Long Runs - What's in Store?

Salam Maghrib folks,

It has been years that I have not blogged. Well,  a writer writes when his mind is eager to do so:)...nay,  i was just being lazy actually...😬

Anyway,  as many of you folks realize, long distance run is something that I enjoy doing in my past times. Some of you could have thought,  what on earth he is doing? At the age of 40, he should be spending time on the "tikar sejadah" and not pounding the pavement for several hours just for that endorphin-craze feeling. Okay,  you are right there,  I am already 40 but hey,  there's no stopping when I put on my running shoes. At least as long as Allah permits it.

So,  to simplify this stuff,  perhaps the following could shed some light to some of you on what marathon or long distance run potrays: -

1. Cardiovascular Activities

Even in Islam,  we are encouraged to have some sporting activities in our life. Health-wise,  long distance run prevents common diseases where the current societies are facing (e. g. heart attack,  stroke and the list goes on)

2. Life Direction

Marathon and other long runs could become our unsung motivator. Apart from the powerful endorphin that would be released if we engage into this rigorous activity,  it could also teach you to respect your body,  your training regime,  your opponents and most importantly,  it teaches you to Never Give Up💪💪💪!

3. Back to Basic

This type of mundane activity is also a source of simplicity in life. It creates an environment that revolves around simple stuff. All you need is a pair of running shoes and a running attire. How simple is that? Ultimately,  this could be translated into our life, where we should eliminate complicated stuff and always "bertawakkal" to Allah (through Solat Dhuha and Tahajudd) in anything we indulge into....

Thus,  I suggest we wait no more. To achieve things that would/will assist our life or perspective requires no "wait-and-see" approach,  though. The earlier you start,  the sooner you will reap the rewards. InsyaAllah. Hit the road tomorrow or bump in to the nearest gym for some treadmill drills,  which ever you fancy - I leave to your discretion...

Signing off for this evening;

Chow😎 and salam Isyak folks

Mufarz 2018

Alhamdulilah...

Alhamdulilah. Here we are in the month of Ramadhan again. May our souls are blessed with abundance of Rahmats from the Almighty. InsyaAllah.

In this holy month, what are the actual challenges ahead of us? Empty stomach? Workloads? Financial? Relationships? Or rather something else? What ever it is, we pray hard for each and every thing to sail well without any unwanted turbulences.

If a comparison is to be made, I firmly believe that we are not the only "unlucky party" in this world. There are others who are struggling to survive and surely, survival is their main priority at the moment. Being grateful is the key to any happiness.

For an assurance, silverlining will eventually appear and before that time arrives, rely on the Almighty to assist us.

I am certainly not a saint or a cleric, but to remind each other in my own way is just an obligation to me. At least, I have done my part.

InsyaAllah, let us ride this Ramadhan with load of Allah's blessings.

Chow for now...

Your not so friendly neighbourhood

Mufarz 2015

posted from Bloggeroid

The Rich, The Famous and The Pitch

Assalamualaikum guys

Alhamdulilah. Here I am again. It has been a while since my last write up. A kind of gap... Perhaps, my new work commitment has restricted me from doing so.

Nevertheless, it's a kind of "itchy" for me to dwell on the issue of sky-high paycheques received by our local top footballers. Is this CEO-level type of salary justifiable? Are they really good? A waste of money?

According to the news portal, some of them are receiving as high as RM120k per month, I repeat, RM120 grand on monthly basis! That's even higher than some of commercial banks' CEO wages...

Based from my observation as an avid fan of local soccer scene, the quality of outputs produced by these players are still way below at least the Asian level. Just compare these so called "top Malaysian players" against some of the players from the war-torn countries, i.e. Palestine, Iraq and Syria (they don't even have proper playing fields to train and play) and these Malaysian players are absolutely nowhere. Let alone against players from the Asian heavyweight' nations such as Japan, S. Korea and Australia.

Their national contribution? The answer is still the same. Nothing can be proud of. Over the years, we put the blame on the lack of grassroot development. After almost 3 decades of the doldrums' years without any Asian level (or above) record- breaking achievement, can we still accept this "grassroot development" problem as an excuse?

Ironically, and yet, these local top-flight players are still valued at this unbelievable level of salary. I am not questioning about the fate that Allah has presented to them but rather on why these players did not make use this God-given opportunity to further enhance their ability and skill?

For an instance, about 20 years ago, an Englishman by the name of David Beckham had successfully made his fortune through Manchester United's youth program without any substantial skills. He was lacking in the basic requirement of football. He could not head the ball crisply, he couldn't dribble pass a brigade of opponent's defenders and the list go on. The only thing that had captured the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson was about his commitment. Yes, his commitment that had shaped him and propelled him to the highest level of greatness as a professional player. He trained hard, harder than everyone else on the pitch. At the end of the day, he presented the world with his masterpiece-pin point crosses and became the world's finest deadball specialist.

This is what I wish to see from our local top players. Commitment. No matter how low your salary is or how high your salary is, commitment can certainly change the level of your output.

Don't blame the authority (FAM or anything) if we cannot achieve what we should. Remember, when George Weah of Liberia being crowned as the best African players in Europe somewhere in the 90s, Liberia's football association was as good as none. Period. So, stop blaming everyone else but yourselves (note: to Bojan Hodak, stop telling your players that without great pitch, they can't perform as most of African footballing nations do not have Wembley-alike football field but their players stamped their mark as great players in most parts of the world).

Deep in my heart, I wish to see them excelling in their playing-career and to convince us someday that their sky-high salaries are justified.

Your not so friendly neighbourhood,

Mufarz - 2015

Di sini lahirnya sebuah cinta...

Alhamdulillah. It's gonna be our 57th Merdeka Day. This is the place we harbour our hopes, this is where our loves are blossoming.

So, any fresh hopes and missions to achieve for this tiny nation? If you ask me, I certainly have numerous wishes to make, indeed. And they are:

1) Religion

Moderation or wasatiah is definitely my cup of tea. Extremisms in any ways are not beneficial to anybody and it can only cause a huge downturn to the country.

2) Economy

Whoever that governs this nation has to be prudent with the taxpayers'funds. We did not elect you to screw up the money nor to swindle these hard-earned money for your cronies' benefits. Use them wisely and diligently.

3) Sports

To our athletes out there, compete like there will be no tomorrow in your pet event. Make us proud. Make us adore you like a role model. We don't have Superman in this real world and we need you to be that Superman to unite the nation.

4) People

As citizens of Malaysia, please stop the in fighting as it brings chaos to the nation. Set aside your political differences and maintain our 5 decades-long tolerance and live our life to the muhibbah spirit till the end of this nation.

5) Politic

To the political parties in Malaysia, don't enter the world of politic just because of power and money. Leave a legacy of administration to be highly spoken in years to come and absolutely not a condemnation for generations to come.

These are my humble wishes for this lovely country, some wishes from a commonner/layman like me. I ain't no saint or tok imam but I believe any walking man in the street deserves an equal opportunity to express himself about his nation.

I truly love this nation. Di sini lahirnya sebuah cinta....

Selamat Menyambut Hari Merdeka ke 57.

Your modest citizen,

Mufarz @ 2014

United We Are...Are We?

Alhamdulillah. Here we are, reaching the 22nd night of Ramadhan this year. May all of us are blessed with Allah's mercy in this world and in the thereafter. InsyaAllah.

Despite our calm and peaceful surroundings, let us remind ourselves not to forget the needy and the circumstances that are happening around us. The most recent ones are the MH17 tragedy and the atrocities of Israel against our brothers and sisters in Palestine. Yes, we may not be directly connected to the perished passengers of MH17 nor the poor Palestinians over there but things can certainly be changed overnight. Or even in a blink of our eyes...

Some of us even took some "initiative" to poke fun at these untoward events. Where is our heart? Where do we put our empathy? Don't we have better things to do than this? Some had even resorted to the blame game. Are you for real, guys? Not every little thing in this world is about politic and race. Think about it again.

For my Muslims brothers out there, come and together we recite Al fatihah to our fellow muslims and muslimah who perished in these two tragic circumstances. To my non Muslim acquintances, be strong and sensitive towards the tragedies. I ain't no angel, but to play my part as a responsible human and Muslim by not offending the affected parties, in any way possible, is rather my greatest aim indeed.

Tragedies and bad news do happen in our life. Just don't be part of those foolish acts who seem to have no other stuff to do than mocking around with their tasteless and funny-less "damn jokes".

Wassallam and wish you all a great life ahead.

Sincerest point of view from your not so friendly neighbourhood,

Mufarz 2014

Malaysian Soccer - Why Do We Need A Foreign Coach?

For the past few days, we have been reading about how Dato K Rajagopal is going to be replaced with a master tactician of a huge credibility. Rumours say it will be Phillippe Troussier or the White Witch Doctor...the man who had helped Japan in its World Cup 2002 campaign and several African nations in their footballing triumphs.

However, the said news has its own downside, in which the coach's sky-high salary that FAM has to fork out if this coach's expertise was to be used.

The question is...would it be worthwhile or beneficial to Malaysian football? Simply hiring an expert will not change our football's fate overnight. The whole system must undergo a revamp in order to see Malaysia rises again in at least at the Asian level.

When we dwell on the point of "the whole system", it means the whole thing related to soccer or football in Malaysia. Our new Sports and Youth Minister's move in getting the service of our renowned ex player, Lim Teong Kim recently is indeed a baby step toward a successful set-up.

But it must not stop right there. We must ensure that the players, the officials and the fans are also playing their part vehemently in charting the route to success. Accountability must be in place but the human touch's aspect just cannot be ignored as well. We must put the element of appreciation above the common punishment ahead of us.

Apart from what that have been mentioned here, don't forget about the element of passion in the picture. Without passion in the pipeline, money spent will always be a wasteful story. People involved must be nurtured to love their stuff in whatever circumstances.

Whatever it is, we Malaysian are so grateful and thankful to Dato K Rajagopal for putting us back on ASEAN football map after a 2 lowly decades of football sadness.

We do really hope that our Harimau Malaya will roar loudly again.

Your passionate Malaysian fan,

Mufarz 2013

Kun fa ya kun

Just before Asar prayer today, while waiting for a jemaah prayer with the rests of other muslims in a mosque in the middle of a city centre, my auto update's app rang and notified me over my phablet that the electrical giant, Sharp will have to close several of its plants around the world, and Malaysia is not spared.

What? Sharp? I was like...pausing. After a few seconds, reality checked in and I kept on reading the said auto update and the article was saying that Sharp is having a huge decline in its sales (except for its LCD tvs) and thus, this has caused them to owe many creditors amounting to billions of dollars (USD of course!). As a result, Samsung is gonna bail them out and shrinking process seems to be unavoidable.

In the nutshell, we can always put a permanent mental blockage in our mind that no matter how big we are in the industry or no matter how credible we are as a human being, we are all slaves of Allah. Nothing is certain and nothing is rightfully ours. He will take as He wishes and a lesson from this, be good to everybody and learn to say Alhamdulilah all the times because we pretty unsure when "ours" are gonna be taken away.

Till then, hope you guys are having a great time without neglecting the Almighty. InsyaAllah.

Yours truly,

A sinful and lame chap,
Mufarz 2013