Sharing Session With Tan Sri Dato' Hanafiah

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamualaikum wbt.

1. Congratulations to UiTM CIMA Students Committee (UCISCO) for holding a very special event called "Sharing Session with The First Malay Chartered Accountant: Tan Sri Dato' Hanafiah Hussain" which was held at Dewan Kuliah 2 at Menara SAAS of UiTM Shah Alam after Friday prayer on the last 5th of April 2013.

2. I was sitting at the front row very near the stage that I didn't realize actually many friends from Level 14 did actually come for the session.

3. One of them who did attend the session made it known to me that he came when he talked about the fact that he sympathized with me for what happened during the session.

4. For the benefit of those who were not there, basically I asked a question to Tan Sri Dato' and he seemed to be teasing me when giving his answers (I'll explain further later on this to justify my choice of word 'tease').

5. Mind you, this is not to complain against Dato' neither am I launching a counter attack (haha) and I really plan not to be defensive here (which is not the purpose of this writing in the first place).

6. The sharing session was fantastic. It was indeed one of the best I've ever had in my life (this is truly not an exaggeration, I said exactly the same thing to Dr Rohaya, one of our Deputy Deans at the Faculty of Accountancy).

7. What is more interesting and close to heart if it's not real life experience being shared by the person himself, and especially when this is a success story?

8. Dato' Hanafiah has made it very clear to us that we Malays (and Muslims for that matter) have got brains too, that we should long ago withdraw from this mentality of feeling inferior to other people (of different races).

9. Plus, he is a classic example of a village boy, who, with strong foundation in his knowledge in religion (Islam) rose up high to be at par (if not better) than other people even from those coming from developed nations (and this was decades ago, when not as many Malays were successful yet).

10. He consistently put an emphasis on how the blessings from Allah and the elderly are of paramount importance, something which I find to be the most remarkable lesson from the event.

11. Plus, Dato' was moving around on stage as if he is 20 years old. He was very energetic, and his wit never failed to make us all laugh.

12. Not to forget, I think he strongly emphasized on the need to read a lot, and not to stop doing it because even he at 86 (this year) has been continuously living with that wonderful habit.

13. Now, here's my story. 

14. My apologies first, as I may have not put my question (during the event) in a manner that could be easily understood by audience (and Dato' of course).

15. So let me try to rephrase here.

16. Actually I began with an introduction (which was not clear I think that it was an introduction, rather than a question haha) by proposing the fact that in Islam, we are taught that Allah will make anything beneficial to this world remain for a long time (as a sign of Mercy from Him).

17. The best example would be water. Although majority (I think about 90% plus) of water on earth are not suitable for drinking, it is a Mercy of Allah that we still have enough water to drink (different issues in poor countries, whereby it's not about water, it's about distribution, not to dwell on this here though).

18. And an example of non-useful thing is like the scum in the ocean, that we have billions of them, being rapidly created, and at the same time, they disappear very quickly too, and they have no important use of course (to us).

19. And I tried to relate that with the fact that Dato' is given a long life, as a sign that the nation needs him, and Allah has granted him His Mercy and opportunity to serve the nation. Basically that was what I meant and it was meant to be an introduction (I was not asking on how to live a long life hehe).

20. In relation to that introduction, my real question was about generation gap.

21. But it was not articulated very clearly, I admit that. My apologies again (it's not Dato's fault of course).

22. Let me however reiterate here on what I really wanted to get his opinion about.

23. I mentioned about the over-reliance on internet (Sheikh Google, Wikipedia etc.) affecting our new generation nowadays (including myself) which does not only expose us to an ocean of random information and facts (which we claim to be knowledge), but it also to an extent breaks down the relationship (and therefore time spent) with the elderly like him (who is highly resourceful and rich with gems of life to share).

24. What I meant is that, as if now everything is at the tip of our finger, we do not even need our parents, or grandparents, or in extension to that, our teachers and lecturers, if not ulamak (the scholars in knowledge of Islam) to survive on earth. This is what I meant by 'generation gap'.

25. In reality we are like the leaves on trees. Because we are at a higher position, we forget that without the roots that make the trees stand, we will only be dead leaves.

26. The roots are our real identity. Our reference. Our resource of love and knowledge, because it defines us and tells us where do we come from. From a seed of plant, a tree grows. Remember that.

Even according to our Islamic tradition, we are taught that Allah will not remove knowledge on earth, except through the passing (death) of the ulamak (the scholars).

27. Let me come to the final part now. 

28. Just to share, that last time I bought a bookmark from a bookstore, written on it a wise line. It says:

"He who asks may be a fool for 5 minutes but he who doesn't is a fool forever."

29. I think the quote above only applies to us if we have questions and don't dare to ask.

30. If we do not even have a question in the first place, that's alright. I am not calling everybody a fool here. I am fool if I do that.

31. But I just want to make a point here that it's alright to be ridiculed sometimes. People may have thought that the best thing we want in life is to be praised and revered by everybody.

32. In my case, I would rather take it as a lesson in life, and a source of strength when we are being ridiculed (in my case, seemed to be ridiculed).

33. Remember how Rasulullah SAW was injured until he bled really badly? Yet he forgave them all! How forgiving he was, the best of creation.

34. After the event, I met Dato' and shook hands with him, and I did that to actually thank him.

35. It was quite a surprise however, that he actually apologized haha.

36. He apologized for pulling my legs, that's what he said, wallahi.

37. And pulling someone's leg means to tease him. And coming from him, I take it that what he meant was that he wanted me to be strong to be treated that way in the presence of public audience, because that is really one of the best ways to learn in life. So I think I have to be very thankful of him for that.

38. After all, I thought I have got that lesson and gem of life from him.

39. Life is not depending on what happens to us alone, but how do we see life, is the way it is defined, and ultimately the way it will really become.

40. I thank all of you again for your time reading this, and my apologies again for anything wrong I have done.

41. May Allah gather us in a place called Jannah, when knowledge about Him at that time, will be CERTAIN. Yes, in search of knowledge, let's look for that one!

Wallahuaklam. Wassalamualaikum wbt.

P/S: For more details about Tan Sri Dato' Hanafiah, please hit the link I made on his name above.