Sunday, June 17, 2007

ZORRO'S FATHER OF THE YEAR

SHARIFAH AMANI'S DAD, TUAN SYED ZAINAL RASHID

Several imams (but not the imam from Perlis) were at their usual hair/beard-pulling antics when Sharifah Amani took the bald-path for her role in Yasmin Ahmads Muallaf. It was definitely a traumatic thing to sacrifice long flowing locks....always a woman's pride....but she took the bold step because she is a professional. The controversy ensued. Its unislamic this, unislamic that. On the other side of the coin, some of our muslim women are sneered at, ridiculed and shunned if they are non-tudunged. This is perplexing. Somebody enlighten me. These self-serving, holier-than-all-of-us imams might now turn their religious ire at Tuan Syed Zainal Rashid because he too went bald to stand beside his daughter. THAT'S MY MAN! These imams should go bald, yes, no? And discard their long robes, skull caps and goatee beards. No they cannot do that, as these are the accoutrements of office. Without these people will not think them holy and they cannot look holy!
These are all trappings to give the illusion that they are God's chosen. I am made to understand they were APPOINTED by their Sultans and not ANNOINTED by God.

Tuan Syed stood by Sharifah Amani because he is "very happy to see her commitment to her profession. There is a lot of honesty and integrity in her work."

Tuan Syed went on to say: "I am proud of my daughters. I count myself as very lucky to have them. They grew up as sensible people. My children are a gift from God."

Tuan Syed your daughters will go on to me models to their children because you and your wife have nurtured them well with positive values. You said you dont mind boys. If you had them, you too will be proud of them because of who you are.

Sharifah Amani puts it succinctly: He is a guy's guy...a cool guy....both my parents are witty, open-minded and sensible. They are our gatekeepers." (Let me add, GOOD GATEKEEPERS as we have some who steal land from the poor to build a mansion without approval!)

AS SUCH, YOU ARE ZORRO'S CHOICE AS
FATHER OF THE YEAR 2007.

I dedicate these lines to you. It was sent to me this morning by a former student Charles Peters of the Sun (formerly of the Revolvers) who received this same message from his friend Ravindran of Northport: To you Tuan Syed, sir, I dedicated these lines:

He never asks
He never takes
He cares, protects, loves, provides and nurtures
He leads
HE IS DAD.

To all who will be fathers for the first time before this day is over. Happy Fathers Day. Bring up your children the Syed Zainal Rashid's way.

To all imams who are fathers, Happy Fathers Day too...but do smell the coffee....make time for that will ya?

TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO ARE FATHERS, go get yourself the amber-colored chilled one.
HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE.

26 comments:

Bennyloh said...

Zorro,
Happy Father's day to you. A father myself I just check how I fare with yours:
He never asks
He never takes
He cares, protects, loves, provides and nurtures
He leads
HE IS DAD.


this is how I scored:
He never asks
He never takes
He cares, protects, loves, bad provider and nurtures
He leads
HE IS 'DAD'BAD

I'll just sneak away now...

Rockybru said...

Tuan Syed Rashid da Man! I've known the dude for years. Cool and no fool. Anyone bald enough to easily condemn Amani better have the balls to face this man. I'd leave Amani alone if I were them. She's not hurting a fly, man.

Shanghai Fish said...

Bro,
This man surely deserves to be the father of the year !I know Syed Zainal , we were in the same class in Form 5 in Taiping,from KL and living with his older brother who was posted in Taiping..I used to liken him to Gilbert O'Sullivan...But like you said he is a good guy's guy. last met him about 1 year ago somewhere in PJ ...Cheers Syed Zainal Rashid ! Let the hippocrites and the fakes preach and critise, come judgement day they will pay dearly in hell...all those who are passing judgement without checking their own arse. I really don't see what the fuss is all about...what do they have to say about bald man ? huh...different set of laws for man is it ? and about chemically induced women( from chimotherapy )going bald ?? Stop this bullshit and ask them to GET A LIFE bro, there are a million things they, who think they are GOD, have to do/preach for the betterment of the religion...and give this professional young girl a chance to hold her head up high in life !You've done nothing wrong Sharifah ! Go girl...way to go Sharifah Amani !

The Ancient Mariner said...

Happy Fathers Day, Zorro.

I wouldnt take these muftis 'opinions' very seriously. The jury's out on a lot issues, which is why the sunnis and shias have been at each others' throats for centuries.

Why do the press bother to give these controversial old coots the time of day is beyond me. How come they never ask other state muftis?

Rockybru said...

Mr Fish,
Whatever you do, don't go bald. You and Big Dog, both.

Anonymous said...

Happy Father's Day to you, too, Zorro.

Keep up the good work. Stay the course.

*my amber coloured chilled one in right hand* lifted up towards your direction

shar101 said...

Happy Father's Day, El Zorro.

Me not dad, so can still take chilled amber-one ah?

Maybe those 'only-form-no-substance' muftis should have their other hair regions chemo-ed for good measure.

Kudos to Sharifah Armani and her dad.

J.T. said...

Happy Father's Day to you, Zorro.

Now, that is the Father of Year. Tuan Syed Zainal Rashid's support goes beyond words. He walks with his daughter. Truly a great dad.

Cheers Zorro!

P.S. Sanctimonious people are always the ones who have the most things to say (probably to hide what they are really doing in their private lives).
They keep forgetting that dressing the part does not make them any holier than ones who prefer to keep their relationship with God private.

zorro said...

Kawan kawan, thanks for the greetings. Made my day, made better by a near one-hour call from Patrina from the Bahamas.

Anonymous said...

way to go, tuan. a father is always a father; always there for your children.
happy fathers day, tuan and of course zorro.

tony -stand-up philosopher said...

Zorro sir,
Happy Father's Day. Had the same message from CP too this morning. Told him I was waiting for the day I could send him a HFD message.

zorro said...

Tony, I gave up asking Charles when?
Thanks Anon10:47....u 2, if you are one.

Suzanne Lee said...

Dear Zorro,

thanks for the comments on my blog. and thanks for dropping by. means a lot to me.. also means that i gotta start putting some time and effort into penning down some thoughts etc. it's just that i's normally so drained from fully expressing myself through the lens that when it comes to the keyboard's turn, i'm blank...!
count me in on your next drinking sessions! maybe more of the NPC's crowd will put some life into my keyboard fingers. (the shutter finger needs no extra nudging!)

svllee said...

Hi Zorro, great article, well said.! and HFD too!

zorro said...

A photographer is an artist. Myriads go thru your mind framing a shot etc. etc. after you decide on your subject before the shutter finger records history or the moment of truth. Verbalise those thoughts and you have a posting. You can always catch us at NPC Wed. or Fri. Just come. By the way, you see svlee posting below yours. He is a photographer, just like you, though based in London he makes trips back here too. Goo for you to bond with him....he has years of experience. Cheers then and just do your thing.

zorro said...

Steven, met Suzanne when she was photographer for an event at NPC. I told her about you. Visit her blog. This spunky, very young girl will go far.....maybe interacting with you.Thanks for dropping by. When next visit?

Anonymous said...

Dearest Zorro,

What a great man Tuan Syed is.

I didnt leave any comment on any blog in respect of Father's Day. It has been 7 years since Ayah went up to see God. And every time father's day comes around, I could still feel that uneasy tug in my heart. Often, I just ignored the day.

This year its different, Jefree is now a father and we had a small celebration to honour him.

This is year is also different because I keep telling Jefree how much I enjoy our friendships with Zorro and Captain Mariner. I told him "they are just like my father. The difference is that they are here and Ayah is not."

Thanks - for everything.

zorro said...

Elviza, thanks for those sentiments. However nobody can replace our late fathers. We need to continue to cherish their memories and continue to be what they want us to be. Cheers to Jeff.

svllee said...

Hi Zorro, cho sun..! Thanks for the intro to Suzanne, we share the same surname! Next back will be to launch the book! Will keep you posted. Cheers

svllee said...

PS> HI Zorro, I have just started a blog too, so pls pay me a visit! This thing is infectious...

Anonymous said...

i will also suppot my daughter in making here own independent decision in life just like amani father.

zorro said...

Atta boy chua....when we do that we are telling our kids that we trust them. We trust them because we did the RIGHT thing RIGHT with them the first time and thence all the time. We are not afraid to let them loose to chart out their own future. Cheers to you, your wife and your daughter.

Kak Teh said...

i have known him for years too and nani since she was a toddler. To said - yes you are da man...to fati - you are da mummy i never knew you cld be and nani - God bless. Have strength. Aunty ah.

Daphne Ling said...

A belated Happy Father's Day to you (could not log on yesterday) Uncle Bernard...

Yes, I agree that Sharifah Amani's father deserves this award...The best thing a parent can do is to give unwavering support...And Tuan Syed has done his part beautifully...

I've never shaved my head...But me thinks if I do one day, my dad will laugh his head off, give me a short lecture and wagging of the finger, and affectionately call me his 'siao' daughter...

I can imagine him saying: Aiya, she shave her head cos she thnks she'll lose some weight!

Anonymous said...

just like the story of our talented dancer ramli ibrahim.....he had his share of all this shit from the so called skull capped goblogs.....maybe its jealousy which is common amongst people of this category.....be strong sharifah amani ure talented and god has given u a gift which no goblogs can deprive u of.....to the parents i salute u for standing by your daughter....anonymous 917

Anonymous said...

Hello Ahirudin,

Why dont you, go bald????


Everyone else....

Happy Father's Day for the the rest of you, old dogs! (Just another "Hallmark holiday"!!!!!)