Understanding The Drama In Life

Beneath the gleaming moonlight, Underneath the dazzling stars, The heart keeps beating fast, Pumping the fear to all the veins, Driving the pain to the feeble mind, Thrusting the loneliness to the helpless body, Propelling the twinge back to THE HEART… When will the heart stop pumping fear to the veins? When will the heart stop driving pain to the feeble mind? When will the heart stop thrusting loneliness to the helpless body? When will the twinge stop propelling back to the heart? When? When? When? When the day THE HEART stops beating...

When I was young, I would listen to this song every night and day and memorising each of the lines by heart. At that time, I even felt my days were incomplete if I don't have this song to be played on my cassette player. Today, as I walk down the memory lane, I realised how much the song has affected my life. Like the song, I have lots of questions too, that I have yet to find the answer. The more I question myself, the harder and complicated life seems to be. I guess some of the things in life are not meant to be revealed, it is better left unanswered. The song brings a lot of melancholy, heartbreaking, beautiful memories that skinned my heart from my teenage years until today. This song can bring smiles to my face, can welled up tears in my sombre eyes, both at the same time. For now and always, this evergreen song will have a very special place in my forlorn heart.

As I was flipping through my books today, I received a text message on my phone from my beloved sister saying that she has safely reached John F. Kennedy International Airport approximately a couple of hours ago. “Alhamdulillah…” I whispered to myself. She is one of the three lucky journalists from all over the world chosen to receive the Dag Hammarskjold Memorial Scholarship Fund of the United Nations Correspondents Association. Your message, Yanti, somehow triggers me to walk down the memory lane… “Akak, look what I’ve found. Strawberry Shortcake!! I want to ask dad to buy for me.” Yanti tugged my dress to get my attention when we were at the toy section at Ipoh Metrojaya one afternoon. “Hey, you better don’t. This doll is too expensive you know. Dad can’t afford it!” “Dad...dad...Can you buy me this Strawberry Shortcake, pleaseeee?” Ignoring my warning, Yanti would scream at the peak of her voice without even noticing several customers nearby sneering at us for whatever reason, I wa...

My trip to Kuala Selangor was a fantastic one. I never thought that I could actually enjoy it but I did. To be free from the hustle and bustle of the city, it was such a serene and tranquil feeling…something that I have lost for quite some time. The bus left at about 1:30pm and after more than 2 hours, we reached our first destination, the Kuala Selangor Nature Park. We were greeted by a group of “friendly” monkeys, eyeing on us for any handbags or stuffs that they can snatch and make them their own. Well, not so fast monkeys…we were warned earlier of your "warm welcome" so we were quite prepared for that. Besides the Nature Park, we also visited the historical site, Bukit Malawati and later to watch millions of fireflies flashing their lights at Kampung Bukit Belimbing. Here are some of the shots taken during my visit there. My friends and their children were crossing the shallow river using the shaky rope bridge. It’s kind of fun and thrilling!! The Rope Crossing reminds me...