THE
FORGOTTEN GIFTS
I
left the Jalan Stadium Vocational
School in year 2000 and served in the
nearby school for three years before I
retired from my job. We are just a day
away from 2019. Believe me or not, there
were gifts and presents from my staffs
in memory of my departure are still not
opened.
My
kids and relatives opened up lockers and
drawers to clear off the unwanted stuffs
whatever belonged to my wife after her
demise. I didn't know and care what were
thrown out and what were not, except a
few days ago when I wanted to search the
picture of me getting a medal from the
King of Malaysia some years ago. I
didn't find a picture but I found the
presents. They were still intact. I have
not decided what I am going to do with
them.
People still give me gifts and
souvenirs. They are not of use to me.
They have been lying there for months
and even years. I am indifferent towards
things I don't regularly used. I knew
the monthly Indonesian maids did
smuggled home plates, cups and bowls
each time they came to work. Instead of
accusing them I just told them that the
need to ask me for things they want from
me. I do not allow them to bring bags
when they come to work. And I talked
about barakah, the misfortune that would
befell a dishonest person.
In
a way I seldom use those things. Instead
of looking for them in the kitchen I
would buy forks and spoons and bowls for
my food consumption in the hall.
My
needs are limited. I would put aside the
things that I do not need. But I always
keep the winter jacket, the thermal
wears and a few long sleeve shirts for
travelling during the cold season.
Likewise whenever I want to give to
anybody I always think whether they
would appreciate them. I love the lucky
draw I won in Jakarta Ham Radio
festival, a couple of walkie talkies.
But now I do not want any more present
from anybody anymore. I don't have a
place to put them.
|
30/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
2019
YEAR OF HOPE
The new year is just a step away. I
don't have any resolution nor a promise
to face 2019. Decades ago, I had no
dream of living to enjoy the 2020 or
2019 for that matter. What more do I
need after the colossal providence and
the abundance, of economic well being,
of the good health, of the appetite to
eat and of the ability to see places in
the world.
The
only new year look is the face of my
house's fence that will be brightened by
the new paint. I have wanted to have a
new car but it is too much for me and
beyond my mean to procure it. Oh I just
remember buying a new drone from USA to
replace the much talked Mavic Pro that
dropped from the air without any reason.
Looking back, there were many changes
within me. I change physically and
biologically. Others do changed too. I
totally dropped Chess, computer
programming and ham radio from my
hobbies, and they are almost diminished.
Those were the high end hobbies.
There had been numerous things that
didn't even crossed my minds several
decades ago. They were about the
technology of the internet, the
cell-phone and drones. These are the
greatest gifts that are within my
possession. I flew the small flying
machine, recorded the views, process the
videos and posted them to the Youtube.
Aren't they a big things for me, that
not every people do it, even the younger
agile men and women ?
In
the past there was a young man with a
bicycle would always choose my house to
stop and asking for a few pittance for
breakfast. He is not seen anymore. And
there was a lady who would frequent my
house once a month, to whom I would give
twenty or fifty dollars, but never to
been for the fast three months. I still
went to pick up an Indonesian maid to
clean my abode once a month. The next
pick will be soon.
I
just met a lady who is very
unpredictable in her mind. I thought she
would bring changes to my life but I
realize I cannot put much hope on her.
There is a fuzzy sign that she does not
trust me in many ways. But my mind is
always stronger than my sentiment and
emotion. I know that I can overcome the
agony and pain that may have strike me,
I
always talk of my death. It is obvious
for an old man to think about it. Death
takes away all from you; your wealth,
status, worries and everything else that
you have. It is the end of the story.
2019 is the year of hope, full of them. |
30/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
WHAT TO
DO WITH AN EXTRA MONEY AT DISPOSAL ?
This year is the least extra money I
have compared to all the previous years.
The other day I went to service my
Proton Saga and I saw a new Saga, auto
priced at RM39K on the road. It made my
mouth watery. But my extra money is not
enough to buy it. I usually pay cash for
my purchase because I pay less that way.
If I don't have enough money to buy what
I want, I would wait and accumulate it.
The I decided to forget it.
But
my house fence and the structure itself
looked so very old and pale. The last
time I painted was more than 45 years
ago. I expressed my intention to Ah Hwa,
the man who would come to repair some
small work from time to time. Ah Hwa
said the work is to be done by Ah Keong.
They came to see me for the colour of
the paints and seek the down payment. It
was not cheap. he asked for RM1.5K. He
admitted it is expensive but he would
deliver the best and the quality work.
With the extra money I agreed and paid
him RM1.5K.
Today I asked him when will he be
starting his work."Sunday...I will use
the water jet..." I guessed it may take
three or four days just to paint my
gate. I am sure my house will look
lively again.
There is a little more left of the extra
money, just enough to buy a lady shoe
and a handbag. I might as well buy both
in case I want to give away to anyone on
one of these days.
As
for myself ? May be I have to be patient
and wait for another year. I don't have
anything to round up with my ASB
dividend anymore. I would spend them for
travelling and on my drone hobby. The
only catch is that travelling is getting
more and more expensive. I used to go to
New Zealand with RM7K but now it is more
than RM14K. USA trip is RM24+K instead
of a mere RM5K.
People tend to advise me to keep the
extra money, to accumulate it. I worked
hard for the money. It has to be spent
on myself and my comfort. I never have
any bequest from my family. In fact I
hate my own family who are greedy to
work out on what was left by my farther.
An
extra money can be a thousand or two,
not by the tenth of thousands. But it is
extra. I have different pittance for my
other expenditure, my pension. |
30/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
DOUBLE
DIPS
Eating habits differ. It is not my
culture to practice double dips. I could
only drink from the glass of my love one
but from the glass of others.
Unfortunately I have a few friends who
love to dip into common curry,
vegetables, soups and all other
delicacies not paid by them. The moment
that happened I would stop eating the
food. Imagine a large steam fish for two
or three had had become his to eat.
I
have decided not to eat out with such
persons anymore and to refrain myself
from going out with the heavy smokers.
The smell of their cars could kill me on
the spot and when they talk the odour
caused me great headache. If they go for
the double dips the gravy, the soup and
the rest will be polluted with nicotine.
Even if I practise such a culture, I
have to reject it as a health hazard
coming as it comes from a chain
smoker.
I
always ask for extra spoons for the
shared food. But the guys would just
ignore them.
I
have no choice but to put these guys
aside. I will find excuses when they ask
me to eating out. Good food is costly.
Each meal comes to about RM80 and I paid
for it. It would not matter if I could
share the spreads. I can't afford to pay
for them all the time.
It
angered me but I did not want to hurt
them by telling of their habits. The
best I could do is to avoid them. |
29/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
INTEGRITY
I
am not an angle nor infallible. It is
best therefore to take care of myself
rather than become so very busy body
about the affairs of others . At
times however when the needs arises I
would give a simple advice. If they
don't heed it , it is their own funeral,
whoever they may be. My only reservation
is I would not care if they later faced
the hell in their lives.
Gregariousness and eyeballing has not
been my standard for a long time as I
began to learn the selfishness of mankind.
I don't know which hypocrite would made
me and someone else a victim. A person without honesty and integrity,
however rich and powerful he is, has no
place in my life. We have
seen too many of them around us and some
are making a gamut of headlines.
At
anytime I prefer honesty and sincerity
to smartness.
Smart people tend to manipulate things
for their own well being. The most I
distrust are lawyers.
You
won't know people in reality, nor from
their faces nor their positions. The
gullible would easily be deceived by
their glibness and smiling faces. Some
depict themselves as the men of God.
Most of these people would run away with
your money.
I
have been in ham radio since 1975 and we
were able to contain the ethical hams
for quite a long time before we relaxed
our regulations
and did ignored the concept of control.
Then we have waves of rogue and bad
people joining the community, some with
extremely despicable attitudes. And I
have been in education for more than 25
years and learned much about the corrupt
Headmasters and Principals. They have
neither shame nor conscience.
People came and lamented and I myself
have been victims, and I am not wrong to
say that one cannot trust anybody else
regardless of his demeanour, status,
countenance and title. You can talk to
him if you will but not to trust him.
Certainly there are few with integrity,
noble and respectable characters. We can never know
who is who.
What is integrity then ?
It is
the quality of being
honest and having strong moral
principle. Moral principle possess a
wide connotation across human
relationship. Recently we read about
Syazwan who made an unfounded allegation
on Teresa Kok and threatened to attack a
police station. There are school's
principal asking money from canteen
people and teachers insinuating reprisal
if they did not show cooperation.
70% of the politicians are suspected as
specie without shame, conscience and
integrity. You see their hypocrisy in
the parliament as if they are so concern
about the poor people, but behind the
scene they plundered as much as they
could.
To avoid them is to stay alone and
solitary. Any social intercourse should
be as brief as possible.
|
28/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
MY
EXPLORING AUTEL EVO
Yesterday I tested the front and rear
obstacle avoidance of my Autel Evo
drone. They worked fine. I am still bad
in aperture and other camera settings. I
have been trying to change the
parameters but the data didn't lock. It
rolled left and right to different
numbers. The screen would turn totally
while without any image and the image
would quickly change if it appeared as a
short display. I didn't know how they
finally appeared.
I
tried the auto mode but the picture
doesn't seem to be good. The quality is
inferior to my Mavic Pro that jammed for
an unknown reason and dropped, broke to
pieces. I have to acquire the Autel Evo
through my friend as I do have any
credit card. I think Autel is better
than Mavic in many ways but for the
picture quality as not an expert user.
I
believe one day I will be able to handle
the ISO and the shutter speed with ease
in order to get a better picture. Today
I managed to record videos using two
different ISO and shutter speed setting
and compared their quality. I was also
successful in photographing my old
school's structures and the building of
the new ones over the football field,
which I would oppose vehemently.
Someone in the United State passed a
remark on the way to improve my clips
using filters when facing the sun, and
telling me the firmware updating is
simple enough just by pressing the
Update Button. I remember that I have
not found the button.
Anyway
that is not so urgent to me for I do not
have the tilting of horizon issue. And
the video is acceptable and good enough.
Go to man4855 in the Youtube to see some
of the footings using both the Mavic pro
and the Autel Evo.
Today
I flew without using a phone. I merely
used the Remote Controller (RC). The day
before I took a short shot without the
phone. Today I stretched farther. But
the signal was lost at even a few
hundred feet away. My Mavic seemed to
have a better signal range. I flew about
3.5 miles without sweat. The signal was
still good.
Though
I do not intend to go on long range I
will have to need a medium range flight
without signal lost. I need to try Autel
Evo in an open space where buildings and
trees will not be the hindrance.
However I may acquire a Used Mavic Pro
for other purposes, depending on the
price. Mavic will have to lower down the
price and increase the quality of the
drone and the bateries in order to
compete with Autel Evo. Surely Autel
will achieve improvements in camera and
other aspects soon enough. Whatever
concerns the electronic stuffs
controlled by the firmware users can
always download and upgrade them. This
is the part that I need to give more
focus and attention.
What I
have been doing on making drone flying
as my hobby is just to keep my time
occupied. Radio world has been taken
away by people who are strange to the
old ham radio group. To my standard they
have killed the authenticity of ham
radio. There are hundreds of weird
people around now.
I find
drone as interesting as any other hobby.
I can't exactly predict what I am going
to do next. |
26/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
THE
PAST REMINISCENCE OF MY TRIPS AND MY
STAY OVERSEAS
I have
been travelling since 19 years old. Now
72. A weird and dreadful age to think
about. Yet when we were in Indonesia
they were surprised when we told them of
our years of living in the world.
Our
mind could still work but our memory
began to fade. When I am trying to
recall the past experience they are so
fuzzy that I could not recall the very
detail of the events. Below are some of
them. I will add the experience in the
coming pages.
1. In
Hawaii the bus trip was cheap. You pay a
dollar to round a section of the island,
hopped in and hopped out. By two trips
you could cover the whole main island.
Enough for sight seeing. The panorama
was fantastic. Most of the time when I
hopped in I saw many ladies chatting
like the sounds of birds, features like
the Hawaiians but sounds like Tagalog.
IT means there were a lot of Pinoys
working in Hawaii.
There
was a White boy, about 10 or 12, who
came to sit beside me. He looked at me
and asked where I was from. "Malaysia,"
said I. He shook my hand and said," I am
from (a place I forgot in USA) and I won
a prize of this trip. " He was anxious
to tell the world of his winning award.
I do not remember the type of
competition it was.
At
another time an elderly woman accosted
me and described the places while the
bus passed them.
They
were kind and friendly.
While
waiting for the flight home past
midnight, I kept my belongings at the
airport locker and went back to Waikiki
Beach, took a nap on the sand then went
to play chess with a Black man. There
were rows of tables with chess sets and
there were crowds watching people
playing the game. I had a few people
watching my game. I won the first game,.
The man asked me for the second one. I
won again and excused myself. He
insisted for the third game but I had to
decline. He gave me a card," Malaysian,
if you come back again, please call me."
2. I
usually visited Los Angeles in December
and stayed in Buena Park town about 2
hours away from Los Angeles. The hotel
belongs to a Taiwanese lady. Beside the
hotel was an Indian Briyani restaurant.
A pack cost me USD12 but it was very
delicious and it lasted me with two
meals, plentiful indeed. I met MAS
staffs residing at the same hotel. Mind
you I took Rusli,9M2RB, and
Rashid,9M2RS, to the same hotel when we
were on the way to the Hamfest in Dayton
Ohio.
Each
day I would take a trip to one of these
places; Disneyland, Beach, library,
radio shop, Irvine and Southgate Super
Malls and to the city of Los Angeles.
The bus stop was in front of Train Mac
Donald.
Many a
time there were Americans waited for the
bus too. You will them very friendly,
accosting you and greeted you. We would
talk about the fine weather and normal
stuffs. One day I was there with only
one man. After the normal greeting, the
man talked about his bad mother in law
and what she did to him. I knew he
wanted to release his feeling and nodded
at every point he was telling.
Imagine of you talking about being
jilted by a lady to an unknown people.
But it is good that we have FB to
release our tension, feeling and
emotion.
3,
There are beggars in America too more
than what we have in the state of Kedah
or probably in our whole country. A
street man once said to me Hollywood
city, "Hi nice young man. You look find
today." I smile back at him. "Would you
mind providing me with a quarter for a
meal ?" And one night at outside the
Disneyland theme park a couple, a black
boy and a young while girl, begged me
for some money for a meal. They were
both very hungry. I knew that they were
runaways. They thanked me profusely when
I gave them USD10, enough to buy them a
couple of burgers.
Even
in Las Vegas where soliciting and
begging were illegal, a lady from some
distant away shhh me and asked me for a
quarter.
At 10
am you can still find people sleep on
the streets in the city of Los Angeles,
20 to 40 of them found comfort on the
slab slumbering.
4. On
the way to Bangkok there was one White
man sitting in front of me. It was in
1965 when I left schooling. We talked
over many topics and he finally asked me
my view about the cruelty of
slaughtering animals for food. I asked
him whether he ate fish. He nodded with
"YES". I asked him whether he saw the
fish breathing before they died. "How
long does the fish suffer before the
fish died ? " I asked him. I did not
remember his rebutled after hearing my
answer.
5. In
London I was at a ham radio shop. When I
was about to touch the dial of the rig,
the Englishman whom I thought was the
salesman shouted at me and barring me
from touching the radio. He must had
regarded me as a brown skinned savage.
6. In
Belgium I went out one night to see the
night life in town. I saw a woman
selling chest nut. I took a small pack
of the ready wrapped ones and paid more
than the price tag, and walked away. The
woman called me back, scolded me and
handed the extra change. As I refused
she scolded me in a language I did not
understand. To cool her down I took the
change. She was pleased and gave me an
extra pack. On her insistence I took the
nut. Only then I saw her smiling.
7. In
Indiana University together with me
taking a paper were two PHD students.
one male from Nebraska and one female, a
French from Canada. The lady always took
her baby to the class. On one occasion
the French lady pinched her baby
daughter for not listening to her
command. I told her to use psychology.
her answer with a smile, "What
psychology...."
8. In
Ohio university I took a Statistical
Research paper. The Malaysian students
discouraged me from taking the paper
because it was difficult to score even a
C. I tool it having a Korean statistical
lecturer in a Korean University teaching
me the whole concept of the subject.
Then
there came the final test, a paper for
two hours. Fifteen minutes later there
were streams of American students handed
up the answer sheets while the Asian and
African students remained till the time
was up. I was panicked for I thought the
Americans were so smart and sharp.
Outside those students were still
lingering. I greeted them with ," Wow,
you are so very smart..."They all smile.
One said, "You either know or don't know
the answers..."
A few
days later when the result sheets were
pinned on the board I saw 90% of the
students scored E as predicted by the
fellow Malaysians. The Korean lecturer
scored a B. God gave me an A. The
Americans who came out early were those
who didn't know the answers. What a
joke.
There
will be many more coming for me to share
my experience. |
25/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
WHAT
HAVE THEY DONE TO THE WORLD ?
Do we
need to use our intelligence to make
weapons of mass destructions and the
machines of war and killing ? If they do
not go to war themselves they would let
the war to escalate in some other
countries; in Syria and Yemen. OR show
their might in dealing with other humans
like the treatments of the Israelis over
the Palestinians.
The
Malaysians had taken the world by storm
when they intelligently used their brain
to fool the world with financial
robbery. Smart lawyers are abetting them
in a direct or indirect ways. Imagine of
what will happen to all of us if there
is another World War.
It
took smart people to steal our money and
hid it somewhere safely and lied to the
people of their innocence, to run covert
corruptions without being traced and to
device methods of committing crimes
unseen and unknown. If they have not
done any damage to the world, they
ruined the people and the country.
Lucky
me for not being blessed by super
intelligence brain which allows me
openings to do devious things for my own
benefit and interest. Isn't the murder
of Hussein Najadi and Kevin Morais
planned by intelligent people with
deceptive minds ? You just study how
billions of ringgit were stolen and we
the rakyat have to bear for all the
loses. And there were a team of smart
lawyers with concerted effort to save
the criminals.
The
world does not forget Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, the slaughter of innocent
women and children by guns and bombs
that is still going on till today. What
have these weapons done to the peace of
the world ? |
25/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
NO
POINT LAMENTING THE LOST
What
if you have an accident and lost of
something ? A long time ago I would feel
desperate and miserable. Things start to
change as age is catching up. The other
day my RM5K drone dropped and broke to
pieces, I did not feel bad and kept
myself as nothing had happen. Similarly
when I heard someone had a car
accidence. My first question was whether
the person involve is alive. We can buy
a new drone and a new car. We cannot buy
our life.
Within
a short while I got a new one and
resumed my video making
I lost
a lot of money when people who owed me
walked away as if the the money I gave
them were theirs. Of course I will not
forget them but it won't kill me or
drove me to poverty. I noticed they were
still living a miserable life; their
cars were splashed with paints, wifi
services terminated and continue to hunt
for more loans. Some went bankrupts. I
didn't pray for their comeuppance. The
other faith would say it is a Karma.
However there are many unfortunate
people who always look on the bright
side of things. The disabled thanks God
that they are alive. The poor thanks God
that they do not die of starvation.
Till
today God has given me aplenty of
everything. I only that God can take
them away at any moment, any day. A
millionaire towkey lamented to me, "Cikgu,
I have millions but what's the point if
I have to come to dialysis here every
other day." What if God takes away our
health and sustenance ?
Just
the other day I was so excited to go the
mosque to give away some pittance for
year 2019 that I knocked my gate while
reversing my car. The gate bent. The
next day Ah Hwa came to fix it and the
auto gate gear machine. It is working
again like new.
We
need to learn to take things easy. There
is a popular saying "life have to
go on". We can't alter the past. What we
can try to do is to be more careful in
doing things to avoid accidences and
lost of our belongings, health and our
love ones. The rest is determined by our
fate.
Our
troubles only stop when we stop
breathing. |
25/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
SUPPRESSING SADNESS
I
struggle hard to suppress sadness and
despair. I appeal to God to calm me down
and bless me with coolness and to bring
back my composure to normality. I have
to face the pain and the agony that I
know will go away. I need to occupy
myself with other things to forget it.
What
helps me a lot is my strong mind in my
weak body. I have been disciplining
myself since my young age. I could
reject cigarette offered by my friends
and made me a non smoker till today. I
travelled alone worldwide and faced
hostile environments. I had been mugged
by the Homeless in the down town Los
Angeles. And I faced challenges during
my working days.
I won.
One
way to avoid frustration is to be alone.
I occupy myself with electronic gadgets,
writing computer programs, reading
e-book, writing block and play with
drone. Human being can cause me sadness,
frustration, anger and of course happy.
The last does not come easy. And the
most noble is to seek God's help.
I have
seen a lot of bad people, bad in the
sense they like to see people in pain,
suppressing others from a better life
and office position, whose life were
never ended well. We all see what
happens to Rosmah Mansor. Many of these
people are either dead or sick till
today. I never felt sorry for them.
Neither do I feel happy at their
disappearance.
May
God forgive me for all my sins. |
25/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
AUTEL EVO RC
I have found out that the RC (Remote
Controller) of my new drone, Autel Evo,
has a monitor enough to fly my drone
without any cell-phone attached to it.
Parameters can be set through it, not
necessarily using the phone or
tablet monitor. It is clear enough to
see the image during the day time.
I have set my Evo to 720p and 24fps, the
no color option, and the rest set to
auto and it is ever ready to fly without
extra gadget.
The problem now is not the aircraft
anymore but what and where to capture
the scenic view. I have missed capturing
a few local events in town like the boat
and the bicycle race, the colourful
night procession on the last 18
December, the celebration of the
coronation week of our King.
I am not concern of the distant it can
cover. But more on the signal coverage.
High buildings may block the waves as
compared to the open line of sight view.
Signal could get lost even within a few
hundred feet, unless they have the
facility to attach the RC to the higher
antenna. The manufacturer has to
redesign the RC to allow the 75 ohm
cable to fit in. And they have to sell
the suitable antenna. The RC must have
the circuit that can reject the high SWR.
This will ensure long distant
signal coverage.
There is always a risk of flying more
than 3 miles away as the total distant
will be double,6 miles. All drone flyers
had their heart beat much faster fearing
the battery would not deplete before it
return to home position. And a few guys
have lost their drones. I had this
dreaded experience once with my Mavic
Pro which flew more than 3.5 miles away
and landed with almost zero power left.
My Mavic departed not because of the
distant flight but due to the sudden
stoppage of power or control during the
flight. I cannot figure out of the
sudden failure. I have been making
almost 120 flights before the disaster.
It is under warranty but the vendor
didn't seem to hear of my narration. I
just say Mavic technology is superb and
the picture is nice, but I always
lamented on the poor battery quality and
it's price. The whole world complained
about it. More so the local vendors are
not to be trusted.
Considering all factors, machine and
human, I would go for Autel Evo.
Autel claimed that it can fly for 30
minutes but on the RC so far showed
about 26 or 27 minutes. That doesn't
bother me much. I usually used only one
battery and flew less than 20 minutes.
It is long enough for a 12 - 18 minute
video clip.
I don't know yet what will be the
condition of the battery and the flying
time using a mere RC without the phone. |
24/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
MY AUTEL EVO DRONE
I finally flew my Autel Evo drone. But
there are a few more things that I have
to learn and test especially on Obstacle
Avoidance. I do not utiliize the maximum
capacity of the camera for I maintain
with the 720p recording resolution,
which is ample enough for the Youtube
and the picture is good enough for me.
I have to admit my prejudice against the
China's products, as I felt cheated by
the Chinese products I bought online.
Even the thum drive I bought in Beijing
could not be used at home. There are too
many fake things. I felt the Mavic Pro
batteries were not the original ones.
They get swollen even less than a year
and there were numerous battery sals on
the net at exorbitant prices.
The technology of Mavic could be very
superb. But I don't want to drain my
money out of my pocket continuously to
maintain the drone. The worst was it
dropped from the sky for no reason. They
talked of the false and fake warranty
just to attract customers.
I believe someone in China will sell the
fake and the clone Autel as well. If you
buy an Autel Evo in Malaysia's shop you
take a risk, the seller won't care about
your welfare.
As I have no credit card, my friend made
the order for me from Amazon. It arrived
in less than three days. I was so scared
to quickly meddle with it. I unboxed it
slowly and started to follow the Youtube
clip on the various steps taken, like
opening up the legs of the drone,
studying the propeller's matching
location, removing and fixing them,
looking at the RC controller's buttons
and whatever attached to it. I took
several days without flying it. I didn't
fly it even after I learned to power on
and off the aircraft and the RC.
I took a deep breath when I pulled down
the two RC joysticks to see whether the
prop would rotate, and then I stopped
it. As to start lifting off I decided to
find a large space area like a playing
field or a parking place of the soccer
stadium. My experience with Mavic Pro
before that it did not take off and
hover but instead it flew away
horizontally at a high speed and
crashed, luckily without any damage.
On 22nd December I braved myself and
went for the first test.
Secondly I feared that my drone will not
come back to where it started and get
lost somewhere. I was not concerned with
the precision landing. Precision can
wait later. So I did my second test on
the RTH (Return To Home) point. The clip
shown below proves that it worked fine.
The color and the camera setting is
quite of a hassle to me. I do not know
about ISO, white balance or aperture at
all. My knowledge on them is zero. And I
hardly managed them as they always
revert back to the original whenever I
made the choice. I do not understand
why. But by some luck I can change the
resolution to 720p and 24fps. I put to
Auto mode and it seemed to work well.
This is shown in my third test.
The color is still strong. I don't know
how soften it yet. My be I can reduce
the strength through my video editing
software. It needs a real expert to do
this. Nevertheless it is not too bad. It
is good enough to put it on the screen.
The only thing that surprise me is that
my thought that Autel Evo is the
American drone fell apart. It was not an
American drone. It is still a Chinese
company that opened up it's business in
the United States. But I believe it has
to meet the US standard and quality
though assembled and manufactured in
China. And I bought it directly from the
seller in USA.
There is a conclusion that I can make
about my involvement with the hobby. It
is better to get entanggle with a
machine rather than the human. Human
being can hurt you and take away your
happiness. |
24/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
THE BEAUTIFUL WOMAN
You may go round the universe 10 times
and saw beautiful women, thousands of
them but you can be sure of two things;
that they may not be good and perfect
and they will not choose us as their
spouse. I have been travelling quite a
lot following packages. I met and talked
to many beautiful singles and widows and
I have no desire to befriend any of
them. They were all well bred and rich.
I am what the Malays called Bangsat, a
Vagabond and a savage type.
Years later I finally found almost a
perfect beautiful women shown above .
Believe me I won't exchange her with a
billion ringgit if she were mine. I
called her by her radio name as she is a
ham radio operator with the call sign
9M2ELY. The first time I saw her was in
Jitra a few years ago. I immediately
wrote in my blog about a beautiful ham
operator in Malaysia. And passed Morse
codes as a class A amateur operator. The
first Malay woman ham operator
shook the world in CW 9M2OUT. Ely is the
second Malay female who got through the
exam.
Observing her closely I found that she
could be considered as an Iron Lady,
among the few in this country, not by
the political rhetoric but firm in
managing her food business. She has been
running food catering for several years.
That isn't all. She plays piano too.
With all the skills and successes a
person is far from perfection if he or
she neglect the soul within. I assess a
person who is also close to God. That is
our Muslim standard. She has all those
within her. That's why I said she is
almost perfect. I wouldn't trade her for
any amount of money.
Yes I talked as if I own her. Nay, I
just say if I were to own her. Any man
can have a dream and a fantasy about any
women. And we would say "If I were a
King.....", "If I were a handsome and
rich man...." and on and on. The stream
of dreams will never end.
|
23/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
THE WONDER PEOPLE
Yesterday I met a man at a marriage
festival who had been working with me
somewhere in 1973. He could steal
remember me when I looked so much
different from before. And a few years
ago another man called me by my name and
asked me to recall him. I couldn't. He
said he was my school mate when we were
about 7 to 8 years old. Anyone is sure
to transform within 10 years.
To remember someone that a person knows
more than 30 years ago with a changing
feature is a marvel. These people must
be special and wonderful.
I lost my memory, my hearing and my
vision and will never be able to
remember any person by any name after a
long span of time. Even if I can see his
image in my mind, I will not be able to
remember his name. The name comes to my
mind on and off. It had been a long time
I tried to recall the name Saad Man.
Years I would say. All of a sudden it
emerged in my mind yesterday while
driving.
There is one marvellous and amazing lady
who has a great gift of remembering her
acquaintances, friends and a few hundred
of her students. Her name is Hajjah
Nasriah Maghribi. It is hard to find
even one in a million.
The wonderful people like these should
be lawmakers and politicians. Mind you
we do not realize that Malaysia has many
wonder people like this.
The difference is so large and huge,
when I even forgot where I was while
behind the wheel at night. It took
several minutes to configure out my
location. And I even shot up beyond my
house while going for home. In such a
situation there was a great fear that I
would not know who my wife was.
Those amazing people are old people and
senior citizens. I just wish them all
the best and may God bless them. |
22/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
DECEMBER
December is not only the name of a
month, it is a month that many things
could be done and postponements. It is a
month of school holidays and a season
for marriage festivals to happen. In a
single village there could be 6 or 7
celebrations. And that would barred some
people like me from travelling, just to
attend the invitation.
While Christians are awaiting the much
prepared Christmas, the others are busy
in purchasing bags, shoes, and school
attires for their kids.
The municipality already sent out
assessment rate for 2019. I just paid
them.
I am able to see my grandchildren who
would return to this very home during
the same month.
The Investment Saving Funds, the ASB,
too had announce the 2019 dividend of
6.5% and a bonus of .05%. It is the
lowest given out to the investors. It is
alright for me because I seldom used the
money for my daily expenditure. I used
my pension money for all my commitments.
Somehow many people take the opportunity
to make trips to far away land and enjoy
their vacations while I have to postpone
them. But December is a cold month in
the Northern Hemisphere. I hate
travelling in Winter. I have had enough
experience with snow and icing. That was
too much.
I made preparation to make payments that
are due for 2019; the insurance and the
car road tax, the community donation to
the God House, the fee for the village
security service and other minor fees. I
have the mean to settle all the dues and
therefore it is not a problem to me. To
the poor they have to strive to look for
funds and help from government agencies.
Today I have to attend the marriage
festival at my cousin's house. I had to
spend quite a number of hours there and
by the time I returned home I will be
tired and exhausted.
It is the last month of the Gregorian
calendar. |
22/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
SAD SONGS
At this point my saddest song is an
Indonesian song Janji Janji Tinggal
Janji.
It is a sentimental melody that seeps
deep into my soul.
Old men do not detach themselves from
music and still appreciate songs like
Besame Mucho, Aryati, Kuch Ho Ta Hai and
numerous more other local and
international songs even with the native
lyrics. Sad songs affect us when our
tears wetted our cheeks. Widuri, another
Indonesian song, could poke into your
soul regardless of your age.
Janji Tinggal Janji means A promise that
is never fulfilled, hanging in a
perpetual motion. The song above is
about two type of promises; the promise
to go to honeymoon to the end of the
world, and a promise to buy a pair of
shoes made from the deer skin. "I don't
blame you if you seek a new love
somewhere else because the promises were
never honoured'.
The song does not concern me for I have
had no lovers and never made a promise.
Old people do not have lovers to get
married. Many married through
matchmaking. Mine is a long story to
tell.
But I had cried over a few women when
they passed away, not because I love
them. They were my subordinates who
always joke and laugh with us together.
Nor Azmah was about to deliver when I
said "When you come out of hospital,
I'll buy a big tiger prawn." And she
responded that I must not break my
promise. Then she died during the
delivery. That made me cry like a baby.
Hindun was much younger, a new clerk for
4 or 5 years, who always joke and argued
dies in Kuala Lumpur due to cancer.
Being alone and solitary after my wife
death I thought emotional turbulence
would be over. About 4 years later a
woman came into my heart. Day by day I
began to realize that she would find me
unfit for her in many things. Looking at
the mirror I see darkness.
There is no song yet to narrate my
feeling. The nearest touchy song I could
recall is the above song because I said
to her that I want to buy a pair of
shoes and a bag for her. The promise may
remain a promise if God determines our
fate otherwise. I see dark cloud
hovering over me. |
21/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
SLEEP AND FITNESS
There were nights that I could not close
my eyes till the sun rise. They called
it Insomnia. The next day I felt tired
and sleepy but I failed to compensate it
however hard I tried to sleep. Usually I
have three places to sleep; the sofa,
the chair and the hospital bed I bought
for my late wife. The best is the sofa,
in which is the best for a slumber.
Last night I slept well though I went to
bed at past midnight. I had no dream, no
nightmare, nothing. There were time when
I had a real life dream even during the
day napping.
If I do not have enough sleep, I would
easily get tired when I went for evening
walk. I had to push myself to complete
the 5km walk. I am sure I will do well
today, and achieve my target without any
hindrance from rain or drizzle. I will
end up in feeling fit and strong, a
vital thing to do for my age and for a
man who is living alone.
Keeping fit does not mean that I won't
die. Death recognize no age. My younger
working mates and friends have died
before me. Keeping fit can somewhat
keeps my mobility as strong as young
people. The propensity for me to fall
sick is reduced. In spite of all those I
always ask myself when I am going to
die.
I will have to try my best to clear my
mind and feeling of any acute happenings
in the country and the woman I love.
They can make myself worried. The woman
might chuck me or change her mind.
Politics could scared me to death. Both
would prevent me from dozing off.
To some sleep is a battle. They have to
seek the help of medical doctors. Mainly
they will be prescribed with sleeping
pills.
Too much sleep is also bad. For an adult
a 7 or 8 hour sleep is enough. I can
accept 4 to 5 hours night slumber with
short daytime naps at random, which are
usually during the midday. I would
always advise those who sleep to much to
go for medical check up.
And of course another health hazard is
smoking. It affects our lung no matter
what one does. He can be a soccer
player, but he is slowly killing
himself. It is lucky that I don't smoke.
At least a good sleep, an hour of brisk
walking and refraining myself from
cigarette make me feel fit and healthy. |
21/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
HELP PEOPLE HELP YOURSELF
Not everyone is born with the golden
spoon in his mouth. There are many poor
people who are grateful to God to lay
bread on the table. Many sell goreng
pisang and nasi lemak along the streets
and the road. They are facing stiff
competitions among themselves. Life is
of course difficult for them. You don't
about trips and travelling to them. If
they save their pittance a ringgit a
day, they only have one aim ie. to go to
Mecca.
Most of the time I stopped to buy their
sale was not because I was hungry or
having a desire to own the products but
because I wanted to help them. My
extra few cents would multiply if there
were more people like me. The goreng
pisang nevertheless could help myself
too. I only asked two or three pieces
for a dollar. I would ask them to keep
the change.
I always pray to God to bless them with
greater sustenance. I was happy to hear
that their kids had just graduated from
university and colleges. I never
requested them to stop selling their
delicious food. One Nasi Goreng hawker
could serve the people with the very
delicious food though his kid could now
take care of him. But not everyone is so
lucky as this man.
But there is always a reservation. What
if the food is bad and tasteless ? What
if the profit making is too excessive ?
What if the seller is haughty and
arrogant ?
I would have to stay away from them. If
they want to help themselves they would
have to take care of the potential
customers too. The food must be edible.
Always be friendly to the buyers and put
a little smiling faces.
There are many generous and kind people
around, stopping at the roadside stalls
with similar intention, to help those
poor people, at the same time they are
helping themselves having a meal that
keep them full and happy. I buy a dollar
without change but they pay ten times
more for 4 pieces of the fried banana.
|
21/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
WHY I WRITE IN ENGLISH
New readers might not know why I penned
down this blog in English. It is
contrary to the show of my prowess in
English.It is a great challenge
for I never passed my English test all
my life. Even in my GRE test score I
fared the worst. Only in TOEFL I managed
to score 620 points. It is a fight
against my weakness
I don't broadcast my blog. A few might
come across it only by chance or
accident. After all it is a channel for
me to release my feeling and emotion. My
political view remains a view. They can
be true or false, right or wrong.
I think even the Malay educated persons
would understand my article expressed in
a simple form with a few bombastic
words.
Secondly I know whatever I write will be
available everywhere throughout the
globe. It gives a chance for the whole
world to know what and how some
Malaysians think, their ability to
present facts and fictions. At least
some might know that Malaysians are not
a savage group living on trees, using
blowpipes for hunting and fishing. It is
not merely for local audience to peruse.
English is not merely the property of
the well and highly English educated.
Everyone can push through the barrier
with his positive attitudes, the dare to
take challenges. I would despise
people with the world of excuses, trying
to defend their own ineptness.
Truly, my education is low and I am not
an intellectual. Like many successful
people I struggled to achieve my target.
Many a time I failed. But failures did
not halt my determinations. I still took
the task of repairing the wall switch
instead of buying a new one. That's
attitude To do is better than to talk.
To mend is better than to criticize. |
20/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
COMPUTING TRIP COST
I am not a generous man though I wildly
spent money. I can treat a person for a
meal and he can eat as much as he wants,
or buy an expensive present, spendthrift
and extravagant in many ways , but
whenever I decide to go for trip I
compute the cost.
"How much do I have to pay for a day"
will be my main concern. Say take a trip
to Vietnam which would cost me about
RM2.5K for 3 days would be about RM800 a
day. And I would not want to count the
travelling days that only spent useless
time on the plane. Safirgo Travel just
posted the Canadian Package 7 nights 9
days that cost RM17,500 for a single
traveller. Flying to Canada takes two
days and coming home will be one day.
Furthermore it provides only Half meals.
Roughly I will have to pay more than
RM2K each day. Is it worth ?
Where money is a limitation, I have to
consider it deeply. In fact if you were
to compute the price divides by the
number of complete tour days you will
find the average is RM1K per day. This
is tolerable. Lately I have going to see
places without the package. It was very
much cheaper. We stayed in a comfortable
4 to 5 Star hotel and still completed
our tour as those who went with the tour
agents.
Safir has failed me twice in the China
Silk Route adventure for failing to
raise enough people. To get back the
deposit was a great hassle. It took
months. The said Canadian trip will be
in Jun 2019, just a nice weather bout to
Summer. And you cannot be so sure
whether it will materialize.
Beside money, I also consider the
weather. I try to avoid Winter as I will
have to carry a big luggage containing
thick Winter apparels. And Winter shoes
are not light. The total preparation is
more elaborate. Some simply loves to see
snow. I have had plenty of snow and
icing before, even carried my laundry
under the heavy snowfall for laundry
purpose.
These days even people without good jobs
travel. They told me about their
travelling experience and trying their
best to find cheap lodgings and foods.
They did see places but enjoyed less
comfort. I felt sorry for them.
A few days ago I friend posted me a
picture of him in a backpack room,
sharing with numerous other people and
wearing thick clothing. He is in London.
With the cold temperature he will have a
hard time even to snap pictures outside
for he can't expose his hands outside. A
windy day would be worse. If you were to
offer me a free passage to the cold
places, I may well reject it.
At this age I need good food and
comfort. How much comfort and a good
food can we get from the travel agencies
?
You can travel cheap if you go on your
own sharing the trip with a few friends
of the same wavelength. But you need to
have someone to book the plane and the
hotel, to rent a car or arrange the
ground transportations and the local
tour. Try to imagine how much the tour
agency makes from a RM14 o RM18K trips.
And if you are unlucky they will send
their lousiest staff to accompany you. I
have had one with shabby dress and a
chain smoker.
A friend has just returned home from
Trans-Siberian Rail trip to Moscow and
spent about RM27K for himself, totalling
RM54K counting his spouse in. That is
the price of a comfortable car. No doubt
the trip was enjoyable and interesting
but for people with financial constraint
that is a big amount.
|
20/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
Pulau Kukup Issue-Why
Involve Agong
asked TMJ
|
I dont have to
comment anything because in my previous articles
I have touched about Royalty before. But I will
put forwards other people's view.
19/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
ANNUAL EXPENDITURE
Wow
bills and rates started to flow in. My
present lodging's rate is almost RM400
and my wife's house is RM98. I
plan to settle it tomorrow. There will
be a long queue as usual at the city
hall board. RM400 is not small but I do
not have any complaint about the service
rendered. They keep the grass short,
clean the drain to ensure free flow of
the water that could cause quick flood
if blocked. They clear all the trashes.
I am very satisfied with the job and it
is worth the money paid.
The
car road tax and insurance is another
RM500. The land tax is about RM300. The
community expenses are like my annual
donation to the God's House, the village
security and the death fee. I have been
giving RM2.4K to the mosque, security
fee is RM360 and the death fee is RM360.
I have go put aside RM5K of my saving
for the annual spending.
If
I could waste my money somewhere else
why can't I put a little for for my
community. I burnt for my drone that I
do not get any benefit. I made trips
overseas sometimes twice a year.
Somehow it will be replenished by my ASB
dividend by January. I don't expect much
of it this year.
I
donated 6K to THN for the love of my
country and never expect for any favour
or return. My only regret is those in
the new government fail to merge into
one strong unit, each has his own agenda
and they do not understand the need of
the people who vote for them. It is a
very sad episode in our history. They
have been selfish and irresponsible.
I
am a mediocre, striving hard to save my
pittance for the old age. Kids do not
give me any sustenance and I never ask
even a single cent from them. I have
enough for myself and the extra is for
the expenditure I described above.
If
I were to get married, I have to take
after my wife more than my siblings. I
always want my grand daughter to be
economically secured when they grow old
enough and I do not want my wife to be
poor and hungry when I die.
Money isn't everything. I don't need
much more not because I am plenty but
because I have just enough. I need a
suitable companion to chat and joke, to
laugh and quarrel, to agree and to
disagree.
I
only expect 5% of ASB dividend. If it is
above 7% I may be able to spend someone
else for the ASEAN trip which cost
less than the distant continents.
Whatever, I am keeping my fingers cross. |
19/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
DRONES ARE NOT THE
SAME
I am quite well
verse with Mavic Pro but Autel Evo is
not the exact replica of dJI Mavic. Not
all drones have identical features. Only
this morning I started to unboxed the
Evo, examining what come with it. I
study the charger, unlocked the battery
and explored how to chare the remote
controller and the battery, which ends
need to face up or down. I think I have
to mark the top face of the cables for
easy fixing every time I want to fly.
And markers have to be white as cables
are black.
Similar how should the
micro sd card be pushed in. After
searching through the literature I
opened up the compartment and found they
already plugged one in. That simplified
thing for me.
I powered up the
controller. Then the drone. Pressing the
right button as I saw how they did it on
the Youtube. I fixed my Android to RC
and started to glance the menu contents.
I set the home point, the distant, the
altitude, the aperture but I have yet to
find out where to set the color. Though
the maximum resolution is 4K 60fps, I
changed it to 720p at 24fps. I don't
have the 4K PC or the software that can
process such a resolution. 720 was the
lowest resolution.
So far I did that
much. I don't know when I should start
to fly and manoeuvre the aircraft. I
think it will take many more days to do
it.
Autel Evo is somewhat
a copycat of Mavic Pro but they are not
exactly the same. It is imperative for
us to study any drone from different
companies and brands. |
19/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
A SHORT TRIP TO KUALA
LUMPUR
I
thank God for many things. I feel the
comfort and luxury of modern living. To
me it is a wonder for I visualize the
old past where everything was slow and a
mile was a distant distance.
I just arrived home
from Kuala Lumpur,250 miles away. Had
not because of the three hour flight
delay, I would have reached home by 7
pm. I left for KLIA2 at 3 pm. Imagine
200 years ago how people moved from
place to place covering the same stretch
of land space.
The cost could have
been cheaper if the tickets were
purchased three or months ago. I had
paid RM150 for the returned trip before
for several years. This was only three
days ago and the price was doubled.
It is in fact a break
for me, from the daily routine, seeing
the same things days in and days out. A
few hours of breathing a different air
made me a little different. It gave me a
feeling of relief and comfort. The peace
of mind and the feeling of tranquility
is the utmost important.
At the same time I
wanted to take back the drone that Rusli
helped me to purchase using his card. It
is a risk to post it. People had been
sending computers that went missing and
the company refused to bear the
responsibility. You may not agree if I
were to say that the Malaysians cannot
be trusted. I killed two birds with one
stone.
Moreover this is the
end of the year. Soon the ASB dividend
will be announced. I figure it will be
very little but it will hit the target I
am aiming for. I may have 1 or 2 K to
spend. To a point I can afford for this
short trip. And I appreciate the modern
progress that jerked me with the ecstasy
of life, a shudder of great
satisfaction.
You need to live in
the two worlds to understand me, the old
and the new realms, of the far past and
today.
Thanks God I am back
home in one piece. |
19/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
I HOPE LOVE IS BLIND
I
hope love is blind as I an old and ugly
and fell in love with a woman 35 younger
than me. A friend of mine who is now 71,
his wife is 34, has been married for
more than 20 years. She married him
because she loved him. He had asked her
to open her eyes before marriage to
compute all the real future of them. "I
will be 80 nd old and stinky," he said.
"I will be old too at that time," she
replied.
But I am in a worst
situation, poor in all aspects of what a
man should not be. Not only being old
and ugly, but my hearing and vision is
poor too. Only a blind lady would accept
me as her mate.
I had a wife before,
sickly and bed ridden. I made sure she
had a good vowel, clean them everyday,
put her on the wheel chair to take her
to a bath, combed her hair, powdered her
face, dressed her and bought food for
her.
I was happy doing all
that my God. It gave meaning to my life.
I really served humanity. And I am not
scared to repeat the same chores again
if I marry another wife and falls sick.
But she sees that I am
weak and says she is not blind and
looking for a companion to chat and to
cherish each other then only God knows
the rest. You need to be a believer and
know the life in heaven to understand
the mystery of life, of people whose
spouses who awaits them in heaven.
That's something that rational minds
cannot perceived. They are beyond logic
and emotion.
It is hard for a lady
to take an imperfect person as her
living partner for many good reasons. I
cried when I think of my demise wife and
I also cried for fear the love one would
leave me. |
18/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
DON'T THEY BELIEVE IN
GOD ? concept of Barakah
There is only
One God and belongs to every living and
non-living things in the universe. Each
race and religion prays to the same God
in his own ways and tradition. What I
have been stressing is what we called
Barakah or Barokah or whatever it is
that fits the description. The English
dictionary translates it as blessing.
When a son gives a
small amount of pittance to his parent
and look well after them God begged him
with a Barakah, that we will see him
living with happiness and satisfaction.
He can lay bread on his table and thank
God for the providence. He has the
fulfilling life.
Most Asians still
believe in doing good deeds in giving
away to the needy though in only a small
amount. They never expect nor hope for
the return, neither from fellow mankind
nor from God. They will be blessed with
providence and thanks God for the
sustenance.
I reminded a few
friends about Barakah and discouraging
them from being greedy, not to cheat,
steal and run away with people's money
and belongings. "You will never see them
happy in their lives, remain greedy and
never feel enough," I would tell them.
Indeed those who steal
were seen to fall sick most of time,
their health deteriorate, the family
passed away and problems kept on coming.
One businessman I observed was always
having problems with authority. His
electricity and internet services were
discontinued, the stall rental was not
paid. He made all kinds of loans; also
unpaid. The business looked good. He
never felt enough. By the look at his
body I believe that he will attacked by
some dangerous disease in time to come.
From the whole scenario and his talks I
believe that he dismissed my narration
on Barakah. Only believers do believe in
Barakah or call it blessing if you will.
From time to time I
saw a Chinese lady went around the city
and looking for stray cats and feed
those animals. What does she gain from
doing it ? There is only one answer to
it. Both the husband and her believe in
God. Through their experience they have
felt the great providence.
Providence does not
lie on the food and money only. The
fulfilling of the soul, the happiness in
the feeling, the peace in the mind and
the good health we enjoy are the great
blessing as well. |
18/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
WHEN BODY AGED BEFORE
THE MIND
I realized that my
body aged before my mind when I miss
words typed in my blog I think faster
than the movement of my muscle. The
neuromuscular coordination does not work
well. The hands is lagging behind my
mind. It had been my habit not to read
back what I type immediately. It may
takes months to know that I missed words
in my sentences and misspelled many of
the words. Misspelling is of course
something else but leaving words is a
clear indication of the body
deterioration.
You see this phenomena
in Tun Mahathir and other old folks.
They have sharp minds but slow in
mobility. It is the sign that our days
are numbered. Mind you women live longer
and their minds work better than men.
Not all men thing the
same way. Many do not count the days by
their weak body. They are cheated by
their minds. They think they are young.
They think they never die.
I am not afraid of the
results of the missing words. I saw
myself in my grey hair, the changing
face, the broken teeth, the poor hearing
and the blurry eyes. But I always tell
myself the others will come through the
same path.
As far as I am concern
I strive hard to slow down the speed of
declining mobility by daily exercise.
Guys always asked for my age.
It is imperative to
have a proof reading before something is
published for the public perusal to
ensure readers could understand what is
conveyed.
To readers of my
article I would like to apologize for
the inconvenience caused. I have to say
sorry. |
17/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
Life And Excitements
If we put hatred,
anger, distrust and suspicion in out
hearts all the time before us, our life
will be in miserable. Our face soured
and wrinkled, the countenance show
moodiness and sadness. That's what I
observed among those who are involved in
politics. Their minds are not stable,
emotions dwindled, their visions faded.
They spoke aloud as if they were the
masters but knowledge wise were shallow
and narrow.
Why not just jump out
of the miserable life and get into some
excitement and the jubilance. Get into
sea fishing, bicycling, drone flying and
going places and rejoice the
friendships. The fragrance of life is
not limited to the happy go lucky people
only. Even the Godly individuals could
enjoy the spices of life in many ways;
like having a teh tarik session after
the Subuh prayers.
The Muslims were told
to stay away from the worldly affair as
they are only temporary in nature, to
limit our TV viewing, spend time in
religious programs and activities and
abstain from anything that could make us
forget the prayer time.
The color of the world
is made by us. It is colorful with
sparkling beauty, fun and exciting.
Leave them for the dark cave ? God is
still in our mind wherever we go and
whatever we do. God is still in out
hearts when the Skype call comes from
the other side of the world.
I really enjoy the
elephant ride in Chiangmai, the 3D
movies from my big TV at home, the
making of a movie, the excitement of
flying a drone four miles away, the
daily shuttle to Kuala Lumpur and back
within a few hours and to know a
beautiful woman in my life.
Though I know I will
die very soon, I hope to live a thousand
years more with the same strength and
energy. Why not if God's chemistry is
set to work for me. Amin... |
17/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
SONGS
Old folks still love
and enjoy songs and music. 9M2MW, Malcom
who is now a citizen of Australia,
posted his singing the Rose..Rose..song
on the Senior Ham Group. HE must be
about 80 now. Zainal, 71, sings the
Tagalog, Thai, Malay, Tamil and Enlish
melodies, accompanied by beautiful
musical instruments. I put them on my
new video footings.
People used to say
that if you are good in music you are
good in Morse codes. I don't know how
true it is.
I don't know what
makes me like The Sound of Silence,
Besame Mucho, Aryati and Ye Sama. But
they surely sooth my feeling, taking
away any clot of worries and sadness.
One Pak Mat, also a radio enthusiast,
told me that he went all over the world
to collect Besame Mucho in their local
lingo. I am not so crazy to spend money
going around to collect songs. But it is
nothing strange as we are all crazy at
one thing or another.
Zainal singing Aryati
I do not spend time
listening to them everyday or spend on
HIFI home equipments. Only if decide to
listen to any I would just choose one of
those songs or music.
Rocks and similar type
of shouting songs are just noise to me.
In one of the articles I mentioned about
the 8 bit songs that have great
influence on our mind and increase our
memory ability. They are classical music
which no young people would like them.
It somewhat has a hypnotic effects.
Most of the lovely
songs are copyrighted to be put in my
clips. When Zainal start to sings, I an
overcome the copyright stuff.
There are several songs sang by Zainal
Farid in the above clip-Visit to Korea
|
17/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
WHY ?
Funny,
a man broke into our Senior Ham Group
invited us for CW lesson class, and
several days later kicked us out of the
CW class group. That was last year and
he came back again this year. So I asked
who is he and should he invite us to go
into his CW class group again ? To me he
doesn't seem to be like a sound man.
Why
should he invite us all when we all
already knew Morse codes and I believe
some of us are more proficient than him
? It is weird indeed, a phenomena which
shouldn't have happened. Whoever allowed
this man in the group should kick him
out the soonest.
There
were imperfections in the Malaysian
amateur radio when ham radio is almost
full of integrity and a dignified hobby.
Though the authority was strict and
feared by fellow hams, there were a few
influential person could still buy their
way through. There was a talk about
someone's wife got through the RAE and
CW test by dubious means. The the sole
repeater in Kuala Lumpur were used by
husband and wife on marketing chores and
later made use of the Malaysia amateur
satellite for the same personal reason.
The rest of the hams dispise this man
until today.
Amazingly when the new comers, namely
licence B guys came in, they started to
criticize the old hams. They were so
brave that they went to correct the old
hams during the communication saying
about the wrongs of the SOP. This
was not the only one. People had been on
the band for decades, these people were
not even SWLs yet they became so very
expert. Today they dare not come on the
band anymore. They will have to swallow
their own spits back when going DXing.
And
worst they become the PTT HAM and the
LANJUT HAM with all sort of new
terminologies. They broke rules and laws
and going against the philosophy of ham
radio, making special repeaters approved
by the MCMC who are new guys with power.
To us ham radio has been turned upside
down and losing the traditional
identity.
Crazy
things happen day by day, including this
CW teaching group. WHY on earth he came
to invite us to learn CW and then kicked
us out. Try to ask any new guy to
explain how the tune circuit work and
let us hear. |
17/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
OF
travelinhg
It has
been a long time I did not visit USA, a
place where wouldn't had missed during
my working days. Every year I would stay
in the same hotel, eat the same Indian
Briyani and travelled to Universal
Studio, Knot Berry Farm and Disneyland
on busses. Other time I would relax in
my hotel room . Once a while I took a
Greyhound to Las Vegas. I was not scared
to go even in December, during the
Winter months. Los Angeles would still
be warm.
It
came across my mind to go back there
again. But I found the Visa application
is quite a hassle; online application,
making a RM700 to a bank, setting the
date for the interview and it cannot be
sure of whether the application would be
approved.
In the
old days the agent would find a cheap
flight ticket. I would pay only RM2.7K
for the return flight.
I
yearn to go back only blocked by the
hassle.
But I
need to empty my mind from worrying so
much on things that I would not imagined
to happen.
Going
with a package trip within a short time
is not possible. I just missed a trip to
Maldives due to be held in January. The
travel agent just told me the package is
full and the next one will be in March.
The September to December 2019 trip is
being sold now. Any trip of my own means
I have first to book the ticket three
months ahead followed by the hotels at
destination.
But my
mind is in turbulence now with full of
pressure that I need to release the
soonest. Even a short trip may do the
work. I will fly to Kuala Lumpur on the
18th December, tomorrow, and come back
the same day after two hours at the
airport. A brief task may make me forgot
everything.
I
remember when I was about to leave ham
radio, it was just like the end of the
world. It turned out I and my friends
were able to shake ourselves off the
hobby. Active travelling may help. But
it needs money too as prices keep on
climbing. I went to New Zealand before
for RM7K but now it is almost RM20K. A
married couple have to pay RM40K. It is
not a small amount.
It is
still cheap to go to China, Indonesia
and Vietnam. The cheapest distant land
is Turkey which is less than RM5K.
If the
stress is so great I could try to drive
to Cameron Highland or Fraser Hill or
even to the East Coast.
In
future I will try to seek for a new US
visa again and gamble with my luck. |
17/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
SOMETIMES YOU LAUGH
SOMETIMES YOU CRY
I
talked to cats. I understood the
meanings of the meows. And the cats
understood when I called for food and I
commanded them to be out of my house. I
laughed at the jokes in the Youtube. I
laughed when something tickles me.
I
cried when I remember my mother, that I
had not serve her as a good son. I cried
during my prayer remembering my wife but
I was happy that I had nursed her to the
best of my ability. I cried when I feel
hurt and about to separate from my love
one.
What made us happy and sad are partly of
human interaction. At time you wish you
should not meet someone or anyone at
all. A man or a woman can be toxic.
That's the beauty of being alone. I
think I will stay this way.
Truth is usually painful. So people
prefer to lie and hide things. They are
happy that way. Let them be.
I
have a pride in me, that I am honest. It
hard for me to lie. If I disagree with
my boss I did not write a poison pen
letter. I would argue intelligently and
sign my name in. I even requested for
demotion and rejecting promotion.
It
is better to mind my own business rather
than getting entangled with other people
because sometimes they can make you cry.
Once hurt and broken it will stay hurt
and broken forever. That explains why I
do not want to stay with my kids and
decide to die alone.
I
have narrated about people approaching
me for a huge loans. There were people
who were behind hands and took off with
my loan. They didn't make me cry nor
laugh but they made me realized of the
human nature.
Movies often made me cry when they were
so touching, depicting some true stories
of human struggle against hostile
natures, love and separations and the
kindness and humility. Imagine a man
like me, 72 years, with a staunch
feeling and keras hati, still wetted the
cheeks with the tears.
Cats that were hit by mankind will
always afraid of human being though they
may meow us for the food. I am not a cat
but I still feel scared of human being
for I don't know them well.
As
I said before I believed very strongly
in fate. God decides. |
16/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
MY IDEAL OF A WIFE
A
Datin who was in our tour group asked me
why I did not look for a spouse. I told
her to look one for me. The criteria I
always want must be
1. A poor lady
2. Pious
3. A good cook
And
the Datin shook her head "...almost
impossible..." she retorted. Why do I
want a poor lady ? I expect she would
not demand much and her taste for luxury
would be at the minimum. I can't afford
to pay all the expensive items a wife
may desire. Seeing the members of the
tour team buying thousand dollar leather
jackets frightened me. They paid
hundreds of ringgit for magnetic freezer
souvenirs without sweat.
I
need a pious lady who also can guide in
me in my duty to God, reminding me what
are sins and what are not, and her
obedience to God would give me a greater
trust and believe in her.
And
of course she has to be a good cook. We
can save lots of money from eating out.
I
think it is not hard to find but it is
hard to find one who would accept a
stodgy old man like me.
What if she is rich, pious and a good
cook ? If she wants to spend her own
money for herself surely I won't bother
even if she wants to purchase a million
ringgit pink diamond.
You
see I never mention the word beauty.
Beauty is something to adore and
appreciate but not necessarily to own.
We saw too many beautiful wives being
robbed away by wealthy and powerful men,
and they were happy to be with their new
husbands.
A
dream is a dream. A wish is a wish. God
decides. |
16/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
DON'T AGREE WITH ME ?
OK
When I said that Kedah footballers were
smokers I got a nasty response from men
and women. I saw the same person playing
for Malaysia and I believed he must have
influenced at least one key player to be
in his smoking team.
You
can present a million arguments against
me. I still stand with my view that it
is not good for any sportsman. And I do
not stop anyone from expounding his
view. The rest of the people in
Malaysian soccer can ignore me. At least
I know one coach would agree with me,
Robert Albert, the former Kedah coach.
Even smokers agreed with me about losing
stamina when I voiced my concerns in the
casual chats. Players can run but quick
to get tired and will be losing their
speed and passing the ball erratically.
They can win against a weak team or
teams with similar smoker players.
I
often gave advice, presented my view and
even protested against some actions. If
they dispel them and find it a disaster,
it would be too late for them. This is
inclusive of my family's rejection over
my advice. Even my kids used to say,
"Papa you must not interfere with the
jobs we want to do..." And I had
persisted on giving my stand on the
amateur radio. And on many other things.
One or two might heed and others did
not. When bad things happened these
people still try to blame me.
Whoever is listening to me on this
cigarette matter ? It should be a part
and parcel of the sports world, the
dissemination of health education, the
rules and regulations to be accepted in
the team. It is not only about merely
salaries and remuneration.
Indiscipline and ego could wreck the
boat. I often heard the Malay phrase '
BODOH SOMBONG' ( stupid and arrogant).
Once destroyed I never want to hear
anyone lamenting and crying regret. It
will be too late to say sorry.
We
do not need smokers nor drug addicts in
our national team. Cast them away and
let them seek their own survival. They
are not for Malaysian sports. |
16/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
REMEMBER THERE ARE
POOR CHINESE AND INDIANS AS WELL
Beside the Malays,
there are also many poor Indians and the
Chinese. It will be very noble if
programs are created to group them
together and to enhance their economic
well being. I am not going to suggest
what sort of programs and projects. But
it is not difficult at all for the
politicians to sit down together and
discuss. Then proceed with the plans.
I think there are more
problems with the Indians and the
Malays, not at the ground side but with
individuals who are given the task to
carry on the job. A foolproof system is
needed to prevent any abuse, corruptions
and misappropriation of funds. Otherwise
these people will hijacked the money to
enrich themselves. The Malays have shown
their colors so far in FELDA, MARA,
1MDB, Tabung Haji and whatelse.
I am not for the
Chinese nor the Indians. I am for all.
So far we saw even the
top people, the former Prime Minister,
had been misusing the power, causing a
strong turbulence in 1Mdb. When the US
court does not allow bill, the Malaysian
court does. With such kind of Malaysian
mentality it is quite difficult to
organize a foolproof system to help the
poor.
We don't need a Malay,
Indian and Chinese heroes. We need one
to be a hero for all. There are
people of high integrity in our country
whom could be bought with money nor
could be halted by fear. Allocations are
not to be given lump sum. It has to be
made in progress method and has to be
seen done by a group of officers from
different Ministries. No purchase or
sale of properties, if exist, is
permitted.
Let me tell you about
a football club that hunt for
sponsorship to run. When a sponsor ruled
that he would not give the total sum but
progressively base on the written
requirement the club rejected it. NO
FLEXIBILITY was the excuse. So the club
looked for another sponsor. When a new
management took over it was found no
money left in the coffer. Then we all
know of whatever happened to the NFC,
and the companies who were given loans
guaranteed by Federal government. Then
the salary of the soccer coach which was
bigger than the Federal Minister. And it
goes on with FELDA, MARA and even the
purchase of military hard ware.
It might be painful to
the Malays to hear my view. They must
know their right is not to suppress the
others or take other people's money for
themselves. The concept of ffirmative
action must be across the table, to
enhance the life of the poor. |
16/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
AUTEL EVO MY NEW DRONE
After the unexpected
crash of my Mavic Pro for the unknown
reason, I procured a very much desired
American drone but made by a China's
company that opened up a factory in USA.
The drone is not with me yet. It is
still at Rusli's house who helped me to
order it from Amazon as I do not have
any credit card. As it is an expensive
item I dared not ask Rusli to post it
for me. If the carrier worker were to
steal it the forwarding company will not
pay for the lost. None would want to
take the responsibility. Sorry to say
that Malaysians are not trustworthy.
I choose to take a
flight to Kuala Lumpur, and bring back
the stuff with me. The flight will be on
the 18th December 2018, three days from
now. And will be back on the same day
two hours later after requiring it. If
the security personnel refuses to allow
my drone in then I will have to take a
bus home, arriving on the next day. It
will be quite a hectic trip by bus. Even
after arriving town, I will still have
to take a Grab to the airport for my
car.
Those are the things
that I will have to carry back.
In the meantime I am
studying the drone through the Youtube
footings. There were various tests made
to compare it with a world renown drone,
the dJI Mavic. I found it to be almost
the same as the Mavic except that it is
much heavier. The 4K 60fps does not
impressed me much for I do not have the
facility to process the 4K video. I
would opt for the 720 or 1080
resolutions. A few made the range test
showing the aircraft could fly 3.5 miles
one way, giving the total distant of 7
miles with the return journey. I have
tested with Mavic which flew about 4
miles away, giving approximately 8 miles
in total.
But flying far is
always a risky business.
If you have a drone,
it would serve you well if you are a
traveller. People don't fly drone for
fun like flying kites. I prefer to
record scenic view. We have to plan the
theme and set the objective and be
systematic about our activities.
Otherwise you will sell it away in no
time.
To me anything I do is
just to kill time. Once Ham radio was
something interesting to take away my
time but it is now full of pollution,
which I had been predicting to happen
when the new people took over as the
authority. 98% of the old radio
enthusiasts ran away and camped
themselves at the Whatsapp application.
Thanks to the new
technology that made the change
available to the masses; the internet
and now the drones.
|
15/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
I
DON'T BOTHER ABOUT PEOPLE
Except
for the politicians, I don't bother
about people or being busy body. I have
nothing to gain. While in universities,
both local and away, I discovered fellow
friends took pain to know how I fared
and what grade did I achieved, whereas I
did not have interest in theirs.
Together with me in University Malaya
were a few Ministers and other
politicians like the former Menteri
Besar of Perlis and Pahang, a Minister
in Ministry of Education and other big
jobs. I didn't bother about them nor did
I took any opportunity to seek for their
favours.
While
in Bloomington Indiana the same thing
happened. A few fellow Malaysians who
went around to find out each other's
CGPA. Probably they wanted to compare
who were smarter. I didn't tell mine.
They had to go to the scoreboard to
check the result after each test. Even
my Korean statistical lady teacher who
taught me the subject went to see mine.
We took the same course. As she was
teaching statistic in Korean university
and I didn't understand a thing, she was
kind enough to teach me.
It is
not only on the academic achievements
but also on any other aspects. It is
hard for me to ask about personal
matters from my close friends and their
background, their earnings and salaries
and even their educational background. I
only want to know something if they
behave erratically and in rogue manners.
Though
competition is good in some aspects, I
don't like to do so. A friend or a
neighbour can have whatever they can
afford I won't follow them. In the radio
world, one can have as many equipments
and the advance tower, I do not have an
iota of jealousy or feeling to beat
anyone. I live within my mean. I spend
on whatever things I like.
This
does not take away my care for the
unfortunate, the sick and the weak. I
gave in whatever way I can, to
individual, friends and my local mosque.
A friend had asked for a RM300K loan but
I could fulfilled it. A beggar who asked
for a dollar could have enjoyed a few
fold more of the amount begged.
I gain
nothing if I were to be busybody. And in
that I do not have any heart feeling
unnecessarily over other people affair,
thought and their deeds. And I truly
believe that when you throw things at
people, you will get things thrown at
you too. |
15/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
UMNO-COMEUPPANCE
The end comes when Najib called for
allegiance and obedience to him, not to
the party, kicking any UMNO man who
questioned him about 1Mdb. This was the
beginning of the breakup. Some members
still supported him hoping to get the
money from the man who was too generous
to throw around by the millions. And
those who have made millions through
corruptions, kick backs and other
dubious means believed they would still
be safe under UMNO. They have been
hiding their criminal activities through
religion and declaring that they are the
saviours of the Malays.
They
plundered and plundered without stopping
using lawyers and judges as their strong
defences. Najib didn't believe that he
could lose as he had spent much to
corrupt almost every man he can get hold
of.
These
people had never satisfied with the
wealth they have. The Ministers seemed
to SAPU all. Isa, Zahid, Azees, Ku Nan,
Najib are among the few charged. There
are still others who are free but fear
of them being brought to justice too.
When
Najib chopped UMNO off he didn't see of
it's fatal blow. Mahyuddin, Mukhriz,
Shafiee and a few other sacked UMNO
members were toxic enough to inject
poison into other UMNO remnants.
Before
the GE14 there were calls to oust Najib
out but it was not heeded. UMNO still
thought they were invincible.
It
took a long time for some members to
realize about Najib's lies. Then they
began to see both Zahid and Najib only
care to save themselves. They have hoped
Anwar Ibrahim would them. But where were
Nazri and Zahid when Anwar was thrown
into jail for the crime he did not do ?
They had hope for a riot and MAGERAN to
happen by campaigning on ICERD and
racial issue. The police and Zahid gang
finally realized it was not possible for
MAGERAN to happen as Mat Sabu is a
Defence Minister though the IGP may side
Najib and Zahid.
Zahid
looked for PAS as an alliance to form a
new government. PAS took a careful step
to cover the proof of them taking money
from UMNO. But many UMNO members didn't
like the narrow minded Islamic party.
Then they saw Zahid is trying to ally
PKR and DAP to side him using Tun
Mahathir as the deadly enemy. This too
is nothing more than to save himself.
Today he is slapped with another charge
of giving loan using the Yayasan Budi's
money as if it belongs to him.
The
national coffer is no doubt emptied by
Najib. It is the money belong to the
people.
The
demise of UMNO has started to begin as
there were exodus of the UMNO members to
PH. Tun will not make UMNO an illegal
party. It will burn by itself.
To get
back the money Najib and Rosmah should
be tortured till they tell all where
they hide the money. And those who keep
the money and refuse to surrender them
must be tortured too. There is no other
way to deal with the crooks.
The
final prize of arrogance is reaped by
Zahid and Najib themselves. Zahid must
know that we kept the video showing his
sinister speeches and remarks, so
boastful and disgusting. He is not aware
of what the rakyat is capable of. People
watched how they carried themselves in
parliamentary debates. They thought they
were smart but the rest saw them
otherwise.
I
believe very much in the divine
interference for Najib has been bragging
so much of himself. It is the
comeuppance of the sins. And PAS in
defending the thieves and corruption
will soon see what will happen to their
King who was photograph marrying a
Russian girl who walked with her breast
exposed. And in April we will see what
will become of Hadi in London's court.
The great sins of PAS is denying
accepting the stolen money from Najib
either direct or indirectly and was
solely responsible for dragging down the
image of Islam. |
15/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
MARRIAGE ?
They know marriage is not a play game.
It is something tough. At 72 marriage is
not for sex hunting anymore. It is more
of a companionship. Then there is an
extended need of economic security,
family commitment, give and take and
sacrifice. Choosing a spouse is not like
buying apple and oranges by the
roadsides. Many a time we find some of
the apples are bad in the inside and the
oranges are sour.
Friends always advise
us to get married for for we may be ill
and sick withal tenderly love and
affection, a companion to accompany us
and killing the loneliness. Do not be
choosy and hunt for the beauty. 'Let it
be pain in the eyes but not in the
heart' they said, insinuating at a good
but not so beautiful spouse.
I have been warned
that young women may marry old men for
his money and position. So we saw this
in Siti Aishah who married our Selangor
King and Taib Mahmud young wife clinging
for his large property, and how he
showered her with gold and diamonds. And
some women might have the impression
that I am a wealthy person. Remember, I
told you about a friend seek a RM300K
loan ?
What is left with me
is the faith in God. A good woman may
come to me without me going and hunting
for her. People may say it is something
impossible to happen. Why not if God
wishes it to happen.
Lately a beautiful
woman comes into my heart, about 35 years
younger, an age that shuddered me for I
might not be able to deliver what she
might desire most; sex and penetration.
Or she might have the conception that I
am loaded with money. Am I to discuss
with her or just wait for the
development ?
But I do not have much
hope. She might say NO and I need to
accept it.
Then I could go on
with my life, pursuing my hobbies in
movie making and drone flying,
travelling to see beautiful places in
the world and wait for my death. |
14/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
THE
MEN I WANTED TO EAT
ALIVE
There were men I wanted to eat alive
before GE14. I had wanted to slash their
hearts and munched them like what the
Cambodians did to the Vietnamese
refugees in the '60s. Pandikar Amin made
himself as the most powerful man in the
country, even above parliament, chasing
out the opposition members out and
vehemently showed his partisanship
without any feeling of guilt.
Keruak was another man that I repeatedly
expressed my hatred for making
statements defending Najib on every
occasion even before any of the Malayan
opened up their mouth. All along those
years I had been thinking whether he was
a man or an brainless animal.
Then came Ismail Sabry who said that
going against Najib meant going against
Prophet Mohammad, elevating a kleptocrat
to the level of a Prophet. Though he
talked less than Keruak, it was
despicable of him trying to draw
obedience by making a thief a godly man.
Shafiee the lawyer, is the most top evil
man, I ever saw. I see him as an Indian,
reminding me of Kelings who opened up
the Sultan of Malaccas's gate to the
Javanese and even corroborated with the
Portuguese.
For
Najib and Rosmah, the Bony and Clyde
couple, I reserved them for the torture
chambers, separating them from each
other. Some called her a hypo. Some
called her a Fat Mama. Others called her
Lo Si Mah. The FLOM, as she was
addressed by some, was seen to be above
the Prime Minister, taking over the task
of Wisma Putera, indealing with Putin,
Hillary Clinton, Mrs and Mr Obama and
finally the Trump. She would first
inspect and taste the Jet, flew all over
for shopping spree, spending millions to
beautify herself, lying and showing an
immense arrogance in public. I am not
talking of the pink diamonds and other
expensive jewelleries yet. Rosmah must
be stripped naked in a dark chamber full
of rats.
Najib will face castration centimeter by
centimeter if he refuses to tell where
he hid the stolen money.
These give us the picture on how those
people will be treated by the masses
when they go mad and gone wild. In
Ukraine the masses merely get hold of
those Ministers and threw them in the
dustbins on the roadside. |
13/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
THE PREACHERS
Whatsapp is
one of the most popular chat applications in the country
today. Netizens form groups with unique
names. One can apply to join the group.
Like the Facebook and any other human
grouping there are variety and
multiplicity of people and characters
though they are trying to gather gangs
of the same feathers and interest.
I do not request to enter
any group but somehow someone would put
me in some of the groups. I don't even
know many of the members.
There will be people who
use the group to preach good things,
what and what not to do, the moralistic
and religious aspects of lives. Among
all the groups I know the Senior Ham
Group is considered the best as there
isn't any moral and religious preacher
trying to educate us to be the perfect
man. There were full of funs, music,
members singing and other self
expressions. Not everyone found all
topics would interest them. They would
not comment or protest or barred any
member from chatting on the topic. It
was just the Ham radio we used to enjoy,
except in computer communication we
could extend our jokes on sex and any
other tabooed stuffs.
So far I detached myself
from two groups. I just didn't like
someone who set rules and regulations on
what could be posted and what not to be
posted. And one group which I did not
request to be in kicked me out for the
reason unknown to me. I remembered I
made corrections to some Morse codes
things that they were publishing.
Generally I just read the
comments and remarks. Their views may be
different and I may not agree with them,
but I would not response to it. Some
were foolish, illogical and childish. I
ignored them but did not detach myself.
I still believe in
freedom. One has one's freedom to talk
or to preach. The others have their
freedom either to listen or reject it.
That is the tolerance that we can bear
to live with. To put restrictions is to
display the sort of ego a person is. He
may think he is the master attempting to
control the others. In fact he should be
kicked out. If not I shall kick myself
out.
I find that the level of
education shows differences. My Senior
Ham Group consists of people with high
education, knowledgeable and smart in
their thinking. If you want to see fools
just try to follow the Facebook remarks.
Surely a wise man may not
be highly educated. But he is wise
enough not to talk if he is aware that
it is beyond his ability to talk for the
subject may be too philosophical,
scientific or required extreme
intelligence.
On the other hand there
are educated men who see things only
through their own narrow telescope. All
others view things n a wider scopes. One
may prefer to hide. Many prefer exposure
so that the public will know the truth.
What many people abhor
most is when somebody is trying to force
his will on the rest. With such a
mindset he will will act as a dictator
in the the group.
There is a different
between preaching and telling or
narrating. The readers can feel it
though telling may have a certain hidden
intention. It still gives a space for
freedom. Even then preaching is not as
bad as the person who is imposing
regulations on others. I can't tolerate
such a man. He must be disposed.
|
13/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
MALAYSIAN FOOTBALLERS
I have said it before and I am saying it
again. It is about the Malaysian
footballers who are heavy smokers. I saw
them myself and in this event witnessed
who was the person who coaxed the other
players to smoke. When I saw him in the
Malaysian team I said 'Malaysia is
finished'. However it amazed me when the
team could win some of the games to
enabled them to enter the final
Comparing the stamina, I concluded that
Vietnam could play forever. It was quite
impossible for Malaysian players who
can't go more than 50 minutes unless
their health prevent them. Smoking would
tire them.
I don't know the view of our coaches and
those in the soccer fraternity. May be
they regard smoking is a trivial matter,
otherwise they wouldn't have chosen
them. There is no excuse to say that
they did not know what their players
did. There are gadgets to trace smokers.
They can even do the visual check by
looking at the teeth.
I wouldn't put such a player in a team
however skilful he is.
I believe there are heavy politicking
in Malaysian football. Again it's root
is money. It means a lot to lobby to put
a player in. They may seek the help of
influential and powerful to force the
coach to accept a person or the game of
paying commissions by the chosen ones to
respective individuals.
I also believe of the football runners,
working on the transfer of players to
teams that were wealthy enough to depart
with a few pittance to them.
There are people who are non-players but
who make soccer a livelihood for them. I
am not talking about the food and other
outside vendors who would opened up
their businesses at the soccer location
during the matches. I am talking about
those who would penetrate themselves
into the sport fraternity and made
themselves close to the officials and
players.
We can either ignore this contention or
ponder over it.
Malaysian football seemed to better
during the age of amateur soccer.
|
12/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
ROYALTY
It is not in the history book how the
Kings really came about in the various
states of Tanah Melayu and how they
claimed the state to belong to them. The
story of KIngs as the shadow of God
possessing the divine power that called
a Daulat is over. People are asking how
some King became so very wealthy ?
Pictures of a wife of a King is now
being distributed throughout the world
showing her with wedding dress, busts
exposed, which had degrade the respect
towards the King.
Once a King's words was a law,
unchallenged and believed to carry ultimate
truth. Some Kings may still be thinking
they are the smartest of the lot.
Manners meant a lot. People will start
to question words uttered and actions
done. Though the rakyat do not have
lawyers, army and the power of making
law and regulations, they have the will
power and the strength to make a change.
Just learn them from the past and recent
history, of French Revolution, of the
downfall of Saddam and Gadafi, and the
disappearances of monarchical rules.
Do we seriously dare to go to vote
whether we still need a King, a Republic
or a Communism ? I challenge the world,
the country and the people. Let us start
the world back to only TWO layers; the
Godly layer and the single human layer
without Kings and Rulers. Mankind
decides on whether to have a captain,
the decision to come from one man or
from the consensus of their group.
Just read on the birth of civility and
republic, the dwindling of churches and
concept of civil society.
We begin to see how people with power
push forward to satisfy their insatiable
greed. Once the people had wish they
could out these people. Now they ever
wish to mob and torture these beasts, to
castrate the fellow lawyers who work for
the crooks and the beasts. Royalties
must be sensitive enough and open their
eyes to brace for any eventuality.
While at peace nobody should show his
arrogance, and having misconceptions of
the support they have. The police may
have guns and modern weapons that could
kill, but they must not be too over
confident. Just look back at history.
There are three states which are under
people's watch; Kelantan, Trengganu and
Johore. It is not wise for me to publish
a photo of a Russian lady married to a
Malaysian showing her bare breath
without any iota of shame; the Trengganu
story of how it get entangled in the
1Mdb that led to the billion ringgit
lost and the the money trail of Pulau
Kukup - who would get the billion and
who would get the bones.
There is only one truth in here, the
ultimate truth.
Don't be short sighted in our thinking
of our future, what are to come and what
will be vanished.
|
11/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
TABUNG HAJI
UMNO youth leader does not seem to
understand what accountability and
responsibility is and trying to limit
the blame on the TH management. It was
nit TH that put an orange shirt on
Rafizi. It was the government, the BN
government. And Azees , the car seller,
is Rosmah's man. And Rosmah is the wife
of Najib Razak. Najib was the UMNO big
chief.
I myself had had a bitter experience
over my wife behest where Tabung Hani
was very arrogant enough tryingf hard to
put the blame on me. From that day
onwards I lost my trust on the
institution. And later I read more news
on it and informed people had been
criticizing the TH for oil palm
investment in Indonesia. It is very
pertinent for the relevant Minister to
let the public knows what really happen
rather than to hide things like what
UMNO has been doing and continue to do
so till now.
I discussed with a lady about it today
and her view was the people involved
should be buried alive, including Rosmah
Mansor. And the UMNO people would say
"Let the court decide'. Oh, we know the
story of the court on the billion
ringgit JJ's money. It was not the court
but the UMNO people who happen to reside
in the court who had made gorgeous
decisions.
The Muslims will make their own decision
whether to continue to save in TH or
not. I think they will. UMNO has been
using race and religion to draw supports
to simplify their robbing and thefts. Is
it not TH a perfect institution where
criminals can hide under the cover of
religion ?
UMNO robbed from MARA, KWAP to Tabung
Haji. Then they say they are not guilty
until the court says so. They think
court can erase the events of billions
of ringgit that went missing that easy.
That was Najib wanted to happen when he
put Apandi to announce that 1Mdb was
perfect and nobody should talk about it
anymore. Every time they pointed at
Apandi's words. His words were law.
The people want to know things. We don't
want to wait for court proceedings. If
UMNO is still strong on defending Najib
then the party and the members will have
to bear the consequences, which could be
deadly for sure by 2035. Many would be
hung and tongues cut for the foul mouths
on their heads.
2035 will be too late for me and Tun to
see what will happen to UMNO warlords
including the youth chief.
|
11/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
WASTAGE
We may not realize that some of us have
been wasting their food almost everyday.
They buy more than they consume and
there are always the leftovers that go
into the bins. We can even see eaters at
buffet would fill their plates with
enormous amount of foodstuffs and could
not finish the lots.
Most agree much were thrown out during
the fasting months.
Recently I developed a habit of buying
food in limiting the amount at the same
price. A ringgit of goreng pisang may be
about 8 to 10 pieces but I always asked
for only 4. For whatever I bought to
satiate my hunger I would request for a
reduce quantity." My stomach is getting
smaller," I would tell the vendors.
That was about food. We are also wasting
electricity and water allowing the fans
to run and ligfht to be on without
people around in the house. Again this
is a sheer wastage. We should switch off
anything that nobody is using.
It is not about saving money but it is
silly to see the fan and the
air-condition are running with
nobody to serve, and to buy food that
nobody eats.
We can apply our prudence to all other
areas and aspects of life as well.
Excessiveness may be a matter of taste.
A single man without a family build a
huge bungalow with grand lights and
decoration, a huge plumpy soft bed with
10 pillows, surrounded by hundred
thousand chairs and sofas, smart TV and
thunderous HIFI unit. He enjoys living
alone in a palace to satisfy his soul.
By all means if he affords them all. But
I am sure he won't by excess food and
let it lies on the table for days.
I am glad that I don't have expensive
taste nor having taste for expensive
things. I live just above a bare
minimum, supported by not being a smoker
which saved me a lot of money,
minimising my internet bill by
dispelling the outdoor internet service,
using a telco that I pay below RM8 a
month, do not buy newspapers and drive a
small fuel saving car.
|
10/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
ME
It was my picture taken in Belgium
around early 1980's. I was already a
school principal then. I am now totally
different in look and in physical shape.
I am afraid to look at myself. I realize
I am very ugly, white hair has taken the
place of the black growth. What remain
unchanged is the red jacket. It turned
pale a little
bit.
I still keep it after more than 50 years
later and donned it when I went for my
holiday in Winter.
The picture on the left was last taken
this year in October. Sure at 72 I could
not be exactly as I was 30. I am not
talking about me alone. I am taling
about every young men an women out there
who never want to think of being old.
They fight hard to look young by all
means and methods. The poorer one will
simply purchase creams to apply on their
faces. There are anti-wrinkles cream
too.
The wealthy ones resort to plastic
surgery and spent much on the genetic
transplants.
Since the demised of my wife I lead a
solitary life. I was advised to find
somebody to look after me as I am
getting more tired and sickly due to my
ageing. I don't know what made them so
sure that my wife will be nursing me and
taking care of my welfare ? Could it not
be possible the other way round ?
I retired at the age of 56 in 2003,
continue to live a mediocre life with a
little savings for myself.
Despite being old, I don't feel much
burden on my shoulder as I was younger.
I do not have to bear the monumental
responsibility of the job. It was
torturing and I was never happy as I am
now.
Friends always asked about my health. I
told them that I have diabetes, heart
problem, HBP, kidney and all sort of
ailments. I did not control my diet, no
food abstinence.
I am not worried of dying. I am only
worried of suffering. However I tried to
keep myself fit by doing some daily
workout to loosen my muscles and to
allow my blood to flow. I took Vitamin E
and a few more supplements hoping that
they are not fake. The medicine is too
little to take into consideration. I ate
day and night even at midnight. Only
this morning, after almost 11 months, I
checked my blood sugar level. The
reading was not 5.2 but 7.3. I know to
lower it down is easy. Just stop eating
consistently before going to bed. I
grade myself as a strong and healthy
person.
Many friends of mines are weak after
being strike by stroke. A few have gone
to meet God. All of them were younger
than me. What a tragedy. The main cause
of their death was the heart failure.
I leave to God to guide and look after
me. I feel that God is with me still
helping and guiding my path.
How about the others who are of the same
age without any pension nor wealthy
siblings ? What if these people fall
sick and hungry ? They can't enjoy the
luxuries of live as I have been
enjoying. The don't travel nor fly
drone. I can only pray for them and pray
so that the fellow politicians would
understand the real plight of the poor
people.
|
10/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
AESTHETIC
a branch of philosophy dealing
with the nature of beauty, art, and
taste and with the creation and
appreciation of beauty
- Merriam Webster
I would totally reject those without any
aesthetic sense and values. They ravage
and plunder a beautiful and pleasing
environment to erect structure for money
or some other purposes with excuses and
arguments.
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I was a little surprise when
I visited Disneyland
California in late 70's to
find a toilet that was named
a restroom was so clean.
Several visits to the United
States and the Western
countries of Europe I found
the inhabitants gave a high
ranking to the beauty of
their environment. To
produce one needs a natural
environment. I saw a few
schools in Malaysia with a
beautiful landscape.
I tried to develop a scene
that was conducive for my
students. |
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The structure you see above were
built by the students.
I am not boasting that no other
people but me only possess the
aesthetic sense. But just go and
visit the school again today. They
destroyed all the green and put in
the aimless structures.
While the world colleges and
universities and small towns were
made so attractive and beautiful the
Malaysian Malays destroy them. If
you are a visitor to Nami island
South Korea you will see what
Malaysia present to the Koreans, a
disgraceful ugly corner that would
put you in shame.
What is opened to the public must be
of aesthetic value. Schools can
shape the emotional development with
conducive and beautiful environment.
It enhanced their esteem.
Environmental scene somewhat measure
the degree of the civility of a
society. If you to Morocco and Egypt
and then you stepped into Spain you
will see a stark difference between
them.
|
09/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
THAT'S HOW THEY WORK
When computer became popular many people
took up programming as a hobby, which
means they are teach themselves to plan
algorithm and coding. I was one of them.
That was somewhere in early 1980's.
Visual Basic was a powerful beside the
normal BASIC. Though simple in nature, a
creative person can manipulate the
language to do a very wonderful job.
Since many of us were teachers we
developed applications for our own
schools.
I developed the students database, our
student's intake, monthly test, leaving
certificates and a few more that I could
not recall. It was very convenient and
quick for data retrieval. One of the
bosses in the state education department
rang me up asking whether his his
relative was successful in his
application to study in my school. Just
by giving me the first name and read to
him the address and the father's name.
"Successful," I said.
He did not tell me of his surprise. He
did not know I knew computer then. From
time to time people from the department
dropped by my school to see what sort of
soft ware that we used to have. They
came, and looked and went back. I
learned that they also have computer wiz
in the department and people in charge
of computing.
Months later the Ministry of Education
decide to accumulate various
applications from different state.
Kedah, my state, decide on school's time
table. Two teachers were asked to
develop. I was one of the two. The other
one was Cikgu Munizar by the name. When
the time came we were called again. We
were told that the application would be
briefed and explained by one officer
from the state education department. We
were asked to describe and brief him on
our coding.
We both refused. We wanted the developer
to do the briefing and to be able to
answer questions.
We were sent to the door and nothing
materialized after that. We knew we were
branded as undesirable elements. But
that's how they work. The officer wanted
to desperately parade his ability and
acumen.
The education department after that sent
me for a computer course to learn a Word
processing and a database system. That
was something that I didn't understand.
This is at the state level. My Federal
boss from the Ministry of Education came
to my school to see what we did with
computers that I requested for some
money to buy. Earlier on I thought my
teachers and student on word processing,
filing system and BASIC programming.
Don't ask me how much was my knowledge.
It wasn't much but it was ample for our
usage.
The boss found what we developed was
good enough. In fact we won several
awards in the Federal competition on
several type of soft wares. He was
impressed with them and wanted to know
the learning period to gain such a skill
etc. He asked me and my teacher, Mr Teoh
Tek Eng, who took an arden interest to
attended all my class, to design a
syllabus. We down together, studied
several books of various type and came
came up with a finalized the topics. We
submitted to Kuala Lumpur.
In the Federal Department there was one
man, imported from MARA college to take
charge of commercial studies. He took
the syllabus and criticized it. He used
the words "the Ministry could not accept
it as it comes from someone without a
degree in computing". We heard about it.
But nothing hurt us.
Sometimes later students taking Commerce
must all vocational schools must take
computer data processing as a course. We
saw about 99% of the syllabus was the
parts we submitted. Still the officer
concerned defied the order of calling me
in discussion of what sort of computers
to be purchased and used in the schools
for the same argument, that I had no
qualification.
After I have retired I wrote to the
state education department that I wanted
to teach biometric programming that
would use thumbprint for various project
for free of charge, aiming at the whole
state. There was no reply. That's how
they work. Those were the Malay
officers.
Today everybody seems to show his
knowledge on the use of the applications
like Whatsapp and Facebook. When I told
them that I can write the Whatapp and
the Facebook programs, nobody said
anything as if they heard nothing.
I don't claim I am a computer savvy. I
have to admit my mind is slow and rusty
now. I could not force my imagination to
create substance out of words or change
codes into actions. My mind is as good
as total emptiness.
But I have always wished that the
Education department called me to hear
my view on computing for just a couple
of hours. It will remain as a wish for
the old folks who are as good as dead
organism. And that's how they work.
Yet I still wrote some simple but
wonderful codes for
www.qistina.net . Today there are
new dimensions in programming the
android and watches and the websites. As
for the web I still used the classical
methods as you may have seen in the
above url.
What I narrated above is only one of the
things that I am trying to show on the
Malays. There are many more things other
than the computer story. They want to
erase what was not theirs and if
possible they want to put their names on
things that belong to other people. A
living friend told a few friends in
front of me that he made a radio antenna
for me. Imagine he was not even a ham
and I did not even knew him yet when I
got my ticket and set up my station.
The Malays have been destroying
themselves for a long time through their
myopic vision, jealousy and having bad
feeling towards the success and
achievements of others.
The Malays I respect are those who can
play chess well, those who work hard to
achieve hard things to get, those who
work with blood and sweats to accumulate
wealth, those who talk less and do more
work, those who reject corruptions
honest and sincere. |
09/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
RACE THAT HAS GAINED RESPECTS
In Asia the Koreans and the Japanese
have been praised by the world. But the
world is still looking up at the
Westerners and the United States. When
USA started the Talent Show, almost half
of the world follow it. They even
professed the religion practiced by the
White people. Why ?
The people tend to relate the
technology, research and inventions to
the mental prowess of the inhabitants,
the people are smarter and more
intelligent, and master every aspect of
life. Why not when we buy airplanes from
Boeng, and telecommunication system from
them. If we follow the Olympic medal
tally, Malaysia would fall far far
behind. Yet we are very vocal and wnat
to force our will on the others.
Is it not amazing that the Malays want
to earn respect through the statute of
law ? So says the law THE MALAYS MUST BE
RESPECTED .
The bulk of the Malays must show that
they are worthy of respects. Below I
will list some of the dues that they
must look into
1. Study hard in school. Be good in all
subjects and pay attention in all of
them. In secondary and college education
choose the difficult subjects like
additional mathematics, pure and other
sciences. Have an early ambition and
choose the subjects that will bring them
to the vocations they choose. To be a
lawyer for instant they have to be good
in English.
Learn
as many languages as possible and let a
Malay be well verse in at least 4
languages. Remember a Chinese can speak
Malay, Mother tongue, Mandarin, and
English.
2. Be a scientist, doctor, lawyer,
engineer, inventors and create hitech
stuffs. Export the invention to the
world market.
3. They must work very hard in farmland,
at sea and in estates and earn as much
money as they can.
4. When they discuss topics they must
show their brain prowess, good command
of either English or Malay, presented
facts with clarity and possess a very
wide and deep knowledge on the subject
matter.
5. See that there are no drug addicts
and drug pushers, thieves and robbers,
cheaters and liars. They must have good
manners and ethics, show good examples
when talking and debating.
6. Do not show laziness in getting
something that is hard to get, by just
asking for free stuffs, free marks,
changing policy to suit them. Avoid
behaving in a ruly manner if they do not
get they are asking for.
7. They must strive hard to manufacture
the hitech stuffs export them or for
local consumption.
8. Be friendly to all races. Show
concern on their plight. Sympathize with
their problems. Get their cooperation on
some relevant matters and extend help to
them as well.
9. Exhibit competency in every aspect of
life. The Malays do not have to submit
for every pressure but use
intellectuality and cordiality in
presenting the rejection. Do not accept
any form of corruptions or gifts.
10. be fair and just to all. The Malays
are not emotional in dealing with
matters.
11. The Malays must be capable of
mastering games and sports like both the
English and Chinese Chess, basket ball,
badminton, swimming and Tai Chi.
12. Hajis, Lebai and ordinary Muslims
show their ability in speak in
multi-lingual chats, presenting facts
with concrete and scientific reasoning,
well verse in the internal working of
technological stuffs around them.
All the aspects mentioned above must
exist in general Malays in a massive
number. The show of kindness and
friendliness could bring the racial
cohesiveness.
I put a question on a Facebook BAGAIMANA
MAHU MEMBUAT MELAYU DISEGANI DAN
DIHORMATI and among the interesting
responses were BELIEVE AND BE CLOSE TO
THE KORAN, GO TO SUBUH PRAYER. Imagine
how would you expect the world to
respect these kind of answers.
|
08/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
PAS PRAYER
It has been two times PAS prayed to
destroy Pakatan Harapan. The first time
was before GE14. Was the prayer answered
by Allah ? Now the party prayed again,
for the same reason. PAS prefer not to
work for the betterment of the country
but instead acted a lot to destroy the
nation. Nobody seemed to show interest
in putting back the country on it's feet
when we found our economy was destroyed
by Najib. They were still behind a man
who stole our money by the billions and
cheated the people and tried to corrupt
American President and DOJ.
I put part of the blame on PAS who
created the poor image of Islam among
the non-Muslims. The politics of lies
and money had been traced. Denying and
defending Najib were seen as the
teaching of Islam.
PAS forget the idea of ICERD was not a
recent event. It started in 1902. The
Hindraft was formed when the chronic so
called Muslim boys started to destroy
Hindu Temples during the reign of
UMNO, the lover of the party. And they
are quick to forget Najib had plundered
national coffer and the money ended in
gambling, movies, buying yacht and
personal properties.
Even if the money were givern to UMNO it
was still illegal and considered as
theft. PAS was seen as the supporter of
thieves.
Who else joined the prayers ? The
gangsters, the criminals and the
corrupts ?
This is real, not a mere blind wild
accusation. When money is stolen and
lost, whatever the court says, theft has
been done. It has been a long time the
judges were under the order of Najib and
may still be working under him.
PAS and UMNO have been doing the maximum
job to arouse the anti PH, putting fire
to make the Malays reject PH and ICERD
is the biggest ever effort, ending in
the appeal to God for divine
intervention.
This will be shown by the coming two
by-elections, the two seats belong to
BN. BN has called for PAS for support.
Let us wait and see. |
08/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
ANTI ICERD RALLY
I do not have comment on the anti-ICERD
rally as not everyone of us has the same
set of mind. And everyone who attended
the rally has different view, intent and
purpose. But it is a sign that we have
failed to unite our people, not only to
blame the government but also ourselves.
I looked at the Facebook comments that
were trying to compare the ICERD and
BERSIH. I think it is not wise to start
the comparison and provocation. Some
seized the opportunity to show that they
are the Malay heroes who are champions
of the Malays. Najib and Zahid had their
own agenda, not even realizing even the
PH members were at the rally too. They
would hope very much the Malays will
forgive them. The people maty be
softened on Zahid but not on Najib. He
has to return the money in his
possession that he kept overseas, and
repent.
The rally is sure a boom for the hawkers
and food stalls. Food and drinks are
sure to be sold out.
The police had done their best to ensure
peace and no riot will break out. The
banned on Suhakam to have it's rally on
the same day is the best ever decision.
I don't have even an iota of complaint.
This is big rally and the world was
witnessing the civility of the
Malaysians.
We have bigger thing than the rally. We
need to address the welfare of our
people who are losing their jobs. Both
the government and the private sectors
ignore this issue. The private sectors
are sacking people, the government is
shrinking the services. The PH
government should take very seriously
and not to allow people getting who have
been working for 20 years are kicked out
without jobs. They have their school
going kids to support.
No law makers will care much about this
other than the mere rhetoric for the
simple reason that they are all well
fed, big money to enjoy the livings.
This is what all politicians must work
together to resolve.
There is no better time than when Tengku
was Prime Minister and Tan Siew Sin was
the Finance Minister. Government created
jobs to save the rakyat because the
country had so much money. Later, the
money is seen as a wealth to be divided
among the Yang Berhormat. The worst is
Najib, the man who attended the ICERD
rally, trying to show that he is very
concerned about the Malays. |
08/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
LOSING MY HEARING
I forgot in what year a big insect
entered my right ear. Blood streamed
out. I slept without any netting and I
could not figure out how the big insect
entered my house. It must have been 30
to 40 years ago. Rushing to hospital
nothing was done as there was no doctor.
I had to bear with the pain for 2 days
before the doctor used a sucker to suck
the insect out. The ear drum was
damaged.
At 72 my hearing worsened. But I am not
totally deaf. I still near noises around
me. I could not hear a low voice that is
two yards away. Even though someone is
close to me I could not make out the
meaning of the words if he or she talks
too fast and mumbling or swallowing the
words. I noticed my own kids were in
tantrum when I asked them to repeat
their sentences.
That is one of the reasons why I prefer
to live and die alone. I will not give
any problem to the people around me, who
might have to communicate with me.
The solution is to use the hearing aid
which I do not find it convenient. I
still comprehend if words spoken are
loud and clear enough. It is something
like hearing the BBC and the CNN news,
of which I could understand the CNN
better than the BBC as the former
pronounce the words clearly and
distinctly. And it is easier to grasp
the American English than the Malaysian
English. All is about clarity of the
words. I still can manage my daily
activities in business and other counter
communications.
But I would like to remind those who
have old parents not to lose their
tempers, showing anger and scold their
fathers and mothers for being half deaf.
It hurts them. And Islam says it is a
great sin. Their lives will not have a
Barakah. God will leave them on their
own.
As I have repeatedly said that everyone
will have his day of being old if he is not attack by a
deadly stroke at an
earlier age. Those without kids and
family will have to bear the worst
sufferings. You will know the price of
rejecting and hurting your parents when
they are dead and you are old. But then
it is too late and it is your choice. |
08/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
RESISTING TEMPTATION
Take any man on the street and ask
ourselves "Would he take 2 millions
ringgit to betray his country ? "
Probably many would accept to take the
money regardless of their financial
standing. Yet we cannot be surprised if
he rejects the offer.
A person who feels that he has more than
enough with even RM3K can simply ignore
the extended luxury in life. The absent
of temptation is brought by his
happiness with what he has. A man chose
a bicycle over other mode of
transportation due to health reason. He
can see the world through his TV screen.
He has people who ever willing to come
to his help when in sickness and
hardship.
Greed has no boundary in some. His
wealth can last him for generations. Yet
he would not reject the millions
offered, may it under the name of gift
or corruption. A friend told me he
didn't believe why a billionaire would
still steal. I asked him back whether he
would reject a million offered to him,
for he is wealthy enough. He was stun
and gapping, the sign that he would take
the money.
I can resist temptation, not only
because of a strong discipline in me but
it is also due to the truth that I have
more than enough with the modest living
and income. I used the word abundance
that God has endowed upon me. The man on
the street may be similar to me in all
aspects of life.
Happiness is not only about getting but
also about giving. Just open our eyes
and see how many people around us care
to give away money to others. Some give
a dollar to a beggar. Others give a
million to the needy and the country.
You feel good and happy, and proud of
yourself when you reject a huge
corrupted money. You know your dignity
and honesty. You dare to talk the truth,
and fear no threat or malicious crooks.
And most of all you know God knows and
appreciate your sincerity. You keep to
yourself and would care whether people
know it or not.
A man of principle may not be a
religious person. He can be an Atheist
or his education may be low.
What we need is a fulfilling life. We do
not want to be labelled as thieves and
crooks and be the gang of sinners and
the future inhabitants of hell. |
07/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
TAKE YOUR OWN RISK
I wasted so much money on China's
products, from the computer storage,
thumb drive to the Mavic Pro drone. All
failed after some time. As I read more
of the failed China's drone I found I
was not the only victim. There are
hundreds more who suffered the same
fate. Their drones stopped and crashed
without any known reason.
I know only a few do read my blog. If
you do just spread my view to the others
because Mavic Pro is an expensive
aircraft that may last you only 4 or 6
months. If the drone does not crash yet
without reason, the batteries will get
swollen. The vendors expect Mavic users
to buy every new battery at least one a
year.
They are either smart or stupid enough
to foresee the future outcome once the
distrust on China's products spread.
Already there emerge a competition with
the American product Autel Evo drone
which has yet to find the local
supplier.
I am out of drone now. I have to wait
until I can got hold of the American
version. It is the risk that I don't
want to take anymore. The Mavic is sold
at almost 10K ringgit per piece now on
the new version. Certainly it is a
cut-throat price for the unreliable
good.
Now you can own Mavic Pro for RM3.1K
with a single battery and RM3.5 for two
batteries, at a greatly reduced price
but the battery remain expensive. I
decide to bade good bye to products made
in China and to say good bye to Lazada
that is selling the China's stuffs.
Unfortunately the Japanese and the
Koreans do not make drones yet. Theirs
are more durable though more expensive.
Those who have been using Koreans and
Japanese would know how good the
commodities are.
I have a feeling that Autel Evo fears
China would clone theirs and sell the
fake ones as the original. You name it,
China can clone anything at all. You can
still buy Autel from 11th Street, pay
the company but the drone will be
shipped from the United States.
China drone distributors will talked
down the Western drones.
I don't trust them at all. Many cheat.
They won't honour the warrant period,
blaming you for all the faults. |
07/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
FATE
I have penned down on the topic several
time since I started the blog.
Fate can be described either in general
term or a specific connotation. It is
specific when I use myself as an
example. It is a topic beyond reason,
unscientific and conjecture in nature.
It is about faith and belief, which the
science will dismiss them outrightly.
At this age and at this state I looked
back at the past, the reminiscent of my
past events. I had been a naught and
mischievous boy, disinterested in
studying and always play truants.
Several teachers hit me and threw
feather duster at me for not knowing how
to answer question on the blackboard. My
parent didn't care how I fared in
school. All I wanted was to run away and
worked on a ship and settled in a far
away land.
I was lucky to have all Chinese friends
who finally chose to discuss what were
taught by our teachers for the
day. We quizzed each other on Science
almost every night. Our Headmaster was
Mr Long Eng Hwa who took so much
concerned on student's achievements.
Those who failed would be caned and
those who passed in Mathematics, science
and languages would be awarded.
There was a bright Malay boy by
the name of Syed Aswad. He taught me
science beginning with elements, metal
and non-metals. and what is an acid
compared to alkali. I was not a loser
when challenged in the science quizzed
among the Chinese friends. It was in
form two then.
On my own I attended a night class
learning Mandarin and I kept notes on
recording Hokien words. But my study was
still bad. I didn't like reading books.
My command of both English and Malay
were poor. I was still a low achiever
and always failed my English test.
Somehow I score a medium grade in the
Lower certificate of Education.
Form 4 and Form 5 were my turning point.
I began to acquire interest in study.
But it was too late. I was still poor in
English and Malay. I was not qualified
for the 1st grade because of my language
papers. I say it is my turning point as
far as my attitude was concerned. I
quitted the evening class after a year.
And in form 4 and form 5 I took up
Chess.
It was the Chess game that won me in the
interview as a teacher. The interviewer
asked me a lot of questions on the game
which I could answer all of them. I
ended up as a teacher from a mischievous
boy.
There was a desire to continue my study
in the university.
I worked hard in the University of
Malaya. Only a few points more to gain a
First Class. I was happy enough with a
2nd Class degree. 4 years after
university days I was put as a Head
Master. I never expected it. In the
teachers college I followed the basic of
technical education. In university I
majored in history and minor in
economics.
Playfully, a couple of years later I
applied to do a master program in the
United States. I won the scholarship and
completed it with some good CGPA. My GRE
score showed still showed the poor score
in English ability.
You see, I was not a smart and a bright
person. Neither did I pull any string to
climb the occupational ladder. I an
still weak in English. When I sat down
to ponder of my position, I concluded
that it was nothing other than my fate.
I never had any bad feeling on other
people. I never knew what back stabbing
was in playing for an office.
Whatever became of me was given by God.
I did not dream of stepping my feet in
many parts of the world. I never expect
to live in abundance of life, to live to
this date, to fly a drone and eat
luxurious food.
It was not me alone who is so lucky to
be at this position. I am not talking
about wealth and money. Many of us are
just ordinary people, enough to spread
bread on our table, and saving a little
at a time for travelling.
People who have bad feeling towards
others should be more careful. It is not
good for health. They may die at their
younger age, killed by a stroke,
hypertension or other chronic diseases.
The Malaysian Muslims used to say that
whatever good things come from God,
whatever bad things were made by they
themselves. I am not in a position to
argue and debate on their jargon.
I feel in me of the Providence, the
reasons for the good and bad that came
before me.
Questions may be asked "Is it a fate
that I to become a thief and a murderer
? " I don't know. I don't choose those
profession. I tried to avoid them. I
only want to do the best. |
07/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
TANJUNG PAGAR WAS SOLD DURING NAJIB'S
ERA
You read the denial by Najib that he did
not sell out Tanjung Pagar to Singapore.
From the reading he seemed to twist and
turn his statement. First he said it was
done during Tun Mahathir's time. At the
end he said the land was useless anyhow
and even PH government would have sold
it out.
UMNO people would have believe him.
Similarly he changed his statement from
the Donation to 'I think it was a
DONATION'. Najib expects he can fool the
people and the judges. That's why I
somehow pray that DOJ will issue a
summon of arrest on Najib for money
laundering. The Malaysian authority
could always discuss with DOJ of the
possibility of charging a liar like this
man.
He totally blamed on Tun on Tanjung
Pagar but himself.
The selling was criticized during his
time. He just ignored it but took to
defend it only now.
We also saw how Zulkifli trying to
escape on the tempering of the Audit
Report by saying he was not even the
chief yet during the time. What the
public raised was not whatever post he
held at the time but he was in the
meeting to alter the report. It would
have been easier for him to say that he
followed Najib's order.
The Westerners could not be bought by
the words that Najib and his team
uttered. They would base on the concrete
evidence of the money trail. And PH team
must investigate thoroughly and not to
accept the lame excuse. If Najib had to
sell it for the reason he first
mentioned then he should not say "I
didn't sell it". He has to say he sold
it because Tun found it not feasible to
keep the railway land.
The tongue twisting stun is also used by
the Indian lawyer Shafiee from the
NONSENSE of the 9.5 million to HIS
LAWYER FEES to GIVEN TO NAJIB'S
FRIEND.
Najib Oh Najib....what a strange specie |
06/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
THE
DISAGREEABLE CHARACTER
You may call me a snobbish person, too
proud of myself and selfish, for I loath
characters disagreeable to my taste. To
be in agreeable group, we do not need a
person who thinks he is smart enough to
ask the group to follow and obey his
command, who want to preach us what we
should and should not do. He has to go
out and get lost from the group or them
members have to leave him alone. As far
as I am concerned there is no
compromise.
A friend told me that in a tour group of
his travelling from Vladivostok to
Moscow, there was one participant who
demanded quietness from the whole team,
no one should talk that can be
considered as noise maker. The whole
group challenged him of their right to
enjoy and be merry while the sight
seeing. They pay to enjoy, to be gay and
joke and laugh. I suggested to my friend
to throw him out of the train. In fact
the group asked him to get away from
them.
I do not hesitate to dislodge myself
from a group where there is any
disagreeable character trying to show
his stature and act like a big boss. I
just did, cutting myself out from a
Whatsapp group when such a character
emerge in the newly formed group.
The best of the Whatsapp group is the
Senior Ham Radio where the old hams
meet, joke and create entertainment for
us to enjoy like we used to do during
the hamming days. Most of us are retired
though a few are making side income
earning a huge income from their special
skills. We have engineers, teachers and
scientist. No one impose his will on
others on any matters. Unlike the
previous one, the Zenior Ham Group
composes of multi ethnicity brainy
individuals.
I meet people of disagreeable attitudes.
I still accosted and talked to them
except to the one who run away with my
money. I choose to break any friendship
with such people. Of course the brief
encounter is short and will cause no
harm.
I am not so gregarious like the others
in my late years. I prefer to be alone
most of the time. Only when going for my
meal at some distant away I would be
looking for a company. If I found no
one, I would go alone.
Somehow people of bad character have
come into our once distinguished hobby,
Amateur Radio. They broke rules and
regulations of the hobby and nobody can
stop them. They use foul language and
hid their identity. They bragged and
used the platform to parade their
prowess. Hence they drove the old hams
from the band.
But everyone would always right himself,
believing in his perfection, well bred
and useful to the society and the
country. |
06/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
THE
BIG MAN AND HIS DEATH
When the man was in power,
haughtily and arrogantly, he acted as a
God, showing himself as the most
powerful person in the universe, using a
military might to cross the border to
kill thousands of innocent people just
to fulfil his lust and thirst for blood.
But he does not live forever. There was
no Lucifer to come and help him to
prolong his life for even a minute more.
He just died at the age of 94.
George Bush was not the only man we are
talking about. History has listed many
more great men in the past, feared by
many, commanding the world, but finally
disappeared from the face of the earth.
Sadly enough we see such of the arrogant
people before our naked eyes today in
our country. Zahid Hamidi and Noh Omar
are among the kind that we could termed
as beast through their behaviours. Just
download the many videos that
depicting them in public speeches.
Young people never compute the days when
they would die. They thumped their
chest, showing their greatness and
prowess. A couple were about to lose
their breath but still continue to show
their arrogance, haughtiness and
snobbery.
Many a time I surmised how Saddam
Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi met their
death, murdered by their own kind in a
miserable way. At least Bush died a
natural death.
The story of Malaysian politics is comes
under the House of Fame. Najib has been
struggling and spending big money to
build an image of himself to fight the
world's perceptions of him as a crook, a
thief and a kleptocrat. He used millions
of dollars to corrupt the DOJ and the
President of the United States to drop
the issue of 1Mdb.
You can't find no one in the world who
tried to corrupt even God the Almighty.
But you can find this kind of specie in
Malaysia. They are so great with money
they thought they can appease God by
sending people to make pilgrimage.
When they do not think of death, they
also do not think of heaven and hell and
the judgement day. They do not think of
God retribution and comeuppance.
The news of the Big Man's death does not
bring sorrow and sadness. People might
celebrate with dance and crackers,
singing and enjoying the whole night.
|
05/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
PROGRESS
While changes and progress are rapidly
moving and rushing we tend to forget
there are things in and within us that remain
static. In us we have love, greed, anger
and other emotional domains. Within us
we have God, religion, culture, ethics
and morality. Se have to address and
accommodate both the static and the
dynamic domains.
We still believe in the basic of 3R,
reading, writing and Arithmetic, the
foundation we always want to retain.
Else we just chuck them off and having
men without them all. We won't die even
if we dispel the 3R but the whole world
prefer to educate their siblings with
the basic skill.
The believers still want to hold to
their Holly Books and guard them from
any tempering and change, may be it be
the Koran, Torah or the Bible. They have
the house of worships and defend the
place with their lives. The sentiments
towards their religions and customs are
strong and intact.
But technology changes. First it started
out of necessities. Later, curiosities,
that led to research and experiments and
now for power and money. The quantum
leap if when men could squeeze an
elephant to a tiny unseen micron. There
were wafers and microprocessors. All
resulting in magical change in our daily
life from home utensils to
transportation, from giant computers to
a mobile smart phones.
Now it has become an enigma to mankind.
At which point where our young should
start learning and what to learn.
Curriculum is always lagging behind
technological progress. Chasing it is
almost impossible. And technology itself
is huge and widespread.
Somehow we have to make decisions. We
have to have a national philosophy on
what we are going to pursue. Our ideal
have been to pursue for happiness and
tranquility, which is full of hindrances
and obstacles to achieve.
We have our soul and spirit to look
into, our social environment that we
need to interact and respect. We have to
be concerned of our ageing life, economy
and politics. Education is part of our
requirement without which we still
survive.
As far as I am concerned I have made my
own decision. But I have decided whether
it is right or wrong. Let me give you a
scenario of my environment which might
be repulsive and unacceptable.
At home I have several PCs; one with
Windows 10, two old ones with Windows XP
and one Apple Mac. An Apple would be
considered the most advance. I used the
XP version to run my old program which I
wrote in Visual Basic which is a very
useful and powerful language that be
used to developed a very wide range of
applications. The applications can be
used forever as long as the old
operating system like the XP exist.
I do not see any reason why I should
abandon the software that can serve me
well. All that I wish my PCs will stay
to operate till I die. I don't see why
the children who had learned Visual
Basic , C++ programming should abandon
these languages for the new ones just to
follow the progress. What we need is the
supply of computers with the old system
to continue in years to come.
The PC with the newer Windows is to be
used to follow the new language and
system programming like Xamarin, writing
codes for the smart phones and even for
watches. So is the Apple. In other words
I maintain the old system together
following the progress that keep on
changing every two months.
The computer and phone industries will
close down if they were to make things
to last forever. To keep their business
on they keep on changing their products
and the soft ware. You are trapped by
them. They would not keep the old stock
or the spare parts. You have to buy the
new ones.
They will add featured to the
cell-phones to attract you to buy.
I used the phones for the phone purposes
of communication which I seldom make a
call, the Facebook, the Whatsapp, and
the camera. They can come with the new
phone version with whatever new
facilities and features, those will not
influence me to own one.
Similarly with the car I own. As long as
the old car can serve me, I would not
want to buy a new one.
In other words the decision to maintain
the old should be well considered and
take into account rather than to
throw them away. The archaic philosophy
live; keep the old wife even if you have
a new one, keep your faith and tradition
even if there are free thinkers around.
Tradition, the sentiments of love,
jealousy and all the others keep us
together, to reject the unwanted and the
bad and to care of our kind.
We don't leave the old ones despite the
ongoing progress. We have to make
decision on what to follow and what to
retain. |
05/12/2018
Abdul Rahman Raof |
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