Revolution of The Caliph

I'm Back!

2007-06-13T11:39:00.001+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

To all my dearest friends, finally after so many months or nearly a year I am updating my blog...hehe. It's been the most busiest period of my life so far since January and really had no time for blogging. Anyway, so many things had actually happened within these few months. I'll just recall some of the most exciting experiences here since I can't possibly blog everything.

Bandung Trip

I was away to Bandung, Indonesia for nearly a week in January and its been an exciting experience visiting Daarut Tauhid and met Aaa Gym (though I'm not a fan of him). The place in Daarut Tauhid is a second Makkah to me. A lovely place to stay, relax and enhance our spiritual acquaintance. Very impressed with the business empire of Aaa Gym under the company name of Managemen Qalbu (MQ); he have his own TV station (MQTV), radio station, hotels, travel agency, retail outlets, bookstores and many more!!! In the meantime, the people there are very nice people, and I can tell the Muslimahs there generally have the quality of an ideal wife...hehehe (but my 'calling' not Bandung...Singapore is enough for me :P). Anyway one spicy issue when I was there was about the second marriage of Aaa Gym. It was still fresh when I went there. I was quite surprised that the Indonesian people in general didn't receive well the notion of polygamy. (not implying here that I'm a fan of polygamy either) I was told by the local people there that since the news of Aaa Gym married his second wife, a lot of his contracts had been canceled and out of 100 people who signed up to go to Hajj with his agency, only 10 stayed and 90 pulled out to show their anger with regards to Aaa Gym polygamous marriage. I didn't know the impact is that bad, but anyway I guess this is the problem of fanaticism in our Muslim society. They love Aaa Gym as someone they even perhaps 'idolise' and when he get married for the second time they really shunned him for the fact that they can't swallow that fact. Either that or maybe those ladies are jealous they are not the chosen one to be his second wife...hahaha ("kenapa bukan saya Aaa"?)

Bukan Cinta Biasa

2007-05-17T12:09:00.000+08:00

Bukan Cinta Biasa

Begitu banyak cerita
Ada suka ada duka
Cinta yang inginku tulis
Bukanlah cinta biasa

Dua keyakinan beza
Masalah pun tak sama
Ku tak ingin dia ragu
Mengapa mereka selalu bertanya

Cintaku bukan diatas kertas
Cintaku getaran yang sama
Tak perlu dipaksa
Tak perlu dicari

Kerna kuyakin ada jawabnya
Andai ku bisa merubah semua
Hingga tiada orang terluka
Tapi tak mungkin
Ku tak berdaya
Hanya yakin menunggu jawapnya

Janji terikat setia
Masa merubah segala
Mungkin dia kan berlalu
Ku tak mahu mereka tertawa

Diriku hanya insan biasa
Miliki naluri yang sama
Tak ingin berpaling
Tak ingin berganti
Jiwa ku sering saja berkata

Andai ku mampu ulang semula
Ku pasti tiada yang curiga
Kasih kan hadir tiada terduga
Hanya yakin menunggu jawapan

Funny Things You See During Friday Prayer

2006-11-20T00:33:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

Went to jalan Raya with KPM buddies (yes again), however only Qaya, Sarah, Mohksin and I were free, and it was just an unplanned one. At 2.15 all of a sudden Qaya called me and told me if I was free to go to Mohksin's house since we haven't went to his place for Raya, so yah since I was free I decided to go to Mohksin's place.Went out quite late as I went back for a while after my class my Wisma Indah, I reached his place around 6 pm. Well, we all spent quality time there, watching the Ummahfilms, and hence I upload one episode of it below. After that went to Saqinah's place and went to Sarah's. Alhamdulillah it was another interesting occasion, especially when we all meet, the ukhuwwah is too strong for us to part...(hahaha step mana nya emotional jer :P)...but anyway yah....it was really enjoying. Anyway it's late already....sleepy a bit..so yah here is all I can tag for now, Insya'ALLAH see you all again, Amin.

Enjoy this video!!

Here are some tips for the Khatibs to make Jummah (Friday Prayer) go more smoothly. This is part of the videoblog series, which can be found on www.ummahfilms.com.

Biarlah Rahsia

2006-11-14T14:47:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

Just sharing a meaningful lyric.....for those who understand... :)

Biarlah Rahsia

Pernah kau Bermimpi

Seketika Berada Di Tempatku

Membayangkan Pahit Manis Berlalu

Entah Siapa Yang Tahu

Mungkin Nanti kau Jua Merasakan

Berdepan dengan Kata Yang Menyesakkan

Takkan Tugumu Kebal

Tiada Pertimbangan

Keheningan Malam Membangunkan

Kepayahan Jiwa Meluahkan

Andai Kau Jujur Memahami

Tiada Ku Menjauhi

Dan Kisahku Yang Masih Panjang

Menambahkan Berat Yang Memandang

Lantas Ku Pendam

Ku Putuskan Biarlah Rahsia

Semakin Aku Hidup Dalam Cinta

Tiada Kuasa Mampu Menghalangnya

Hentikan Kata-Kata Bertulangkan Dusta

Pernah Kau Bermimpi Seketika Berada Di Tempatku.

I'm Back!

2006-11-10T12:12:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

To all who've been visiting this blog of mine, I am very sorry for not able to to update it. Fuh, this two-months had been a very hectic period for me, with Ramadhan projects (RYC and NUSMS), plus Raya and also my researh essays datelines....hence that answer why this blog was not updated for that long.

Insya'ALLAH I will be blogging more about my Ramadhan experience, especially the RYC projects...fuh Alhamdulillah I enjoyed it so much and enjot all the activities we had during the month of Ramadhan...simply I'm lovin' it...RAMADHAN!!! And also yes not forgetting also NUSMS Ramadhan Campaign.....Pre-Ramadan Talk, Mass Iftar, Break Fast Giveaway Kits and of coz the Ramadhan Exhibition @ NUS..MasyaALLAH...what a satisfying month, and of coz now Syawal.....been enjoying myself with family and friends...guess what? My bro went back to Singapore for 2 weeks, and also get to spent this Raya with frenz in Egypt and Malaysia, not forgetting m NUS Lib Gang 1st Raya Outing..and of coz beloved buddies Jalan Raya...Mohksin, Khadijah (1st time sey), Qaya, Saqinah (asal balik cepat?) and Sarah (lain kali join all the way jugak ah!).

Anyway, currently also I'm still a bit busy, gonna join NUSMS Jalan Raya in an hr, so basically not much can blogged here for now, but anyway, I've made a simple video of my Raya celebration with friends & also a video created by NUSMS for our Ramadhan Campaign, feel free to view it below :)

SELAMAT HARI RAYA, MAAF ZAHIR BATIN!

EXPRESS YOURSELF IN THE MONTH OF RAMADAN!

2006-09-14T01:59:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

To all who are reading this blog, I seek your support for a Ramadan project under Ramadan Youth Challenge (RYC) that I am heading. Kindly spread this news to all your friends and please take part in it if you are interested. Thanks guyz. Wassalam.

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN DESIGNING?

LIKE TO SNAP PHOTOS WITH YOUR DIGICAM?

OR PERHAPS YOU LOVE DOING GRAFFITI?

HOW ABOUT DESIGNING YOUR OWN BLOGSKIN?

EXPRESS YOURSELF IN THE MONTH OF RAMADAN

with

Xpressi-R

SEND IN YOUR ENTRIES TO xpr@ryc.org.sg NOW!
Visit www.ryc.org.sg for more information!

Graffiti competition will be held this Sunday, 17th September 2006 @ Tampines Open Field.

Cash prizes to be won!

Aku tanpa cintaMU

2006-09-10T13:01:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

First of all to all my dearest frens and buddies, I don't know somehow I just want to express my gratitude for having all of you as my companions, very rare for me to be mushy here but what happened this week in some way or another taught me the value of life. Perhaps I was too busy with a lot of works that I've been neglecting my thought of the next life we will all be departing to one day. Nothing is forever. The world is just a temporary place for us to do good deeds, to invest for a better problemless life in the eternity garden of eden, Insya'ALLAH. Actually what I wanna say here is that I LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!!YES U!!!We never know when we'll be seperated from this world, I do pray that may ALLAH prolong our life here and let us to do good deeds, serves him as HIS vicergerent on earth and execute our 'amanah' in the best way possible, Insya'ALLAH. And since this life on earth is not for eternity, let us embrace the fact that we will all soon be leaving one another. Despite that, what I wish to convey here is that, I don't want us to be just friends here, but also in the 'Jannahtul Na'im' where we shall all be friend forever, and nothing really that seperate that...Ukhuuwah Fillah....Abada abadan...Insya'ALLAH.

Alhamdulillah, all praises be to ALLAH, the Most Loving for giving me this chance to value life and appreciates people around me. To some of you who may be wondering what exactly happened this week, I'll be posting an account of what exactly happened. It feels like this week has been only a nightmare that turn out to be reality. In addition, I am having regular headaches and prescribed by Hakim as stress headache. I've yet to find time to see the Dr, it's been disturbing my daily life as I can't do my readings, really I need a short break perhaps? Since July especially, I've been terribly busy with a lot of tasks. I'm not blaming MS for increasing my stress level, but I think it's just me, I need to manage my time properly and must give priority to my health. All of a sudden, I find the urge to do some exercise and to do something pleasureable....stress-free and really for leisure. Well, I've figured out perhaps I should go bowling since it's been my favourite pastime activities...but I'm thinking of trying something more challenging - Rock Climbing! I know I'm not good at it at all but maybe should try it again....at least if really that bad...there's still abseiling...hahahaha. I'm trying TO MAKE TIME for that and yah anybody interested to attend a seminar on Science & Quran this Friday @ Masjid Sultan after Maghrib? I somehow need to attend such events to ease my stress syndrome and perhaps enhancing my spiritual conciousness. I am in need of YOUR LOVE, my LORD, without YOUR love I'll just be like a feather flying without direction, motionless object.

Well, that's all for now and I'm eagerly waiting for the arrival of the holy Ramadan month. I just miss the holy cities very-very much, Makkah and Madinah. Chatted with my frenz in Madinah and my Bro in Makkah recently, it just makes me miss these holy cities even more. I really hope to go there again and again very-very soon Insya'ALLAH. I remember in mid-2004 I went there at the peak of my hectic life, I just took a break in the middle of Bahas competition, ITMAWAT transition and A levels preparation. It was a solid 9 days of stress-free hectic life and I found solace there. I know I may not be there now, but I really hope HE will gives me chances to be there often. Amin.

In the meantime, I would like to share this song with all of you. Enjoy!

May ALLAH Bless all of us, AMIN.

August Update

2006-08-25T09:49:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

Thanks for viewing this blog and again I am very sorry for not updating it since a month ago. Well, we're in August now and a lot of things had happened during this month, lots of significant events that I am indulged with.Besides the commencement of my second year in the varsity (Alhamdulillah), there's been some milestone events of my life occuring in August. (not NUSMS definitely :P)

First of all, I've been frequenting the airport at least for more than 4 times and will be going there again soon. Welcoming the Aceh kids and sending them off, sending off my Wak Tanjong friends to Egypt and tomorrow will be going there for a send-off of those going to Madinah and also on Monday will be sending off my brother to Saudi. Well, it's like this August is a farewell month, with emotions involved. However, not just farewell events, but also lots of gatherings and reunions been taking place this August, indeed a significant month for me.

WELCOMING THE ACEH KIDS & EXCO TRAINING

It was a suprised to me actually and I did not anticipated that they will come down to Singapore. When I was first told that they were coming to Singapore, I don't really feel much. In fact I did not attend the meeting my Aceh Expedition Team have on planning activities for the kids. I remeber I told them I can only join the kids for only 2 days as I was very-very busy that week.

The kids came to Singapore on 5th August and that was my hectic week. On that day itself I have Seminar Fiqh @ Wak Tanjong, followed by NUSMS Exco Training for 2 D 1 N. Definitely I could not stayed in the camp for 2 days as I already had a seminar which I am helping out with. With the addition of their arrival to Singapore, initially I had no plan to received them @ the airport. However, suddenlly Mohksin told me he's going, so I thought perhaps I should just go, it was like a calling for me. So that night after attending the Exco Training for barely few hours, I need to go off to the airport. Their flight touched down at 1015 pm and I was rushing from Changi beach, Alhamdulillah luckily it wasn't that far.

I reached the aiport at around 10 am after being charged extra by the taxi apek (and I dun wanna argue with him as I was in rush). Overwhlemed by the people there, after meeting my Aceh Expedition Team (PLUSter Team), I met the Darussalam Youth (DSY) and they were so energetic with big poster awaiting at the arrival hall as if like some celebrities were coming to town. Well, there were my old time Iryad's fren...Syaz, Haz, Kiki, Ari and others....so I chatted with them after not keeping in touch for even year perhaps, it was like a reunion for me...not only with my PLUSter team but also with my Irsyad frenz. Apart from these two teams, I also met the NTUSMS Aceh team and some familiar faces, after all....it is indeed such a small world. 3 organisations come together to received the kids and it just shows how all of us have one common goal and mission for the kids.

After waiting for nearly an hour, at 11 am suddenly we got glimpse of the kids and the teachers. The belt that we were waiting were in a big hoo-hah as the girls were screaming like it some celebrities arriving...but yes these kids are more than just celebrities..they are very special....the choosen kids of Aceh. SubhanALLAH, the moment I get to greet them, I just simply love them all. To my suprised and touched, they still remember MY NAME!!!!! I went there like a year ago and only managed to spend time for less than a week with them, despite that they can still remember me and call me Abg Ridhwan....YA ALLAH.....what else can I say?

I also met with the teachers, which I was quite close when I was in Aceh. Namely Pak Ade, Pak Erwin, Pak Nusa, Pak Salman and Ibu Aning. That moment was like a dream, a dream I never imagined...they are in Singapore. Soon afterwards I decided to go to Darussalam as they will be overniting there. Luckily Mohksin was driving, so we went there after sending Fariheen's and Alfian's sister. In Darussalam, was greeted by Encik Mutalif (the chairman and also Syaz's father). Met the kids and chatted with them and since that moment onwards I felt a sense of strong attachment with them which I still find it hard to let it go.

SEMINAR FIQH & PRE-U GATHERING

Had seminar the next day so could not joined the kids to istana for an official visit. After the seminar, I had a gathering with my Pre-U batch (most are on holidays in Singapore) @ Amirah's Grill. Alhamdulillah, it was such an interesting get-together moment with each other. It's been a year since we all last see each other and since most of the Azharites are in holiday, it was the suitable time for us to organise our gathering. Though the food wasnt that nice but I enjoyed the company we had and the ukhuuwah still remain despite being seperated by time and space.

"as we go on we remember all the time we've had together...we will still be friends forever"

"ittihadul quwwah - unity is power"

SPENDING TIME WITH THE KIDS

Througout that week, I cancelled most of my activities and went for some only. Went to Darussalam on Sunday night after the gathering to see the kids and also on Monday after the Teen's aL.I.V.E workshop. Basically just accompanying the kids and chatted with the teachers. On Tuesday went out with them to several places including Swensens @ Orchard. The kids love touring around Singapore and I had a nice time being with them. On that night it was spectacular night for them, they performed their unique show to the jemaah of Darussalam. Many people were amazed and touched by them, Alhamdulillah many donated hugeh amounts for the rebuilding of their new school building @ Aceh. In fact some of them received personal donations from people and some even managed to collect for more than $200 per person. May ALLAH repay the kindness of these donors, Insya'ALLAH. After the event, my team went out with teachers to Al-Amin for a supper and chit-chatted with them.

On Wednesday I could not joined them as I was very-very tired. Attended the 'Wacana Syariah" in the morning and dropped by at Masjid Khadijah for FMSA Briyani Amal and of coz also because of the kids. They were there too, so Alhamdulillah get to spend time with them again.

The next day went to Zoo with them. That was my first trip to the zoo since my primary school days. It was boring and tiring though, but the kids enjoying themselves. Hazwani and I was with Fikri throughout the Zoo trip and we accompanied him to whereever he wanted to go. We told each other both of us dah mcm his amah and tukang kebon...hahaha...but we love doing that...it's really satifying..for a moment I feel like as if he is my son...hehehe....it's a good training for me right...so later on Insya'ALLAH can bring my own son to the Zoo despite it was a boring place for me..haha..and I began to wonder perhaps that's what my parents felt too maybe...they used to bring me to these places when I was a small boy...but maybe they may not enjoyed vising these places....but for my sake they were willing to bring me there...SubhanALLAH....what a sacrifice...and I must learn to be one now...hahaha. It was a great trip to the zoo ah...not bcoz of the place but bcoz of the kids....Fikri liked to run here and there and both of us have to run after him to ensure he won't get lost...hahaha...dah macam mak dgn bapak...kecoh habes!!!

On Friday we brought the kids to Irsyad (yes my OLD SCHOOL) for another official visit. Met a lot of my teachers there and of coz they were also amazed with the kids we brought there. Infact they were like celebrities there, while we were touring the school and the classes, there were several requests for them to take picture with the kids, so we were like their bodyguard...hahaha.After Irsyad went to Singapore-Indonesia School and went to ACM after that.

On Saturday went to Sentosa, went to underwater world, dolphin lagoon, skytower and lastly musical fountain. This time round, not only the kids were so excited but even I was very excited despite being very tired (as I had agm the nite before and went to airport at midnite to senf off my frens to Egypt). The feeling of being tired just disappeared the moment I see the kids, they are just so special and extraordinary. It was also my first time visiting those places as I had never there before. It was a very exciting and I must say one of the most memorable Sentosa trip. It was something beyond our imagination that my friends and I would be going to Sentosa with the kids one day...I mean the Irsyad frens...we used to go to Sentosa eversince we were in Primary 5....but never did we imagined after more than 10 years we'll still ending up doing a project together...SubhanALLAH.

PICNIC @ EAST COAST & FAREWELL

Finally the day has come, a day where we need to say goodbye to them after a fruitfut 9 days together. Before heading to Changi Airport we went to east coast to spend precious time with them. Fikri wanted to play roller-blading. So yah we rented a roller-blade for him and he was so excited. Despite taking some hard steps in his initial stage of roller-blading, he was so so optimistic and finally he managed to roller-blade with confidence w/o having me holding him anymore. He is such a fast learner and can see how he wanted to be self-reliance when I offered to help him. Speaking of that, these kids actually wanted to be self-reliance and do not just wait for others to help them. Fikri wanted to rent the roller-blade with the money he got, but of coz we wouldn't let him, not that we want to spoil him but he deserved the treat. I can also remember the moment when Fikri broke down as he was in deep confusion of wanting to stay with whom. Two sisters approached him and asked him they would like him to stay with them and Fikri, not wanting to upset any of them told them he wanted to stay with them. Suddenly when he need to choose either one, he just cried and finally after few hours of not talking to me an Haz he asked me "Abg, jika saya udah janji sama orang...bagaimana bang?"....can u imagine what I felt for that particular period? I am just so touched with his maturiting and his being a thoughtful kids....he's being sensitive to other people's feeling. Well, these are just memories that 's kept with me.

After the east coast picnic, we quickly packed up and went to Changi Aiport for their send-off. The jouner to airport was a indeed a very sad jouney as we all know we'll be seperated (at least for few months) in few hours. We took the opportunity to talk to the kids and after reaching the aiport it was a photo-taking sessions. Inside our heart I know we were all very-very sad and even the kids too. They showcased us with their final performance before checking in. After that they came to us one by one...saying thank you and hugged us....Alhamdulillah no tears in my eyes..hahahaha but deep inside I really feel so sad. Some phrases that I can still remember "Insya'ALLAH jika diberi peluang bang, saya bisa ke sini lagi"..."Bang, terima kasih bang". And yes I met the teachers, some of them were asking when we'll be coming over to Aceh again, Insya'ALLAh I hope to be there this December. Some of the girls were filled with tears, it must been a very sad evening for all of us.

Well, that's all about it. Till today the songs that they sang are still orchestrating in my mind. The impact they made to life is indeed very significant. I've finally found a love for children which was never as great as it is now. There must be some hikmah from ALLAH SWT, after all children are precious gift from HIM. May ALLAH help us in maintaining this bond and the unity among organisations we forged througout their stay here. Indeed, Dec 26th Tsunami changed the course of my life.

"mengapa kita ditemukan dan akhirnya kita dipisahkan.....mungkinkah menguji kesetiaaan, kejujuran kemanisan iman....Tuhan berikan daku kekuataan"

"kan ku utuskan salam ingatanku dalam doa' kudus ku sepanjang waktu...Ya ALLAh bantulah hambaMU mencari hidayah daripadaMU dalam meididikan kesabaranku...Ya ALLAH tabahkan hati hambaMU di atas perpisahan ini"

July Update

2006-07-28T12:23:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

Once again I'm back to my blog. It's been nearly a month since I post anything here. Fuh, it's been a very busy month with a lot of activities, ranging from schools progs to retreats to seminars to lepak (which is the least..hahaha).

Anyway, just to inform you guys out there, tomorrow there'll be a Youth Interfaith Seminar organised by IMPIAN-PERGAS (Union of International Islamic Studies Undergraduates, Singapore) entitled Believing YOUth. If any of you are free just come down to Masjid Al-Muttaqin @ Ang Mo Kio, starting at 1PM and participation fee only $5, you will not only get to see the exbition, but also participat in the sharing session and also attend the panel presentations by prominent speakers from UIA. So yah, what's holding you back? Just make yourself there and can just contact me @ 91082573 for more information. Btw, you may wish to register thru SMS, just refer to the emails I've forwarded :)

Ok moving on, albeit a bit busy with preparation for tomorrow's event, I feel the sudden urge to blog,hehehe. Perhaps I'll be highlighting briefly some of the activities worth blogging.

NUSMS-PBMUKS FRESHMEN ORIENTATION CAMP @ REPERIO CAMP

Alhamdulillah the camp this time round was a total blast and a very magnificent one. Despite being reluctant to sit in the organising comm at the initial part, I only realised and feel the excitement only when the camp started. It was quite a tough job being a treasurer as I was not equipped much with treasury skills and no experience in it before, but thanks to the Camp Commandant after all for giving me this opportunity and it gained me new experience. Yah need to thank Arly for being such a suportive working partner, she did a lot of stuffs whenever I was not free and yah we deligated our job so to ensure she'll be in Singapore whenever I'm out to KL and I'll be here when she was in Aceh, good combination uh? And also to the rest of the comm, especially Fadzli, he's been helping me too and yah it's been such a great experience to work with all the ppl in FOC COMM, it was an enriching one I must say, especially get to work with people that I wasnt aware of their existence in campus..hehe.

The freshmens that came were very enthusiastic. I'm quite excited to see them, especially since I know quite a lot of those coming in for this batch, mostly through bahas and some other activities like MiQ quiz. However, the ice-breaking session was really something that I felt so don't know what to say...(if u get what I mean), i wonder who actually came out with that description of mine and now whenever I met the freshies they call me - Ustaz or Ustaz part-time...arghh...so segan mah....and yesterday I met this guy from YJC in teh MRT..hahaha...he also called me that...segannya hamba. Oklah part from that, this time round there are 3-4 Madrasah students coming in...wow...thatr's quite alot for a single intake with number of Madrasah students. So total now we have like 5 I guess? Oh yah all of them from Maarif, as usual no guys are that keen to be here...except for me..hahaha. ANd yes for the first time I get to associate myself with Madrasah people as we have 5 now...hahaha and do that pseudo-cheer of Madrasah...just for the sake of cheering...haha.Oh yah I just got to know one of them was my junior from Wak Tanjong, but she transfered to Maarif after O level...not bad uh MWTI.....Hidup Wak Tanjong!!!hahahaha.

The camp ended on Thursday evening with everybody already burntout including me. I can see the campers were really bored hahaha. Congrats to Huda for being the Best Camper, wow I am so proud of her, she was a bit reluctant to join this camp but ALhamdulillah I'm able to persuade her and now she's the best camper somemore. Besides that, she told me she's interested to join MS...hahaha...that's great..and yah to my cuz Yati...thanks also to you for wanting to join MS..hahaha and another one that I managed to pull in is of coz the Maarif girl...hahaha....Hidup MS!!!! :P

Overall, it was really fun, faithful and friendly camp as the theme suggest. Btw, my work is not yet done for the camp, still need to submit the financial report...anybody can help me?..hahaha

BAHAS 4PM

Well throughout the camp I was like chipsmore biscuit, kejap ada kejap takder....I had to rushed here and there as it was also the crucial bahas week. So yah in the middle of the camp I went back to Wak Tanjong for the bahas discussion, not to talk much abt the bahas competion, just to make it short here, wanna thank Dr Harun for his willingness to help my school team, after all it was the demand by Syifa', Fauzani and frenz...hahaha. And yah to my mentor, MasAini, gosh I always like to be in bahas discussion, it's like an anual gathering for us as we only usually meet furing such sessions, let's hope our sch will make it to final next yr Insya'ALLAH and get back the trophy :) As for the pembahas, don't give up, you guys did a great job, it was really a tough fight, and at least ALhamdulillah we managed to produce Best Speaker Overall (Congratz Tan!) and Best Speaker for Final (Kudos Fauzani!), I had a great time spending my time will all of you and yah all the best for Titian Minda :)

Oh yah, not forgetting to express my congrats to TJC team too, especially to their mentors Nuriahtu and Lydia, once again ur sch trashed my sch team..haha. Remind me of 2 yrs ago when I was in Middle-east your team won over my team, in which that was the most crucial match for us and we were really hoping to get to final, especially it was my final year in Bahas 4PM...but well u guys are really good ah..hehehe...Congrats once again!

Well, that's all for bahas. No matter what I guess, once u're a pembahas, u will always be a pembahas. Perhaps it's running in the blood?hahaha...bahas bahas bahas...haha!

JOHOR ESCAPADE WITH NUS GANG

Alhamdulillah, after the one-week long FOC and Bahas competition, finally I get to enjoy myself and so-called have few days rest from 'work'. Well, I was supposed to start my 'holiday' on Monday but eventually the honorable MS President called me the day before and asked me to come down the next day for an URGENT MATTER, it was hard on my part as I've made plan to go to Johore on Monday and met my friends there. It's really disturbing to have been informed at the 11th hour for something so IMPORTANT like that. Albeit being reluctant, I do understand the importance of the meeting, so I finally gave in and went to school and the sad part was to cancel the JB trip on Monday, I felt so bad and made me frustrated too, but nvm not at the MS President, just being frustrated only!

So yah I went to JB on Tuesday with the NUS guys and spent 2 days 1 night there. As usual, I was the (rusty) star and came late again..hahaha...nothing new right? I've won over Azmeer, the day before that I challenged him who'll emerge the winner for coming late, gosh I was the one. Actually I woke up quite early and packed up everything, left around nearly 10 (the time that we were supposed to meet in Woodlands) as I will usually take 15 mins to reach there. However it was a selenger part of me, I forgot to bring my hp. Along the way I remembered something was missing and it was my hp....definitely I need to get back and take my phone.....thus that explains why I was late but anyway w/o that also I've known to be late...hahaha...bad habit bad habit....(alamatul munafiq thalas.....Na'zubillah)

Basically the trip was really fun, at least I enjoyed myself and yes I do get to have a rest. The lunch at Kenny Rogers were nice but the serving was smaller than in KL. After lunch went to Terbrau City to catch Fast & Furious:Tokyo Drift, gosh the movie was not that worth my RM 10 ah infact I was falling asleep...hahaha but the shopping complex was damn huge and a place to go for good foods, there's Yoshiniya, Bread Talk, Dunkin Donut, Pizza Hut and many more...and guess what...all are certified HALAL!!!!Yummy yummy!! Ok talking about food I ate a lot during this trip, keep munching almost 24 hours. Went to Stulang after Tebrau, got angry with the irresponsible taxi drivers that putting us RM 20 for a less than 30 mins ride to Stulang, I wonder how these people 'carik makan' without being amanah. So in the end we took the public bus after asking some people there.

We reached Stulang just passed 8 pm and went to do our Maghrib first. After that it was a big feast, eating seafood there. I shared the food with Mat Noor, Azmeer, Muz & Hakim. Gosh, we ordered terribly too much of food but Alhamdulillah it was all nice and simply delicious. Azmeer is a good person to ask for recommendation of good eating place..hahaha. I think we ordered mroe than 6 dishes and it cost us like RM 60 or 70 in total I think, that is quite cheap as you won't get that kind of price here in Singapore.

Soon after, all of us were full and waited with Hakim for his bus (as he needs to return to Singapore) and after that we took cabs to Mutiara Rini for a night. Another common thing to me, I did not remember the route to my house and so we end up sesat and have to walk all the way and search for which one is my unit...hahaha...that was realy tiring but Alhamdulillah finally we managed to find it and yah just get in and lepak. Supposedly to watch movies and karaoke, but well I was too tired and I just went up and sleep...hahaha...nothing new abt me right?But anyway, the rest were too energetic for the midnite jamming and movies marathon...I wonder wehere thet got the energy!

Went back to Singapore the next day after having late lunch @ Singgahselalu Kotaraya. By this time I was already burnt out despite having some rest the night before but well the post-FOC syndrome were still there - the tiredness I mean. I was supposed to join them to MSA but I got RYC meeting to attend. Went there straight from JB and reached there around 8.

It was really a nice short getaway with friends, the joy and fun were there but I guess should spend more time so I can relax more and not think about 'work' here. :)

ANOTHER JB STAY WITH FRIENDS (this time with MWTI buddies)

Perhaps the 2 days trip wasnt sufficient to me that I went again to JB with my MWTI friends. It's been ages since we last went to JB together (reminds me of the Student's Council days and yah that Kota Tinggi Trip). It's been an annual prog for us to go to JB one of the Ramadhan days to break fast and shopping for Raya...hahaha. But well, all of us has been very-very busy, the three of them were busy preparing for their study to Azhar and Madinah, while Hamizan just got back from Egypt. So, this is perhaps the best time for us to spend a short retreat to JB.

This time round Alhamdulillah I was not late. I came on time despite being the last to come (still) but at least! Went to JB quite early, 10+ we already in City Square and since not many shops were opened, we went to Mac for breakfast. Style ah their Mac, got porridge, so yah we tried the porridge, it was nice ah. After lepakking there for quite some time, went around City Square just walking and walking w/o knowing what to get. But wait wait wait, I saw the word MEGA SALE all around the shopping centre...hahaha..and up to 70% OFF!!! Surely that was teh right time to shop...hahaha. I bought a pencil case from FILA and it was quite cheap for its brand after the 30% discount. Fakhrur and Asrori were busy looking for things to bring to Middle East and I was not supposed to shop there...ahaha...but end up I was the one shopping...hahaha...what the heck right? I was also looking for sandals (since May) and one lotto sandals caught my attention. It was really nice ah and I wanted to buy but there was no size for me...duhh!!!! So yah after that we proceed to Angsana. Had lunch @ Pizza Hut and again we ate a lot. It was quite cheap too, cost us individually like SGD$5 only.(u cant even get a decent MacDonald's meal here). And they were sibuk kacau2 the kakak pizza hut...gosh these bakal Ustaz2...ada hati kacau2 kakak pizza...hahaha..and the kakak2 pizza leh layan plak tu...hahaha!

After Zuhur, I suggested we play bowling since there we a lot of time. So yah we went to Angsana Bowling Alley. The allew looks fine except that we could not understand the system. We went to the counter to 'register' and yah it was damned funny incident. We had major communication problem. We told her 'kita pelajar' so she asked for our student card so I showd my ez-link. Obviously known to her we are from Singapore. So we talked to her about what we wanted...suddenly she gave us a paper asking us to fill up our name...it was quite weird. We need to do it manually and from there they will key in our names on the lane screen. And the funny part was, she asked me for teh shoe size but she passed me the paper, so I thought she was asking me to sign and I nearly did that...hahaha...and she said "BUKAN....SIZE!"...hahahaha...what a terrible miscommunication. It made us looked like as if we were like some "rusa baru masuk kampung" and after that we asked her wheres the lane, rupanya we have to give the receipt to another staff first and they will key in everything for us....it was really different from bowling alley here..it's too complicated.

But anyway, Alhamdulillah I scored quite well..haha.Was leading the game until Faisal and Asrori got several strikes throughout last few games and yah they beat me. However, it was a nice game, as usual bowling is always fun right? Moving on from bowling, we went to jalan2 in Angsana, they need to shop after all but again I was the one that buy things again, the same sandals that I wanted to buy just now was there and my size was available. What else, I grabbed it ah..hahaha..and yah Faisal also did. Finally, I managed to find a suitable sandal! Went to Giant after that, I bought alot of foods for supper (as we had dinner there). They bought sushi and that was the 1st time i ate sushi....it was nice ah actually.We ate alot of foods until I was too full.An interesting incident here, we prayed Asar facing the wrong kiblat! Halfway through suddenly Hamizan realised "Eh kibat salah ah!", and he can still laughed as we need to kelam kabut solat balik Maghrib was reaching. Though Faisal said we don't have to, according to Hamizan we can just disapply the rukhsah which I am agree with since theres still time for us to re-pray so just do it ah...hahaha. And yah just before Maghrib, we met these two Arabs from Jordon and they start speaking Arabic with them, these Arabs were making some jokes abt SOlat Qasar and asking if we are 'qasaring' Maghrib from 3 to 1.5 rakaat..hahaha...very funny..hahaha! :P

After Maghrib, went to my place @ Mutiara Rini and watched Tipah Tetipu . Gosh, really a low-quality movie with no objective and stroyline. Wasted our 1.5 hours only, luckily it was only 5 bucks! Nothing much to do at nite except eat and eat and eat until I felt so sleepy and eventually sleep...hahaha. Woke up the next morning, again watched other movies, lepak2 and took photos and yah went to shop again at JB before heading home.

Alhamdulillah it was another interesting trip with friends. Only during holiday like this we get to meet up and yah do things like that. AFter all they'll be going to Middle East and it wont be as easy as now for us to meet, and considering my hectic school life somemore.

Where am I?

2006-07-02T21:24:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

It's been a long time since I last updated my blog. As usual, this few weeks had been a very busy week with meetings and internship (especially need to finalise my evaluation report) and also some other projects.

Anyway, I don't know what exactly to talk about. I really hope not to post any emotional-based post but maybe an exception for this post. Well, it's not that I wanna be emo here..haha...but really I'm feeling down now. Why?

Throughout the week I've been feeling happy and excited, especially with the funnes of internship and also for the good news that my frenz @ Al-Azhar was returning home. Alhamdulillah yes they are already here. I felt bad enough for not being able to receive them at the airport due to my tight schedule. However, I still managed to contact them the moment they reached Singapore. There's a mini gathering yesterday, but I could not joined as I had a forum @ AMP. Soon after the forum, I met Hamizan at Ghufran. We planned to go to Madrasah together for the annual Zikra Rasul. SubhanALLAH, I cant believe it that it's been a year since he went to Egypt. The moment I met him, it was already a different thing I guess. I see him more of an Ustaz now, I'm sure both of us changed...I think perhaps I also changed in one way or another.

I began to feel that I've changed the way I think, even on some religious matter. I'm afraid of being a bit liberal though, I'm very much concerned with this. As much as I detest liberal Muslims for their misinterpretation and lack of knowlegde on ISLAM (some of them cant even read the Quran well..much more analyse it intellectually), I am also worried of myself. Since leaving the Madrasah nearly 2 ys ago, I feel that I'm lacking and been missing a lot on Islamic studies, at tertiary level especially.

When I met these Azhar graduates and also the undergraduates, I feel so admirable to them. How lucky and fortunate they are to be able to continue stdying the religious sciences at this level. I only realised how special it is to be in Madrasah and reading Islamic studies after I left the place that's been my 2nd home. Frankly speaking, I really miss the environment, the peacefullness of the Madrasah's life. I dont really care that the facilities in Madrasahs are not that compatible with what I'm enjoying now at the University, it's not the sophisticated, modern gadgets that make my heart at ease, but it's the pace and the satisfaction studying there that I love.

After returning back to visit my Madrasah yesterday, definitely I feel so happy. It's like walking down the memory lane, and meeting the old frenz. My hectic life had been preventing me from contacting them so often. I don't know. I just feel bad about it. When I see Hamizan and the other 'Ustaz2', gosh I feel like what am I doing? I should have joined them..where on earth am I going to? The richness of their Islamic knowledge really made me to envy them even more, we get to discuss some issues yesterday though, but this time round I feel so insufficient, I really miss studying Syariah. Reminds me of what the offer I got from UIA - Kulliyah of Law!!!!!

Arghh...I need to upgrade myself with higher level of religious studies. I am so insuffcient. I feel so little when facing these frenz of mine, and I really admire their level of knowledge. Most of them will be Ustaz/Ustzah, Hanisah and Sakinah just went to UKM while Ruwaida just went to UIA. I'm the only one I guess still staying in Singapore.

It's not that I dun like being here, being in the University that my family promoted it to me. I am totally fine, enjoying my life studying here. Alhamdulillah I really likeit here, the people here are very nice and I am fortunate to have met them here and I really appreciate their company. You know guyz who you guyz are...hahaha...so yah it's not that I dun like being here. It's just that I feel the urge to continue Islamic studies after completing my studies here Insya'ALLAH. I want to fulfil my dream and get myself in the IIUM, Insya'ALLAH. In the meantime, I shall enjoy every moment in this University and pull up my CAP so I can get into UIA Insya'ALLAH.

Well guys, perhaps a boring post from me. Thanks for reading anyway..hahaha. I can't believe that I just posted an emo-post. :P

Mahar Cinta

2006-06-23T07:33:00.000+08:00

Andainya dapat engkau mendengarkan
Suara di hatiku melagukan rindu
Kiranya engkau mampu mentafsirkan
Setiap bait kata-kata yang terucap

Pasti dirimu kan memahami
Harapan kasih yang terbina
Sekian lama di sudut hatiku
Hanyalah untukmu

Bukanlah aku sengaja
Melindungi rasa di jiwa
Namun bimbang diri kan terleka
Hanyut dibuai angan dan mimpi indah
Hingga terabai segala cita
Sedang khayalan tak menjanjikan
Segunung kebahagiaan
Sebagai mahar hantaran

Apakah mungkin engkau mengerti
Setiap cinta yang dilafazkan
Bukanlah sekadar mainan
Tetapi sebuah janji

Andainya dapat engkau mendengarkan
Suara dihatiku melagukan rindu
Kiranya engkau bias mentafsirkan
Setiap bait kata-kata yang terungkap

Pasti dirimu dapat melihat
Rahsia kasih yang terpendam
Sekian lama di sudut hatiku
Hanyalah untukmu
Selamanya..

What the heck is this?

2006-06-20T15:43:00.000+08:00

ST: Hongi - Embrace

Upon his (PM Lee) arrival at Wellington's Parliament House in New Zealand, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (right) was greeted by a tribal elder Mr John Tahuparae with the traditional Maori hongi, the gentle pressing of noses signifying the sharing of the life force, the breath of life.

Wonderful Week

2006-06-13T20:39:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

Dearest friends, sorry for not able to blog for such a long period. My blog is getting more boring..haha!

It's been a tiring but wonderful week.NUSMS-MUIS Intership started on Monday, after that went to Teen's aLIVE Camp, soon after went to KL...Fuh...really2 packed with acitivities. Anyway, I'll be summarising some intereting experience captured during the week.

Monday

Went to MUIS for the commencement of Internship Prog with NUSMS. Alhamdulillah for a start I can say, it's been a great experience to have organised this with MUIS. All of the applicants came early, and I was the last one to come...hahaha...as usual. Soon after we were seperated into Strategic Units, and Hafiz and I doing the Community Internship, joing the rest doing the Full Internship from Islamic Education SU. Our tasks - to evaluate the aLIVE prog. Alhamdulillah, I like the job so much, after all I'm doing my own Teen's aLIVE prog, it's like killing 2 birds with one stone.

For the 1st day, I had to leave half-day as I need to rush to school for my last Special Sem lecture. Went for the lecture for slightly 30 mins only as it ended fast since all was covered during the previous lectures. Nothing to do as I finished early, I waited for Fadzli to make booking of halls and LTs for FOC. It was quite uneasy for me to come to school that day, as I was in my office suite, and people keep asking me why am I wearing that..hahaha.

After having lunch and made the booking with Fadzli, I went to Bugis to meet my MWTI frenz. We had our reunion for class Pre-U 2/2 (2004). However, only the six of us turned up, as the rest were very busy and were unable to come. Our class only have 12 students, with only 2 guys. Since another guy was busy, I had no choice but to be the only guy surrounded by 5 girls..haha...last time I used to avoid outings when there were no other guyz around, but I think now it is unnecessary, why should I not go just because the other guy not joining..wanna wait? I dunno till when...people busy mah nowadayz.....but at least I can count on Hamizan when he's back from Egypt next month :)

Alhamdulillah, the dinner with them was great. We catched up with each other after nearly a year since we gathered. Of coz a lot of things been happening within this period. Ruwaida is going to UIA this June, Sakina and Hanisah waiting for reply from UM and probably will be applying for UIA too, Noraini finishing her studies in Singapore soon, and will be going to States to do her B.A, while Linda just passed her 1st year exams in Marsah. A lot of issues were brought up, especially central to our conversation were about the recent development in our Madrasah. Katrina issues resurfaced, and finally the puzzle was solved. Anyway, beside all that, the food was nice. We went to Fig & Olive and ate quite a lot. We spent nearly 4 hours there and the total bill was $120..haha..but we don't have to pay as all are paid using our class fund money...finally get to use our class fund!

Tuesday-Wednesday

Woke up early in the morning, preparing stuff to Teen's aLIVE Camp jointly organised by Al-Iman, FMSA, Al-Muttaqin, As-Syafaah and four other mosques. I was late! I thought my brother was going to his office that day, but he was on leave! So i had to take the cab to reach MUIS on time. Of coz I reached MUIS quite late, supposed to come at 8, I came at 8.30! I was lost as what I was supposed to do, and yah I met Faisal and Rudy...thank ALLAH there's someone I know..haha...coz initially I had no idea who'll be in the camp. Luckily they are there, as facis too just like me, it's always great to be with your frenz..hahaha.

At the same time too, I was tasked to do the evalution for the aLIVE prog for my internship, so it's like doing a double work. Our first stop was SPH, it was quite boring there as I don't know how the kids can relate their experience visiting SPH with what they went thru in their aLIVE lesson. After SPH went to do our Zuhur @ Masjid Hj Md Salleh, it was raining heavily so we rest there for more than an hour before setting foot to the nearby Rockclimbing centre. IT WAS REALLY FUN! Not only the participants get to enjoy rockclimbing and abseiling, I enjoyed myself too especially the abseiling...haha...it was my 1st time actuallly :)

After doing our Maghrib @ Al-Iman (which is so near to my house), we had our dinner and followd by a talk on Sexual Related Crime by a CID Officer shortly after Isyak. Well, the talk was fun as I personally see it as detterent effort to the youngsters on the trouble they could be in if they engage in under-age and pre-marital sex. However, I guess the Ustaz should relate it to Islamic viewpoints on the issue too, but actually the CID officer also mentioned the word 'Zina' and told that as Muslim we should not commit such crimes.

The talk ended quite late and by 10 pm most of us were already sleepy. In an hour the lights went off for the participants BUT not for the manpower.....hahaha...we had a debrief and it ended aroud 12 MN. It was tiring but still it was fun. That was not all for me, I had to return home to do some assingment, but I fall asleep and only woke up at 4 AM plus. Had to rushed as the event for that morning begins @ 4.45, begins with Qiyamualail. Quickly went out to Al-Iman after having my morning bath and Alhamdulillah when i reached there, they were just about to start the Qiyam.

After Qiyam, there was another short tazkirah about life & death. The video about death was really scary, it showcased how the 'mayyit' was tortured because of his insufficient 'amalan'. SOme participants even cried, it was really scary. Another deterrent for all of us. May ALLAH bless us all and bless our soul when we meet him, may HE grant us with 'Husnul Khatima' and may ALLAH rewards us with the 'Jannahtul Firdaus'. Insya'ALLAH, AMIN.

After that, we went to route marching to Al-Khair. We took narly 20 mins to reach Al-Khair and my team were the 1st team to arrive..hahaha. Had our breakfast there. There was another talk about 'Identity' that morning before we went to Kallang River for the much-waited Dragon Boat Race!!!!

That was also my 1st time trying dragon boating. And it was REALLY FUN!!!!My team had to combine with Ustazah Shikah's team. It was a good combination. We manage to pull it thru and work together as a team, Alhamdulillah we managed to work together very well. As a result pur team got the 3rd position during the 1st round and improving to 2nd place in the next round. Above all, it was great experience, especially the fact that we need to work together in order to reach our goal :)

The 2-days camp ended at Masjid Al-Muttaqin with a short presentations by each group. It was fun as usual and the fact that it ended so early was quite sad but well I had so many things ahead so I cant afford for a more prolonged camp. It was an interesting camp to me and really enjoyed myself very much, maybe even more from the participants...hahaha!The camp not only give me a new experience, but also gave me the time to catch up with old frenz which I was not aware also part of the camp!

Thursday

Went for the last tutorial for the SS and after that went to Orchard to catch X3 with Md Noor. I like the movie very much. I find the whole movie very political, maybe that's the angle I am viewing it from. The offensive attacks launched by Magneto and his mutant camp made me to place him to be in-line with Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. To them, the homosapiens were out to crushed them and they were marginalised by them, so in order to protect their rights and pursuit their cause, they launched an offensive brutal attacks against the government and mankind. However, not all mutants were on his side, Prof. X preferred a more consultative an peaceful means to solve the problems they had with the homosapiens. Isnt it similar to the moderate Muslims's aprroach of the current clashes between the Muslim world and the secular world? We believe in dialouge and peaceful means and reject any form of terrorism. That's what was portrayed in X3. Finally the fought one another to ensure peace for the nation. Well, at least that's how I view it. Cool uh? Perhaps Osama should try watching this film and made him realise that hatred and violence will never solve any problem, instead it will add on to the present problems of the world.

Friday

Went to Wak Tanjong in the morning for last minute bahas discussion. My sch team were in their quarters and I came just to listen to them and add in some last minute point. I was not able to watch their match the next day as I was heading to KL. Alhamdulillah they won and made it to semis on Sunday. I got the news the moment I reached home as my hp was low batt. Quickly rushed to NUS where they had their discussion, the motion this time round was a political one, about diplomacy. I quickly get Fadzli to help me out. Alhamdulillah he helped me a lot and gave me alot of points and finally I transferred all his pts to my sch team. Though the match seemed a bit uninteresting, I am so happy with the result, my sch make it to final agaisnt TJC, another rival of mine (during bahas 2004..they trashed my team at semis when I was in Saudi). I really hope time round my junior will perform better and yah...bring proud to me..Insya'ALLAH...Amin...hehehe....and yah I met Lydia and Nuriahtu that day..they were there to help their TJC too!

Saturday-Sunday

Went to KL for the International Islamic Fair with Mohksin. Initially I don't know who'll be going, all I know was to follow Mohksin...haha.At 9+ suddenly Ridzuan (my junior from Irsyad)

called me asking me if I was going...I was puzzled...I asked him going where...oh so he's going to KL too...the same trip..haha...at least I know he's going....but more suprising when I arrived at Tg Pagar Railway Stn, he was with Mariam(the NTU girl from Irsyad)I called him, he said he was with Mariam, I asked him which Mariam, suddenly I went to him and was terribly suprised it was Mariam Sulaiman. I asked her what was she doing there..hahaha...and she said her friend asked her along for the trip, I asked if she's with the same group as mine, she was puzzled herself as her fren was not there. Soon after her fren came, and yah her fren is one of those joining us, they are volunteers from darul Ihsan, friends of Mohksin's sister. What a small world!!!I never expected to be on the same trip with Mariam and even Ridzuan, the last time I boared KTM was also with them, that was in 2000 when we went to Penang and Langkawi.. Fuh....indeed it is a small world. Alhamdulillah it was great, we managed to catch up with each other, especially since my sleeping berth just beside Mariam, remind us of our old Irsyad dayz!!

Well, we could not sleep in the train, so we went to cafetaria and chit chatting. I got to know Dzul and his fren from Darul Ihsan, they are volunteers there. He looks young but actually he just grduated from NTU....WOW!!!So no wonder ah he knows Mariam..hahha...I was eager to know where he get to know Mariam...hahaha!It was a nice one-nite long chat until I felt sleepy and slept @ 4 am! Woke up for Subuh @ 6 and just to find out the train will be delayed as the engine was faulty. We were supposed to reach KL Central Stn by 7 am but it was delayed for more than 4 hrs and we finally arrive in KL @ 1230 pm!!!!!

This mean we have less time in KL!After lunch, we went straight to PWTC for the International Islamic Fair. It was a very lavish and grandeur fair. Met Raihan and suprisingly I met Nur Irsyad...Mariam spotted them...what a small world again. Teacher Farida was there too. We chatted with them for few minutes before continuing our journey..hahaha.It was great ah to meet them after quite sometimes we've yet to hear abt each other. Anyway, I like the exhibition, there are a lot Islamic books, in English somemore and also several documentaries on Islamc. I bought some and my bag was already heavy, the price was quite cheap. Insya'ALLAH it will be an annual event, and I shall go there every year, anybody care to join? ;)

After touring the fair, and missing the convention as we don't have much time there, we went to shopping @ The Mall. Well, the mall is quite boring but at least it reminds me of another memory, that was the mall i went with my P6 friends in 1997!Classic rite!!Another suprise, I met my Irsyad juniors again, they are studying at KUIC, fuh.....so many people I met in KL!!!Apart from them also, I get to meet my KL frenz, though only for a short while, it was very fruitful.

Finally we got back to KL Central Stn, had our Jama' Qasr for Maghrib & Isyak and dinner Kenny Rogers before heading home taking Senandung Malam train at 10 pm. My comment,it was an extremely exciting, interesting short trip to KL with my buddies! Hoping for more of such trips, Insya'ALLAH!The ukhuwwah shall remain, Amin.

Wassalam.

ACEH EXPEDITION 2005: 3rd - 11th June

2006-06-03T16:58:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

1st Day @ Fajar Hidayah Boarding School, Lambaroh, Banda Aceh

Alhamdulillah, after more than an hour boarding Adam's Air flight from Polenia Aiport in Medan, we finally touched down at the island of a thousand Mosque - Nagore Aceh Darussalam. Shortly before our flight landed, it toured around the island and we can see clearly how devasted the area was, six months after the massive Tsunami attack. The coastline were changing, and it can be clearly seen some parts of the land are now covered by water, SubhanALLAH. I wonder how qiamat will looks like.

After landed, we were greeted by Fajar Hidayah officials in the extremely small airport of Aceh. The place was heavily guarded by the Indonesian army, as there were many foreigners and at that time Aceh was placed under the emergency martial law. I heard GAM (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) was at large and the fighting were ongoing. Alhamdulillah nothing of that sort happened, my heart was praying for our safe journey. In fact, when I arrived in Polenia Airport in Medan, the officer there asked me if I'll be scared with the situation in Aceh as there were battle going on, my answer was...Insya'ALLAH God will save us. Alhamdulillah ALLAH really save us from any harm.

Before heading to Fajar Hidayah Boarding School, the car that took us brought us to tour some of the devastated areas. Although after six months after the tradegy, the place was still not very much cleared of the Tsunami destruction. The city were fulled of debris, and all around still lies some bodies which I believed they could not find until today. It was really sad. The whole area seems like a ghost town, with semi-broken houses still stands but nobody stay in it, especially those situated near the ocean. We managed to see their temporary shelter, mostly built by UN and other worldwide NGOs. There were a lot of NGOs helping the people there. For once I felt that the world has come to unite itself, with all of us working together, the intergration between the Muslim and the West. SubhanALLAH.

Finally we arrived in Fajar Hidayah, the place we stayed througout our stay in Aceh. We were greeted and surrouned by a bunch of kids the moment we stepped out of our vehicle. They came and just hugged us, despite not knowing who we are. They were just thirst for love and care as most of them lost their parents in Dec 26 Tsunami. I was not comfortable at first, but well seesing those kids I really feel pity from them. I began to love Aceh the moment I see these kids. They are very adorable, and I can say they are very strong. The just hugged me and brought me in, like as if I was their brother. I was touched by them and soon after we meet their principal and introduce ourselves. Everybody there were nice, they really welcome us and provide us nice foods.

After our short introduction with their staffs, we went to Aulah (Grand Hall) to meet the kids. We introduce ourselves one by one. The kids also intoduce themselves to us. We were then seperated into 'families' and in my group, all of them were the smaller ones. Affter that, we just sit back and relax with the kids and watching some videos. As it was Saturday, they got no class. I began to talk to the kids and most of them were telling me of their personal encounter with the Tsunami. SubhanALLAH, I don't think I'll be as strong as them if I'm in their place. In fact I admire their courage. Then we watched the Tsunami video with them, I felt like crying, these kids add on to what we seen on the video, the explained further what exactly happened.

To be continued...

In Remembrance of Aceh

2006-05-27T17:36:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

I'm dedicating this special post to MISSION PLUSTER: ACEH EXPEDITION 2005. It's been nearly a year we went to Banda Aceh, Nagore Aceh Darussalam. How time flies, it's been only nearly a year and so much have changed. First of all, most of us are currently in Universities, Ishlaa in Azhar, Egypt and Jalal in Syria.Mohksin is serving the nation, Ashraf getting to NTU soon, Fariheen busy teaching her Arabiah's students...while the seniors; Kak Marlina busy with her work at NCSS, Kak Lieja I think must be terribly busy doing research, Bro Alfian as usual still active doing his task in the office, Kak Sulika just got married last week...and who else? Oh yah not heard abt Faisal for quite sometimes...and one sad incident...Iburuso just lost his husband...May ALLAH Bless His Soul, Insya'ALLAH, AMIN.

Well anyway, just a short recap of our journey to Aceh last yr. A group of 7 guys and 5 ladies went on board a mission like no other, a mission named as MISSION PLUSTER. We departed from Changi airport in the morning of Friday, 3rd June 2006, boarding a Garuda flight to Medan. Upon arriving at Medan, we were thinking of getting to Aceh via plane. However, there were no planes to Aceh at that time. The best we can get was the next day. We thought of taking a bus ride to Aceh, but that would take more than 12 hours, no way that I'm going to do that...hehehe. So we stayed in Medan for one day before departing to Aceh the next morning, borading the budget Adam's Air.

Medan was great. Though I was very depressing as a result of larium pill, I still managed to capture some fun in Medan. Speaking about depresssion, it was the most terrible depression I had. I was feeling sad and feel something were just not right since I was in Changi Airport. Someone pointed that out to me, I did not realised that until I was told depression is one of the side-effect of larium pill. Gosh, I could not help it but feeling depressing. I don't know what's wrong, in fact nothing was wrong. It was terrible. I was supposed to be excited that I'm in Medan and going to Aceh with my friends, but that pill really wasted my time feeling sad. However, like I said, I still managed to capture some happiness in Medan. Though the hotel was very inconducive, I don't really care or even bother, as long I can sleep well. On the night, we went to eat at some kiosk by the roadside. The food was nice but I could not eat too much as I need to take care of my stomach (kempunan beb!). After dinner, we went to Sogo (yes I mean it..real Sogo). It was damned big and wow....me and Ashraf felt like wanting to shop...the things there are SUPER CHEAP..but nah that was not the reason I went there. But well I bought Peterpan Cd for RP 35000.00...but cost only about SGD$7, how cheap can it be right...considering it's an original CD.

Went back to hotel quite late at night, and started some discussion about the planning for the kids in Aceh. We managed to plan a lot of thing within one night, Alhamdulillah, and slept for a while before going to the place we all been waiting for - Banda Aceh.

To be continued....

Comparative Religions

2006-05-27T08:48:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

Alhamdulillah I was back in Singapore on late Tuesday night, and sorry for not able to blog, quite a hectic week. Anyway, overall the trip to Putrajaya was quite fun and informative, Alhamdulillah. Managed to learn a lot of things and meet with a lot of people. The food was quite good too and yes the trip to KLCC was marvelous, really miss that place after 5 years of not going there,hehehe. I remember that the last time I went there was in Sec 5 with my Irsyad friends, and I recalled that we watched a midnight Star Wars moview there, well that was all in the past. KLCC had not changed much though, still the same and I guess I'm the one who changes, I don't really get to enjoy my trip unlike lasttime....but one thing for sure, the Petronas Twin Tower is no longer the world's tallest, hahaha...I'm sure Mahathir must be sad about it, so much for his 'mega' projects, and now he's making noice condemning the present government, what kind of PM was he?TERRIBLE AUTOCRATIC RULER!!!

Moving on to Wednesday, I went to watch Da Vinci Code with Fadzli and Mukmin. It's been one of the much-awaited movies for me, and finally it was released. There's been a controversy surrounding the novel, and now the movie. Since I did not read the novel, I was very much interested to know the real saga behind this Da Vinci Code. After all, it depicts the other side of Christianity, and I'm quite eager to know. However, I don't really support this kind of movies, in some way or another it depicts the religion in a negative manner.

In this movie for instance, it challenged the Catholic church about the foundation of the Chritianity faith. It aims to rewrite back the history of this faith, by claiming that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and produced the heir that exist till today. Sounds interesting uh? It does look like empirically half-true, with all the data and puzzles, ranging from messages coded by Leonardo Da Vinci and even Sir Isaac Newton. It claims this is the greatest close-up of the modern history. Opus Dei and the Catholic institutions were portrayed to be acting violently in order to 'preserve' this greatest secret that could change the whole course of Christianity. They are alleged to commit murders and other 'sinful' acts as long as the secrect are not revealed. Well, this are just claims made by the author, Dan Brown. I'm sure it angers the pastors, priests and the adherence of this faith. I do feel sorry for them to be portrayed at such a bad light. But no worry, only God knows the truth.

Actually, this Da Vinci Code makes feel rethink back about our version of Jesus Christ or

better known as Prophet Isa A.S bin Maryam. As they claimed that Jesus get married with Mary Magdalene, it is thus proven that he is not the Son-Of-God or even God himself. It just shows that he is an ordinary men, however he was granted with miracles by God, making him a scared figure; better known to Muslims, the Prophet of ALLAH. This does not look wrong in the eyes of Muslim, believing to what the Quran says about Prophet Isa A.S. According to Dr Muzzamil Siddiqi, it is not impossible for Prophet Isa A.S to get married, as it is common for Prophet to get married. Though it is not reported anywhere in the Holy Quran, it is not impossible for that. However, the different here is that, the Da Vinci Code still believe that Jesus was crucified. To us, it was an illusion and that the real Prophet Isa A.S was not crucified but instead was saved by ALLAH SWT and brought up to heaven, and it it believed he is still alive in a place where only ALLAH knows, and he will return to this world, shortly before the worlds comes to an end. Perhaps that is the major difference from the Da Vinci Code, where it echoed the account from the Gospel, while we believe in the word of ALLAH as stated in the Holy Quran.

However, despite that, I strongly believe that religion is a sacred domain, not to be ridiculed or make fun of, especially in the media. Respect and tolerence are keys to engage a civilisational dialogues and strengthening inter-faith relations, in our effort to live at ease with one another. Though we may have difference, like for instance here, differences of thought on Jesus Christ, we should look forward for a common goals we shared. By engaging with each other, it will enchance civilisational understanding and create a peaceful world of harmony. Insya'ALLAH, May ALLAH Bless.

"Behold! the angels said: O Mary! Allah giveth Thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah."(Aal `Imran 3:45)

Wassalam.

Blogging From Putrajaya

2006-05-22T18:20:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

Alhamdulillah, I get to blog after few days of not blogging. However, this going to be a slighlty short entry I guess..hehehe. I'm in Putrajaya currently, logging on the net @ Marriott Hotel. Just checked in yesterday, and the first thing I asked for was internet connection..hahaha. So much for a world class hotel, asking RM 50 per day for internet connection. Gosh, I thought internet supposed to be a complimentary service, especially in place like Putrajaya, but well...it's not..and 50 bucks per day is really-really expensive, but well I need the internet though, so here I am blogging at my blog...haha.

Just finished assisting conducting a training workshop on Organizational Management organised by Aberdeen Solution and Institut Bank-bank Malaysia. But wait the minute, that was my initial reason of coming here.I thought I came here simply to tag along my Bro and I can sit back and relax, neither do I know I need to assist him conducting a workshop for Maybank staff. Not only that, I don't even know much about management stuff...luckily I got Hafihz to explain to me about certain term..and yah my SW really helps me...at least I can understand the Maslows' theory..hahaha...the only thing I am familiar with. Arghh, I was quite bored actually just now, but Alhamdulillah now I'm quite free, hence able to get online. Though I was bored, but actually the workshop was not that bad. At least I learnt something, process of learning.

Oh yes besides that, this hotel is a little bit too cosy for me, I dont really like it that much. Too formal, hmm...well...maybe must get use to it? Oh yes, one issue I would like to point out here, the Malays down here are quite friendly, I felt so 'segan' at first since they are professionals....but well I am amazed by their humility. Hahaha..changed my perception towards Malaysian, after all this is my 1st trip to KL after 4 years...not sure how it had changed though...but well, gonna hang out at my fav KL shopping ctr...no other than Suria KLCC.

Oklah that's all for now, Insya'ALLAH will be blogging more when I get back to Singapore. In the meantime, I'm waiting for the internship to start, and yes FOC is bugging me...Arghh...at least can depend on Arly for now..haha.

See you all again Insya'ALLAH. Wassalam

Food For Thought

2006-05-17T23:47:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

Food & Ethnicity

Another updates from me..hehehe. Well, today one major issue I'm going to talk about, what is it? - It's FOOD! I attended my Singapore Society lecture this afternoon and the topic is about Ethnicity, Hybridity and food in Singapore. Hmm...sounds yummy and the lecture goes on and on talking about our hybrid culture. Before talking about the food culture here, he told the class that he's mother is a Hokkien and he's an Indian, presumably because his father is an Indian, so that makes him an Indian. He even said that LKY may be a peranakkan though I think he was more known as a Hakka. I don't know, I don't dare to comment, fear for getting a libel suit...hahaha...Na'uzubillah. Speaking of mixed races, I myself is a product of a rojak-marriages. My father is a Javanese, his father (my paternal grandfather) was from Java while his mother from Malaya...not much of a mixed for him...but well he married my mother who I don't really know what's her race are actually...she told me that her father (my maternal grandfather) is a mixed of Pakistanese and Arab (which perhaps could explain why I like Arabian musics and foods..hahaha) while her mother (my maternal grandmum) was an Hokkien Chinese from mainland China. Fuh, how do i define my race then? For admin matters, I'm defined as Javanese (which enables me to get Mandaki subsidy...Alhamdulillah..at least theres something for me to feel happy for being a Malay...hahaha) and I'm grouped in Malay ethnic group. Definitely I am fine with that, but such a waste I guess for me to lose my Chinese and Pakistanese cultural roots, after it was absorbed into Malays, especially my Chinese heritage, coz being Muslims was equated with being Malay...AIYAH!!!What a misconception of our ancestors!!! But nvm, nothing to be fuss about that.

Ok now let's talk about food. Basially Prof Rajah talked about the Racialisation of Food in Singapore and generally it just a stereotype. What I mean by that? For instance, we associate Satay with Malay, Wan Tan mee with Chinese and Prata with Indian. However, are these foods really rooted from their cultural heritage? Satay is actually a Tamil word which means 'meat'..so how come it gained the Malay ownership? One theory suggests that satay originated from Arab's kebab, since most of the early Muslims were Indian, they gave the name Satay for a local version of Kebab, hence the Malay inherited it after they became the dominant race of the local Muslims....see how 'lembu punya susu, sapi punya nyama' exercise by the Malays? Another interesting food I wish to highlight here is the Peranakan's Babi Pongteh...no I dun mean to use a vulgar word here, but that is what it called. A mixture of Malay and Chinese, Babi (obviously known to us what it means) and Pong means fragrant in Hokkien and Teh means Tea lah! What a funny name right!

Arab Cuisine

After lecture, I went to Bugis for a dinch (Dinner+Lunch) with Umar. He just went back to Singapore for his study break, hence we meet up after nearly a year I think I last went out with him. I got no idea where to go as we dun really plan to meet up just now, but then I got this craze over Arab food especially after disappointed with what I ate at Samar last week. So, we decided to give it a try at Al-Majlis. Alhamdulillah the food was nice, I ate rice (an Arab rice I dun know what's the name) with Chicken Kebab. Simple delicious ah, seems like an authentic Arab dish. I ate quite slow just now as we chatted along the way. The most suprising thing to me was about the 'Katrina Issue' (hahaha....you guys outthere if u know about this...just pretend that I dun talk about it here k!). Fuh, the story was like a 100-episodes melodrama, everything seems so real but I was told it was all FAKE!!It was a SET-UP!!!!I was lucky enough not to layan the issue and pass it over, never did I thought it would affect alot of other patries, as far as those in Madinah, until Mudir also find out about it...fuh..this is even more interesting than breaking the Da Vinci Code, maybe I should start writing a novel about it and who knows can be a best-seller for a Malay version of Da Vinci Code..hahaha...maybe should entitled as 'Breaking The Katrina Code"..and intead of Opes Dei, I changed it to Wak Tanjong..hahaha...sounds interesting yah.Anyway, after the long conversation, I ordered some Arabian deserts, fuh...very costly ah since it's imported from Lebanon I think, but ok lah...really nice and sweets.

Besides getting a good food there, there was another suprise today. I met Hannah with Iffah. They were buying the Arabian 'kuehs' for Arabic Week function in school this week.Wow, so rajin and it was really a suprise to meet her ah. I was just about to contact her about bahas, but she told me just now that she's not participating for this year's 4PM. Though quite sad about it, but Insya'ALLAH this year's team can also did their best and continute the struggle :) Oklah, I think that's all for tonite, looking foward for next week and can't wait to kickstart the bahas season...waiting for Mas Aini to return.

Wassalam.

A Happy Day

2006-05-17T01:03:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

Alhamdulillah...all praises be to ALLAH SWT for giving me the happiness that I really need to ease my mind and to live gracfully in this planet Earth. Fuh, so many exciting things happened today. Really...really happy!!!hehehe.

I woke up quite early today but ended up sleeping till about 11 am. After woke up, I checked my hp, there were few SMS, and got this one SMS from Mas Aini in Brunei. She asked me abot 4PM and asked me to come down to Madrasah one of these day as she'll be returning to Singapore soon Insya'ALLAH, not only that, she even said about the treat she promised..hehehe..really grateful for that, but nah....I dun think i deserve her treat ah, maybe I should treat her instead. Oh yes, beside her, I get to chat with Umar yesterday. Fuh, it's been like a decade since we last contacted and to know that he's in Singapore now...hahaha....time to catch up with old frenz. In addition too, Fazida also chatted with me yesterday and informed me she's coming back soon after her exams, looks like my holidays will be filled with get-together-sessions...hehehe. While I'm looking forward to meet my friends who's already abroad, it's time also to meet those who'll be going to M'sia, Egypt and Madinah. Ruwaida is going to UIA next month, and those frenz who'll be going to Egypt too, speaking about Egypt, I chatted with Sri today, she told me she's taking her Class 3 and finishing soon...fuh....that is another motivation for me to get my Class 3 or maybe Class 3A..hehehe..Insya'ALLAH..Amin. Thanks Sri for your motivations, Insya'ALLAH I won't let it down :)

Anyway, I was supposed to meet Ashraf at 12 to catch up an afternoon show for "Paradise Now" an Arabic film about the suicide bomber in Palestine, but since I know i was going to be late I just had to cancel off that plan. Instead we met at Orharcd around 3 to catch up another Voice, a Korean film about ghost. Gosh, that is the first time I watched a Korean film in a cinema and I don't think it's worth my 7 bucks. The storyline are lame, not much suspense and really nonsense. The 'ghost' was scared herself..haha..very funny till my toes are laughing, the story are not consistent with a twist here and there, making it more complicated and unrealistic. Not really a good movie ah to me, especially if you're looking for a scary type of film.

After the film, we went to Bugis to meet Hanez and had a dinner @ Eatz19. Wow, the food is delicious, better than Samar and more worth the $$$ ah! The Szechuan Chicken Pasta is really nice and value for money. Though it's quite spicy and I cannot tahan just now, I must say it's a finger licking good...hehehe. So full with the food, coz it came with a soup, desert and a drink, it was quite a lot ah and the price is not that expensive, comparing it to Breeks or Swensen's. Went to Sultan for Maghrib afterward with a heavy stomach.

Before heading back, we went to Suntec. Nothing much to do, just wandering around the shops. The shirts in Topman are really enticing to me, must ensure I save up so by the time GSS comes in I would be able to buy!After that I went off, went to Esplanade first...just jalan2 a bit before going back to home sweet home. Alhamdulillah, really a happy day for me.

Wassalam.

Another Hectic Day

2006-05-15T23:17:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

Alhamdulillah another brighten day for me today. Woke up quite late today and went to school for lecture. After lecture went to briefing for NUSMS-INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME. Alhamdulillah the response we received from this pilot project are overwhelming and looking forward to kickstart the internship prog with MUIS. I'm not going to blog much about it as more details will be released soon, Insya'ALLAH. Btw, I really want to thank everybody who've signed up for this prog, and really appreciate all the understandings and coorperation given by all of you in making this project a success, Insya'ALLAH. Special thanks to Aisyah for advising the project, Maly, Nuriahtu and Nurul and yah Hafihz too for giving inputs for this project. :)

After the briefing I went to CP to get a belated Mother's day gift, I went yesterday but could not find anything interesting to give my mum. Went to Anglia to get a scarf, buying the scarf reminds me of the first time I bought a scarf and that was in Makkah I guess, or was it in Madinah? It was really a meaningful scarf I must say, hehehe. Anyway, just now it was quite awkard to enter the lady's shop, after all I went there alone, not sure what to buy. I asked the salesperson for recommendation and she recommended this one scarf which looks quite nice, so I just picked that without much hesitations. Immediately went home after that as I was quite tired today. Well, of course my mum said "eh tak payah ah...buat susah ajer...mak dah banyak tudung"..haha my replied was "takperlah...tudung yg banyak2 tu simpan jer..pakai yg baru"..and my father echoed what I said..hahaha. After all I felt quite happy to give my mum that special gift, I rarely buy scarf actually, and if when I , itbuy it really means for someone special....and that's her..and Insya'ALLAH for my future wife too..hehe...AMIN!

Moving on from what I did today, currently I'm reading this book entitled "Secularism and Spirituality: Seeking Integrated Knowledge and Success in Madrasah Education in Singapore"
edited by Dr Noor Aisha and Lai Ah Eng. It talked about Madrasah issues and insofar the most comprehensive empirical studies done on Madrasah education. This book helps to understand the current state and complexity of Madrasah education in Singapore, and to identify some key issues affecting the field in particular and education and society in general. It also serve as an intellectual contribution to the ongoing debates and concerns in the field and which affect the interests of Muslim and national communities. I'm quite interested to do a research on Madrasah education system, and this book really helps me a lot...hoping to write an article about it soon Insya'ALLAH.

Basically that's all for today, Insya'ALLAH I'll be posting my perspective on Madrasah Issues after I read the book, can't wait to start writing :)

Wassalam.

Weekly Update

2006-05-14T13:04:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB,

Sorry for not updating my blog since Wednesday, was preoccupied with a lot of works and yes I really mean works...hehehe.

INTER-FAITH DIALOGUE
On Wednesday I went with Sufian to Inter-faith dialogue sesssion organised by MUIS. Alhamdulillah it was really a beneficial session, it opened up a wider spectrum of inter-faith communications and promote harmonious relationship between different religious groups. The session was attended by MUIS Asatizahs, PERGAS representatives and quite a number of NUS students; Muslims and non-Muslims. Ustaz Naz was there too, though being the moderator, he injected alot of knowledge on inter-faith dealings. The speakers were by and large very open and highly commendable, esp Prof Ibrahim Abu Rabi' and some M.A students from Hartford Seminary. It was a new information to me, to know what's Hartford is offering, I'm not ruling out of furthering my studies there one day, Insya'ALLAH, perhaps studying Comparative Religion or what.Something for me to think about, especially after finising my studies in my current institution, in about 2 to 3 yrs Insya'ALLAH. In summing up what I learnt from the session, it taught me about the close relationship between us and our Abrahamic brothers & sisters, namely the Christians and the Jews. Though we have different sets of belief, our religion never taught us to wage war against them, and in fact we are told do justice to mankind, including the non-believer. We must respect each other differences and work together with the commonolities that we shared, the Prophet S.A.W had showed us how he maintained good relationship with the Musyriks, like his own uncle Abu Talib, and with the Christian King, I can't remember the name, but if I'm not mistaken...King Hercules or is it King Najasyi...I think that's the name right? Well, basically the important thing here is to respect each other as human being with dignity and right to live, isnt that the basic essential of life? Insya'ALLAH I'll be posting an article I read about inter-faith issues, for additional reading :)

ISLAM IN ENGLISH

Friday was supposed to be a holiday, public holiday, but I still have a class that night. Teaching my adorable non-Malay kids about ISLAM. I find them very adorable, because they like to ask questions. I'm not trying to making any racist statement here, but comparing this class with the same (content-wise) Malay medium class, the participations level are extremely different. The ISLAM-in-English class seems to get more attention from the students, they are very engaging and participating, while the traditional Malay-medium religious class, the kids tend to keep quiet (except for talking among themselves) and not very much active to participate. I don't really have the reason why this is so, but my assumptions would be because of the language itself. No offence to Malay language, (I am a pro-Malay language btw), I think teaching ISLAM using English as the medium are even much more interesting, especially with the choice of words and the exhaustive resources available, namely the religious cartoons, multimedia discs, etc. I'm sure that are more enticing to our current generation. After all dakwah must be exercised with wisdom (bil hikmah wal mau'izah), and since English language is the more approprate medium in getting people to ISLAM, I'm sure our dakwah method needs to suit the contemporary demands too. I welcome the hardwork put on by MUIS Islamic Education SU in introducing programmes like Kid's aLIVE, Teen's aLIVE and I heard coming soon will be Youth aLIVE, let's make our dakwah more LIVELY and more HAPPENING! After all, ISLAM is a way of life; more than just a religion as defined by the sociologists.

MiQ GRAND FINALE

Yesterday was the Grand Finale of MiQ Quiz 2006, Guess what? That was the only round that I attended, the other rounds I could not attend as I was engaged with school-related activities. I feel quite bad actually for not able to contribute much to this year's quiz, after all last year was a great experience for me organising it. However, Alhamdulillah I've nothing to worry, the new members of MiQ did a GREAT JOB!!!I'm so proud of them, the legacy continues, perhaps it's time for renewel and even SUCCESION....Acap and Psy....don't you all think so?...Remember that 'a good leader is not only someone who can lead well, but also managed to get someone to replace him/her'. Well, I dun believe in being a leader and holding on to that post for a long period of time, you got to give others then chance to lead too, though we may not agree with the way that person leads the legacy that we passed on, as long as the course and its objective are being met, why should we be worry at? We must not be like Tun Mahatahir, criticising his hand-picked sucessor for scrapping his ideas of 'mega-projects'. To each his own, the new leader must be free to act and assess what is good for the people he/she is leading. That happened in ITMAWAT (MWTI Students' Council) in 2004, though I must admit that it felt quite sad to leave the council that you've been rallying with your comrades, but renewal and succession are important for the long-term sucess of it, at least that's what I believe in, and how I am agaisnt undemocratic, autocratic regimes.

Ok enough about that, anyway regarding MiQ yesterday...SAJC won. I don't really watch the match, I just wrote the scores only. It was a delighful afternoon at Woodlands Regional Library. I got to catch up with a lot of people, especially with FMSA seniors, fellow members of MIQ last yr, especially Liyana, my former working partner, she's currently in UIA but still made the effort to attend the grand finale, amazing isnt she? Putting all that aside, I also get to meet with the new members, and wow some of them are entering NUS. Nurulhuda asked me which Uni she should choose? She got both NTU and NUS, I guess you all know which Uni that I'm recommeding her...hahahah! Well, I really hope to see her in NUS,hahaha...at least we can catch up more often..hahaha...but doesnt really matter, NTU also good.

After the final, went to Orchard, had dinner with Mohksin. A belated b'day treat I guess..hahaha. After that went to Kino to get one book, Alhamdulillah managed to find it and can't stop reading it now, but at times quite malas! Before returning home, spent the night playing arcade with Jannah,Hanez, Acap and Omar who happened to be in Orchard too. Alhamdulillah, it was great day, tiring but really fun!

Wassalam.

Making A Choice

2006-05-10T01:10:00.000+08:00

First of all, this entry have nothing to do with politics, rest assured, no need for ISD to tag and asking me to refrain from my political view..hehehe. Anyway, what I'll be talking about here will be basically a more personalised issue, the traditional mode of blogging.

Alhamdulillah it's been a very good day today, yesterday was very tiring; lecture @ sch and went for a mini-picnic with the library gangz, it was fun though but I wasn't feeling alright. As for today, got some rest in the morning, went to visit Fadzli at TTSH in the evening with Mat Nor, Mukmin, Fazli, Naufal and Hourul. Entering the hospital ward reminds me of my past experiences admitted in NUH, especially with the drip and all the hospital stuffs, just reminds me the pain and the boredom I felt while being warded for more than 2 weeks. Luckily for Fadzli, he's admitted for just a day, I'm sure one day is boring enough, especially since you are 'bed-ridden' and have difficulty in moving, especially when you need the gents. Gosh, how miserable can the hospital stay be?

After staying for about 40 mins, I have to rush to Bugis to meet Hanez as I need to collect something from her. Eventually we went to Samar for a simple dinner, since my appetite for mediteranian delicacies was very high. There weren't many people there, and the ambience was cooling and very peaceful. However, I'm quite disappointed because the food was not that nice, basically plain rice with fish, and it's tasteless. Luckily we have a lot to talk about, or else I'll regret for going to such place. For the first time, I did not finished up my food. Hanez did coz her food was nice according to her. Too bad it's beef, I can't eat beef. We talked about a lot of things, but central to our conversation was about University, about deciding where to pursue university education. She still have a choice in choosing her Uni, she applied for UM and thinking of applying for IIUM(UIA), I hope she'll get her prefered Uni, Insya'ALLAH.

Life In A University

Talking about Uni too, I've just received some pieces of good news. Alhamdulillah Faisal and Asrory was offered places in Madinah Islamic University, cool isn't it? What else can be better then getting allowance of SGD$400/mth without having to work, just study only. Fuh, they are very lucky to be offered places in the prestigious Madinah University. How I envy them and those people in Azhar, but well I made the decision when I was entering pre-u, that I have no plan of enrolling in both Azhar and Madinah University. UIA had been my dream University. I visited UIA when I was in Sec 2 and was fascinated by the surroundings, dubbed the Blue Campus. I told myself then that I'll try my best to get myself there one day, though at that time it seemed like almost impossible. But then, I told myself not to give up, I should pursue my dream.

Alhamdulillah, I managed to enter Wak Tanjong after doing my GCE Os and STE (Sijil Thanawi 'Empat) in Irsyad. As Wak Tanjong is offering A level, I was very sure that it will be a better route for me to take in order to enter UIA. I proved myself right, after A level I applied for UIA, Alhamdulillah I got in, and I got Kuliyyah Of Law (Law Faculty). I was quite shocked with the letter, at the same time very excited, after all UIA have been my dream, and to get Law is a double bonus.

However, the joy was a shortwhile as by then I've made my decision to enter a local university. Though the local uni wasnt really my dream (coz it was too hard to even dream for it), I made the decision to enrol there after furher considerations and consultations. I consulted my Ustaz for advice, and he said that perhaps I should go for local uni first. Adding to my parents and family's preference, I made up my mind that it's better for me to enrol here first. Insya'ALLAH I will see how it goes and still hoping to pursue Islamic studies after getting a good degree from here, Amin. After all, I'm still very much inclined to Syariah Law like how I told Ustaz Fatris that I'll be applying Law at UIA and he even recommended that to me. I can't deny that I feel a sense of envy seeing my friend in UIA, esp when they are doing well there (Liyana even got in the Dean's list), at times I question myself if indeed I've made the right choice. After 13 years in Madrasah and suddenly made a big switch, is it worth the switch? Well, after much thoughts, I guess it's not really about where I go, but about how much I gain and how can I contribute back to the Ummah.

Alhamdulillah, after almost one year in here, I feel very much at home. Especially the interesting people I meet here, they are such a nice group of friends, competitive though, but very helpful and frenly chaps, and ironically there's no culture shock and we can get along pretty well, and days by days clearing my streotype abt JC students of being nerd, always talk abt serious stuff only and hard to approach..hahaha...I'm sure they ( i mean korang yg tgh baca ni) also have stereotypes. It's a good exchange here, and I believe Madrasah should have open up and have this type of exchanges and more interaction with their JCs' counterparts. Beside friends, the education here are also pretty good.

From Political Science to Social Work, I can say that almost all are very interesting. After all, knowledge comes from ALLAH, and it is our responsibility to make good use of the 'ilm HE is granting us with. The 1st revelation itself mentioned about knowledge (Iqra' bismirabbikallazi khalak....Surah Al-Alaq), that just shows how importance are knowledge in ISLAM. Thus, this singal to us that, not only we need master the general religious studies (Tauhid, Fiqh) but must also inculcate ourselves with diverse and multipliciy of knowledge, in our effort to be a better Muslim, so we can be a better Vicegerent of ALLAH on earth, Insya'ALLAH.

So, I realised here, it's not really about where we are in, but it's really about how we can maximise the input given to us. Even if you are in poly, NUS, Monash, UIA, Azhar and wherever you are in, you can make full use of your knowledge for dakwah, bring people to ISLAM and spread the message of peace that the Prophet SAW showed us with. It's about our attitude and spirit, Insya'ALLAH HE will help us in HIS cause. (In tansurULLAH yansurukum wa yusabbit aqdamakum - Surah Muhammad). I remember Ustaz Fatris (he was my Mudir) wrote this in my journal on my last day as of school @ Irsyad, "Nilai diri kita tidak diukur dengan tempat di mana kita berada, tetapi sejauh mana kita mampu melangkah". I believe this quote is very benefical, and something for us to ponder with if we are making the decision of pursuing our studies, especially in choosing between two different places or I shall say paths. For all my friends out there waiting for Uni replies, I wish all of you all the best, Insya'ALLAH the best place for all of you. Wasalam.

GE 2006: A NEW HOPE FOR SINGAPORE

2006-05-07T16:40:00.000+08:00

The results for GE 2006 was out at 11PM yesterday. I was with Sufian & his bros, Mukmin, Fadzli and Fazli @ Yio Chu Kang Stadium watching the announcment of the result live together with about thousands of WP supporters. I'm not there to support the Worker's Party, but just to get the first hand experience in a historical moment of our nation, albeit in an Opposition's assembly. The result also signal an end to the heat election fever, began since WP announced the PAP-claimed-time-bombed manifesto. Alhamdulillah, finally it's over and I'm sure it's a relief to Singaporeans, the divisive period is over. Generally from the result, I guess both camps actually won....the incumbent was returned to power, keeping the world record for being the longest survival one-party dominant, and to WP and SDA, I'm sure they are quite happy with their perfomances this time round, a message given by the electorates - the Singaporeans still appreciate their presence.

A Strong Mandate for PM Lee

Congrats to PM Lee and his PAP comrades for securing a fairly-strong mandate, by gaining 66.6% of the popular votes. Though this result seen a decreased of nearly 10% from 75% PAP under former PM Goh obtained in 2001, it is arguably that 2001 election was due to instablity; facing the terrorist threat. It does seemed like a good mandate, after all for a new PM, the record showed that he received a better mandate than his predecessors, Goh Chock Tong even lost 4 seats to the oppositions during his 1st election as the PM in 1991 and managed to get only 61% of the votes. Based on that, it can be well said that PM Lee received the highest mandate than ever before for a 1st time PM. However, 66.6% may not be strong enough, given the strong supports all this while to the ruling party. Comparing with Malaysia's recent election, PM Abdullah won a landslide victory when he first led BN as the Prime Minister. Thefore, the mandate obtained by PM Lee is fall short to be considered a landslide. In addition to that, in AMK GRC, the PM Lee's team managed to secure only 66.2%, when it was highly anticipated that they will get at least 80% of the votes. I'm sure 66.2% against the unknown 'suicide team' of young WP candidates are not considered a resounding victory, but perhaps a victory is still a victory, despite being a watershed one.

The Rise of The Hammer

Not really suprising to note that WP scored well in this election, gaining 16.35% of total votes, making them the 2nd popular party after PAP. This is due to the fact that it fielded a lot of credible candidates, mostly graduates of the prestigious NUS ;) It's chief; Low Thia Kiang won better than expected in his Hougang ward, beating Eric Low with a decent margin. There was a big cheer by the crowd in Yio Chu Kang stadium when he was announced as the winner, with the supporter chanting "Worker's Party!!!Worker's Party!!!Worker's Party!!!. It was amazing, the support was tremendous. Interestingly to note also is WP's chairman; Sylvia Lim. She made a headline when she joined the party few years ago, and this election it can be well said that she is the star. She is very charismatic and the way she presents her point are very commendable I must say, very professional and unemotional. She managed to capture the attention of the young voters and her down-to-earth personality would surely enticed the younger generations to consider her points. Kudos to her and her Aljunied team for being the best losers, gaining 43.9% . Hoping that she will be offered to take up the post of NCMP, and we shall see a contructive arguments that will be brougt up by her in the next parliament. :)

Improvement for SDA

Glad to know that Chiam See Tong managed to retain his Potong Pasir ward. After all, SM Goh had been campaigning there and was seriously wanting to capture his ward. However, the victory still goes to Mr Chiam, signalling to PAP that the people there still prefer him, despite being suggested by SM Goh that Chiam is already old and a younger Sitoh will be better for them. Responding to PAP's defeat, SM Goh said "I'm happy for him in a personal way, because I know, having served here for some 20 years, if in one of my elections I were defeated, I think it would be terrible."(Straits Times, May 7, 2006) Well, this is surely a nice victory to SDA. However, for Steve Chia, it's quite a setback for him. Though he scored better than the 2001 GE, he had vowed to step out of politics if he's not voted as the MP. Since he's not elected as the MP fo CCK SMC, he have maintained his promise, thus we'll be seeing the end of his political career. Perhaps, he can still do something for the people, but not through political avenues I guess.

The End of SDP

The over-confident SDP was slapped with a terrible outcry for unable to get a good support from the people. They lose miserably, both in Sembawang and Bt Panjang. It was a relief that the people did not showed them the support as SDP is not a good party for the nation. They are ought to be erased, especially with their negative attitudes of promoting civil disobedience. Instead of proposing any constructive plans for the people, they only condemned the government without much valid points. They are also not united with the two opposition parties. In addition, Dr Chee's entrance to SDP in 1992 caused a disaster to the party. He fought with Chiam See Tong, resulting in the charismatic Chiam to be kicked out of the party. He will never get his way as I'm sure we do not want a politician like him in our political realm.

Staying Together, Moving Ahead - You Have A Choice

Since the election is over, it's time for Singaporeans to stand together and moving ahead. After all we've been given a choice, and Singaporeans have made that choice. The choice is, we want both PAP and oppositions in the process of nation-building. Let us rally behind the goverment, and hoping for more goodies from our generous PM Lee. Hoping that, there'll be no increase in GST, transport fares, healthcare, tuition fees, ERP charges and many more. Looking forward for a stable future of the republic, and by the next election I hope my ward will be contested and I would be able to vote, Insya'ALLAH. Majulah Singapura!!!

RSI Interview (2005): National Youth Conference

2006-05-06T12:47:00.002+08:00

I was surfing the internet and guess what did I get? An RSI website that published the transcript of the interview they did with me @ NYC Conference last year, I was told it was aired at Warna 94.2 fm but I did not managed to listen to it, but anyway now since I found the transcript..perhaps I can just put it here in my blog, basically it's about youth issues....so I don't have to blog about it.

Antara aspirasi belia dengan dasar pemerintah - di mana jurangnya?
Mac 7, 2005

Golongan belia diseru untuk lebih giat menyumbang dan mengambil prihatin isu-isu nasional. Namun perubahan akan mengambil masa. Di mana titik-tolak merapatkan jurang penglibatan belia dengan pemerintah? 2 belia berkongsi pandangan.

Tentang jurang, tentu sekali jurang itu ada kerana kurangnya komunikasi. Bagi saya kesemua jurang dapat dirapatkan melalui komunikasi yang consistent.

Cik Nadiah Mohamed Shah, 19 tahun, salah seorang peserta Persidangan Sektor Belia Kebangsaan anjuran Majlis Belia Kebangsaan NYC baru-baru ini. Persidangan ini, dihadiri 350 peserta daripada 130 pertubuhan belia antara banyak wadah yang tersedia kini untuk belia bersuara tentang isu-isu yang menjejas mereka. Walaupun pemerintah telah banyak menggesa warga muda untuk tampil ke depan, mengemukakan maklum balas dan idea mencorak masa depan negara yang mereka inginkan, dan melakukannya menurut minat dan kata hati mereka, namun masih ada yang berasa ragu apakah seruan ini setakat bicara atau akan dikotakan. Seperti yang disuarakan Cik Nadiah, seorang aktivis belia dari Persatuan Persaudaraan Pelajar Islam (FMSA), komunikasi adalah kuncinya. Tanpa komunikasi yang tetap, sukar untuk membina kepercayaan, lantas sukar untuk mana-mana pihak samada dari golongan belia mahupun pemerintah untuk melangkah ke depan. Seorang lagi aktivis belia yang ditemui di Persidangan NYC minggu lalu, Saudara Ridhwan Md Basor, memberikan pandangannya;

Saya rasa untuk merapatkan jurang antara pemerintah dan belia mesti ada satu platform yang dapat merapatkan jurang antara 2 belah pihak ini. Khususnya pemerintah boleh mengadakan langkah-langkah merapati belia seperti mendekati belia sekolah di mana MP berdialog dengan para belia dengan cara kurang formal kerana para belia agak kekok bila berada dalam suasana formal. Tetapi seperti kita saksikan Dr Vivian Balakrishnan telah menghidupkan satu sesi yang tidak terlalu formal dan memberi peluang pada beliau untuk memberikan pandangan dengan lebih terbuka. Dengan sifat terbuka yang ada pada pemerintah akan juga membuka hati belia untuk merapati pemerintah dan saya rasa ini satu langkah yang dapat merapatkan jurang antara pemerintah dan juga para belia.

Persidangan Sektor Belia NYC, bertemakan “Melibatkan Belia – Menjadikan Pembangunan Belia Bisnes Kita” antara lain memuatkan sesi dialog bersama Pemangku Menteri Pembangunan Masyarakat, Belia dan Sukan, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan. Beliau telah menekankan, dalam pemerintah mengambil pendekatan lebih terbuka, para belia harus bijak mengimbangkan antara khayalan dengan dengan sikap realistik atau perkara-perkara yang boleh dijangkaui. Beliau mengalu-alukan warga muda untuk berani mengambil risiko tetapi mengingatkan tetang hakikat kegagalan. Tidak semua permintaan yang dikemukakan kepada pemerintah akan dilaksanakan. Namun pada dasarnya, pesanan jelas dari Dr Balakrishnan kepada belia yang hadir di persidangan itu, “Anda tahu apa yang anda inginkan, lakukan saja.” Mungkin ramai belia yang mahu menyahut seruan beliau itu tetapi menurut Saudara Ridhwan seorang aktivis belia dari FMSA, yang baru saja menerima keputusan GCE peringkat ‘A’nya - sebagai belia di Singapura, ia bukan perkara mudah.

Jika ditonjolkan avenue yang boleh mereka tujui saya rasa ramai di antara mereka lebih daripada suka untuk menyertainya cuma kemungkinan besar masa di sekolah terlalu panjang – ada sampai 12 jam sehari. Ini salah satu sebab mengapa walaupun the ball is in our court, kita ada banyak commitment, contohnya seperti ‘A’ Level. Perlu mendapatkan pencapaian akademik, walaupun kita perlu buat activism tapi the first thing sebagai belia kita perlu pentingkan, praktikalnya kehidupan hari ini kita perlukan ‘A’ Level cert tapi kalau pada masa akan datang mungkin selain daripada application univiersiti kita tidak lihat lebih tertumpu kepada kelayakan akademik tetapi kepada usaha-usaha yang dibuat seseorang – itu semua mencerminkan seseorang itu secara menyeluruh, lebih daripada pencapaian akademik semata-mata.

Saudara Ridhwan Md Basor, peserta Persidangan Sektor Belia Kebangsaan, Majlis Belia Kebangsaaan, tentang tekanan dialami belia sebaya untuk cemerlang dalam bidang akademik – antara punca kurangnya penglibatan aktif dalam bidang-bidang kemasyarakatan lainnya walaupun mungkin minat mereka ada di sana.

Pastinya banyak yang sedang dilakukan untuk melibatkan para belia, agar mereka rasa tidak dipinggirkan, atau kurang penting dalam penggubalan dasar-dasar pemerintah yang cuba tampil sebagai lebih terbuka dan mahu berunding. Saluran-saluran yang dibuka adalah langkah permulaan tetapi tidak semua belia berbicara dengan bahasa dan selera yang sama. Cabarannya ialah untuk menjadikan rasa ownership atau pemilikan suatu yang semulajadi dan tidak dipaksa-paksa. Dalam hal ini, membina kepercayaan antara belia dan pemerintah menjadi dasarnya.

Saya Emillia Amin dari Radio Singapura Internasional untuk Ehwal Semasa Radio Mediacorp. Salam hormat.

*RSI Website. (2005). Rancangan Hal Ehwal Semasa, retrieved May 6, 2006, from http://www.rsi.sg/malay/titiktolak/view/20050307175221/1/dedikasi.htm

A political comment from a non-voter

2006-05-05T15:11:00.000+08:00

Talking about politics,

Perhaps a shot comment about the current election issues, I can't help it....but trying my best to ensure my comments aren't 'explicit' content as described by Dr Balaji of the PAP.

Yesterday went to WP rally @ AMK with Mat Noor, though I'm not eligible to vote for being 21 yrs old after 1st January 2006...hahaha...resulting in me not receiving the carrot offered by PAP..I dun think I am an apolitical citizen. Trying my best to remain non-partisan...I went to the opposition rally to get the first hand information on what they really gonna stand up for...the local media esp CNA and ST arent the best source for a non-biased report I guess....but well....at least our local media are better than RTM..haha..where the Oppositions are portrayed in terribly bad light....inclusive of condemination by their reporters...fuh...at least our SPH dailies and Mediacorp channels arent that bad ah...still can be trusted though was placed at 140th by Reporters Without Borders in line with third-world nations..but who cares? After all our media are among the best media anyway...SPH won quite a number of awards and same goes to Mediacorp..among the established television network in Asia. Echoing what PM Lee once said....Who give the media the right to criticise the goverment? (can refer to Parties and Politics by Prof Hussin Mutalib for the exact quote)...WOW...so scary right..hehehe...but I do hope also that the media do not criticise the Opposition too....coz who also give them the right to do so?..hahaha..so fair and square right...(I'm being non-partisan here).

Ok back to the rally story, I was astonished by the large crowd....when I first arrived at the AMK MRT STN....i was so kiasu and rushed to look at the map as I dun know where is the field bounded by St 51 and 52...but no worry as there were a lot of ppl already there looking at the map..and so I just peep at them and listen to them...without having to look at the map myself...I just listen to what they were saying..and yah...I know where the place is...but then Mat Nor already know where it is ah..aiyah...waste my effort only. When we arrived at the scene after doing our Maghrib @ Muttaqin...there were extremely large crowd chanting "Worker's Party!!!!Worker's Party!!!"....nah I just keep silence ah...dun wanna really join them chanting..hahhaa....must jaga mah...they surely be some intelligence all around rite..hahaha...but since I wanna be non-partisan...I dun wanna get into the light of supporting any particular party....I was waiting for Sylvia Lim to speak actually...but before I manage to listen to her, I need to presevere of standing for more than an hour with the apeks and nyonyas listening to some other candidates...I'm not going to blog abt what they said..basically the ST did a good job in highlighting the issues addressed...so can refer to ST lah...but basically personally I feel they are quite a bunch of good speakers. Low Thia Kiang's English really in a Chinese accent...I have to agree with MM Lee about this..and before Sylvia went to the mic...the missing-form-boy cum GE 2006 idol - Mr Jamez Gomez took the centre stage..before Sylvia....well...I dun really favor him that much..the issues he came out with arent new and personally I feel his point arent susbtantiated...but welll...he got a lot of fans from apeks and nyonyas...and infact I just read (not signing) the petition that show support to him...any it contained mroe than 800 signatures already...wah...so popular ah Gomez...maybe I would suggest before the next election...Gomez should go for form-filing courses...so he wont make any blunt mistakes again...2 times in a row...fuhyoo...how clumsy can that be?hahaha....wayang eh Gomez?

Ok now let's talk abt Sylvia....first of all..I am impressed by her...I think she would have made a good PAP candidate....but well she choosed to be in WP now...but still not bad enough to have her in the political scene...watching her speaking at the political party broadcast last week, I believe she made a valid points..and the way she presents herself...really commendable ah...she is second to none when talking about the newest most charismatic politican...I hope she can make it big...as long she dun behave like a hooligan like Dr Chee..hahaha (If you behave like hooligan, we will treat you like a hooligan - whose line was this?)and yah saw a huge banner by the supporters that stated "WE LOVE SYLVIA"....she got what it takes ah...perhaps if one day she feels like quitting politics, I guess she can try to sign on with Mediacorp...and be a celebrity..hahaha.

Lastly before I sum up my political comment, I wanna say that overall I dun think our political standard are up to the mark...not sure if it can be considered first world...ahahaha...even if so..maybe the world is not this planet Earth..(according to talkingcock.com)....but still not that bad right? After all...we are among the most developed country in Asia...and one of the least corrup nation in the world...so...not bad ah....my take on democaracy is that...it is a good system of governing..however some basic traits of democracy like "freedom of speech" etc...arent really 100% good for society like ours....in the name of freedom of speech that we've seen the danish caricatures and how people are free to criticise anybody...racial and religions were not spared either..there got to be an ethical boundary to "freedom".....and in the name of "freedom" too that people engage in alternative lifestyles as they will claim it is their "rights" to choose...in this good for the survival of mankind? Well...u decide! After all, generally I feel that Singaporeans seems to agreed on a simple social contract, accepting limits on political freedom in return for prosperity and stability. If Aristotle said that
" man is by nature a political animal" in Singaporean context I would say..."Singaporeans are by nature an economical species". (Ridhwan, 2006)

Wassalam.

Maiden Post

2006-05-04T16:20:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum WR WB.....May peace be upon you,

Well, first of all congratulations for having the honour to view my newly created blog..hahaha...hopefully I'll be updating it on regular basis.

Anyway, I don't really have much to say on my 1st posting, but do check out in days to come, Insya'ALLAH I'll be adding some features to make this boring blog an interesting one perhaps?Hahaha...dream on.

Oklah perhaps I can just talk abt why the sudden creation of this blog. I think this is my 3rd blog....the 1st and 2nd blogs were created almost a year ago...not really into blogging actually, but somehow it's been a trend for ppl to blog...so yah...maybe should keep up with this trend..hahaha. and yah talking abt blog, I remember that the first time i started to blog was because of Bahas 4PM. The motion was "Blog adalah ruangan peribadi"....my junior was in the opposition camp...and of course I would just go againts the motion..in someway...it's quite clear cut anyway...blog is not a personal space...well....been debating abt it..hahaha...and the opponent was VJC (my longlime competitor since Bahas 2003)...so it's kind of hard as they were such a good opponent since my bahas era...but the motion was a bit one sided..and so to get myself into what exactly blogging is all about...I indulged myself in the blogging world. Went to the blogger convention at NLB last year.....and met self-claimed popular blogger like Mr Brown and Xiexue (I dun even know they were popular begger..oopps I mean blogger)...it was an interesting convention I must say and very internalised introduction to the world of blog, there was even an NP lecturer who set up a blog to communicate with his student....cool yah? and after that i recommended my juniors to attend blogger conference somehere around Esplanade....but to my dismay...the conference was held in DXO Club....what the heck? and so they cant come in...I was suprised to know it was held there....nonsense bloggers....hahaha...luckily my juniors did not enter or else I'll have to answer to my bahas Cikgu for recommending them to attenc such function..haha...fret not...now I'm starting to be a blogger..hahaha.

After all, this is not a personal space...as it is published in a public realm (so-called).....so i guess need to be careful with what we put on this space....I dun think there is such thing as a confidential blog (except u put a password ah for u to sign in to read ur own blog)....perhaps using Microsoft Word better..and save it to ur hard disk..maybe that is more private. That reminds me to be really careful with what I'll be posting...with strict Singapore laws...hahaha...I dun wanna be subjected to any wrongdoing in the eyes of the law...though how I wish I could post my comments on the current election issues...hahaha...but it may deem as an explicit political content that is prohibited under the law stipulated in one of the act (which I cant remember).

Basically that's all for my maiden post...haha...Insya'ALLAH will be updating soon..perhaps with more interesting design and adding of tagboard. Till my next post, take care my fellow Singaporean....and remember to vote for the best party if you're eligible to vote....hahhaa. Wassalam.

In the meantime, enjoy this video about Bush!Shame on you Bush!!!