Bomoh oh Bomoh

Although we are in twenty-first century but people still believe in witch doctors or “Bomoh” as known in Malaysia. There are many kinds of Bomohs. Some are specialized and can only cure certain kind of diseases. Bomohs who specialize in curing disease using traditional medicine such as leaves and roots of trees are much more reliable compared to Bomohs who recite verses either in Arabic or some other languages.

People go to bomohs for various reasons among others to cure illness caused by both known or unknown reasons (inability to be cured by modern medicine), to charm others whether to make a person to like u if u love that person or to make the person suffer if u happen to hate that person. In addition, u may go to bomohs to find back lost or stolen things, to bring happiness and success in your life as well as to prevent bad things from happening to u.

The bomohs will provide u with tangkal (items for u to have with u as a protection either in the form of rings, bracelets or small wrapped cloth which can be carried in wallets). Other bomohs with give spelled water (air jampi) for u to drink to cure your illness.

Some of these people, who really believe in bomohs will do whatever these bomohs ask them to do. They will pay huge some of money and on top of that will also bring along food or clothing as required by the bomoh. Some bomohs are so popular that u have to queue-up early morning. Some modern bomohs even operate like private clinics where patients have to take numbers and take turn to see the bomoh for treatment.

In Islam, if you believe too much in Bomoh as to their powers in predicting things and ability to do wonders – it is called Syirik or equalizing human power to that of God. This is a great sin and may even revoke one's status as a Muslim. This really explains as to why one should not be too dependent on Bomoh but rather pray to God and also seek modern medical treatment. In actual, if a bomoh is really superior and be able to predict things by right he or she will be millionaires and living happily some where rather than depending his income from other individuals’ donation for the so-called treatment he provides.

However, even among the modern and educated Malaysian society, bomohs plays an important role. Politicians go to bomoh to win election and also get protection from enemies. There is this bomoh hujan, who can divert rain from falling in a particular location. Bomoh hujan are called in when there is major events like parades, sports and even football games. There are many more things to write about bomohs but I will stop here.

Note: Have u been to a bomoh?

Happy New Year

Wish a happy new year to all my friends, colleagues and readers of this blog. As usual, on the eve of every New Year we wish for new things and some even make promises to themselves to either change their lifestyle or achieve certain things they wished for.

Another controversial issue in Malaysia is the celebration of the coming New Year with concerts and fireworks. It will be a good family outing and kids usually enjoy the moment. On the other hand, some opine that this is not our culture of welcoming or celebrating New Year. I think it’s alright to celebrate New Year so long we don’t go overboard. I mean like turning New Year celebration into a wild party like drug and drinking activities as well as illegal racings.

Some even say that Muslims should not celebrate New Year and they should celebrate awal Muharam. Well, of course Muslim should celebrate awal Muharam, as this is the first month of the Muslim calendar. However, celebrating the New Year of the English calendar is no harm and we can even celebrate other New Year’s too including Chinese and Hindu New Years. We are Malaysians and we are multi-cultural society and this is our uniqueness in respecting each others religion, belief and customs.

Happy New Year – I wish for world peace, continued growth of the Malaysian economy and continued happiness for me.

Note: What do you wish for?

Difficulty in Understanding People

It's very difficult to understand people. Even if you know the person for 25 years sometimes u still can't figure out certain things. People always want the other party to understand them and always block their own mind to understand about others. Now people also tend to make assumptions about others and don't ever make assumptions about their ownself. Making assumptions and conclusions about others is dangerous, especially without knowing the actual facts.

People always think they are perfect. Mind u, no one person is perfect. If they make mistakes it's ok but others should not make mistakes. People do make mistakes and sometimes repeat mistakes but people should learn from mistakes and should not make the same mistake twice.

Well, understanding people is difficult.

Weddings n weddings

This month has been a hectic month with lots of wedding invitations. I received 11 wedding invitations. So far I have attended 4 weddings, didn’t attend 2 and the remainder 5 had to be screened as to which ones to attend. Why do couples choose December or January for their wedding date? The main reason is school holidays and it’s easier for family and friends to attend the wedding ceremonies. Some may argue during school holidays and year-end festivities they prefer to spend holidays going on vacation to some exotic spots (Bali, Rome or Paris). Well, its individual choice. If you feel the guy who is getting married is important to you, forget about your vacation trip. On the other hand, if he is someone you barely meet or know, then aloha - carry on with your trip.

Weddings today are way different from those days. First, it’s a very costly occasion. Nowadays to have a wedding ceremony, you have to book halls, hire food caterers, make the pelamin, hire mak andam, hire kompang group, have karaoke or band music, make video clip presentations, have dance shows, hire photographer, make hantaran, souvenirs and many other small things. In order to save cost, some don’t have it in halls but instead on the road with canopies erected in front of their houses. Those who are rich will even go to the extent to have it in five or six star hotels. There is also this wang hantaran which is some sort of dowry money paid by the bridegroom to the bride (the amount depends on the social status of both the family of the bride and bridegroom). So a wedding can easily cost around RM100,000 to RM150,000 but of course, the poor ones will spend much less.

Malaysian weddings also have themes. The costumes of the bride and bridegroom consists of the number of pairs of dress they wanted to wear and the colour combination. They have different dress for akad nikah , different for bersanding and different for cutting the cake. The theme will require the parents and the bridesmaids wear dresses of the same colour as the bride and bridegroom. Even the colour of the table cloth, canopies and decorations will be the same.

Do we really need to spend so much on wedding ceremonies or is it better to spend the money in buying house or honeymoon. It's really a choice to be made by the respective couples. Some say it’s only a one day occasion, why the need to spend so much. Some others, may say it’s a memorable occasion in a lifetime, why don’t we celebrate in a grandly manner.

Note: How was your wedding ceremony, if u r married.

Do dreams come true

Do you always get what you wished for in life? or Are you a born loser? Nothing goes right in your life. In the earlier post, I talked about life as a journey but in this post I would like to touch on what happened to whatever we wished for. Either it turns out to be true or just remains as another favorite dream of life. Now, I will flashback about my own life and dreams. When I was small, my ambition was to be a police inspector so that I can catch thieves and eradicate crimes. When I grew-up and after my form six exams, I applied to the law faculty, with the aim to be a lawyer. However, the university offered me to specialize in economics. As any other poor student, I have no choice but to accept the offer. There are many other dreams and wishes of mine which didn’t come true.

Some dreams may come true but most of the time, dreams or things that you wished for would not happen the same way as you wished for. That’s the beauty of life. You are left with the alternatives that are avail to you. The interesting part in life is how to cope and choose the best among these alternatives. You have to face challenges and make the necessary adjustments in order to chart and achieve new dreams in your life.

Well, each one of us surely had some form of childhood dreams. When we are older and able to rationalize things, the wishes and dreams change. Some wanted to become millionaires, some wanted to be celebrities, some wanted to be famous writers and some even want to be AF champions. Some are modest in their wish and just wanted to lead a happy life. So whatever our dreams are, we can try to pursue them. However, if we don’t achieve them, that’s not the end of the world. Just imagine there are millions of us out there with billions of wishes and dreams. If everybody achieves their dreams then we don’t need this life. Life is meaningless.

People always question - why they are like this and why they are not like that. Some may even compare their organization and working environment with that of other organizations. They will say it’s so nice over there, the bosses there are so considerate and the officers there are so cooperative. The comparison may turn out to be true and may not be the truth. Once, they are posted over there, then they will realize that their previous organization is much better and better suited to them. Christine used to say that not everything we see is the truth. Sometimes what see with our eyes and hear with our ears may not be the truth. We need to investigate thoroughly before making decisions.

Note: What are your dreams

Work Smart - Accept Challenges - Be Innovative

The preferred way of doing work in the office, that's the topic I want to discuss in this post. Provide you with some thoughts of how I feel about it, especially when a new assignment is given to you. Whatever assignment your boss asks you to carry out, you are required to accept it. Don’t ever say that you’re sorry – “I can’t do it”. If you happen to say that, then the boss will assume that you are the type that don’t want to learn new things or the one who can’t take challenges in life. He may even think that you are avoiding the job and the lazy type officer.

If you feel, you only know 30% or 50% of the assignment given, you accept it first. However, when accepting the assignment, you must indicate to him/her that you only know little about the assignment but willing to take the challenge and learn to do new things. In addition, you need to tell him that you require his/her guidance. Surely, the boss will never say “I won’t guide you”. It’s the boss’ job to guide and coach their subordinates.

When you accept an assignment which you know little about, you shouldn’t worry too much. First, read carefully whatever you are asked to do. If you don’t understand, then ask your peers, there maybe some one who understand the subject matter. If your peers can’t help you then see your immediate superiors. Another way is to browse through internet. In this era of knowledge and information, you can find everything in the internet.

Another thing which I would like to stress that always be innovative and creative in doing assignments given to you. If your boss asks you to do something, always remember provide options or alternatives. Recommend to him whatever alternative which is the best to your knowledge. He may choose your suggestion or he may ask you to follow his own opinions. If you strongly feel that your alternative is the better one, explain to him but don’t insist upon him to choose your choice. Let him decide whatever he wants to choose and so that he will be responsible for whatever decision he has made.

Note: No man can do nothing unless it’s the creation of GOD

The journey called – Life

If you read my postings usually I define the crucial words before going further to discuss the topic in depth. It may sound so academic but I feel that’s how one will really understand the message that I want to send across. In this entry, I would to discuss about life. According to Wikipedia, Life is a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects, i.e. non-life, and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally. The definition sounds like we are in a biology class. The life, I am going to discuss is what we are going through at this point of time. Surely, we are going through some form of life, if not we are dead by now. So why do we live? What is life all about?

People say life is a journey. Journey to where? To another world? Those who believe in God and religion either Islam or any other religion – life is a test by God to see whether one does good or bad things in this world and whether one is worthwhile to receive the ultimate reward to be send to heaven. Well, shakespeare said that life is a stage, where we are actors and each one of us has a role to play. So who is the director then? Does the director decides on the storyline or the actor themselves? Who ends the stage play? Do the actors given freedom of choice or the director dictates?

People say life is short – say 60, 70 or maybe 80 years in this world. Of course, you will live forever in the hereafter. So make good of the short time you have in this world so that you get the maximum reward later, especially for those who believe in the existence of life in the hereafter and heaven.

Going back to life in this world. Everyone is created from the infusion of male sperm and female ovary with the injection of soul into the feotus in the womb of the mother ( of course, this does not apply to the test tube babies). Each of the babies when born, will strive for the best interest of his/her ownself. Babies will cry for milk and could not be bothered whether the mother is busy or sick, all they care is about their hungry stomach (of course, can’t blame babies coz they can’t rationalize things). However, what I am stressing here is the self interest.

When we grew-up, attending school and mix with other kids, again we will strive for our own self interest. We want to score in every subject and be the best in the class or even the school (however, it depends, maybe there are others who are better than us)

Then, after school and university life, comes the working life. Here again, we meet new people and make some good friends, some enermies maybe and encounter competition as well as jealousy. Well, during this life too, we strive for our own self interest.

Then, there is marriage – meeting the life partner ( why they call life partner – “Till death do us part” ). Though it is a life partner concept, each other will be rationalizing who is right or wrong. There will be ups and downs in this life. Some marriages survive and some becomes living hell and lead to divorces. Well, here again each will be striving for his/her own self interest.

Having analyze the life path, the morale of this post is that everyone is always thinking of their own self interest and their own well-being. So what the hell is life all about? Is it about each individual trying to survive and be happy, at the expense of jeopardizing others' happiness? Is life about our ownself?

Life is more than that. Life is not about our ownself. Life is about how we manage ourself when we are encountering relationship between members in the family, friends, life-partners and society at large. What we have done for others more than for our ownself. Life is about sharing, sacrificing, caring and loving.

Note: what do u think?