No, I won’t talk about Dr Asri’s weird and unreasonable detention as I guess many people have written about it. As for now, I would probably say that everyone knows what is going on with the case and if you don’t, how about starts with reading more news everyday perhaps?
I could be one of the few Kadet Remaja Sekolah (KRS) seniors from SMKTTDI who are still watching the performance by our juniors and still following their achievement and progress throughout the years. At times I do browse for ‘kawad berirama’ in Youtube to watch my juniors performed as well as other school who had venture themselves into rhythmic marching. Well, that shows more students are more interested in that area and will be giving more competition to my school. It seems good for a healthy competition among schools but at the same time, I’ve encountered a disturbing scenario in the performance by other schools. Just try to have a look on at least 2 videos, if you are in SMKTTDI from 2002 until 2004 and regularly watched KRS’s performance, you can see that it’s just almost the same. In fact the steps are also the same as before. You might think that I am taking things too serious about this matter, yes, I admit, since KRS is something dear to me, I am taking it a bit seriously. What can you tell from the ‘copycat’ performance? In a way, I can just say that SMKTTDI is just simply the best group when comes to rhythmic marching performance but that just not about it. Why can’t these youngsters work a bit harder to crack their head and have some originality in their performance? During those times we worked hard to create new ideas for our performance. We watched any movies which have lots of dance steps, marching band performance from DCI, etc. We would always try to offer something new in our performance because we believe in entertaining the audience with our originality. Of course, becoming undefeated champion is cool for SMKTTDI but I would always want to see tough competition for us. Even we lose the competition to a group which is obviously better than us, we will humbly and manly accept our defeat (but it seems that we were always defeated by those who were not up to that level). The bottom line is; kids, please be more original for the sake of you. Learn the hard way and I am guarantee you that you will find satisfaction in it.
Enough with my ramblings with school gossips. -End-
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Of Sejadah & Beyonce
A number of praying ‘sejadah’ (prayer mat) cases has grown up in this week. My comment on this issue is very straight-forward. If it comes from Allah s.w.t as a sign to us, all praises for Allah s.w.t for reminding us on how important our congregational prayers to us. However, if it’s man-made, that is just plain cheap publicity. But it seems that many Malaysians are just too fascinated with the cases. Let’s just ask ourselves, aren’t there enough evidence given by Allah s.w.t on his Godly power? I have read a few forums discussing on this issue. As for me, let’s just take it as a sign from Him to spend our time more in the mosque to perform congregational prayers (the same advice goes to me as well) and remind ourselves that we need to increase our Ibadah from time to time as we are just His humble servants living in this world. PERIOD!
Ahah, Beyonce’s concert is cancelled. Mixed feelings were shown for this one. Some were grateful that they have ‘eliminated’ Beyonce from Malaysia. However many of Malaysians were extremely disappointed for the cancellation. I’m not her fan anyway and I don’t really watch live concert (I think the last concert that I went was in 2003, that was Rabbani’s concert in Bukit Kiara, or was it Voices? Nahh, I can’t recall) so I am entirely not affected whether she’s around or not. But let’s just see from different point of view. PAS youth wing (please correct me if I’m wrong) has pledged to ensure that the concert should not be held in Malaysia as it is promoting hedonism etc. Credits to PAS for addressing the hedonism issue but at the same time, we should always look at other important issues that need to be addressed but then again, I don’t think much effort has been done so far. Let’s look at the domestic violence, irresponsible men who left their wives for months and years, flaws in Sharia Law (particularly marriage-related), etc. But from my observation, I haven’t not seen PAS become really vocal with the issue especially when comes to framework to solve the matter (please update me if they have done something with it). When comes to divorce cases among Muslim community, Islam has been portrayed with an image that we will always sided the men rather than the wives when comes to solve the problem. This has created a bad image that Islam has always put women as a second-class human-being. There are also other issues that crucially need to be addressed and solve as it is affecting the whole community. Yes, a hedonistic society is a problem as well but I believe we should be holistic and pragmatic to ensure a better Malaysia from various aspects. I will stop here as knowing myself; I am not at the best knowledge to speak more on Sharia and other law and Islamic-related issues. But rest assured, as a person, we have our rights to voice out on what should be the best for everyone. Let’s just put an end to politicking and do serious job for this country.
Ahah, Beyonce’s concert is cancelled. Mixed feelings were shown for this one. Some were grateful that they have ‘eliminated’ Beyonce from Malaysia. However many of Malaysians were extremely disappointed for the cancellation. I’m not her fan anyway and I don’t really watch live concert (I think the last concert that I went was in 2003, that was Rabbani’s concert in Bukit Kiara, or was it Voices? Nahh, I can’t recall) so I am entirely not affected whether she’s around or not. But let’s just see from different point of view. PAS youth wing (please correct me if I’m wrong) has pledged to ensure that the concert should not be held in Malaysia as it is promoting hedonism etc. Credits to PAS for addressing the hedonism issue but at the same time, we should always look at other important issues that need to be addressed but then again, I don’t think much effort has been done so far. Let’s look at the domestic violence, irresponsible men who left their wives for months and years, flaws in Sharia Law (particularly marriage-related), etc. But from my observation, I haven’t not seen PAS become really vocal with the issue especially when comes to framework to solve the matter (please update me if they have done something with it). When comes to divorce cases among Muslim community, Islam has been portrayed with an image that we will always sided the men rather than the wives when comes to solve the problem. This has created a bad image that Islam has always put women as a second-class human-being. There are also other issues that crucially need to be addressed and solve as it is affecting the whole community. Yes, a hedonistic society is a problem as well but I believe we should be holistic and pragmatic to ensure a better Malaysia from various aspects. I will stop here as knowing myself; I am not at the best knowledge to speak more on Sharia and other law and Islamic-related issues. But rest assured, as a person, we have our rights to voice out on what should be the best for everyone. Let’s just put an end to politicking and do serious job for this country.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
I have no idea for the title, just read
Yes, I have been talking about this for many2 times that I am not always consistent with my blog. I don’t really have the mood to write about something all the day and I always prefer to meet my few friends who have the same frequency as mine to discuss on issues which can be flaming to those who are not really open to it.
Let’s talk about level of openness. We can see in the news, blogs or anywhere that people write about how they feel about issues that are closely related to them or they feel there is an urge for them to share their thoughts on that. I have no problem with that as I am also doing the same thing too. I always believe that we should always give equal rights to everyone to express their thoughts especially if it affects them thoroughly. Inter-ideology, inter-faith or any inter-whatever shit that you want to have is always welcomed. We can learn about other people’s differences and at the same time we could understand things from other people’s point of view. But how can we take it? There were a few times which I encountered people who are very2 passionate yet emotional with religious issues by accusing the speaker of preaching the wrong thing (the fact that it’s a wrong thing in your belief is another thing, but can’t you just let the speaker speak first?) Why do we always choose to show our bad side e.g tantrum, cow-head demonstration (this is just a very dearly example in Malaysia, :P ) etc.
Look on what happened in the recent Ganyang Malaysia issue. I don’t want to comment much about this because I am high self-esteem person and as a high self-esteem person, I believe that my level of intelligence is high so I will never tolerate such stupidity in sentiment to demonstrate. (If you don’t understand what I am trying to say, I don’t care, hahahahaha)
I want to write more on this but I shall keep it for my next posting, so I’ll have more posting and I will look like a consistent blogger hence I am....I am...I am whatever I am laaaa.....
Let’s talk about level of openness. We can see in the news, blogs or anywhere that people write about how they feel about issues that are closely related to them or they feel there is an urge for them to share their thoughts on that. I have no problem with that as I am also doing the same thing too. I always believe that we should always give equal rights to everyone to express their thoughts especially if it affects them thoroughly. Inter-ideology, inter-faith or any inter-whatever shit that you want to have is always welcomed. We can learn about other people’s differences and at the same time we could understand things from other people’s point of view. But how can we take it? There were a few times which I encountered people who are very2 passionate yet emotional with religious issues by accusing the speaker of preaching the wrong thing (the fact that it’s a wrong thing in your belief is another thing, but can’t you just let the speaker speak first?) Why do we always choose to show our bad side e.g tantrum, cow-head demonstration (this is just a very dearly example in Malaysia, :P ) etc.
Look on what happened in the recent Ganyang Malaysia issue. I don’t want to comment much about this because I am high self-esteem person and as a high self-esteem person, I believe that my level of intelligence is high so I will never tolerate such stupidity in sentiment to demonstrate. (If you don’t understand what I am trying to say, I don’t care, hahahahaha)
I want to write more on this but I shall keep it for my next posting, so I’ll have more posting and I will look like a consistent blogger hence I am....I am...I am whatever I am laaaa.....
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Let's Forgive
"when deep injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive, forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future"
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
In praise of daydreaming
credits to The Malaysian Insider
SEPT 23 — My most vivid memory of school is sitting at the back of the class looking out the window at the rice fields several floors below, hearing the occasional bark of a dog, the distant slam of a car door, and being lulled into a semi-hypnotic state by the slow whirring of the electric fan. My mind would wander, between reality and dream, concentration and distraction.
For such indulgences I was often rewarded by detention after school. In university I continued to be a back-of-the-class student, not irritating the lecturer by talking to friends, but generally daydreaming. Nothing consequential, just idly letting my mind roam. Nowadays I do this whenever I fly; I look at the clouds and observe their shapes.
Without the threat of detention from school teachers, I indulge in letting random thoughts form like soap bubbles, bumping into one another, bursting or simply floating away.
I had never really thought about daydreaming. But neuroscientists are discovering that daydreaming actually involves complex mental processes. Far from being empty, our minds are actually more active when we daydream than during other “thinking” hours.
Our minds usually wander when we are engaged in routine tasks that, due to their familiarity, do not require focused attention. The “default network” of the brain is usually engaged at this time, when we are not entirely focused on the external world or the task at hand. It deactivates when we switch to goal-oriented behaviour, and decreases in activity when other parts of the brain used to process external visual stimuli start up. It is essentially a network of brain regions used when we are in a self-referential, introspective mode of thinking, when we form extraneous thoughts unrelated to our immediate environment — in other words, when we daydream.
It was previously thought that only the default network was active during daydreams. But now, a new study by the University of British Columbia has found that during mind-wandering, the “executive network” of the brain — the part associated with high-level, complex problem-solving — also lights up. Previously thought to work in mutual exclusivity, both the default and the executive networks are engaged in daydreaming.
This is what neuroscientist Kalina Christoff has to say: “People assumed that when your mind wandered it was empty. But mind wandering is a much more active state than we ever imagined, much more active than during reasoning with a complex problem.”
Neuroscientists were able to measure far more brain activity in volunteers who tried to solve a problem through insight than in those who applied logic. “We often assume that if we don't notice our thoughts they don't exist,” said Christoff. “When we don't notice them is when we may be thinking most creatively.”
Studies show that problem-solving by insight — when you suddenly feel the pieces click — requires both a higher degree and a different pattern of neural resources than methodical, logical thinking. Daydreaming seems to be a fundamental basis for insight. More than just a pleasant way to pass the time, it allows “transit space” in between the more straightforward tasks of our day for new associations to form.
Given that creative insight is primarily the realisation of unusual connections between seemingly disparate concepts, daydreaming offers the mind space to explore these possibilities. Ironically, these insights often materialise without warning, through an unconscious shift in mental perspective, a sudden comprehension.
The lack of conscious awareness and accompanying mental freedom is key: Art Fry was bored by a church sermon and mulling over the repetitive problem of paper scraps, used as bookmarks, falling out of hymnal pages when he first conceived of Post-it notes. George de Mestral was walking his dog in the Swiss Alps when he noticed the way burrs stuck to his pet's coat and linked this to the idea of Velcro.
It is when my youngest son walks almost absent-mindedly yet obsessively round and around our house, tracing the same route, that he finds inspiration for his poems and stories.
But our culture today still discourages seemingly pointless, open-ended time. Class schedules are packed back-to-back with activities; office agendas are filled with meetings and deadlines. Goal-oriented thinking is considered primary. But what this new research suggests is that reaching loftier goals and even surpassing them requires not focusing on the steps along the way.
The recently formulated concept of neuroplasticity — the brain's ability to change both its structure and function — suggests that the brain can change by strengthening or expanding oft-used circuitry and minimising those less used. The implications are startling: What we think can change how we think — and vice versa.
Experiments that map the brainwave patterns of meditating monks find that the most accomplished practitioners with the most hours of meditation — 10,000 to 50,000 hours was the range — have more unusually powerful and fast-moving gamma waves than novice practitioners. The gamma waves of the more advanced monks were also better organised and coordinated. This intense brain pattern is associated with the ability to knit together disparate brain circuits, and therefore productive of the kind of perceptive insights that cannot be accessed through plodding logic.
Essentially, meditation is simply a more intensive and disciplined way of daydreaming. It frees the mind of conscious thoughts in order to allow the subconscious to surface and resolve issues in ways that the conscious, rational mind is not capable of.
What — and how — we know will no doubt continually evolve. We are learning that mental activities considered idle and wasteful in the past actually have profound functions. At the same time, we are discovering that these functions do not normally occur within our conscious grasp.
Yet, the possibilities to change and train the powers of our minds remain open. Whatever the case, daydreaming is not an activity anyone will, or can, give up. For now, we would do well to cherish that transit space, when we are in the suspended period between problem and solution, origin and destination. — The Straits Times
The writer is chairman of the board of trustees of the Singapore Management University.
SEPT 23 — My most vivid memory of school is sitting at the back of the class looking out the window at the rice fields several floors below, hearing the occasional bark of a dog, the distant slam of a car door, and being lulled into a semi-hypnotic state by the slow whirring of the electric fan. My mind would wander, between reality and dream, concentration and distraction.
For such indulgences I was often rewarded by detention after school. In university I continued to be a back-of-the-class student, not irritating the lecturer by talking to friends, but generally daydreaming. Nothing consequential, just idly letting my mind roam. Nowadays I do this whenever I fly; I look at the clouds and observe their shapes.
Without the threat of detention from school teachers, I indulge in letting random thoughts form like soap bubbles, bumping into one another, bursting or simply floating away.
I had never really thought about daydreaming. But neuroscientists are discovering that daydreaming actually involves complex mental processes. Far from being empty, our minds are actually more active when we daydream than during other “thinking” hours.
Our minds usually wander when we are engaged in routine tasks that, due to their familiarity, do not require focused attention. The “default network” of the brain is usually engaged at this time, when we are not entirely focused on the external world or the task at hand. It deactivates when we switch to goal-oriented behaviour, and decreases in activity when other parts of the brain used to process external visual stimuli start up. It is essentially a network of brain regions used when we are in a self-referential, introspective mode of thinking, when we form extraneous thoughts unrelated to our immediate environment — in other words, when we daydream.
It was previously thought that only the default network was active during daydreams. But now, a new study by the University of British Columbia has found that during mind-wandering, the “executive network” of the brain — the part associated with high-level, complex problem-solving — also lights up. Previously thought to work in mutual exclusivity, both the default and the executive networks are engaged in daydreaming.
This is what neuroscientist Kalina Christoff has to say: “People assumed that when your mind wandered it was empty. But mind wandering is a much more active state than we ever imagined, much more active than during reasoning with a complex problem.”
Neuroscientists were able to measure far more brain activity in volunteers who tried to solve a problem through insight than in those who applied logic. “We often assume that if we don't notice our thoughts they don't exist,” said Christoff. “When we don't notice them is when we may be thinking most creatively.”
Studies show that problem-solving by insight — when you suddenly feel the pieces click — requires both a higher degree and a different pattern of neural resources than methodical, logical thinking. Daydreaming seems to be a fundamental basis for insight. More than just a pleasant way to pass the time, it allows “transit space” in between the more straightforward tasks of our day for new associations to form.
Given that creative insight is primarily the realisation of unusual connections between seemingly disparate concepts, daydreaming offers the mind space to explore these possibilities. Ironically, these insights often materialise without warning, through an unconscious shift in mental perspective, a sudden comprehension.
The lack of conscious awareness and accompanying mental freedom is key: Art Fry was bored by a church sermon and mulling over the repetitive problem of paper scraps, used as bookmarks, falling out of hymnal pages when he first conceived of Post-it notes. George de Mestral was walking his dog in the Swiss Alps when he noticed the way burrs stuck to his pet's coat and linked this to the idea of Velcro.
It is when my youngest son walks almost absent-mindedly yet obsessively round and around our house, tracing the same route, that he finds inspiration for his poems and stories.
But our culture today still discourages seemingly pointless, open-ended time. Class schedules are packed back-to-back with activities; office agendas are filled with meetings and deadlines. Goal-oriented thinking is considered primary. But what this new research suggests is that reaching loftier goals and even surpassing them requires not focusing on the steps along the way.
The recently formulated concept of neuroplasticity — the brain's ability to change both its structure and function — suggests that the brain can change by strengthening or expanding oft-used circuitry and minimising those less used. The implications are startling: What we think can change how we think — and vice versa.
Experiments that map the brainwave patterns of meditating monks find that the most accomplished practitioners with the most hours of meditation — 10,000 to 50,000 hours was the range — have more unusually powerful and fast-moving gamma waves than novice practitioners. The gamma waves of the more advanced monks were also better organised and coordinated. This intense brain pattern is associated with the ability to knit together disparate brain circuits, and therefore productive of the kind of perceptive insights that cannot be accessed through plodding logic.
Essentially, meditation is simply a more intensive and disciplined way of daydreaming. It frees the mind of conscious thoughts in order to allow the subconscious to surface and resolve issues in ways that the conscious, rational mind is not capable of.
What — and how — we know will no doubt continually evolve. We are learning that mental activities considered idle and wasteful in the past actually have profound functions. At the same time, we are discovering that these functions do not normally occur within our conscious grasp.
Yet, the possibilities to change and train the powers of our minds remain open. Whatever the case, daydreaming is not an activity anyone will, or can, give up. For now, we would do well to cherish that transit space, when we are in the suspended period between problem and solution, origin and destination. — The Straits Times
The writer is chairman of the board of trustees of the Singapore Management University.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Pagi Raya
Now it’s already pagi raya. When comes to eid-mubarak, people will seek forgiveness from their family and friends on their past mistakes. Forgiveness should not only be sought during Hari Raya or any specific day, we should always remind ourselves to seek forgiveness whenever we might hurt someone around us. Holding grudges and ‘cold war’ won’t help because it can even hurt you more. Don’t wait because death is certain, we just don’t know when our time is. To all my friends in all over Malaysia, I’m wishing you Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin. Drive safely if you are taking the driver’s seat and don’t eat too much (same reminder to myself as well) hehehehe..:)
*my last year's eid mubarak greeting to my sister and yasmin..:)
*my last year's eid mubarak greeting to my sister and yasmin..:)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
