Object of Despair, a poem by Fahim Firfiray

I've read this poem few years back. I still remember it now and then. Yesterday I was looking up for the poem, to read it again. Then I tried to google the title 'Object of Despair'. And google suggested..



CEH!!!

*sigh*..Well, anyway, here's the poem.

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o

Object of Despair

Emma is a lawyer
And so is Aisha too
Colleagues going into court
At circa half past two

Its 1 O'clock right now
They grab a bite before the trial
They chat about this and that
Conversing with a smile

Aisha is in full hijab
With a loose all over suit
Emma's in her business wear
With accessories taboot

Emma's really quite bemused
At Aisha's godly ways
She looks Aisha in the eyes
And very firmly says

You're a smart girl Aisha
Why do you wear that across your hair?
Subjugated by "man"-kind
An object of despair

Take it off my sister
Let your banner be unfurled
Don't blindly follow all around
DECLARE YOUR FREEDOM TO THE WORLD

Aisha is amazed
But not the least bit shy
She bravely puts her milk shake down
And gives Emma the reply

My dear sister Emma,
Why do you dress the way you do?
The skirt you're wearing round your waist,
Is it really you?

Now that we've sat down,
I see you tug it across your thighs,
Do you feel ashamed?
Aware of prying eyes?

I see the way you're sitting,
Both legs joined at the knees,
Who forces you to sit like that?
Do you feel at ease?

I'll tell you who obliges you,
To dress the way you do,
Gucci, Klein and St. Laurent,
All have designs on you!

In the main, its men my friend,
Who dictate the whims of fashion,
Generating all the garb,
To incite the basest passion

"Sex Sells" there is no doubt,
But who buys with such great haste,
The answer is the likes of you,
Because they want to be embraced......

They want to be accepted,
On a level playing field
Sure, with brain and intellect
But with body parts revealed

Intelligence and reason
Are useful by and by
But if you want to make a mark
Stay appealing to the eye

You claim your skirt is office like
A business dress of sorts
Would we not laugh at Tony Blair
If he turned up in shorts?

His could be the poshest pants
Pinstripe from Saville Rowe
But walking round like that my friend
He'd really have to go

Why do you douse yourself with creams
To make your skin so milky?
Why do rip off all your hair
To keep your body silky?

A simple shower's all you need
To stay respectable and clean
The time and money that you spend
Is really quite obscene

Why do you wake up at dawn,
To apply a firm foundation,
Topped with make up and the like,
In one chaotic combination?

And if you should have to leave the house
Devoid of this routine
Why do you feel so insecure
That you should not be seen?

Be free my sister Emma
Escape from your deep mire
Don hijab today my friend
And all Islam's attire

Avoid all those sickly stares
Or whistles from afar
Walk down the street with dignity
Take pride in who you are

Strength lies in anonymity
Be a shadow in the crowd
Until you speak and interact
When your voice will carry loud

You're a smart girl Emma
Wear this across your hair
Don't be subjugated by "man"-kind
An object of despair

To use your very words my friend
Let your banner be unfurled
Don't blindly follow all around
DECLARE YOUR FREEDOM TO THE WORLD

By Fahim Firfiray, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, 10 Rajab 1420

Singapore newspapers should be rated PG or N16

Astaghfirullah!! Sometimes I cannot stand these konon angmoh lah sangat punya 'educated' Singaporeans ni.. who is with the English media. Don't they know that sometimes kids read the newspapers???

How can they post controversial pictures in the newspaper just like that. Today it's in the front page of the New Paper. Few days ago, a picture of 2 ladies kissing on the lips, on the front page of another stupid English papers. So you see, sometimes these people don't even need to buy FHM, they can sometimes get it on newspapers!

What has happened to these people? Don't they know how to judge already? Good and bad influence? Who their audience are? Or are all these considered 'advancements'? Afraid to be called 'backwards'? Totally no pride with who they are, what their values WERE and where they originally come from. They think that if they cannot degrade themselves as much as the west do, then they are being stupid?

Look who's stupid now. Show violent movies, and wonder why there is a rise violence among kids. Promote shows with boy girl relationship, premarital sex and what-nots, then wonder and worry why there is a rise in pre marital pregnancies and abortions. Children kurang ajar dengan parents, showing no respect to the elders or other people around them, are good comedies on tv - and they wonder why the children nowadays don't respect the elders. MasyaAllah how deaf, blind and dumb can they get?

It is becoming more and more challenging for a Muslim parent now. I am so afraid for my children. May Allah SWT guide me on being the best parent I can be, to protect them from these influences and to pride themselves as Muslims who are constant in our principles, with the Guidance from Allah SWT as our reference. Ameen.

The secret to flawless skin

I see these faces in the magazines, I envy them. I'll be looking at the products that comes with that picture to see how I can get such flawless skin.

And NOW I have found the secret to those flawless skin!

Oh man! I tell you! The wonders it can do!! It can make a dark skin fair, a rough skin smooth and much much more! Check out the before and after photos. Roll mouse, over the picture to see the difference.

The secret? It's called Photoshop.

But they have never ever advertised that in women magazines. hmmm.....

The funeral

Last Sunday, I followed Uda to a funeral at Pusara Aman. It was for Uda's friend's father. The friend, Mohd is from Maldives.The father was here in Singapore for treatment. Mohd and his siblings could speak English, but the elder ones like the deceased's wife and mother, could only speak their native language, Dhivehi. The body language, something understood by most human (e.g. a sympathetic smile, a smile of appreciation, a hand gesture, hand on the shoulder etc), was enough for us to communicate.

It was clear that the father was a person well respected and liked. Imagine, during the funeral, his Singapore Chinese supplier was present with his wife and son, and so was his friend/competitor from Maldives. I was told that when the father was alive but already bounded to the wheel chair and had to always have the oxygen tank with him, this Chinese supplier of his, had brought the father out to Sentosa. And the most amazing thing about it, is that the father did not speak English and the Chinese man does not speak Dhivehi. But that did not deter the man and the father from being that close. MasyaAllah! I am so touched.

O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).
Al-Quran, Al-Hujurat 49:13

In the car ride home, after dropping off the family members near town, I saw celebration banners on the streets and people going about their daily lives. After spending the whole morning at a funeral, suddenly some of these things I see, doesn't seem to make sense. Death and Afterlife, Paradise and Hellfire, is a sure thing. What are we doing?

Trivial things, good and bad

Sometimes we overlook things that seems trivial TO US. We do it and forget about it the next minute.
But it may make a lot of difference to receiving end, much more than you know. This applies to both the good and bad.

Some of the little things, good.

1. Accepting the pamphlet being given away, to help the pamphlet distributors finish their job faster.

2. Making sure the rubbish you throw, especially when it's small, gets into the dustbin properly, and not outside and around the dustbins, to make the garbage collector's work easier.

3. Acknowledging the tea lady or office cleaner, like we do to our colleagues, to make her feel like a part of our team.

4. Putting back a stuff borrowed from someone, exactly at where it was taken from, so that it's easy for the owner to find it.

5. When leaving a place, making sure that the place is as clean as when you arrived, or even cleaner.


Some of the little things bad, but done almost naturally..

1. Exclaiming somebody's inadequacies or what YOU deem as inadequate. (e.g. "hidung dia senget sey...." )

2. Forwarding an email which shocked you off your seat, so that some other person can experience the shock you had.
(unless you're genuinely happy to have received it and want to share your joy with others)

3. Purposely picking up speed, when a car has signalled to filter into your lane so that it cannot do so before YOU.
And horning or flashing your headlights at the driver, if he/she manages to do so.

4. Ignoring the slipper/shoe placed outside a house/mosque, that you accidentally kicked away.

5. Cursing anybody for whatever reason.

"That Day mankind will proceed in scattered groups, that they may be shown their deeds.
So, whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it.
And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it."
Al Quran, Az-Zalzalah 99 : 6-8