Welcoming Ramadhan

Salaam.

I guess I still haven't settled down to blogging just yet. Either that or I've been really busy. Or both. But anyway, who cares anyway? What I care about is Ramadhan. Yes indeed, that time of the year has arrived. Blessed Ramadhan :')

But before I go in deeper.. a congratulations is in order for the Irsyad YODA team who won the debate competition. Yes, they won it. They beat all those other older competitors. Not bad, aye? I'm glad that I was, at the least, with them from the start, even though I didn't contribute much.

So yes, back to Ramadhan. It's already the 11th of Ramadhan. I tell you, it's been hectic, to say the least. I have revisions to do, classes to be in, projects to settle, plans to initiate, moments to cherish. So far, I'm doing a terrible job. School just sucks the energy out of me that by the time I get home, I'm as tired as a lion. A cute, sleepy lion :3

Though I suppose it's all good and well. I'm alive and in in the pinkest of health. Just yesterday, my friends and I, along with a whole load of other people sent the Azhariyyuns to the airport. What's 'Azhariyyuns'? Basically, they are the Pre-U 2 graduates of 2011 who are continuing their studies in Al-Azhar University. I think that's simple enough to understand.

Le Azhariyyuns :')

I suppose I should start to buck up even more. I.. don't work hard or smart enough. So yes, that's what I need to do.

Oh, and I think I should practice on my multi-tasking skills too :B

Hectic

It's been quite something, these past two days. I owe a blog entry for yesterday because.. well, because I was just too tired.

After Friday prayers yesterday, I thought of going home. Sit back, relax, chill. But then some of my classmates volunteered to help invigilate the Sec4's and 5's for their Prelim English oral. Long story short, I helped too and got to know a lot of my juniors' names. That's cool ^^.

Afterwards, I went to Irsyad to help mark the exam papers for the Qamar mentorship program. It was tiring. And dull. And tedious. I salute all teachers for marking papers every year. Oh, and I also helped em' Irsyad YODA debaters discuss about their debates. But me being me, I was the most playful lot. Mmmm yeah.

As for today..

Al-Junied held the 'Mufti Cup Debate'. 6 teams participated, those of which are, Al-Junied, HANZ Junied Alumni, UIA, Madrasah Al-Maarif, Madrasah Al-Zuhri and Jamiyah Business School. Basically, I mostly took photos here and there. And somehow or rather, the urge to debate grew even greater, especially when I heard Redha Elyas speak. Marvelous, he was.

On another note, I got teased and bullied by em' Preu 2 girls. Tsk, only because I let them. And in the presence of Mr Hazrin.. like he defended me. But oh well.

Tomorrow's the finals for the debate AND the semi-finals for the YODA debate. Phew! And then it's Monday all over again. JUST GREAT.

Stepping Out

This past month, debates have been springing up here and there. Debate competitions, to be specific. But yeah, I guess it's understood.

Anyway, a lot of my schoolmates have been taking part in various debates. Bahas 4PM, Musleh, USIM, YODA.. and whatever else there is. To think that I actually sacrificed my weekends to catch them debate is just 'wow'. No really, sometimes I don't even know why I commit so much to being there. Moral support? Perhaps.

I too was asked to join the english Musleh debate team, but I turned them down. Why? Not that I'm not interested, but the amount of time they have to sacrifice is just too much for me. You see, people like me don't like to prepare endlessly. Back in secondary 3, whenever there was a debate, I'd prepare some points and just speak when called. I'm not saying I'm good in anyway. Believe me, I'm bad myself. But I just.. don't like long preparations. I don't live for that.

But then again, winning a trophy ain't that bad either. Ah but.. nevermind.

On another note, today, me and some of my pre-U 1 friends attended a talk by Dr Tariq Ramadan, a renowned scholar. I must say, it was quite interesting seeing him link one different thing to another. But of course, anyone who didn't have the slightest idea of politics would've just bored themselves to death.

I sat alone, fortunately or unfortunately. Everyone else had at least one partner. But as I went in search for a good spot to take photos, I realised everyone else already had a seat. So, I sat beside two strangers.. who turned out to be really friendly.

Us guys with Dr Tariq Ramadan.

All in all, I guess we all need that moment to step out and see new people, learn new things, discover the hidden truth. Maybe today's one of those days. Though I highly doubt I'll be entering any political party in the near future. No way.

Rising from the Ashes

It's been more than a year. Literally, more than a year, since my last blog entry.


Honestly, I didn't have the heart to continue writing after having this long "leave of absence". But the other day, I visited my old blog and it brought me to tears. I don't know why but it just touched me. It was almost like walking back down memory lane, a blast from the past. So y'know, here I am.


A lot has changed. I've graduated from Irsyad. I'm currently studying in Junied. That's basically the long story cut short. But yeah, it's been quite a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I've had to battle the tide of feelings within me, just so I don't go all psychotic. But hey, I'm that emotional dude.


It's different now, somehow. I've had to start from scratch, making new friends, forming new bonds. It's almost sad when I can't get in the same vibe as them. But don't worry, no one's been bad to me. I've just been titchy. There were a few incidents when I blew my top, but not in plain sight, of course. Seriously, I sometimes question my own sanity.


But as a whole, I guess I'm doing fine. But I don't know. I feel as if my social circle is crumbling. The cement of friendship is just being washed away after time. I don't know. This is just some insecure part of me complaining, wanting some attention. But yeah, sometimes I try to think hard what it is that drives me on. In the end, it all comes back to God. My parents too give me emotional support, though they know nothing of what I'm feeling. However, their presence is enough a boost to help me push on.


Whatever it is, I just hope I'll start being the old me again. People find me to be 'optimistic, happy-go-lucky'. That's how I'd like it to remain. Perhaps, soon enough.


P.S. I have quite a load of drafts from last year but I never got to finishing them. Maybe I'll upload em' some time in the near future. Maybe ;)

Last Study Qiyam

Another one of my little sleep-overs in school, or Qiyam, should I put it in a nice way. And as usual, those group of people who live for such occasions; my study group. Seeing as Mid-Year exams are in full heat, we thought we'd have one last night together at school, just for memories' sake.

I was the first to arrive in school, seeing as I live the closest. I texted the others to meet-up at the canteen. It took about half an hour for the group to be complete; Farid, Bukhari, Abd Rahman Rahim, Danish, Abdur Rahman Yassin, Adam, Haziq, Ali, Luqman Hakim, Helmi and myself, accompanied by Mr Izzad, of course.

Dinner was served. Briyani was the night's menu. We dug in heartily, enjoying the spread. Afterwards, we did our Maghrib prayers and shortly after that, our Isya' prayers. But the night did not end there. It never does. We went up to MPR3 and buried ourselves in our books. At certain times, we would ask each other so and so.

As we got later into the night, we began to feel tired. We began running around the room, playing with the sleeping mats. Each of us got on the sleeping mat and Ali would drag us around. I almost hit my head on a chair leg after slipping off the mat!

Soon, midnight approached and we continued to study. Some of us bade goodnight, including me. Yeah, I'm a heavy sleeper. Sooooo, somehow, at about 5am the next morning, I was able to wake up. Not, not because I wake up that easily, but because the room was just too cold. I was freezing. My feet felt all numb the moment I woke up. The others just slept through. Too tired, perhaps?

I did whatever I could in the wake of morning. Fajr prayers commenced shortly after so like it or not, I had to wake the other logs up. So anyway, by 9am, everyone had already washed up and gotten ready to leave. Then out out nowhere, we decided to go to Luqman Hakim's house for a swim. It was naaaise ~

We chased each other in the pool. And as always, we had a race. Mmhm. But it was cool when Mr Izzad taught Abd Rahman Rahim how to swim. I guess I had a partner then. Long story short, we had a good end to the whole session ^^.

So this marks our last ever study group Qiyam together :3

All At Chong Pang

My first kompang performance.

It wasn't actually the perfect first time I'd imagined, but it was fun nevertheless. It started out in the morning. All of the boys planned to meet at Yishun MRT Interchange at about 7:50am. At about 7:55am, me, Bukhari, Syakirin, Ali, Feriza and Zulfaqar had all arrived. Fierdaos then gave us a call, telling us to meet at the Community Centre in the area. Oh by the way, we were performing for an MP in that area.

Anyway, all of us arrived at the place. Fierdaos hadn't arrived yet. We started to panick. We called him again and again, but he kept answering, "On the way..". That helped.

Soon, the people in-charge began asking us if we were ready. We were all getting worried and pissed. To our dismay, the MP arrived and walked right in front of us. We couldn't do anything. Our instruments were with Fierdaos. As the MP made his way into the tented area, we walked away, frustrated at the morning's event.

Finally, Fierdaos arrived in a car, with Pipi and Johan, Fierdaos' other kompang friends. The moment they got out, we explained about the opening ceremony and how it had been a disaster. I was already thinking of what to do for the rest of the day. To settle things, Johan and Pipi went to the organisers and tried to negotiate. Thankfully, they gave us a slot to perform, just before the MP left.

When the moment came, it felt great. All of us sang and played like we'd never done before. The few minutes up there felt like hours. When we got back down, we were all sweating. Happy, and sweating. But that wasn't the end. We had to escort the MP as he shook the hands of the visitors. 20 whole minutes, we walked and played our kompang. 20 whole minutes!

At the end of the day, we all bade our goodbyes. It was my first time ever playing kompang for any official event. And I admit, it wasn't all too bad. The $15 tip wasn't too bad either ;D

EPIC GROUP PHOTO ^^.

Irsyad's Sports Day

21st April 2011. Inter-House Sports Day.

The above statement says it all. The long-awaited event of the year. Coupled with the fact that it is my last year in Irsyad, it just made this day all the more memorable. To add to that, it was my first time taking part in ANY athletics track event.

The day began with the sun welcoming everyone with its radiant shine. Bishan Stadium was the setting, and its seats were filled with hundreds of students, all clad in their own House shirt; Water, Wind, Fire and Earth. For the first half of the day, Irsyad held the Inter-House games for the primary level.

Bishan Stadium ^^.

It was only morning and my heart was already beating fast. I was running for two events; the 100m solo and the 4x100m relay. Ignoring my weak limbs, I dashed to the field and began to take pictures.

The hours passed and bit by bit, the continuous sweating slowly sapped my energy. Fully exposed to the sun's glare, it was impossible not to feel tired and weary. I was hoping with all my heart that the primary level events would end soon. Sure enough, at about 12:30pm, the games were ended and the prizes were given. Water House won 1st place for the primary level^^.

That spurred me on.

After a mass Zuhr prayer at An-Nahdhah Mosque, the secondary girls events began. Us boys were locked out, with good reason. Seeing as we had about 2 to 3 hours of free time, Danish and I rested at the mosque. It was a moment of peace, away from the cheering and the shouting. Then, I had a quick shower, just to freshen up. True enough, the shower did wonders.

Both me and Danish walked back to the stadium, myself feeling very weak. I didn't have much to eat. As soon as we got back to the stadium, it was announced that the secondary boys' runs were about to start. I was almost shaking with fear. I went for my bag and took out my can of Red Bull, something I bought the previous day. Just something which I thought might help.

As soon as I got to the tracks, I was escorted to my racing team. The nerves began to work its way through my body. There weren't just butterflies in my stomach. I think a whole ecosystem of bugs and insects were crawling everywhere inside of me. I started coughing. What a time to get sick, huh?

"The 100m singles event..", went the commentator. I was on the verge of exploding. Gosh. We all lined up at our respective places. I was on Lane no. 1, the farthest away from the spectators. Hah. Not that it mattered anyway!

BANG! The gunshot was fired. I was shocked and for a moment, I couldn't move. Then, my instincts kicked in and I began to put one leg in front of the other. Hanafiah, who was running beside me, literally fell. That was another reason for my state of shock. I was like, "Ugh, run, you fool! Run!". I started off bad and in the end, I got 7th place. I was very demoralised. But nonetheless, people cheered me up, saying it was okay.

My second event was the 4x100m relay. This one, I thought, I had to give it my best. Again, I stepped up to my lane. I was the first runner, by the way. So, in the few moments I had to relax, I just threw away all thoughts of pain. BANG! Gunshot; 4 runners moving off.

I pushed as hard as I could. My left thigh began hurting again, but I just kept on pushing. Until about a few seconds, I made it to the second runner, Syafiq. Gosh, after releasing the baton, all the tension was gone. I ran back to the starting line to accept Danish in my arms when he crossed the finishing line. Well, we got 2nd place! Good enough ;D

Too tired to pose? :3

At the end day, the only thing I felt was comfort. I felt comfortable and also happy that I participated. And even though I didn't win any gold medals, I was glad to know that people still supported me even after the results.

Irsyad family moments <3