A More Loving Place

Aku ni dah la emo tak tentu hala (mungkin PMS) dua tiga menjak ni, dengan busy tahap dewa dewi langit ketujuh kejar deadline lagi, dengan baju raya anak2 yang tak siap jahit lagi, dengan kuih yang dah buat tapi belum raya dah nak abis lagi, dalam-dalam aku ingat nak gelak2, aku jenguk blog brader Hazrey ni. And guess what's the latest post that he has? It's about three very, very young siblings who were murdered by their father.

I instantly cried.

It is important to note that my cubicle is very much hidden from the rest of the office and I will see people approaching my area long before they are at my area. So memang kegiatan nangis-nangis tengok video sedih, baca cerita sedih (macam story "Mana Mak?" yang dicirculate macam gila akhir-akhir ni) etc, adalah terlindung. In fact, kalau aku makan masa tak puasa pun terselindung lagi. But that's not the point of this entry.

The point is those three kids. They were two, three and five year old.

Little Hero is three, so there's an instant image that I can project in my mind, when imagining the horrifying last breaths of those children. How scared were they. How none of them could've understood what was going on. Apa sangat yang diorang tahu?

I'd like to think that ar-Rahman was there protecting them that day, was there in some form or way to comfort them, to ease their passing, tapi sebagai seorang emak, sebagai seorang manusia, hati aku merintih sedih. Mata aku menangis for those unnamed children. Pada aku, mereka juga anak-anak aku.

But it's okay babies, you are in a much better place, in a much, much more loving place. A place where you deserve to be. I am so sorry that the adults around you failed you. I am so, so sorry that we failed you, angels. Rest in peace, loves.

Next Time

The next time we think, "Ish, aku tak tahu nak buka apa hari ni,", think of them. And be thankful for whatever little that we have, because THERE ARE people who are WITHOUT any.

The next time our children throw away the food they didn't finish, tell them about these children. And tell them that the scraps they throw away is practically a king's lavish dinner (and breakfast and lunch, probably) in those childrens' eyes (and stomachs).

And the next time you think about our brothers and sisters in humanity and in Islam, send a little prayer of hope their way.

We've gone without food 8 to 10 hours a day. Diorang?

Hasbunallah wa ni' mal wakeel.

Hantu Susu

Click image for source (and to download, I think)

Actually, I caught an ad of this show on the TV. It had Erra Fazira in it, and she said something along the lines of, "Itulah, lain kali, kalau nak jadi hantu, jadilah hantu yang popular macam pontianak..." Erra Fazira, btw, played a pontianak in both this telemovie and another one, Pontianak Kampung Batu ke ape ntah. But the ad caught my attention, and I thought it was funny, so much so that I took note of the broadcast date and told myself, "Nak tengoklah..."

Alas, other priorities (like life, kids, family time etc) took me away from the hantus on TV that day.

When I came to work, a few of my co-workers were talking about the show. Akkkk, imagine my dismay. Well, not wanting to be left out, I took to the internet and searched for the show on youtube, managed to find it, finding out I had no time to watch the 90 minutes ++ it ran, downloading it via KeepVid and resolving to watch it some other day.

That was about two weeks ago. Sedih kan? Such is the life of a working mom... (not complainin', just sayin')

Fast forward yesterday evening. I found out that, lo and behold, I do have like, 90 minutes ++ to spare. Hmmm, what should I do? Should I potong kain baju raya kakak orrr... orrr... should I watch the show I have saved on my external harddisk and just have a laugh out loud session?

Love you to bits, Little Princess, but for today, Mama chose to LOL. (Alah, raya lambat lagi lah... esok2 sempat wei potong kain... potong kain semalam pun bukan bleh terus jahit, kan? Kan? Kan???)

So anyways, the telemovie is about this four hantus, Erra Fazira a.k.a Tira the Pontianak, Amy Mastura a.k.a Suri the Penanggal, Zarina AF a.k.a Jamilah the Langsuir and Marsha AF a.k.a Mawar the Hantu Kum Kum. They somehow gravitated towards this kampung and somehow became housemates in this old bungalow.

At the same time, there's a Hantu Susu on the lose in the same kampung, wreaking havoc by killing people (sucking their life out, ala Harry Potter's Dementors) and then feeding the murdered bottled milk.

Tension rise as the kampung people start to suspect that the four new addition to their kampung are the ones committing these crimes, but are they the ones to blame?

Overall, the show was not bad. Funny at times, laugh out loud funny, but there are also times when I went, meh. Amy Mastura was the comic relief, and she carried the task quite well. She was funny and bengong at the same time. Erra Fazira was quite awesome as Tira, I never realized she could do funny. Marsha was also great to watch, she was, by far, the most mysterious of the four. And Zarina totally surprised me. Although kayu at times, I think with the right direction and some extensive acting lessons, she does have the potential to do more.

Funny bits to me were basically when Suri and Tira couldn't resist to change into their hantu self. You see, all the hantus in this show was normal looking humans (prettier, but normal). But when temptation rises, these gals might just transform into their actual looks. So when the gals were taken to a house where a lady was about to give birth, Suri the penanggal (penanggal is said to live on the blood of mothers who just delivered, or something... I wanted to get the whole story from Mak, but was afraid I'll have to attend a full 50 minutes course of Penanggal 101) was the one tempted. Siap tercabut kepala penanggal tu, lepas tu tak boleh nak sambung balik. And her badan was like all over the place cos without a head, the body couldn't see.

There's also the part when Tira was the one tempted. Somehow, they were at this cooking class and a participant cut her finger with a knife. She wiped her blood with some kain or tissue or something, and Tira volunteered to throw it away, because she wanted to hisap the darah of course. But her friends, Mawar and Suri, talked her out of it.

Few things though, the SFX and CGI were horrendous. Like, why did you even bother??? Guna prop aje lagi real kot. And another thing, I dunno if it's just me, but Apek is so passé, please lah, the supporting pak lawak is funnier than him at times. If you wanna have this guy on, please have something meatier for him to bite into. And Didi Alias, haiz, why oh why lah... Half of the time, I'm not sure if she wants to melawak or be serious. I doubt that's the point the director is trying to put through, I think that's the kind of actor Didi is. Miscast, miscast... haiz...

Other than that, it was a fun watch. I'll give it, maybe a 3-star. Okay, now back to sewing and life as we know it...