Being a man...Javanese way

We are made to differ, as a person, a group, in origin, in culture, etc. We should celebrate the differences, for it is through those differences that we fulfill the needs of each other.

Nakamora was at Mangku Negara kraton the other day when he learned from Pak Agung, the guide who took him around the sultan palace, that for a Javanese to be a man he should have these five things: (1) wismo, which is building or a house; (2) wanito, that refers to wife, (3) vehicle, which he forgot what was it called in Javanese, but refers to means of transportation; (4) curigo, or suspicion that refers to the need to have weapons as personal defense when attached; and (5) burung or bird. These may just be symbolic of the traits that Javanese man should have.

Life cycle..

Empty chairs and empty tables. Like those in les miserables. Abandoned in the dark of the night. Expectedly so, as the road side stall is already closed. It was bustling then, with cendol and fruits. That was during the heat of the day, the battle aim is freedom from hunger, the battle act is consumption of the food.

For the seller, it is to make ends meet, to pay bills, to put food on the table, for family to eat.
That is the chain of needs, of others that we provide, and of us that others serviced.

That thought rhymed in Nakamora's head as he passed the cendol stall, looking like a device left and forgotten, to be used again during the day. That night, he was driving towards Pontian. Days ago they thought of fulfilling a need there, but didn't. Cendol was eaten elsewhere.

To whom or what loyalty belongs?

At a seminar towards the end of last year Nakamora listened to a presentation related to human resources, particularly on employees attitude towards the organisation. It's said that there are three categories of them: engaged, disengaged, and actively disengaged.
Nakamora surmised that the level of engagement must be correlated to the loyalty or sense of belonging of the employees to the organisation, which in turn are related to factors such as environment, renumeration, and opportunities to grow. However, for certain groups of employees, particularly the professionals, organizational loyalty is not relevant. Their loyalty is to the profession, not any organisation. That perhaps is the reason for giving professors tenured status, so that they won't likely go away.
As the talk is moving to it's conclusion, the speaker presented a video clip on who's sinking your boat. Well, Nakamora thought that not every organisation can be likened to such a ship, as the employees loyalty belong not to the ship, but to the domain of discipline that take them to the boat in the first place...

Ageing peddlers...

Nakamora feels bad about himself every time an elderly approaches him. Plastic bags in both hands, full with packages of kerepek or some kinds of local snacks. With sad eyes, they would beg him to buy the snack. Not the kind that he likes, and often times the packaging too has almost worn out. He pity the peddlers, but several hundreds questions rush in his mind, begging for answers:
- where are they from?
- who brought them here?
- where do they stay?
- is the daily sale enough to support them?
- who made the products that they peddle around?
and, most importantly, where are their kin and siblings? At that age they should be resting and just relaxing...

Hardcopy or softcopy?

When e-mails was introduced years ago Nakamora thought that would be the beginning of the end of the postal service. He was wrong. On the contrary, the postal service thrives as orders for goods can be made faster on-line. But goods cannot be virtualized, transmitted, and realized yet - that Star Trek technology isn't here yet.

Now he thought that this time his prediction is right - that social media has replaced greeting cards. This Eid-ul-Fitr for instance he received only three greeting cards. Down by many folds from the number he used to enjoy holding, reading, and keeping. Most greetings come in softcopy - via Facebooks, being tweeted, or short message system.

But then, his observation could be wrong again. He is no longer in circulation for quite a number of years, he is not in the loop but only at the periphery of the circles of major happenings, contributing to society in a manner that is different than before. But then again, some of his friends mused the same thing too. This year there aren't many cards, so they say. Thus, he could be right, or at least half-right.

Anyway, selamat hari raya aidilfitri 1434H to all readers...

A stranger who is not a stranger...

Nakamora trained his eyes to every nooks and corners of the yellow-colored shophouses. The majority of them, if not almost all, are eateries of all types of dishes and all kinds of operations: mamak shop, kelantanese food, thai food, lebanese food, indonesian food, cake house, seafood restaurant, and even a restaurant named after a popular local cartoon TV series that is set to supplant doraemon.

He has been looking for him, someone from the other part of the world. Could it be Pakistan, Afghanistan, or any of the other ...stans countries. He couldn't tell and he never cared. After all he was nice, well-mannered, and seems to know how to carry himself around. Nowhere could he be seen.

He used to sell wooden handicraft, and Nakamora bought one several years ago. It was their first encounter. Nakamora since then stumbled on him whenever he went to have his meal at one of the restaurant, and they greeted each other cordially. Last year in December he said that he is going home for a while and will come back when it is summer in his country.  That's about March this year, but he's still not to be seen.

He was a stranger, but somehow he isn't, else Nakamora wouldn't be bothered looking around. In life, there are occassions that touch your heart, and there are people who did the same. Mohamad Abid, to Nakamora, is one such person.

Beware of what you want and ask for....

Short stories have the value of providing us with insight into life, into things that we might go through or have gone through. It can rationalize things that may seem irrational. It can put things in perspectives. Hence Nakamora wishes to share the following story which he came across in a daily tabloid quite some time ago.

There was an old lady, staying alone in a village, supporting herself by selling vegetables and other produce at the local farmers' market. One of her best selling product is tempe. Tempe is a traditional soy product produced by fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. Tempes can be eaten fried or cooked in a curry to be taken during regular meals with rice.

The lady is very pious, God-fearing, always do good deeds and never ever cause problems to others or do any bad or evil things.

Tempe - done and sold at a night market near Nakamora's house

Every time, before packing her produce to leave for the market she would check to see if her tempe were done and ready to sell. One day she found that her tempe were only half done. She wondered why as to her best memory she didn't change the recipe and followed exactly the way she always make tempe.

She prayed for her tempe to be done so that she can sell them that morning at the farmers' market. She believed Allah can do anything. She always depended on Him and have great faith in Him. In the meantime she prepared her other products, and when done she checked the tempe again. No change, the tempe were still as before.

She was a bit shaken but not losing confidence. She prayed again asking Allah for miracles. She needed to sell the tempe to support herself. Besides, it is the end of the month; there will be a lot of shoppers in the market. A large part of her monthly revenue comes from sales at the end of the month. She said, “Oh Allah, I know you can make miracle, I know you can make anything at your will. Help me, please make the tempe done. I am asking you for a miracle.”

She packed the tempe together with other products and made the trip to the farmers' market hoping that during the trip her payer would be answered; a miracle would happen; and the tempe would be done.

On arrival she set up to display her products. She peeked into the tempe covering to see if they are done since she wanted to display the tempe too. She was taken aback when she saw that the tempe were still as before, half done. She started wondering why her wish was not granted. She is pious, never forget or intentionally forget to pray, never did anything bad. She felt sad and her faith was somewhat weakened when she almost got angry with her predicament.

She left the tempe in the package in despair, but still harboring the hope that somehow the tempe will be done. Hours went by, occasionally she peeked into the tempe covering to see if they can be sold. No change. The market is about to close and sellers all prepared to go home. So as she.

As she was about to leave, a middle aged lady stopped her and asked if she have tempe, half-cooked; as the lady did not want them fully done. She was surprised, and this time she prayed to Allah not to grant what she has been asking for all along. Please, let the tempe stayed as they were. She responded to the lady that yes, she has plenty of half done tempe. The lady glowed and smiled happily as she has been asking here, there, and everywhere for half-cooked tempe. The lady asked to buy all of her tempe.

Slowly and trembling, she opened her package and took out the tempe. Yes, the tempe remained half-cooked. And the lady bought all of them. Before the lady left she asked why she wanted half-cooked tempe. The lady replied that her son is studying in the USA and craved for tempe, so she wanted to mail him the tempe. Fully cooked tempe would have gone bad while in postage.

Now, the she understood why her prayers were not granted for Allah knows best, and has a better plan for her. It touched her deep in her heart and thank Allah continuously as she made her way back home while regretting to almost show her anger when her wish for the tempe to be done were not granted.

Sometimes, what we asked was not what we actually wanted, Nakamora thought. He philosophized that it's better to ask for the tempe to be sold than for them to be fully done. Focus on the goal - after all, what matters is the tempe are sold, not for them to be fully done. Thus, Nakamora concludes, beware of what you asked for...

Looking back looking forward

In a day what is the event that touches your heart and emotion the most? Ask that everynight, so thought Nakamora; and he did so that night. It was an exceptional day. It wasn't hard to come up with a list. It was a day of happenings. There are plenty of things to be joyous about. Winning at exhibition, making good progress on outstanding works, just returning from an interesting holiday, solving financial woes, getting that new thing that you have been wanting for some time, etc. But for him it was a simple visit to his mother. He visited her quite often, but today it struck him how she has grown old. She was young, no doubt, full of energy and investing it all in raising her kids. He just thought whether he is returning that investment adequately. We are so busy growing up that we overlook that our parents are growing old. The lyrics of "Number One For Me" by Maher Zain played in his mind...

A Tale of Two Turtles...

It was about three weekends ago that Nakamora released two turtles into a lake. They have been staying in an aquarium of sort in his house under the care of his wife. Kuru-kuru and Kuri-kuri, the name given to the two turtles, must have been very happy to be in the open waters, many thousands times the size of their home in Nakamora's house; the place they stayed for over a year. They don't know that they are known as Kuru-kuru and Kuri-kuri, of course, unlike other pets such as cats. The lake, Tasik Komanwel, is just nearby the sports stadium at Bukit Jalil. There are many turtles in the lake; must have been put there by others like him, Nakamora thought.

Kuru-kuru, or was it Kuri-kuri, crossing Lake Komanwel

As he drove away, after spending some time beside the lake to ensure that both Kuru-kuru and Kuri-kuri are safe, images of Kuru-kuru, or was it Kuri-kuri, swimming away to the other side of the lake, the manner in which they climbed out the bucket as he lowered it into the water played in his head. He wondered how natural it was for the turtle to swim away, to be at home in the lake, even though they have not been swimming before since their home in Nakamora's house is so small. It is an intrinsic, in-built ability, he thought. He felt happy, and satisfied. Satisfied in the thought that his wife, and even more so himself, agreed to release them. Happy in the thought that the turtles will have many more varieties of food, much wider space to play around, plenty of nice spots to sleep and rest or sunbathe. They will in time meet others; and probably share their experiences too..

Turtles can outlive him, he thought. Turtles can live for a hundred years or more. Perhaps 100 years from today the lake will be full of turtles. It may come to be an attraction - a zoo of turtle, a turtle territory, a sanctuary. And Nakamora smiled to himself, contented with the thought that he contributed to that future, and two of them have spent one percent of their lives in his home...

The games of life...

A bowling alley

Nakamora was at a bowling alley recently, passing time away while waiting for something more useful. It turned out that it was a worthwhile time 'wasted' anyway. He played around a few mind games in his head.
As he watched the bowling pins fall, some fall only a few while the more seasoned player fell all pins in one hit, a question struck his mind - what use could the skill in targeting the balls in real, everyday life outside the alley be? And he couldn't answer that question. But as usual he try searching for answer by formulating alternative questions or posing the same question to other games.
Swimming, archery, shooting, horse riding are sports the skills of which can be used in some situations in life, in a dire situation the skill developed for swimming can be used to save life, for rescue operation, etc. He searched his mind and still fail to see the use of bowling. In fact more games in similar class make way to his head including soccer, tennis and the like. Could he be wrong?

Mini resolutions...

Happy New Year 1433H. The beginning of the new year was two days ago, but better late than never, hence this posting.
That is the day when some of us make, remake, and revise resolution(s) made 12 months ago (lunar calendar that is). Nakamora seems to do away with all that. He prefers to have daily, weekly, and monthly resolutions. To him several mini resolutions seem to have better chance of being realised than one big resolution. Today for instance, his resolution was to keep balance in life; there must be time, among others for work, for play, for family, for rest and for investing into the permanent future. How is that balance going to be set. That, unfortunately took quite a bit of his time that in the end the very resolution he is trying to attain was unattainable or at best attained only partly.

What's in an abbreviation...

We use abbreviations a lot. With sms or texting the short form of everything becomes handy. But not every short form carries the same meaning. The photo, complete with the typos, intentionally made, I believe, is a case in point. It was taken near the Segambut eateries area, Kuala Lumpur; not in any other town in the east coast of the Malaysian Peninsular.

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It's Ramadhan

At the end of Ramadhan 1431H we prayed that we would make it to the next Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah, the prayer is granted; here we are, at the beginning of Ramadhan 1432H.
Bazaars are here again. The last day before Ramadhan the shops were crowded. Restaurants, cafes, and food courts were crowded too. It was as if tomorrow it is no more... (Photo: Bazaar Ramadhan at Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur).

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Senseless...

It is hard not to feel saddened with the plight of those businesses owners whose operations are disrupted. Who should compensate their losses. Countless people whose programs are disrupted, just because certain segments of the populace want to do things their way. Inconsiderate, incomprehensible...

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Time travel - spatially...

Sceneries can evoke many memories and imaginations. Memories of days past: idyllic village, carefree chores, backwardness of surroundings, quiet and abandoned looking country roads. Imaginations of what the future may look like: modern, bustling cities, rushing crowds, people glued to their gadgets.
The world is not developing uniformly, some develop faster than others. Thus, travelling from one place to another can bring us back to the days past and take us to the future to give a glimpse of what the neighbourhood come to be in the future. Time travel, undertaken spatially.
(Jetty to Samosir island at Parapat)

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Many special days

Seems that this month is one that is full of special days: labor day, mothers day, teachers day...

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Know Your Roots?

How far do you know your roots.. how far up?
That question came to mind after watching 'Roots', the popular TV miniseries in the USA in late 1970s based on the book of the same title by Alex Haley. He spent 12 years researching for his roots, back to Gambia in Africa.
Amazing how things changed in seven generations: outlook, worldview, values, and other things in life; and equally amazing how things do not change much, when entities are encapsulated from outside 'change agents' or influence...
As reported in an extra section of the DVD, the showings of the series on TV generated a lot of interests on genealogy. It became a popular vocation, or past time, of a large majority of the public. I recall in Malaysia a project for school children to construct their own root trees - trace your ancestors. Could it be connected in anyway?

Travel the World for...

The mobility of peoples and goods, and information, has tremendously increased with the advent of modern transportation systems. It can be disrupted, severely in some occassions, as we have witnessed in the past week, but in general a lot more peoples and goods are moving from one place to another, for one purpose or another.
Some travel for businesses, others for holidays, or combine both. Nakamora's travel in the past week was of the latter type. In the process, he got stuck in Dubai, stayed three days in Vienna, and spent the weekend in Prague before due to fly home.
Still others travel the world for medical treatment, hence the term medical tourism; for recreation, hence recreational or sports tourism. Still another class, Nakamora thought, are those who travel, or being made to travel, for a living. A construction worker he met in Dubai mentioned that he has worked in a construction project in Malaysia in Bandar Baru Bangi, in Penang, and in Klang, along with a host of other countries. As he looked up at construction workers next to steel bars, scaffolds, and reinforced concrete columns at construction sites in many cities he wondered how many buildings have that worker be involved in, and in how many places has he travelled. He must have his own views and viewpoints of the city; views that are different from us altogether...

General purpose 'everything'

He is tired, no doubt, sleeping, oblivious to the noise and happenings around him. But what is that he is sleeping on? It is a cart, it is a bed, it is a place to rest, a single item with many uses.
The idea of 'multipurpose' or 'general purpose' equipment perhaps originated from an old practice of maximizing the benefit of an item by diversifying or extending its uses; like what we see in that picture. It saves money, and if we don't have much money we have not much choice but to make do with what we have, and hence the cartbed - a multipurpose cart. It can't be a multipurpose bed. The name after the adjective multipurpose should be the orginal name the item is used for, not the name of items its uses are extended to.
When resources are limited, we tend to be creative.

Oppositely Dominating

When at home there are many things in common between us and the masses, thus we tend to highlight our differences. When abroad, away from home, the differences between us and the masses loom large so that  in meeting fellow countryman we can easily strike a conversation. We focus on similarity, brushing aside the very difference that we would be highlighting if we were home.

But, there are places in which that is not the case. We tend to be indifference or even avoid contact. Another similarity could be at play here, or could it be driven by another need? London seems like one such place.