Friday, September 23, 2005

Nice clouds after a stormy week

After a stormy week of assignments, deadlines and a cruel multiple-choice test, today is the day for a Very Long Exhalation. I made a vow last Sunday that I’d take things easy, I won’t panic, I’ll be okay, blah. But no matter how hard I try, the work just piles up and it sometimes succeeds in getting me worked up.

I have been wondering out very loudly in the last 3 years about the conduciveness of the current curriculum of my School in bringing out the best in a student. The amount of work that is expected leaves little time for reflection of how the things you do fit into the bigger picture of life. Slowly, without you knowing, you end up with a microscopic view of everything that just consists of “dude, what’s the next reading” or “damn, my literature review isn’t enough”. This is a most pathetic state to be in. Fortunately, my juniors are having a more relaxed time, and I wish they make better use of the extra time in their hands. Which I know they won’t, because they haven’t experienced my curriculum to find any comparison.

I entered University to open my mind and think about things in different ways (“the only halal food stall in this canteen sucks, but it’s still food… I’m lucky to have food…”), to develop and train my critical mind (“There has to be democracy! Free Speech! Free lunch!”) and along the way, pick up a skill or two (“Yes! Using the visualizer I can visualize my face on the screen”). I’ve tried to find relevance in what I study to my own life, succeeding to a large extent. And I will keep doing this for the remainder of my final year (although sometimes the Rat Racer in me activates). After this, it will be Finding Relevance of Work in My Life. I’ll tell you about that another day, many months from now.

I took some pictures last week, when I went to the market with my mom, and when I captured quite a sight in the sky in Purmei (see below). My trusty Nokia 6230 is really quite a trusty camera. Well done Nokiakutty!

Last Friday I visited the Al-Mawrid Resource Centre on Islam near Kembangan MRT. It’s a little-known library of rare but power-packed English-based literature on Islamic fundamentals, law and philosophy. It’s an excellent place to just spend the whole day reading. It’s a pity they haven’t worked out a loaning system (I know, it sounds weird for a library to not have a loaning system), but they’ve promised me that it’ll be coming soon. Another superb place for English books on Islam is the bookshop at Darul Arqam Muslim Converts’ Association of Singapore. I was surprised that they had stocks of some good books, compared to how it looked a year ago when I last visited it. Talking of stocks, I had visited a bookshop dealing with English Islamic books called Wardah Books sometime ago, but I was put off by their sensationally exhorbitant prices. But their website, as I just checked out, is pretty cool, and they have a pretty cool “blog” which they use to publicize talks. I think I’ll check this shop out, it’s getting me interested. Regardless if you’re a Muslim or non-Muslim, do check these places out too, they’ll give you a peak into things about Islam you never knew existed.

No comments: