To whine or not to wine

You can learn the same thing over and over again, and you may find a different or a new stimulus that excites you in a different way everytime you relearn it, regardless of your first viewpoint.

It's the same thing about science. A scientist may meticulously study a subject time and time again, and he might discover new information of his work with each research.

This was the case with a recent study of the health benefits of wine drinking. It is a fact that wine contains a compound called resveratrol which has multiple positive effects on the body and that's the reason why moderate intake of wine is recommended by some quarters in the field of medicine.

But from this recent article posted by a friend on facebook, scientists argued that the possible negative outcomes outweigh the benefits of wine.

"Experts with the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association say that though these studies do show some benefits to moderate drinking, the health risks from alcohol consumption far outweigh the potential rewards."

But wait, didn't i hear something like that somewhere else before?

2:219 They question thee about strong drink and games of chance. Say: In both is great sin, and (some) utility for men; but the sin of them is greater than their usefulness.

Even Allah acknowledged that there are benefits of alcohol intake, but the law of duality states that for every positive point, there's always a negative fact following right behind.

Most probably a non Muslim conducted the research, and most probably he or she didn't even bother to open the pages of the Qur'an which of course, is probably an outdated scripture that was sent down ages ago. But nevertheless, it still manages to discern a scientific knowledge with this recently discovered fact.

Russia itself faces a grueling battle against alcoholism which is a part and parcel of their rich culture. I just realized that 'vodka' (the intoxicating drink) is actually a cute slang for 'vada' (meaning water). That's rather disturbing, but it shows the depth of affinity they harbour for the drink.

Mikhail Gorbachev did something good by raising vodka prices and destroying vineyards in an attempt to deter the Soviet population from drinking which ultimately resulted in his decline of popularity. Not bad for someone who campaigned for freedom of religion in the Soviet Union. But that didn't stop them from preparing homemade alcoholic beverages called 'samogon'.

While you can't push people to believe all these scientific facts, you could ask them to be rational in their thinking rather than emotional which fingerpoint them to follow their deceitful desires of compulsive drinking. Allah mentioned :-

17 : 35 Give full measure when ye measure, and weigh with a balance that is straight: that is the most fitting and the most advantageous in the final determination.

To measure something by its pros and cons rationally will lead you to a rational answer. But sadly, people prefer to follow where their temptations lead them to.

That's what people of the 21st century have come to. They have become too emotional (me included, sigh). To force them to stop drinking would mean raping their natural rights to choose to drink, the so called freedom to do anything they want to, so in the end there's only knowledge to savour and to tell them of the harm of alcoholism. Only through knowledge could people be free from all the chains that bind them to addictions, in general.

"You can get the same benefits of drinking from leading a heart-healthy lifestyle. To me, it's not worth the risk to start drinking. But for people who enjoy a glass of red wine or enjoy drinking, the key is to stick to the definition of moderation."

The above statement, coming from one of the scientists asks us to ponder other pathways of achieving good health. And those who think of wine alone sure needs to check his or her facts. There are a million and one ways to reach that goal.

As busy as a barbie at a barbeque party

I found myself to be busy in these past few weeks.

Yes. You read it right.

B-u-s-y.

But as life goes on, it carries a different meaning and at this moment, 'busy' in the life dictionary of Afiq Fikri roughly translates as :-

"Reduction in the coefficient of time to do what he wishes to do i.e. blogging."

But most of the time, i pretend to be busy.

Aku, stadium merdeka

Aku, stadium Merdeka. Pada dasarnya aku adalah sebuah stadium, tetapi sekarang yang tinggal hanyalah seekor Gajah putih di tengah-tengah bandar berlatar belakangkan kemodenan Kuala Lumpur.

Entah mengapa dan bagaimana, nasibku telah difahami oleh seorang jejaka yang konon-konon mempunyai banyak masa dan dia bersetuju untuk menulis apa yang aku ingin ungkapkan kepadanya.

Teringat lagi ketika itu, ketika rakyat tua muda, miskin kaya, Melayu, Cina dan India berkumpul di dalam badanku melaungkan 'Merdeka!'. 'Merdeka!'. 'Merdeka!'. Aku hampir menangis pada hari itu. Mereka menamakan aku sempena hari yang bermakna dalam sejarah negara ini. Wira-wira negara pulang dengan kejayaan membebaskan negara dari penjajahan fizikal oleh British. Tunku Abdul Rahman. Tun Sambanthan. Tun Tan Cheng Lok.

Sejak dari hari itu, lahirlah ramai kawan-kawan di sekeliling ku. Victoria Institution yang telah lama dibina sebelum aku menjadi kawan baik menemani aku selama-lamanya.

Suatu hari dia membisik, 'Tunggu dan lihat. Seorang jaguh boleh sepak bakal dilahirkan. Mokhtar Dahari nama diberi.'

Bulu-bulu roma padang rumputku telah dipijak oleh superhero-superhero zaman dahulu. 'Supermokh' Mokhtar Dahari. 'Spiderman' R. Arumugam. 'Towkay' Soh Chin Aun. 'Singh is king' Santokh Singh. Malaysia menjadi mimpi ngeri negara-negara Asia pada ketika itu. Arsenal dikalahkan, perlawanan dengan England B berakhir dengan keputusan 1-1.

Tahun '75, Muhammad Ali bertandang ke mari dan aku ditugaskan menjadi gelanggang tinju. Ali vs Joe Bugner, antara perlawanan tinju yang paling bosan dalam sejarah sukan. Lampu-lampur banjir di 4 penjuru badanku hampir tertutup kerana terlelap menyaksikan aksi tinju defensif Joe Bugner.

Namun itu semua sudah berlalu. Retakan yang muncul di kulit konkritku melambangkan proses penuaan yang sedang berlaku.

Nasibku mungkin akan sama seperti sepupu sebelah bapaku 'Highbury' di United Kingdom yang diruntuhkan untuk memberi ruang kepada stadium yang baru. Kuala Lumpur sudah ada Stadium Bukit Jalil, yang jauh lebih moden dariku. Kalau tidak pun, Stadium Shah Alam lebih diutamakan. Aku paham, aku paham. Aku hanya sebuah blok simen yang sudah jauh ketinggalan.

Aku tidak mintak diriku dikenangi, tetapi yang aku minta adalah supaya namaku dihayati, difahami, 'Apa erti merdeka sebenarnya?'

Mungkin anak-anak pasca merdeka terlupa akan perjuangan Tok Janggut, Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong, Rentap dan lain-lain. Mungkin dengan kejayaan yang dikecapi membuatkan mereka alpa.

Neokolonisasi minda dan imperialisma jiwa menggantikan penguasaan dalam bentuk penjajahan. Manusia menjadi hamba hiburan berlebihan, ilmu diketepikan. Rakyat hidup dalam kesenangan, segala perjuangan lepas dilupakan.

Tepuk dada, tanya selera.

Merdekakah kita?

Aku telah dinamakan sebagai salah satu tapak sejarah penting tidak lama dahulu. Aku tak perlukan semua itu. Aku tak perlukan pembedahan rekonstruktif untuk memperbaiki diriku.

Biar aku roboh, asalkan mereka memahami erti kemerdekaan yang sebenar.

Selamat hari merdeka.

Rat race, we're all in it.

A lawyer friend was planning to migrate. His degrading demeanor suggested that Malaysia isn't quite the place for him. It had been quite some time since i last met him. Some things changed about him, but he is still the classmate i knew from way back in Alor Setar.

My friend's dad had a heart attack few weeks back.

In 8 months' time, insya Allah, God willingly, a friend will become a dad. He opened a restaurant in Jitra.

Some friends got married. (while i was writing this line, a friend who tied the knot last summer appeared online on Yahoo Messenger. Congratulations Encik Ikram Rauhi if you're reading this. And to Matpih, happy anniversary, dah setahun kot kawin)

Most of them are becoming capitalistic and are making good money out of their lives.

The atmosphere of chitchats have dramatically changed. Our conversations meandered through the realms of job opportunities and political instabilities. Economics. Family.

Questions like, 'should i vote for the corrupted coalition and risk the chance of going to heaven or for the opposite which is slowly disintegrating inside out; a marriage of conveniance?'.

You don't talk much about these a few years back. It was the same thing over and over again. People asking how is Russia, how are your studies. It used to be, 'Have you listened to the new Korn album?' or 'Did you watch this or that movie?'. But here is where it gets interesting. You have friends that work and they offer you more insight on how life is.

A friend working in a large telecommunications company is being seduced by a sugar mama who sits much higher in the feudalistic hierarchy of a workplace. "Those scenes in those cheap Malay dramas, they're real man." This friend of mine has traveled to Sweden and Dubai for working purposes.

I was sitting with another friend and we chatted of him. "I never saw him as a marketing agent. He never talked much." And i replied, "me either".

But it was another inquisition that kicked that sensation of feeling old inside of me.

People were asking, 'how's your mom doing?'. Virtually every old acquaintance asked me the same question. The question stimulated me so much that i am trying to make it a habit of asking the same question to my friends in every chatting session.

If that question doesn't kick the pre historic or jurassic feelings, then i don't know what will. You do realize that life travels fast and that you yourself are getting older.

Even a look on my face may suggest a man facing his midlife crisis. The baldness. The beard. These visualisations might translate as, "a 40 year old, suffering from depression and marital problems.'

Not quite, but in a sense i do feel old. Now i take less food than before (or am i being delusional here?). As they say, health is wealth. I do think of buying property somewhere in a big city or a car. Work, financial planning, further studies. The evolution, i guess, is natural.

It was funny how i wished to become an adult when i was younger, and now, i am yearning to go back to my teenage years when everything was carefree.

57 : 20 Know that the life of this world is only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children. (It is) as the likeness of vegetation after rain, thereof the growth is pleasing to the tiller; afterwards it dries up and you see it turning yellow; then it becomes straw...

It used to be carefree alright, kids only play and play without knowing what bills are and how much do they need to pay. And as you grow older, you start to have hobbies or interests; you start to become proud of your comics' collection or your football skills or musical abilities. Then you think of wealth for you and your family later on. That is basically what the verse above is trying to explain, as mentioned by Nouman Ali Khan in a lecture on YouTube.

Those are the pleasures of life and responsibilities come along. But these are not the ultimate goals of life. Probably later you will realize that these are merely material gains which will not be fruitful without a good conscious and guidance, that they may later become useless yellow and dried leaves falling off an autumn tree.

That's how life is. It could be quite deceiving at times.

I find it heart warming that some friends were asking me about my mom during conversations. Maybe i'm just a little too sentimental. But hey, everyone is getting older with each second gone by.

So yeah, i hope you guys out there are okay and hopefully your families are in great shape.

It's just you and me

Life support.

The laptop got infected and passed away on a Saturday night.

Unmiraculously, i brought it back to life on a Sunday evening. For a milisecond of my precious life, i thought of finding a replacement. Apple's Macbook sits on top of the list. Oh, and there's only one option in the list.

But i love my laptop too much, no matter how extensively chronic the machine is.

I took the chance to delete most of my songs (a lot) while reformatting it. So now, i'm literally suffering from withdrawal syndrome due to my addiction to those songs. Theoretically, they work in the same way as morphines do. When you get high, your body starts to produce these chemicals, these endorphins and they act on your opioid receptors and as a result, the music hits you and you get high.

Now, check me into rehab for music addiction.

I don't mean to brag or boast, but i lived as a musical jukebox for the most part of my life. Last week it was Animal Collective's 'Grass' playing in my mind. Now, Joy Division's anthemic 'Love will tear us apart.' At times some ambient post rock backtracks (either Explosions in the Sky's 'Memorial' or Damn Dirty Apes' 'Rebel Scum').

Now, it's the desintoxicating period.

Back to life.

I finished reading Douglas Coupland's Microserfs last April. Someone went to New York and got me the book as a gift. A marvelous fiction that chronicled the buzz of 90s' technology development in Silicon Valley and how geeks are able to rule the world.

Sometimes i wish we are able to communicate through a computer in real life. One of the reasons i write is because i am rather untalkative. I prefer to chat instead of talk. Maybe i'm too self conscious of my voice or looks.

I need to change my outlook. My future patients won't have the same idea as i do.

And if only i could insert some RAM to speed up my brain, or to delete some data or to install something as easily as a software. Yes, i know some of you would like to block some person from your life as simple as blocking the pop up windows from your web browser.

The one thing missing is emotion. Machines and computers can't duplicate emotions and that is, my dear friend, the essence of life.

Emotions man, emotions.

Will we see the day when our lives will be reduced to some microchips or drivers imprinted with our conscious, memories and feelings? And plug them in some robot, live forever? I doubt that will happen, but with the rapid bullet train like development of technology, anything goes.

Anything goes in the digital world.

And yes, a simple calculator is able to solve 12231 x 43291 in a split second but in reality, our brain is more superior than a supercomputer.

So, i am going to stop being a musical jukebox and concentrate on fulfilling the prophecy of becoming a geeky supercomputer.

Cookie monster

Crime Scene Investigation. Who has been stealing the Hari Raya cookies?

2 investigators were appointed. One caught the picture of the perpetrator and the other was still figuring out how to use his camera.

Cookie monster.

We are a cat part 2

1. My house cat was castrated last week. He is literally ball-less now.

2. There were cysts and he needed an operation. He was rather rough towards the vet, and they had to sedate him for a mini operation. He was rather scared the last time i brought him to the vet and he peed inside the cage.

3. The vet took the opportunity to castrate him so that he won't stroll around that often and hopefully, he will just stay in the house.

4. Those ticks were getting the better of him. They hop onto his body while he is busy socializing with some stray female cats. STDs. Socially transmitted disease.

5. His libido will decrease tremendously now that his testosterone resources are cut off. A male cat loses 1/3 of his life once he is castrated. He still retains the other 2 portions - eating and sleeping.

6. I hope he doesn't fall into depression. I wish i could find a female cat to just take care of him. Get them married of something.

7. "I now pronounce you cat husband and cat wife. You may lick your cat bride and enjoy Friskies together til the end of your 9 cat lives."

8. He used to have a girlfriend but my mom never sanctioned that relationship. She kept eating his food and left him hungry.

9. That happens when a guy or a male thinks with his balls. Now, he has all the time in the world to think with his brain and fulfill his real intellectual potential.

10. Go learn chicken language and ask them, 'Why did you guys cross the road?'. Or dog accent.

The best thing of having a birthday party in your room are the leftovers. In fact, we didn't cook today.

Untie tie the ribbon, Mr. Vikneswaran. He is my roommate. We had a birthday party cum Hari Raya mini celebration last night. He turned 25 last Tuesday.

This is how the cake really looks like with berries mounting the top.

Candles on the crater.

The main dish was Tomato rice.

I prepared the rice for the party. For the umpteenth time, the tomato flavour was a bit weak, sort of missing in action. I wonder what does it take or how long do i need to soak the rice in tomato pasta before cooking it so that the taste will be everlasting and strong.

Ayam masak merah to complement the tomato rice.

Yours truly, munching. (in case you're wondering how do i look like.Man, i've been putting a lot of pictures of myself.lol)

A barrier within

Should i stay or should i go?

The great divide.

Like i said, i am not much an outgoing person, so i will be taking pictures from within my room and my hostel. ;p

Ant steps to photography

The iconic Abbey Road album cover

"A good photograph evokes emotions."-Afiq Fikri, October 2009.

I've always wanted to pick up photography, and so i bought a second hand Nikon D40 dslr recommended by a friend in summer. It was back in 2005 or 2006 that i so wanted to get my hands on one of the machines but due to some reasons, i opted not to.

Actually i wanted to get a decent digicam in the summer because i don't have one (a less than average BenQ digicam doesn't count), but in the end the price was right, so i got a more than decent camera.

Surprise, surprise. When i came back to Volgograd there were a lot of people using the dslr, like some epidemic typhoon had hit them (including me). The sudden surge of DSLR users here is making Digicams look pre historic.

Although it is genderless, maybe i will call it Maria or Chuck or Blackie.

I've yet to take Maria for a walk. In reality, i prefer staying home. So the chances of seeing a picture compilation of 'Top 10 things i love in my room' are higher than 'The sights and scenes and sounds of nature in Volgograd.


As an avid music lover in a previous life, the bulk of nice photos are often observed on album covers. The first is the iconic Abbey Road cover of the Beatles, and the second is Rage Against the Machine's debut album.

They say, pictures paint a thousand words. And RATM's cover album is the picture of Thich Quang Duc, a monk who burnt himself to death as a protest of America's oppressive policies toward Buddhism in Vietnam. It remains one of my favourite pictures due to the sheer fact that humans may go that far when their voices are drowned in a sea of oppression.


And here's Terry Butcher. The England hero kept on playing even after suffering a cut on his forehead in one of the 1990 World Cup Qualifiers against Sweden. He had a few stitches but as a defender, he was forced to head the ball from the penalty box and the wound severed and reopened, and thus, his heroic antics are immortalized.


There are a lot of war pictures, particularly from the Gaza crisis, but this one stands out as my favourite. Saw it on BBC in January and it sticks in my mind. It's a battle of David vs Goliath, against all odds. The smoke in the picture tells us that they're facing mortars and grenades, while they are only able to hurl stones against the Israeli forces.

I can tell you that taking pictures is rather addictive since you strive for perfection in each picture, and if you're not satisfied you would take it over and over again (if you have time, that is).

But then again, i'd rather spend my time writing than to edit some pictures. I'm still coming to terms with all the basics of photography, so if there's any good, i'll post some pictures.