THE EVE OF 2010

I have come a long way to 2010. Alhamdulillah. Praises be to Allah and Allah alone, our Creator and Sustainer. How could I not be grateful to have come this far in life with all the blessings He has bestowed upon me. Alhamdulillah. I am in good health relatively speaking and often 'joked' about it as being a perfect "high flier" in this rat-race world. I have high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol. Just last week the doctor ( a cardiologist) in my 3 monthly check-up asked me to exercise and is best that I should lose some weight. "You are what you eat, Sobah." said the nurse who has been reminding me to eat less rice and be disciplined in my Tai-Chi session. I am pushing 63 and after this, life is a 'bonus' because Prophet Muhammad (saw) lived up to that age only. I promised her that I would 'behave' and the next time I see the doctor in three months' time, insyaAllah,I would lose 5kg. She laughed at me.

So what do most people do on new year's eve? I don't know anymore. I stay home writing this entry while thinking whether to join an NGO called 'orphancare' whose office is just next door to my house. They came to ask me late this afternoon if I would help them in their work to match good prospective parents to babies, toddlers or young kids who need descent homes. All legal matters are already taken care of and they work closely with the Welfare Department. It is a tough endeavor and I told them I would think about it as I am already full time on Pertubuhan Mawaddah Malaysia and a volunteer with Aman Palestin Bhd. As I tell friends, life is more hectic now, really, compared to that time before retiring from the civil service. Therefore, those who are thinking on getting involved with charity work should start young and not wait untill after retirement. I noticed that the ORPHANCARE volunteers are in their late 30's or early 40's. Their work sounds challenging for they are partly concerned with finding homes for abandoned babies. May Allah show them the way.

As I saw them off at the gate after more than an hour of exchanging notes on our effort to solve these social problems, I got to thinking as to why this social decadence is getting from bad to worse. On this eve of 2010 I hope our political leadership would realize that problems of this nature are best solved at source. Government policies and programs on social and moral development should be success-driven and not just a show-case affair.

As the saying goes : It takes the whole village to raise a child. And so every one of us has a role to play. But we must have good leadership who has the political will to make effective and positive changes. I strongly believe that only leaders who fear God Allah who can make the difference.

Until the next time, may Allah bless us all. Amin.