I Can’t Believe I Scored in Psychology

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamualaikum.

I know it’s actually too late for me to talk about the semester results but whatever. I just feel like sharing my thoughts here. First of all, I might have mentioned this before but this blog is in both languages; Malay and English. Mostly I would write in Malay, but English is also an important language so I’ll just balance both of them. I’m sorry if some of you prefer me writing in Malay instead of English. Well, we should always improve ourselves everyday and not just standing at the same position, right?

I do not really want to share about how tough my course is for me, again. Maybe some of you are new to my blog. I’m a Management student and currently waiting for my third semester. My second semester result was released about a month ago. Alhamdulillah, all praises to Allah, there was a slight increase in my result. I’m just an average student and never get any solid As since the first semester. Normally it would be A- and below. I’m just not really good with my studies. However, for some weird reasons, I actually put some efforts into one subject. Introduction to Managerial Psychology.

My friends already knew that I’m bad in memorizing things. I’m bad in memorizing the roads. I’m bad in recognizing people, unless they used to speak with me or they have some unique outstanding features. I’m also bad in memorizing scripts. I hate memorizing scripts that makes me always change everything into spontaneous speech or presentations. Point is, I’m bad when it comes to memorizing. Or I would just say that I’m lazy to put efforts into memorizing. However as I mentioned before, it’s not the same as Psychology subject.

For once in my life, I actually told myself to give my everything into Psychology. I started making short notes and cover all of the chapters. I made acronyms for all the important subtopics. Acronym is the easier way to memorize things. You pick important letters and memorize them or any other ways you prefer. I also came up with short ridiculous stories to make the process better. I also made some Q&A sessions with my friends. It’s either I’m asking them or they ask me. When I think of it, I actually studied harder than I used to. If I’m not mistaken, Psychology was the last paper. During the examination day, I remembered clearly everything that I memorized and alhamdulillah I think I made quite a good job on answering.

And yeah, I wasn’t really expecting it but I actually got my first solid A! This subject might be easy for others to score but subjects that need memorization are never easy to me. The rest of the subjects were not a complete failure but they were not as good as getting an A. The first thing that came into my mind after I saw that A was a compliment to myself.  “I actually can do it if I try hard enough.” “I actually can memorize things if I’m willing to.” “I actually can get an A.” Those thoughts kept lingering in my mind instead of reminiscing how bad my other results were.

Anime Hyouka

Now I know that I should try harder. I hope I will have the same strong will for the upcoming semester. If not, I’m screwed. There are three killer subjects. When I said killer, it really can kills.

Speaking of the next semester, I only have around two weeks before it starts. I’ve been filling my holidays by working at the gymnasium. RAS Fitness Centre is a mini gym for ladies only. That makes it more convenient for the ladies to workout. I’m pretty sure most of us are not comfortable sharing a gym with the guys. For me, even sharing a room with guys for meetings has already made me uncomfortable. Many of my friends WhatsApp me asking about the gym but they never come. Haha. Where are you guys?  Please support your friend here.

I also spent my holidays watching K-Dramas which I copied from my younger sister. I’m not really into K-Dramas but I also have no problem against it. In fact, I think Korean dramas are rich with ideas. I watched Nice Guy, Weightlifting Fairy and the latest one Goblin.

I know I’m quite outdated. There are rumors suggesting to adapt Goblin into Malay drama. I think it probably can be considered as a good drama but it’s not really suitable with our culture and religion. First of all, Goblin itself is a creature that never exists. The grim reaper is a creature that shouldn’t ever exist in a Malay drama. The process of reincarnation is definitely not in our belief. You might be able to recreate Train to Busan but not Goblin. Just don’t.

Other than K-Dramas, I also watched some Malay films and one of my favorites is Desolasi. Yeah, call me outdated. I love the film. Some people might consider it as a boring film. I might also be one of them if I didn’t learn Sastera. I love the CGI effects, the story line, the message and the idea itself. But not quite the actors. I think Malaysia should produce more films like this.

Anyway, I just realized that I’m a bit out of topic. I was just going to share my thoughts on my examination results but somehow K-Dramas were also included. I think I should get ready for tomorrow. I’m going to attend a program in Serdang. Hope everything goes well.

I’m ending this here. Readers, thank you for reading my thoughts and I hope you’re having a great day. Till we meet again in the next entry.

Unboxing My New Headphone!

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamualaikum.

As I mentioned in my post before, I have received this new headphone from M&M’s. I bought three travel packs; milk chocolate, almond and peanut. I never tasted the peanut before so I thought on trying some. The almond M&M’s are pretty good. I finished the milk chocolate in just a couple of days, of course. I also tried to mix my M&M’s with the ice-cream but it was quite difficult with those combinations. I am not really obsessed with chocolates and sweets but I find it hard to resist the temptation of M&M’s. Well I guess I’m making a free review for the brand.

I love my art in this picture

As I went to pay for my chocolates, the cashier took out two different colours of headphones. It’s either yellow or red. Don’t you have that time when you find it difficult to decide things? At that moment, I know I have to make an immediate decision. It’s my life or death decision. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. I always love to pick unique colours. 

I know I should go with yellow because I don’t have much items with yellow on it. But for some particular weird reason, I picked red. I think I might have an obsession with red. I always have the tendency to choose red whenever I had the chance. With that saying, I finally unboxed my new red M&M’s headphone. If some of you are wondering where you might buy this headphone, you can’t. They are not for sale. You can only get it at the stores as a free gift.

I love the cartoon's expression

For your information, this is my third current headphone that I have. I used to have more but they were either broke or damaged. I used to post an entry of my black Sades headphone that my sister gave me. It was a gaming headphone and I love the sound the most, though I’m not using it for playing games. Still, I’m using it most of the time. 

Google

The second one is my Beats by Dr.Dre with a white colour. It is a wireless headphone and I usually use it while travelling. 

Google

The M&M's is my third which I’m still trying to get use to it. The sound is good but if I need to choose between those three, I would say that I prefer the sound of my Sades the most. Well you can’t actually compare between those three because they are different types of headphones.

I used to have this mini hanging headphone which I bought from Daiso store. That thing was quite convenient to use too because you only need to hang them around your ears and not worrying that they will fall off. 

I posted about it too in one of my previous entries. But I gave it away to my uncle since he was complaining that he doesn’t have any earphone at all. My sister was also begging me to have this M&M’s headphone. Why does everyone wants my items? Haha.

Speaking of headphones, what headphones or earphones are you using? Care to share in the comment below. And if you haven’t seen yet my latest vacation vlog, you can always click HERE to visit my channel. Thanks for reading and I hope you are having a nice day.

University Life Updates

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamualaikum.

It is a fine weather today and I hope you are having a wonderful day. I just got back from a morning walk around the university area. I am still not familiar with the places here and I can’t even give directions to people. Every time the passers-by or foreigners asked me for directions, I would tell them that I’m new here. I am not helping at all. I think I’ll need some more time to memorize the roads.

So, what’s up with my university life? For some of you who still don’t have a clue, I’m currently pursuing the Management course. People say that management is the second toughest course here other than the HBP (Housing, Building and Planning) course. I’m not sure if it’s true. I’m still in the early stage here, but I have already barely caught up things. Once, I entered a lecture class and ended up not understand a single thing. It’s tough especially for those without economic and accounting basics. Let me share with you some of the university courses that I’m pursuing. I took seven subjects for this first semester which are Microeconomics, Introduction to Management, Financial Accounting, Business Communication, Business Statistics, Academic English and Hubungan Etnik. Everything is in English except for Hubungan Etnik. Can you imagine the culture shock I’m receiving right now? Haha.

My friends always told me that I’m lucky because I’m good in English. Truth is, I’m also struggling sometimes. I’m not that good in English. I make grammatical mistakes and there are so many English terms that I can’t understand too. I tried to read the text books and ended up closing them in less than an hour. I still can’t catch up with any momentum yet. So yeah, that is one of the struggles I’m having right now.

The other struggle being a student here is to collect the ‘My Continuous Student Development’ points which is also known as MyCSD. We need to collect these points to guarantee our stay in the hostel for the next semester. Therefore, everything has become competitive. Students compete to join various clubs, activities and program to collect the points. Well, I’m also one of them I guess. I’m not really interested in joining the uniform units such as PALAPES and SUKSIS. They are some of the most active associations in the university which provides a lot of CSD and a guarantee for stay. So I think I’m quite in a trouble right now.

Instead of joining the uniform units, I tried my luck on some big events such as Variasiswa and Convex (Convocation Expo). I went to the interviews but still haven’t got any news about the results yet. Variasiswa is a big event between the hostels. It’s something like the American Got Talent thing but in form of groups (hostel representatives). I’m not really sure about joining the team because Variasiswa is not my thing. Meanwhile, Convex is also a big annual event here which provides a lot of MyCSD. A lot of MyCSD also means a lot of competition. Can you imagine I have to wait in lines for the interview? And the candidates are people with great talents! You cannot imagine how I feel while waiting for my turn. It’s a torture, guys.

Besides those events, I also tried an interview to join the Management committee. Once again, it is very competitive. I think I forgot to mention that majority Management students are Chinese. Then of course it will be one hell of a competition for the spots because Chinese are definitely diligent and responsible. Not being a racist here but it’s just a reflection of my thoughts. But I’m not going to back up either. Haha. I think we need to expose ourselves into something new instead of thinking that ‘I cannot do it’ and stuff. If we keep saying that we cannot do it, then we will forever be a naysayer to our self.

And guess what? Alhamdulillah, yesterday I received a message from the Management committee saying that I was accepted to be a representative!

I was quite shocked because I think I did not do well in the interview. That Management committee interview is the second interview that I have ever attended after the Convex interview. I’ve never been to any interviews before because interviews are not my thing. I rather not get accepted to anything instead of attending interviews. Yup, I’m that type of person. But that principle has changed as soon as I became a student here. In university, you need to attend interviews to actually gain something in your life. Gosh, university life is a tough one!

So yeah, I’ll attend my first meeting as a Management representative this Monday. It is my first task ever here. I know I’ll be busy with the society afterwards, but I’m not going to neglect my studies, insya Allah. Studying has got to be my priority, because it is an important jihad. Everything else comes second. I’m excited to do something new and create new memories here. I’m so looking forward to the adventure!

Wish me luck, guys. Have a nice day.

A normal sight here

My Fake Enemies

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamualaikum.

How are you feeling today? I hope you’re having a great day!

I did not really write a lot these days. I really want to share everything with you, but some things are best to keep it for myself. That makes them special, you know. Sometimes the memories and moments that you have are best to treasure only by keeping them in your heart.

Life could be tough sometimes. There are times when you feel so motivated to do something and your heart beats aloud with excitement. There are also times when you feel depressed and emptiness just spread through your veins. You know, I’ve been unmotivated most of the time. Sometimes I have no motivation in studies. I have no motivation to work. I have no motivation to speak. And sometimes I even have no motivation to do anything in life. Maybe it’s just a natural feeling that flows as a challenge in life. Or maybe it’s just an excuse for me because I’m not ready to keep up with the challenge.

I normally feel unmotivated in studying. I remember I screwed up on my SPM because I always remind myself that I’m not an excellent student. I went to a high performance school or Sekolah Berprestasi Tinggi (SBT) with all those brilliant people. In school, results are the most important thing. Nobody actually will look up to you if you did not score well in examination. Maybe I kind of exaggerating things here, but at least that was what I felt back then.  I am grateful though I could do well in the basic subjects but I totally messed up in science and additional mathematics.

I was really helpless at that time. I kept telling myself I could never keep up with rest of the students. I even told that to myself every day, without missing it once. I ended up not getting any As in additional mathematics and the science subjects. That explains how messed up I was in my high school years. And that was probably the biggest mistake I’ve ever done in my life. I lost my motivation, and I never even tried to get it back.

Thus I rejected my matriculation offer and tried to study art streams. I knew it would be a great challenge because I was in the science streams for five years. I told myself that I need to redeem my mistakes for losing all the motivation back then. The lessons were totally different. I used to study the science subjects in English. But my new subjects were in Malay. I mean it’s not that difficult, but reading a business book in Malay is kind of something new to me. And memorizing the facts was much tougher than memorizing the History. But I was the one who stood up for the challenge, right? I tried a shot and my first trial was actually not bad. Alhamdulillah. And I kept trying afterwards though I never really get any results that could satisfy my parents. Well at least I think my performance was better than the past.

The reason I’m posting this is because I want to share the secret of my motivations. The things that motivated me to do better in studying.  I created my fake enemies. Enemies? An enemy is something that harms something else. In other case, I looked up to certain people and tried to compete with their results. They’re my fake enemies with no such intention to harm me anyway. It’s one-sided challenge or one-sided love or anything you name it. It’s just one-sided. When you create your own competitor, you’ll have this burning desire to beat their marks. I’m telling you, this fake enemy technique really works.

There were so many brilliant students. Even there’s a lot in my class. I’m not going to lie. Even the class monitor and his assistant gave me the nerves. There were so many awesome students in the class. There’s this one girl who could draw very well. There’s a student who could memorize things in a blink of an eye. I even lost to her in a challenge with the teacher once. There’s a student who could performed well despite being sick. And there were a lot of competitors from the other classes too. I’m amazed with how many good students existed.

Therefore, I set up my clear targets and try to get my marks above them. You don’t know how a fake enemy or a competitor can be so useful in your life. A competitor is the one who keeps your motivation up. A competitor is the one who secretly telling you to keep alive without knowing himself. The reason why I keep struggling the whole time. It is not a sin to create a fake enemy. It is okay. It is normal. There’s nothing bad in it, unless you personally takes it in a wrong way. By creating my own fake enemy, I managed to at least ranked top three. I managed to beat my competitors. I managed to feel alive, and told myself I’m not really that bad in studies. Not feeling the emptiness at certain point of my life.

Thank you for those who secretly became my fake enemies. It was you who made me feel alive again.

But there’s this one competitor whom I never managed to overcome her achievements. She, who ranked the second in batch at that time. I never did overcome her. I really hope we’ll meet again. And by that time, I’ll definitely defeat you, my worthy fake enemy.

5 Useful Travel Items

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamualaikum. Allahumma solli ala Muhammad.

It is holiday season. There are only few days to go before students need to start the school session. Trust me, I know what it feels like whenever you watch the calendar and you know all the fantasies are going to fade away. But yeah, let’s think of the bright side. You’ll get to meet your friends at school and share stories about things you do during the holidays. If you enroll into a new school next year, then you’ll meet a bunch of new friends. You get to learn new things, fighting with exams and do random stupid stuffs at school. Well, that’s life isn’t it? To just enjoy the fullest of it. You’ll be missing school as soon as you leave it.

Anyways, the school holiday isn’t over yet. Some of us also are having our break right now. Maybe semester break, Christmas break, I don’t know. I kind of wonder why Malaysia celebrates Christmas holiday even though this is an Islamic country. Well, maybe because this is a multiracial country or some sort like that. As a citizen, we should be happy to have so many holidays in Malaysia. Let’s just enjoy it, shall we? I bet lots of us are currently on their vacation or travelling from one spot to another.

You know, it is always very exciting when your parents or your friends tell you that you’re going on a trip. Sometimes people get over excited and start to pack their stuff instantly although the vacation is another few more weeks to go. I am the type who always procrastinate the packing activity although I’m very excited about the trip. Sometimes I also start to pack my things on the early morning of the trip.  Maybe that’s the reason why I normally left some stuffs behind. Despite that, there are few things that I would always make sure of to bring along with me. I know, different people carry different stuffs with them on a vacation. But here are some stuffs that I think we need to carry on along the journey, or at least for me.

1. Cash or Credit/Debit Cards

Of course, money is the most important factor to survive a trip. I don’t have any credit cards though but I’m sure it is easier for people or parents to actually carry on the cards with them. Unless you’re a backpacker, then money is completely necessary for everything. You need money for the car fuel, foods and accommodation. You obviously need money if you go to a place with lots of shopping malls. Trust me, I’ve been to Vietnam recently and you just can’t resist yourself from spending a lot of money there. If you’re going for a camp or sunny places such as the beach then you might probably get to reduce your expenses. I usually spend my money just to buy souvenirs for my friends. Whatever you use your cash for, make sure to use them wisely.

2. Cell phone

This might not necessarily be an important item for me on a trip, but it is very handful depends on the situation. For example, you’ll need it to call your parents or friends when you’ve been separated into different places. Normally this happens at the shopping mall. This gadget also helps you as an alarm clock in the morning. But as I said before, I don’t really need it because I can just wake up myself or my parents will definitely do the job themselves. I love taking photos and videos, thus I need to bring it as a backup if my camera battery died or the memory is full.

3. Digital Camera or DSLR

Personally, Samsung Galaxy Camera EK-GC100 is my choice. It’s a digital camera, but also applies with smart phone functions. I love it because it takes really good pictures and you can post the pictures instantly on Instagram. The results given by this camera is different from a normal smart phone because obviously it’s a camera. My friends often mistake it with smart phones. Some people do not prefer to bring any cameras with them. It’s up to you guys. If you really love taking pictures and videos you’ll definitely never leave your camera behind.

4. Chargers or Powerbank

Or in other cases, you’ll just bring both of them. If you’re travelling on a flight, you really need a powerbank because not every airplane provides USB function at the seats. Sometimes you’ll also get caught up in the situation whereas the plugs in the room are not functional anymore. Sometimes the room does not even provide extra plugs to charge your device. Normally this happens when you’re renting a cheap place. I mean hey, we don’t need to waste our money on a luxurious place the whole time. What’s important is the place is convenient for you and your family.

5. Sunglasses

I know maybe you’ll say this is not an important stuff at all. But you’ll definitely need it in certain circumstances. If you’re travelling for a long journey in the car, the sun sometimes might be hard for you. I experienced this most of the time. It’s like you’ve been waiting to be grilled in the car. Okay, maybe I kind of exaggerate things over here. You will actually need to wear sunglasses in sunny places such as the beach or the park. And it makes you look good in your pictures too.


There’s a lot more items that you need to bring along on your journey of course. But normally these are the only five items I’ll bring in my handbag every time I travel. Therefore, make sure you have everything you need before starting the trip. And never forget to enjoy your time with your loved ones.

* Photos from Google

I'm Dissatisfied

Assalamualaikum and good morning my dear readers.

The tense for our first term exam is extremely increasing right now. I’ll be sitting for my exam on the 17^th and 18^th of November, which is just around the corner. Alhamdulillah, my pointer for the previous exam is 3.59, a bit of achievement yet not to be proud of. I seriously need to achieve 4 flat for this first term to have a bit of relaxing time afterwards. I hope my efforts will be paid off with excellent grades. May Allah grant my wishes.

I’m going to share with you guys about our annual party. I’m really sorry for saying this, but truth is, I’m a bit dissatisfied with how certain people handling things without even letting us to make our own choices. We didn’t even get the chance to vote for the menu and were kind of being forced to pay for a quite high amount of money. I’m not saying this because I’m stingy. It’s just that I felt sorry for those who couldn’t afford to pay and they actually didn’t attend to the campus on that day because of that. You know that feeling when you’re having fun but your friends are not there. There were also some people who paid at half price and throwing their own party if I’m not mistaken. Once again, I’m not saying this because I’m jealous or whatsoever. 

I'm not exaggerating things here. For me, the concept of having an annual party, annual dinner, reunion or any other kind of ceremonies is to gather everyone and spending your time with them. It’s not about finishing every meal on the table. Anyways, eventhough I was not given some rights for the event, I must not deny that the food served was good. I appreciate the effort given to organize the party.

Benda-benda Melayu Sebut Bila Ramadan

So yeah Mat Luthfi's back with his new video about Ramadan. As usual, I couldn't agree more on this one. See and judge it by yourself. By the way, I'm currently trying to make a new Ramadan video but there's so many difficulties for me this time, especially when it comes to my video software. Hopefully I can fix the problem soon. Good night and salam Ramadan !

Diary#51: Irritated

I did not have the chance to watch the TV or online for the whole week so yeah, there’s a lot of stuff that I missed. On Tuesday night, one of my friends sent me a message to inform about the loss of arwah Faris Imran, a senior of mine. He was involved in an accident on his way home from Mahsuri. 

I was quite shock to hear the news though I never really knew him. Basically, everyone said he’s a good person but he was meant to leave this world earlier than the rest of us. Al-Fatihah for arwah and my sincere condolences to his family. It must be hard to lose someone you love, especially just a few more days from the upcoming Ramadan. People come and go whenever they have to. 

Anyway, this morning I received wonderful news from my aunt. She delivered her baby boy slightly earlier than expected because doctors felt her baby ‘need to be delivered’ today. Alhamdulillah, all praises to Allah for sending a new khalifah to us. He’s a healthy little fella and a bit heavy too. I’m looking forward to see him soon, perhaps next month. Insya Allah. 

Speaking of people, I have some new friends over here with different ways, characters and personalities. I’m not a really choosy person when it comes to friends. I’m trying to accept the person just the way they are, and I’m very grateful they also accepted me for who I am, perhaps. 

Being eighteen, there are so many things we need to change especially our mentality. We need to stop behaving like kids and start thinking in a new perspective mind, seriously. I was slightly irritated lately when some people tried to use me for their own sake. I mean yes I would love to help you guys but I’m definitely not going to help you to complete your full assignment by myself. What’s the point of having a task if that so? Stop giving me some foolish reason because I’m not buying it. I’m deeply sorry for rejecting your demands, but you need to stop relying on others and believe in yourself to complete your tasks. I mean, jadilah matang sikit.

Despite the small matter, I tend to like Mahsuri. I love studying and it would be such a waste if I had to skip classes even for a day, which might be on this Monday. 

That one time when I was having a conversation with a friend, she told me that we actually need to have an inspiration to study. I agreed with her statement. There are a lot of inspirations and positive surroundings such as our parents, families, teachers, lecturers and friends. If we think of our beloved ones, it actually can help us to boost our spirit in studying. I’m hoping to do my best here.

Enough with the short story. I want to share with you guys this new official music video from my favourite singers, Raef and Maher Zain. Happy upcoming Ramadan and thanks for wasting a little bit of your time to read this post! 

Before We Get Too Comfortable

I keep posting my updates on WeChat. I don’t want to miss anything on Facebook groups and I can keep doing these things over and over again till I get bored. I love taking pictures using my Galaxy Camera and posted them on Instagram. I listen to Bee Gees most of the time. I sleep on my own bed every night. I live in a comfortable home, where I can get anything that I need, alhamdulillah. I find it fascinating that we have, here in Malaysia, beautiful days to be thankful. 

However, sometimes there’s a thought in my mind, about how these comfortable ways of living is killing me inside slowly. Most people nowadays can get whatever we need in a blink of an eye. Money is not really a big thing, you know. Teenagers, even children are using smart phones. That’s the best example of how the modern world is currently providing us with materialism. We should be thankful because we are chosen to live in this century whereas money is not a problem anymore.

Do you remember how things used to be when Rasulullah was alive? He’s a modest person, living in a modest house. When Rasulullah prayed in the house of Aishah it was simply a room, so when he prayed and made sujud, he had to touch Aishah so she would move and he could make sujud. That was how small their homes were. Eventhough Rasulullah was a great leader at that time, he preferred not to have a luxurious life such as the other leaders.

How about us? We have a lot of food in the refrigerator, but Rasulullah was willing to give the food he had to those in need. We have vehicles to travel to another place, but people on the past never get to know the existence of our vehicles. We can contact our friends from the internet, but they used pigeons to send messages.

You may assume that those with more material possessions have more to be grateful for. However, research suggests otherwise. These findings suggest that it’s not how much you have, but how you feel about what you have that makes the difference.

Modesty is the first step in a person’s journey as a servant to be closer to Allah. Therefore, we are still very far from creating love for Allah.

Ibrah From The Past - SPM Leavers

Have you ever wondered how’s your life going to be in another ten more years? Or you just do not even care to think about it? I always love reminding myself with this quote, “Life is like the ice-cream. Enjoy it before it melts.”

I am currently waiting for my SPM results next month. After leaving the school, everything just turned weird and totally different. I know some of you might feel the same way as me. We’re trying to adapt life without teachers, friends, homework and all the teen stuff. Some of us are very lucky to continue their studies in certain universities. The rest of us might be working, travelling or even just staying at home etc.

I am pretty sure that we all love to look at the past and think about our childhood or school memories. This is because we are new to this ‘no-school’ surroundings and all we need is just some time to move on. Maybe you will upload a lot of photos of you and your friends on the Instagram, Facebook or Twitter to remind yourself of how sweet your teenage life was before. You love to tweet about how much you miss the school and your best friends. You will try to set up a date with your besties. And you just cannot get rid of the funny memories you had with them. Every moment you spent thinking about your friends.

On the contrary, have you ever wondered how much your friends miss you? What are they doing right now? Maybe they are missing you. Or maybe they have already moved on with their lives to seek for a better future.  You see, there is no wrong in thinking about your school or the past. But you should know that we cannot live in the past. The time is running fast. Day by days, week by weeks, we are actually growing up. We’re eighteen now.

Aren’t we supposed to talk about more mature issues? We should be discussing about what we have done for the past eighteen years for our religion and the nation. We should be focusing on the present and the future. Ask yourself, what you have contributed to Islam and Malaysia all this while.

When Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh was nineteen, he ruled a kingdom. Maybe we can’t achieve such a superior achievement as his, but we should at least try to do something worthy. We are the country’s hope. We are meant to be leaders. But how is that supposed to be if we keep living in the past?

Via instagram @nurinasoib

Take ibrah from the past. Ibrah is the positive value that you have learned all this while. In school, there are lots ibrah that we can take. If we screwed up in school, then we need to fix what we have done before. If we were too busy studying and missed our prayers, this is the best time for us to take a step closer to Allah SWT. For those who just got your driving license, why don’t you drive around to any welfare house to help those in need? There is a lot of ways to help the ummah. Everything lies in our hands. We need to determine what’s best for us, not the past.

Instead of discussing about gossips, games, movies, we should try to do some research on what’s really happening to Islam around the world. Religion is our faith. Without faith, we’re doomed. Lots of people around the world are trying to destroy this faith that we have. Take a look at Palestine for example. Muslims are controlled. Our brothers and sisters live in fear every day. Alhamdulillah,we live in a peaceful country Malaysia. But how about them? What is really happening to them? How much do they suffer? When those people will stop torturing them? Masha Allah. We need to know a lot more about the world.

Wait, stop. What about Malaysia itself? I mean what about Muslims in Malaysia? This faith that we have, is getting disappeared slowly. Women are not wearing their hijab. Men are not going to the mosque even when it’s Friday. Teenagers spend their days at the shopping malls. Everything is going so wrong.

My point is, we should try to open wide our eyes to look at what’s really happening around us and what we can contribute for a better future. We’re eighteen, and we should be more mature. School life was totally awesome and we learned a lot. What we can do and what we cannot. Teachers taught us not only class lessons but also life lessons. They shared their experiences until they become who they are today. Friends have shared a lot with us. We learned how to solve problems and we learned about trust.

There’s so much ibrah that you can take. There’s so much things that you can do now. The past is just something to teach you about ibrah. When you get your lesson, live your life preciously. Let me give you a quote from Sai Baba, "What matters is to live in the present, live now, for every moment is now. It is your thoughts and acts of the moment that create your future. The outline of your future path already exists, for you created its pattern by your past."

Just a short message for today. And enjoy this video. ^^

1st of February: World Hijab Day

Emma (Christian) going off to school this morning to support her Muslim sisters for World Hijab Day. -Kerri Jo Stewart (mom)

Let us support the World Hijab Day. Even the non-muslims support the muslims by wearing hijab for today. And today is also the last day for Giveaway World Hijab Day so don't miss the chance for winning great prizes. Hurry up and submit your participation before 11.59 pm!

Posted via Blogaway

Cerpen: That One Guy Called Emir

The Sun was appearing the light. My eyes stared at the unclear shadow in front of me. Slowly, I tried to lift up my head and there he was, standing in front of me with an awkward smile. I got a frightening sense deep in my heart. What was he doing right there? Riddles came across my mind.  His name is Emir. He always scored great marks in the examination. I can never be as great as him. I never get my flying colours. I did not have any confidence in myself.

Emir also has that one good-looking face that made all the girls in school dying to know him better. Well, not all of them. I had no interest of him at all. For me, having a relationship in my senior year was a whole lot of mess. And I never even dated anybody before, because in Islam, there is no such thing as couples and dates. Literally, I did not believe in puppy love. 

Emir took a glance at me and hand in over a piece of paper. He asked me to fill some information for our Communication in Technology Club. He was the president of the club, for he won the highest vote from the students, especially the girls. We had never talked before eventhough we were studying in the same class for almost three months. I became kind of bashful when it comes to guys. I could not be as genial as Elisa and the rest. After writing down my address and my contact number, I quickly passed the form back to Emir. I noticed he was observing me while I was filling the form. 

“Hey, are there something wrong with me somewhere? You seemed to be afraid of me Solehah,” Emir took a shot. I shook my head. He looked dissatisfied with my answer but he just kept quiet and walked away. And that was it. That was I how I treated every other guy in the school for this two years. But some of them just did not want to stop trying.

“Leha, what do you think of Emir? He is handsome, intelligent and rich. He suits me, right?” Dayanah smiled excitedly after he left. Dayanah is a friendly person and she understands me well. I could always rely on her. She’s my best friend. 

“Nope, I don’t think you two belong with each other,” I tried to tease her. Her face expression changed in a few seconds. “And why is that?” she wanted an explanation. 

“Because... he is way too tall for you,” I burst into laughter. Dayanah pinched my arm softly. Then, she started to laugh. That was when Farid appeared and stood right in front of me. It had been two weeks since Farid started to make a hell out of my life. He knew I did not like to speak with boys but he still kept bothering me everyday. But this time, it was over the limit. Dayanah chased him from my sight but he did not want to budge even an inch. “Hey Leha. How are you today? Do you miss me?” Farid asked on purpose. “Don’t bother her!” Dayanah was still there, defending me. 

“Yeah, don’t bother her Farid. Get away from her,” I suddenly heard a familiar voice. It was Emir’s. He noticed the incident and tried to help me.  I was shocked and impressed at the same time. He was willing to chase his friend to defend me? Farid was still standing there. 

“Leha, do you want to go out with me someday? We can go to the cinema together. I can drive my father’s car to pick you at your home,” Farid said intentionally. Without my expectation, Emir approached us and he pulled Farid away from me. It was very kind of him. I never taught he would do such thing for me. He... understood. Emir brought Farid outside the class and he said something to that guy, which nobody knows what.

Time passed and I was starting to get busy with stuffs in the Communication in Technology Club. We were asked to create a magazine about internet and technologies for the teachers and students. As the president, Emir divided the team into several groups; photography, graphic designing, articles and reports. I was grateful because everyone in my small team were girls. We could work more efficiently. I volunteered myself to search the words of wisdom for the last page of the magazine. 

“You know, I love collecting inspirational words. I even have a journal for every single words of wisdom I found. That will make my work easier! I will not let you girls down,” I said enthusiastically without realizing that Emir was behind me. All of the girls just kept quiet and did not respond to me. As soon as I realized Emir was there, I was ashamed. 

He did not want me to make a fool out of myself. “You do? That’s great. Here. I also have some collections that you might want to use some,” he handed over a few piece of papers. I took those papers and read the words. I nodded as a thank you sign to him. Right after he left, my friends grabbed the papers from me and started reading the words. 

“Oh my God, I think he likes you!” Sara spoke and blinked her eye. “That’s absurd. He was just trying to help. Please don’t make any further assumptions, Sara,” I pretended to sulk. I knew she was just teasing me as usual. “He already has a girlfriend,” Zalia added. 

“Really? I never know about it,” I said frankly. “Tell us about that lucky person,” Sara was dying to know. 

Zalia looked around to ensure that nobody was listening to the conversation. She did not want people to call her as the gossip girl. But what she was going to say was nothing but fact. “Her name is Aimi. She’s two years younger than us. She studies in another boarding school, not far from here. They have last for a year now, and Emir seems to be a very loyal person,” Zalia smiled mesmerizingly. She was one of the popular girls in school. “And how cute is that!” Sara held both of her hands, probably wishing to be in the girl’s shoes right now. 

“Cute? What is cute about loving somebody that may not be your wife? If he likes her, he should pray to Allah to save Aimi for him. Who knows she might fall in love with another guy in her school?” I did not know why but those words just came out from my mouth. Emir’s a kind guy, I was just hoping that he would do things the better way with his girlfriend. 

“Wait a second! Leha, are you jealous of Aimi?” Sara guessed.

“Me? Jealous? No way. I was just telling the truth. And I don’t even have any feelings towards that guy. He is my classmate and our president. That’s it.” I tried to defend myself. I did not want them to think that I loved Emir. 

“Chill out, Leha. We were just joking. Wait, you’re blushing!” Zalia pinched my cheeks softly. “No I’m not!” We ended up the day with laughter instead of discussing our works.

That night, as usual, I went to the preparation class. That was our daily routine as hostel students. We were given some space to study for the next morning. But eventually I spent the night to finish the ‘never-will-finish’ works given by the teachers. While completing my task, suddenly we heard a scream coming from outside the class. Everybody was shocked and people started to gather at the corridor to find out what was happening. It was a girl’s scream. I also did not want to miss the opportunity to fulfil my curiosity. “What’s happening?” I asked Dayanah. She might know the truth. “They said she was shocked. Maybe she was just imagining things such as ghosts.” So, there was actually nothing happened with the girl. I wanted to continue my work, but as soon as I turned back, the front door was blocked with the boys. They still did not want to enter the class. I became confused whether I should stay or enter the class. 

“Leha, why don’t you just use the back door? It’s safer,” Emir suggested. That was quite a surprise. Emir seemed to understand what I was thinking at that moment. Without wasting any time, I went to the back door and returned to my seat. I was touched with what Emir had done for me just now. He acted as if he was protecting me. I never met someone like him before. I never thought guys could actually understand us muslimah.

***

Day swapping days and finally we were going to face the toughest examination in the school history. Yes, it was the night before SPM. I was filled up with tears when I hugged Dayanah. I asked her for an apology. And I apologize to all of my friends. After that night, we might do not have any time left to spend with each other. Some of the girls did not want to miss the chance to speak with the boys. I decided to wait Dayanah, but a bit far away from the students. I did not want to meet with any of the boys. I already forgave everyone and I was hoping they did the same. After fifteen minutes waiting, Dayanah approached me with a big smile. 

“What’s with the smile, Dayanah?” I returned her smile. “Well, take a guess.”

“You talked with Emir?” 

“Yes, that’s correct. I also spoke with Farid, but, we were not talking about us. We were talking about you,” Dayanah answered.

“You were talking about me? And why was that?” I thought Dayanah was making a joke at that moment but it turned out to be the truth.

“Farid owes you an apology of course. And Emir, he left you a message. He knew you do not want to talk to him or the other boys, so he asked me to say this. First of all, he wishes you the very best in your examination. He also believes that one day, you will be a successful person in your life. He told you to just believe in yourself,” Dayanah explained.

“He said that?” I could not believe what I just heard. Dayanah nodded and smiled. “Why should I lie to you?” Dayanah convinced me. I took a deep breath and slowly smiled to her.

Since that day, I became more confident in myself. If a guy such as Emir can trust me, I should have trust myself first. Emir is one of a kind. He treats girls the way they treat him. He is an understanding person eventhough he’s not perfect. I never meet him since we left the school but I will remember him as my classmate. So I just want the other guys in the world to know that if you treat a muslimah in a proper attitude, we will totally respect you like the way I respect Emir right now.

-THE END-

This short story is a story about how a muslimah feels when a guy treats him in a proper way. She will respect people that respect her, not the one that disturbs her. Try to avoid ikhtilat in our daily lives before everything gets worse. And yeah, avoid couple before nikah!

After SPM: Vacations and Garage Sale

People kept asking me about how's my life after SPM and what am I doing to spend these cherish days not being a school student anymore. Well, definitely, it is kind of bored. Less friends, less talk and less activation of the brain.

Not being a school student is horrible. You can't hear the school bell rings, no more sleeping in classes, no punishments for not completing your homework and no more white uniforms. SPM was just like a dream that vanished in a blink of an eye. 

While waiting for my results I finally get to spend my days in Kulim. Yeay. Driving license? Nope. Not in the mood for driving round the town. My grandma, Wan asked me to get my license because she wants me to drive her around Kulim and I told her that I'll take her for a ride with my bicycle. Kind of cool, huh?

Work? Yup, I am currently working with my mom at her saloon for muslimah, of course. We provide a lot of services such as facial treatment, hair cut, spa, body massage and whatever treatment you name it. I just learned how to wash hair. Well, that's for the first step. It is true I'm not very good in this job but I'm just trying to do something with my life rather than staying at home everyday. 

I'm also trying to write new stories. Surely, I have a lot of ideas right now after two years I spent in boarding school far away from Kedah. Just finding the right stories to write. I'm also helping my mom to design some banners for her work. And of course, I am just a beginner in designing. This is one of my design last week. 

Just a simple design of course. Try and look at the banner. We are actually having a garage sale. So, I had to get rid of my unused clothes, bags and books. We'll sell them at lower prices. And alhamdulillah many people sent their belongings to our house for the jumble sale. We sell them for charity, to help those in needs. Everyone is invited to come to my house on this 17th of December for clearance!

Next, speaking of vacations. We have some plans for the trips in this month. And currently I am spending my cold days in a hotel and the cold is killing me. But the hotel is quite comfortable. And you know, there is a swimming pool for women only. How great is that! This place is a peaceful place. I forgot to mention the name. Tabung Haji Hotel in Alor Setar. For those who are seeking for peace and relaxing holidays, how about a shot here? 

In front of TH Hotel

Do Not Underestimate

It was Thursday morning in Legoland. We were excited to experience the journey on the rides in that theme park. There were so many rides and I can’t even remember how much roller coasters were there. I took almost all the rides and plays, except for the kids’ rides. Mom rented a wheel chair for dad as he always gets tired fast. His condition is not well enough.  For me, the roller coaster ride was not really extreme. Truth. The challenging moment was to fall from a very high position, but that was it. In a blink of an eye, you’ll finally arrive at your starting point. Legoland should have provide more extreme plays for me.

At one of our stops, my sister and I decided to take quite a challenging game. It sounds simple, but needs a lot of my girl energy in the game. First, we need to move the fire truck until we reach a given point. Then, we need to get out from the truck and splash out water from a hose until the pictures on the wall shows the fire is finally extinguished. There were only the two of us, but I still insist to play the game.

Then a guy in yellow shirt asked how many of us and his face changed strangely when I answered him. “The two of you? Can you make it?” he smiled. I was not sure whether he was worried for us or maybe teasing us. My sister and I quickly rode on a white truck and I told her that we must win the game. My uncle and cousin were in the right truck. There were also some other challengers in the other trucks. 

As soon as the game started, we put a lot of effort to move the truck. Alhamdulillah we managed to arrive earlier than the rest. But the game was not over yet. We need to put out the fire. The situation became terrifying when the others also arrived. After finishing our job, I entered the truck and we moved to the starting point back.

I was glad as we were the first to arrive. When walking out of the game zone, I met with the guy again. I smiled and told him that we won the game. He just smiled and did not say anything. I walked out of the zone with a very satisfying feeling.

Diari#44: Sweet Seventeen

Finally, it's 24th of April. And I'm finally turning into seventeen. Alhamdulillah, a lot of praises to Allah for rewarding me such a wonderful life and I'm grateful for the air that I breathe all this while. I'm oficially seventeen. I can't believe it. It has been seventeen years since I was born. I was lucky to have such awesome parents. Wonder what happened today? Well, let's check it out.

It was twelve midnight and I was completing my Mathematics module in front of the door. Suddenly a friend came and told me I was assigned to complete a BADAR (Badan Dakwah dan Kerohanian) file. Well, actually I knew it was a prank. Suddenly, my 4 Zamrud '12 friends came and they sang the Birthday song while everyone was sleeping. I was very excited and glad of course to see them. Later, they forced me to finish their Chemistry module. As I opened the book, I found a plague written 'Happy Birthday Rina Cool'. Rina Cool is my nickname. :P Later, my juniors started wishing me.

This morning, I went to my class as usual and I was surprised to find a very cute handmade card by a friend. It was very cute. Like seriously. He sketched the cartoons by himself.

After the assembly, my classmates started wishing me. I appreciate all the efforts very much. Mizan wrote "Happy Birthday Nurina" on the whiteboard. The most meaningful moment is when my classmates gave me a card signed by each one of them. It is actually a hari raya card. But that's not important. I'm touched. Thank you guys, I really, really appreciate that.

And one more thing, I got a carton of HL milk! It is my favourite since I first drank it two days ago. Delicious. Thank you Elisa. 

Just now, I met Cikgu Hasnah to discuss about the theatre. I was actually hoping that she would wish me. At first, nothing happened. As I was almost leaving, suddenly she called my name and I was excited. She actually reminded me to discuss the theatre with my friends. The second time I meant to leave, she called my name again. And this time, she wished me a happy birthday. Thank you cikgu. You really made my day. Thank you my friends especially 4 Zamrudians. You guys are actually the reason that I smile. 

Count Allah Azzawajalla's Blessings

I recently found this note without the source. Instead of keeping it alone, I think I rather share it with you guys. Well I believe everyone knows that 2013 is coming. Let us raise our hands and pray to Allah Azzawajalla for every moment we spent since the day we were born until today. Praise Him for every single breath we take. Alhamdulillah. 

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead

and a place to sleep ... you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish

someplace ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more

Blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of

imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...you are

ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can pray in a Mosque without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or

death ... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are Truly

Thankful... you are Blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can read this message, you just received a double Blessing in that

someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more Blessed than

over two billion people in the world who cannot read this message at all.

www.mynewnormals.com

MasyaAllah, Allah gives us a lot of reasons to be grateful in our life. Let's spend our moment wisely.  

Note: Alhamdulillah I finally arrived in Selangor. Tomorrow is the day for me to be back in school. Another wonderful day to be grateful of. 

Passion and Enthusiasm

Hey guys. The school days are just around the corner and the holidays will be leaving us away. Say goodbye  to 2012 and let's welcome 2013! Yeah. A new fresh start and a new fresh year. Let's do amazing and cool stuffs around 2013.

Talking about my holidays, I hope I did spend them wisely. Well, sort of. Online, reading books and magazines, tuition classes, vacations, watching the big box and some other random stuffs. I did wish that I could have a trip to Sabah this year but I think I'll just have to keep that wish till the next few years. 

I love wandering inside my house. Seriously. And every steps I took, I'll be thinking of something. My past, my present and I will be wondering about my future ahead. Yesterday as I was performing my routine, suddenly I remembered a word that I used to hear before. 'Semangat' in malay or passion. I was one of the members for the malay debate team before but for sure I never entered any of those competitions. You know, I'm kind of a shy person and sometimes I love to call myself as the sheepish one. 

I followed the debate team around and every time they're going to compete, they would ask each other to be passion in what they're doing. Since then, I love the word passion. I want to adapt this words, passion and enthusiasm in my life. Everytime the lazy part of me comes, I'll try my best to fight against it. Sometimes I win and vice versa. But next year is a very scary year for me and the rest form five students. We're going to take the SPM! So I must double my efforts and push it quite hard.

This evening when I was studying in my mom's saloon, I overheard my mom's conversation with her customers. They were talking about me. Yeah I know it's not a proper thing to hear some adults conversations but when  it involves me, how can I ignore it right? My mom told her I love writing and as usual, she promoted my novels. So the customer's daughter asked my signature and came to meet me. She took my right hand and kissed it (salam tangan).

We had a good conversation at the first but she challenged my mind without her notice when she asked me this question. "Until when you'll keep on writing?" I kept quiet for a while and trying to figure out the best answer to reply her question. And I kept thinking by myself, when? Even I could not answer just a simple question like that. Staring at me for some moments, she finally decided to ask my permission to leave. I nodded and acting as if I wanted to continue my work.

For the fact, I actually stunted by a question. Maybe I'll write until tomorrow, and stop. Maybe I'll write for the next twenty years and stop. I don't know! If I don't have the enthusiasm in me, I'll definitely quit. This is when I truly realized the importance of having a passion in yourself.

There was once when I almost lost hope in my friendship. I was in a situation which I felt like a kick in the teeth. But at the other side, there were my friends standing and cheered me up. I learned that this 'passion' thing comes and goes, but it will surely come  if you have some shoulders to lean on. Just do not give up in any situations and we just have to handle it bravely. And one more thing, there's no need to be hurry in learning something meaningful in life. The learning in life lessons comes and goes, same as passion. Don't get discouraged when life becomes a bit difficult. We can do it. Let's make a change that worth it.