The Pursuit of Happyness

"I couldn't tell you that we were homeless, I just knew that we were always having to go. So, if anything, I remember us just moving, always moving."

Christopher Paul Gardner (born February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is a millionaire, entrepreneur, motivational speaker and philanthropist who, during the early 1980s, struggled with homelessness while raising his toddler son, Christopher, Jr. Gardner and his son secretly struggled with homelessness while he saved money for a rental house in Berkeley, California. Meanwhile, none of Gardner's co-workers knew that he and his son were homeless in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco for nearly a year. Gardner often scrambled to place his child in daycare, stood in soup lines and slept wherever he and his son could find safety—in his office after hours, at flophouses, at parks and even in a locked bathroom at the Bay Area Rapid Transit station. Concerned for Chris Jr.’s well-being, Gardner asked Reverend Cecil Williams to allow them to stay at the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church’s shelter for homeless women, now known as The Cecil Williams Glide Community House which Williams agreed without hesitation. Despite having never gone to college, and after a period of being homeless, he became a wildly successful stockbroker and wrote his memoir, Pursuit of Happyness.

The Pursuit of Happyness Christopher Paul Gardner 2006.

Rhythm and Song

Getaran jiwa
The stirring of my soul
Melanda hatiku
Bathes my heart with emotion
Tersusun nada
By the arranged notes
Irama dan lagu
Of rhythm and song

Walau hanya sederhana
If it is only modest
Tetapi tak mengapa
It doesn't matter
Moga dapat membangkitkan
Perhaps it could awaken you.
Sedarlah kamu wahai insan
Realize this, good man.

Tak mungkin hilang
Never will they vanish
Irama dan lagu
Rhythm and song
Bagaikan kembang
Like blossoms
Sentiasa bermadu
They will linger forever

Andai dipisah
If you separate
Lagu dan irama
The song and the rhythm
Lemah tiada berjiwa
They'll be weak and soulless
Hampa
And empty




Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. P. Ramlee (22 March 1929 – 29 May 1973), born as Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh, was a Malaysian film actor, director, singer, songwriter,composer, and producer. Due to his contributions to the movie and music industry and his literary work, he is often considered the icon of Malay entertainment in Malaysia, Singapore, and Sumatra (especially in Aceh due to his ancestry). P. Ramlee passed away on 29th of May 1973 at the age of 44 due to a heart attack and was buried in Jalan Ampang Muslim Cemetery, Kuala Lumpur. His untimely death was a huge shock to the nation, and a sense of collective guilt began to spread nationwide, as prior to his death, he had been discredited and rejected by his own nation.

Antara Dua Darjat: Getaran Jiwa Teuku Zakaria Teuku Nyak Puteh 1960.