Sunday, October 24, 2010

bulan bahasa kebangsaan

sempena bulan bahasa kebangsaan ini iaitu oktober, saya mengambil keputusan untuk menulis dalam bahasa Melayu untuk menunjukkan kebanggaan saya terhadap bahasa kebangsaan kita dan juga untuk membuktikan saya bukanlah seekor raksasa kuning atau jingga bermata empat yang tak pandai berbahasa Melayu.

sebenarnya, saya memang pandai berbahasa Melayu sejak dari kecil lagi. seingat saya, daripada lahir lagi saya telah fasih berbahasa Melayu, kerana tidak pula saya ingat sesiapa mengajar saya Bahasa Melayu, yang saya ingat saya sudah pun bercakap dalam bahasa Melayu.

jika orang lain pergi ke sekolah untuk belajar matapelajaran Bahasa Melayu, saya pula sudah fasih berbahasa Melayu, maka saya pun kurang pasti apa yang saya belajar ketika saya di sekolah dahulu. tidak hairanlah apabila saya dipilih mewakili kelas untuk membaca sebuah buku cerita bahasa Melayu ketika hari penyampaian hadiah. namun, sebab saya dipilih mungkin juga disebabkan saya seorang sahaja yang boleh membaca ketika itu, kerana ketika itu saya masih di bangku tadika, dan kanak-kanak lain mungkin lebih sibuk bermain dengan plastisin daripada membaca.

walaupun saya fasih berbahasa Melayu, perbendaharaan kata saya ketika saya masih kecil tidaklah sekaya sekarang ini. maka apabila buku cerita itu mengisahkan tentang seekor ikan haruan, saya pun telah tersalah sebut nama ikan tersebut, daripada sebutan "haruwan" menjadi "haru-an". saya kira pasti ikan tersebut sedikit tersinggung dengan saya.

namun begitu, ianya bukanlah seratus peratus kesalahan saya. tidak pula saya diajar oleh ibu bapa saya mahupun guru-guru tentang nama-nama ikan di Tanah Melayu ini. ia juga mungkin disebabkan saya lebih gemar menjadikan ayam sebagai lauk daripada ikan. oleh sebab itu juga, saya mengetahui banyak nama-nama ayam sejak dari kecil lagi. antaranya termasuklah ayam goreng, ayam golek, ayam percik dan juga ayam KFC. ikan saya tahu ikan haruan sahaja.

selain daripada bahasa Melayu, saya juga boleh berbahasa Inggeris sejak dari kecil lagi, namun tidaklah sehebat saya berbahasa Melayu. mungkin ketika itu saya masih belum yakin atau cukup perbendaharaan kata saya untuk berbahasa Inggeris, tetapi saya tetap faham apabila sesorang bercakap dalam bahasa Inggeris. ini mungkin disebabkan oleh bapa dan ibu saya yang sesekali sesekala bertutur dalam bahasa Inggeris, mungkin juga disebabkan oleh kartun-kartun yang saya tonton ketika itu kesemuanya berbahasa Inggeris. mungkin juga kerana datuk saya sebenarnya seorang askar British, yang telah jatuh cinta dengan seorang gadis tempatan iaitu nenek saya.

tetapi sebab yang terakhir itu tidak mungkin kerana itu hanyalah rekaan semata-mata, datuk saya Melayu tulen.

di sekolah, saya belajar bahawa bahasa Inggeris bukanlah hanya digunakan di dalam kartun semata-mata, sebaliknya ianya merupakan bahasa perantaraan seluruh dunia. maka saya pun belajarlah bersungguh-sungguh bahasa asing ini, sehinggalah keputusan SPM Bahasa Inggeris saya lebih baik daripada keputusan Bahasa Melayu saya. tak apalah, bisik hati kecil saya, asalkan fasih kedua-duanya, tak kisah lah yang mana satu a1 dan mana satu a2.

hanya apabila saya sampai ke menara gading barulah saya sedar akan "kepentingan" bahasa Inggeris ini. semua orang ingin berbahasa Inggeris, semua orang bercakap dalam bahasa Inggeris, sehinggakan Melayu sesama Melayu sekalipun berbahasa Inggeris. walaupun kebanyakan daripada mereka tidaklah mahir dengan hukum hakam tatabahasa Inggeris, mereka tetap ingin bertutur dalam bahasa Inggeris. ada juga Melayu yang lebih fasih berbahasa Inggeris berbanding Melayu.

hakikatnya, walaupun sudah sekian lama kita merdeka, namun fikiran kita masih dijajah oleh bangsa luar. kita orang Melayu masih mengagung-agungkan bahasa Inggeris, kita mendabik dada merasa bangga apabila kita fasih berbahasa Inggeris, dan memandang rendah terhadap mereka yang kurang fasih. kadangkala kita bercakap dalam Bahasa Inggeris bukan kerana kita selesa bercakap dalam bahasa itu, sebaliknya kerana kita ingin menunjuk-nunjuk kebolehan kita berbahasa Inggeris.

saya akui, saya juga kerap sekali menggunakan bahasa Inggeris, tetapi bukanlah niat saya untuk menunjuk-nunjuk ataupun teringin menjadi mat salleh, sebaliknya hanyalah kerana saya selesa berbahasa Inggeris dan suka saya menggunakan bahasa itu apabila sesuai keadaannya. kadang kala saya melihat orang berbahasa Inggeris tunggang terbalik dan dirojakkan pula, ternyata mereka tidak selesa bercakap dalam bahasa itu, sebaliknya hanya ingin kelihatan sejuk (cool).

(tetapi mungkin juga orang itu dalam proses pembelajaran, sekiranya ya maka sayalah yang salah dan sayalah juga yang lemah kerana memandang serong terhadap seseorang, wallahualam)

hakikatnya bahasa Inggeris itu hanyalah satu bahasa asing, tiada apa hebatnya jika dibandingkan dengan bahasa kita sendiri, cumanya penggunaannya meluas di seluruh pelusuk dunia. kira-kira 500 tahun dahulu, bahasa kita juga berada di bibir setiap pedagang-pedagang yang berlabuh dan berjual beli di pelabuhan Melaka, namun firasat saya mengatakan mereka tidak pula merasakan ianya sejuk untuk berbahasa Melayu, sebaliknya hanyalah menggunakan bahasa kita sebagai alat yang penting dalam pekerjaan mereka.

tetapi tidaklah pula saya tahu sekiranya anak-anak pedagang ini bercakap dalam bahasa Melayu berojakkan Portugis contohnya kerana mereka terlalu mengagungkan kaum Melayu dan ingin menjadi Melayu celup.

haruslah kita berbangga dengan bahasa kita sendiri, kerana jika bukan kita, siapa lagi. janganlah kita sekadar menceduk perkataan Inggeris dan menggunakannya dalam bahasa kita yang indah ini walhal perkataan itu telah pun wujud dari dahulu lagi dalam perbendaharaan kata bahasa kita. contohnya tidak perlulah kita menggunakan perkataan diskusi, sedangkan dari dahulu lagi perkataan perbincangan itu telahpun wujud. tidak perlulah kita menggunakan perkataan bajet, sedangkan tiada kurangnya perkataan belanjawan itu. oh ye, saya juga tidak suka perkataan laman sesawang. tak sedap langsung bunyi nya.

tetapi kita tidak boleh juga menjadikan sayang kita kepada bahasa Melayu alasan untuk tidak fasih dalam bahasa Inggeris. sepertimana pedagang-pedagang asing dahulu mempelajari bahasa Melayu untuk berdagang jualan masing-masing, begitu juga perlunya kita mahir dalam bahasa antarabangsa zaman ini untuk memastikan kita tidaklah ketinggalan di belakang, duduk di bawah tempurung seperti seekor katak yang terperangkap. kita haruslah melompat keluar dari tempurung itu, dan melompat pula ke kelas bahasa inggeris jika perlu. sebenarnya kalau diikutkan, 11 tahun persekolahan sudah cukup untuk kita mahir berbahasa Inggeris walaupun dari mulanya kita tidak tahu langsung bahasa Inggeris, pasal kalau difikirkan lagi, umur kita setahun dua pun kita sudah pandai berbahasa Melayu.

tetapi tak apalah, yang pentingnya keinginan untuk belajar dan memperkasakan diri sendiri. itu sajalah bebelan saya untuk kali ini, sekadar ingin menunjukkan perasaan sayang dan bangga saya terhadap bahasa ibunda.

salam hormat, salam mesra.

:)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

imagine

imagine in front of you is a pile of cash worth a gazillion ringgit, and its all yours.

(no i did not win the lottery, nor is my salary that high... zz.)

so you start to think, hmm.. what should i do with all this money?

should i go out and buy me some brand new clothes? should i go out and eat at fancy shmancy restaurants instead? or maybe travel someplace interesting? or maybe just buy a nice PC and spend time indoors... lol.

so you go out and buy all these branded new clothes, shop until your feet are all wobbly. but when you get home, you try out all the clothes and you think, sure the clothes are nice, but its so tiring to go and shop, plus when i think about it, its not exactly the best way to spend my money.

so next, you go out and have super nice meals at these super expensive outlets, where they would actually help you to chew the food and all (exaggeration), and when you get home, you feel like, sure the food is awesome, but really, is it really worth it to pay so much money to eat good food? after all, good food or no, you still fill up your stomach, and to most thats what matters..

so after still feeling unsatisfied, you go on this tour group which takes you to the most exciting of places in the world, and yet, when you're there, the only thing you can think of is, "theres no place like home".

so imagine, when you're back home, although enjoying the trip around the world, can't help but feel tired and discontent. and suddenly you remembered, oh crap, i still have one more thing to do on my list, but i've run out of cash to buy that PC i wanted.

so with what little money you have left, you decide to go into a cyber cafe and use the computer for a short while. and what you found out was that, this is what makes you happy. even though you're just sitting in front of a stinking computer, all alone amongst people you don't really know, you're really enjoying yourself.

but sucks for you, you've used up all your money.

again, this is all very hypothetical, i did not find my life's true calling in front of a desktop in a cyber cafe, thank God.

now imagine its not a pile of money that you were looking at.

yea its not, sorry gold diggers.

instead, imagine its your future.

imagine you have your whole life ahead of you, and you're wondering, hmm, what should i do with my life?

should i do this? or should i do that?

if i decide to do this, what if i find out later that this is not what i wanted to do, and i find out that the other thing was what i wanted to do?

wouldn't that part of life be a waste?

and worse, what if i tried everything i ever wanted to try out and do, and only at the end, did i realize my true calling was something else.

and by then it would be too late to do much.

example, if i had known i was going to take up chemical engineering, i probably would have focused my studies at school more on physics and mathematics, rather than waste time studying biology.

Steve Jobs said that its impossible to connect the dots looking forward, you can only do it looking backwards.

Lucky for him, when he looked backwards, the dots were actually connectable.

some people aren't so lucky.

just thinking out loud on this one.

peace.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

old friend.

hello there dear friend of 3 and a half years, roughly. sorry for neglecting you all this while. i've been busy.

you really have been there for me, listening to all my rants and rambles, so thank you for that. i tell you almost everything, though some things are best left unsaid.

i've been working for two weeks now at this tyre factory. the smell isn't as bad as i thought it would be. my colleagues are as old as my father, if not older, so im finding it a bit hard to fit in, but i'll manage eventually.

i wake up at 4 30 each morning, because i need to be at work at 6 am. yes, i know, its unbelievable, i can hardly believe it myself. i leave for work before subuh. its not easy, thats for sure. my bed time is now 10 30 - 11 30 pm, instead of after subuh. its amazing what humans are capable of, once they set their mind to it.

work so far has been mostly simple so far. although i come in early, i have plenty of free time, so i spend it by trying not to fall asleep and pretending to look busy. but i have learnt a lot i think, and my supervisor is going to be on leave this coming Monday, so i'll be on my own. wish me luck.

i live in seri kembangan, but i work in petaling jaya. its a bit far, i'll admit, kinda like going from puncak meru to temiang. but i decided not to move closer to work.

why? sure it'll be closer to work, but i'll be staying all alone, and thats no fun. at least in seri kembangan im with my cousin, there'll be company, and i know he and his current roommate can be trusted, so i feel safe.

i'm nowadays more or less disconnected with the online world. the house im staying in doesn't have an internet connection, plus i'm so tired when i get home, i don't really feel like going to a cyber cafe just to login to facebook / twitter and bug people.

but i realize i don't really need those stuff to live. sure, i don't communicate as much with my friends, but is it really necessary to tell my friends what i'm doing all the time 24 hours a day 7 days a week?

plus if you are really good friends, like you and i, doesn't matter if we don't talk for awhile, as soon as we meet up, its as if we were never apart.

my convocation is coming up in 2 weeks time. hope you'll come, although i know you can't. its exciting, to truly graduate from the university, and to meet up with friends you haven't met for 3 months, but when you were studying you can't seem to not bump into these people.

but its also a bit of a bother. i have to go back to ipoh every weekend now, to settle convo related stuff. plus truth be told, the excitement is slightly gone because i've started working. the mind is already somewhere else, worrying how you'll perform at work.

whereas the convocation ceremony is just for show, go or don't go, you still graduate.

but that doesn't mean i don't want to go. :)

truth be told, i don't know what my life is going to be like in these coming months. so far, all i do is go to work, come back from work, short nap, eat sleep, wake up and go to work again. i think im slowly turning into a drone.

and the honest truth is that, i can't imagine what life is going to be like after this, and the thought scares me. or maybe its because i do have an idea of what its going to be like, and that makes me afraid.

i can't tell. only way to find out is to see things through. again, wish me luck old friend.

i saw on tv the other day, that if you travel really fast, and you approach the speed of light, time actually slows down for you. also, according to the formula e=mc2, if you approach the speed of light, not only will time slow down for you, if you try to go faster, your mass will increase.

so in simpler words, go really fast and you'll outrun time, but you'll get fatter. lol.

i have no idea how this is relevant to what i'm telling you, but i thought it was something interesting to share.

i've run out of words dear friend. i'll leave you with an interesting quote by the world's most famous scientist. its not hard to see why he's so famous, since he's able to explain super complex things in simple terms.

Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.

aspire to be as brilliant as he is, and one day maybe we will be. we may not be as smart as he is, but maybe we are emotionally sound, or spiritually peaceful as he is intellectually smart.

life is full of surprises. take care old friend.

peace.