Acute Writer: October 2014

This is not a football match review. This is my simple comparison between those countries I mentioned on the title. In terms of living of course. Alhamdulillah I've been living in the UK for 2 weeks. Another 50 weeks to go. Sigh... Well.. Actually it is not a bad thing. I've been dreaming to study in the UK since after my SPM years. When I was still in Kolej MARA Banting (KMB) doing my preparation to study abroad. However, I was less fortunate and only manage to go to the Czech Republic upon completing my IB Diploma in KMB. So I have been keeping UK as my dream since then. But who would've thought? It comes back to me after 7 years. Sebenarnya bukan Allah tak bagi. Cuma die tangguhkan dulu. Remeber what I wrote about Hess's Law? InsyaAllah we all will get there. Only the route we take is different.

In terms of survival, I'd say that living in Czech is much more challenging as compared to living in the UK. Because the word Islam and Muslim is not as prominent as in the UK, practicing Islam in Czech might be a little bit challenging. For instance, Halal meat is much more difficult to get in Czech Republic as compared to the UK. I still remember that I used to travel 2 hours by train just to buy halal food. Yes you can find halal chicken in Tesco but the stocks are very limited and sometimes you have to wait up to a couple of months just to get the stock updated. There was a time when we have to buy chicken (a living one) and slaughtered it by our own because of the limited availability of halal chicken in Czech Republic. Of course I am talking about Hradec Kralove (about 2 hours drive from Prague, its capital). Perhaps life in the capital of Czech (Prague) is much easier as compared to the Hradec Kralove. Meanwhile in the UK (Sheffield at least), life is much easier. Halal restaurants are everywhere and if you fancy cooking on your own, you can find halal meat easily. Muslim community is quite big over here and sometimes I think because of its bigness, the bond among the Muslims here is not as strong as in Czech. When I was in Hradec Kralove, I can remember pretty much every Muslim in that area and we are very actively organizing exciting activities such as iftar, futsal and many more. But here, I think the Muslims are not as close as in Czech.

I still can't figure out how the public transport works in Sheffield because it seems like there are several transportation companies in this area and each of them are not integrated with each other. For instance, the bus which pass through my area does not go to my faculty where I am studying. Thus, I see no points of having a buss pass (It is expensive. 278 quid for a year. Ouchh!) to help me commute from home to my faculty. So I have no choice other than walking about 3km a day on a hilly route. Well.. Never skip a leg day. On the other hand, public transportation in Hradec Kralove is simple. Only one company is there and having the buss pass is I think compulsory for a student studying there.

I think I miss Czech Republic especially Hradec Kralove. I miss the bond we have over there as a Muslim. I miss the struggle we have there as a Muslim. Sheffield is a good place. Very calm and peaceful and it is not as busy as Kuala Lumpur. But as a place to study, I still prefer Hradec Kralove. I might change my mind a few months from now but as we speak now, that is my opinion on these 2 countries.

Salam Aidil Adha buat semua yang mengenali diri ini.