May 2004 Archives

I've been thinking about this for a long time: God created Adam, and according to Darwin's evolutionary theory and natural selection, Adam could have been a monkey (Darwin's theory has come under attack lately, but for different reasons besides religious).

Islam, of course, forbids us to think of Adam (or Eve) as a primate, for various reasons, but mostly because animals and humans are different in the sense that humans have been granted free will. If Adam was a monkey (or the descendent of monkeys -- which is also impossible according to Quran since he was created a "man" before he was kicked out of heaven), then it would be difficult to reconcile the issue of free will.

“O mankind, be careful of your duty to your Lord, Who created you from a single soul, and from it created its mate, and from the two of them has spread forth a multitude of men and women.� (Al-Quran, Chapter 4, Verse 1)

“All of you are Children of Adam, and Adam was created from dust.� (Prophet Muhammad, pbuh)

And yet, fossilized findings tends to show a gradual evolution of early man -- the cro-magnons, the neandertals, etc. There must be a reconciliation between what scientiests have found and what the Quran tells us, but i'm unsure what it is.

Some websites i've found have been vague in their answers. Others have tried reconciling evolution and creationism, but have ended up sounding particularly dubious.

Looks like the thought i've given the subject is still incomplete. More research required.

How would you feel if, upon receiving a very nice gift from you, he tells you, "You're so insensitive. I gave you so many hints about the gift i wanted; why didn't you buy me that?"

I've always thought that the art of gifts lies more in the receiving, rather than the giving. Looks like not everyone shares my opinion.

Its always easier to say something, anything when no one knows who you are. Hiding behind the veil of cyberspace has always been one of the reasons why it became so popular in the first place, i reckon.

But when you really have something to say, i'll bet it lends a whole load of credibility to say it with your face showing. Stick your neck right out there, and make your point. If its crap, you're toast, reputation ruined, humiliated and humbled publicly. If its good, applause and back-slapping bravado is certain to follow.

Writing anonymously or not, is not necessarily better one over the other. They just serve different purposes. Looking carefully at the Malaysian blogosphere in particular, the demarcation of purposes seems quite stark: the more personal your message or your writing is, the less a blogger reveals about himself (or, in this case, she writes in riddles so only she and her closest confidantes fully understand her meaning). If the message is a public announcement, meant to educate or to inspire a call to action, then the blogger tends to hide less.

And, there lastly, is the final conundrum: the more public a blogger is, the less we actually know about him; we know what he wants to say, but we often have little or no insight into his personality or his life. The more anonymous the blogger is, the more we are able to relate and understand to her -- its almost as though we're able to get closer to those whom have no face.

Some of the best blogs on the 'net are written with the promise of sincere honesty; what makes a good read is the truth -- and sometimes, the plainest truths, told in the most straightforward manner are the best. They suck you in and keep you there.

Jez's Wanton Diaries tends to do that. Highly recommended.

This post refers to the earlier one, "Incredible".

Adam listened to Eve because he trusted her. Love is about trust.

Romeo killed himself because he sincerely believed that the reason why he was alive was dead. Love is about sacrifice, and the ability to make tough choices when it counts.

"He" drives her home everyday because he loves "her". A few precious moments together, in the comfort of their car, trapped behind hundreds of other cars in gridlock, is a small price to pay for (1) her company and (2) the peace of mind that she's being well looked after.

Men do "increbibly absurd" things because to them its just the right thing to do, regardless of what we think of it.

Having given it much more thought, it doesn't sound so silly afterall.

Sometimes, love requires sacrifice. And when it happens, no one in love really thinks of it as a sacrifice anymore.

Men do some incredibly absurd things for women.

Adam disobeyed GOD because Eve told him to.

Romeo killed himself because he thought Juliet was dead first.

He sends her back home to Kajang everyday eventhough he lives on the direct opposite end of town. Why? Because she's tired. What if he's tired too?

What if Adam had told Eve to f*** off?

What if Romeo had said, "Screw it, there's lots of other fish in the sea."?

Why do men do what they do?

Is the VOI still broken? Or has the problem righted itself?

Very frustrating to post things lately, with the VOI giving all sorts of problems. But felt the need to write anyway, even if it doesn't get published.

When your partner is always busy, either with work or any other legitimate reason, you really only have two choices:

# Get busy too, either with your career or some social activity like PROMUDA
# Understand that your partner needs time and space, and give it to him/her without reservation or condition

Any other choice will almost surely lead to the ruin of the relationship.

The VOI is broken, and i'm not sure how to fix it.

Perhaps this is a good opportunity to switch over to MT 3.0D. A complete overhaul of the site. Expect no updates till this is done.

Hhmmm... keep on getting 500 Error messages whenever the VOI tries to rebuild itself. This sucks.

Update: Problem looks to be resolved.

Solution: Goto HTMLPerms in mt.cfg and uncomment it so that it reads: "HTMLPerms 0777"

Thanks shelley for the help!

Update 2: Problem still persisting in an intermittent manner. Weird. One moment it works, the next it doesn't!!! HELP!

Update 3: Problem is definitely intermittent in nature. Have contacted my webhost. They didn't change anything either on the server configs. Oh dear. I've got a problem.

51 weeks down, 7 days to go, and 1 year it will be. Wow. What a ride is has been, and, i feel, things are just warming up.

If this is true, then its pure shame for Malaysia.

I know the actions (or in this case, i'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt and say, its just pure stupidity) of some shouldn't represent the whole, but international politics and global opinion doesn't care about all of that: as far as they are concerned, Malaysia is linked to militant Islam & terrorism. And that's a bad, bad thing.

Its my best guess lots of people never get a chance to work on something that they have a genuine passion for. A genuine passion is something you'd do even if you didn't get paid for it; you know you've got a passion for something when you realize your loving hobby is also your job.

Perhaps its not by choice we can't do what we're passionate about. Practical considerations abound: if we can't pay the bills, then we don't eat, then our families don't eat, and we'll end up living by the roads.

But consider this: if this world was governed by what was practical and what was not, we would still be living in darkness without Edison's persistence, we would still be shackled to the earth without the Wright brothers' courage, and Malaysia would still be a rubber plantation. Take the risk worth taking because you'll never know where it leads you.

Some people will, some people won't.

Some people will admire his dedication; long hours, sweat and blood spilled in the name of a passion, working, working, pushing, pushing. Some people will say, "He's made it - what a lucky bastard." Some people will reply, "Luck had nothing to do with it."

Some people will take pride in their son. Almost with so little, yet able to transform it into so much. Able to forge ahead on little more than a mother's prayer and a father's good will, when the time comes he forgets them not. Some people will say, "A son who never abandons his family -- that's what true success is all about."

Some people will stand by their husband. Enduring the difficult beginnings, the lonely nights, the less of what should be more, patient always for the happy ends. And even if success never comes, or just in spurts and bursts, it matters little; a wife's love for her husband will make her realize that all this effort was because of his love for her.

Some people will, some people won't. Ever asked yourself which one you are?

How much abuse can you take? And a straw can break the camel's back.

Late-starter as i am, i didn't go on my first one-to-one date with a lady until i was 18, in my first year of university Matriculation. Looking back, things were much simpler then.

A nice date would involve a bumpy ride together on the now extinct bas mini; 50 sen for a roller coaster ride to put Genting's best rides to shame! A feast would be a dinner at Pizza Hut, the Super Supreme if you wanted to impress her, otherwise just a pepperoni pizza if it was only hunger you wanted to satisfy.

A movie if there was anything worth watching, otherwise a simple ramble thru the mall, or a walk in park, stopping by every other bench or table to sit and chat, or just be comfortable in the silence of each other's company. Then, when all was said and done, the inevitable bus ride home, bumpy too, dangerous most certainly.

Once arrived, the quiet walk to send her back to the dorm, a smile, a wave goodbye, a promise to call (eventhough it meant an hour's wait in line for the dorm public phone to be free). A flutter of the heart, and then the date would be over.

I'm happy to announce that PPS is fully functional again after its recent troubles. All old PPS members are required to re-register themselves before you can gain access to the manual pinger. Thanks to all for your patience.

The 10th Cigar Dinner @ Cigar X is right around the corner. Invitations to this event are out. All are welcome! Previous dinners have been remarkable successes and Cigar X promises no less! For full details, pls check out My Cigar Blog.

I used to love visiting porn sites. Now i just can't be bothered anymore; its weird to admit it but porn just doesn't do anything for me. Am i getting old or just plain ol' boring?

We see it happen a lot nowadays: couple start out with nothing. 25 years down the road, the man has a datukship, rich as hell and suddenly believes he needs something new. He divorces his wife (who has been steadfastly supporting him throughout the many years of labour it takes to be successful in this world) and marries some pretty young thing. He feels invigorated, she feels betrayed (and is often left with a financial pittance for her troubles).

I would like to say that i'm not that type of man; i'm a loyal person who remembers who stuck with me when the going got tough and i'll repay that faith in ways that money cannot buy (an irony, isn't it?). But who really knows what the future holds? Things could change, or i could be a big fat liar. What then keeps things together, why should a woman, any woman, believe me and stick with me through thick and thin (and believe me, there will always be more of the former than the latter, at least in the beginning of any entrepreneur's life).

Simple answer: faith. You've just gotta have some faith in the man you love.

"Untuk kau Laila, aku akan bawak gunung."

"Perempuan yang jual kangkong tepi jalan lebih bermaruah dari kau, Mira Kartabo!"

- Zam, "Laila Isabella". Some guys get all the best lines in life, eh?