Should We Care?

I got a call from my closest cousin, Fawaz who's studying medicine in the UK. He calls me quite frequently since he said that it's really cheap to call from there, apparently it only cost 1 pence (about 6 cents) per minute. The call took about 40 minutes, so it costs about RM2.40. Remarkable isn't it? I pay more than that for a one minute call on on my handphone.

Anyway, we got talking on various things, basically keeping up with stuffs and on mutual friends. We got around to talking about politics and what the new PM, Pak Lah as we commonly call him is doing. I believe so far he's been saying the right things such as wanting to make the civil service more efficient and cleaning out corruption from government. I have to say that it's a humongous task but if he can do it, then I'll be rooting for him all the way. I've always believed in those things, my opinions on Malaysia is more in sync with what people in the opposition parties have been harping. I don't totally agree with what they fight for but I've always had an idealistic view on what Malaysia should be like. Must be all those 'reformasi' events in 1998/99 and a historical afternoon this one September in 1998.

The one thing that stuck in my mind was when we were talking about corruption and I was saying Pak Lah should go after the big fish who's accepting or giving bribes. My cousin said, why should we care about corruption, it's everywhere, even in the UK and US. So, why the need to do much about it? I don't agree at all with him. To me corruption is the root of the bad things in the society. Corruption caused for the police force to be ineffective when they don't dare to go after the so-called big shots in society. It also resulted in government being inefficient when those civil servants will only do things after receiving money or kickbacks. It also caused for projects to be quoted at a higher price when in fact it could be done at a lower price if the correct bidding/tendering procedures are in place and enforced. Fawaz said, all these do not affect us personally but I believe we will only get to taste the bitterness after a few years. When investors stopped pouring money in Malaysia because we're not very good at solving crime or because judges are not held in high regard or because we are just too damn inefficient.

I hope Pak Lah will put words into actions, for the sake of Malaysia and for myself and future generations.

Touching Message

A follow up from my previous entry. Awi forwarded my blog entry to Abah who then replied her mail. It's quite touching, I have to say...coming from Abah.

Awi's email to Abah
Assalamualaikum Abah,

I just want to congratulate you on your award last night. Alhamdulillah.

Terharu baca tulisan Hafiz dalam blog dia pagi ni, teringat nak share dgn
Abah,
just want you to know that your son is really proud of you.

Abah & Mak...you are his utmost priority.

Wish Haziq will grown up to be just like him:)

Wassalam,
Awi

Abah's reply to Awi's mail

Awi - thanks for your message . I was informed only on
Saturday and it has been a well-kept secret by everybody and photos
including family photos were sent without my knowledge . To me it
was a small matter because i have never expected any awards for
my 27years of service to the Board bbecause I felt that whatever I
have achieved over the years are due to me being a QS. therefore I
must give back to the profession .
Syukur Alhamdulillah , I shall send the citation later . Tell Hafiz , we
never never never forget that he ,yourself and Haziq as being part of the
family .God Bless You all .
I am rushing home to catch the flight to KB at 3. pm. TQ for looking
after Cu .
Wassalam
Abah

Hehehe, not feeling sad anymore......

Feeling Kinda Sad

I was told by Adiknor that tonight Abah will be receiving a Gold Award by the Malaysian Board of Quantity Surveyors. Of course, I do feel proud of Abah's achievement. He has his own practice as a chartered quantity surveyor and had done considerably well along the years. This award is a recognition by his peers and he would've been happy to receive it. I'm just a bit sad that I was informed quite late about the whole event. I suppose being far away from home does result in news coming along this way a bit late. I guess I shouldn't feel bad about not being informed, but there's a tinge of sadness. I would've loved to be there to witness Abah receiving the award. Heard there's a even a slide show being shown during the dinner. I'm sure an introduction of his achievements and professional milestones would be read out before the award is announced.

Oh well, I guess we're just not destined to be there tonight. I've gone through this missed-out-opportunities many times, I suppose other people think I don't care about it anymore.

Congratulations Abah. We are so proud of you and do regret we can't be there to share it with the rest of the family.

Little (Er not so little anymore) Brother In Town

My younger brother Cu is here in town. It's the second time he's been here, the first visit was about 8 months ago, Haziq was not even born yet. He just finished his semester exams so he wanted to do some traveling and chose to travel along the East Coast. He's here for a few days before going up to Kuala Terengganu to visit the relatives there and finally, he'll be in Kota Bharu where he'll meet up with my parents there before returning to KL.

Me and Cu have a rather interesting relationship. I have another younger brother, Ucop who is 12 years apart from me. Cu is 8 years younger. I still remember when I was in secondary school I used to be annoyed with Cu all the time. At that age of around 8 years old, he liked to brag and talk big. I suppose I took up a bit on him, bullying and being quite nasty to him, like kicking him out of my room when I'm not in the mood. And then I went overseas and during that time, he got into Malay College. Another reason for me to be annoyed with him because he made it into that school, while I considered myself a failure for not being able to do so. I used to believe that Abah was disappointed that I didn't get into his alma mater but over the years, Allah knew better and I ended up on a not-so-bad path.

During my university days when I came back for summer holidays, we meet up once in a while and I realised that my attitude towards Cu had changed for the better. We could talk more openly and I don't feel any hostility towards him anymore. I suppose there could've been some siblings rivalry back then but I can safely say that we're the best of brothers and friends. I try to give him encouragement and support because I can see there's a lot of potential within himself, even if he might not see them himself. We're quite different, he's more talkative and I'm the more quiet one. He has scores of friends while I stick to a handful only. He's the joker while I prefer to be the man behind the scenes. Nevertheless, Cu has helped me in many ways and I only pray success and happiness for him. He went through quite a lot in the past two years or so. I hope he's recovered since then and he seems to be, from what I can observed. I would've liked to spend more time with my siblings because I felt, while studying overseas, I missed out on many opportunities to do so. The trip to Adelaide in Dec 2001 was such an excellent and enjoyable experience, even though it ended with Cu spending a few nights in Pantai Medical Centre. :)

Whatever it is Cu, if you're reading this, thank you for being there and I hope we will continue to be best of brothers and friends in the years to come.