The Marvelous Adventures of the Amazing Dr. Rizal

Look, its a it's a bird, it's a plane, its wait....it's Dr.Rizal?....poing, poing, poing......
As I was day dreaming about the day I would finally finish my PhD. I dreamt about me having a Dr. title. I know, I can make better use of my time by actually doing some work and reading relevant papers, but even Superman have the right to dream....doesn't he? While berangan(fantasizing) having a Dr. title, I search the web to look for other Dr. Rizal's out there. What I found was there was not a lot of Dr. Rizal out there, which made me a little worried. Could it be people with the name Rizal don't really go far?

I did however found an action comic art about Dr. Jose Rizal my ancestral heritage, which I've blogged about not so long ago. The comic was called "The Marvelous Adventures of The Amazing Dr. Rizal". Apparently, the fictional comic is about a hero Character Dr. Rizal based on the real Phillipines hero Dr. Jose Rizal. I must respect the artist, Gerry Alanguilan and the Philippines people who support his work.

The artist really tries to understand Dr. Jose Rizal's character and try to immortalized him in his version of fiction based on history. We don't see this in Malaysia. In fact, our forefather, who helped build the nation are being questioned for their wisdom. Nobody actually takes time to study the characters of our Malaysian forefathers and try to immortalize them in a more superior form. Instead, we condemn them, like we condemn the tenacity and naiveness of Tok Janggut for being brave to go against the British, condemn the unfairness of Tunku Abdul Rahman for his wisdom to keep peace in Malaya and create a social contract between the three races which helped create the Malaysian constitution and an independent Malaysia or comdemn the cruelness of the still living Tun Dr. Mahathir for his shrewd mind to put Malaysia in the world map--is already being forgotten even before his death.

There are more heroes of Malaysia here, which are not mentioned, but the thing is, we Malays forget too easily of their heroic contributions towards Malaysia, and instead of trying to take their good characters and contributions and immortalized them, we slowly cover them in a veil of darkness and hate without knowing why. If this kind of attitude carries on, we would have no heroes that we can look back to, we will have no heroes that we can look up to and stand on the shoulders of giants like our forefathers, so that we can see further than what they saw. We can never reach above the horizons to see our future, and to reach our dreams. It will indeed make Malaysia fall into darkness and bring us further into a generation of hate and despair.

I do like the idea of Dr. Rizal being a hero. Better still, he kinda looks like me...hehehe, except for the mustache, and him being a bit chunky, he does looks like me. I mean the receding hair line is the closest resemblance. Anyway, attached are two more comic arts. Just to protect myself againts copyright laws here, and for your references, the artistic comic art belongs to Gerry Alanguilan and I got the pictures from....here, here and here.

Dad with courage, mom with love.

This is a continuation from Family Visit (part 3)

From South Dakota, we drove back to Kent, Ohio on the 23rd, August and arrived back in Kent on the 24th. I was in a hurry to reach home for classes on the 25th. While being back home, I brought mom and dad shopping a lot. Mom and dad was particularly fond of the Outlet malls where mom got herself shoes from Hush Puppies, sandals from Crocs and handbags from Liz Claiborne. Dad got himself a really good deal on Samsonite travel luggage.



Also we had a chance to go to Cleveland. Particularly, to get more food. There is a really nice halal store here in Cleveland and many Asian stores that can help an Asian Muslim like myself go crazy stocking up on spices.
Mom wanted to have a gathering here for some of the nice Malaysian folks who have helped me out when I first arrived.


My small apartment is hardly a complete kitchen. I'm a bachelor so cooking is hardly a priority. Which makes a season cook like my Mom feel a bit uneasy trying to cook and entertain about 10 Malaysian's in Kent. So we also had to run to stores and get a few things like a nice serving bowl, a serving spoon, and a blender to blend the chilly. After all that, she was all happy as I helped out what I can to help her prepare the food. As always, Mom's cooking is the best.


So fast so soon, and they were already gone on the 31st. The night before, I helped them pack their bags. I was indeed sad, but always had problems showing it. Mom was emotional about it for a second, as my Dad remained calm and stayed macho.
Even all grown up, being independent for so many years alone in a foreign country, I know now that Mom never felt comfortable for me being away. I guess to her eyes, I'm still her boy. Undoubtedly, that's what a mother's love is, unconditional and always full of love. And I also realized, that Mom's strength comes from Dad's courage. I know he feels sad too, but Dad had always been good in showing a brave front, as he remain calm and assured Mom with his demeanor, that this is a parents sacrifice.

To Mom and Dad, thank you for coming and visit me. I miss the both of you a lot. I might not show it well. I guess like father like son, but I assure you, inside, I wish I could just keep my parents here in Kent. This entry can hardly utter the words of what I feel. Love you Mom and Dad, and come again next year yea....:)

Family Visit (part 3)

This is a continuation from Family Visit (part 2)

We also heard a lot of stories about the Devils tower. The devils tower is a unique monument. It is also the first
National Monument declared by the US. "Devils Tower (Lakota: Mato Tipila, which means “Bear Tower”) is a monolithic igneous intrusion or volcanic neck located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 386 m (1,267 ft) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 1,558 m (5,112 ft) above sea level", wikipedia.


What interest me about the devils tower is that a lot of people climb it. Once I hit my ideal weight, I will join a climbing club here. Hopefully, I will find friends crazy enough to climb up Devils tower nie.:)



After all the adventures at the devils tower, we also went to Crazy Horse Memorial. Crazy horse is the Red Indian general who defeated General Custer. He was then killed in a treaty, stab in the back. Though, some records written by white historian claims he was accidentally stabbed.
Crazy Horse memorial will also be carved in a mountain like mount Rushmore, it has been 50 years now, and only the face part is done. Eventually, the mountain will depict the exact replica on the left.

Of course, we also had to visit the South Dakota Aviation Museum. Dad was happy here. He was excited to see the aircrafts that he had flown before and the kinds of aircraft he never had the chance to fly. We also learn a lot about the nuclear rockets that was installed during the cold war. We were given a tour of the missile silos and its history.

Family Visit (part 2)

This is a continuation from Family Visit (part 1)

Being in South Dakota, we just had to go visit Mount Rushmore. The picture to the left is the faces of the famous 4 presidents of the United States. From the left, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

We had a lot of pictures here, and also learned a lot about the history of America. I shall reserve what I think of their history, because it is full of violence, but I must respect, good or bad, they have never forgotten their ancestors that helped build their nation. Yang keruh (the muddy waters) they throw out, and they just keep the good values of it. Wish that Malaysian people will learn how to cherish our history and respect our elders for the contributions that our forefathers have given us. I guess without knowing our history, it will keep us in ignorance.

A long time ago, there was about 20 million of these native Bison in the land of the Indians. They were hunted by white hunters to make coats and boots. Today, known as S.Dakota, America, there are only about a thousand left, and they are in the endangered species. This is the land where the Sioux and the Lakota tribe Red Indians used to live, the black hills and the Bad lands. There is a lot of history here and we sure did learned a lot.

They call it Bad Lands because nothing green can grow up in the Bad lands. In the olden days, the US government tried to give the land by government vouchers, which cost about a dollar or sometimes free. They tried to make people come here and build farms. But all who came failed to produce any vegetation in the Bad lands. They did managed to bring people here anyways, when they found out that there was gold at the Black Hills close to the Bad Lands.