Again, I Contradict Myself

Okay, so I'm not the most strong-willed person. I get weak in the knees at the mere sight of chocolate. I feel this unnaturally strong magnetic pull towards Starbucks for a Caramel Macchiato (mind you, I've managed to resist that urge so far, okay? No Starbucks for about 2 months now [boo-hoo, big deal], but before that I went without Starbucks for a few years, until I worked at a new place where the office was right in front of a Starbucks outlet, DAMMIT!!!).

I boycott most fast food outlet. Okay, so Malaysians are the ones supplying the chicken etc to these outlets, and mostly Malay Malaysians are working behind the counter, but really, the suppliers, Muslims ke? I don't think so. Yes, very racist of me, I know. Very un-Malaysian. But I have to be cruel to make that kind decision. The kind decision that will, insyaAllah make a difference for my brothers and sisters in Palestine. And as for the minimum-wage workforce within McDonalds or KFC, come on lah, itu kerjaya ke? Seriously, you consider that your career? Do you need us, the majority of the Malaysian population, to keep you afloat? Bro, kalau lu bleh carik keje kat McDonald, wa sure lu bleh gak carik keje kat tempat lain. Mydin ke, Kamdar ke.

But it comes to entertainment, gawd-damn, I'm damned. Of course, even the so-called Zion Protocol enlists the use of entertainment as a mean to control the world. True enough, the entertainment being served right into our homes day in and day out, are mostly from them. Unsurprisingly, some of the major players in Hollywood are voicing their support for this perverted cause. Major players which include Keanu Reeves, one of the fler in my list of 5. *sigh*

Dammit! Now I have to bump him off!!!

So Long, It's Been So Long Ago...

There are 8 of us in the family, 4 girls, 4 boys. I am number 8. The sister above me, #7, is 8 years older than me (okay, enough maths for today). And I've a niece in Ireland pursuing her degree in medicine. She's young, so she's kinda very, very gung-ho about Palestine (so am I by the way, but I'm gung-ho in another way).

Anyways, this niece sent an email about her fight so far, joining some march for Palestine's freedom in Ireland etc. And my sister (#7) replied my nieces email with something like, "I was 9 years old when Kakak (our oldest sister) bought me this pair of sweatpants -- part of the proceeds from the purchase of those pants went to Palestine..." or something like that.

My eyes were immediately glued to the words 9 years old. Sister #7 was 9 when she got the pants. Man, this have been going on that long? I know from news report etc, that the attack has been going on for 60 years, but Sister #7's words actually put things into perspective for me.

And I pray for Palestine. Maybe you should to.

Doa Itu Senjata Orang Mukmin

When I was in school, I studied a subject called Newswriting. As the subject name suggests, it's about writing news story, the kind you read in newspaper or the kind you hear being read on TV or on the radio.

I had a great time learning that subject, because, after all, I fancy myself as a writer.

One of the thing we learnt in that subject is, newsworthiness. It's basically a measure for any news reporter/journalist/writer can use when determining whether or not the story deserves a space in the newspaper or the TV or radio news.

There are seven newsworthy attributes. Prominence. Currency or timeliness. Proximity. Novelty. Human Interest. Impact. Conflict. There might be more, but the ones I learnt were those seven. Let me focus on one for this entry. Proximity.

Proximity, in relation to newsworthiness, basically means that a news story is interesting to the readers or listeners or viewers due to the fact that the parties involved in the news story are somewhat 'close' to the readers or listeners or viewers. By 'close', I mean, they share similarities, they share something in common that makes the readers or listeners or viewers able to relate to those in the news story.

Proximity here, to me at the very least, is open to your own definition. Geographical proximity, for example, as Malaysians, something happening in Malaysia would interest us. Proximity here, also denotes other similarities, like if the news story is about something affecting the Muslims, then the Muslim readers or listeners or viewers will be interested in the story, because even if the people in the news story is at the other side of the world, they're still our Muslim brothers and sister. We still share a common thread.

That's why what's happening in Palestine interests me. Though I gave Islam as a commonality between me and the Palestinians, I woefully acknowledge that I am not a good Muslim. But the stories and pictures bombarding the mass media of the latest attacks still breaks my heart. Maybe it's because I'm a mother?

I've a favourite quote, though I used that term loosely, because I don't have the exact word, on the Palestinian cause. It's from a well-known ustaz (religious, Islamic guru) here in Malaysia, Ustaz Wan Sohor Bani Leman. Ustaz Wan says that, "Palestin hanya akan menang, apabila solat Subuh berjemaah di surau sehari-hari sama ramai jemaahnya macam solat sunat Aidilfitri."

Mungkin nanti Allah makbulkan doa anak-anak Palestin. Dan doa-doa ibu-ibu yang patah hatinya seperti aku. Amin.