My Grandmother’s Wish

       After my mother, the next strong woman that I know closely in my life is my grandmother and I call her as ‘Tok’. I still remember 9 years ago, during the burial of my late grandfather, she did not sit in the corner, grieving her husband’s death. But she greeted all our family members with smile, she even asked me if I want to eat something because I was rushing coming back from school, and she made sure the burial went smoothly on that day. Sometimes, I saw her wiping her tears and she smile again greeting all guests and our family members.

       She earns her own money by harvesting rice in her own paddy fields. I’m still remember when I was young, I used to ride her lorry and follow her selling ‘ais kacang’ and ‘laksa’ at nearby ‘pasar pagi’. She’s not only can drive a van but a lorry as well. She is so generous because she will give pocket money to all her grandchildren that visit her from as low as RM50. Last year, when I was going back to visit her during ‘Hari Raya Aidiladha’, she gave me ‘duit raya’. Then, I told her, “Tok, kakak dah kerja la sekarang. Takyah la bagi duit raya.” But she said, “Kakak tak kahwin lagi, takpa la Tok bagi duit sikit.” Even when I was studying in high school which is Jenan, everytime she visited me during weekend, she will give me pocket money.

Picture 1: Me and Tok when I was 2 years old

       She is someone that always prioritize education in her family. When I was in high school, she once told me, “Abah belajar sampai dapat masuk universiti, kakak pon belajar la elok-elok kat Jenan ni sampai dapat masuk universiti macam abah.” Then, before I’m coming back to Japan to work, I visited her to bid farewell. She said something that I never forgot. “Kakak, nanti belajar la sampai Master macam mama. Tengok mama belajar tinggi-tinggi sampai Master.” I felt so envy with my mom because she has such a wonderful mother-in-law like my grandmother. Since then, I always pray that one day my mother-in-law will compliment me in front of my daughter just like my grandmother complimented my mom.

Picture 2: Me, Abah, Mama and Tok when I was 17 years old

       When my grandmother told me that she wanted me to further to Master degree like my mom, I took it very seriously. I applied to almost all scholarships that available for foreign students in Japan such as Rotary Scholarship, MEXT and Tokyu Scholarship Foundation as well as Yayasan Pelajaran MARA (YPM). I sacrificed my summer holiday to prepare research proposal, asking letter of recommendation from my lecturer, writing essays for scholarship applications and practicing for scholarship interview. Out of many scholarships that I applied, I managed to go to final interview for Tokyu Scholarship Foundation and Yayasan Pelajaran MARA (MARA).

       However, I failed to get place in Tokyu Scholarship Foundation. A few weeks later, I got informed that I was listed as one of recipient for Master degree scholarship from Yayasan Pelajaran MARA (YPM). It was a happy moment for me until I found out that because of the limited budget, YPM just offered school and tuition fees only. That means, if I accept the offer, I need to do part time job while working to support my living expenses as my parents could not afford to support expensive living cost in Japan. I don’t want to give up because I remember my promise to my grandmother. I discussed this problem with my parents. They said if I want to work while studying, they only let me do that in Malaysia, not in foreign countries. They gave me two choices, if I want to stay longer in Japan, I need to find job. If I want to further study to Master degree, I need to go back to Malaysia.

       I cried a lot. I prayed a lot. For a week, I isolated myself because I didn’t want people see me sobbing. Until one day, I made my own decision. I will find job here in Japan and maybe will continue further my study to Master degree after a few years. I was quite embarrassing actually because before this, I always post in my social media account that I will continue to Master degree. Well, we only can plan, but Allah is the one that will decide our paths, right? After finish struggling to find scholarships to Master degree, I struggle once again to find job in Japan. Alhamdulillah, after I failed interview in almost 12 companies, I finally got a job in Japan.

       2 years later, I saw my friends who are in same batch with me when we came together to Japan, successfully graduated with Master degree in Japan. I felt happy for them because I know how much they struggle to study, doing research and doing part time job at the same time. But I was thinking, perhaps if I just accept the scholarship from YPM and ignored my parents’ wish, maybe I’m already graduated with Master degree right now just like my friends. I wonder if I was the one that give up earlier? I always look for opportunity to find scholarship to further study to Master degree until now, but I have to commit with my work first.

       This is part of my unfulfilled wish as well as my grandmother’s wish. I always have this dream that I want all my family members especially the women in my family to have the highest education level as possible. Since my mother has started it, I know I should just continue the legacy.

밥 먹었어요? Have you eaten?

Assalamualaikum wbt

       During my Korean language class, my teacher told me that when Korean people meet each other,  they always ask this question to start a conversation, “밥 먹었어요?  (Read: Bab meogeosseoyo? Meaning: have you eaten?)” So, she said it is kind of weird to ask someone whether he/she has already eaten or not. Even Japanese people did not ask that question because eating is considered as someone’s private matter (my Korean language teacher is a Japanese). So, she asked me what Malaysians always ask when they meet each other? I answered, “tengah buat apa tu? (English: what are you doing right now?)”. Even though some people in Malaysia considered this question as not common sense because you obviously saw that person is doing something, yet you still ask this question. But somehow it becomes a habit or so-called culture to ask someone about what he/she is doing right now, am I right?

       Then, she said that there is actually a story behind why Korean people always ask whether you have eaten or not. If we look back in Korea history, the Korean War of 1950–1953 devastated the country and the economy was ruined. In 1950s during the springtime, after the autumn harvest had been eaten and before new crops could be gathered, poor people will would scour the hills for edible herbs and plants. Food was difficult to come by in Korea that many school children depended on foreign food donations like powdered milk for their lunch. So, instead of “how are you?” these people started to ask each other “have you eaten?” during conversation to know about each other’s well-being.

       In the 1960s, South Korea under President Park Chung-hee launched economic and social development plans, and soon the economy began to grow. The Korean economic miracle finally achieved and has made a dazzling national transformation from poverty to wealth. The capstone of this achievement was the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where Koreans displayed their ability to host successfully a world-class event. Korean dishes such as kimchi are widely appreciated all over the world. And now in Korea, even food is much more abundant than before, this question “have you eaten?” has maintained relevance as a way to ask about someone’s well-being.

So, have you eaten today?

      

I Almost Got Scammed

Assalamualaikum wbt.

       This story is based on my own experience and I pray everyday so that I will not experience the same thing and be more careful in the future. This happened on Saturday, 23^rd February 2019. I was in a very good mood on that day, I had a pleasant time in my Korean language lesson in the morning. Then, I ate superb delicious tempura at a new Halal restaurant in Yurakuchou. So, yeah basically everything went well on that day. I went home and I called my mom but she did not pick up her phone as she was busy playing with her cats. After I hang up the phone, I heard someone rang the bell of my house. In my house, there is a camera with 通話(read: tsuuwa, meaning telephone) that enable me to see and talk to the person outside without opening the door.

       So, usually if a stranger, someone that I don’t know, or someone that wearing NHK tag rang the bell, I will talk via the 通話 and told them that I’m busy or I just ignore them. On that day, it was cold outside. When that person rang the bell, I talked via the 通話 that I’m busy and hoping that he will leave immediately. However, it didn’t happen like that. He was persistently waiting outside of my house. Then, I looked at the camera again and I saw he was wearing a nametag written ‘NICHI GAS’. I thought maybe there is something urgent about my bill gas or he wanted to explain something about my gas condition. I opened the door, and that was my mistake.

       Using gas for cooking in Japan is not like in Malaysia. In Malaysia, we buy that ‘tong gas’ and connect with tube to the stove. Here in Japan, there is already a gas pipe that linked to the stove, so we just need to call the company that provide gas and pay monthly bill to them like other bills such as electric and water bills. As I live in Tokyo, I’m using service from Tokyo Gas company. So, that person outside introduced himself as a promoter from ‘NICHI GAS’ company. He asked me how much I paid my gas bill monthly in average. I told him in average I paid around 2000 yen per month. Then, he took out his phone and opened an app of his company.

       He showed me the calculation that if I used his company’s service, I will get 9% discount which is around 1820 yen per month in average. When he said that, I started to feel that I’m not interested to his offer because 9% discount is too little for me. There will be nothing change and so far, I don’t have any problem with my current gas company. Then, he opened his bag and he was looking for something. With a smiling face, he said he forgot to bring the pamphlet. I started feeling suspicious. In my opinion, if I work as a promoter, company’s pamphlet is necessary for me to explain and convince my customers. If I forgot to bring it in front of my customer, I won’t smile. I will feel panic, worry and apologize badly to my customer.

       But he didn’t look sorry when he told me that he forgot to bring the pamphlet. Instead, he asked me if I’m interested to sign a contract with him and he asked me to show my ID card. Then, I said no. I’m not interested. This is where my debate began with him.

Mr. N: Why not? You don’t want to pay the bill much cheaper monthly? Can you tell me the reason?

Me: I don’t have any problem so far with my gas company. I’m afraid if I change to a new one, it will be complicated. Plus, 2000 yen per month is affordable me, I don’t have problem to pay it.

Mr. N: It is not that complicated, if you want to cancel, you can just call our company. We will give 2000 yen discount in the first month if you use our company’s service.

Me: No, thank you. I’m not interested. I’m okay so far.

Mr. N: Can you tell me the reason why no?

Me: I don’t have reason. It’s that wrong if I don’t give the reason? Is there any rules saying that I’m wrong if I don’t give the reasons?

Mr. N: It is wrong. If there is no reason, you should use our company’s service and both of us will get benefit. I have explained so much things about this. It a good manner if you accept my offer.

Me: I’m sorry about my manner but I’m not interested. I’m so sorry.

       Then, I quickly closed the door. It was so scary for me and I was so shocked. This is my first experience and I just don’t like the way he talked about manner. I’m not a native Japanese and maybe I don’t understand much about Japanese manner, but I understand my right as a customer so well. When I shared my story with my other friends who live here, they said that they have experienced the same things. When it comes to crimes or scam, it can happen everywhere in this world. I pray that I will always be safe here and I hope that all of you be aware with your surroundings. May Allah protects all of us from any harm.

Legal Abortion

Assalamualaikum w.b.t.

       I’m quite hesitant to write about this topic as abortion is such a quite sensitive stuff to ladies. But as a lady, it is my right and my concern to expose this topic to public even though I’m neither a married lady nor a mother. The reason that triggered me to write about this was when I read a book entitled ‘Freakonomics’ written by Steven D. Levitt who is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago and Stephen J. Dubner who was a former writer and editor at the New York Times Magazine. I haven’t finished reading this book yet but I’m already feel astonished on how this book changed my perspective towards economy and things that I thought have nothing to do with economy such as abortion.

Picture 1: Freakonomics

       Inside the Chapter 4 ‘Where Have All the Criminals Gone’, when the crime rate began falling in the early 1990s in United States, it surprised everyone and took some experts many years to recognize that crime was falling as they were so confident forecasting that crimes will continuing to rise. So, the effect of the crime-drop is the stronger economy. These experts started to investigate factors that linked to crime-drop explanation such as increased use of capital punishment, increased number of police, tougher gun laws etc. Until they investigated the last factor which is aging of the population. At first not many experts realized about this as they were only looking on the surfaces that related to crimes such as laws, police officers and policies.

       Criminologists like Wilson and James Alan Fox had badly misread the demographic data. The real population growth in the 1990s was in fact among the elderly. That is what makes this aging-of-the-population theory of crime reduction so appealing tidy since people mellow out as they get older, more older people must lead to less crime. So now, the decrease of crime rate leads to the stronger economy. The increase of older people leads to the decrease of crime rate. But what leads to increase of older people? Because if this continue, it will give bad effect to the economy and leads to lack of labor sources. The experts then started to look back to abortion history in that nation which started in 1828.

       Before I’m telling the whole story, start here will be quite boring. But yeah, boring knowledge is precious knowledge for me. So in 1828, New York became the first state to declare abortion illegal and by 1900, it had been made illegal throughout the country. However, this leads to uncontrol birth among poor women and there were a lot of unwanted babies. In the late 1960s, several states began to allow abortion under extreme circumstances such as rape, incest or danger to the mother. By 1970, five large states which are New York, California, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii had made abortion entirely legal and broadly available.

       On 22^nd January 1973, legalized abortion was suddenly extended to the entire country with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court gave voice that when a woman does not want to have a child, she usually has good reasons like bad marriage or too poor to raise a child. In the first year after Roe v. Wade, some 750,000 women had abortions in the United States. By 1980, the number of abortions reached 1.6million where it leveled off. Which means 1.6 million American women a year who got pregnant were suddenly not having those babies. Plus, any woman could easily obtain an abortion often for less than $100.

Picture 2: Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) and her lawyer Gloria Allred on the steps of the Supreme Court, 1989

       Usually woman who was unmarried or in her teens or poor, and sometimes all three was the one that take advantage of Roe v. Wade. One study has shown that if these aborted babies were born, they were most likely to live in poverty or grow up with just single-parent household. These are one of the powerful factors leading these kids to criminality. Legalized abortion led to less unwantedness, unwantedness leads to high crime, legalized abortion, therefore, led to less crime. This kind of theory provokes a variety of reactions. Is the theory true? There are plenty of people who consider abortion itself to be a violent crime.

       In 22^nd January 2019, exactly 46 years after Roe decision on legal abortion, New York state has enacted strong new legal protections for abortion rights including a provision permitting late-term abortions when a woman’s health is endangered. This new law also authorizes midwives and physician assistants to perform some abortions. Some critics argued that it could be harder for prosecutors to bring charges when a woman is assaulted and loses her pregnancy. Some opponents also predicted that this will lead to more late-term abortions as abortions usually take place in the first trimester that equals to 3 months pregnancy.

       However, Republican Florida state Rep. Mike Hill aiming to file the bill to ban abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected. He said this ban is to save lives, to save the babies. If any person who provides an abortion after a heartbeat is detected commits a third-degree felony (five years in prison, five years probation and a $5000 fine). An abortion can be provided if a woman has been diagnosed with a condition that would create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function if the woman delayed terminating her pregnancy. The bill also replacing the word “fetus” from current abortion-related laws with “unborn human being”.

       When I’m reading the news, I’ve just realized that these laws are made by human to another human that makes killing the unborn human is legal. Even though the theory in 1990s that legal abortion makes crime rates drop, we can’t foresee those unborn babies’ future that if they were born, they will become criminals. If you said legal abortion is needed to avoid the babies to live in poverty, then the adults should prepare and built well environment before you make your babies. In this legal abortion laws, we have treated this unborn human being as an object that can be thrown away when you don’t want it. We are the real criminals here.

       How about abortion law in Malaysia? Malaysian Penal Code (a law that codifies most criminal offences and procedures in Malaysia) sections 312-315 covers abortion which made abortion totally illegal until in 1989, under pressure from the medical fraternity, another amendment was made to allow an exception which are if it involves a risk to the life of the pregnant woman, injury to the mental or physical health of the pregnant woman or it is carried out by a registered medical practitioner. Before the amendments came into force, the only grounds for abortion were to save the life of the woman and to preserve her physical and mental health. As a Muslim majority country, in 2002, the National Fatwa Committee issued a fatwa which permits abortion up to 120 days of gestation in cases where the woman’s life is at risk.

       In October 2014, Nirmala Thapa, who was 6 weeks pregnant was arrested in Bukit Mertajam for undergoing an abortion. Nirmala was the first woman to be found guilty for an illegal abortion since 1989. After about a year, she was finally acquitted in September 2015. This case courted controversy as some people thought that Nirmala was unfairly targeted as she was an immigrant and there are so many people still have misconception regarding the legal status of abortions in this country. If we look back from 1974, a national fertility and family survey found that 71% of women endorsed abortion on the grounds of rape or incest, 54.3% endorsed abortion for unmarried women, 52.2% endorsed abortion for health reasons and 34.5% endorsed abortion for economic and social reasons.

       Reading articles about safe abortions and woman’s right to decide whether they want to keep the baby alive or not just made me think that are we, Malaysia is going to be like United States right now? I am not against abortions if it is necessary and for the sake of woman’s life. But if the baby is aborted just because that woman is still single or living in poverty, abortion is not a way to solve the problems. Perhaps, we might can consider if the woman who was the rape victim wants to abort the baby but for Muslims, advices and fatwa from the National Fatwa Committee are absolutely necessary for this.

       I am not a person that have right to say abortion is good or not. I just really want this abortion laws and policies in Malaysia are discussed and not become a taboo subject because this is about the future of next generation and potential babies that can bring good future for the country. 

Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-mike-hill-house-bill-235-abortion-ban-fetal-heartbeat/?fbclid=IwAR1dGjk0P8HvGE5XmsTRw2tQmq_xRqkwEgbPASN6mjhA-8iDumSqTW2QfUg&ftag=CNM-00-10aab6a&linkId=62651797

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-passes-abortion-bill-late-term-if-mothers-health-is-at-risk-today-2019-01-23/?fbclid=IwAR0a8tP7RiuEkkjxdc9CjHiYHwE9EAk4EuPOnaZS6eoJiqIdOYtOhurmeYE&ftag=CNM-00-10aab6a&linkId=62756228

Program Harmony

Assalamualaikum w.b.t.

       Selepas saya menamatkan pengajian di Jepun, saya kini mula bekerja sebagai jurutera di sebuah syarikat pembekal tenaga elektrik di bahagan Kanto, Jepun. Syarikat ini boleh diumpamakan seperti Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) di Malaysia. Di syarikat ini, saya beserta jurutera lain bertanggungjawab dalam bahagian keselamatan reaktor nuklear. Di Malaysia, kita tidak mempunyai reaktor nuklear untuk menjana elektrik, jadi bagi saya, peluang untuk bekerja dalam bidang tenaga nuklear ini merupakan peluang yang mungkin saya tidak akan dapat rasai di Malaysia dan sememangnya benda yang sangat baru bagi saya.

 Gambar 1: Reaktor Nuklear di Fukushima

       Jadi, apa kaitan Program Harmony dengan tenaga nuklear? Mungkin ada yang tahu atau belum tahu tentang satu-satunya organisasi global dalam bidang tenaga nuklear iaitu World Nuclear Association (WNA). Program Harmony ialah visi utama WNA untuk penjanaan elektrik pada masa hadapan. Memandangkan sekarang di bumi tempat kita tinggal ini menghadapi pelbagai krisis seperti pemanasan global, bencana alam yang tidak stabil serta pencemaran yang berleluasa, WNA cuba untuk mempromosikan penjanaan elektrik yang lebih bersih atau dengan erti kata lain, proses penjanaan elektrik yang tidak menyumbang kepada pencemaran alam.

Gambar 2: World Nuclear Association 

       Buat masa ini, tenaga nuklear menjadi kunci utama kepada penjanaan elektrik pada masa hadapan. Sekiranya Program Harmony ini berjaya, dijangka kapasiti tenaga nuklear akan meningkat 3 kali ganda di seluruh dunia menjelang tahun 2050. Di dalam rangka kerja Program Harmony, WNA akan membantu mana-mana negara yang sedang membangunkan industri tenaga nuklear dengan cara menyelesaikan masalah-masalah seperti masalah kewangan yang boleh menghalang pertumbuhan industri nuklear di negara tersebut. Menjelang tahun 2050, dijangkakan 25% tenaga elektrik di seluruh dunia dijana oleh tenaga elektrik dengan kapasiti sebanyak 1000[GW].

       Kenapa WNA mewujudkan Program Harmony ini? Dengan pertumbuhan ekonomi yang pesat di seluruh dunia, penggunaan tenaga elektrik akan semakin meningkat tetapi pada masa yang sama kita juga menginginkan kehidupan yang bersih dari pencemaran udara. Oleh kerana tenaga nuklear tidak menyumbang kepada pencemaran udara serta bersih dari pelepasan gas karbon dioksida, WNA berusaha untuk mempromosikan tenaga nuklear sebagai salah satu cara untuk menyelesaikan masalah perubahan iklim dunia. Kebiasaannya, industri nuklear ini dipelopori oleh negara-negara maju sahaja tetapi sekarang negara-negara yang sedang membangun juga sedang membina reaktor nuklear dengan bantuan dan bimbingan dari pihak WNA.

       Pada tahun 2017, WNA telah mencapai banyak kejayaan dalam peningkatan reaktor nuklear di negara-negara sedang membangun. Sebagai contoh, pada November 2017, pembinaan reaktor nuklear yang pertama di Bangladesh sudah bermula di kawasan yang bernama Rooppur. Kemudian diikuti pada bulan Disember apabila Turki juga sudah mula menyiapkan pelan untuk membina reaktor nuklear yang pertama di Akkuyu. Pada bulan yang sama, Mesir dan Rusia menandatangani perjanjian untuk membina reaktor nuklear yang pertama di Afrika Utara. Pada Oktober 2018, Program Harmony telah diiktiraf secara rasmi oleh International Atomic Energy Agency di Abu Dhabi.

       Sudah tentu, dalam usaha untuk meningkatkan tenaga nuklear pada masa hadapan, sememangnya terdapat cabaran dan halangan daripada masyarakat mengenai aspek keselamatan apabila berlakunya kemalangan di reaktor nuklear dan pelepasan radiasi. Jadi, dalam salah satu objektif Program Harmony ialah mewujudkan paradigma keselamatan yang efektif dengan memberi tumpuan kepada kesejahteraan orang awam, di mana kepentingan dalam aspek kesihatan, alam sekitar dan keselamatan nuklear adalah lebih baik apabila dibandingkan dengan sumber tenaga lain. Secara realitinya, kemalangan berlaku di mana-mana.

       Sekiranya dibandingkan sejarah kematian akibat kemalangan di reaktor nuklear dengan loji janakuasa yang lain, terdapat kajian yang menujukkan dari Paul Scherrer Institute antara tahun 1970 hingga 1992, hanya terdapat 39  kes kematian pekerja reaktor nuklear di seluruh dunia, manakala dalam tempoh yang sama, terdapat 6,400 kes kematian pekerja di loji janakuasa arang batu, 1,200 kes kematian pekerja loji tenaga gas asli dan orang awam yang disebabkan oleh loji janakuasa gas asli, serta 4,000 kes kematian orang awam yang disebabkan oleh loji janakuasa hidroelektrik. Dari statistik ini mungkin sudah cukup untuk meyakinkan orang awam mengenai keselamatan reaktor nuklear itu sendiri.

       InsyaAllah, selepas ini saya berniat untuk menulis lebih banyak lagi tentang reaktor nuklear serta sistem-sistem yang ada dalam reaktor itu sendiri. Secara jujurnya, saya bukanlah seorang yang professional memandangkan saya masih lagi baru dalam industri ini. Tetapi saya akan cuba untuk berkongsi sebanyak mungkin ilmu serta pengalaman yang ada.

侍 Samurai

Assalamualaikum w.b.t.

       On 23^rd December 2018, I went to Samurai Museum in Shinjuku, Tokyo. For your information, I am such a person that loves history and my favorite place to hang out or release stress is museum. Even when I was in Malaysia, I used to go to many museums around Kuala Lumpur alone because it seems that I could not find anyone that shares the same interest with me. When I’m in Japan, I have been to many museums and this Samurai Museum is one of the best even though it is just a small-scale museum. For those who in Japan or will come to Japan in the future, please visit this museum and learn about samurai history. Samurai is real guys. They were here in Japan.

       In 1185, Japan began to be governed by samurai and it is known as 鎌倉時代(read: Kamakura jidai, meaning: Kamakura Period). This government was founded by the 源(read: Minamoto) family in Kamakura, south of modern Tokyo. The establishment of this government shifted all real political power in Japan to the samurai. Civil government at the Emperors court continued and the law state were not changed, but a new samurai class came to power and increasingly became the real rulers of the country. Samurai strength rested on strong group loyalty and discipline. The samurai were usually associated with a clan and their lord, and were trained as officers in military tactics and grand strategy.

       We used to see ‘tengkolok’ or ‘tanjak’ which is traditional Malay male headgear, but for samurai warriors, they preferred 兜 (read: kabuto, meaning: helmet). At the battle in 戦国時代 (read: Sengoku jidai, meaning: Age of Civil Wars) between 1467 and 1600, the number of warriors was increased, and the generals preferred different helmets which made them outstanding in a crowd at the battle fields. Helmets were also used to block the arrows from the air. Modern helmets related to animals such as butterfly and rabbit, the gods and a family crest encouraged soldiers as a symbol of the general at the battle.

Picture 1: Example of Samurai Helmets

       For samurai, leather or iron scales were used to construct armors. Noble families had silk cords made in specific patterns and colors of silk thread. Making these special silk cords could take many months of steady work, just to complete enough for one suit of armor. The armor was designed to be as lightweight as possible as the samurai had many tasks including riding a horse and archery in addition to swordsmanship. The armor was often brightly lacquered to keep this safe against Japan’s harsh climate. There was an official way of putting on the armor as it has so many parts from head to toe. It was recommended that some of the parts of the armor should be able to be easily removed especially during difficult battle.

Picture 2: Outline of How to Wear an Armor

       If in Tanah Melayu, ‘pahlawan’ used kris as weapons to fight enemies and defend themselves, in Japan, samurai warriors used swords or in Japanese 太刀(read: tachi). Swords in the middle of Kamakura Period were very elegant and have a great significance in samurai culture. Warriors carried swords worn on their hips with blades down. There are two kinds of swords which are very elegant one for 公家(read: kuge, meaning: Court noble) and the magnificent one for samurai. For samurai women, they used short swords. They carried swords by hiding inside their kimonos whenever they went outside. Usually only noble samurai women have these kinds of swords.

Picture 3: The sword used for Court noble

       Samurai warriors also used matchlock guns as weapons to fight enemies. Matchlock guns were used during Age of Civil Wars extensively and had a decisive role in warfare. In 1549, 織田 信長 (read: Oda Nobunaga) a powerful feudal lord of Japan ordered 500 matchlocks to be made for his armies. At the time, guns were still rather primitive and cumbersome. According to one estimate in 16^th century Japan, an archer could fire 15 arrows in the time a gunner would take to load, charge, and shoot firearm. Furthermore, matchlocks were vulnerable to humid or rainy conditions as the powder would become damp. However, firearms could be manned effectively by farmers or non-samurai low-ranking soldiers.

Picture 4: Various Models of Matchlock Guns

       Samurai were not just simple soldiers, but honor-bound warriors. They protect their honor till death and this was shown as 切腹(read: seppuku, meaning cutting belly). As the human spirit was believed to reside in the stomach during ancient times, slitting the stomach open was considered to be the bravest way to die as well as prevent the loss of honor for the family. Commoners were allowed to hang or drown themselves, samurai women could slit their own throats but only a samurai was allowed to commit seppuku. A samurai who committed seppuku was often revered after his death. Defeated samurai who chose surrender rather than suicide often found themselves reviled by society.

Picture 5: Illustration of Samurai Performing Seppuku

       There are 3 words that can describe samurai. Loyalty, Discipline and Honor. These are the recipes that made samurai govern Japan successfully for 700 years from Kamakura to Edo Period. They are no longer here now but their spirits are still living in today’s Japanese people.

Source:

1. https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/honorable-death-samurai-and-suicide-feudal-japan-005822
2. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1000ce_samurai.htm
3. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_armour

What I Did After SPM?

Assalamualaikum w.b.t.

       Saya banyak menerima mesej daripada pelajar lepasan SPM (kebanyakannya dari Twitter) yang bertanyakan tentang apa yang mereka perlu buat sementara menunggu pengumuman keputusan rasmi SPM. Untuk blog kali ini, saya akan menceritakan macam mana saya menggunakan masa lapang selepas SPM. Bagi saya, masa yang ada selepas SPM ini perlu digunakan sebaik mungkin untuk merancang apa yang hendak dilakukan apabila masuk universiti, cara untuk menjawab soalan interview biasiswa, nak belajar di Malaysia atau di luar negara, nak sambung masuk Tingkatan 6 atau program asasi dan banyak lagi benda yang boleh dilakukan selain marathon tengok drama Korea.

1. Tidur

       Saya tidak menafikan yang tidur itu penting. Apa yang saya buat sebaik sahaja saya habis kertas SPM ialah saya tidur sepuas-puasnya setelah bersengkang mata belajar sehingga lewat malam. Jadi bagi saya, tidur ini ialah satu bentuk ‘reward’ untuk diri sendiri dan tidur itu percuma. Jadi, amat rugi untuk sesiapa yang menghabiskan masa lapang selepas SPM dengan berjaga sehingga tengah malam untuk tengok movie atau lepak dengan kawan-kawan kerana waktu seperti inilah waktu yang terbaik untuk mendapatkan tidur yang mencukupi sebelum anda semua bersengkang mata sekali lagi apabila masuk universiti nanti.

2. Senaraikan biasiswa/pinjaman pendidikan yang ditawarkan di Malaysia atau luar negara

       Memandangkan ibu dan bapa saya tidak mempunyai ‘cable’ di peringkat atasan, saya mengambil inisiatif sendiri dengan mencari biasiswa-biasiswa yang ada di Malaysia sama ada untuk melanjutkan pelajaran di Malaysia atau di luar negara. Saya mengkaji syarat-syarat biasiswa yang ditawarkan contohnya biasiswa untuk bidang apa, kelayakan keputusan SPM (subjek wajib yang perlu dapat A atau A+), ada ‘bond’ dengan pemberi bisiswa atau tidak (perlu bekerja dengan syarikat tertentu atau bebas untuk bekerja di mana-mana). Pinjaman pendidikan ialah perkara terakhir yang saya senaraikan kerana bagi saya pada waktu itu, saya fokus untuk bebas hutang dan tidak membebankan ibu bapa saya selepas habis belajar.

3. Membuat ‘research’ untuk bidang yang diminati serta universiti-universiti di Malaysia

       Secara jujurnya, walaupun sekarang saya bekerja sebagai jurutera dan ‘graduate’ dalam bidang Kejuruteraan Mekanikal, saya pernah bercita-cita untuk menjadi seorang doktor atau pakar bedah. Selepas SPM, saya banyak menonton dokumentari mengenai kerjaya dalam bidang perubatan di televisyen, saya mencari artikel yang ditulis oleh doktor-doktor di Malaysia mengenai realiti kerjaya doktor, saya mencari biasiswa untuk melanjutkan pelajaran dalam bidang perubatan, malah saya juga banyak menonton drama Korea yang melibatkan kerjaya doktor.

       Namun begitu, setelah saya fikir masak-masak dan berbincang dengan orang di sekeliling saya, saya mengambil keputusan untuk menerima tawaran biasiswa melanjutkan pelajaran di Jepun dalam bidang Kejuruteraan Mekanikal. Alhamdulillah Allah menempatkan saya di tempat yang terbaik. Sebelum saya menerima tawaran biasiswa ke Jepun, saya ada buat ‘research’ mengenai biasiwa luar negara ke Jerman kerana saya merupakan pelajar bahasa Jerman di sekolah menengah selama 5 tahun. Setelah saya membuat perbandingan antara Jepun dan Jerman, saya memilih untuk ke Jepun.

4. Practice for Interview

       Saya banyak menghabiskan masa di hadapan cermin dengan berlatih menjawab soalan-soalan ‘interview’ sambil melihat reaksi muka sendiri. Saya seorang yang suka mengerutkan dahi apabila bercakap walaupun ketika bergurau. Jadi, untuk mengurangkan kerutan dahi dan untuk nampak lebih ‘relax’, saya selalu berlatih menjawab soalan ‘interview’ di hadapan cermin seorang diri. Latihan ini penting kerana bukan biasiswa sahaja yang ada ‘interview’, ketika hendak memohon ‘part time job’ atau kerja juga ada ‘interview’. Dengan masa yang lapang ini, banyakkan mencari tips-tips untuk menjawab soalan asas ‘interview’ seperti cara untuk memperkenalkan diri, cara untuk menceritakan kekuatan diri dan kelemahan diri supaya nampak lebih professional, dan sebagainya.

  

       Sebenarnya ada banyak lagi perkara yang anda boleh lakukan selepas SPM selain 4 perkara di atas. Saya hanya menyenaraikan perkara yang saya rasa perlu buat sebelum masuk ke dunia universiti. Anda boleh masuk kelas memandu, buat ‘part time job’, belajar bahasa baru, belajar main alat muzik, tetapi yang paling penting sekali ialah banyak luangkan masa dengan keluarga. Oleh kerana saya bersekolah di Sekolah Berasrama Penuh (SBP), selepas SPM, ibu dan bapa saya tidak membenarkan saya membuat ‘part time job’ kerana mereka mahu saya luangkan lebih masa dengan mereka. Ibu dan bapa saya jugalah yang selalu menghantar saya ke sana ke sini untuk ‘interview’ biasiswa. Apa-apa pun, banyakkan berdoa semoga mendapat keputusan yang terbaik untuk SPM nanti. All the best!

My Resolutions for 2019

Assalamualaikum w.b.t.

       We will enter a new year soon, so I hope all of you who are reading my blog right now have already came up with new resolution, new spirit and new hope for this upcoming new year. Year 2018 for me is a year where I learned a lot of new things, meet many new people and facing some new difficulties that I never expected before. Honestly, I did pray that this year will end as soon as possible because I thought it will be the only way I can escape from all these difficulties. But I was wrong. Every challenge that I faced, I learned 10 lessons from it. Every one person that left from my life, I got 10 new friends that came after that.

       Year 2018 is also a year where I started to follow this one incredible young vlogger lady, Aida Azlin from Singapore. As I started my new job in Japan this year, it was so tough at the beginning and I often got stress as I am the only foreigner and woman in my department. One day, I began to watch Aida’s video at YouTube every morning inside the train on my way to work. Every single video that she created indeed helped and inspired me to go through my life as a woman engineer in this foreign land. From her videos, I began to start doing new things to overcome my loneliness and my stress such as reading new genre of books, learning new language which is Korean language and trying many Japanese cultures during my free time.

       For my resolution this year, I want to explore new knowledges that out of my working scope. I want to write more new things for my blog. I want to push myself to the limit, perhaps beyond my limit because I want to see how far I can go with my own capabilities. And of course, these are all inspired from one of her videos where she talked about a 60-year-old Korean taxi driver that learned English while driving. I was so awed when I heard the story because I’m sure it’s not easy for a man at that age to learn new language, but he did. He didn’t put limit to himself to start new things but the best thing is, he didn’t think that it will be wasted.

       One of the reminders from Aida Azlin that I still remember till now is no knowledge is a waste knowledge. So yeah, I decided to use that as my motto for year 2019. When I started learning Korean language around April 2018, many people around me questioned about it. Why are you learning Korean language in Japan? How are you going to use it when you go back to Malaysia? Did you plan to stay in Korea after this? And most of the time, I told them that I love Korean language and the fact that the grammars of Japanese and Korean language are almost same, make it so much fun for me to learn it. Learning Korean language indeed help me to understand more about their history because I love history so much.

       Every 12 December in Japan, there will be a national ballot to select a kanji that represent the events of that year called 今年の漢字(read: kotoshi no kanji, meaning: kanji of the year). For year 2018, the selected kanji was 災(read: sai, meaning: disaster). This is because of the 2018 Osaka earthquake along with the heavy floods in southwestern Japan. For my kanji of the year 2018, I chose 勇(read: yuu/isamu, meaning: courage). As I started to live alone this year, I did everything on my own, I faced my own fear, I am the one that motivated myself whenever I feel down, I challenged myself to go out from my comfort zone, I mingled with people who have opposite characters with me, I forced myself to be courage even when I’m scared.  

       If I compare year 2018 with 2017, I think that I faced almost similar level of challenges for both years. In year 2017, I lost my beloved junior, I gave up my dream to further master degree because of certain circumstances, and in year 2018, I felt so lonely when I started living alone as most of my closest friends getting married and have their own commitments, I struggled on my own as the only foreigner and woman in my company but Alhamdulillah, Allah granted me with good and kind seniors that always guided me whenever I made mistake during my work. I began to realize that this year is the year where I less depend to others except to Him.

       I pray so that I will become stronger to face more challenging experiences in year 2019 because the older you are, the harder your life will be. Am I right? As my name, Amalina means hope, I really hope all of you who read this right now, as long as you are alive, do not lose hope. You are still breathing, you still have people that love and support you, it means you still have hope to achieve whatever you want in your life. Whenever you feel down, remember how you got through your difficulties until today. I know the feeling to lose hope, to give up on people around me but I always remember this one thing, there is ease along with hardships. May Allah ease our journey in the next year of 2019. Happy New Year everyone!!!

        

Hidangan Tahun Baru di Jepun

Assalamualaikum w.b.t

       Pada hari terakhir saya bekerja sebelum bermulanya cuti akhir tahun, senior saya di tempat kerja menceritakan tentang budaya makan soba pada waktu petang atau lewat malam 31 Disember sebelum masuknya tahun baru. Tradisi memakan soba ini dipanggil 年越しそば(baca: Toshikoshi Soba) yang membawa maksud dalam bahasa Inggeris ‘Year-End Noodles’. Senior saya beritahu salah satu sebab kenapa orang Jepun mengamalkan tradisi memakan soba ini kerana bentuk soba yang panjang dan nipis melambangkan umur yang panjang. Jadi, memakan soba ini dikatakan membawa harapan untuk menjalani kehidupan yang lebih lama.

Gambar 1: Soba

       Satu lagi makanan dalam tradisi menyambut tahun baru di Jepun ialah おせち料理(baca: Osechi Ryouri). Osechi Ryouri ialah hidangan berwarna-warni yang disusun didalam bekas makanan khas yang dipanggil 重箱(baca: juubako). Mengikut tradisi orang Jepun, Hari Tahun Baru ialah hari untuk semua orang berehat jadi tiada apa yang perlu dimasak pada hari tersebut. Kebiasaannya Osechi Ryouri akan disediakan sebelum malam menyambut Tahun Baru. Malah, kebanyakan pasar raya di Jepun juga ada menjual Osechi Ryouri memandangkan kesibukan bekerja menyukarkan orang Jepun untuk menyediakan hidangan ini di rumah kerana memerlukan masa yang lama dan bahan yang banyak. Setiap hidangan yang disediakan dalam Osechi Ryouri mempunyai maksud yang tersendiri dan berkait rapat dengan harapan dalam Tahun Baru. Antara makanan tersebut ialah:

Gambar 2: Osechi Ryouri

1. 海老(baca: ebi, maksud: udang)

       Oleh kerana bentuk fizikal udang yang melengkung (seperti orang tua yang membongkok), udang menjadi simbol panjang umur bagi orang Jepun dan dimakan semasa Tahun Baru. Senior saya pesan untuk banyakkan makan udang pada tahun baru haha.

Gambar 3: Udang

2. 栗金団(baca: kuri kinton)

       Kuri kinton ialah sejenis pencuci mulut tradisional yang diperbuat daripada ubi keledek dan buah berangan. 金団(baca: kinton) yang membawa maksud dalam bahasa Inggeris sebagai ‘gold dumplings’ atau ‘golden futon’ merupakan pencuci mulut berwarna emas yang melambangkan kekayaan dalam perniagaan dan kemakmuran dalam kehidupan.

Gambar 4: Kuri Kinton

3. 黒豆(baca: kuromame, maksud: kacang soya hitam)

       Kacang soya hitam pula melambangkan kesihatan tubuh badan yang baik supaya dapat bekerja sepanjang tahun. まめ(baca: mame) ialah perkataan yang asalnya membawa maksud sihat dan tahan lama.　まめjuga digunakan dalam peribahasa bahasa Jepun seperti まめに働く(baca: mame ni hataraku) yang membawa maksud bekerja keras, bekerja bersungguh-sungguh.

Gambar 5: Kacang Soya Hitam

       Berdasarkan pemerhatian dan pengalaman saya tinggal di Jepun, tradisi orang Jepun sememangnya berkait rapat dengan alam semula jadi seperti sakura atau gunung Fuji, begitu juga dengan makanan seharian mereka. Bagi mereka, setiap bentuk fizikal atau proses sesuatu kejadian itu mempunyai maksud yang boleh diterapkan dalam kehidupan seharian. Malah menurut Islam, kita juga disuruh untuk sentiasa memerhati serta memikirkan setiap makhluk ciptaan Allah supaya kita sedar dan yakin bahawa hanya Allah sahaja yang mampu mencipta alam ini. Inilah perbezaan kaca mata orang Jepun dan kaca mata orang Islam terhadap alam sekeliling.

       Pada pendapat saya tidak salah untuk mengamalkan tradisi memakan soba atau Osechi Ryouri (yang halal) pada Tahun Baru seperti orang Jepun. Tetapi makanlah sebagai tanda bersyukur atas rezeki yang diberikan oleh Allah kerana berpeluang untuk menyambut satu lagi tahun yang baru. Kemudian, berdoa supaya dipanjangkan umur serta dilimpahkan rezeki kepada Allah bukan kepada makhluk. Dengan berbaki masa beberapa hari sebelum masuknya Tahun Baru, jangan lupa untuk banyakkan muhasabah diri pada tahun ini dan letakkan azam baru pada tahun yang seterusnya. Semoga tahun 2018 menjadi tahun yang penuh makna dan tahun 2019 menjadi tahun yang lebih sempurna.

When Teachers are Shepherds but Parents are Wolves

Assalamualaikum w.b.t.

       I am reading a book entitled Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. There is a part in one of the chapters that he said when he watched an episode of The West Wing about education in America, the fictional president debates whether he should push school vouchers (giving public money to schoolchildren so that they escape failing public schools) or instead focus exclusive on fixing those same failing schools. In an entire discussion about why poor kids struggled in school, the emphasis rested entirely on public institutions. These words from the book reminds me of an article from a public secondary teacher that published three years ago about the ugly truth of Malaysian education.

Picture 1: Front Cover of Hillbilly Elegy

       In that article, he pointed a lot of hidden truth as a teacher but I just wanted to emphasize only one point here that was the quality of Malaysian students is compromised due to bad surroundings. He said this kind of bad surroundings can be found in ‘kampung’ area where nobody practice English. I am not trying to say that English is the measurement for intelligence, but it is obviously that the students that come from bad surroundings can’t even pass the passing mark for English exam. They are raised by bad parents with bad discipline, bad cultural and community influence, poor financial background, divorced parents, and the list goes on.

       This kind of story is quite similar with the author of the book, J.D. Vance as he was one of the survivor that managed to escape from his alcoholic mother and poverty. So, when these young students cannot handle all this kind of problems on their own, they turn to other things to escape from reality such as skipping classes, smoking and some of them dropping out of school. As their parents are no longer care about them, the teachers struggle as hard as they can to educate these students. However, the root of this problem still cannot be cured which is lack of education and love from home. The teachers are only able to monitor, scold or punish the students at school but things that happen outside of the school are out of their controls.

       The public tends to focus the attribution only on teachers, improving the school environment and criticizing education ministry. But they forgot to focus on the root of the problem. I was a high school student in the northern part of Malaysia and I used to mingle with these ‘kampung’ students. I have to admit what this teacher said is true. I am a ‘kampung’ girl as well but alhamdulillah, Allah blessed me to live in a good surrounding and got proper education. I still remember a conversation between me and a new teacher that just coming into our school. She said she felt so grateful to come here as her former school students were so lack of respect toward their teachers.

       She even said that it was normal to hear news about pregnant students in that school. She tried so hard to discipline them, advising them and complaining to their parents, but no actions were taken. She felt disappointed and asked to move to another school. This makes me wonder, what actually makes a school is a failing school? The students, the teachers, or the administration? I really want to blame the parents actually but I realized that blaming is not going to change anything without actions. This teacher said the ones that need to blame are the students themselves. The teachers cannot force the students to come to school when they choose to absent.

       I believe that a failing school is the product of failing students. And the failing students are the products of failing parents. I can see how schools in Malaysia are so competitive to get in higher rank until we, the public become so obsessed to label a good school and a fail school. I am not yet a parent but I understand it is not an easy job to raise a human being to become the next future leader. Instead of focusing which schools are the best, which are not, I would like to call all parents out there to teach your kids respect, punish them for their mistakes and discipline them before the teachers do all that at school.

“They (parents) want us (teachers) to be shepherds to these kids. But no one wants to talk about the fact that many of them are raised by wolves”. –Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance