Wednesday, October 27, 2010

CAT'S PHYSIOTHERAPY RESULT

Salam & hi to all,

Syifa' has gone through few physiotherapy sessions under one unqualified cat physiotherapist (that is me of course haha..) and the result is overwhelming fantastic! Alhamdulillah :)

what i have learned from him is, we might encountered a fall, many types of falls, economic fall, relationship fall (failure), physical fall, emotional fall, spiritual fall and so many other types of mishap in life. Syifa' has shown a tremendous spirit to get up and strive hard to walk again.

life must go on, and with sabr (patient), be steadfast and perseverance in our effort, a problem is a 'no problem' with the help of Allah SWT insyaAllah.

no one is handicapped unless he/she believes others assumption that he couldnt do the things he actually can.

please dont live on others expectations, have your own. if a 'fall' happens, it wont hurt that much :)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

INFLUENTIAL PERSONS

Salam & hi to all,

i am going to talk a bit about parenthood tonight. every time i see the picture of a rugged or fashionable hair styled korean singers, my heart would pump inconsistently faster. i am so worried of the trend nowadays that pop stars are looked as 'perfect' and most youngsters want to be like them, no matter how weird they look.

dont be surprised that i asked all my kids to watch with me, the latest video clip of lady gaga alejendro. they were covering their eyes, giggling and screaming 'Ma, this is porn video'. i asked them to watch till the end. i know they would watch it anyway, secretly alone or with their friends. so it didnt make much difference then.

i would like to write more about the danger of this song for the viewers but due to the time now is almost 2.30 am, i think i better go straight to the point.

i told my kids, its very important and essential to understand and get to know deeper on the personality/whoever they admire or intend to emulate. i dont mean to tarnish the identity of any public figures/artists, but the identity they are having did explain by itself where, it contributes to the imbalance of the society of the youngsters. this inculcate to identity crisis among them. thus, in my case, i have to explain to my kids why and how lady gaga is inappropriate to be followed as an music idol (or whatever term!).

talking about having the identity crisis, communication within the family is one main factor that can avoid this from happening or at least help our children in understanding the objective/importance of having the muslim identity. i have to admit, the role as a mom & dad is not always an influential person in the family, but being there with an open mind and ears, would create a healthy Q&A or just a simple chat with our children. i tell you, its not an easy task to have an efficient and effective communication with the youngsters when we know that they have other closer friend who listens better than we do.

i never instruct my boys to end their friendship with friends who smoke and even wearing necklace, instead i asked them to stick with these friends, and show good example of a muslim who 'work hard' to keep the muslim identity. i mentioned to them, its hard to influence others but sometimes, with the noble intention, we might win with our objectives. the danger, i warned them, is we ourselves might carried away with the people we tend to 'fix', so to be at the safe side, just portray good muslim identity and share the goodness of it with their friends. by not having me as any threat to the friendship, my views would be put into their deep consideration and who knows, they would adapt to the idea, insyaALlah.

my advices were, it takes time to change the attitude from bad to good. to build the character of good muslims requires the understanding and the right emotion of why we need to do that or lead others in such a positive way. if we are not strong enough (heart and mind) and we ourselves might be the influenced party, then differ ourselves by ending the friendship. thats why when we love Allah SWT more than anything, we unconsciously do good things, socialize the way the Prophet (peace be upon him) taught us, refrain from doing the bad deeds and always do righteously wherever we go and with whoever we meet. for me anything is good is automatically influential. nobody wants to imitate nor emulate any walking zombie (unless he is crazy).

i asked them to observe our cats, panda and leopard. leopard is younger than panda, and always follow panda wherever he goes or plays. i guess he loves and admires panda for being so loving and caring (haha)..yes, panda plays, sleeps with him, and at times 'bathe' him compassionately. panda is an idol for leopard.
just look at the effect.


i pray and hope that my kids will grow up as people who carry with them the 'face' of the religion and having the identity of true muslim.

at the moment i dont have any high expectation for any of them to be some influential persons on earth. anyway, how nice if the angels are talking about them in the heaven for being the influential persons who work for islam on earth. Amin :)

Friday, October 15, 2010

EMOTIONAL BRIBERY

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
May peace and blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad, the final messenger


Salam & hi to all,

have you ever heard of a term 'emotional bribery'? i have checked in the dictionary online, and it says that bribery means something, such as money or a favor, offered or given to a person in a position of trust to influence that person's views or conduct and the other definition says it is something serving to influence or persuade. in my terms of emotional bribery, one would use any means in order to get what he/she wants/hopes and the bribe form is intangible.

(the format of my writing tonight is a bit different..how i missed writing a thesis again haha...)

case 1
i have a client who is a muslim lady and married to a very nice German convert. this lady said that the hubby is the best thing that has ever happened in her life, and to my understanding, that is an indirect declaration that she loves her hubby more than anything else. sadly, she said that she needs to adapt with the life of the husband's family, that resulted her to open her cover and doesnt perform solah and eats all but pork during any family dinner. i didnt ask more about her other obligatory duties after she admitted that she drinks, which indicates that to practise Islam is secondary and not to be 'different' is more important.

case 2
this was in 2009, when my syarie lawyer friend grumbled saying that he was having difficulty in representing his client who is also his good friend for a divorce case filed by the wife (the client's wife). he was having hard time to proof the client's innocence by virtue he knows exactly what is the type of client he is representing, who beats the wife, irresponsible as huby, dad and womanizer (ops!). what made him continue giving his friend a favor? i myself cant imagine him giving his opinions on the client before the judge!

case 3
my 3rd example is a general example about the people who bring chaos in the society, gay society. let us put it this way, lets say (for example) a loving muslim dad to his only child. when the son confessed of being gay, how would the dad respond? and having the unconditional love towards the son, how would the father treat him as his blood and flesh, and as one of the community of the society but knowing the fact his son is being contrasty indifferent?

if you read again and read it carefully, emotional bribery occurs between 2 people who know each other and having a strong bond of relationship. do you see the element of LOVE? love is the most dangerous element that can cause this emotional bribery and love is also the cure. what am i saying? disagree? ok, allow me to prove it.

look at case 1. her hubby might filled the emptiness in her heart, being there for her at the times she needs him, so what more does she need to have? her hubby might not asked her to give up her religion, nor to westernized herself in form of belief, dressing etc..but what made her put her original values and principals at jeopardy? for cultural exchange?

look at case 2 now. he knew how wrong his actions were, representing a person who is in his knowledge is not an innocent subject. why did he go against his legal profession principals? if this in regards of money, yes this could deviate one good lawyer's value of ethics. having a case with no fee and the professional legal aid was a free favor for the friend, this effort must have been drived from something. can you see the difference?

finally case 3. it is clearly stated in the Quran how ALlah SWT mentioned firmly on the punishment of this kind of abnormal passion. should we just burn all the gays to death, or secretly do a 'mujahideen sniper' and shoot them off at the head? irony, you can marry your same gender partner and you can publicly and openly kiss him in california as these politicians got to nod to the gay supporters' demands to legalize the impossibles. now your own beloved gay son whom you never pinch from birth, has invited you for his gay wedding ceremony and prior to this he tells you that he would like to convert to christianity...on my God! whats going on in here?

ok let me speak my mind now. as i said earlier, love is the sole contributory factor to this emotional bribery and therefore it is an important yet dangerous element. for me, i do belief that love is also the cure. this 'crime' involves 2 parties A and B who who are having a strong ties of feeling for each other (either family ties or friendship). so, what and where exactly bribing fits in this phenomena? all those doers have been bribed emotionally that is derived from the LOVE itself. in the name of love, the other party is expecting the openness and acceptance so to speak to support the doings, which is obviously against the principal of the religion. i heard from a friend that there was a religious man who married a chinese convert and due to the deep love he has for the non practising muslim convert wife, he eats everything served on the table, which includes pork (he told this to his friend). why is this happening?

for me, to prevent this, firstly, we must be aware that as a human being, Allah SWT gives us the Quran and appointed our last prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to share and spread the love among us, to guide us from the right and the wrong paths, to recognize the truth and to reject falsehood. my point here is we are here not just to enjoy the comfort zone and ignore whatever that dont favor our ears. we have duties and tests to face in this world. people during the prophet's (peace be upon him) time, had been tested with the continuous, torturous and unbearable physical pain, and other unimaginable tremendous torment. their resentment to idolize the idols in exchange of keeping their faith had made their body being cut into half, their babies being slaughtered before their eyes, pushed into a hole with blazing fire but still they chose to be burnt alive and to die as a martyr. they chose the 'highway' to reach the final destination thus, they turned to no junction. the physical painful tests were just small obstacles along the way to Jannah. they have made the most worthy sacrifice in hope to please and show their love to the Creator.

How about us? nobody can touch no one without consent, else 911 would be very busy in business. believers 1400 years ago had been tested with their physical and now, we are being tested with our MIND. how are we going to use our mind to show our love to Allah SWT? definitely not having war, and definitely not using any weapons. its going to be MIND JIHAD (STRIVE/STRUGGLE).

look at all the 3 cases given above. the root element is emotional aspect - love can fool and defeat soundness. in the name of love, to become a slave is an honor and shakespeare has proven that theory. but think again, when we abide to the antagonistic doings as what being told by our Creator, is it not the same as idolizing and worshiping the one that we love? how to combat the foolishness and drunkenness of the psychology using LOVE at the expense of the faith? this is why i said that we are tested with our mind and the test is put on us at every single seconds!

how do we call others in the most appropriate, charming, beautiful and positive way so that they would see the essence of what we are trying to preach? comparatively, how would i help to remind my client (case 1) if i say goodbye (i'l never see your face again) and stop communicating with her? how would that lawyer continously giving advices to his 'innocent until proven guilty' friend if he decides to cease being the legal advisor and relationship turns cold? how would a dad disowns his own and the only son, and sentenced him as the hellfire 'charcoal' and confirms the punishment that actually exclusively Allah SWT liberty? what is my point actually? are we appeasing and being apologetic to the disbelievers/stray muslims by having and respecting them as a client, friend or son? do we condone their sinful acts? how do we awaken the sleeping mind without denying their rights to express their thought which doesnt necessary to be accepted if it contradicts our principals? wouldnt a dynamic conversation avoid any clash that might hurt/disturb the main objective of the discussion? let them voice out their fear and let them hear our hope for them. let us get the understanding on the idea to have a harmonious life together. afterall, we are sharing the same small planet, getting the same source of sunlight and breath the same air.

the test on us is how we use our mind to think of the best way to bring others and share the content and context of the Quran that whoever sincerely do the good deeds would always get the attention from Allah SWT compared to the other who dont. Our duty is to introduce and to share the way, the techniques and whatever methods to know our Lord, and to develop the feelings for Him. i belief, by portraying our true identity as a good muslim that RESPECTS the others no matter what color of skin, beliefs and different cultural of etnicity, could be the preface of how beautiful Islam is. With our sincerity and doa for Allah SWT to enlighten them with guidance, they might request for more 'talks' on our thoughts, insyaAllah.

ok, why LOVE is the cure for this emotional bribery problem? would A or B finds any contradictions in opinions/views if both parties have the same upmost feelings of love towards/for our Creator? ok, worse case senario, if there isnt any mutual understanding, and they decide to keep the disagreements towards our thoughts, then who are we to call them as chain-sinners and who do we think we are to arrogantly judge/label them as the permanent hellfire community? no muslims can predict to pass/fail in the tests till the doomsday and no one knows if the disbelievers would convert/repent the minute they talk to other knowledgeable well spoken muslims.. no one knows. Allah SWT knows best and is up to Him to give guidance to anyone He wishes to. thats why its essential to have a free judgemental attitude when it comes to a healthy discussion.

so, what is our function then? how to prepare ourselves for this millennium TESTS? how would we share the beauty of the Quran for example, if we ourselves having zero goal, weak minded with no objective to glorify our religion at all? with our beautiful islamic identity we must try to read more to widen our islamic knowledge, seek more advices and views from the prominent scholars, improve our 'amal (deeds), learn how to socialize in a healthy and modest way according to the religion, improve our communication skill especially with the disbelievers, sharpen our listening skill, respect others' opinion and most importantly RESPECT others as the creations of the Creator. is it our duty to change their mind about their beliefs? NO, it is not, but we can help to decrease the gap between the muslims and the non muslims by slotting in knowledge and message that Islam is PEACE and offers peace.

we are the 'promotion agent' and we must not make our 'sole product' look bad. i know its hard to deal with this feelings, knowing that infront of us lies the uncertainties of either having a 'known devils or an unknown angels' towards our religion. we can respect anyone but can we trust all of them? its hard to fight the feelings of not setting any boundaries between respect a person human being who has rights, and respect what he is doing which is not righteous. the test, how would by isolating ourselves within our muslims circle, can help them in understanding our religion? how would we be so self centered and selfish by virtue we know that to equip them with knowledge of islam means to bridge them to religion itself? How do we portray the beauty of the religion with the ugliness of our attitude especially in communication? who else do you expect to represent Islam to picture the real message to be conveyed, and to carry this responsibilities, if not we ourselves, muslims?

thinking about this is really tiring, but this is another test for us. if we love Allah SWT, then its our duty to share the feelings with the others so that the burden of works to correct the wrong doings wont be that difficult. if this parallel feelings is common among us, any insignificant differences wont be an issue anymore as long as they (the issues) are not against with what is legislated in the Quran. yes, we cant please everyone neither can we put any heaven/hell verdict to anyone. havent you heard of a story of a man who repented after killing 100 men and an ulama' (scholar) who killed a lady after being drunk and committing adultery ? no one is free from tests, so leave the end result of our efforts put, to Allah SWT.

having the LOVE towards Allah SWT (above any/everything) is the cure for the emotional bribery and not just being a cure, its the only remedy to the 'disease'.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

CAT'S PHYSIOTHERAPY- PART 2

Salam & hi to all,

its funny to see my hairy 'patient', Syifa' who was a bit nervous for the 2nd physiotherapy appointment haha...
as usual, to give the sensation to the feet paws, let the tap water flow on it for few seconds. he wasnt pleased with this, of course cats hate water (some do love it, they even can swim in a swimming pool, no kidding! you can check in the YOUTUBE).

wipe the wet fur.

for the legs exercise, support the chest, and pull the legs one by one, or you can do both at a time. notice that i pulled the legs towards me (backwards). pull and let go. do it few times.

still supporting the body, lift up a bit, and pull the legs downwards. this time his legs responded better than the previous physio.

hold both legs gently, and lift him upside down as shown in the photo. to calm him, try to support the head. let the gravity helps with the weight.

now put him back on the table, let him lie/lay down (argh..grammar problem!) on his back, straight. hold his head and hips gently.

gently press his hips to strengthen the legs and to stretch them out.

to exercise the paws. put 2 fingers tips, touching the paws as shown.

push forward. if he fights back or put out his nails, we know that the paw is healthy. do this several times to strengthen the paw muscles. (so that they can scratch their itchy ears haha ;)

next to carry this kitty like how mummy cats normally do. look at one of his legs :(

put on the table and do it again. observe the legs. a normal kitten would pull the legs completely and fold them to the tummy. my poor syifa' needs more exercise.

ok now the exercise for gripping.

let him there for few seconds, until he couldnt hold anymore. if he shows the respond to jump, let him jump....cats must have the guts to jump. i am happy that syifa' jumped (with poor landing from 8 inches of height, its ok to me as long as he is progressing)


after the hard work, give a gentle massage at the back, he loves this.

i know he is trying to adjust being in our circle. still a little bit fierce with the grrr....grrr...towards other cats. i dont blame him, the incident being bitten by the other male cat was surely one traumatic experience.

i took him to my other cats to say hi. its better if we teach him how to kiss the other 'siblings' haha...

as usual, praise and motivate him with kind and soothing words...just look at him. i think he feels calmer and relaxed.

actually after the first physio session, i saw him struggling to walk on the 4 legs. since his posterior body has not fully recovered, he fell many times. this tiny one is having high spirit, i never see him ever gives up in trying to walk.

everything happened for a reason and there is no coincidence. when we looked at each other's eyes, i think he is beginning to like me and loves the session (except the tap water). could he be carrying an important message? i guess i need to learn a lot from him and to ponder the lesson behind all this...

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

D.I.Y - ELECTRICAL EXTENSION PLUG

Salam & hi to all,

this few days, i am really in the mood for home improvement and D.I.Y thing. just bought myself a new electrical driller that 'rocks' haha (actually having more function than the current driller i am having) and an electrical saw !! i was really excited! but when i was beginning to start my work at my car porch, my electrical extension plug has put me down. its less than 5 meters and couldnt reach the plug inside the house. therefore, i couldnt switch on my electrical saw :(

enthusiastically (actually the right word is impatiently) i went to my favorite hardware shop, bought the things required to do my very own 20 meters electrical extension plug.

so, i want to share with you how i made it.

you are going to need :-
the head

the body

3 cord wire cable (any length measurement is up to you)

electric guide (normally it comes with the 'head' when you purchase it), screw drivers (straight and star shape) and a cable cutter (in case you dont have it in your tool box, you can use a normal pair of scissors)


PROCEDURES
PART 1
we do the 'body' first as it is a bit tedious than the 'head'. examine the 'body', check the internal parts.

check the bottom of the box of the 'body'. you will find a circular mark as shown in the photo.

you can poke to make a hole, or using a sharp knife to cut it open. the area of the circle is actually thinner thus its not so difficult to cut it open.

measure the cable to a specified length. cut off the outer layer (grey color) for 2 inches.

you will see there are 3 different colored cord with white cotton tread. separate the tread from the cord, and cut it off.



using the cable cutter, cut off the outer layer of the copper thin wires, about 0.5cm.

take the box with the hole made just now, and put the cable through it as shown in the photo. that is the cover of the lower part of the 'body'.

now, to insert the appropriate cords to the right places. check the black plate on the 'body'. its hard to see in the picture but if you look closer, its written/stamped the alphabet L=live cord that comes in brown/red color. E=earth cord, greenyellow or green color, and N=neutral in blue or black. notice that there is no fuse exposed in this device. maybe there is inside the bulging black component.

after inserting the exposed wires of the cord according to their appropriate places (small holes), then tighten up the screw nail that is placed in a small holes to squeeze in the wires tightly in it.

this is how it looks like, not ready yet.

close the box and tighten the screw nail as shown in the photo.


PART 2
open the 'head'. its easier. make sure that the fuse is ok. normally it comes together with the 'head'. if the 'head' is not working, dont throw it yet, just change the fuse. fuse receives the electrical current just like our real head, where the fuse=brain receives the knowledge and energize us. anyway, just follow the guidance as shown in the photo.

ok, all cords are nicely inserted and screw nails are tighten.

hmmm...bad cord arrangement, why? because the most important hole is being blocked by one of the cord.

this is the correct way. notice that the hole is exposed and the 2 parts can be closed.

tighten the screw nail.


its COMPLETE !

test it. if you see the light (at the 'body') is on, then the device is working.

i know dealing with electrical devices is not something fun to do. i myself was and still am afraid to handle the cables and wires, especially when switching on the plug. why? because when i was small, i had been once, shocked with some circuit of electric current, please dont ask me what number of voltage/kilowatt haha.. now, i would find any wooden ruler or any plastic stick to press the button to switch the plug on. can you believe that? i know the only way to overcome this phobia is to 'force' myself to 'dirty my hands' into this experience. insyaAllah, for this kind of phobia, i hope i would 'recover' fast haha..

dont try to be a mac gyver yourself, please consult any electrician if you intend to try this at home incase this is your first trial. always remember, safety comes first.

good luck!