My Tribute to "Expedition Crews to Cakrawala"

I came to know about Cakrawala a couple of years ago in my course of duty somewhere. It intrigued me, made me feel so patriotic - looking at the amount of cash generated (projected) by this joint venture from 'hasil bumi milik rakyat Malaysia' for the benefits of all. Alas, as we all know, they don't trickle down to the right pockets.

When i read from Mr. Duke The Whisperer's "The Historic Expedition Begins...", the image i had in my mind about the boats they are taking are of deep-sea, state of the art boats. Wow! What a grand expedition it would be, i thought.

But, i almost cried going through Encik Kickdefella's "Our Journey to Cakrawala". The boats they took were just simple fishing boats. God bless their souls, who endured the treacherous sea, for the sake of greater people, back home in Kelantan specifically, and Anak Bangsa Malaysia at large.

Someone in my office shared a story about selfless acts. Her father, once, opened a grocery shop in their small village in Negeri Sembilan. During the height of May 13, 1969, her father hid his Chinese Brethrens amongst the sacks of 'beras', 'gula' and 'tepung', while some crazy people of his own race wielding 'parang' running amok in the village. Till today, ever thankful for his selfless help, the Chinese Brethrens and their next generations continue to be his friends, visiting him every now and then. One day, my friend saw her father sold 5 pieces of cracker for a price of 10 cents to a boy. Feeling that her father was being unfair to her as she has to pay more if she wanted to have the same amount of crackers, she asked him later. Her father, God bless his soul, told her that the boy is an orphan. He said "Never make money out of people in need, especially 'anak yatim'". My friend learns from her beloved father the power of sharing. Once a family stricken in deep poverty, where 'orang kampung' would spit at her father for being dirt poor, his humble father and ever-resourceful mother are now blessed with a good life. She holds a high position in this organisation, her brother is a lawyer and one sister is a paediatrician.

Good values pay handsomely to those who live up to them. Good values present them with ever-lasting peace and 'barakah' for God provides them with what is rightfully theirs, to be shared with many more lives that are connected to them. Like someone dear shared with me a Tamil proverb "By caring for others, ours will be cared for too".

"Consideration for others is the basic of good life, a good society" ~ Confucius

This post is dedicated for the selfless 70-odd men and women on the two 'mercy' boats. They found the truth and i know they would fight for the rights of their brethrens, umpama 'sirih pulang ke gagang'.May God bless them all, always.

If we could see what we are doing now is for the benefits of our Ibu Pertiwi, if we truly appreciate the gifts God has bestowed our Ibu Pertiwi, if we lived up to our compassion and conscience, if we could be as selfless as them,this Ibu Pertiwi would be a great nation.

"Impartiality is a dream but honesty is a duty"

~ TIME's Jerusalem Bureau, Jamil Hamad