21/6/09 A SLEEPLESS NITE....

(He smile when asked to choose between Madrasah or the normal school.....while the other one grinned to the hot sun, prefering fishing to schooling. Both, where are they being guided, I'm not sure where?)

I have my dinner with just garlic bread and light soup. I really want to sleep early. Full day today, my time spent just to wait, but nothing turn up. After going thru' some books that I bought, I laid my head on the pillow, but the disco music began to pound just by 2200 hour. I put my dress on, walked down to the Golden Club Plazario, there you are, Saturday Nigh Fever, the whole night crazy disco, packed all over. I asked for lemonade, while, sort of appreciating the music, I kept my eyes focus to the Animal Planet Channel on the screen, while once a while, glanced at those Jackpots at a short distance. Left, right, back, front.....all the dance, I don't really know what are the rhythms. But once a while the life band put on Country...make me feel blue, remembering all those cowboy days in Denver!

(2) My mind wonder, travelling as far as Seram, Indonesia to Madang, PNG, two pictures emerged deep in my eyes, disturbing my mind. Two boys at different locations, but in the same fate of life! Yet tonight, despite all those, still they dance not to the music, but I believe to the escapism. Including me, escapism, I escaped from my bed, from the hard to sleep night, to this ear-breaking music of the west! While the native POM dance to escape from the hard life out there, the Mat Salleh smile by the side, probably appreciating their cultural doctrination among the local! The music sound good, the dance look juicy, especially with those bumpy b...! But, the impact, I would say, pleasing the Mat Salleh, for they are, at least here, they are equal?

(3) I began to think, just to keep me awake, should I stay or should I escape again. Got me an Internet Access Card, and I escaped back to my room, onto this PC and saying all these, to escape, from seeing those escapism, but can't take my ears out of those sky high music, louder and louder as the night air getting cooler and cooler.

(4) Yesterday, while waiting for the return flight to POM from Wewak, I stayed out at the airport compound. I lay under the coconut tree, next to few nuns memorizing the bible. On the flight I saw some of them. In the fligh I sit next to one of them. In Kendari, Indonesia, I met some of them. Everywhere, I met them. Why are they here? Especially the Mat Salleh one?

(5) Tonight I tried to answer all those questions, those wonder? The spread of this Chritianity? What are they up to? To eleviate poverty? To make people happy? Or just to make one at peace with oneself despite all the misery? Or is it because, if we don't others will do? I'm questioning, what is religion for? What is faith for?

(6) While in Seram and Makasar, there are talks, to built more Madrasah. Why Madrasah? What are we going to do in the Madrasah? What is Madrasah for? Why not just make use of the existing school, surau, masjid? Why do we need to spend more money to come to the same thing? So, sincerity, honesty, in achieving our objective, where are they? Are all these not channeling our young minds to the notion that, if not at the Madrasah, it is not holly, not spiritual, not clean? By having Madrasah and the school for two different purpose, saprating the should be one goal, are we not potraying, signalling, a real wrong ways of managing our ad deen? I won't be supprise, in the long run, we have two divergence of ways on how we see life, one from the conservative and the other from the liberal perspectives. A divergence that will be met with potential conflict or probably ingnorance!

(7) Both the Muslim and the Chritian both in Far East Indonesia and PNG, it seem, their interests are to bulid monuments, symbolic of faith, while the statue of poverty will be preserved forever, probably, I wonder?

Port Moresby, PNG
27 June, 2009