A Legend in the Making.

From the circle of friends I have within the political arena, his name has been lauded time and time again, and is said to be legend in the making, if not one already. Prior to this morning, I have never met him and know very little except from what I have read or heard of. Yet this morning, there he was in the room, sending shivers down to few, creating or increasing awe amongst others present.

At around 7.15 this morning, I received 2 unexpected text messages from 2 sources; the first was sort of a morning call by a very beautiful lady which, needless to say, brightened my day even though it was an overcast morning. The other message though, was a personal invitation by Ahmad Lutfi, the Managing Editor for Harakah, for me to attend a meeting in Harakah's office in KL. Now, had I not received the first message, I might have just shrugged off the invitation citing personal commitment elsewhere. But as it was, I was already doing a one-legged version of the Scottish Kilt Dance with my sarung, and thus happily rescheduled my other appointments (macam le busy sangat ye). Make no mistake though, even had the lady not texted me, I might have still gone for I do have a great deal of respect for AL. But the idea of making my way through KL streets on a Friday morning just did not, well, excite me. Still, there I was...

When I stepped into the meeting room, I felt very awkward indeed. Here I was, a nobody here nor there, and the room was filled with news staff of Harakah and Siasah. I mean, ok, so I am a part-time reporter with webtv8, reporting for duty at my whims and fancy, or theirs(webtv8), and there I was in a room full of real reporters and journalist! I mean, I felt...real small, really really small. So I decided to keep my mouth shut, breaking a small smile or courtesy nod every once so often, just to allay any wondering thoughts I may be a mannequin mistakenly brought in, while every one else was enjoying the company of the other.

At precisely 10.30, the Guest-of-Honour walked in accompanied by Zulkipli Sulong. "Man" I said softly to myself "this man is taller than I thought!" And soon after the preliminaries, the man began imparting his wisdom and visions he has of news reporting that would be beneficial to all parties involved. His voice was soft but firm. With his stern looks, he would make a passing joke or two, catching many, yours truly included, by surprise. Yet whenever our eyes meet, he would bring his down, perhaps as a sign of humbleness. And I do believe him to be a humble man, despite his growing popularity, and the influence he wields. The minutes rolled past too quickly and soon the scheduled 2hours meeting ended. With AL's permission, I took the opportunity to approach him personally and am pleased to say that am given an appointment scheduled for the afternoon of 18th January. Heck! What am I doing?

Later while everyone proceeded to a short lunch before the Jumaat Prayers, I made my way out. Off course I would certainly have loved to join them, but my daily routine include fetching and sending lunch to my emak, which is a priority higher than most. But I was satisfied, in fact, honoured, to have met a man said to be a legend in the making. Come this 18th, insyAllah I will have the opportunity to present a small paper to Yang Berhomat Datuk Husam Musa, one of the Vice President of PAS. Nothing on the personal side, just a strategy AL and I agree upon and something which needs some official backing.


ps. There's another new blog under 'Personal' which I just put up some days back. Nothing much, its entitled Islamic and Interesting Reads which everyone is welcome to read and comment. Think I've mentioned it before - like the romantic fool I am, I find some emails are a waste to throw away, and what better place to keep it but a blog.


Update 6:40pm
I was reading Harakahdaily when I noticed an article on Datuk Husam. Upon reading it, found my mug was included. Ok, its kind of small - 3rd guy on the left, seated between LanH and Saadon Akasah.