Look Ma, I'm on the news!

Our Cat, Bambang!

This is our house's cat. His name is Bambang. Bambang is convinced that he's human: he watches TV on the couch, sleeps on our bed, eats chicken steak from Clemmons, drinks Sprite and tried to joke around with us. We love Bambang! An exception is Ismayudin Ismail because he don't like it when bambang berak depan bilik dia. Hadi Fadhil loves to give Friskies to Bambang, and Bambang prefers it to be served in the Tong Sampah. Azhar Hussein likes to give Bambang a bath, although Bambang hates it. I like to play Bambang a song by Cat Stevens, to remind him that yes, he may one day become a human like Cat Stevens!

Lifestyle of the rich and famous

Yesterday I escorted a group of 50 golfers for the Tan Sri Muhyidin Golf Charity. The Deputy Prime Minister wasn't there yet, so there were just these Dato'-Dato' from the corporate world. We've had many visitors from Malaysia come to Bandung, but most of the times they were politicians. So yesterday we had the first time experience handling businessmen. I am not going to commiserate about their high expectations and their neverending wants and needs, but I feel that I have to write this as a reminder to me, and all of you. So here it goes:

Upon their arrival, I get to know some of them, most are CEOs of companies, and many are multi-millionnaires. We took them to lunch, took them to play golf, and later went to check-in at the hotel. There were about 20 of us escorters, and we waited there until dinner, where we should be joining them at a nearby restaurant (note the word 'should'). Here's the most disappointing part: We were told that only the 5 of us escorters are allowed to have dinner with them. The rest of us would have to find dinner on our own. We were all escorters, we did the same job, and these multi-millionaires can only support the 5 of us? Well, that's okay, maybe they forgot to withdraw their cash, haha, but here's the worst part: for the next day onwards, they wanted less students around because they feel 'uneasy' with too many of us (is 20 too many?). But in the first place, they were the ones who wanted to have students around so that the event would look like more of a student charity than just golfing.

So, more than half of the escorters would have to be 'fired', which is not an easy decision since we did the same job, no more, no less. We sacrificed our time for interview sessions they wanted us to have. Some of the girls were really looking forward to this event, they even shopped for new clothes and accessories to wear, and suddenly today, just like that, they simply didn't want us anymore. Here's a direct quote from one of the Dato' I met at the golf course:

"We are here for you students, ok? We're not here just to have fun, but to do charity. To help all of you"

(Next time, you can talk to the wall, Dato')

I don't really like commiserating, and most of you readers would have notice I rarely talk negatively about other people in my blog. But I really feel this is where I remind myself, when I grow up, and if God willing I become a wealthy person, I would never ever become like these people I met yesterday. It's weird how these people have LOTS of money but still worry about it, don't you think? Hiring students as tourguides when we have classes to attend, so they you don't have to pay for tourguides, and yet treat us like their employees. Be kind to us medical students, Mister, you may be a millionaire but with that fat around your belly, sooner or later you'll be asking our help for your puny little chest pains!

Leaders!

Last month, on my birthday, I had the chance to have lunch with the Minister of Youth and Sports, Dato' Shabery Cheek (he even served some of my foods, how cool is that?). Next week, the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will be coming, and I will have the chance to escort him playing golf. I look forward to it. I like meeting our country's leaders.

The first time I saw Tun Mahathir in person was when I was 9 years old, at a Disney On Ice Malaysian Premiere. He was still the Prime Minister at that time. Then, just a few years ago I saw him again at Isetan KLCC. He was shopping alone with one of his bodyguard, smiling at me and every other people who caught the sight of him. Very humbling, if you ask me.

Tun Mahathir

Then there's Pak Lah, which I met when I was in Standard 3. He came for Friday prayers at a mosque near my house. He was just a minister at the time, with no one having the slightest idea he'd be the Prime Minister one day. I rushed to him straight after he left the mosque and went 'Pak Cik, nak tanda tangan boleh?'. He smiled, and signed an autograph on my mathematics exercise book. I swear I called him Pak Cik because one of my seniors was there too and called me an idiot afterwards for calling a minister Pak Cik. But well, what do kids know about titles and reputations? For them, as long as u look old, we'll call you Pak Cik. If you look terribly old, then we'll call you Atok. Simple as that. People call him Pak Lah anyway, so what's the difference?

Pak Lah

Then when I was 15, I met our current Prime Minister Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak after tarawikh prayers in Masjid Wilayah. He was a minister at the time. My dad happens to treat his ear problem once, and so after the prayers my dad met him to ask how's his ear now. They talked for awhile and I did had the chance to shake his hands.

Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak

I respect the people who lead our nation. As long as they work for a better future for our country, I don't care what's their party, their ideology, or their type of leadership is. Someone entrusted to be a the leader of the country must have fought a long battle to gain the support of the Malaysian citizens. I may not be a politician or a minister one day, but I do hope I'd be a doctor who treats the most important leaders in our country.

Now, now, I guess I left someone here. There's a leader that I respected the most in my life. Even the Kings and Prime Ministers are low key in comparison towards my respect of him. The first time I met him was 22 years ago. Yup, on the day I was born. A leader of the house, the family, the hospital, the university, the medical faculty: Dato' Dr. Lokman Saim... my dear dad. Once he told me to be a better person than him when I grow up. At that time, I thougt that was the craziest idea, I thought I'll never be as good as him. But I hold on to his words until today, and I'm still working on that idea. As your one and only son, I hope I'll never disappoint you, ayah.

My dad

The Leafy Sea Dragon

The Leafy Sea Dragon

It's holiday, and I'm broke, so I'm not coming back to Malaysia, or going to Bali or anywhere people usually go for holiday. Instead, I go to a place people would run away from on holidays: The bustling city of Jakarta. Yep, can you believe it? But the transport's real cheap, so...Jakarta it is. Anyway, we went to Ancol, one of the funnest place to be in Jakarta. There, we went to Seaworld, where there were a lot of fishes, and saw real sea creatures which I wouldn't know existed if not because of Spongebob Squarepants. (Spongebob himself is actually a sponge and I see it quite often in the kitchen).

Anyway, I'd like to tell you how fascinated I was towards this sea creature called 'The Leafy Sea Dragon'. They are relatives to sea horses, but believe me, these creatures are a lot more cool looking! They look a lot more like a sea plant than an animal at first glance, with the exoskeleton of a white seahorse, sprouting green fins which looked exactly like leaves. I thought only insects looked like plants (I saw a praying mentis which looked exactly like an orchid flower once, and was fascinated as much). I was so mesmerized by this creature that other things I saw in Seaworld like the Piranha eating their prey in just one minute, or the Sharks swimming around in circles are low key in comparison. I think in Pokémon, Horsea should evolve into a Seadra, then into a Kingdra, and ultimately, into a LEAFY SEA DRAGON!

My point is, how mystical the Almighty's creatures are. I think Darwinian evolutionists are stupid enough to think that an animal could evole into something that looked like a plant by mere chance. There must be a Creator, the Great Designer of all things, the Designer of Life. So we, as the so called 'greatest of His creations' should take responsibility in protecting other living creatures. Like seahorses and sea dragons!...okay, sharks and dugongs too. So...I think I'm gonna save the environment! Like the late MJ used to sing: 'Heal the world, make it a better place, for you and for me, and the entire human races...if you care enough for the living, let's make a better place for you and for me'

Happy moments in Jakarta