Saturday, July 10, 2010

Culture Shock

Okay, tajuk English tapi nak tulis dalam bahasa ibunda, ya. Or rojak.

Saya tak pernah mengalami 'culture shock', defined as the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.

Bukan niat saya nak memperkatakan orang di sini, sebab saya mengaku saya bukanlah baik sangat. But this is a whole different topic altogether.

Sebenarnya, saya berasa kasihan dengan mereka yang mengalami culture shock ni, terutama sekali kaum perempuan. Kasihan pada diri mereka, dan kasihan pada ibu bapa mereka.

Terdetik hati saya ingin menulis tentang culture shock ni (okay nak mengaku dulu, tak tau apa culture shock dalam bahasa Melayu), ialah kerana saya sedang melihat gambar segelintir kawan/keluarga di Facebook.

Maksud saya disini ialah these girls yang disuruh pakai tudung sejak mereka kecil lagi, akan tetapi apabila sudah dewasa, tak tahu ke mana hilang sudah tudung mereka.

It's just that, pada pendapat saya, certain parents are too extreme in protecting their children that the are blinded as to its consequences. They fail to notice the limits in their action.

Eh chup, kembali pada bahasa Melayu. Kena cuba untuk consistent.

Saya rasa sedih, apabila saya sendiri tahu betapa susah-payah sesetengah ibu bapa inginkan yang terbaik untuk anak-anak mereka dari segi menjalani kehidupan dengan cara Islam yang sempurna, tapi apabila anak-anak tersebut sudah dewasa, mereka lupa akan ajaran tersebut, hanya kerana mereka telah menjelajahi dunia luar.

Dari segi itu, saya terpaksa salahkan ibu bapa juga kerana terlalu extreme. Extreme yang tahap pentingkan perkara luaran tetapi tak memupuk sebab-sebab perkara luaran itu diwajibkan ke atas mereka (Eh, macam merepek tapi hopefully understandable).

Dalam konteks ini, maksud saya, ibu bapa memang dah suruh dari kecik anak-anak mereka pakai tudung, tapi tak explain kenapa, hanya cakap, dalam Islam wajib pakai tudung. Jadinya, bila budak-budak tu dah besar, they are exposed to new things. Mereka nak merasa apa agaknya perasaan bila tunjukkan rambut yang dikatakan mahkota wanita, dan lebih cantik tak kalau tak pakai tudung. Mereka nak rasa glamour kat dunia luar ni, where, presumably in their minds, perempuan yang pakai tudung tak dipandang.

Mungkin salah mereka, tak menyedari bahawa pemakaian tudung ini adalah zahiriah. In every action there is an underlying meaning, yes? I do not know much, but pemakaian tudung ni adalah salah satu peringatan, bahawa apabila tudung dipakai, rambut dilindungi, tetapi yang tersiratnya ialah, tudung itu adalah sebagai penutup, pendinding, what ever you call it, metaphorically, daripada perilaku akhlak kita (Okay, macam dah terbabow balik ayat).

I mean, okay, pakai tudung, jaga aurat, but symbolically, it's a reminder to jaga akhlak dan perilaku, yes?

It's the same concept as fasting.

Saya tak kata yang ibu bapa tak patut paksa anak pakai tudung. In actual fact, memang tak patut paksa, tapi patut didik. Didik kenapa tudung perlu dipakai, dan bukan sahaja atas sebab "Islam suruh pakai, pakai".

I know, all of you must be thinking, "Huril ni gebang je lebih, diri sendiri tak pakai tudung." All I can say is, memang, saya sendiri tak tahu kenapa tak pakai lagi tudung ni. Betul, sebab dah biasa tak pakai tudung dari kecik. Tapi baiklah saya dari tak pakai tudung ke pakai, instead of pakai tudung ke tak pakai. Biarlah saya sebatikan konsep pakai tudung tu zahiriah dan menjaga akhlak saya batiniah together.

Sekali lagi saya tekankan, saya cuma berasa kasihan.

Culture shock pon jadi extreme. Bukan setakat buka tudung sahaja, tapi bahagian lain pun buka juga.

It's just that in my opinion, generations and epochs are constantly evolving, and demography plays a part. The youngsters are perpetually exposed to new environments. Therefore, in disciplining them to a certain teaching, try not to force them bluntly, instead, instill a sense of rightness in that teaching.

I wish I don't have to feel so sorry for some of them whom I call family.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Chocolate

Hey ya good men and gentle ladies :)

Topic is 'Chocolate', ergo the chocolate (brown) font! Hehe.

So about this time yesterday, something delightful happened. Only during this time, though.

Because before that, I was not in an entirely good mood.

Germany lost to Serbia (how could that be, right?!), and I had a fight with my ex. And I don't remember what else, but it all came down to the fact that I just did not have any mood, good or bad.

So I posted the following as my status update on Facebook:

"I need chocolate. Lots of 'em. If any of you would be kind enough to give me some, it would be great. Call me. I'm serious. *muka serious*"

Only eccentric people would take that seriously, yea? Of course it was somewhat a joke, to highlight my frustration.

Apparently, there are some eccentric people out there, God bless them.

I turned on my Facebook chat and then Dian messaged me. She requested me to not sleep yet and that she'd call around before 12 midnight, but she had something to do first. I was like, yeah, sure.

Came 12AM and she didn't call, so I tucked into bed and read a novel. Then a few minutes after that, she called.

She told me she was outside my house. I was like, WTF?! I asked her who she was with but she didn't tell. She just asked me to come down.

So I scrambled around looking for a bra to put on, as some of you may already know, I don't wear them at night. I was wearing my caftan, though.

So I went down to meet her. She was with Faiz, her friend that I've met only once. Dian was like, Faiz has something for you. So I scrunched my face into a bewildered expression, wondering what on earth could this stranger have in store for me.

You guessed it, he held up a plastic bag with assorted chocolates in them AND an ice-cream. God knows I did not see that coming.




Friday, June 18, 2010

First Entry For Two-Oh-One-Oh

Hellooooo readers!

I know it's been awhile (awhile would be an understatement, yes?), but I won't give the excuse that I had been busy. Excuses are not meant to be entertained, anyway.

Shamefully, I had been indolent. You can say lazy, but I wouldn't want to appear too cheap hehe.

It's uh-maaayy-zing how some of my friends keep their blogs incessantly updated, like Esah, Nadia, and Nisa Rashid to name a few. Amir Hamzah tak payah cerita lah! Dah boleh qualify to be a published author dah.

How could I have let this happened when I claim myself to be an avid writer? No excuse, really. Maybe there were too many other things I was too involved in.

However, watch out for more entries!

Much love, peeps <3

And gooo Germany for World Cup 2010! Haha.