{"id":3790,"date":"2025-11-12T10:16:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T10:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/?p=3790"},"modified":"2025-11-12T11:34:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T11:34:33","slug":"lessons-from-a-life-without-procrastination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/2025\/11\/12\/lessons-from-a-life-without-procrastination\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLessons from a Life Without Procrastination\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr Ko Ko Gyi @ Abdul Rahman Zafrudin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Procrastination Is the Thief of Time\u2014for Me<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At 76, I find myself in the twilight of life. The Asr prayer has passed, and I now await the Maghrib sunset\u2014not just in the literal sense, but as a metaphor for the final chapter of my earthly journey. I do not say this with sadness, but with calm acceptance and quiet pride. For I have lived a life where procrastination was never welcome. Time, to me, was sacred\u2014never to be squandered, always to be honored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From my earliest days, I learned to make use of every moment. I read my notes while jogging, while waiting in line for cinema tickets (which I watched only once every few months), while the rice cooled, even in the toilet. I studied while helping my parents in their home industries\u2014my father, a contractor for Burma Canning Factory, the army, hospitals, and jails; my mother, the owner of a small betel nut ingredient factory and making joss sticks. Amidst the bustle of their work, I kept my textbooks close, squeezing in study time wherever I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My academic discipline was rigorous. I began revising for final exams four months in advance, reading every prescribed textbook from cover to cover. It wasn\u2019t easy\u2014my memory was never strong, so I had to reread passages to grasp not just their meaning, but their deeper implications. I asked myself: Why does this matter? What is the effect, related of the new facts I read, from the basic Embryology, Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology etc? I had t read between the lines, compared and contrasted, and sought understanding beyond memorization as my memory is not very good. <\/strong>Two months before exams, I shifted to notes. In the final month, I studied with friends, focusing only on the most important topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even after exams, I didn\u2019t rest. On the very last day, I would search for textbooks and notes to prepare for the next academic year. Summer holidays were never idle\u2014I began reading the upcoming year\u2019s material, bit by bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Physical discipline was also part of my rhythm. At LYC (Luyechun Outstanding Standing Programme), I practiced push-ups, diving, tennis, rudimentary weightlifting with springs and machines at home, swimming, jogging, and bicycling. Before moving to Malaysia, I searched diligently for Malay language books and even a video tape of Malay songs to prepare myself linguistically and culturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a doctor, I worked tirelessly\u2014often holding two jobs or working in two places daily. My schedule was 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with only two days off per year for Eid. If there were no patients, I turned to activism. I wrote prolifically: over 300 posts for Burma Digest, more than 600 for MMNN (Myanmar Muslim News Network), and around 25,000 across my three personal blogs\u2014Sann Oo Aung, Dr Ko Ko Gyi, and Dr Abdul Rahman. I contributed over 50 articles to Wikipedia on Islam in Myanmar and edited another 30. One article on the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar garnered over a million views. I created 346 YouTube videos and wrote for Asiaweek, FEER, and other journals and newspapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My activism extended to Facebook and its pages\u2014Kingswood High School Kalaw, No 9 BEHS St. Peters High School Mandalay, Klinik Ng Dan Lee Wangsa Maju Branch, Outstanding Muslims from Myanmar, and MMNN FB. I used every platform available to amplify truth, justice, and identity.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Islam, procrastination is not permitted. Prayer times, fasting, and religious obligations must be fulfilled promptly. I have always adhered to this principle. Time is not ours to waste\u2014it is a trust from Allah.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am reminded of Leo Tolstoy\u2019s story about the three questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. What is the most important time? Now.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Who is the most important person? The one you are with.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. What is the most important action? To do good.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    These questions have guided me. The present moment<\/strong> is all we truly have. The person before us <\/strong>deserves our full attention. And goodness<\/strong>\u2014whether through healing, writing, or helping\u2014is our highest calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So yes, procrastination is the thief of time. But I have kept my doors locked against it. I have lived with urgency, with purpose, and with faith. And now, as the sun prepares to set, I sit not in regret, but in gratitude.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Dr Ko Ko Gyi @ Abdul Rahman Zafrudin Procrastination Is the Thief of Time\u2014for Me At 76, I find myself in the twilight of life. The Asr prayer has passed, and I now await the Maghrib sunset\u2014not just in the literal sense, but as a metaphor for the final chapter of my earthly journey. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6,16,123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-history","category-opinion","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3790"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3804,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3790\/revisions\/3804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}