Today's Kids and Hero Worship: Who can they look up to?

I grew up wanting to be a superhero that can save the earth from power crazy villains. However, the catch was not to be too prominent so forget about Superman, Spiderman, Batman and etc. I preferred the superhero from the TV series 'Greatest American Hero'. Of course, we all know what happenned to that series. I think it got cancelled after 3 seasons and my superhero worshipping didn't last long. I went back to idolising great football players like Pele, Zico and Maradona. So every 4 years or so, my friends and I went beyond our normal evening soccer escapade and started calling ourselves by our favorite players' names and went kicking balls around the field and of course, a few shins. Ouch!

Now that I am a dad with a 6 year old son and another son less than a year old, I am beginning to see that my 6 year old son is beginning to emulate superhero characters when he is playing with his neighborhood friends. I think he started off with Spiderman, then Superman and after that Zoom. He started rounding off the kids around our neighborhood and wanted to start a superhero training academy (he got that idea from Zoom) to discover hidden superhero talents. That didn't last long because the kids that are much older than him decided that they should be the leader of the team and not him. (So to those who are complaining that promotion should not be based on seniority, please teach your kids the same.) When all superhero worshipping activities ebbed, along came Dora the Explorer and Little Einstein. My son only sat and watched the shows but seldom acted out any of the scenes or wanted to skip around looking for clues like Dora did. Eventually, this phase also tapered of after a while.

Then came Avatar: The Last Airbender. Okay, the first time I watched it and I thought how could anyone watched those shows. It was ridiculous and of course watching the show in German just made in worse. Nevertheless, my son was hooked on the show and you need not to remind him to come home and take a shower in the evening as he somehow brought himself back in time to do all those daily chores just to watch that show. Normally, I have to scream and shout to get him back to the house. What shocked me the most was my wife was also into watching Avatar. I had to reconsider my initial judgment and I decided to watch the show from the beginning and most importantly in English. Half way through the first episode, I was also hooked and wanted to watch more.

Anyway, the story here is about hero worship and surprisingly Aang, who is a 12 year old Airbender from the Air Nomad's Southern Air Temple, and his compadre Katara, Sokka and Toph (not in picture) are the ideal heroes for my son and his friends in the neighborhood. My son could relate to Aang, a superhero with child like behavior that is trying to restore harmony and balance to the four nations in a fantasy world home to humans, fantastic animals and supernatural spirits.

In this show, the Avatar, Aang, who is supposed to be a savior for the four nation needed his compadre to defeat evil or in most cases to survive long enough for him to master all bending skills. As silly as this might sound but this cartoon actually teaches the idea that even great people need to work in a team to ensure success. This is especially true when each of the team members have their own unique strength that on their own might not be enough to ward off evil but together they form a very potent force to knock evil off its feet. Then the ultimate lesson is that in order to seek for knowledge one must be able to get out of one's comfort zone in pursuit of knowledge that can restore harmony to the four nations. Of course, telling my son all of this would just fall on deaf ears. So I simplified the lessons for him as listed below.

1. It is okay to have fun before and after every lesson to gain power (I told him that knowledge is power) But when it is time for training, he must put full concentration so that the knowledge that he gained can be more powerful. So when it is time for him to sit down to do his homework, he must complete all of them before running off to play outside or jumping on the sofa to watch tv. This still does not work for my son because the Master is also a bit impatient and can't concentrate himself. So how must the son concentrate? Lesson 1 to Master - you must lead by example.
2. Love is the strongest bond that one can have with another person. Whenever a terrible event happen, he can count on his loved ones to come and cajoule him - save him from the bad things.
3. Friends are very important and should be supportive of each other. Working together as one will produce positive results - good win over evil.
4. Knowledge is everywhere and he must seek it not just with his eyes but also with other senses. This is referring to Toph who mastered metal bending through understanding the similarity of vibration mode between earth and metal. It is also important for him to understand that he should not limit seeking knowledge with those who are older or superior to him but also from those who are not at his level and younger than him.
5. He must treat people with disability with utmost respect as that person may possess ability that others might not have. This is in reference to Toph Bei Fong who is a blind 12 year old Earthbender.
6. He must understand that not all bad people are evil. Just like Aang, he must judge a person by his/her actions and intentions, therefore must be cautious when making decisions. Do not let emotions clout his judgment. Sometimes bad people may want to change their ways but if good people are not willing to accept them, the bad people may have no choice but to return to their old ways.
7. He must understand priority. He must do things first according to priorities. This is definitely not going through to my son because he repeated the word as protities.

Nevertheless, hero worshipping a fictional character may not be good for my son as he grows up into a teenager. He needs to learn to hero worship a real person but he needs to decide who that person is. It could be Prophet Mohammad s.a.w or it could be President Abraham Lincoln. To name a few - Mahatma Gandhi, Bill Gates, Bono from U2 and Nelson Mandela. As long as he can remember the lesson to take what is good and to leave what is bad, insyaAllah he will turn out great himself maybe not as a superhero but a hero to the people that he cares for, saviour to his community and a protector of the world's harmony. It is now up to him and his 'compadre' to make the journey into the great unknown. Wallahualam.

Importance of Education

I want to further my studies. I have been considering it since 2004 and somehow, I am still here at my company. I have gained 10 kg, hopped one grade higher and blessed with an addition to my family. However, knowledge point of view - not much. Yes, I have gained valuable experience bringing an engine into production but I don't see how I can contribute it back with significant impact to my company and most importantly to my beloved nation.

There are people out there (higher ranked that me) in my company telling me that pursuing a Masters degree and eventually PhD might not be the smartest move for two main reasons - losing seniority at work and having no steady income with family in tow during my studies. I suppose they are hinting that it is not necessary to have higher qualifications in order to rise within my company. Could this be true?

Anyway, I find this hard to swallow because my intent to further my studies is to better myself and contribute back to my company, to Malaysia and most importantly, to increase my chances of finding Paradise, God willing. Yes, I want to seek knowledge that will give me leverage to position myself in places where I can make a difference. For the first time, I have actually made plans (personal and career plans) until 2023. Prior to this, I have only done 5-year plans and only once a 10-year plan. Yes, this sounds too ambitious but I have the map to help me reach my target and I am ready to go. Most importantly, my wife supports the idea. But in the mean time, I want to write about the importance of education. I remembered during my high school days on the importance of education in Islam so I did some research and came across some of the material I wrote below from the Internet.

To seek knowledge is a sacred duty; it is obligatory on every Muslim - male and female. Even the first revelation of the Quran for Surah Al-Alaq that encourages people to read, to seek knowledge, to educated oneself and of course, be educated. That was why during the early years of Islam, we have had many great Muslim scientists and scholars that contributed immensely to human knowledge. Sadly, the Muslims today are arguably the most humiliated community in the world. In my heart, I know the previous statement could not be true because we have so many successful devout Muslims in the world. No man becomes truly a Muslim without knowing the meaning of Islam because he becomes a Muslim not through birth but through knowledge.

Therefore, the main purpose of seeking knowledge is bring us closer to Allah s.w.t. It is not simply for the gratification of the mind and senses but it must be linked to values and goals. Therefore, the Quran should be the guiding star to show us the path to Paradies and success in the world. Another purpose of seeking knowledge is to gain the good of this world and not to destroy it through wastage, arrogance and in reckless pursuit of wealth.

Nevertheless, it is impossible for anyone to gain anything more than a fraction of the vast knowledge that is available out there. Therefore, we must decide what is important for us to know and how to go about to acquire this knowledge.

The future is in our hands. Always remember that flow of knowledge must never be stopped so I must remind myself that as I seek knowledge I must also prepare to disperse and institutionalise it so that greater number of people can benefit from it. May Allah s.w.t. give us strength to behave and act just as He likes us to do and be pleased with us, and that should be the purpose of our lives. Rabbi zidni ilma

Free our mind first before we can free Tibet ..

The history of Tibet and China goes a long way back but to get to the point that seems to upset many people, China invaded Tibet on October 7, 1950. Tibetans called it invasion but the Chinese called it liberation. This is where HIStory could be HERstory.

Okay, what about the Olympics? Pierre Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, a French nobleman who revived the modern Olympics with its famous creed:

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well

Tibetans and its supporters alike must have embraced the creed well as can be viewed on CNN and other new channel. They are taking part in demonstration against the torch relay - they were struggling with the police force as they tried to grab the torch and I have to say that they fought well. World leaders, mainly from Europe and famous celebrities are also jumping on the bandwagon and demanding China do something about their human rights records (Tibet and Darfur) and resolve spiraling pollution crisis in China.

I just got two questions to ask: what is the real impact for world leaders to boycott the opening of Olympics with respect to China to improve their human rights records? Doesn't anyone remember the phrase that Rome was not built in one day?

So if world leaders want to make a difference, please arrange for a proper dialogue sessions with Chinese leaders to show that they are really serious in helping China improve their human rights record and reduce pollution. Otherwise, do something drastic such as imposing economic sanctions (boycott Chinese products) on China. Boycotting the Olympic opening ceremony with its slogan 'One World One Dream' does not make much sense!! How long did it take America to abolish slavery? How long did it take Russia to bring down the communist curtain?

And if people want to make a difference, please feel free to protest and voice out concerns peacefully but disrupting the torch run is just plain nuisance!! For those who are ignorant, the current Dalai Lama has always supported Beijing's hosting of the Olympic and he insists that the torch run should complete its route around the world peacefully. Please take note that he is demanding China to give Tibet greater autonomy and allow them to preserve their culture. There are bigger issues surrounding us that no one seem to take note such as Iraq and Afghanistan occupation; Guantanamo Bay; Israel -Palestine conflict; one in six countries faces food shortages; Greenland's ice is thinning at alarming pace; weather around the world has gone haywire; one in five person in the world has no easy access to safe drinking water and many more.

China has made many positive changes since Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. Its reform and opening up policy have provided tremendous wealth to its citizen and also contributed to the world development. I am not saying that their human rights record is impeccable now but Chinese leaders have made earnest efforts to rid malpractices in human rights field. China has 1.4 billion people and like a huge oil tanker, it will take a lot of effort and time for them to change direction. China is slowly moving in the right direction towards meeting international level expectation. I am not so sure about the direction of USA is heading in terms of its human rights record as many people are questioning US treatment of captured non citizens, the legality of Iraq war and allege violations of national sovereignty. So it is time for all of us to free our minds from pre-conception that the media is currently generating. My suggestion is to watch Al-Jazeera International after watching CNN, read Malaysiakini after reading The Star; eat mangosteen after eating durian but most importantly, use our brain and think first before making judgment. Tibet has gotten great exposure of the ill treatment it receives from China. I suggest that everyone should concentrate on the real issue (dialogue sessions with China on Tibet and while we are at it, have dialogue sessions with US to tell them that not all Muslims are terrorists) and leave the Olympics to professional athletes to battle it out.