Humanity in Autism

I have been doing some unusual amount of reading regarding congenital disorders lately. It happened ever since I met this wonderful and amazing woman of our time a few days ago. So amazing and unique she is among us because of her autism – and her condition is not a classic one, but a highly-functioning autism that could probably set anyone still at their tracks.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to meet Temple Grandin (whom I ‘met’ on HBO) - a lady of monumental strength that has braved against the strong tides of social stereotypes. In a field that is dominated by mostly brawn-but-no-brains men, she managed to single-handedly revolutionise the US cattle livestock industry; from a brutal system to a much humane one that teaches all of us to treat every living being with dignity and respect, especially if its ultimate sacrifice is meant to keep us alive. And as a frontliner in advocating autism, she will make you understand yourself better as a human being by ensuring you understand what the disorder really is first.

But what made my neurons in the brain all fired up is not regarding how the disorder comes to be. It is rather how the public approaches the whole issue. One of the major highlights that I learnt from the movie ‘Temple Grandin’ and after numerous fact-finding with brain-cracking almost brought me down to my knees with shame. It’s a reminiscence of my childhood during the schooling days.

Before I continue, to give a brief idea what autism is, it is a behavioural disorder with strong evidence of genetic predisposition. Community afflicted with this disorder will have a hard time blending into society and to communicate, but they excel in fields that require logical thinking like math and science. Sounds like Asperger’s Syndrome, but autism is not to be confused for that though both of them share strong similar traits. Most importantly, autistic people comprehend the world in a much different and specific way than us that makes them weirdo in the eyes of many – they pay more attention to details and processes rather than the bigger picture, rendering them to have more inputs from their sensory system. Thus they are more easily irritated (hypersensory) and may act in many different, strange ways to ease themselves.

So here’s the part that my old-self (and also many others) wasn’t aware of: autism can range from very mild, almost-undetectable ones to very severe types like what Grandin has. Remember that you used to laugh at kids who acted all odd and sometimes throwing tantrums, or the ones who you think were dorks and unable to solve the simplest question or carry out the most basic tasks? These people could very well have autism or other types of disorders like Down’s and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). They didn’t ask for these to begin with, and certainly they didn’t ask for your teasing, labelling and discrimination that arrive after. Above everything else, they don’t need your sympathy, but they will really appreciate your support.

As I continue to read further, it was horrifying to discover past related misconceptions which were based on pure assumptions driven by fear and unfamiliarity that could actually plunge the whole family into unnecessary hardship and humiliation. Ever wonder how the term ‘refrigerator mothers’ came into existence? It is used to describe mothers of autistic children whom members of public believe the emotional detachment that the mothers exhibited towards their offspring that offset the disorders in them. Makes you laugh? Think how was it like being a mother of an autistic child back in the 50’s and 60’s.

However, with the knowledge we possess today, fear towards these disorders should be something relatively of the past. Education for both communities is the key here – to integrate the involuntary outcasts and to have the society to accept them. We may have found the root of these disorders, but similarly to Grandin’s thoughts, a cure is not the answer since it will wipe out neurodiversity that makes mankind’s evolutionary feat our greatest survival arsenal in my belief. After all, half of the men and women who had and are going to transform this Earth into a better place for everyone are actually identified with somewhat kind of behavioural disorders with varying degrees, like the great Temple Grandin herself!

Nevertheless, solutions are everywhere. One of my favourite philosophers, Sir Ken Robinson who is a famous education reformist that has encountered numerous cases of ADHD (and other similar disorders) among school children said, there is no such disorder. They are proven on paper, but they are still subjected to plenty of debate. Reason he said that was after helping a child diagnosed with ADHD by her teachers to secure a better future. Recalling from his account, she may not be able to sit obediently or acquire long attention span in class, but her feet were able to lift gracefully in the presence of music much to the astonishment of her joyful mother and bewildered teachers.

So, all this just points towards one thing: that kids with such disorders are just normal after all, like each of our precious selves, they just need some direction to find where their passion really lies in and an avenue to express themselves. It’s actually not that complicated as we think.

p/s ‘Temple Grandin’ is now airing on HBO. Try to catch it!

Smile that disregards whether you're a scout, a Muslim, a Malaysian or a no-no extraordinary.

I saw that she is a scout from the back of her shirt. But it wasn't easy registering the fact by the look of her face. Morose. Black. Void.

When she left the car, her brother - also a very good friend of mine - confirmed the truth. And it's not her thing to smile he added. But to be fair to her, she has dark skin complexion for a Chinese. My brains were fazed - a scout, who doesn't smile frequently? Awkward sure it is if you were to ask me.

What does smiling got to do with scouting (and guiding)? Good question my friend. 'We scouts uphold and appreciate smiles a lot.' And it turned out to rhyme like Stephen Hawking has just said that the world is flat by the sound of his smirks.

But the focus it not really about the sister that prompts the birth of this note. At the end, you will see that it is not really about scouting too.

It is just that scouting and smiling are both things that are knitted so closely and delicately, like the threads in a piece of cloth, it forms one of the building blocks for the movement that somewhat makes us scouts so benevolent and believeable in ourselves, our abilities and in the community. And in the vision of Lord Baden Powell, its founder and ours, scouting exists to help the soul of every man in every way and time that we can.

We believe in the virtues of helping regardless of the outcome and reward because we have firm faith in what humanity should be and will be. It does not matter whether it is a school uniformed body or an ex-scout leader like myself and some. Being a scout actually means bigger - way whole lot bigger than this. We define ourselves by actions and principles - not on skin colours, the badges, the ranks nor the uniform we don.

Gandhi is a scout by definition. Thus, every scout can (I won't say 'is') be Gandhi, or Buddha. Every man who fight for the rights and lives of others, every selfless souls out there is a scout. A Mother Theresa. A St. John Ambulance cadet. Or even a our beloved Yasmin Ahmad. Soon when maturity begets humanity, one will realise that all these labels and boundaries are meaningless and trivial.

So, how does help begin? By smiling. We never know to whom it is intended for, but the good-feeling curve is surely a powerful ray stronger than the sun - and it's contagious too. It's never specific, but if it can brighten the day of even only a dampened soul, it serves its job well and can definitely be greater with confidence.

With our principles, it's hard for a scout to forsake smiling. Though we can't be smiling all the time and have facial cramps thereafter, but at least we won't return home pulling a long face or being in the public instiling hostility in the environment. So let this be a call for every scout in heart to continue smiling when you thought the good old scouting days have long gone.

The other half of my smiling lesson comes from being a Malaysian, especially the fact that I cherish most is that my parents made the decision to have me educated in a national (so-called Malay) school. I have nothing to lose not knowing my mothertongue well for the smile it taught me to see the beauty of living in this country that is overruled with diversity. Maybe our politicians can learn a thing or two from there by kicking them back to their primary school.

That's why smiling is the first step - and it is sometimes just all that we need. It binds us all no matter who we are. Whether you are a scout, the Red Crescent, you are an Indian, a Malaysian; by smiling you will realise you will be all in what you believe and dream can be - you are everyone and everything.

"A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances." _Robert Baden-Powell

Humanity: Point to Ponder

This world has 6.725 billion people living in it. There is 61 million of us in the place where I am in now, and another 27 million in the place where I came from.

The two most dearest to me are 11,000 km away from me, while another one is just upstairs sleeping.

So what’s the point I am trying to say here? Am I saying that being far from home makes me miss my parents a lot? Not that I don’t, but if that’s my point, what has it got to do about my brother in the room upstairs?

When there are so many of us, and all of us are just not very much different from one another, then what makes you so different from others? What makes you significant in the eyes of others?

It’s not money, status or skin colour that sets the difference if you’re asking me – that’s a hoard of rubbish, superficial reasons. Compare your parents or friends to the unknown guy sitting next to you in train. Who makes you more comfortable, and why?

If you are guessing the answer to all those questions up there right, it’s because of the connection you have with them. Will you pay much attention to the lady at the opposite side of the street? The man who delivers the paper to your house before sunrise? How about the stranger who gets your fallen stuff for you from the floor when your hands are full? The answer is ‘No’ of course, you don’t even know them in the first place to begin with. Even if you do, it will eventually slip your mind over time.

In fact, ask yourself how many people have you passed through on the street today without looking at them? You don’t even know ain’t it, because you can’t even count all of them. If you can’t even count all of them, it is for sure you can’t even be knowing every single one of them. Let’s be realistic here.

And now, next question. What makes you have a connection with another? Is it by the pretext of blood for family, and by feelings for friends and lovers? If it is by blood, is that mean you have the obligation to treat the blood-bound party better? And if it is by feelings, is that mean you have the obligation to approach another party to establish a connection with them then?

Being a social animal, we cannot really much escape from these two factors that ensure our survival by being with people. To think it from a realist’s view, it sounds foolish to invest in something that is formed by the basis of ‘feelings’ and ‘blood’ where these two things itself can’t be touch nor possess a value – literally. But well, being human is like these, and solving this is like solving humanity’s greatest puzzle: our creation.

As hard as it may sound to understand ourselves and how we perceive the relation to the people around us, it is just as easy to cut these connections off. All it takes is only for one party to forsake either one of these elements that makes us human whether intentional or not, and both will end up like the 6.275 billion on the street, passing through each other paths but couldn’t be bothered by each other. If we would divide the number of people we know with Earth’s population, we will find that the ratio tells us that each of us are next to nothing as the value projected will be almost reaching zero.

My brother would say that it is God almighty that creates us like that. I would say it is all in the nature of Homo sapiens. But no matter what we believe, we as human beings can be unique and hypocritical at the same time; crudely put it - weird. And there is of course one thing which we can agree together: Family will always come first no matter what.

Or do you have a different answer from me?

Of 'Me', 'You' and 'Them'

We have been always bugged by this dilemma.

You

He

Us

She

They

We

Them

I

Why can't you just be I?

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

_Margaret Mead

Celebrating Humanity Through Arts!

Yesterday was KL Performing Arts Center (KLPac) first open day!!! Weee!

KLPac in Sentul Park

What a magnificent sight to behold! The perfect exemplification of Malaysian triumph and epitomisation of mankind's intellectual progress and potential!

Built on the sturdy foundation of a disused KTM sawmill factory, the KLPac building is a brilliant and vivid fusion of the Malaysian colonial past and the current modernisation and expansion of local lifestyle. Parts of the old building still remain, most notably is the arched wall on the left where it contains the stage of Pentas 1 and the brick wall on the right. Apart from that, the wide roof tiles of the old sawmill are laced as interior decoration for Pentas 1 too. Three storeys tall, two Pentas and 8 studios: truly this building is what Malaysia needs for her people and a supportive platform for local arts scene to expand.

Since early primary days, I can't help but ponder endlessly the unwillingness of our Ministry of Education to view arts as a worthwhile investment for young Malaysians. Oh no - definitely not perdagangan, prinisip ekonomi, prinsip akauns and other dull subjects that are not even artistic in the first place. I'm talking about real arts: performing arts, music, dance, creative writing, literature, photography, paintwork, filmography etc - arts that allows one to be aggresively expressive and defy boundaries of any means. And hell no, I am certainly not referring to the muzik class installed in primary school syllabus that all students ever learnt are nursery ryhmes, partriotic songs and playing the recorder. Or the pendidikan seni that is clearly a no-no for Picasso wannabes where the order of nature is the supreme rule of the poster colours and drawing block.

Anyway, those are the closest things that students in national schools could get to arts. For children from poor families, being enrolled in national schools is of no difference than being sentenced to be artistically-doomed for the rest of their childhood. Tut tut.

Although it might be very much liberal in universities, somehow arts still find itself very hard to just POP up in one's head. And the most absurd thing that ever surfaced is that these varsities are so artistically-dilapidated that they are not even equipped with a language club, particularly ELS, or at least a functional one. It is arguable that clubs like music and dance certainly do not need any language to run smoothly. However, where does one who shall make the remark above expect the varsity he is in going to stand, or the direction of all the operations conducted in the uni are heading when the language is not placed any importance while English is the de facto and most basic message delivery? After all, language is the foundation of arts in many ways.

Without that, what value does other clubs or societies hold or are signifcant with? If it is so, there is no such needs to comtemplate farther to establish any science societies before a drama club or reading and literature club where rapid growth of knowlegde is in crucial need of language - especially when science is believed to be the salvation of the today's damaged Earth and longevity of humanity that most people are desperately seeking for to avoid extinction lest to be placed equal to other potentially-endangered species that are not so bright like us. Universities are always wrong to assume that science faculty does not need arts societies/clubs and vice versa - but they are too blind to see that both the elements complement each other to create the perfect and beneficial society. Meanwhile, it is also very unjust and unfair that such utter assumption does not present the proper opportunities to the students to develop holistically. Tut tut tut.

Remember, diversification has always been the key to stability.

When science does not make sense anymore, there comes arts. Arts has always been linked to artistic freedom. But in fact, it is freedom. The word 'artistic' there holds very little worth and in fact, a redundancy for art is everything - but only used by those who insists that arts is a disorder of nature. It allows us to explore everything from the unimaginable to the unquestionable, it does not conceal truths, but it does not hinder the possibilities of the unthinkable either. It prompts us to question the very foundation of being 'us' and what makes us 'us'. Arts even causes one to ripe with wisdom and mature with shine. It always present you a different sight no other else could have seen it - and most of the time they renew your perspective on life. Although they flow along, but arts never recognised any rules and frontier. And most importantly - it has the ability to change the world.

That is called 'arts', for a word of three letters are not enough to sum the whole paragraph, nor a paragraph can ever do it as well. A society that embraces arts will never decline. That's why even the ancient Greek realised and placed heavy emphasis on it. There's no barrier that stands even stronger before arts that can halt the progress of human civilisation.

As old as of primitive man himself; think of 'infinity', think of 'arts' - celebrating humanity has never been this good and fun.

Fake Fate

Call me stubborn. Call me blasphemic. Call me a faith-nihilist. Call me anything you want.

Or say that I will burn in the hell inferno. Say that God will pass his verdict unto me. Say that I am sinful and a disgrace. Say anything you want. You have every right to practise your liberal freedom of speech.

But I am never a believer of fate. Luck, destiny - whatever you call it - never once. Nor will ever be.

Whether I am sipping a cup of coffee (heavy caffeinated), in the lavatory preparing the dough for sewer-brownies, or in the train gazing at the scenery beyond the window like a 9mm film reeled in high-speed motion; I can't help but laugh sillily to myself thinking that up there far beyond the visible sky is someone - or a being - much more supreme and of course, divine than me is the one who is controlling all my doings, actions, thoughts - and including who my wife is supposed to be! Simply saying: there is an holier-than-thou control freak up there trying to determine everything about my life including drawing out the possibilitiesy of my future direction.

WOAH Woah, hold on a sec - though I am non-theistic, but I am not declaring a war with anyone from any religious backgrounds, nor being religiously hostile and offensive. I am just merely remarking the absurdity behind certain individuals' belief that always bear the slogan of 'Let It Be, Let It Be' as if Sir Paul McCartney is convincing them that things are the way they are today is not due to their own doings or anyone's. So here they are trying to implicate that their lives are being intertwined with each other and interfered by a much more...oh well I don't know if they are referring to an ephemeral abstract or humanoid being, or any entities of supreme power with uncertain form. Or maybe it can also mean a being that actually co-exists harmoniously in the sub-conscious, and maybe the imagination of the human mind - like the big fat purple freak Barney the Dinosaur that even my younger god-sis aged 6 refuses to watch.

"Thou shalt submit thine life to me!!! And together we shalt rule...oops - imagine the future of thee - MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! GLOOOORYYYYY!!!"

As a friendly reminder, it's my pleasure to re-assert the fact that confusing me with an atheist is very risky to anyone's intellectual and rationale improvement. Unlike Mr There's-No-Such-Thing-As-God, if He were to be really of existence and to manifest in front of His people to silent the ensuing debate - probably the hottest one in the history of human civilisation - I can still sleep very soundly at night even though the bed bugs might be biting me. But to dwell on such triviality of His existence, cummulative time that possibly stretches all the way back into formation of the Pangea has already been wasted. OK, I might be overexaggerating here, but it's the very truth that each second spent arguing of whether is He a protozoa, exists, humanoid or anything can be put into other better use especially benefiting others.

No matter how elevated or lowly is our belief and faith towards His existence; there is no solid answer that unifies all fields and principles of religions, science, sociology and economy that demonstrates whether He truly exists or not. To say that He exists will provoke the debate and invite massive troubles of another, to say the opposite will trigger extremism and the collapse of today's religious institutions. Either way will cause uneasiness, and maybe havoc, among the public members of diverse beliefs and cultures. Hence, it justifies my position as a non-theist - but I ended up being deemed as a coward by extremists before indirectly stating that I am being a conformist in the end in my own nature as accepting His presence into my life will change everything from A-Z i.e. creating a helluva mess out of my life. Well, you have every right to argue that as well.

By eliminating the concept that God has already forseen the fate of all mankind as if he is looking into us like an 8-ball and ordered the The Fate sisters to play with their scissors and spunning wheel so that they can learn some scout knots with our life threads, it's clearly painted out that the position of where I am today is a testimonial of the effort I poured from a second ago to all the way back to my childhood. To put things in a simple edible manner to the human understanding, if one is conscious that exam is coming but still prefers to procrastinate even to the very last minute - and of course, we don't need God to predict that he did far below expectation to see it ourselves. So, unless you're rationalely and intellectually challenged, you would have already know who is to be blamed. If your family is poor, will you just sit on a boulder the whole evening cursing at the sky while you are not lifting your finger one bit to improve the situation itself? Think about it...oh, but don't see and think of me as hardworking like a bee. I enjoy daydreaming and sparking up my imagination into life most of the time.

You might want to argue that some man born wise, some born with a silver spoon in the mouth, while others might born into families that are trying to make ends meet or, become autistic or with cerebral palsy. You venture to the extent of labelling all these things that you are unable to control in the first place as 'fate' - but the truth is you're deluded. Or among the crowd on that day, you are the misfortunate one whose pants got a hole to reveal the Garfield boxer you are wearing or your expensive high-end mobile just got stolen. Just because you are unable to see it coming, doesn't mean you have to blame it all on luck and just forget about it while you are not anticipating the possibility that it might strike you again any moment. I have friends who lives with disabilities - some of them are congenital, I see people sleeping on the streets with teary eyes when approached with food and clothings, I see my lil sister defied death twice and now persevering to play and run like a normal child despite having mitochondriac disorder, I see her mother ever showering her with love and unwaned patience taking care of her though it means sacrificing all her time and strength but not her will, and I see children everywhere in the world struggling to attend lesson while working to support their families.

They never complain, they never do, because life's too short to complain while there is so many other things to fight for. We don't live in slums like the Vietnamese, in the cemetary like the Philipinos or in war-torn areas like the Africans and Middle-East people. We get clean water and rice, noodles and even breads everyday. We have lights to ward off the teasing darkness. If you want to complain that how unlucky your day is or why isn't your destiny bringing you to a bed of roses - try to take a glimpse at the others surrounding you without looking across continents and oceans, and you will know what I mean. We are blessed with almost infinite options and bountiful solutions. But the question is: "Has anything you done make your life better?"