It is SAD, so Sad - The Haze!

My friend and fellow artist, considered as one of the pioneers of Malaysian Art, a man who does not mince his words nor accept authority without blindly and one who had lived his life as he chose to, Has passed away.
Alfatihah! Inna lillahhi, wa'inna lillahhi Raujiuu! From Him you came to Him you Return. My friend Ismail Hashim has been taken from this realm by a bad accident the detail's of which I do not know and neither do I wish to, as he was immediately laid to rest the same night which meant that hes was seriously injured. Muslims bury those seriously injured as soon as possible especially when the bleeding cannot be stopped. Must be allot of Hadiths written on this matter. Good bye my friend, your photos will be a sweet reminder of your presence with us, in you we have lost another great creative mind and spirit.
Who is Ismail Hashim? read my blog on him a few months ago, got his pictures even. He was at one time the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at University Sains Malaysia. He was a very good and dedicated art teacher and he made allot of contributions towards what Being an Artist is among fellow artists here. He was comical, sometimes cynical, always cheerful when conversed with, and most of all he was a storage of wisdom, of this and of the after. He was enlightened.

Driving to the University along the TanSri Lim Chong Eu Expressway, or what formerly called the Jelutong Freeway, I felt the impact of the Jerebu - Haze hit me; I cannot see my favorite Bridge!. I felt very sad deep within me sad of the fact that so much lives of insects and animals, birds and even fish must have been lost. If only the creatures could say one word collectively in protest of this wanton killingswhat would it be? F..ck!! Most of us forget that we are not the only thinking habitants dwelling on this planet; off course the hard core, jaded non- believer is exceptional. But those of us who grew up among spirits and guardians, jinns and demons, we who are unfortunate enough to have been exposed to weird stuff on growing up in a swamp. What is happening to their homes ;the forest. We have become so callous in our pursuit of wealth and so called happiness we pollute the air to the extent that it consumes other countries. We are the diggers of our own graves, that is an accepted fact of our life, but we have no right to infringe our desire for more upon those that exist alongside us and whose very existence we feed on in one form or another. We are destroying the very thing we depend on in our food, medicine and spiritual well being.We have become the deadliest parasite on earth! Everyone of us must be made to watch the movie 'Avatar" at least once in our lifetime.

Attended the Artist Favorite 2 dinner on Frdiay evening at Cititel Hotel and met up with most o my fellow artist Chinese and Malays. The Chief Minister Mr. Lim Guan Eng made a very inspiring speech about the virtues of having a strong art community in Penang. He stated three factors as his line of approach towards moving the State forward and that being  a) Engagement  b) Letting Go  c) Sharing. A little bit of Chan or Zen approach which was a pleasant surprise coming from a Chief Minister; what has he been drinking?
The most pleasanr surprise of the evening was the entertainment which was presented by a Malay group from Selangor called "Dendang Anak." All the guys were longhaired with a red bandana tied to tied around their heads and they wore red and gold 'Sampins' and they looked fammiliar, too fammiliar! I found out that two of the musicians was from Terengganu, nd one was the son of Raja Kamarul Baharin now a full fledged Senator from Terenggnau Sybas!; Raja Baharin and I grew up together in the Palace Grounds og Istana Badariah playing cowbys and Indians. He is a great architect who designed the Masjid Terapong and the Museum Negeri in Terengganu. He has always been a down to earth humble giant of a man. I look forward to see him in action in the Malaysian Parliament!
The other musician i practically watched him grw up in front of me from a mixed up kid into a married man whose drifted from one thing to another and now found his calling. Effendi was like my little brother as so was hs brother in law, Izsm, who own the No.19 Restaurant in the Batu Burok Food square along the Beach area in Kuala terenggnau. What a small world as they say and what a pleasant surprise to be entertained by the very band that had started from sitting on the sidewalk and jamming to now a proffesional well sought after band of traditional Malay Group; their sound and lyrics are out of this world enough to bring tears to your eyes. One other pleasent surpirse for me that evening was receiving a winning numbe which earned me a hamper basket! Wow and my brother Lee Khai presented it to me on the stage what a bonus! And Simon Tan dragged me up front to dance to the band playing traditional Malay songs so I 'Joget!