Grey hair

I know that I've always had grey hair since my teenage years. I just noticed that I have more grey hair than I used to have. And the grey hair is getting more obviouos than before.

A sign of old age, no doubt.

Well, at least I'm not balding.

Tagged by Izza

It has been quite a while since I was last tagged. Yesterday, I found out that Izza Aripin had tagged me. Fortunately it's not one of those tags with a long list of questions. So, to honour the tag, I'll try my best not to disappoint.

1. Do you think you are hot?
Not in this air-conditioned room, I'm not.

2. Upload your favourite picture of you.3. Why do you like that picture?
I like silhouettes.

4. When was the last time you ate pizza?
Saturday evening.

5. The last song you listened to?
Ramli Sarip's "Bukan Kerna Nama".

6. What are you doing right now besides this?
Breathing.

7. What name would you prefer besides this?
My pen name, Amir Husaini.

Tag 5 people.
(i) Liyana
(ii) Arsaili
(iii) Farah
(iv) Xarafatima
(v) Zaki

8. Who is no. 1?
My little sister.

9. No. 3 is having a relationship with?
She has recently tied the knot with Azdi.

10. Say something about no. 5.
I've never met Zaki in person. Got to know him from my sister's blog. He's my sister's senior at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. He's in his final year of studies doing biomedical science. He hails from Kuala Langat. He likes wearing pink or orange t-shirts. He likes travelling and photography. He has an interesting sense of humour that I enjoy... which is why I frequent his blog.
[How's that for information on someone whom you haven't met?]

11. How about no. 4?
She is a budding novelist who has just published her first novel, Virus L.

12. Who is no. 2?
He is a good friend who is currently pursuing his PhD in Australia. All the best in writing up your thesis!

Ushering in 1430H

Today is the 1st day of the Islamic calendar. Let us all strive to make the new year of 1430 Hijriyyah better than the last.

'Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud, one of the closest companion of the Prophet Muhammad SAW was reported to have said:

The saddest thing that can happen with the advent of the new year is that I grow older by a year and yet my deeds do not grow with my age.

A day with Fikri

Flashback: Newspaper cutting on Fikri
after his IVAD operation

Yesterday was a public holiday. But I was at the office nonetheless. I wasn't alone though, as the day was spent "interviewing" Fikri for his memoir, "Echoes of My Heart". This wasn't the first time I sat down with Fikri for this purpose, but yesterday's session was perhaps the most interesting as many "unknown" details before came out. We spent about five hours, going from his childhood days up to his mechanical heart experience all the way to the heart transplant episode.

I am helping him to put his thoughts and experience on paper. When Fikri told me of what he had to go through, there were instances that I felt a tear drop in my eye. I hope I can do justice to his story so that everyone could appreciate the significance of organ donation in saving Fikri's life.

We have, more or less, the concept for the memoir's cover ready. Fikri's mother has also scanned all the newspaper cuttings chronicling his near-celebrity life. We just need to gather some photos of him from his personal collection. I am pretty confident that "Echoes of My Heart" will be ready by April 2009.

On a related note, Fikri will be appearing in "Majalah 3" this Saturday at 9 p.m. on TV3. Don't miss it.

Shogun

Sometimes I like to push myself to test the limit. Often I find that I can actually go beyond what I thought is my limit.

One good example is acquiring a new language. As I have blogged before, I am currently learning Japanese. Initially I came into the lessons without expecting much. But thanks to my sensei, after only four one-hour lessons, I've actually surprised myself that I can identify and write characters considerably well.

The fact that the hiragana table reminds me of the Periodic Table of Elements probably helped a lot. Next week, I'll be practising more hiragana, picking up some new vocabulary, polish my pronunciation and hopefully be able to improve further on my quest to learn the language that I first heard after watching the miniseries "Shogun" on television way back in 1982. The miniseries was an adaptation of the famous James Clavell's novel which is a part of the Asian Saga that starred Richard Chamberlain. And I can still remember my first Japanese word that I picked up from the television miniseries, and it was anjin-san.

Let's see whether I can push myself to pick up Japanese as well as John Blackthorne.

Article in the paper

Yesterday, after blogging on the issue of the privatisation of IJN, I had this nagging urge to write a proper newspaper article on the same subject. I finished writing the article in about half an hour before sending it to a friend for comment and proofreading. After that, I e-mailed the article to Utusan Malaysia.

I didn't actually expect the article to be published since many are commenting on the same issue. So imagine my pleasant surprise when I received the following text message from Sister Salina in IJN:

Thanx 4 ur comment on d IJN SDarby, as d IJN pioneer i m touched 2 know that publics care about us [sic]

The article is published in today's edition of Utusan Malaysia, and the online version can be read here.

Leave IJN alone!

Much has been said about the privatisation of IJN. Some of the salient points have been commented by bloggers such as Tun Dr Mahathir, Rocky's Bru and Dato' Kadir Jasin.

I have been involved with IJN in one form or another. I have given talks there. My father had his bypass there. My aunt also had her bypass there. Fikri had his IVAD fitted and heart transplanted there. I have visited friends there. I have friends working there.

I have great admiration for the dedication of the team of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, technicians, paramedics, pharmacists, clerks, receptionists, and the rest of the workforce working at IJN. From my perspective, they are very professional and tireless, and they give it their best for the health of the patients. Sure, there are drawbacks here and there, but I can say that there is an effort for continuous improvement in providing healthcare to the patients.

That is why I am shocked when I heard of the plans that IJN was going to be privatised. To me, IJN should never be privatised. Leave it as it is, a corporatised entity. IJN should not be looked upon as a cash cow for any company. Healthcare today may be a business, but there are certain things that should not be handled by a business entity. Instead of handing over IJN to a business entity, IJN should be run and managed professionally as it is.

I think that Sime Darby should stay away from taking over IJN. Rather than taking over IJN, I prefer Sime Darby to set up its own heart specialist hospital - as an alternative (and even a healthy competitor to IJN). Preferably this private heart specialist hospital should be located outside of the Klang Valley, say in Penang or Johor or the east coast - to cater for patients in those areas. Update: This view is echoed here.

Let us see if Sime Darby can really provide affordable healthcare through this private heart specialist hospital to everyone. I am of course doubtful of this.

I will join the chorus that is already loud.

Leave IJN alone!

High mileage

I am a wee bit tired. I drove up north on Thursday, before returning to Kuala Lumpur on Friday. Then today, I did a day-trip to Kuantan.

Cuti-cuti Malaysia it wasn't, but it was quite an interesting journey. I noticed some new things along the way.

In this four days, I have accumulated nearly 1,500 km of mileage. Not bad, for someone who doesn't like travelling.

Wiki-fooled

Sometimes I find Wikipedia very handy for some quick reference. But my PhD supervisor always cautioned her students against relying too much on Wikipedia. Some of the write-ups may not be accurate or may just be someone's mere opinion or may just be totally false, as opposed to containing hard facts.

One of my favourite writers, Peter David, wrote this account on his blog regarding the sequel to the movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks". But of course, when I checked, the details have been cleaned up by Wikipedia. Nonetheless, it'd be fun to actually find such erroneous details (which may just be someone's idea of fooling around) in Wikipedia.

So, double check when you use Wikipedia, lest we be fooled ourselves.

Mystery of the growing sandals

What is it with me and mysterious incidents?

I went to the masjid for my Maghrib prayer. I left my sandals at one of the entrance. After the prayer, I got out and slipped into my sandals. Then I realised, my sandals are two size bigger than they should be. I wear Size 6. The sandals that I left the masjid with are Size 8.

Weird (or as a dear friend likes to spell it, wierd)!

I entered the masjid using an entrance that is rarely used. So there were not that many shoes/sandals/slippers left at that particular entrance. (Interestingly, this entrance is not the usual one that I would use). When I left, my sandals were exactly where they were supposed to be, but strangely enough, the size was wrong. Same sandals, same design, same brand... but different size?

How could it be?

Either my sandals grew in size, or a more logical explanation that I can think of is that someone else uses the same kind of sandals (only with a bigger size), and entered the masjid using the same rarely used entrance, and mistakenly left wearing my sandals.

But what are the odds of that happening? Pretty much slim, I would say.

Third anniversary

As friends and visitors of this blog know, organ donation is a subject that is very close to my heart. I have been involved with organ donation programmes and campaigns since 1998. So this year is actually my tenth year as an organ donation proponent. It's not an easy job, but the challenge is, in itself, rewarding.

My involvement in organ donation programmes and campaigns started out as a formal assignment when I was with the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM). When I gave my talks, they were very much "academic" in nature, and I felt detached from the subject.

Later, as I got to know the dedicated and selfless people behind the scenes who are actively involved in organ procurement, I began to understand how organ donation is crucial and critical in saving lives - in particular the team at the National Transplant Resource Centre (NTRC) and Institut Jantung Negara (IJN). I also began to appreciate the delicate nature of this oft-misundertood subject, although my perspective was still very much academic in nature.

Three years ago, I came to know a teenager. He was 15 years old then. And he changed my perspective on organ donation - transforming it from a mere academic perspective into something closer to my heart. When I met him, he was just fitted with a device called the intravascular ventricular assist device or IVAD. He was the first patient in Malaysia and the region to be fitted with IVAD (and the only person so far who had it fitted internally). This device served as a bridge for him until a new heart from a donor was available. [One of my earliest posts in this blog focused on him].

Alhamdulillah, he did not have to wait long. Today, three years ago, he received a new heart from a donor. Despite some hiccups now and again (mainly as a result of infection), he has been living a better life. Organ donation has given him a new hope and a new lease of life.So, to Muhammad Fikri Norazmi, thank you for changing my perspective on organ donation. Have a happy third anniversary with your new heart. And may you have a prosperous and happy life ahead.

Picking up Nihon-go

No one says learning a foreign language is easy. It's a challenge, but if one is up to the challenge, the learning process can be rewarding.

I took it upon myself to learn Japanese. Not that I don't have enough in my hands, but it's an opportunity (and challenge) I couldn't resist. Currently, I am learning hiragana which is one of the components in the Japanese writing system. There are 46 characters in hiragana, and I have learned 25. It takes a bit of time and a lot of effort plus memory work to remember all of them, especially if one is not learning this on a full time basis. It is a satisfaction on its own to be able to recognise and read these characters (though often without knowing what the word means).

I sincerely hope that I'd be able to pick up basic Nihon-go in the next year or so. The way I look at it - if other people can learn this language, why can't I?

[I am putting the hiragana table at the top so that I can memorise the characters even when I blog].

Blink... and you'll miss it

Everyone blinks.

In actuality, we can tell a lot from the blinking rate of a person. I can tell if a person is calm, or nervous from the frequency of a person's blinks. Over the years, I have noticed that when someone is calm and relaxed, the number of blinks is far less compared to a nervous or anxious person. [Believe it or not, I noticed this from looking at candidates whom I have interviewed over the years].

When I read this month's National Geographic magazine, I am pleased to note that my observation is, more or less, valid. According to the magazine's article entitled "On the blink" written by Jennifer S. Holland. Here's an interesting point for us to know:

Calm slows blinking; anxiety can cause eyeblink storms. Think of a nervous politician or a bad liar, who usually blinks faster after a fib.

Holland, J.S. (2009, December). In National Geographic; page 26.

The article also lists down the average number of blinks per minute for different kinds of people:

1. Nervous adult: 50 blinks per minute
2. Calm adult: 15 blinks per minute
3. Staring at television: 7.5 blinks per minute
4. Newborn: 2 blinks per minute
   

So, there you go. It's not foolproof though. Psychopaths and "professional" liars can reprogramme their brain function to minimise anxiety - making them less likely to blink vigorously.

Nevertheless, the next time when you want to tell if someone is lying or anxious or nervous, just watch their eyelids. But don't blink too frequent yourself, or you'll miss it - or worse, people know that you're nervous.

Birthday number 32

Today is my mariner brother's 32nd birthday.

While he may not be on land at the moment, we certainly wish him the best in his life.

Happy birthday, bro.

Teaser #1

Here's something to pique your curiosity.

Hazard a guess what the two pictures are all about.

The only clue I am giving is the phrase "Coming soon in 2009".

And no, I am not involving myself in fashion design or opening a modelling agency.

Busy is good

It's a very busy period for us at Yayasan Ilmuwan. Being busy is actually good, especially for private organisations like us. Being busy means there is business to take care of.

The project team looking at the Japanese Associate Degree (JAD) programme under the Program Khidmat Sokongan Pendidikan (PKSP) headed by my colleague, Encik Mazilan, is busy preparing the fourth quarter and annual reports. The deadline for the respective education consultants to submit their report to Encik Mazilan is this coming Monday.

I am not involved with the project directly, but I have my plate full as it is. I am currently co-ordinating the publication, research, conference and training activities, aside from the usual administrative stuff.

Currently we are working on ten titles to be published in the first quarter of 2009. Two books are in the layout process, one is being edited while the remaining manuscripts are being readied for editing process. Come April 2009, when Malaysia's biggest book fair - the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair - is slated to be held, we should have at least ten titles, if not more. It's quite a tall order but I cherish the challenge this presents.

We are also finalising our plans to offer courses next year. As it is, we have identified ten core courses to be held at the Yayasan's premises, while at the same time, we would also entertain requests from organisations or companies to have in-house courses to cater for their needs.

Yesterday, I also had a fruitful discussion with my supervisor who is also the Director of Universiti Malaya's Centre for Civilisational Dialogue, Professor Datin Dr Azizan Baharuddin. While still at the initial planning stage, we will be co-organising two conferences in 2009.

Alhamdulillah, I am very pleased with all these developments. There are more, but I won't bore anyone with the details. Just keep your eyes peeled to this blog when new books come out or when there are courses or conferences organised.

I am definitely eagerly looking forward to 2009.

Sign of rejection?

I was at IJN this afternoon to visit Fikri who is warded. He was there for his routine biopsy last week before his mother received a phone call from IJN informing them that Fikri has a Grade 3A rejection. Fikri's account of this condition can be read here.

Next week will be Fikri's third anniversary with his new heart. I hope and pray that this condition is only temporary.

On another note, I will be sitting down with Fikri soon to complete the first draft of his memoir - which is long overdue. The cover of the memoir is being done by a friend. I will post the teaser cover when it's ready. And we hope to have the memoir ready by March, insya-Allah.

Vision imperfect

I don't have perfect vision. I have been wearing glasses since 1987 because I am shortsighted as a result of a serious eye infection I had the year before.

My current spectacles are relatively new. This pair is less than a year old. However, my youngest son has the tendency to grab my glasses and bend its frame, making the glasses quite wobbly. So this evening, I decided to go to an optical shop nearby to have it fixed. And since I was there, I made a new pair as back-up just in case my current pair breaks or something. The new pair will be ready some time next week.

After that was taken care of, I went to the masjid across the road to perform my Isyak prayer. I took off my glasses when I performed the prayer. Upon completion of this obligatory task, I put on the glasses - and lo and behold, it broke! So, I hurried myself to the optical shop once again in the hope that I could get it fixed. I would be rendered helpless without my glasses.

Unfortunately, the only way to fix the glasses is by welding. And they don't have that facility there. To make things more "interesting", the shop was about to close. I insisted that the glasses be fixed by replacing the frame. The optician obliged, but she couldn't get the glasses done there and then. I have to come back again tomorrow morning to pick up the glasses.

For the first time in my life, I come to realise the importance of eyesight. I had to drive home somehow - without my glasses. It was after 10 p.m. and I guess, in many ways, that was a blessing. There were not many cars on the road at that time. I drove carefully, and had to rely mainly on my instinct and memory.

I couldn't see much, safe for blurry lights from the street lamps and vehicles' headlights. Everything else was sketchy at best. I couldn't read the road signs nor can I read vehicles' registration plates even when my car was behind the vehicle. Yes, my eyesight IS that bad.

Like I said, I relied on my memory. To go home, I chose a longer route which has less traffic. I figured that would be a wiser choice than risking going on a shorter route with heavy traffic. I managed to slow down when I came to speed bumps because I more or less remembered where they are, and also remembered how many speed bumps along said route.

I arrived home safely, and once home, I searched frantically for my old pair of glasses. Fortunately I still keep them stashed in one of the drawers. While this old pair may not be too clear, it will have to do for the time being. At least, it is better than not having anything to assist my vision.

One important lesson I learnt today. Eyesight is an important gift from Allah the Almighty. Rarely do we give thanks for this gift. Only when we are faced with situations such as mine, would we realise how we struggle with imperfect vision.

After what happened to me this evening, I have come to realise the significance of this invaluable gift. And for that, I say "alhamdulillah".

The calling

I celebrated Aidiladha with my family in our hometown up north. My wife partook in the qurban (sacrifice) with her siblings. And on the second day of Aidiladha, my mother-in-law had a kenduri (feast). It was quite a hectic day, but a celebration nonetheless.

I have this wish that I could perform the haj which is the fifth pillar of Islam in the next few years. I do not want to wait until my old age to perform this once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Makkah. And I also plan to perform my umrah in the not-so-far future. It is as if Makkah is calling me, and the call seems to be getting louder and clearer by the day.

I pray that my wish to set foot on the Makkah al-Mukaramah will be a reality.

Until then, I would like to wish all Muslims, a happy and blessed Aidiladha. May we grasp the true meaning of qurban, insya-Allah.

Staying away from the Net

My apologies for the silence. Truth be told, I wanted to stay away from the Internet for a few days. Too much Internet is not good for you, you know. So, I managed to avoid being online since last Friday.

And the result? I feel a lot better knowing that there IS life outside of the cyberworld.

And not to mention a tonne of unread e-mails on all my e-mailing accounts, most of which are spam anyway. [I have five e-mail accounts if anyone is wondering, each has its own purpose].

By the way, it does a world of good to deprive yourself of the Internet once in a while.

Finger talks

It's amazing what technology can do.

In the past, we use our mouths to talk and speak.

These days, with the Internet, we talk using our fingers.

A friend even notes that YM is used even when talking to the person in the next workstation in the same office. Of course, this helps in reducing the noise level.

But at what cost?

Will people lose their oratory skill and confidence to speak in public? I wonder...

Organ transplant info updates

About ten days ago, the National Transplant Resource Centre (NTRC) launched their new website. Have a visit to the website by clicking here.

Also, I have updated the listing for transplantation info on this blog's side panel. Just scroll down a wee bit, and you will find the links to organisations linked to organ transplantation locally and internationally.

And while we're on the topic of organ transplantation, I'd strongly urge that everyone reads up on organ transplantation and donation, and seriously consider becoming a pledger if you are not one already.

Give the gift of life.

Facelift

Sometimes after a while, you'd get tired of the same old things. That's why, from time to time, I'd change the way the blog looks. I'm not much of a programmer. Even if I am, I can't afford the time to do so. That's why I just use the template that Blogger provides.

So, I hope you all will find these minor changes pleasing.

Promoting local science fiction

Yesterday, six science fiction authors from PTS Publications and Distributors Sdn Bhd was at MPH Mid Valley promoting local science fiction novels. The authors are Kusyi Hirdan (Urana Exham), Nazri M. Annuar (Opera Angkasa), Firdaus Ariff (Sayap Adinila), Azrul Jaini (Galaksi Muhsinin), Suri Mawarne (Virus L) and yours truly under the guise of Amir Husaini (Transgenesis: Bisikan Rimba).

It was a good outing at the bookstore. And after the event, we even discussed on the way forward to further promote local science fiction and fantasy. It is no secret that this genre is dominated by imported novels mainly from the United States and Japan. Most local readers who are into science fiction and fantasy are not even aware of the existence of local authors churning out books in this genre.

One of the aims of yesterday's event was to promote the fact that Malaysia does have its own science fiction and fantasy authors. We will continue to work as a group so that the awareness among Malaysians would be increased.