The Lost Continent

Apa orang lain suka, belum tentu kita akan suka. Atau boleh suka.

Ada seorang pembaca yang saya sangat hormat pendapatnya. Beliau seorang peminat tegar Bill Bryson, dan saya faham kenapa. Bill Bryson adalah salah seorang penulis travel humour yang paling terkenal serta terbijak. Beliau juga dilantik menjadi chancellor Durham University, satu pengiktirafan yang bukan calang-calang.

Jadi saya mencuba Bryson. Selepas The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America dan buku ini, saya rasa, terima kasih sahajalah.

Berbalik kepada The Lost Continent, catatan kembara Bryson merentasi Amerika Syarikat. Kata bekas rakan sekelas saya yang juga seorang Mejar, Amerika itu empat zon masa besarnya. Empat! (Jumlah rasminya ialah enam, jika Hawaii dan Alaska diambil kira.) Cuba bayangkan!

Matlamat Bryson ialah untuk menjejaki semula laluan yang pernah dilalui oleh bapa beliau dahulu semasa membawa mereka sekeluarga makan angin pada musim cuti. Bermula dari pekan asal beliau Des Moines, Iowa, Bryson merentasi berpuluh-puluh pekan kecil, bandaraya serta pusat tarikan pelancong untuk membawakan Amerika yang kita jarang-jarang ketahui, dari kaca mata beliau. Dan dari sini segalanya mula hilang tarikan sedikit demi sedikit.

Bryson adalah seorang penulis yang sangat lucu. Saya amat percaya inilah tarikan utama buku-buku beliau. Cubalah jengah ke bahagian buku travel, saya percaya judul-judul oleh Bryson akan ada paling kurang sebuah dua. Kebanyakkannya adalah best seller.

Saya sendiri ada masanya tergelak besar, digetelek narasi yang sinis. Tetapi lawak beliau juga sering kali asidik dan agak juvenile, hampir apa-apa beliau boleh jadikan modal lawak, termasuk ahli keluarga sendiri. Agaknya orang di Amerika sangat tahan kutuk.

Sekurang-kurangnya pengetahuan saya tentang Amerika dan sosio-budayanya ada bertambah walaupun sedikit. Maaf, Encik Bryson, pengetahuan Tuan sangat luas dan penulisan Tuan sangat menghiburkan, cuma lawak Tuan yang membuatkan saya rasa nyilu.

Logik(ah?)

Logik Syarikat Pengeluar:
"Produk kita perlu tidak terlalu baik mutunya. Biar rosak selepas digunakan seketika. Kemudian pembeli terpaksa membeli yang baru. Apabila mereka membeli berulang kali dari kita, kita akan dapat untung yang banyak."

Logik Pembeli:
"Saya perlu membeli produk yang bermutu tinggi kerana duit saya adalah terhad. Saya tidak mahu terpaksa berulang kali menggantikan produk yang rosak walaupun baru sahaja dibeli."

*****

Logik Orang Perempuan:
"Kenapa orang lelaki tidak suka bertanya apabila sesat jalan? Jika mereka berhenti untuk bertanya arah tentu kami sudah tiba ke tempat yang dituju. Itulah lelaki. Ego."

Logik Orang Lelaki:
"Kenapa aku masih tidak berjumpa jalan yang dicari? Mungkin skil navigasi saya sudah tumpul kerana selalu bergantung kepada alat GPS. Baik, saya akan terus mencari di mana saya tersilap dan akhirnya jalan yang betul."

*****

Logik Bekas Penagih:
"Saya rasa saya sudah tidak ketagihan lagi. Saya akan uji diri saya dengan mengambil (bahan ketagihan) ini. Jika saya sudah sembuh, tentu (bahan ketagihan) ini tidak akan memberi kesan kepada saya, bukan?"

*****

Logik dari Syaitan:
"Siang dan malam saya melanggar perintah Tuhan saya. Dia tentu murka dengan saya. Tetapi bukankah Dia juga Maha Pengampun?"

The most important lesson I learned from business and management books

One of the first actual business book I've ever read, a bit idealistic in my opinion but abundantly informative

Reading is a relatively cheap hobby— unless you buy every books you read.

As student in management school, I had to do a lot of reading about business, management, finance, economics and the sort. Most of my reading materials are articles and blogs, which are mostly free (unless we consider electricity and Internet connection as costs). But those aren't enough. I sometimes need to read deeper into certain topics, in which case I need books.

And cheap they are not.

Have you ever browsed the business section of a book store? Just look at the price stickers. If you don't have more than RM50, I recommend you learn speed reading and how to read standing up or in small tight spaces.

I do however see the reason why. Books are merchandise and there have their own markets. For business and management books, the target group are mainly managers and executives and businesspersons, who are often seen as having money to spare. Or, if we look at it from a different perspective, these people don't just buy books. They invest. The books they get are carefully considered for their perceived benefits.

Publishers know this of course. If these people are going to buy in limited quantity, let's bump up the price and go for the highest profit margin as possible.

Interestingly business and management also do follow trends. Back in the 80s total quality management was huge and everybody wanted to follow the Japanese. At one time not very long ago knowledge management was all the rage, and that lasted a while until they realised that even the experts could not agree of the definition of knowledge management. The trends reflect the changes in the business world, which is why we're now seeing tons of books singing praises about the marvels of Internet commerce.

I'm no manager nor executive nor businessperson nor anyone of that bracket. I'm a student. Unlike these people, money I ain't got a lot.

Here's the tricky thing about business and management books. With novels or cookbooks or even coffee table books, we can still try our luck at warehouse sales or stock clearance sales or used books sales, when their prices are way, way cheaper. Business and management books however are often rare at these venues.

I have a hypothesis for this. With business and managements, the quantity ordered by the book store is only as much as they can expect to sell. Hence, most of these books end up being sold with only few excess copies in the warehouse, if any.

If my hypothesis holds, it would explain why I almost never find business and management books, especially the good ones, at these sales. (I could of course try to find them at a library.)

Given the limited money and time (and shelf space) we are able set aside for books, it makes lots of sense to carefully plan our reading and buying. After all, our goal is to read a lot and benefit as much as possible from it. And that sounds a lot like making an investment.

In one interview, our current PM says this is one of his favourite book. I finally got my copy after two years waiting for a discount

The Remains of the Day

Dari mana saya mengenali The Remains of the Day? Dari adaptasi filemnya.



Berlatar belakangkan England pra dan pasca Perang Dunia ke-2, buku ini mengisahkan tentang Stevens, seorang butler di rumah agam bernama Darlington Hall. Pemiliknya, Lord Darlington, merupakan seorang pegawai yang terlibat dalam urusan diplomatik. Tetamu yang keluar masuk Darlington terdiri daripada rakyat pelbagai negara, termasuklah Jerman yang pada awal cerita sedang bersiap sedia untuk menyerang negara-negara Eropah lain.

Sebagai butler, Stevens secara tidak lansung menjadi saksi kepada pelbagai peristiwa yang penting di dalam sejarah Britain. Sebagai orang tengah antara wakil pelbagai negara, Lord Darlington dibebani dengan tekanan yang amat berat. Sikapnya yang agak berlembut terhadap Jerman menyebabkan dia yang dituduh sebagai pengkhianat.

Semua ini adalah imbauan Stevens. Selepas perang Darlington Hall berpindah milik kepada Encik Farraday, seorang rakyat Amerika, yang mencadangkan kepada Stevens agar bercuti dan mengambil masa untuk berehat sambil menikmati keindahan kawasan luar bandar. Dengan buku The Wonder of England di tangan, Stevens mengatur perjalanan menelusuri destinasi seperti Salisbury, Devon dan Weymouth.

Di Weymouth Stevens ingin menziarahi Miss Kenton, yang kini Puan Benn, salah seorang bekas tenaga kerja Darlington Hall. Mereka sama-sama bekerja ketika ayah Stevens masih berkhidmat dengan Lord Darlington. Perkenalan membibitkan perasaan, namun kedua-dua Steven dan Miss Kenton memendamkan perasaan demi profesionalisme.

Seorang butler bukan hanya seorang pembantu. Bidang tugas seorang butler meliputi menguruskan urusan rutin dan peribadi tuannya, memastikan makanan terhidang pada waktunya di samping menunggu di ruang makan sehingga selesai waktu makan dan menjadi teman berbincang serta penyimpan rahsia. Untuk menjadi seorang butler yang secekap Stevens memerlukan latihan yang bertahun-tahun lamanya. Sering kali di dalam perjalanan, fikiran Stevens akan membawanya kembali ke Darlington Hall zaman Lord Darlington, tentang taraf perkhidmatan yang telah dia curahkan. Stevens mengukur dirinya terhadap butler lain yang ternama termasuk ayahnya sendiri.

Cita-cita Stevens ialah untuk menjadi butler yang paling profesional. Profesion butler sedikit sebanyak adalah legasi sistem kelas masyarakat Inggeris. Hanya golongan atasan sahaja yang mampu untuk menggaji para butler dan pembantu lain. Agak sukar untuk membayangkan prospek kerjaya untuk seorang butler kerana butler adalah ketua bagi semua pembantu rumah.

Dari trailer di atas saya diingat kepada satu subplot mengenai pemberhentian dua orang pembantu wanita berbangsa Yahudi daripada Darlington Hall kerana kegusaran Lord Darlington mengenai bangsa itu. Peristiwa ini menimbulkan ketegangan di antara Stevens dan Miss Kenton kerana Miss Kenton berpendapat kedua-dua wanita ini adalah di antara pembantu yang paling cekap di bawah tadbirannya. Isu anti-Semitisme dan diskriminasi ditimbulkan. Sebagai pembaca Muslim, saya tidak mampu mengelak daripada mempunyai reaksi kerana ketika ini mengikut sejarah negara haram Israel sedang dibentuk dan paling penting sekali usaha ini telah berlaku dengan sokongan dan bantuan kuat daripada Britain.

Pertemuan semula Stevens dan Puan Benn agak berlainan daripada jangkaan saya. Saya mengharapkannya menjadi klimaks cerita ini tetapi saya dapati pengalaman Stevens dan imbauan-imbauannya ketika dalam perjalanan jauh lebih sarat dengan makna. Ini adalah buku Kazuo Ishiguro saya yang kedua selepas Never Let Me Go, dan saya menanti peluang untuk membaca yang lain.

Dan filem tadi? Saya belum pernah menontonnya.

The Resident Tourist Part 1-3

Perhaps in the minds of many (Singaporeans or not), Troy Chin may have done something that is rather, well, daft. After a few years as a successful music manager in New York, he decided to quit and returned home to Singapore to pursue his interest: comics.

According to Troy himself, the Singaporean comics industry is almost non-existent, which makes his decision to become a comic artist even more baffling. Ignoring all critics and naysayers, Troy went to work immediately. The result is a couple of self-published series and the three-part (so far) The Resident Tourist.

I'm not sure if The Resident Tourist is entirely autobigraphic. Some time in 2007, the story's Troy is back in Singapore, trying to explain to everyone including himself why he's home when many other Singaporean are trying to make a break abroad. The reason for the return was never fully explained. This puts Troy on a journey to rediscovery Singapore where he encounters sceptical acquaintances, development, childhood memories and odd dreams starring Alf and Thom Yorke.

As a Malaysian I find The Resident Tourist very insightful. I get to know Singapore a bit more other what I see in Phua Chu Kang (that's how much I know Singapore). I do wish Malaysian comic artists especially the younger ones would strive to do the same.

The Resident Tourist Part 1-3 along with the rest of Troy's are readable online at his website. Part 4 and 5 are rumoured to be in the works. Over here only Part 3 is available in stores in hardcopy.

Brazil-maru

I didn't know until recently that South America is home to many Japanese communities. The communities flourished as early as the beginning of the 20^th century as a result of the South American countries' effort to work closely with the Japanese in advancing their agricultural sector. This is noteworthy because the Japanese are not known to venture out in large number to foreign countries, compared to the Chinese or Indians.

Today South American Japanese are comfortably at home, assimilated while still holding on to the identities that defines them as Japanese. Brazil is now home to the biggest Japanese outside Japan. In Brazil-maru, novelist Karen Tei Yamashita takes us back to 1925, when a ship of hopeful immigrants makes it way to a new world entirely alien to them.

This situation brings up a very important question, "When a community is first starting out, what should it concerns itself first?" With limited resources and very few people, some agenda have higher priority than others. How would money, for example, be allocated? If we recall the Sirah, when Rasulullah SAW arrived in Madinah (or Yathrib at the time), he immediately build the masjid. The masjid functions not only as place of worship but also as the centre of governance and administration, learning and a venue to address social needs. One well-planned institution can solve many of the community's issues at once.

In the novel, the community leaders discussed at length how should the community be developed. I find it interesting that they believed some area should be cleared to allow the children to play baseball. I wonder if the penghulus of our kampungs was concerned about the children's needs when they first settled.

As novel, the community is only a stage where the real story is played out by several important people in it. The first to tell the story is Terada Ichiro, who was child when the he and his family boarded the Brazil-maru and practically grew along the community itself. They chose a area called Esperança, a place reasonably near to other other Japanese immigrant farming communities, although they were largely invisible. Ichiro was the character I sympathised with the most.

Throughout the story one name stands out the most. Uno Kantaro. Charismatic even since he was a young man and just a few year older than Ichiro, Kantaro seemed destined to become a pivotal figure in the community's history. It's not surprising to see someone like him to rise in his society, especially when he's showing a lot of leadership potential. What's interesting was seeing how loyal the community was to their leadership, even when the leaders are making bad decisions.

Brazil-maru made me think about how a community, and eventually society and civilisation, develops. We are here in this society because of the actions and decision of the previous generations. They had very little idea about how their lives would impact us, as are we totally ignorant about how our lives might impact the lives of our children and grandchildren. Time and place may differ, but we are still sailing on the same ship.

Dakwah Corner Bookstore: Sumur ilmu yang menanti untuk dikunjungi

Guru saya Puan J mencadangkan saya membaca buku ini. Saya tanya, Di mana buku ini dijual, Cikgu? Tak pasti, Puan J cuba mengingat, tapi saya selalunya ke Dakwah Corner Bookstore, cuba cari di sana.

Selama ini saya tidak tahu tentangnya, walhal saya sudah melewati kawasan tersebut beberapa kali untuk ke jualan gudang Times, MPH dan sebagainya. Nampaknya kali yang akan datang saya ada sebab baru untuk berada di situ lama-lama.

Dakwah Corner Bookstore (M) Sdn Bhd
34-1 Jalan 14/22, Section 14,
46100 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan,
MALAYSIA
(Near Masjid Bulat / Right Angle)

Tel/Fax : +603 7956 4664
Mobile : +6018 272 1225
Email : sales@dakwahbookstore.com.my


View Larger Map

CPU in ICU 3

The title may be a bit misleading. The truth is I've no idea which component is really in ICU. It could be the CPU, the motherboard or maybe just the cooling fan. My computer mentor, Tuan Ali, and I were too scared to troubleshoot, lest we short out the entire PC. Let the mystery remain and our pockets undisturbed. For the moment.

Tuan Ali was generous enough to lend me his spare motherboard (or if you prefer, the mobo) and most of the component on it. Now I've nearly I gig of RAM and faster processor. I feel like Schumacher right now.

Also, I would like to extend a round of deserving thanks to my long time chum Zha for helping me by loaning his Netbook when I really needed a Windows machine to do some analysis work. MnM, another long time chum, a really tall dude with really big heart, for offering his monitor when mine finally decided to 'retire' after 7 years of faithful service. And of course Tuan Ali, for making me feel like I'm on the Ferrari F1 team. May Allah repay your kindness.

CPU in ICU 2

Every time my PC goes kaput, I learn new things.

The first time it happened, I learned the importance of having backups.

The second time taught me that backups shouldn't be on the same hard disk even if there are on separate partitions because if the whole hard disk goes, then the backup goes too.

This time I'm being enlighten on the virtues of having a dual-boot PC, which means I have both Windows and Linux installed. If one fails, the other can take over. Right now, my Windows XP has been unresponsive but thank God Ubuntu can read files in XP partitions. I can't use some of the Windows program but I'm still can do my work with Openoffice and surf the Net with Firefox. I can also play most of my media files, except one recording that's in Real Media video format.

Ubuntu has been a live saver. From I've been through, I strongly recommend that everyone should consider having Linux installed as a second operating system if there's space available. Some claim that Mint Linux more friendly for immigrants from Windowsland, but I can't really comment because I haven't tried it.

Please be careful, though. Installation of additional operating systems should only be done after Windows has been freshly installed or reinstalled, and all important files have been safely backed up. Remember, safely backed up. Learn from my mistakes, people.

CPU in ICU

Will be taking a break from online activities for a while since my PC is in coma. No clear idea of the cause. Wrote this using my friend Zha's HP netbook. Thanks, bro, for the help and for letting me try out a Netbook for the first time.