Letter to Julia 20110612

Hi Julia, my love. I love you! Can you hear my voice? How's life in the city? Do you believe in our love, and in God? If so, then please maintain your prayers.

Did you know that this is election year in Malaysia? The last election year was 2007. I was still in the USA at that time: I had just lost my home & studio then, and I was staying at a mosque. I'm as equally destitute now: by some odd coincidence I lost most of my music students when my karaoke arcade was shut down. Since I'm poor anyway, why bother fighting to re-open my arcade? And I'll have more time. I'll just wait for Allah to be nice enough to give me more students. Alhamdulillah, I'm not forced to live at a mosque right now. But I don't regret the time I spent at the mosque, quite the opposite really: Allah taught me to read the Qur'an lucidly, and improved my voice at the same time. It happened all of a sudden too: God flipped a switch, and I my Arabic speech flowed, when before I had always struggled and crawled in Arabic, and had to study the Qur'an in entirely in English. I still have to study in English, to know what the words mean.

Back then I had to bear the process of getting my papers ready for travel back to Malaysia. I won't bore you with why my status was so complicated. Let's just say that I spent most of my life creating music. When I got back here, it was nice to find out that the poor in Malaysia are as equally unwanted as in the USA. Not to blame local politics, it's just human nature all over the world. My Dad got me some work, but really I've gotten too old to be employed. Eventually, I had to run my own business, or work by commission. But this is public knowledge. I remember back in September 2007 staying up late every night watching the Bloomberg channel. It's not that I knew what was going to happen, I only study the Qur'an. Being forewarned doesn't change the decree of God: in 2008 I still had to bear 9 days in the hospital for my swollen feet, even though I didn't want to go.

Anyway, I don't want to babble too much in this public speech. Julia, we must be face to face! But speaking of politics, I have have long chosen my side: I am on the side of Allah! A fair leader is best, regardless of his religious affiliation, and his personal case is for God to decide. Do know that Allah chooses some over others. And if Allah is my friend, then my enemies are the enemies of Allah.