Boost your Self-esteem!

Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H said “Do not fear be worthless: you say if people behave well, you behave too and if they misbehave, you do the same. Instead, if people behave well, you behave well too, and if they misbehave, do not act unjustly.” (Tirmidhi)

When we think of someone who has power, we imagine them to be dominant and controlling, but this is not true power. Our power lies deep within our souls. It is reflected in each action, movement and decision. It radiates love, compassion and understanding. It illuminates our surrounding and our world. Being powerful means overcoming our fears and self-doubts, exploring new challenges and fulfilling our duties and responsibilities.

Each of us is blessed with innumerable talents, faculties and potentials, the true challenge is to dig down into our souls to explore these faculties and make the most out of them. You cannot be happy unless you improve your sense of self-worth. That is always the first step to move further forward. By doing that, you unlock your potential and free your creative powers. Studies show that a strong belief in our own abilities significantly increases our satisfaction both at home and at work.

Do not discouraged by other people or try to copy them. Do not fear being different! Another of the Messenger’s wise sayings

“The strong believer is more loved by Allah than the weak one, and there is benefaction both.” (Muslim)

Now, to boost your self-esteem, try following these steps:

1. Believe in your self-worth and self-potential. Think about what your strong points are, write them down and keep the list where you can see to remind yourself. Work on improving and adding them. At the same time, keep your faith in your Creator. Always remind yourself that Allah is with you, that you certainly are on the right path and nothing can defeat you. Believe deep in your soul that your connection with Allah is the true source of your powers.

“… And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him. Verily, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Indeed Allah has set a measure for all things.” (At-Thalaq: 3)

2. Asses your limitations and work with them. Figure out how you perceive yourself, recognize your own personal limits and acknowledge your human limitations. We are all human and we all have our flaws. Do not be ashamed of yours. Instead, recognize them so that you can figure out how to deal with them.

3. Visualize your personal success. Imagine performing your tasks well. The better you imagine yourself, the bigger the boost you are giving to your confidence.


4. Work to achieve your visualized goal, and remember that your aptitude and performance are directly related to your levels of confidence. When things go wrong, do not get discouraged, perceive it as a challenge and keep trying. Focus on success and always maintain your positive image.

Hope it helps. Thank you and good luck!

Reference:

1. Healing Body and Soul, Amira Ayad.
2. Quran Saintifik, Dr. Danial Zainal Abidin

Forgive and Forget

“And whosoever is patient and forgives, indeed that is of the steadfast heart of things.” (Asy-Syura: 43)

When we are hurt, insulted or faced with injustice, we have 2 options to deal with our feelings: either to forgive and forget or to hate, harbor grudge and rancor and live to seek revenge. Both choices are hard, but their results are completely opposite. Hatred, bitterness and hostility intoxicate your body. They throw you into frustration, weaken your system and make your nerves tense. It will yield nothing but pain. On the other hand, forgiveness transcends the soul and frees you from your destructive negative energy. Forgiveness heals you not only emotionally but also physically and mentally. Is it not worth it to get rid of the burden of anger, hatred and resentment, to be able to restore your position in social life, giving and receiving support?

Lots of people refuse to forgive, thinking it a sign of weakness; they think that by forgiving they are surrendering to their offenders. On the contrary, by forgiving you cease to be the victim of hatred and anger and you triumph over your own evil. Now comes the most important question:

HOW TO FORGIVE?

It is a challenging task requiring a fight against our own selves, it is considered by Islam as a sacred type of Jihad. Prophet Muhammad S.A.W said

“A mujahid is one who engages in jihad against his own self in obeying Allah.” (Baihaqi)

Therefore, I would like to share a few helpful tips:

1. Allow yourself enough time to heal, let yourself fully express your feelings; do not just deny the pain and turn your back on it, expecting it to disappear on its own.

2. Perform regular breathing exercises: the easiest one is simply to observe your breathing. Do not try to control it or force it, just watch it and relax.

3. Practice thinking that this life is just a transient path and those little events make up the bridge on which we can cross to the next world. So, take what is absolutely necessary for you to cross it and leave what is not.

4. Honour the Divine Wisdom behind every event. Live in harmony with Allah’s will, rather than fighting it.

5. Keep your mind engaged with more important things. Think about Allah’s Oneness, Justice and Mercy, about the rewards of conquering your anger and forgiving the offender\

“Whoever forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah.” (Asy-Syura: 40)

6. Fear the punishment of Allah upon those whose hearts are filled with with anger, hatred and resentment.

7. Consider each event a lesson and every person a teacher, regardless of how you choose to judge their actions, it is useless to hate or blame them for the situation you are in.

8. Hatred is a heavy burden to carry, it does not benefit you or harm your offender in any way. It is a blinding sentiment that can eventually take full control of all your thoughts and actions.

9. Look for the good in everyone. Each person has to have a good side, we are human after all.

10. Know that Allah does not love anger, hatred or revenge.

11. Fill your heart with love and spread it all around you to extinguish the fire of rancor and anger.

Reference:

Healing Body and Soul, Amira Ayad

Memoir of Convofair 2009

"O ye who believe! Fear Allah, and let every soul look to what (provision) He has sent forth for the morrow. Yea, fear Allah. for Allah is well-acquainted with (all) that ye do. " (Al-Hasyr: 18)

Assalamualaikum,

Again I neglect this blog for such a long time. I'm really sorry for that. It can't be helped since I have a lot of things of higher priority to be done. Now that I've finished my task which is the Executive Comittee of Convofair 2009, I think I'll have more time to do what I like.

Just want to share my experience during my involvement in Convofair, so-called the biggest event in UTP. I would say that it's just a repetition of my previous Convofair and TEC except that it comes with a lot of different challenges. This time around, we need to face economic downturn, H1N1 fear, thunderstorm and so on. Mind you that we almost cancel the multi-thousands Convofair and Convocation due to H1N1 scare. Thanks to PETRONAS CEO, Tan Sri Hassan for allowing us to proceed as planned. You don't know how huge the effect of cancelling or postponing the Convofair and Convocation to UTP.

It became tougher for me and my comittee that I was caught of having fever 3 days before the event. The doctor asked me to be quarantined since my body temperature was high complete with flu and cough. Thinking that all my effort before will go to waste if I am quarantined, I try to persuade him not to quarantine me in the boring Duyung. Alhamdulillah (if I can say it? Since I've been cruel to myself.. haha), the doctor was being lenient to me that I only get the order to be under Self-Isolation (which I breached on the next day.. haha). I passed most of the task to my assistant (poor her.. hehe). Starting on that day, I miss a lot of things about my task due to my sickness. I did went to the Committee briefing just to observe what my assistant do actually since I'm not fully recovered yet. But, I end up being the one who's giving the briefing to the whole committee (I worn the mask mind you.. haha). To be honest, I'm so worry about what's going to happen during the officiating ceremony since even at the beginning we already have a lot of problems. But, what can I do? I can just hope and give guidance from nowhere.

A day before Convofair, I really had a tough time. Due to a simple mistake, I need to rush here and there to settle all the problems caused by it while I'm still not fully fit. After maghrib, I just collapse with my head felt like spinning. Only 2 hours later, I can barely stand and perform Isyak prayers. I try to get the info from my friends of what's happening at Convo Square. I just feel something not right about it. So, I went there with my head still feel like spinning. My guess is right. Yet, what can I do? I feel so bad that I can't contribute something when people really need me. I try to give a hand anyway.

Then, the most-awaiting day comes. I feel barely healthy that morning. However, I still lost my appetite. So, I just take 2 currypuff and sky juice for my breakfast. I try to get update from my committee about the progress and try to run a rehearsal. However, I still limit my movement. It's already last minute. What can you expect? I don't know the whole thing as what I'm supposed to. The officiating ceremony that night was one of the horrified moments in my life. I forgot to eat medicine for 2 days already with no appetite at all. Plus, I don't take any food since the breakfast except a few glasses of water. Consequently, after the officiating ceremony, I just lost my balance and my head spinning. During the post-mortem, I don't know what they were talking about. When it's my turn to talk, I talked like rubbish. I want to apologise to my committee for saying anything unnecessary. I really lost control that night.

Fortunately, the next two days run very smoothly that I regain my health and fitness. Quite funny that I act like a head of bodyguard for Amy Search and Aizat AF. haha... My task forced me to be alert of any threat to the security of the performing artistes. Unfortunately, I didn't have even a single chance to take a snap with them eventhough I was always being very close to them throughout the event. This is the most valuable experience for me that not many of us will get, which is being the security guard for artistes.... haha.. However, the most valuable lesson here is TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH! huhuh

Thank you for reading.

Segalanya Kerana Babi

“Sesungguhnya Allah hanya mengharamkan atasmu (memakan) bangkai, darah, daging babi dan apa yang disembelih dengan menyebut nama selain Allah; tetapi barangsiapa yang terpaksa memakannya dengan tidak menganiaya dan tidak pula melampaui batas, maka sesungguhnya Allah Maha Pengampun lagi Maha Penyayang.” (An-Nahl: 115)

Akhirnya setelah hampir 4 bulan penyakit Influenza A dikesan, UTP terpaksa ditutup berkuatkuasa pada pukul 3 petang 31/7/2009 walaupun tiada satu warga UTP pun disahkan positif menghidap penyakit tersebut setakat ini. Walau bagaimanapun hampir 100 orang pelajar terpaksa dikuarantin akibat mengalami simptom Influenza-like Ilnesses (ILI). Setakat hari ini 1 Ogos 2009 di Malaysia, 1390 kes dilaporkan, 1362 pesakit sudah sembuh. Hanya 17 pesakit masih dirawat di hospital termasuk 8 di ICU dan 11 yang lain menerima rawatan di rumah.

Sememangnya segala apa yang ada pada babi menyusahkan hidup manusia sejagat. Sedangkan harimau atau singa perlu mengaum untuk menakutkan manusia. Namun, babi hanya perlu bersin dan seluruh dunia pasti panik. Pelbagai bahana yang dibawa babi bermula dengan Japanese Echepalitis (JE), Nipah Virus, Selesema Burung (H5N1) dan tidak lama setelah kes Selesema Burung reda, terkini datang pula Selesema Babi. Ironiknya, babi juga dikaitkan dengan kecomelan di negara-negara Eropah. Namun, bagi orang Melayu di Malaysia, menyebut perkataan ‘Babi’ itu sudah menimbulkan kengiluan dan kemualan yang amat sangat. Sememangnya banyak kajian telah membuktikan bahawa babi adalah vendor virus yang paling ‘canggih’ kerana mampu mengubah strain virus dengan pantas. Najisnya juga paling sukar untuk terbiodegradasi secara semulajadi menyebabkan pencemaran kepada air dan tanah.

Jadi, babi sangat menyusahkan kami pelajar UTP. Kenapa? Disebabkan babi, UTP terpaksa ditutup secara mendadak dan kami terkial-kial mencari tiket bas untuk pulang. Tambah menyusahkan ialah tiket ke pantai timur iaitu Kelantan dan Terengganu sudah habis untuk 2 hari iaitu 31/7 dan 1/8. Lalu, ramai yang terpaksa mempertimbangkan alternatif pergi ke KL dahulu sebelum membeli tiket bas pulang ke negeri masing-masing walaupun alternatif tersebut sangat berisiko tinggi.

Silap Naik Bas

Kisah saya dan beberapa orang rakan mungkin lebih menarik. Saya dan Muhammad terpaksa menghadiri mesyuarat tergempar Pesta Konvo pada pukul 8 pagi. Program yang menelan belanja beratus-ratus ribu ringgit ini mungkin mengalami risiko ditangguhkan akibat cuti yang mendadak ini. Hal tersebut akan menyebabkan defisit yang tinggi bagi sekretariat. Mesyuarat luar biasa yang memakan masa hampir 4 jam tersebut telah memutuskan beberapa alternatif baru untuk memastikan kelangsungan Pesta Konvo 2009. Walau bagaimanapun, keputusan masih tertakluk kepada pihak Rektor UTP. Jadi, ingin dijelaskan kepada sahabat-sahabat yang tertanya-tanya, bahawa Pesta Konvo tetap akan berjalan seperti biasa termasuk acara-acara yang telah dirancang sebelum ini (kecuali perubahan tarikh bagi Futsal Fever) melainkan ada notis rasmi daripada pihak atasan/Sekretariat Pesta Konvo yang menyatakan sebaliknya.

Selepas mesyuarat tersebut, kami terpaksa berkejar-kejar ke sana ke mari untuk menyelesaikan beberapa masalah yang timbul. Justeru, langsung tidak mempunyai masa untuk mencari tiket bas sama ada yang ditempah khas atau yang dibeli di luar. Saya hanya pulang ke bilik pukul 6.15 petang dengan perut yang kosong kerana langsung tidak makan nasi daripada pagi. Amat meletihkan. Terbaring di bilik Muhamad kerana langsung tak bermaya. Baharudin pun ada. Kami masih berada dalam kebimbangan kerana sekiranya kami tidak keluar daripada UTP sebelum 12 tengahari 1/8, kami pun akan dikuarantin. Terbayang dalam minda filem Resident Evil sewaktu penduduk Racoon City terpaksa dikuarantin akibat jangkitan virus walaupun sebenarnya ia tidaklah seteruk itu.. haha

Tepat pukul 6.20 petang, Baha menerima panggilan daripada seorang senior yang menyatakan bahawa masih ada 5 tempat kosong untuk sebuah bas yang disewa khas. Saya, Muhamad dan Baha terus berkejar ke V2 dengan hanya berbekalkan beberapa teguk air mineral untuk menjana tenaga. Sebaik sampai di pintu bas, terus saya membayar tambang tanpa menyedari bahawa bas itu sebenarnya menghala ke Kuala Terengganu. Langsung tertidur sebaik sahaja mengambil tempat di bahagian hadapan. Berhenti sebentar di RnR Sungai Perak untuk solat dan makan malam. Akhirnya perut terisi juga walaupun makanan di situ agak mahal.

Sambung tidur lagi. Sebaik sahaja sedar, bas sudah berada di Machang. Mula rasa tidak sedap hati kerana tidak pernah bas dari Perak ke Kota Bharu melalui Machang. Lalu, saya mesej Muhamad tapi dia lambat balas. Saya tanya abang kat sebelah saya memandangkan dia ketua rombongan. Dia memaklumkan kepada saya bahawa bas itu menghala ke Kuala Terengganu dan tidak akan memasuki bandar Machang mahupun Pasir Putih. Dia mencadangkan supaya saya hanya turun di tepi jalan. But it’s not feasible since it’s going to take 30 minutes from Pasir Puteh to Kota Bharu. Is it good for us to call our parents early in the morning just to fetch us up 30 minutes away from our home?

Jadi, kami mengambil keputusan untuk turun bersama pelajar dari Jerteh berhampiran Masjid Jerteh. Melihat senibina masjid tersebut yang indah dan cukup besar membuat kami termenung sejenak mengimbas kembali sirah. Masjid Dzar yang dibina oleh golongan munafik pernah dibakar oleh para sahabat atas tujuan pembinaannya yang sudah tersasar jauh daripada dasar ketaqwaan kepada Allah. Jelas di sini, bina masjid tak semestinya Islamik, yang penting atas dasar apa masjid itu dibina. Kalau untuk menang pilihanraya, rakyat Malaysia tidak buta.

Lebih kurang pukul 3.45 pagi, bas menuju ke Kota Bharu dari Kuantan berhenti menurunkan penumpang, kami menumpang bas tersebut untuk pulang. Alhamdulillah, selamat sampai di rumah pada pukul 5 pagi. Hari yang penuh dengan dugaan dan cabaran. Segalanya kerana babi.

Kenyataan rasmi cuti H1N1 UTP di sini

P/S: Geli hati bila orang bandingkan Yasmin Ahmad dan Majid Majdi... owh tidak..

New Semester Again!

Assalamualaikum,

New semester has just started for Chemical Engineering 2nd year 2nd sem student in UTP. Even though my result on last semester is not that good, yet I’m targeting even higher. This sem, I’m ‘just’ taking 5 subjects with a total 16 credit hours. Believe me, the number didn’t give you the whole picture of how pack my schedule.

1. Separation Process 2
2. Chemical Reaction Engineering
3. Process Safety and Loss Prevention
4. Probability and Statistics
5. Process Instrumentation

Well, as an engineering student, we need to perform a lot of lab works, projects, industrial visits and presentations. So, 16 credit hours for accounting student are absolutely not the same as 16 credit hours for engineering student. For this sem, my batch have 4 half-day labs. For each lab, we need to write a report for each experiment/simulation. Short report is usually no less than 50 pages. Can you imagine how many pages it is for a long report?

However, I feel quite relieve since I will have at least 3 local lecturers with precious experience to teach me. Last sem is quite terrible since all of my lecturers are foreigner and still very green. Just imagine how hard it was to come to the lecture and learned nothing. Then, we need to study everything on our own for the whole syllabus. That’s totally horrifying. But, in the end, I can’t blame them. It’s me who should adapt for my own sake. Nobody cares about your future but you yourself.

Dr. Saikat said this is also one of the separation techniques.. H1N1 fear mounting.. huhu

Basically, in last sem, we learn about the basic design of Heat Exchanger, Distillation Tower and Absorption Tower. Definitely, there are many types of those creatures. A lot of calculations to be made with graph and visual representations to optimize the process in those operation units. This time, we will learn more advance techniques of separation process(Adsorption, Ion Exchange, Crystallization, Membrane Separation, Sedimentation, Centrifugation and etc), basic design of reactor, instrumentation, safe and economic design of operation units and so on. Of course to design a reactor is not as simple as you think. But believe me you don’t want to know how. Because it’s going to mess up your life… haha

Continous-stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR)

Anyway, 2 semesters left before I go to Internship. Very eager to live the life of a real engineer… hehe.. Please pray for the best of my life.. TQ

Seminar Isu Semasa Tamadun Ummah

Pada 17 Julai 2009 iaitu semalam, Seminar Isu Semasa Tamadun Ummah sempena Majlis Tilawah Al-Quran Peringkat Kebangsaan telah berjaya dianjurkan secara bersama oleh JAKIM, JAIP, UTP dan MUAFAKAT. Bertempat di MPH, UTP, 3 kertas kerja telah dibentangkan oleh penceramah-penceramah hebat seperti Dr. Jamnul Azhar Mulkan, penceramah bebas, Dato’ Dr. Uthman El-Muhammady, Fellow kanan ISTAC, UIA dan En. Ann Wan Seng, SUK PERKIM Pusat.

Kertas Kerja 1: Mukjizat Sains Al-Quran oleh Dr. Jamnul Azhar Mulkan


Pada sesi pertama ini, Dr. Jamnul telah mengaitkan Kisah Israk dan Mi’raj dengan bidang fizik dan astronomi. Antara kenyataan yang cukup menarik untuk dikaji ialah teori Relativiti Albert Einstein yang sebahagiannya menyatakan:

“When a human being can move in the speed of light, he is not bound by time and space.”

Di dalam Al-Quran, Allah menyatakan bahawa Buraq, iaitu binatang yang ditunggangi nabi ketika israk dicipta daripada cahaya. Perbandingan dalil Al-Quran dan sains ini menjelaskan logik di sebalik peristiwa israk dan mi’raj tersebut.
Selain itu, antara yang dikongsi oleh beliau ialah perbahasan berkenaan anti-matter, big bang dan struktur alam semesta. Sangat mengujakan untuk diketahui ditambah pula dengan lawak beliau yang amat menggelikan hati.

Kertas Kerja 2: Pluralisme Agama Satu Penilaian oleh Dato’ Dr. Uthman El-Muhammady

Ulama’ yang begitu terkenal dengan gelaran ‘Ustaz Rambut Merah’ amat berpengaruh dalam bidangnya. Amat dikagumi kerana sifatnya yang tegas dan lantang bersuara. Antara perkara yang dibincangkan dalam sesi ini ialah ideologi Islam Liberal, Syiah, Wahhabi, Sekularisme, Orientalisme, Konsumerisme dan lain-lain. Perbincangan kali ini agak berat dan sensitif. Beberapa kali suasana ‘panas’ tercetus atas beberapa ulasan dan kenyataan beliau yang agak kontroversi. Antaranya apabila beliau membahaskan persoalan ulil amri pada kerajaan Malaysia dan isu Sekularisme. Berikut adalah kenyataan beliau yang membuatkan hadirin agak ‘panas punggung’.

“Malaysia bukanlah negara sekularis, Malaysia adalah negara Islam.”

Beliau mengecam mereka yang menuduh Malaysia negara sekularis dengan mengatakan bahawa mereka tidak memahami konotasi ‘Sekularisme’. Dalam kertas kerja yang dibentangkan, beliau mendefinisikan ‘Pemikiran Sekular’ sebagai:

“Cara berfikir memisahkan agama daripada ruang awam (bukan hanya politik).”

Anda faham kenyataan ini?

Seterusnya beliau menambah dalam ceramah beliau dengan konotasi ‘semua ruang awam’. Bagaimana anda mentafsirkannya? Walau bagaimanapun ada satu ayat Al-Quran daripada surah Al-Baqarah yang bermaksud:

“Hai orang-orang yang beriman, masuklah kamu ke dalam Islam keseluruhan, dan janganlah kamu turut langkah-langkah syaitan. Sesungguhnya syaitan itu musuh yang nyata bagimu.” (Al-Baqarah: 208)

Perbahasannya pasti lebih panjang. Tidak berani untuk saya huraikan isu ini lebih panjang atas kedudukan saya yang hanyalah seorang pelajar Kejuruteraan Kimia dibandingkan dengan beliau seorang Ulama’ yang berkredibiliti tinggi. Beliau juga menjelaskan titik-titik yang membezakan antara Islam dan Atheis terutama dari aspek Akidah. Ternyata titik-titik tersebut sangat ‘fragile’ dan mungkin ramai di antara kita sudah terbatal Syahadahnya tanpa disedari. Nauzubillah.

Di akhir sesi, beliau menegaskan betapa perlunya kita mengikuti mazhab Ahlissunnah wal jamaah yang sahih dan menjauhkan diri daripada unsur-unsur lain yang menyesatkan.

Kertas Kerja 3: Dakwah Efektif Pengalaman Aktivis oleh En. Ann Wan Seng

Satu perkongsian yang sangat menarik daripada En. Ann Wan Seng dengan stail penyampaian yang bersifat responsif dan penuh dengan humor. Pada awalnya, beliau menceritakan persepsi negatif orang Melayu terhadap kaum bukan Islam seperti Cina, India dan sebagainya. Beliau menegaskan bahawa orang Melayu Islam haruslah mengenepikan persepsi tersebut sebelum berfikir untuk merancang strategi dakwah terbaik. Antara kelemahan utama pendakwah Islam yang dinyatakan oleh beliau ialah dari segi Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan (R&D) berbanding dengan pendakyah Kristian yang begitu komited mengkaji ‘target group’ mereka secara komprehensif sebelum menyampaikan dakyah mereka.

Seterusnya, beliau berkongsi pengalaman dakwah beliau bersama orang Asli, Cina, India, Eropah di samping isu murtad. Di sesi soal jawab, beliau mendedahkan satu fakta yang membuatkan semua peserta tergamam iaitu pembinaan kompleks gereja terbesar di Asia di Bukit Jalil. Kompleks yang dikenali sebagai Calvary Convention Center tersebut yang berada hanya di sebelah lebuhraya bakal menjadi Pusat Missionari Kristian tercanggih di dunia. Beliau hanya menyedari pembinaan tersebut setelah hampir 80% kompleks itu siap. Bentuknya mirip kapal. Justeru, marilah sama-sama berwaspada dengan dakyah Kristian yang kian bertapak kukuh di Malaysia kini.Buktinya di sini. Kisah lebih lanjut boleh diperolehi di sini dan sini

Model Cavalry Convention Center

Seminar ini telah dirasmikan oleh Y.B. Senator Dato’ Dr. Mashitah Binti Ibrahim, Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri. Ternyata ‘aura’ beliau masih belum hilang walaupun tudungnya sudah sedikit singkat. Namun itu serba sedikit menjejaskan kredibiliti beliau selaku seorang pendakwah yang begitu bersemangat memperjuangkan isu tudung/hijab suatu ketika dahulu.

Dalam ucapannya beliau menekankan unsur keseimbangan dalam pembangunan Tamadun Ummah iaitu merujuk kepada keseimbangan duniawi dan ukhrawi. Secara keseluruhan, seminar ini sangat membuka minda dan merangsang pemikiran.

Majlis Tilawah Al-Quran Peringkat Kebangsaan ke-52

“Dan berpeganglah kamu semuanya kepada tali (agama) Allah, dan janganlah kamu bercerai berai, dan ingatlah akan nikmat Allah kepadamu ketika kamu dahulu (masa Jahiliyah) bermusuh-musuhan, maka Allah mempersatukan hatimu, lalu menjadilah kamu karena nikmat Allah, orang-orang yang bersaudara; dan kamu telah berada di tepi jurang neraka, lalu Allah menyelamatkan kamu dari padanya. Demikianlah Allah menerangkan ayat-ayat-Nya kepadamu, agar kamu mendapat petunjuk.” (Al-Imran: 103)

Begitulah mafhum ayat yang dibacakan oleh Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyidin Yasin dalam ucapan perasmian Majlis Tilawah Al-Quran Peringkat Kebangsaan ke-52 di Dewan Canselor Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS semalam. Ayat ini merupakan teras kepada tema Tilawah kali ini iaitu ‘Wahdah Pemangkin Khaira Ummah’. Jelas sekali tema ini tampil dengan mesej perpaduan yang kukuh dalam kalangan umat Islam ke arah kemajuan.

Majlis Tilawah menampilkan keunikannya yang tersendiri. Dimulakan dengan pembacaan Al-Quran oleh 3 orang yang cacat penglihatan menggunakan Al-Quran Braille. Sejenak kagum melihat mereka yang kurang upaya mampu membaca Al-Quran dengan cukup baik setaraf dengan mereka yang sempurna jasad mahupun akal. Kagum juga melihat gaya ‘Menteri Besar’ Perak yang berucap dengan karisma sebagai seorang ustaz buat pertama kalinya dengan doa pembukaan yang agak panjang dan bacaan beberapa potong ayat suci Al-Quran. Hal yang sama dilihat pada YAB Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Walau bagaimanapun, satu usaha yang baik. Syabas diucapkan.

Dato' Dr. Zambry sedang berucap

Ucapan Tan Sri Muhyidin Yasin

Ketika slot gimik, majlis telah menampilkan seorang kanak-kanak buta berusia 11 tahun berasal dari Kelantan membaca Al-Quran Braille secara bertarannum. Subhanallah, terpacul secara spontan dari lidah ini. Bacaannya cukup menggetarkan jiwa. Jauh lebih hebat daripada suara Agnes Monica ketika menyanyikan lagu ‘Matahariku’. Hampir menitis airmata mendengar bacaannya walaupun tidak sampai 5 minit. Sungguh menginsafkan saya kira bukan diri saya sahaja, malah penonton lain yang menyaksikannya secara ‘LIVE’ mahupun dari kaca TV.

Qari cilik yang buta... bacaan yang mengujakan

Terkenang diri ini ketika usia 11 tahun yang masih merangkak membaca Al-Quran. Suka untuk saya berkongsi sedikit pengalaman ketika menjadi fasilitator Program Khemah Ibadah sekitar akhir tahun 2008 yang disertai oleh pelajar berusia 7-15 tahun. Terdapat satu slot peserta diajar untuk menghafaz Al-Quran dengan cara yang betul. Saya telah diminta oleh seorang fasilitator untuk mengendalikan sekumpulan pelajar yang langsung tiada asas dalam membaca Al-Quran berusia 11 hingga 14 tahun iaitu sebaya dengan qari cilik dalam gambar di atas. Bayangkan mereka langsung tidak tahu huruf-huruf hija'iyyah. Apatah lagi membaca Al-Quran. Pada awalnya saya agak marah. Namun, saya cuba redakan emosi dan menyelami kehidupan mereka satu-persatu. Kebanyakan mereka adalah anak yatim dari sebuah rumah anak yatim di Perak. Selebihnya tinggal bersama ibu bapa masing-masing di rumah dalam keadaan yang mewah. Rumah anak yatim tersebut tidak pernah menyediakan pengajian Al-Quran kepada penghuninya melainkan kepada penghuni yang agak 'senior'. Manakala peserta-peserta yang lebih bernasib baik tadi tidak pernah didedahkan dengan Al-Quran di rumah dan hanya sedikit penekanan di sekolah melalui kelas KAFA dan sebagainya. Mungkin mana-mana badan yang berkemampuan di IPT-IPT sekitar Perak boleh menghulurkan bantuan untuk mengajar Al-Quran kepada anak-anak yatim ini.

Itulah realiti dunia sahabat-sahabat. Lebih sedih apabila mengenangkan ramai sahabat di UTP mahupun di luar sana yang masih tidak mampu ataupun tidak mahu membaca Al-Quran. Al-Quran hanya disentuh mungkin sekali sahaja seumur hidup. Itupun ketika ibu bapa sedang nazak. Maka merangkaklah kita mencari surah Yasin. Mungkin juga seumur hidupnya hanya tahu membaca Al-Fatihah dan surah Yasin kerana dipelajari sewaktu Datuk ataupun nenek meninggal. Lebih malang lagi apabila lagu-lagu tidak bermoral diberi prioriti lebih daripada Al-Quran. Maka apakah nilai kalamullah ini di sisi mereka? Apakah nilai kalamullah di sisi kita?

“Dan sesungguhnya Kami telah mendatangkan sebuah Kitab (Al Quran) kepada mereka yang Kami telah menjelaskannya atas dasar pengetahuan Kami; menjadi petunjuk dan rahmat bagi orang-orang yang beriman.” (Al-A’raaf: 52)

Justeru, saya menyeru sahabat-sahabat untuk sama-sama mendalami Al-Quran bukan sahaja dari aspek tajwid atau tarannum, malah yang jauh lebih penting adalah intipati Al-Quran itu sendiri.

“…Katakanlah: "Adakah sama orang-orang yang mengetahui dengan orang-orang yang tidak mengetahui?" Sesungguhnya orang yang berakallah yang dapat menerima pelajaran.” (Az-Zumar: 9)

Al-Quran Braille

Marilah sama-sama kita menghayati bacaan yang diperdengarkan oleh qari-qari dan qariah-qariah yang hebat-hebat belaka di Dewan Canselor, UTP secara 'LIVE'. Jika tidak mampu, tontonilah TV1 setiap malam sehingga 19 Julai mahupun melalui radio IKIM.fm dan Klasik.fm. Tapi bila tengok LIVE ni, 'feel' dia lebih sikit... hehe..

Wallahua'lam

Nota: 1st time chancellor hall penuh dan melimpah ke luar.... huhuh

Tigo Lape

Assalamualaikum,

it has been a long time since I update this blog. Again. hehe.. Enduring a very busy schedule lately. I rarely had a chance to write since I stepped my foot here in UTP almost a month ago. Always travelling here and there, meeting like I've nothing else to do. Yes, I would say it's very exhausting. For 3 consecutive semesters I come back to UTP from sem break a month earlier than others. Seems like it's going to continue for another one semester. Please bear in mind that I'll have no semester break for the January 2010 semester since I'll be going to internship for 8 months long. So, no sem break at all for 2 semesters. Alhamdulillah, I'm used to it. No reason for me to stop since the goal is very clear and I've many kind friends around to support. I believe I've nothing to lose but everything to win. Not for myself, but for Islam InsyaAllah.

"O ye who believe! if ye will aid (the cause of) Allah, He will aid you and plant your feet firmly." (Muhammad: 7)


Examination Result


Very unexpected. At my first glance, I just don't believe it. Feel like want to spill all those dirty words in front of my laptop. So that nobody will know who I am at my worst. My coursework mark for all those core subjects are high enough to make myself belong to so-called 'High Achievers' group and not 'Average' group. I can ensure you that I've put my best effort to achieve my target. At least to increase my GPA. I can answer all the papers confidently except for one subject that I believe all my coursemates never put any hope on it. Yet, It goes further down. So, I can't say I'm satisfied with it. Then, I just open my Koran and read Surah Al-Waqiah to blow some strength in my weary heart. Then, I just flip the pages and happened to find this verse:

"But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not." (Al-Baqarah: 216)

However, I intend to recheck my mark. There's still hope isn't it? We should strive to change what we believe rather than blaming God for something that doesn't go our way.


Convofair 2009 Family Day

SIRIM Exhibition Gallery.. Sean muka tak puas hati.. haha

For this year, we went north to Kedah and Perlis for 3 days. For the first day, we went to Advanvanced Material Research Center (AMREC) owned by SIRIM. A lot of interesting input we got here regarding Intellectual Property(IP). Unfortunately, It doesn't really concern my field (Chemical Engineering) except just a little of them. Then, we went to Gunung Jerai to hike. However, we have some technical problems that force us to change our plan. So, we headed straight to MRSM Beseri to have some exciting activities at night.

The most creative paper building

Second day, early in the morning, we went to Padang Besar close to Malaysia-Thailand Border to... well, you know what... hehe... Of course shopping! But I just spend RM100 to buy a kopiah(piyoh as written on its box)-RM40, England rugby team jersy-RM35 and Spain football team jersy-RM25. Observe that my 'piyoh' is most expensive... why is that so? Watch for yourself. haha.

There's a very funny story back there. Note that most of the stallers are Thai's Malay. So, they speak Malay with quite strong Kelantanese accent. Earlier before I'm planning to buy a wallet since I got a few holes in my beloved wallet which I've used for 9 YEARS mind you. That's almost half of my whole life. So, I went to search one. I went to a shop with Sean (Syazwan Onn) and look through the wallets there. One with Polo brand(of course it's a 'pirate' one) caught my eyes. I spoke with the kakak there using standard Malay to ask about the price. She struggled to speak using the same language with me. I 'smell' kelantanese in her words.. hehe...

Kat Padang Besar membeli-belah

"Akak, berapa harga yang ni kak?"


"Hok mane tu abei? Hok nih?"


"Ya, yang Polo tu."


"Pak limo(RM4.50) hok nih, tapi buleh kughe lagi nih. Kito buwi tigo lape(RM3.80) la abei weh."


At first, I was shocked to think that it's extremely cheap! Then only I spoke using Kelantanese Dialect.


"Buleh la kak. nok hok nih."


So, she packed it in a plastic bag and I brought out four notes of RM1=RM4. Then, she gave me a bewildered look and suddenly closed her face with both of her palms. Maybe she was laughing.

It turned out that the price is actually RM 38.00.... haha... my face turned red.. it was so embarassing!


"Takdi ke kak kato tigo lape? kito buwi la pat riya."


"Abei wei kito kato doh tigo lape."


Arghh... that's confusing isn't it? in Kelantanese Dialect, when we said 'tigo lape', it means RM3.80 not RM38.00(tigo puluh lape). I didn't take that wallet and just ran away from there. Maybe she just intentionally try to make me feel embarassed so that I will pay the price because she thought that I didn't understand Kelantanese Dialect. From my observation, all the stallers there understand the Kelantanese Dialect the same as I understand it... hahahaha.

Moral of the story: Don't speak using standard Malay... hahaha

In the evening, we give a talk to MRSM Beseri's students about campus's life and engineering course. At night, we did a group performance. A lot of funny performances that we almost laugh to death.

Bersama pelajar MRSM Beseri... Grup kami... huhu

On the 3rd day, we went to hike Gunung Jerai. Very tiring. We need to hike for almost three hours on a very leaning path. After 2 hours of walking, I feel like fainting. So, I just ride a van prepared by the committee to the top. Nothing more to tell. Maybe pictures can explain much better.. huhu

Sebelum ekspedisi yang memancitkan bermula

Junior2ku kat puncak

Sangat2 tak bermaya dah... adeh

Note: Do you need translation for Kelantanese Dialect? hehe