e-Card

It is the end of Ramadhan and Eid ul Fitr, or the first of the month of Syawal is coming. Few days before this the mailbox used to be brimming with cards wishing every happiness for the joyous occassion. It is different this time around however. Perhaps e-cards and short messaging system truly have taken over the role of printed cards; or perhaps all those before were actually for the seat of the receiver ;-)

The Basis of Optimization

(It is true that developing something is easier than maintaining it. The long lull of this blog is a living proof of that saying. Anyway, Nakamora is back to tend his plot in the blogspace.)
The first agenda of that meeting in the morning part of the first Friday of every month, without fail, is the tazkirah. Tazkirah is a short talk to advise and remind each other of our role in life and the way we should go about it based on Islamic teachings. It was Nakamora's turn this month, and he decided to put extracts of it in this blog as in the subsequent paragraphs.
Today is the 14th of Ramadhan, the month having the most fadhilah among all of the months in a year. Let us take advantage of it and maximize the benefits, for we do not know if we would meet the next one. Let us pray that we would.
We are reminded of the words of wisdom of Imam Al-Ghazali that the farthest distance is the past, for it won't come back; the closest to us is death; the biggest is nafs; the heavisest to carry is trust; the easiest to miss is prayer; and the sharpest object is the tounge.
My tazkirah is about life in general. Looking at life somewhat philosophically, we can say that what everyone does in life is optimization.
We optimize our time so that we have some for other pursuits.
We optimize our spending so that we have disposable income for other discretionary spending.
In short in everything we do we optimize against some objective or cost functions.
What is different between individuals is the basis of the cost function - the world here or the Hereafter.
We are also reminded of the 80-20 rule - that 80% of problems are caused by 20% of all causes, that 80% of profits comes from 20% of the operations; that 80% of impact is the result of 20% of activities; etc.
We seem to adopt the same 'inverse' rule. 80% or more of what we do is for the world here. The world here, in terms of duration is incomparable to the Hereafter, let alone 20%. This is because the basis of our objective function is the world now.
Let us therefore apportion our activities appropriately to reflect the actual ratio of that durations. In fact we ought to continuously ask ourselves: with respect to the Herefatre, is the thing I do now, the best thing to do for the moment; is the place where I am now the best place to be;is what we spent on the best value for money, etc.
Before leaving for a long journey, we make preparations. The level of the preparations is commensurate with the duration and distance of the journey. Going to Europe, Amercicas, or Africa require more preparation than going to countries in this region, that are all within about 6 hours of flight time.
Prepartions to go to places we are unfamiliar with is even more elaborate. We learn a word or two of the language of the place, and we change our currency.
The Hereafter is so unfamiliar. We have not been there, and those who went there never come back. But we are told about it the al-Qur'an. Therefore, the preparations to go there should be the whole lifetime. The currency is not what we have now, but what we do with what we have - our good deeds. All will be accounted for, no matter how small. From al-Qur'an
[99:7] "Whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it."
[99:8] "And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it."

Hardcopy or Softcopy

Both have their respective merits and demerits. Hardcopy? It is hard to imagine magazine, newspaper, and book racks disappear from bookstores. The feeling of touching the paper, weighing the book, and skimming through the pages are still influential in making the buy or not buy decision. Glancing at the frontpage of newspapers lined up infront of small stores bythe bus stand from across the road also has similar influence.
Imagine reading an e-book or e-newspaper or e-magazine in a bus, or train (or even while driving). That electronic reader called notebook must be there with you, with battery that lasts long enough.
But where would you keep all those 'expired' magazines? Old newspapers have buyers. Perhaps keep only selected ones that could be useful for future reference.
Future reference? In hardcopy they may not be easily retrieved, especially if you do not have the tendency to be like librarians, cataloguing all your collections.
For a long time to come, one would neither replace the other. Not all inventions make existing methods or goods obsolete.

Trade and Language

Malay Spoken Here. That sign in the title may not be written anywhere, but approach the shop, browse around and enquire a thing or two. After a while the shopkeeper will urge you to buy.
"Oh, from Malaysa. Apa kabar."
"Belilah. Murah saja."
"Enam Ribu Won."
Yes, that conversation was in the Itaewon district, a well-known shopping area in downtown Seoul. That conversation also bears testimony to the shopping penchant of most Malaysians, Malays especially. Well, it is good for the economy.
In addition we might say trade is also a way for a language to expand, and to some extent, we see that taking place. The language, albeit a broken one, is spoken at almost every shopping or market place Nakamora has been to. Of course, the level of conversation is limited to low level transactions such as souvenir shopping, but everything has a beginning, and every beginning usually is a humble one, isn't it? The influence of toursim on language cannot be ignored.

Jeju - The Honeymoon Island

It's not always you get the opportunity to get to Jeju, Republic of Korea - the honeymoon island. One, it is because you have had your honeymoon elsewhere. Two, getting there and stay there for a holiday can eat a chunk of whatever disposable income you have.
He was there many years ago. A beautiful island, the shape of a potato. Just months ago he got another chance to be there, on business trip too. Hence there was an element of cost-sharing between his own pocket and the business concern. Since mixing business with pleasure is not a sin, he extended his stay for an extra day or two.
The trip this time was a stark difference from previously in most aspects. The host, in last trip, took the trouble to purposely include sightseeing as part of the unofficial agenda. This time around, it was not so. Thus Nakamora has to be 'unguided.' But that was not strange to him. He likes to explore and discover. Explore and discover he did. But the discovery was not that pleasant, unfortunately.
Most of the taxi drivers do not speak the language of tourism. Most of the interesting spots are indicated in English in the map. Show that to a taxi, and the driver has no idea where and what it is.
To get to Bagdad Cafe, a joint written as a halal eating place, Nakamora has to get a staff manning the Tourist Information counter at the airport to write it down in Korean on a piece of paper. This is to be shown to the taxi driver. Apparently, he was not the first one using that approach. Other tourists, travelling independently, did the same.
Perhaps to see jeju, one needs to join organized tour, or else, plan the trip well in advance and get to the tourist information counter to get everything written for the taxi driver.

Seesaw

When I was little I used to see kids playing seesaw by the playgrounds. The ends of the seesaw normally are so worn out. The grass there are trampled upon all the times. Modern seesaw that I saw put enough asphalt around the area to maintain the nice looks.
What I hate most is when I have to oversee my little brothers playing seesaw. Once one is above the other tried very hard to rise as well. Using every means including reducing body weight by exhaling air out, kicking the ground to push him up even though that is out of the rule of the game, etc. Then, the game continued. One went up, the other went down, as both can't be up at the same time. As the overseer I suffered. My head has to be turned left and right and up and down, so that I can see where they are. How I was very happy and relieved when they eventually both got hungry and asked me to take them home.
Nakamora just listened. He knew his friend likes to ramble. He doesn't care whether Nakamora has any idea at all about he said...