did they go to bed early?

I wonder...
before there were TV, Internet and artificial light pollution, do people go to bed after isya'? and have enough rest?

before there were ready gas supplied direct to the stove, and they had to collect firewood, did they have less time for themselves?

before there were super sewing machines and rich designers, were the clothes comfortable and nice?

before there were PSPs and Wii or X-boxes, were the kids bored with nothing to do?

are we really the privileged ones?

plain expectations

Sometimes, we ask people a question, where we strongly expect a specific answer, and the person being questioned knows it, and feels obliged to provide that specific answer too, that it becomes, not a real question, but a request for comfort..

..which you may not necessarily get, if the person does NOT reply you with the expected answer.

creating awareness for... what again?

Last year, supposedly, for breast cancer awareness month, they had the 'put the colour of the bra that you have on now' on your FB status. This message was supposedly sent to only all the females. So the males would have no idea what these colours in the FB statuses are. But I was wondering who really started it? Just like these stupid 'women's rights crap' - what if it was a male who started it.. and he sent out another set of message to all males only.. 'hey guys! check out what colour bra the women are wearing today, on their FB status! haha!' Siow. Even if it wasn't a male who started it.. the male who got to know about it.. can send it to all the males.

This time, I get a message asking us to update our FB status, indicating where we normally place our handbags at home - but we have to say it like 'I like it on the _____________' It's so damn obviously misleading and creates wild imaginations for those who doesn't know - especially the guys. Now it could be possible that if it's a guy who started it - he's sending another set of message to all the guys 'hey guys.. check out where the girls like it ;) '

All these, for breast cancer awareness? I don't see how that creates awareness for breast cancer, I mean SERIOUSLY.. how? I know it creates wild thoughts and imaginations, that's for sure. You want to have a breast cancer awareness program? Why not ask everyone to just update FB status "Have you checked yourself for breast cancer today?"

*October is the breast cancer awareness month.

conditioning

*unplugged*

There are some short films that we wanted to shoot, where Nadhrah, my girlish, dainty 8 yr old baby, has been cordially requested to act in.

When I first told her, she asked me.. 'is it a speaking role?'.. macam dah biasa gitu.
Ok lah.. she didn't use those exact words.. she asked 'do I need to say something?'

I said, maybe. She said, she'll think about it.

Today I brought it up to her again. I told her, in the film, she will be flying a kite with her 'father' She said.. "ha! and I'm alone?" I said 'Yes.'
"Nadhrah malu.." (I'm shy)
"Ok.. what about dgn abg hazman? You become abg hazman's sister, he'll read to you a story"
She still has that 'errrrrr' look on her face. Then she finally coyly said.. "I don't want to act with any boy..."

And I immediately decide to respect her decision. Because masyaAllah.. that's how I want her to be.

And this is an 8 yr old.. and naturally, they are shy. And naturally, they are not comfortable being around members of the opposite sex, no matter how old the other person is. This is natural.. fitrah. And I want her to stay like that as long as she wants..

And it is also natural for girls to be shy about showing off their skin.. Naturally, they want to cover up. But the people around them, condition them to care less or feel less about the way they dress, the way they act.

But sadly, in Singapore circular schools, the girls are FORCED to show off their legs since P1, during P.E. And what the hell for, I don't know. Why can't they wear slacks? WHY WHY must they be conditioned to be less modest?

Ooooh baby, it's a wild world.

what is love

Found this in my email drafts.. from 12/9/2006. I never did send it to Pink.. but here goes.

*************************************

Pink dearest,

What is love?

"Love is never having to say you're sorry." :p naaah..that's from an old, old movie 'Love story'.

People always think that love is what they feel when they are first get attracted to someone.
But actually when you first fall for a person, what you feel is awe and excitement - most people term it as 'a crush'. SOMETIMES it develops into love.

Love is something much much more than just excitement and awe, or a crush. Love is when you are willing to sacrifice for the other person's happiness.

Then there are the levels of love.

The lowest level is loving for your own sake. You love him because he makes you feel happy, or give you material stuff. I shall not dwell on this further.

The mid level would be loving him for who he is, but still for your own sake. A condition for this love is that, the other person must give you some level of happiness.

The ultimate love is love lillah (for the sake of Allah SWT). When someone loves for the sake of Allah, they are willing to sacrifice for the other person's happiness, without much concern about their own. When this happens, the lover, I truly believe - will not suffer much damage, when the love is not returned appropriately or worse betrayed.