Rumput Itu Lebih Hijau

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Ever heard the phrase "The grass is greener on the other side"?

Sure you have! You think about it all day long don't you? At least I tend to. Well, not all day long *defensive mode*. I think about it when I think about it. Fair enough.

For those of you boring, literal, non-metaphorical people, the metaphor above refers to the human's tendency to look at other people as being more fortunate than they are. Hence, it always looks better on the other side than on our side.

Weird huh? If the grass is always greener on the other side, and our "other side" is the other side, and the other side's "other side" is our side, then which grass is actually greener? I'm not sure if you even understood with that awkward statement but if you could just bear with me, I assure you that you'll get even more confused. Eh?

The point is, sometimes we get too caught up in what others have and we don't, that we forget what we do have and we fail to take advantage of that. Take vision for example. Some people would dream of being blessed with the gift of sight and here we are, failing to appreciate this wonderful gift. That's just a simple example. I'll leave it to you guys to think of even more.

Truth is,

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The grass is greener where you water it. Why waste time looking over the fence when you can spend your time working on perfecting your own lawn? In other words, stop comparing what others have! Start improving yourself with what you already have!

So next time you see someone sheepishly peering over their fence to take a look at your lawn, just give them this piece of advice: Water your grass you lazypants!

The Great Gatsby

It was finals week. Everyone else was pulling up an all-nighter, studying their ass off for the final the next day. What was I doing? I was having a novel-reading marathon. Yup. Finished more books that week than the amount of books the whole year. One of the books that I've read, as you might guess, is The Great Gatsby. It was one of the books listed on the must-read books list on goodreads so I borrowed it from the library.

I haven't seen the movie before I went read the book, so I pretty much didn't know the story at all. What immediately caught my attention was the quote at the beginning of the book. It was a quote by the author's father.

"Whenever you feel like critisizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had" - Nick's dad

That's just one of the truest quotes I've ever read my entire life. Nick's dad must've been a genius! Anyway, I do not intend on elaborating the quote, mostly because I'm not qualified enough and partially because I think it's wonderful for us to ponder upon it on our own. Mind-blowing, when you read and internalize it again and again.

The Great Gatsby was a great book, but it was also one of the few books that I hardly understand a thing. I mean, I do understand the events, but I don't think I fully understood the main gist of the book. ie the hidden meaning and all those literature stuff. I also read 1984 and Animal Farm by George Powell. All of them are heavy books that I'd recommend to anyone looking for some tough reading. Anyway, I've run out of words to say. I'm also dangerously running out of ideas to write in this blog. Hope the quote above blew you away just as it did to me.

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I Think I Was Born Feminist

One of my favourite cartoons was Avatar the Last Airbender. I watched the whole four seasons three freaking times on tv! It was legit the most epic cartoon series ever! (Hi five to those who think the same. You guys rock!). My favourite character of all time is by the name of Toph. It's this kid right here:

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She's a blind orphan who mastered earth bending from badger moles and could actually 'see' her surroundings by feeling the ground using here bare feet. She was exactly the girl I wanted to be: tough, independent, and carefree. She was also famous for her crankiness and short temper. She likes her name - Toph - because it sounds exactly like tough.

Now let's move on to one of my favourite Disney movies (after Monsters Inc.): Mulan. I think almost everyone my age out there have seen this movie at least once in their lifetime. It's the story of Mulan who goes to fight the war by dressing up as a man, since only men were allowed to go to war.

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What do these two have in common? They're fighters. Independent female figures who defy the stereotype against women and show others what they're really capable of doing. As a child, I was fascinated by that idea. Not only that. I also grew furious every time I watch a drama portraying a female getting abused by a male. I disapproved of such symbolization of women; that we are weak and easily manipulated and unable to have our say in a given hierarchy.

But that was long before I knew the term feminism existed. It was just in my instincts that women should be portrayed as a strong and important figures, capable of so much more than merely the dependence on men. Sure, men and women have different roles in society. The only way feminism can work is if men receive the rights of men and women receive the rights of women. But I believe that if women do not need to be protected BY men and FROM men, the world would've been a more peaceful place.

Bottom line: Go watch Avatar the Last Airbender!

"You educate a man, you educate a man. You educate a woman, you educate a generation." -Brigham Young

The 'A' Victim

As scary as the title sounds, it is.

*looks sideways to see if coast is clear*

*runs for dear life while flailing hands and screeching like a wild, messed-up baboon*

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Okay so I'm definitely not the first person to preach "The number of A's on your transcript don't matter", but I feel that I, too, would like to share my own experience of being "The 'A' Victim"
*evil laugh and creepy flashing lights*

First of all, I was admitted to a regular daily school for both my primary school years and lower secondary school years. That's age 7-15 years old for you peeps who's asking. Typically, the goal of each student is to score as many A's as they can get for the standardized test at the end of primary school and lower secondary school known as UPSR and PMR respectively. As a result, lots of time and money are spent towards ensuring that a piece of paper has stacks of A's printed on it. I, of course, wasn't excluded.

"But ma'am, are you saying that I should neglect studying altogether?" questions an imaginary young girl with innocent blue eyes.

"Absolutely not!" replies the author of the blog, suggesting to the imaginary girl to read until the end of the post to truly understand its contents.

Me from the past spent most of her days studying for exams. With her big brother in boarding school and her dad in a different state (due to work reasons), she was only home with her mom with nothing to do for fun but watch tv or surf the Internet or play games. That was her typical daily routine: study, TV, Internet, games, and sometimes going out on the weekends. Me from the past, unlike me from the present, didn't think the routine was boring, for she had been going through a similar cycle ever since she could remember. Of course, she undoubtedly have an unbroken chain of A's on her UPSR and PMR transcript.

Now back to the future: the present. Upon entering upper secondary education at PERMATApintar, I have begun to question what me from the past have learned. All those years in school and I've learned too few, if anything, about life. I've learned too few, if anything, about myself. It is in PERMATApintar that I've discovered so many things; more than what I've discovered hitherto. Going through interviews and college applications, I learned that your personality is what sets you apart from everyone else.

So, as a student, what should you do? Sure, your exam scores do somehow reflect how responsible you are with you current job: a student. The goal of getting an A is a decent one, and everyone should have that goal. However, you should never, ever let that goal limit your vision of the endless discoveries of life. Explore your interests, do what you like. e.g. If you are intrigued by science, join some science program out there, read about it, and let your inner curiosity take over. Why? Because the answer to the question "What do you wanna be when you grow up" can only be answered with full honesty if you know what exactly makes you jump up and down for joy.

There's lots of things that you can get involved in, and it does not necessarily have to come from the school. The Internet is absolutely a great way to start (for you younger ones, I believe adult supervision is necessary). Engage in science forums, join an online art class, read advanced literature if you're a lit geek (I'm sure they exist somewhere on the web). Learn about your religion, memorize the Quran, learn a new language, read about what happened today in history. The possibilities are endless!

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It's a bit late of a realization for me. But I guess this experience has enabled me to write this post today from a personal point of view. It's not until I entered PPN that I started taking baby steps away from the hands of the A catastrophe. I've recently just completed my first year in college. In my second year I experimented my time management skills by taking part in so many different things that I barely have time to study. But it all turned out okay.

The bottom line is, whenever you see a chance for you to make a journey of self-discovery, grab it, even if it means losing (some of) your study time.

Trust me, I'm a college student B)