Dreams are made of..

I always get excited when theres news or reports about Malay children/teenagers doing great things...scoring good results in exams, winning competitions in Maths, science, technology, nationally or at international levels. Being a mother, an ex teacher and a Malay, I feel very proud. Melayu boleh! We have arrived?

Many weeks ago, I got excited when an 18year old Zahra Masouman Halim announced she will swim across the English Channel. Wow, difficult feat, very ambitious....but has been done before. The news were in all medias, in the newspapers for a couple of days, were on tv news, quite a big hu-ha. Unfortunately, when the day came, the swim was aborted after only a few kilometres due to bad weather or big waves/tide or something like that...So, what happened? Did she only prepare herself for good weather? Did she practise in calm waters? Was she fit enough? Was she strong enough, physically, mentally?

Then there was an article in the papers about a 16 year old, Nur Syahiirah Muhammad Junaidi, who wrote her first English novel. I couldn't wait to get a copy. The books were not sold in the stores. I'm not exactly sure why, but a friend managed to get me a copy of "Soul of the Iris ".I took three days to finish the 302-paged book. Its the longest time I've taken to read a relatively thin book. I must say it is creative writing but theres some sections like I've read it or heard it or maybe seen it on the telly but thats not what is important. I took a long time to finish the book because the vocabulary was bad, the grammar mistakes were in almost every other paragraph. It felt like reading a school essay written in an exam, where theres not enough time to correct any mistakes. The English was quite bad. Big words was used but excrutiatingly wrong. I mean, it was clearly not edited.The spelling mistakes were too many; it was not proof read. Over and over again immediately was spelt immidietly. How did it get published? That was why I had to stopped reading many many times, I can't stand the poor english. Why can't the girl get her parents or english teacher to read it first? Was there a publisher or was it just printed by printers?

Please don't get me wrong. I am not trying to bring anybody down. Its just that why can't we do something the long way. There's no short cut to success. I'm sure this would be what Datuk Malik Mydin (I hope I got his name right) or JK Rowlins would say. We don't always succeed the first time, sooo very true but the first try is always the 'make or break'.. I am very sure both girls will try and try again. I hope Zahra will practise in the worst possible scenario so that she'll succeed in whatever condition. I remember a friend's visit to Indonesia where the small children played/practised badminton in huge hangar like halls, not enough windows and no fans. The air was humid and the children wore drenched shirts. So my friend asked the trainer why, and he said they would play well in better conditions, breeze through games in air-cond halls. Well, you know something like that.. To NurSyahiirah, writing needs coaching, too. Unlike JK Rowlins, you are writing in a second language. In your book, I sensed that you think in Bahasa Melayu. Have an english tuitor. Work with a publisher. I enjoyed your story line and I am sure you can write many many more interesting novels.

Girls, good luck, all the best. I'll be following your path to success, insyaAllah. Make me proud...