Knowledge is power... so people say. I must agree. For people who have watched the Mami Jarum movie, I am sure they will agree. In my case, this revelation came a few years back in a room in Sheraton Utama Hotel (please do not get the wrong idea here... it’s the meeting room lah... nah kan sikit lagi ada orang kan jadi mami jarum...) A few frens managed to convince me, in fact they forced me to sit in (yeah my intention was just to sit and enjoyed the free food) a talk which for the life of me I can’t recall what the talk was all about. All I remember after two agonisingly long hours (with my eyes betungkat) was the lady speaker saying “Knowledge is power... every day try to talk to at least 5 people who has the knowledge”. This stayed with me till this day .... Try it, look for the 5 people every day, keep your ears open and your brain tuned in.... I am sure you will experience a big leap in the your “power meter”....
Another form of gaining knowledge other than talking to people is through reading. I love reading... I read everything... even in the loo. But my better half kept reminding me, reading in the loo will make forgetful.. Well there may be some truth in what she is saying as I kept forgetting things nowadays... lucky I don’t forget my way home hehehe... A friend recently told me reading in the loo will add extra burden to the Government Health Service as there is a higher chance of me getting the “buasir” ... so I better stop reading in the loo to save the Government money and primarily to save me from having discomfort at the strategic location (mun paham bisai ....) Coming back to my habit of reading, when I was a little boy (I am still one in a lot of ways...), we used to take our dinner on a table covered in used newspapers (not that we couldn’t afford proper table cloth, may be my parents were doing their bit on saving the environment... use biodegradables other than plastics)... what did i end up doing? Reading ... at the same time as having my dinner... an example of multitasking pre windows era .......
I read all sorts of things... (I meant everything ...) Among my favourites were the science fiction stories by Isaac Asimov. A box full of the complete series which I had “khatam” many many times is somewhere here... Lately, most of the books I bought are the nonfiction books... maybe I will write about a few of the books in future... Books are mandatory items in my “must get things” list when I travel ...
How do I end up talking about knowledge and book? All because of Rita Levi-Montalcini. (Who? You may wonder ....) I can cut and paste pages and pages about this lady here but it may bore you to death. In short, she is a 100 year old scientist, a global expert on the brain and the Nobel Prize winner in 1986 (she has got a long list of achievement). What struck me despite her failing hearing and eyesight, she is still a full time scientist and add to that a Life Senator in Italy! Most, if not all 100 year olds we know (we are lucky if we know any) are already “lali”. So what is her secret? Her daily routine: get up at five in the morning, eat just once a day, at lunchtime, keep your brain active, and go to bed at 11pm. We may not be able to get up that early, may not be able to eat just once a day (I definitely can’t) or even go to bed early and miss our favourite late night TV programmes, the least we can do is keep our brain active (bukan active angan-angan)... the best way to do this is by reading, reading, reading and reading.....
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