One Good TV Drama

I've seen the cerekarama, like more than three times. But the last time it was replayed on TV, it still made me cry. It's hard to come by local or international dramas that linger with you. But this one does. And surprisingly, it's still within the stereotype 'full of air mata' types of malay dramas that local TV stations play and replay over and over. Only, it is much better because of the briliant performance of the actors, especially three of the actors, Eizlan Yusof and the two children actors - I can't remember their names. But they were really good. I was told one of them is actually the son of a famous director.

The title of the drama is Senafas Takbir Terakhir. Wan Maimunah was as good as she always is, only this time she played a 'tougher' role that didn't require her to cry much. Sometimes, I like her that way. She has cried in so many dramas that it's ceased to affect me much. But it's Eizlan that really got me stuck to the TV screen. Besides being goodlooking, he also has that 'sungguh kesian' face which really fit the character as a father who was separated from his son, for doing the wrong thing, at the wrong place and the wrong time.
He got himself into trouble and ended up 'being prisoned' by bad people, leaving his son alone and crying in a cheap hotel room. The scene really touches my heart. A child, who loves his father so much, suddenly found out he is left alone in a strange place with no money, no food and no father. To him, his father must have hated him to have done that. He has no idea that some other situations could also separate him from his father. But the feeling of being left alone would linger in his mind forever. The child's acting was so convincing, you would end up crying with him.

Fast forward, the son (Ako) grew up to be 'quite successful', securing a good corporate post and dating a pretty girl from a rich family. Eizlan (funny, I can't remember his character's name) just came out from the prison and got a job as the driver for the girl's father (surprisingly, there are actually the goodhearted rich after all) and started looking for his separated son. Well, we could expect how the rest of the story continued ....

It's not the story that really touches my heart. It's the characters. The final moment, when they finally met was malam raya. Ako was visiting his girlfriend's family. When he came out from the car, he saw Eizlan, his father, standing and looking his way already with slow and quiet recognition. Speechless and like 'starstruck', Eizlan played his character really, really well. He was really superb. And just Ako was about to start figuring out who Eizlan was (if you were 9 years old at the time your father left you, chances were u would still recognise him 10 or 20 years after that, especially if he was as oustanding physically as the actor), some bad guys who had been waiting for Eizlan's release, for a revenge, approached and shot him on the chest a couple of times. And that was another moment when I felt tears in my eyes. The look on Eizlan's face before he fell to his death. It was 'the blank recognition' look. It 'was the longing for his son' look. The 'sesalan and rasa bersalah' look. Yes, Eizlan was really superb!

And that kind of story happens in real life. Father and child separated due to certain circumstances that are not their faults. Fate has it that way. And finally when they meet, God has better plans for one of them.

It's sad, but still true.

No car, No travel, Less Expenditure

Our car has been at a repair workshop since about two weeks ago. We got into a minor accident while on the way to Trg for raya on Sept 29. It was raining heavily and the visibility was bad, and there was a lot of water on the highway. I didn't know how it actually happened because I'd fallen asleep for quite a while. When I opened my eyes, I realised the car was spinning, but nobody was panicking. Am was looking 'almost' relaxed and the children were laughing at the backseat. I was the only passenger who panicked!



Thanks Allah, We were all safe. The car only hit the divider and no other cars hit us. We continued our journey and only sent the car for repair after we came back to KL, almost one week after raya.



Now Am rides a motorbike to his workplace. For two weekends, we brought the children makan-makan and jalan-jalan, by riding the commuter. It was fun, the children enjoyed the rides and thought they were cool, taking the commuter. I was all game, at least I thought I was. I don't know about my partner. He didn't smile and say much, hard to tell how he felt. I hope he enjoyed the ride too ....



I has been raining almost everyday in the past few weeks. It is 'challenging' for Am, I suppose, as he has to brave the rain, no matter what, to reach the office. But I'm sure he didn't mind much as he knows that it is the same with me. I brave the rain almost everyday too, on my feet! Well, you know how they say it ... Live within your means.



Motorbikes are not a very bad thing. Am used to ride a motorbike when he was younger, and I rode with him too. Funny, I remember we were happy, much happier, when we rode a motorbike, even when we were in the rain. How come we were happier?



I read Jeremy Clarkson's column about motorbikes. He doesn't seem to like motorbikes that much. He even considers bikes as suicidal. But still, his points made me laugh... kinds of make my day.



Clarkson writes:

" ... Bikes and cars are both forms of transport, but they have nothing in common. Imagining that you can ride a bike because you can drive a car is like imagining you can swallowdive off a 90ft cliff because you can play table tennis.

However, many people are making the switch because they imagine that having a small motorcycle will be cheap. It isn’t. Sure, the 125cc Vespa I tried can be bought for £3,499, but then you will need a helmet (£300), a jacket (£500), some Freddie Mercury trousers (£100), shoes (£130), a pair of Kevlar gloves (£90), a coffin (£1,000), a headstone (£750), a cremation (£380) and flowers in the church (£200).
In other words, your small 125cc motorcycle, which has no boot, no electric windows, no stereo and no bloody heater even, will end up costing more than a Volkswagen Golf...."

However, he admits that running a bike is much cheaper than a car.


Yes, it is indeed. Am only spends about RM5 on petrol everyday. That's sure a big difference from what he as to pay for car fuel. But sometimes, I still can't help but feel worried knowing he's out there riding a wall-less small thingy in heavy rain.

But then, like one person who responded to Clarkson's column writes:

"I bought a 50cc motorbike/moped for my son @ 16 yrs. He had it for 1 year, fell off a couple of times & no injuries. At 17 he refused to ride it cause he & his mother said it was dangerous. I bought a 1.1ltr Citroen Saxo, he was killed 2 mths later after hitting a pole side on @ 40mph doing a favour." (Pls accept my condolences)

You'd never know for sure what would actually end your life. Speed doesn't necessarily kill you. So, what does? Well, if only we knew .... But one thing for sure. When the TIME comes, then it's definitely the TIME. No run, no hide.

Allah, please save us all.

Allah, please save Malaysia

The results of the Permatng Pauh by-election turned out as expected by many.
AI has scored big, no surprise. Who is AS, compared to 'ever-changing' AI.

Oh, how I hate hypocrites!!! The worst of hypocrites are populist hypocrites who are always ready to sacrifice even their soul to garner support for themselves.

Allah, please save Malaysia.