New year at Lee's

Spent the evening with my brother Lee and family and their guests including Anne's brother and his family from Kuala Lumpur and Lee Horng the youngest of the Ong brothers. One of the reasons why I return to Georgetown and it was well worth the trip from Kuala Trengganu. gave Lee a massage and received one back from Lee Horng. The rest is history... it was good to touch the bases of all those you find love in your life, friends and relatives alike.It was a great evening to spend the Chinese New Year. my lower back is screaming with aches and pains but it was well worth the drive back from K.Tr.
Lee and his family are devoted Christian and he is very much concerned with the present trend of religious deputes that includes the use of the Arabic word Allah in the translated to Bahasa Malaysia Bible being published by a church and later was confiscated by the Malaysian religious department.as illegal use of the the word by a non Muslim religious group....details! So i try to share with him his concerns and my take on the issue as best i could. Had he been following my blog entries for the last few days it would have made it more simpler, then maybe he does read it but wants me to take a stand in a conversation which includes his brother in law who is a heart specialist visiting from KL.

I told him the same thing about what I wrote earlier that it is to me an ignorance that both sides have towards the issue or perhaps too much understanding of it, the Word. It defies my intelligence to even dwell upon the subject, it simply is senseless bickering between brothers on who gets to carry on their father's name and who does not, but who am I to say as it is the court of the land that decided on this and I am just an ordinary citizen my thoughts and feelings are only just that; concerns. How far will this be dragged on? Till all hell breaks loose between the two religious groups simply because words cannot resolve the issue of one word.
We live in the age of information where knowledge is at our fingertips and we can understand beyond words most of us, and this is on both sides of the divide, Christians and Muslims alike. If our faith in the word is greater than our understanding of It than we will die defending the word we succumb to our base instincts of making it a war, we resort ways to our tribal ways and negative mindset. Is this what is going to cause the rift between two religions of the 'Book"? Are we not Brothers? Do we not worship the One True Being, whether we choose to call Him God or Allah (SWT)? Do we dare to commit a single crime against humanity based on our claims of the word itself.

Truth be told I take no side on this issue because I feel all great persons in this day and age of information will not undermine their intelligence by any stand on the issue. I assume against my best interest that most of us are capable of coming to a wise conclusion and the need tow in is not a factor; there is not winner in this issue. There is only the reflections of our own ignorance. We who tell ourselves that we cannot change the world but we can make every effort to change our own personal perceptions. There are things left unsaid or discussed among men except for the acceptance of things as they are and allowing for it to transform into what it is meant to be without our further feeding the flame of ignorance which will turn into hatred and then there is no more peace between brothers. Arguments will be thrown back and forth for or against we will al have our own personal views but, but not all of us are intelligent and this issue can be  blown so out of proportion by those easily swayed by those who can persuade that we get ourselves entangled beyond redemption.

If I have to stand and defend myself as a Muslim, my faith in what the word 'Allah" stands for is questioned, "He who justifies does not convince, not even to himself." and Old Boy in China once said. Islam is total submission into the One True Lord of the Universe, again I call Him by his Muslim name of Allah.(SWT). You too can call Him that, if fact you should as this word in itself as it is, sound and spelling is unique and not to mention what it signifies spiritually, especially to Muslims. The word 'God' is used in the Bible through translations or Indo European origin, not a Biblical word, the word God never existed during the time of Jesus. Jesus called out to his Lord, Elohim! Read! Then again I am no Biblical scholar, but I know the word Gog if read from a mirror of itself becomes DOG. Not the best word to use for that which you worship. Again to each his own, you your way, I mine. Insha' Allah, God Willing we will come to a better understanding at the end of our days, In the meantime we need all our skilful means to contain the situation that it does not become more important than the rising cost of living, corruption and human, trafficking and such...lest we loose our sight of what truly is our problems today.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! - Ma'Ha Li! (Bahari)

Sunday, third day of the Year of the Horse, strength and agility and the single mindedness of a horse to win the race and you can bet on that; this will be the theme of the 2014 - Year of the Horse by the Chinese Lunar calender.  Georgetown was muted the past few days not as loud at it used to be, perhaps other small towns have grown like the Bukit Jambol area. however, still not much fireworks or fire crackers like the past year. Shades of things to come in how we spend , or how we conserve in times of uncertainties. The Chinese mood this year reflects its concern for conservation of the well being of the Nation as a whole. To chill before the storm hits, to retreat before the enemy attacks, to tale the attack to the enemy through surrender. Sun Tzu did not say this, I just did.
" A revolution is sweeping today's post Bacon world. No genius of the past, not Sun Tzu nor mechiavelli, not bacon himself would have imagined today's deepest Powershit; the astounding degree to which today both force and wealth themselves have come to depend on knowledge.".
 Alvin Toffler:  Poewer Shit.
This is the year where power, brute force, energy, manifesting itself through the strong physical manifestation of a Horse; now powered by computer -chips and the human mind. What the human mind is capable of is today being boosted to the third degree where we will see the makings of brilliant thinkers and law makers; the younger generation has inherited the wealth of 'Knowledge" + Wealth + Power = Freedom; and Jesus said, "And the truth shall set you free...seek the Truth." or something like that, so we seek for the answers that would lead us all to the Truth...of ho we are, what we are, where we are at, how far or how near are we to our final destination? Would we know what it was all about before the final cut? Before the switches are turned off, before our lights went off?
Many times have i raised the story of how Gautama saw this is His days the fact that Mankind suffers from three Illnesses, primarily, Greed, Hate and Delusion or Ignorance." These are the cause of all sufferings in our existence and he asked mankind to take refuge in the "Tripple Gems", Buddha, Bharma and Sangha. Enlightenment, Wisdom, the Laws of the Univers, The Commuity of Souls, Beings on this Planet. Thousands of years ago a man gave His life up from comfort and pleasures of a King to walk the life of a "Truth Seeker",.He discovered that Life is truthfully suffering, that life is Impermanent, and that suffering is in not having the Right Understanding of what is the true nature of one's being...who am I? Life is in finding ways and 'skillful means' to turn what is suffering into pleasure into peace and tranquility for the time of one's existence in the form of a Man...for in only this form is man capable to transcending his form into spiritual actions towards his salvation, for only he can liberate himself from the shackles of Life Itself.... Gautaama went on to advice... " don't waste time!"

" MIllitary might untill not too long ago was basically an extension of the Mindless fist. Today it relies almost totally on "congealed mind" - knowledge embedded in weapons and surveilence technologies..."  
A.T.
 We are running against if not our of time in trying to 'untangle the tangle', Gautama had seen as one of our means towards avoiding what catastrophic sequences that lay ahead on our Collective Agenda, we as humans are in short a little bit screwed, we are looking at a very bleak future and the Internet seldom lies, Read! Iqra! Read! and what is revealed to you from your reading let it be known to the world, say, "This Is It!' or "Be Here NOw", or "The Power of NOw" or whatever form of communication best suits your delivery use it and spread the words of the past that had kept humans sanity from over-riding itself and not be able to 'Shutdown".
Total annihilation inot the void and Darkness and Emptiness or a Being of Light! Your choice, you have the freedom to choose and none can tell you otherwise except you "Gods!" Your choice of faith is is your Eternal Birthright, your Original Nature Your (Dahrma) Position in Life... it is called Freedom, Liberation, Total submission to the "Return to Yourself. Don't give up to return too your self. Just believe in Destiny, just return to yourself and don't hide...Enigma on You Tube... Submit to the Will of the Al Mighty, Surrender to Him, Al-Hak, The Lord, if you are not allowed to call Him Allah by Law, he has 99 Others for you to choose from and it is not in the Word but in your faith and Understanding of it that you find your own ways. This is Knowledge, this is infinite wisdom that only man is capable of understanding...The Unity of All in One and One in All, the merging of differences in Unity; "although life may be suffering, we can suffer without bitterness, from Dr. Peter Oyimbo, H&H Ship Services, Chief Chemist. M y friend from Nairobi, Africa. Yes, how do were turn pain into pleasure?
"A Power shift is a transfer of power. A "powershift" is a deep level change in the very nature of power."
 A.Toffler
With collective knowledge man can tear through the fabric of existence with the speed of light but he will neer arrive at his destination no matter how he tries as he keeps failing to see that he is already there; his issue if how tor remain "there' for a while longer without wanting to seek for more.And learning to let go of the 'there', that space in time, that moment of triumph or defeat, is not healthy. Anything that is able to be kept will soon wither and die, nothing is permanent, all is fleeting, spell it whatever language you will and the answer would be, you are not without and end. "You suffer primarily because you think you are who you are. You are a product of your own thinking and the more you think about yourself the more complex it gets and most give up doing it because it scares them. It is w whole easier if there is a sure footed way towards this journey I call life such that i find more peacefulness than chaos, more tranquility than death and destruction. So I seek for the answers and i do not accept just any answers no matter its source until I have fully understood the truth in them.
So, a the Late Sunryu Suzuzki Roshi once is said to have said, once you ride on the train, you only get off at the end of the line and the end i will be your beginning and when you have learned to harness the four horses into one, perhaps your journey will be a whole lot easier.  

When in Doubt, go Fishing.

Get squids for bait, it is a good place to start. Small fishes are ok too and shrimps, but if you are going just for a few hours two good size shrimps will hold you through.

Head on the end of the end of the rock wall at the Terengganu River mouth. Development has caused the river mouth to be narrowed down and talking to fishermen friends and my friend Mohd. Rafi, the retired Matitine personnel.  A man who spent a great number of years coast guarding the South China Sea coastline; the project will cause a disaster in the future. Bur for now it looks beautiful and the tourists will like it. 

Start casting, you will never know what will be tugging at the other end, big or small, common or expensive, it is out there and your luck. .

A young couple on a holiday trip won Rm50000 fish catching competition in Kuantan. They joined in after deciding to buy the rods and the works there and then, never did much fishig before and wham the wife hooked a large Sting Ray, the heaviest fish caught for the day! Among thousands of professional fishermen taking part what are the chance that this little housewife on their second honeymoon would snag a whopper!.

Getting snagged and loosing you hook, line and sinker is part of fishing.

Do not forget to admire the sunset while you are at it.

Capture a local smile if there is one for your subject.

Ikan Duri pun Ikan duri la.. Patience.

The whole truth about fishing is Patience.

And you almost got the big one that got away!

Being with Them.

Entertained by children

Trying to get her to smile.

Someone from the past.

Close to my sister.

Lunch at Rafi's

Meeting with the Boys.

Two days with my twin brother and his wife.

The tail of the monsoon season and the temperature is abnormally cooler at 17 degrees celcius and the wind is relatively less forceful . Sitting on the beach by my twin brother's house in Ru Rengeh, Kuala Terenggnau. No chance of taking a dip in the ocean this year as much as i miss it.

I was invited to sleep over which according to my sisters later is a historical event as is well known my twin and I rarely if ever see eye to eye. He is the 'successful one while I am the one who wasted his life chasing after the moon. But it is written as they say in the 'Loh Mahfuz' the book of life that we are born alongside each other but grew up farther than distance alone. I am happy to be the beggar and he the man of wealth.

We weave the woof and waffs of our lives each with his own style and design, but our ultimate goal is the same whatever it is that we endeavor it is for the Lord's Grace and Acceptance. Whether it be a rug or a Songket of gold and silver thread,  what  we weave is is who we are.
The 'Kain Songket' is perhaps the Queen of Malay traditional Handicraft. When patience and creativity join forces a powerful focused energy is released in the form of an art at its original best.  My sister in law is one such an artist whose works are testimony to hard and industrious effort towards harnessing what is the creative original essemce of Songket weaving and design. She has been recognized as a National Laureate for Creativity in the Arts..      

In my life I have tried as much as possible to make it as interesting and exciting as possible, so i weave it like a piece of art adding and taking away colors and making it all fits together at the end of the day. The Loom is the world around me and the threads are interrelationship I have with others .The experiences i have met with and the wisdom I have received. Humility has its color and so does compassion and love and there are colors to express warmth and coolness of being, or the flare Passion and the subdued nature of Faith.
As a weaver, my sister in law is senstitve towards the choice of her colors and this is perhaps the essence of what makes a Songket piece stands out among all traditional weaving such as Kimono and Kashmerre.

I am a Dream Weaver and my dreams sometimes do turn to nightmares. When I weave my dreams it is to serve a my blueprint into what is to become of my life in other words I weave my future in my mind, I let it be and ferment it in my subconscious and later when it is ripe and ready it will manifest itself, how, when and why I can never know, as it happens when it is least expected.

Song ket weaving is an art par excellence as it involves a tedious process from the design to the execution. The finished  product is worn by Kings and Ministers.

From silk threads to a masterpiece of an artwork, my sister in law better known as Habibah Songket was awarded the National Laureate for her creations. Her works and crafts hangs or is worn by dignitaries and adorns the walls of the National Gallery, and many homes of  the rich and famous.

This is a priceless piece of her attempt at Songket Painting. 

What is She Making?

Leg choppers as the Malays calls it 'Kueh Bahulu" potong kaki' because it is so sweet but the differenc is that theya re moist inside. Why are moist inside? Because she uses coconut husks to fired them and not ovens as ovens dries up the cake. So, she has a long line of customers every morning, day and night. They called leg choppers because of Diabetes which ends up with your legs chopped off. 

She sits on a gold mine of her own making the best in the traditional way.

I ate two right away!

No.19 - Batu Buruk Food Court.

The Lead Man, I would call my friend whom I call Izam at number 19 Cafe in Batu Buruk Food Court. Our friendship stretches back fifteen years or so in time. It was his house that we rented while living off Pantai Putri in Tok Jembal, Terengganu.

This was where i used to hung out when my family first moved to Kuala Terengganu and today youngsters from nearby colleges comes around to listen to my brother Izam speaks You name the subject and he can tear it to pieces and redo the whole thing again for you in a different manner. But his heart is at the right place by my account and so we have remained close friends over the years.

I let them browse through my past years journals while I talk with them about my way of doing things, of seeing things and hopefully it will add on to their knowledge.

They watched me work right there and then and hopefully it inspires them to do the same.

This is my 'Art on the Road', my Road Show, sharing myself as an artist with those who happens to be around me and usually things happens spontaneously with any preplanned ideas or arrangements made. A  right question is asked with the genuine interest to learn and the flood gates of knowledge and experiences opens; the sharing happens.

The body of and expensive guitar frame I was aked to do a design on, why not? Carpe Diem! Seaze the moment! Dance on Nataraja Dance on O Shiva! as the Hindus would call out to their Lords and deities; Perform! Act! Become!

Creation Iself.

Rich is as rich is.- A brief visit.

What is the meaning of being successful in this life? You own it all? That you walk on the good side of the Lord? Or that you have the blessings of all those you come into contact with? I ask myself these questions, and the answers still elude me. Some have more than enough for them to live on, while others barely make it through the day.

I was living among those who could not afford to buy their children school uniforms, not a month ago in Lintang or Belantik area, in Kedah, and they work hard, whose religious practices is unquestionable. They are poo,r but they were happy, as I felt it in them, so much so that I hung around them for longer than I had planned to. Sometimes we ate salted fish with plain rice for dinner cause there was nothing else to eat or a few packets of MAGGI Mee shared among ourselves, but ti was delicious nonetheless.

When I look at my twin brother and how determined he is to make it happen at his cattle farm where, from what I understand, all is not too well, what with his stock being stolen and the shortage of manpower, I wonder if it is worth it all. I would much rather see him diving off the Pualu Redang or Kapas or swinging his clubs on the many golf courses, or having a good time in Indonesia somewhere; no, not raising cattle.

My twin is also a great painter, but he does not pursue it. He has a handful of fishing rods, but he stopped going fishing, Instead, he is tied to this farm, fighting a losing battle unless he can swing a major investment into upgrading the whole area and hire a regular workforce. Money!

Perhaps he, too, like me, seeks the quiet and estranged life away from the hubbub of everyday existence. Perhaps in caring for his animals, he finds peace within despite the theft and lack.Here he is still the boss.

When I stand up close to him in the field, i could feel the shortness of breath and the painful expression on his face. My brother has a heart problem. I would have told him if I could to let it go as it is not a good place to be if you get an attack and the only person around is the Indonesian maid who cannot drive. But i know better as my good intention will only recoil and hit me hard in the head, for telling him so. Who am I to tell my brother how to slow down when I myself is running on fumes. 

I had been a meat cutter at one time and boned an average of a hundred cattle a day at a meat packing plant where I used to work in Green Bay, Wisconsin, US, and that was for 31/2 years. Don't look at me like I know diddly about cows and don't give me that look! I did not put you there! He did! Ha! Ha! That was how we got along, my twin and! I was a thorn in his side, and for this, I can only say I am truly so sorry!

I wish my brother has a chance to meet and chat with the Major in Lintang. Perhaps look into turning this piece of land into another organic farm of some sort. For whatever good it does I regret that we never saw eye to eye throughout our lives; we are mirrors of each other, our lives are like the Cosmic Symbol of Ying and Yang, opposites yet one in essence. One thing we have in common, though, we both like Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here album!

As we build cages for others we build our own cages.

You were not born a cattle waiting to be fed and later sold to be slaughtered.

Nor were you born to be to be kept in captivity with the rest of your kind.

You were not born as fishes swimming in a small and crowded pond living out your life without much meaning other than for decorative purposes and as food.

Or as ducks all dressed in white and marching towards you end.

Or a bird singing in an ivory cage till the you die.

You were born a beautiful human being capable of miracles.