Short Stories of My Life

Popular Bookstore- 11 years old

The tall dark men next to me took out large sums of money to give to the cashier. He was willing to pay all of my R.L Stine’s Goosebumps and Michael Lee’s Midnight’s Story series although he did not understand much what the books are all about. But my father did understand my passion for reading, and he knew it was good for his son. Being in standard five, I have not much to care about the world around me, only my Goosebumps and evenings filled with Disney Channel time.

SMK Sultan Ismail II- 15 years old

“Wow that is such a great camera! How did your father allow you to buy it? ” I asked my friend when he brought his own DSLR camera. I was stunned by the images captured by the small-but-heavy black thing! I could not care less but to surf the internet and looked for the best camera.
“NO, the final answer is no!” my father said.
“It’s okay, I’ll buy the camera using my own money” I replied. My father just smiled and walked away.

I knew I could not get enough Ringgit Malaysia to buy the camera which was my passion and so was my father. I looked for ways to develop my passion in capturing moments. I studied independently on how to capture my own best photo using my friend’s camera and from the internet. Digital Camera magazines were my in my list of things for camping.

In one evening in January, I came back to school and found a yellow-framed magazine. It was on the table. National Geographic? Yes, it was. I was so glad that my mother subscribed the magazine as my birthday present. Until now, it is still my favourite magazine. Nothing could compare my pleasure of drinking a cup of coffee while engaging myself with the photos in Visions of Earth section in the magazine. Canadian Oil Boom, Yellowstone National Park and recently published Indonesia Facing the Fanatics are the journals portraying the real world natural phenomenon and human-made crisis. The stories were told beautifully made myself deeply sink into the world.

Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar- 18 years old

“How much is too much?” the voice of Oprah was vibrating in my ears as I was reading my favourite author’s new book, Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly of Everything. My mother was doing her daily routine; watching Oprah while I always accompany her while reading a book. I found it was intellectually engaging to watch Oprah although my mother just anxious waiting whether the audiences were going to get surprises from the show. While watching the show, I develop my passion for the physique of our Earth. The book I was reading truly brought interest in me for our Earth.

I went to boarding school and away from my father’s care and my mother’s guidance. My Sunday mornings have been replaced with time for reading The Star, the leading nation’s newspaper. Zainah Anwar’s column, Sharing the Nation was my favourite together with Dzoff Azmi’s Contradictheory. Being an activist, Zainah Anwar has always inspired me with her thoughtful and critical views.
Growing up, I found memoirs to be inspirational. ‘Tis a Memoir and Angela’s Wishes by Frank McCourt truly stirred my heart with his moving stories while my favourite author’s memoir, The Life and Times of the Thundeborlt Kid made myself to discover that my life is full of beautiful things to do!

I came across a book one day that grabbed my attention. ‘Outliers: The True Story of Success’ by Malcolm Gladwell. I just picked up the book and read it. I skipped dinner and finished the book in one and a half day! I was so captivated by the stories, analysis and arguments presented in the book. Those who are successful are outliers, and they are successful because of accumulation of success. Well, truly interesting when I reflected my own chronological stories. Without my father’s will to spend so much money for my books, without my mother’s daily routine, without my 15th birthday present and without my passion for photos; how would I be today?