rasa kasih sayang, kita ucapkan terima kasih dengan menumpahkan makanan ke lantai.

Apabila berusia tujuh tahun, ibu belikan sebiji bola. Cara mengucapkan terima kasih ialah kita pecahkan cermin tingkap jiran.

Ketika berusia sembilan tahun, ibu menghantar ke sekolah, kita ucapkan terima kasih kepadanya dengan ponteng kelas.

Apabila berusia 12 tahun, ibu menyuruh membuat kerja sekolah, kita ucapkan terima kasih dengan menunggu ibu alpa untuk menonton televisyen.

Menjelang usia 13 tahun, ibu suruh pakai pakaian yang menutup aurat, kita ucapkan terima kasih kepadanya dengan memberitahu bahawa pakaian itu tidak sesuai.

Ketika berusia 14 tahun ibu terpaksa mengikat perut untuk membayar wang persekolahan dan asrama, kita ucapkan terima kasih kepadanya dengan tidak menulis sepucuk surat pun. Semasa bercuti kita asyik mengunci pintu bilik. Ketika ibu sedang menunggu panggilan penting, kita bergayut di telefon sepanjang malam.

Menjelang usia remaja, 18 tahun, ibu menangis gembira apabila mendapat tahu kita diterima masuk ke IPTA, kita ucapkan terima kasih kepadanya dengan bersuka ria bersama kawan-kawan.

Berusia 20 tahun, ibu bertanya sama ada kita ada teman istimewa, kita kata ``... itu bukan urusan ibu.'' Setelah berusia 21 tahun, ibu memberikan pandangan mengenai kerjaya, kita kata: ``Saya tak mahu jadi seperti ibu.''

Ketika berusia 25 tahun, ibu bersusah payah menanggung perbelanjaan majlis perkahwinan kita. Ibu menangis dan memberitahu betapa dia sangat sayangkan kita, tapi kita ucapkan terima kasih kepadanya dengan berpindah jauh.

Pada usia 30 tahun, ibu menelefon memberi nasihat petua mengenai penjagaan bayi, kita berkata, ``... itu dulu.''

Ketika berusia 40 tahun, ibu menelefon mengingatkan mengenai kenduri-kenduri di kampung, kita berkata: ``Kami sibuk, tak ada masa nak datang.''

Apabila berusia 50 tahun, ibu jatuh sakit dan meminta kita menjaganya, kita bercerita mengenai kesibukan dan kisah-kisah ibu bapa yang menjadi beban kepada anak-anak.

Dan kemudian suatu hari, kita mendapat berita ibu meninggal! Khabar itu bagaikan petir! Dalam lelehan air mata, barulah segala perbuatan kita terhadap ibu menerpa satu per satu.''

*petikan dari rencana pengarang Utusan Melaysia, 11 Mei 2003*

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This is an article that I have kept for more than 5 years. It has been laminated and is still hanging on my wall till today. The second part is the more meaningful one, as it was saying how much people are taking things for granted till they lost them forever. We should really learn to appreciate what we have while we could...Cheers!