Books, movies & musics of 2005

Entri penutup tirai 2005-02.
catatan 2004


[clockwise from top left: literature/religion, English, Malay novels, local interest]

Local interest and such:
1. My Story - Lim Goh Tong
2. Daim: The Man Behind The Enigma - Cheong Mei Sun & Adibah Amin
3. A.Samad Ismail: Journalism & Politics - Cheah Boon Kheng
4. Wira Tak Didendang - Zainuddin Maidin, Dato'
5. Ousted! (An Insider's Story of the ties that failed to bind) - Patrick Keith
6. Pandangan Dari Tudor City, New York - Abdullah Ahmad, Tan Sri
7. Kuala Lumpur: Dari Perspektif Haji Abdullah Hukum - Adnan Haji Nawang
8. Perihal Orang Melayu - Sir Frank Swettenham (Malay translation by Zubaidah Ibrahim)
9. Ke Mana Nasionalisme Melayu? - Rustam A. Sani
10. Raja, Rakyat dan Pemimpin di Zaman Pak Lah - S.H. Al-Attas
11. Anwar Comeback: Gelombang Reformasi Kedua - Mohd Sayuti Omar
12. Hitam Putih Darul Arqam: Realiti Disebalik Pengharaman - Mohd Sayuti Omar
13. Jangan Tidak-Tidak - Dr. HM Tuah Iskandar
14. Nak ke Tak Nak - Dr. HM Tuah Iskandar
15. Tuan Rumah Jutawan - Azizi Ali
16. The Millionaire in Me - Azizi Ali
17. As I Pleased - Saleh Ben Joned

Malay novels:
1. Bumi Harapan - Ali Jusoh
2. Tangisan Bangsaku - Ariffin Ngah [personal favorite]
3. Kabut dan Bulan Sabit di Demak - Nunung Prajarto
4. Hatiku Terluka di Bukhara - Wan Hashim Wan Teh [best travelogue novel]
5. Surat-Surat Perempuan Johor - Faisal Tehrani
6. Arjuna Hati - Norzailina Nordin
7. Sajak-Sajak Saleh - Saleh Ben Joned
8. Menyarung Jiwa:Soulship - Raja Ahmad Aminullah

English novels:
1. Leap of Faith:Memoirs of an Unexpected Life - Noor Al-Hussein (former Queen of Jordan) [2005's personal favorite]
2. Inside The Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia - Carmen Bin Ladin
3. From Beirut to Jerusalem - Dr. Ang Swee Chai
4. The Story of Srebrenica - Isnam Taljic (foreword by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad)

tak habis baca lagi (banyak gilaa woit):
1. Kisah Pelayaran Muhammad Ibrahim Munsyi - Mohd. Fadzil Othman
2. Melati Kota Bharu - A. Kadir Adabi (Allahyarham). Selenggaraan Oleh SN S. Othman Kelantan
3. Perempuan Politikus Melayu - Faisal Tehrani
4. Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck - HAMKA
5. Jiwa Kacau - Basri Nor Mohd [Antalogi entri 23 bloggers Geng Jurnal]
6. The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx & Freiderich Engels
7. The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli (English translation by George Bull)
8. Autobiography of Malcolm X
9. Princess - Jean P. Sasson

sedang mencari:
Nama Beta Sultan Alauddin - Faisal Tehrani

Magazines:
1. Off the Edge
2. Personal Money
3. Malaysian Business
4. Time
5. Seni Beladiri

Movies (cinema):
1. Constantine - 9 February 2005 (TGV Sunway)
2. Sepet - 25 February 2005 (TGV KLCC)
3. Robots - 25 March 2005 (TGV Sunway)
4. Coach Carter - 13 April 2005 (GSC Mid Valley)
5. The Jacket - 27 April 2005 (TGV Sunway)
6. Kingdom of Heaven - 11 May 2005 (TGV Sunway)
7. Star Wars - 19 May 2005 (TGV Sunway)
8. Batman Begins - 15 June 2005 (TGV Sunway)
9. Initial D - 22 July 2005 (TGV KLCC)
10. Ungu Violet (Indon) - 5 August 2005 (GSC Mahkota Parade)
11. The Cave - 27 August 2005 (GSC The Summit USJ)
12. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - 31 August 2005 (TGV Sunway)
13. Janji Joni (Indon) - 18 September 2005 (TGV Sunway)
14. Flight Plan - 28 September 2005 (TGV KLCC)
15. April Snow (Korea) - 29 October 2005 (GSC Mid Valley)
16. Salon - 7 November 2005 (GSC Times Square)
17. Chicken Little - 16 November 2005 (GSC Times Square)
18. Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire - 18 November 2005 (TGV Sunway)
19. Zathura - 28 November 2005 (GSC The Summit USJ)
20. The Chronicles of Narnia - 8 December 2005 (TGV Sunway)
21. King Kong - 16 December 2005 (TGV KLCC)

dvd (downloaded dvds excluded from list):
1. Osama (Afghan)
2. Kandahar (Afghan)
3. Motorcycle Diaries (Latin) [biography of Che Guevera]
4. The Story of Joan of Arc
5. The Manchurian Candidate
6. The Perfect Man (Hilary Duff! :p)

vcd:
1. Amelie (French)
2. Banyu Biru (Indon)
3. Pasir Berbisik (Indon)
4. Qaisy & Laila
5. Kaki Bakar

Best music albums (in no particular order):
1. Athlete - Tourist
2. Coldplay - X&Y
3. Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
4. Explosions in the Sky
5. Lifehouse - self-titled
6. Mae - The Everglow
7. Mew - And The Glass Handed Kites
8. Sigur Ros - Takk
9. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
10. Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness

This is perhaps my last entry of the year. So, happy new year everyone. :)
Bye bye 2005..

Entri penutup tirai 2005-01

Di kala tengah tak ada idea, maka muncul ilham untuk update tentang koleksi gambar-gambar yang telah aku shoot sepanjang tahun 2005. Asalnya nak buat top 10 je. Tapi agak susah nak pilih 10 terbaik, maka aku pun membuat keputusan untuk memilih 17 terbaik. Ha Ha. Ni pun setelah ditapis sebanyak lapan kali. Oleh sebab tak ada juri professional untuk menilai kualiti gambar-gambar aku ni, so faham-fahamlah ye kalau sesetengah daripada gambar-gambar terpilih ini kualitinya tak mencapai standard piawaian yang sepatutnya. Sebarang komen atau kritikan positif dan negatif amatlah dialu-alukan.

[Ala, rasenye semua gambar-gambar ni korang semua dah pernah tengok kat fotopage kan. :)]

a) Kategori bangunan & pemandangan

#1 Madinah Al-Munawwarah (siang) [gambar yang dishoot dari tingkap bilik hotel ni telah terpilih sebagai gambar terbaik 2005..]

#2 Madinah Al-Munawwarah (subuh)

#3 Istana Besar Pagaruyung, Sumatera Barat (aku suka awan gemawan yang tebal & langit nan biru..)

#4 Cameron Highlands (aku suka warna hijau kekuningan dalam gambar ni.. di tambah pula dengan langit pagi bagaikan gradient effect yang sangat natural..) [Kredit kepada yan yang telah shoot gambar 'pre-planned candid' ni :)]

#5 Pesta Air Nasional, Putrajaya (Masa ni kitorang pegi tengok team MMU lawan)

b) Kategori 'gambar ramai-ramai' :p

#1 Cameron Highlands (aku suka warna hijau dan biru dalam gambar ni. sangat...natural. terima kasih Kodak LS743 :p)

#2 FCM Nite, JW Marriot,KL (oh sungguh pinknya suasanaaa..)

#3 Hari Raya, Subang Jaya (gambar ni dishoot dengan bantuan self-timer dan tripod)

#4 Set & background studio, MMU Cyberjaya (kanak-kanak DM yang riang gembira setelah selesai fyp presentation)

#5 Gua Senyum, Pahang (bersama kanak-kanak OARS)


#6 Bukit Permai, Ampang (kalau ada lagi satu atau dua kepala kat top left corner sebelah iera tu baru perfect :p oh, gambar zul & stan terpotong sikit. eh banyak.)

c) Kategori Solo B-)

#1 Danau Toba, Sumatera Utara (gambar ni diambil dengan bantuan self-timer & tripod. aku rasa kalau t-shirt aku tu berwarna gelap atau putih, gambar tu tak lawa kot)

#2 Pulau Tioman (gambar silhoutte aku berlatar belakangkan sunset yang indah lagi mengasyikkan. Terima kasih kepada farhan kerana mengejutkan kami dari tidur. kalau tak, tak ada la gambar sunset ni. hehe)

#3 kenduri kahwin sepupu,Taman Tun, KL (aksi 'bunga sembah' Gayung Fatani di hadapan pengantin)


#4 Makkah Al-Mukarramah (Pizza Hut depan Masjidil Haram. nampak tak muka photographer?)


#5 Kg. Laut, Kota Bharu (Pak Usop ni telah banyak membantu aku dalam research fyp)


#6 MMU Cyberjaya (model-dela; sedang testing produk fyp aku.)

--All images are copyrighted© Shahnon--

Oh ya, terima kasih juga kepada kamera Kodak LS743 4.0 Megapixel with color science chip built in aku yang telah setia menemani aku ke mana saja. hehe.

Kalau nak view gambar dalam saiz lebih besar, silalah lawat fotopage.

Maka, tamatlah sudah entri penutup tirai 2005-01. Nanti ada satu lagi entri penutup tirai-02. So, tungguuuu :p

Wafah bin Ladin*

If last week, i blogged about Carmen bin Ladin's latest book, 'Inside the Kingdom', today i found a piece of article on her eldest daughter, Wafah, in the NST. I was flabbergasted upon reading the article and seeing her semi naked photo in a bathtub (?). I wonder what would her mother think of her when she looks at her photos. Or maybe Carmen would just say, hey that's my girl! So much for her so-called 'American spirit'..

Osama's Niece Poses in Racy Photo Shoot

"NEW YORK (AP) -- Osama bin Laden's niece, in an interview with GQ magazine in which she appears scantily clad, says she has nothing in common with the al-Qaida leader and simply wants acceptance by Americans.

"Everyone relates me to that man, and I have nothing to do with him," Wafah Dufour, the daughter of bin Laden's half brother, Yeslam Binladin, says in the January edition of the magazine, referring to the al-Qaida leader.

"I want to be accepted here, but I feel that everybody's judging me and rejecting me," said the California-born Dufour, a law graduate who lives in New York. "Come on, where's the American spirit? Accept me. I want to be embraced, because my values are like yours. And I'm here. I'm not hiding."

*Dufour, who adopted her mother's maiden name after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that have been blamed on bin Laden, appears in several provocative photos in the magazine.."

Also check her video interview via AP, here.

It is sad just because of the need to get away from people's negative perception of her association with her uncle, Osama Bin Ladin, she had to resort to such things and trying to be more American than the Americans themselves.

Now, why, oh why am i so interested with the Bin Ladens? Oh, well, nevermind.

Ho Ho Ho everyone! Happy weekend.

Credit card, Bangladesh and democracy..

Another daily ramblings..

Earlier today while i was driving to Cyberjaya, suddenly a lady from Citibank phoned me.. Now, what has Citibank got to do with me? Such a surprise indeed. I was like, how the hell did they get to know my contact number, my details and all? The caller asked me whether i'm interested to get myself a credit card. Ha-Ha.. and i politely said no, but then she insisted again and asked about my salary, what the.. and when she was about to talk of the many benefits of using a credit card and all, i quickly stopped her and said, sorry i'm not interested and hung up.

Last week, the Jabatan Sumber Manusia called me, the lady on the phone asked;

"awak dah kerja ke belum?" and i said, yes. and that's about it. hehhe.

From the tone of her voice, I supposed she must have phoned hundreds of other graduates, i guess. And so i figured out that the government was perhaps in the process of updating the number of unemployed grads. :)

Ok, back to the credit card issue, I just don't see the need of me applying for a credit card. Kalau gaji at least RM3000 boleh la jugak nak consider. khokoh. Maybe i've been reading a lot (from Personal Money mag) of how young professionals went bankcrupt because of credit card default that scares me of using it. Well, at least for now.

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Earlier today I went to Cyberia condo in Cyberjaya with my mom and our Bangladeshi electrician/plumber. He was to fix the washing machine and the faulty pipelines. That was the first time of me and my mom having a long conversation with a Bangladeshi guy. We talked quite a lot in the car. I have to admit he is very fluent in Bahasa Melayu which later i found out that he's been working in Malaysia for almost 12 years now. One of the subject that we spoke on was on life in Bangadesh and its politics.

One of his words that i could remember was that, he said;
"Siapa naik (jadi kerajaan), semua tak suka, siapa naik pun semua tak suka. Bila (rakyat) mau suka?" -hehe..

According to Wikipedia;

"Bangladesh won its independence in 1971, after a bloody war supported by India. In its three and a half decades of independence marked by political turmoil and corruption, Bangladesh has had 13 different heads of government, two of them assassinated, and at least four coups.."

kesian Bangladesh. I just thought that too much democracy is not good. It it like what is happening in Indonesia, where there is too much freedom, esp. after the fall of Suharto and in the end the government tak boleh nak buat kerja dengan efisien. I believe that freedom must have its own limitation. No point in having a total democratic freedom government when you're much worse off in, say, the corruption index, economic freedom, the living society and et ceteras.

Aku tak boleh terima, geram betul bila dengar Anwar Ibrahim canang ke hulu hilir, merata dunia kata demokrasi Indonesia ni bebas, bagus la hebat sangatlah, pastu kritik demokrasi Malaysia. Apa guna demokrasi macam Indonesia tu kalau negara teruk ekonominya, politiknya, corruption tak payah cakaplah. Pengalaman aku, dari Bali ke Jakarta ke Bandung sampai ke Padang dan Medan semua orang pun duk cakap pasal korupsi. Aku tak kritik Indon sebenarnya tapi geram dengan Pak Sheikh ni bila dia kritik Malaysia di luar negara..

ha kan dah jadi emo tiba-tiba aku nih..ok ok cool man.

I'd like to put in quote by Lee Kuan Yew in his interview with TIME magazine, December 12 issue. Although i never like him but i have to say that i agree with him on this;

TIME: A documentary film was made locally about a Singaporean opposition politician, and it was banned.

LEE: Well if you had asked me, I would have said, to hell with it. But the censor, the enforcer, he will continue until he is told the law has changed. And it will change...

[But], I'm not guided by what Human Rights Watch says. I am not interested in ratings by Freedom House or whatever. At the end of the day, is Singapore society better of worse off? That's the test. What are the indicator of a good-governed society? Look at the humanities index in last week's Economist, we're right on top. You look at the savings index, World Bank, we're right on top. Economic freedoms, we're right on top...

If you look closely you could see there's a similarity of leadership style between Dr. Mahathir and Lee Kuan Yew. Both are widely regarded as an authoritarian leader. I always think that in order for the nation to succeed, you need to make sacrifices, like what Mr. Lee said in his interview; though i really don't give a damn about the Singaporean society. Likewise, Dr. Mahathir has done so much as well. You cannot please everyone. You never will, or you'll end up nowhere.

Okay i dont intend to write a long entry on Bangladesh or politics here, so that's it. I just feel i need to update this blog more often. End.

The Format - Snails

Carmen, the Bin Ladens and the Saudis.

Akhirnya aku blog jugak tentang buku 'Inside the Kingdom' tulisan Carmen Bin Ladin ni walaupun ringkas je, setelah lama tertangguh. Tapi ni bukan book review lengkap sebab aku blog secara random je. (tentang Carmen, pengaruh keluarga besar Bin Ladin dan wanita Saudi)

Siapa Carmen bin Ladin? Beliau ialah seorang wanita daripada keluarga campuran Iran-Swiss. Ibunya adalah daripada keturunan keluarga aristokrat Iran manakala bapanya ialah seorang warga Switzerland beragama Kristian. Beliau telah lahir dan membesar di negara Eropah itu sejak kecil. Pendek kata seluruh kehidupan fizikal dan mentahnya adalah gaya hidup barat. Jauh sekali daripada kehidupan seorang Muslim. Ibu bapanya telah bercerai sewaktu dia masih kecil. Ditakdirkan pada tahun 1974 beliau berkahwin dengan pasangan hidupnya, Yeslam bin Ladin (kini telah bercerai) yang juga merupakan abang kepada America's no.1 most-wanted man, Usamah bin Ladin. Yeslam merupakan salah seorang daripada 54 (29 perempuan. 25 lelaki) anak jutawan Arab Saudi terkenal, Allahyarham Sheikh Muhammad bin Ladin.

Sedikit fakta tentang Sheikh Muhammad; beliau merupakan seorang ahli perniagaan jutawan yang rapat dengan keluarga diRaja Arab Saudi. Syarikat beliau iaitu Bin Laden Organizations adalah syarikat kontraktor pembinaan yang terbesar di tanah Arab pada masa itu (60-an). Oleh sebab hubungan beliau yang sangat rapat dengan Raja Faisal, Raja Arab Saudi yang memerintah ketika itu, beliau sentiasa diberi projek-projek besar kerajaan.

Antara projek-projek syarikat Bin Laden yang paling dikenali ialah pembaikan, pengubahsuaian dan pembesaran masjid-masjid utama di Arab Saudi seperti Masjidil Haram dan Masjid Nabawi dan juga Masjidil Aqsa di Palestin, istana-istana Raja Saudi dan bermacam-macam lagi projek-projek pembinaan lain di dalam negeri dan juga di negara Arab lain. Pada tahun 1967 beliau terkorban dalam nahas kapal terbang.

Secara ringkasnya buku ini menceritakan pengalaman hidup beliau tinggal bersama keluarga Bin Ladin di Arab Saudi selama 9 tahun sebelum kembali menetap di Eropah. Kehidupan yang sangat mewah tetapi terpenjara. Beliau banyak menyentuh tentang kisah hidup beliau bersama Yeslam Bin Ladin, perjalanan keluarga besar dan syarikat Bin Laden, sosio-budaya masyarakat Saudi, adat dan tatacara wanita Arab Saudi, penindasan terhadap kaum wanita di Arab Saudi dll.

Antara beberapa tulisan beliau yang menunjukkan betapa kuatnya pengaruh nama keluarga 'Bin Laden' di Arab Saudi.

"..It was a little tricky to buy alcohol on the black market - it is banned in Saudi Arabia. But the embassy personnel brought it in under diplomatic seal, and the drivers ran an underground commerce. One of our employees purchased beer from the chauffeurs of an African consulate. We were safe: The religious police never dared to inspect the homes of Princes - or Bin Ladens." - -tak tau nak cakap apa la..

"..Deep down I still thought that if ever there were a revolution in Saudi Arabia I would be able to escape. As a foreigner, and as a Bin Laden, I knew I would be among the first to get out. We had the clout to get out if we had to - the power and status to escape the inspections of the religious police, get out of jail, or get out of the country.

Even if an airplane was fully booked, Bin Ladens would always get a ticket.. I had always seen this happen"

Menunjukkan betapa powernya nama keluarga Bin Laden di tanah Arab Saudi.

"..The mutawa yelled at us in the street - "You, woman, what are you doing?" - if our hands were sowing, or if my abaya was held too high, Abdou, my Sudanese driver, would always protect me - "Bin Laden". Even now, the religious integrity of a Bin Laden woman could not be questioned.."

Tentang masyarakat wanita Arab Saudi;

"I never remember seeing a Saudi women being direct, or admitting ignorance. Sometimes, i would be talking with my sisters-in-law and realize they had absolutely no knowledge of what i was talking about, but they would never own up to it. Saudi women never openly admire something that belongs to someone else either. They denigrate people, their looks, their way of dressing, their household. But then they copy them constantly - even as they express their scorn."

Satu lagi cerita;

"..I once found Yeslam's Yemeni driver parked inside our compound, in front of our house, with the motor running. Even from a distance of a few meters i could smell it burning. I said,"Turn off the engine, its going to overheat." But Yeslam's driver ignored me. "I have to keep the air conditioning on for Sheikh Yeslam," he said.

When i insisted, he added, " I don't take orders from women." It was so insulting and absurd - the car was on the verge of bursting into flames! I yelled at him, "When Sheikh Yeslam is not here, I'm the one in charge!" Bakr, heard the commotion from his house across the street and came over to intervene.." -- salah satu cerita 'superiority' lelaki Saudi terhadap wanita.

Hanya mereka yang berbangsa asing seperti Carmen (berkerturunan Parsi-Swiss) sahaja yang mampu menulis seperti ini kerana bagi kebanyakan masyarakat wanita Arab, semua ini dah menjadi adat dan budaya yang telah menjadi norma hidup yang tak boleh dipersoalkan. Termasuklah superiority kaum lelaki dalam sesebuah keluarga.

Saya menganggap buku ini tak banyak sangat beza daripada kebanyakan buku-buku yang menceritakan tentang penindasan wanita Timur Tengah yang begitu banyak di kedai-kedai buku sekarang ni yang ditulis oleh penulis barat seperti trilogi 'Princess' dan 'Mayada Daughter of Iraq' oleh penulis terkenal Jean P. Sasson, 'Reading Lolita in Tehran', 'Bookseller of Kabul' dan lain-lain. But still, i regard it as a good reading, nonetheless.

Book review 'Inside the Kingdom' - dari New York Times

Sekarang saya sedang menghabiskan buku 'Ousted!', buku Patrick Keith (mendiang), tentang perpisahan Singapura dari Malaysia dari kacamata seorang pegawai kanan kepada kerajaan pimpinan Tunku ketika itu.

Mew - Apocalypso

“Wake up, sleepy head. Open your eyes,”

[image source: Harold's Planet]
heehe. i like this one. :p


Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth

The Story of Rene & Nadra

Czech teenager wants to be a Malaysian

Johor Baru, Sat: Fourteen years ago, a Mat Salleh walked across the Causeway and made his way to Mohamed Nasir Awaluddin’s nasi campur stall.He bore his baby son in his arms, and had nowhere to go.

..Rene grew up speaking Malay, and like a dutiful son, he helps out at the restaurant.The couple have already endured one lengthy legal battle over Rene, as the Czech Embassy in Kuala Lumpur wanted him returned home.

..The couple have already endured one lengthy legal battle over Rene, as the Czech Embassy in Kuala Lumpur wanted him returned home.

"Rene was like one of our own. We could not let him go, especially when we learnt that they had planned to put him in a welfare home," said Nasir.The battle was expensive, costing them more than RM10,000 in legal fees and documentation.

Seriously, when i read it, it was like, the history of Nadra bt Maarof@ Maria Hertogh repeating itself. It is almost exactly the same case like Nadra's. In case you've haven't heard of the name, you can read up the wikipedia version of the story here. Or read the 'Nadra Tragedy: The Maria Hertogh controversy' book written by Haja Maideen. One of the best socio-historical book that i have.

When i think of Rene's foster parents, Mohd Nasir and Hatijah, i think of Nadra (pic)'s foster mother, Che Aminah (pic), who had to went through a tough series of legal battle to gain custody of Nadra whom she had lived with since she was a baby.

The major differences are perhaps that the Nadra case was during the pre-independence era, in the 1950s when the British were in power.

The similarities between Nadra and Rene are that;

Both of them are of European descent. Both of them were adopted by Malay parents. Both of them grew up speaking Malay. Both of their foster parents had to go through a lengthy legal battle to win custody. Both of their native coutry's media covered extensively on the custody battle.

In Nadra's case, it was so sick to read about what the Dutch media had written of the whole issue. On how they manipulated the issue to gain support of the people. One of that i could remember reading Haja Maideen's book was that, the Dutch papers went as far as saying that Nadra was staying with her foster parents in some Malayan jungle, where the people still live on trees and so on. Oh those damn bloody ignorant Europeans.

to quote a South China Morning Post article;

"...the story of Maria Hertogh is a chilling true story of how a tug-of-war turned into an international incident between Europe and South East Asia"

In the end, it was a sad ending for Che Aminah who had brought her up in her hometown in Kemaman for nearly twelve years and later lost custody to Nadra's Dutch biological parents. Losing custody is one thing, but the fact that she was brought up as a Muslim and later being placed in a Christian convent that angered the Muslim community in Singapore and later through out the whole Malay archipelago and the Islamic world. Words of support and encouragement came from Pakistan, Indonesia and even from as far as Saudi Arabia. That was one of the reason that causes major riots in Singapore in 1950.

Another shorter version of the Nadra story. >> click

Epilogue (excerpts from the link above):

Maria was brought up as a Muslim and given the name Nadra by Aminah. In 1947, Maria was brought to Malaya by Aminah as the Indonesian War of Independence raged. By 1949 when the Hertoghs received news that Maria was in Malaya, Maria could only speak Malay and had been brought up as a Muslim..

...The Riot showed that the colonial authorities were not sensitive to the racial and religious feelings of Singaporeans. It failed to realise how damaging it would be to put a Muslim girl in a Christian convent when so much media attention was focused on the trial.

More importantly, the Riot showed that racial and religious harmony could never be taken for granted in a multicultural society like ours. Our primordial attachment to our cultural roots makes it easy for racial and religious feelings to boil over and these could easily take violent
forms. If a racial riot is to happen today, what we have achieved so far could all be undermined.

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Sunday Quote;

Shahnon Ahmad on Dr. Mahathir;

(via Sunday Times interview-not available online)

"..Although I wrote the novel Shit, which people specifically targeted at Dr. Mahathir, but in terms of leadership, payah kita nak tandingi Dr. Mahathir," says Shahnon.

"The thing about Dr. Mahathir is that he is too fast (in his thinking), sometimes we cannot keep up (in understanding his vision).

"He publishes a lot of books. He is very intelligent, creative, innovative and he doesn't care what other people think of him. He's also daring in the sense that he will do what he feels needs to be done,"

"..The period when i was in politics was a traumatic experience for me because saya bukan orang politik," he says shaking his head.

I believe SN Dato' Shahnon Ahmad is now very much a changed man from what he was during his days in PAS.
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Other notable quotes on Dr. Mahathir in this blog.
Tun Dr. M on Srebrenica

Tun Dr. M on the US presidential elections

Tun Dr. M on 'trusting your memory'

an evening in Moribu Beach :p

(..a short conversation after breakfast at our usual kedai mamak)

Farhan: eh hari ni apa plan?
Shahnon: takde ape plan aa.. gi Morib jom?
Farhan: Pukul berapa?

Shahnon: Lepas Asar kita grak..ok?

Begitu mudah sekali.. hehe.

And so, off we went to Pantai Morib. There's five of us, me and nik, farhan, ohno and khaz. Banting and its surrounding area of Kuala Langat district has changed a lot since i last went there back in 2002. There's even a flyover which is currently under construction. and traffic jams as well! Alrite, i guess i'd better post this entry quick and logoff before i starts to write more crap.

But anyway, here's some of the pics.


..para pelancong dalam negeri ;))


..seperti gambar di atas, gambar ini juga menggunakan khidmat bantuan tripod


..cahaya lampu yang menerangi tanah,

berlatar belakangkan langit biru yang indah :)

Mew - Forever and Ever~

an old diary of Famous Five wannabees..

Entah macam mana aku terjumpa diari lama (bukan diari dalam erti kata sebenar) masa tingkatan 1 dulu. Hampir terlupa masa aku tingkatan satu lagi dah pernah tulis diari. Cuma diari yang ini aku tulis dalam buku conteng/buku komik. Zaman sekolah rendah dan awal menengah dulu, aku memang cukup kuat dipengaruhi oleh bacaan buku-buku Enid Blyton seperti Famous Five dan Secret Seven. Secret Seven dalam buku Bahasa Indonesia pun aku ada, atau dalam nama Indonnya; Serikat Sapta Siaga. Tak ketinggalan juga siri Hardy Boys, versi English & BM.

Daripada pembacaan buku-buku nilah aku terbawa-bawa sampai ke alam realiti. Sebab dulu rasa macam cool je kalau boleh jadi macam diorang (Secret Seven) ni. hehe. Seperti mana yang tertulis dalam diari lama ni. Siap ada tarikh lagi. 11-14 Mei 1996. Tergelak sorang-sorang bila aku baca balik. heheh. Ok, ni antara beberapa sedutan ceritanya;

‘Bilik Misteri’

Catatan: Sabtu 11 Mei 1996

...Tepat 2.38pm, saya pun ke sekolah kerana ada Silat Gayung Fatani. Sampainya saya di sana, saya pun terus memberitahu kawan saya iaitu Nik atau nama sebenarnya Nik Ahmad Faris. Nik amat berminat untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut tentang bilik ini.

Tepat pukul 5.28pm, saya dan Nik terus ingin ke ‘bilik misteri’ itu. Kami pun mengajak Fendi atau nama sebenarnya Afandy. Afandy juga berminat tentang hal ini lantas dia mencapai beskal BMXnya untuk mengikuti kami...

[dalam bilik/rumah misteri]...Kemudian saya dan Fendi menjenguk ke luar, manalah tau ada orang. Masa saya dan Fendi menjenguk, seorang manusia yang disyaki penghuni rumah di sini nampak kepala Fendi. Dengan rasa yang takut, kami bertiga pun mengambil kayu masing-masing dan turun perlahan-lahan.

Kasut Fendi ketika itu amat bising kerana dia memakai kasut main bola. Setelah kami turun orang itu seolah-olah menunggu kami bertiga. Mukanya garang. Tapi nasib dia tak bantai kitorang. Mungkin dia takut sebab kita ada kayu. Kami pun terus blah cabut lah apa lagi...

Ahad, 12 Mei 1996

...Pada mulanya Fendi bercadang nak pergi ‘bilik misteri’ itu tepat jam 9.00 pagi, tapi dia tak boleh keluar sebab kena pergi rumah mak sedara dia.

Petang tu pulak pukul 5.12 petang, Nik datang rumah aku. Dia nak ajak aku pergi ‘Astrozone’, aku ikut aja. Kemudian ingat nak masuk ‘bilik’ tu sebab cuma bersebelahan dengan ‘Astrozone’. Kitorang pun pi cari Fendi. Sekarang dah 6.20 petang! Lambat lagi. Fendi bengang betul sebab aku dan Nik datang lambat!

...Dipendekkan lagi cerita, Fendi mengatakan dia ternampak orang mengintainya dengan memakai baju biru, dia ingat aku tapi bukan! Bagaimana orang itu masuk sebab depan belakang ada orang jaga. Mungkin dari atas bumbung kot dia panjat? Depan Nik jaga, belakang Zaid dan Fendi jaga. Aku dan Nar*esh cari maklumat di tingkat atas dan tingkat satu... [editor's note: muahahah cari maklumat sial!]

[Nota: Ni cuma sedutan ringkas je. Diari penuh mengandungi 5 mukasurat. 98% penulisan di sini tak diedit langsung daripada diari asal. Penulis ketika ini berusia 13 tahun, maka sila abaikan gaya bahasa yang kurang memuaskan. :p]

Nik, kau ingat lagi tak cerita ni? Hahah, gila Famous Five wannabee siot. Kalau berminat, nanti aku kasi baca diari tu. Tak dapat aa nak publish semua kat sini. hehe

[aku yang tak tahu apa nak update blog sebenarnya]

The Times - Pesona Algebra

Pesona Algebra

- Fotopages updated..!

Akhirnya aku jumpa jugak lagu-lagu The Times (band serpihan dari OAG.), setelah hampir setengah tahun mencari. Sangat kebetulan. Tengah nak google ape ntah pastu terjumpa lagu The Times dalam format real media player (.rm). Yang akhirnya telah aku convert ke mp3. Rupa-rupanya lagu Pesona Algebra ni dah lama aku dengar kat radio Era! Cuma taktau sape nyanyi je. eheh.

Sekali dengar style vocal penyanyi The Times memang tak tumpah macam Radhi OAG. Muzik pun tak banyak sangat beza. Tapi secara peribadi aku rasa vokal Radhi lebih power lagi la. Aku suka Pesona Algebra walaupun beat muziknya seakan sama macam lagu Someday oleh The Strokes. tak kisahlah tu, janji best.

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Cerita-cerita menarik hari ni (semalam):

1- NST:10 MINUTES WITH: Maths prodigy Adi Putra [teramat sangat kagum gila aku dengan dia ni]

2. Akhirnya Malaysia kalahkan servis kuda Thailand dalam sepak takraw! Pertama kali sejak SEA Games 1993. Happy giler, tapi kecewa sikit sebab tak sempat tengok..

i need a haircut..

..eh tengok sana!


..sini laa

Untuk blog entry sebelum ni, semua pun jawab dengan betul tapi kena ikut skema jawapan la kan. Oleh itu farhan telah menjawab dengan hampir tepat iaitu; benda yang ada 3 kaki (tripod) tapi kurang tepat sebab gambar kat rumah ina tu tak guna tripod. :p Maka jawapan yang paling tepat untuk blog entry sebelum ni ialah - ketiga-tiga gambar tu diambil menggunakan self-timer & photographer yang sama. hehe :p

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- Dah masuk bulan Disember dah ni. Ada je benda yang tak sempat settlekan lagi. Punca utama yang paling disyaki ialah-procrastination (kohkoh); selain beberapa faktor sampingan lain. but I think the least i could do is to finish off all the books that i've planned to read by year end. hmm.

Architecture in Helsinki - Wishbone (current fav. band)

open houses & random writings

farhan's


sshahnon's


ina's

Cuba teka apa persamaan antara semua gambar di atas? :p

- Takde masa lagi nak update fotopages. Nantilah ye..

- Zathura plak malam ni. wuhoo!

- Terasa nak tulis review buku 'Inside The Kingdom' oleh Carmen Bin Ladin yang aku baru habis baca, tapi atas faktor yang sama seperti di atas, tak berkesempatan lagi.

- Explosions in the Sky masih lagi bermain di winampku sejak semalam. Kalau aku terasa nak 'bunuh masa' selama 8 minit, 10 minit atau 9 minit memang aku akan layan band ni sampai habis. Lagu diorang spt. Your Hand in Mind, First Breath After Coma dan The Only Moment We Were Alone memang layan habis walaupun ketiga-tiga lagu ni tak ada lirik dan dah berjuta-juta kali dengar. heheh

Harry potpot and whatnot..

Okay, here's a short post on Harry Potter.

Harry Potter; Gelas Berapi was brilliant! I think it is one of the best that i've watched in 2005, if probably not the best. Without doubt Goblet of Fire is definitely much better than the third one, right ppl?

I think i would enjoy it even more if i had read the book earlier (but as a matter of fact i never intend to read Harry Potter books :p), but nevertheless I enjoyed myself through out the whole movie and I'm sO looking forward to watch the next sequel! or was it just about Hermione?

..Well, partly yes. hehe

Fantasy and epic movies are among my favorite movie genres, but i don't read fantasy novels; save for Shannara (Sword of Shannara), the one and only fantasy book that i have. That is why i'm so eagerly waiting for Shannara to be aired on the big screen! Though I don't know whether there is such plan for it or not. hahah. I do hope there is.

Next on the list; Zathura, Chronicles of Narnia! Memoirs of Geisha! ohoi banyaknyaa movie nak tengok. camane nih..

Okok, I'm in a hurry right now. nak pi ofis. daaa

Rufus Wainwright - The One You Love

(Ah, beautiful song by Rufus Wainwright. many thanks to izyan :p)

Sufjan Stevens & Harry Potter

Getting bored of the same old song on your playlist? If youre looking for a new song/album to download, try Sufjan Stevens (pronounced SOOF-yan).

pic source: slantmagazine.com

Since I'm no good at writing music reviews, you can read one here. Chicago, Casimir Pulaski Day and Come On! Feel The Illinoise! are my current favorite tracks.

"..That he plays most of the instruments—including acoustic guitar, piano, alto sax, electric bass, drums, banjo, Wurlitzer, flute, accordion, glockenspiel, and at least 20 more—and still writes songs that often surprise for their minimalism is just stupid good. Sufjan Stevens gets everything right. And, ultimately, that's how Illinois surpasses expectations. From its framing gimmick and its anti-folk folk songwriting to its he-has-to-be-kidding song titles and its show-offy instrumentation, Illinois should reduce to a simple stunt performance." -- SlantMagazine.com

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Yeay, can't wait to catch Harry Potter tonight!

Later folks.

Alkisah Sultan Melaka alaf baru

Pukul 4 pagi tadi aku online kejap. Check Utusan Online. Dalam sunyi sepi tiba-tiba aku tergelak sorang-sorang depan komputer. Kalau jiran sebelah terdengar mesti ingat gila ke apa gelak sorang-sorang pagi-pagi buta camni. Tapi aku rasa dia ni yang lagi gila;

"Kuala Lumpur 14 Nov ...seorang lelaki yang mendakwa sebagai waris kesultanan Melayu Melaka, Raja Noor Jan Shah Raja Tuah telah melakukan istiadat Penganugerahan Watikah Gelar Adat Kesultanan Melaka Ke-44 di Dewan Pusat Komuniti Taman Melati, Gombak, dekat sini, malam tadi.

..Melalui istiadat itu, Raja Noor Jan Shah mendakwa beliau sebagai Sultan Melaka yang ke-44 dengan membawa gelaran Sultan Ahmad Shah.

Raja Noor Jan mendakwa, beliau adalah keturunan Sultan Melaka, Sultan Mahmud Shah (1488-1511).." --Utusan Online

Kenapa dia tak ditabalkan di Melaka? Buat kat Taman Melati pulak. hehe. Aku yang merupakan seorang peminat sejarah Melayu apabila terbacakan headline berita ni pagi tadi terbeliak bijik mata terkejut bercampur perasaan lucu yang membuak-buak. Teringat aku pada 1950-an dulu apabila ada sebilangan kecil waris-waris Kesultanan Johor (empayar Johor-Riau zaman pra perjanjian Inggeris-Belanda 1824) di Singapura ingin mengembalikan pemerintahan monarki beraja dengan mewujudkan Sultan Singapura. Sememangnya tak ke mana.

Musykil juga aku. Apa sebenarnya tujuan 'Sultan Melaka' ni. Kalau zaman dulu di mana raja berkuasa mutlak, logiklah jugak kalau dia nak dakwa jadi raja. Lepas ni media tempatan tak perlulah lagi heboh-hebohkan isu ini. Lebih baik diam saja dan biarlah 'Sultan Melaka' yang baru ini bertakhta dan bersemayam di alam fantasi.

Raihan

Melodic Islamic Songs Fill Air in London

"LONDON, November 12, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Up to 3,000 people of different backgrounds and faiths gathered Saturday, November 12, for an amazing evening of Islamic entertainment in London.

Trickling into the auditorium of the Wembley Conference Center to attend the second annual Nasheed (Islamic songs) festival, the mesmerized guests clapped and cheered to the beats of Aa’-shiq Al-Rasul, American 786 and Malaysian Raihan..

..Selling over three-million copies internationally thus far, Raihan was definitely a sensation among the crowd.." -- IslamOnline.net

Walaupun aku jarang mengikuti perkembangan nasyid tempatan mahupun mendengar lagu-lagu nasyid, tapi bila terbaca artikel ni aku rasa bangga dengan Raihan. Aku hairan dengan media tempatan sebab rasanya hampir tak ada publisiti langsung tentang penglibatan program Raihan di luar negara. Kalau ada pun sikit sangat, atau mungkin sebab aku tak baca URTV, Media Hiburan dll :p.

Tak keterlaluan kalau nak cakap, Raihan adalah artis Malaysia yang paling hebat di arena antarabangsa. Dah merata tempat mereka mengadakan persembahan. Canada, UK, Russia, Hong Kong, Indonesia dll (tak sempat nak research negara mana lagi yang mereka telah jejak).

Respek.

Mest - Dying For You

Fotopages update~

Danau Toba
Padang-Bukittinggi-Medan-Danau Toba. Gambar lama, baru sekarang update penuh (74 pics) . >> Click!


king, nik & me

di UK Post-graduate Fair, KL Convention Centre semalam >> Click!

Elefant - Love

Frustrasi nasi basi

Tension gila sial semalam terdelete SEMUA gambar dalam kamera masa tengah transfer ke pc. Kalau orang lain mungkin tak kisah sangat. Lagipun cuma gambar kat open house raya rumah ima & Mon. Untuk aku gambar-gambar ni semua ibarat khazanah negara (hehe). Memang boleh jadi gila aku ni. Haih. Dalam lebih tiga tahun berkecimpung dalam dunia kamera digital, ni la pertama kali jadi macam ni. Moga menjadi pengajaran kepada diri sendiri lepas ni.

Tapi aku masih bersyukur, gambar-gambar yang hilang bukannya gambar-gambar di Manchu Picchu:Lost City of Incas, Taj Mahal, Venice, Candi Borobudur, Niagara Falls ataupun di Columbus, Ohio.

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Tak sabar dah rasa nak pegi print semua gambar-gambar digital kat Times Square 35sen. Murah gila. Nasib baik dekat dengan office. Dah menjadi rutin tahunan untuk aku print semua gambar digital pada hujung tahun. :)

Nasib baik ada Sigur Ros yang menemani ruang halwa telinga aku tengahari ni dengan lagu-lagu seperti Glossoli, Gong, Se Lest, Hoppipolla dll..sedikit sebanyak terubat rasa kecewa. heheh.

Internet Political Quiz

"The political description that fits you best is... CENTRIST"

image source: http://theadvocates.org

"CENTRISTS espouse a "middle ground" regarding government control of the economy and personal behavior. Depending on the issue, they sometimes favor government intervention and sometimes support individual freedom of choice. Centrists pride themselves on keeping an open mind, tend to oppose "political extremes," and emphasize what they describe as "practical" solutions to problems."

Raya raye

Raya Pertama (3.11.2005)

..dua orang budak mencari duit raya; Simpang Kuala, Alor Setar.

Raya Kedua (4.11.2005)

..yan,zukhairi (kawan adi),me,adi [beraya rumah yan di Perlis]

Raya Ketiga (5.11.2005)

..Gathering Raya & majlis tahlil PKHS di Simpang Kuala,AS.

Raya Keempat (6.11.2005)

..aleeya, riang gembira ingin pulang ke kota

Gambar raya selanjutnya >> click (kalau takde gambar baru, maknanya tak update lagi la ye.hehe)

James Blunt - You're Beautiful

Baru balik~

"Selamat Hari Raya!" -aleeya

noraleeya,
berbaju kebaya,
di pagi raya;
comel kan dia?

oh tiba-tiba teringat ayat famous lyana dulu;
"jangan marah, kebaya merah," hehe

Okok, sebelum blog ni merepek lagi,tunggulah esok, lusa, aku update lagi cerita & gambar Raya. Chao.

Maaf Zahir dan Batin

This is perhaps my last entry before balik kampung to Aloq Setaq. So, just a short one here, Selamat Hari Raya to all Muslims!

email dari Pak Lah

Subject: Penghargaan Terima Kasih - YAB Perdana Menteri
To: shahnon_2020ATyahooDOTcom
From: ppm@pmo.gov.my
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005

Shahnon,

Saya ingin merakamkan ucapan setinggi-tinggi penghargaan di atas ucapan takziah serta sokongan yang diberikan kepada saya sekeluarga tatkala kami menghadapi dugaan yang getir ini. Terima kasih juga diucapkan di atas doa yang diberikan kepada isteri saya, Endon Mahmood Allahyarhamah.

Juga terima kasih di atas doa yang diberikan semasa beliau menerima rawatan bagi penyakit kanser. Semua ini amat besar ertinya buat kami sekeluarga. Ingatan dan doa anda amat kami hargai. Moga Allah swt akan terus merahmati kita semua.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi & Keluarga

--Sekali baca terasa macam Pak Lah yang hantar email ni :p E-mail ini diterima oleh setiap individu yang telah menyampaikan ucapan takziah di laman web Pejabat Perdana Menteri (PPM) tempoh hari.

Hari ni saya demam

Nú vaknar þú
allt virðist vera breytt
ég gægist út
en er svo ekki neitt

úr-skóna finn svo
á náttfötum hún
í draumi fann svo
ég hékk á koðnun?

með sólinni er hún
og er hún, inni hér

en hvar ert þú....

legg upp í göngu
og tölti götuna
sé ekk(ert) út
og nota stjörnurnar
sit(ur) endalaust hún
og klifrar svo út.

Glósóli-leg hún
komdu út

mig vaknar draum-haf
mitt hjartað, slá
úfið hár.

Sturlun við fjar-óð
sem skyldu-skrá.

og hér ert þú

fannst mér.....

og hér ert þú

Glósóli.....
Glosoli by Sigur Ros

Daymnn, i just love this band. Actually i wanted to post Gong, but couldn't find the lyrics on the net. So there, Glosoli, one of my favorite in their latest album, 'Takk'. Been listening to them everyday for the past a week or so. You don't need to understand a word of their Icelandic language to love their songs. :)

Tenkiu Bali sbb iklankan abum baru diorang kat blog.

what the kejadah? bebel blog

-Today's random writings..
Ingat tak gambar dalam buku teks Sejarah Malaysia SPM dulu? Ala, gambar tunjuk perasaan rakyat menentang Malayan Union tu, dengan memegang sepanduk yang berbunyi, "Malaya for Malays, Malayan Union Not Wanted" Ha inilah dia. khohkoh.

Dikala tengah tak ade kerja, tercipta sebuah design malas yang tak seberapa. Tak lama pun nak buat. Dari gambar asal, aku 'threshold'kan gambar tu dan tambah jagged border kat bahagian atas dan bawah design tu dalam photoshop. Kemudian 'ambik' outline guna Adobe Streamline (nak senang dan cepat). Akhir sekali save as .ai. Wahh begitu mudah sekali? (cakap gaya Nobita)

Kedai pertama yang aku singgah, dia tak boleh nak print design ni atas sebab-sebab teknikal. Agak kecewa. Lalu dia suggest kedai satu lagi. Lega skit. Tapi hampeh betul kedai print ni masih guna Illustrator 8. Aku bawa thumbdrive dia tak nak terima (?), dia suruh burn dalam cd. Takpe dugaan Ramadhan. Lepas tu pulak, dah sampai kedai, baru aku sedar, logo yang aku design penat-penat-tak-berapa-penah-lah-jugak tu aku lupa nak letak skali! Aisey mann.. kalau benda ni assignment ke fyp, memang confirm aku dah lari balik rumah edit balik.heheh. Kalau kubilang, kalau..

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Dua hari lepas (Khamis) buat pertama kali aku singgah kedai buku Silverfishbooks kat Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar. Tujuan utama cuma nak beli buku 'Jiwa Kacau' (antalogi entri bloggers tempatan). Dalam tak sedar hampir dua jam aku lepak kedai ni. Selama ni aku cuma tahu MPH, Kinokuniya; dua tu je. Rupanya ada jugak kedai buku camni. Kalau dalam muzik atau filem, boleh diumpamakan macam 'indie' lah kot kedai ni.

Cuma apa yang aku kurang berkenan, terdapat banyak buku-buku tulisan bekas pejuang Parti Komunis Malaya seperti 'Memoir Rashid Maidin', 'Melayu Islam Komunis', buku tentang kemerdekaan (lupa tajuk) tulisan Suriani Abdullah (isteri Abdullah CD-orang kanan Chin Peng). Orang Komunis nak tulis pasal kemerdekaan Malaya?! Aku tak boleh terima langsung. Dan aku tak akan buang masa nak baca buku komunis yang bercerita mereka jugalah yang memperjuangkan kemerdekaan Malaya dahulu.

Maaf. Terasa terlebih emosi pula. Aku sememangnya anti sosialis & komunis. Namun begitu, aku masih enjoy baca tulisan-tulisan Hishamuddin Rais (yang mengaku dirinya adalah seorang Marxist-fahaman Groucho Marxist) di majalah 'Off The Edge' ataupun di laman-laman web seperti Malaysiakini, Malaysia-Today, Kakiseni.com dll, walaupun banyak antara tulisannya yang aku tak bersetuju. Aku cuma suka gaya penulisannya.

Masih tentang topik kedai buku tadi, terlupa nak cakap yang aku ada juga membeli buku 'Sajak-Sajak Saleh', tulisan Saleh Ben Joned, seorang penulis kontroversi satu masa dahulu. Sebenarnya aku tak adalah minat sangat dengan sajak dan puisi ni kalau nak dibandingkan dengan bahan bacaan novel sejarah, tapi 'Sajak-Sajak Saleh' ternyata berbeza.

Tambahan pula, memang Saleh Ben Joned salah seorang penulis yang aku respect. Aku pertama kali dengar nama 'Sajak-Sajak Saleh' ni masa membaca buku komik 'Mat Som' karya kartunis terkenal tanahair, Lat. Ok, cakap banyak pun tak guna, saja la nak share kat blog ni salah satu sajak beliau yang aku tertarik;

Sinar Mata Kekasihku Tidak Seperti Bintang Timur

Sinar mata kekasihku tidak seperti bintang timur;
delima merekah jauh lebih merah dari merah bibirnya;
rasa pipinya tidak sehalus pauh dilayang;
bentuk mukanya tidak seindah bujur sirih;
urai rambutnya tidak secantik ikal mayang;
tidak seperti gading giginya, walaupun putih;

harum minyak wangi lebih mempesona
dari harum tubuh si adik yang kucinta.
Suka kudengar suaranya, walaupun kutahu
bunyi buluh perindu jauh lebih merdu.
Aku tak pernah melihat bidadari menari;
kaki kekasihku sentiasa bertapak di bumi.

Walaupun begitu, demi Tuhan, kekasihku luar biasa;
tak kurang dari mereka yang dipalsui kata-kata.

Berdasarkan 'Soneta 130' oleh Shakespeare.
- © Saleh Ben Joned.

Soneta 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound.
I grant I never saw a goddess go:
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

- William Shakespeare.

Aku tak pandai nak menilai sesuatu karya sastera, tapi mana yang aku suka tu, memang aku suka la (?).

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--Terasa Ramadhan tahun ni berlalu sangat cepat. Dah nak masuk 10 malam terakhir dah ni. Maka marilah kita buat self-reflection untuk beberapa minit tentang apa yang kita dah buat selama Ramadhan ni. Apa yang kita dah buat selama Ramadhan tahun ni? Hari ni lebih baik ke dari semalam? Amalan Ramadhan tahun ni lagi elok ke daripada amalan kita tahun lepas? Macam mana kalau Ramadhan ni yang terakhir untuk kita..dah bersedia? isk.. --ok. aku sebenarnya tengah cakap sorang-sorang, cuba mengingatkan diri sendiri yang kadangkala lupa dan alpa. Tak berniat nak bagi ceramah agama kat sape2.

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Al-fatihah buat Allahyarham Datin Seri Endon Mahmood yang telah kembali ke rahmatullah. Moga rohnya disertakan bersama orang-orang mukmin. Amin. Salam takziah kepada keluarga allahyarham.

[p/s:Ada sesiapa tau macam mana nak buang url blog kita daripada search result google tak?]

Superior Nicol..

pic source: sitesquash.com

She makes me proud to be Malaysian. I just couldn't get enough to read every news report or article on the papers or the net on her British Open victory. She's been truly amazing and consistent through out all her performances. She's definitely an inspirational sports icon to many youngsters out there.

I like this one;

"Natalie didn't do anything wrong. She hit, ran, retrieved and placed sumptuos shots, but nothing, nobody could have stopped the Super David in Manchester this week, and nobody did ..." -Framboise reports.

I mean, how many times do you get to read such news commentary on our sportsman/woman like this, right. She fully deserves the 'Sportswoman of the Year 2005' award. I don't see any other suitable candidate close to her match. And as Jeff puts it, "Our 'Malaysian Idol' did it!".
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On another note, Al-Fatihah to Allahyarham Datuk Sidek Kamar. Father to the badminton family of the famous Sidek brothers. May his soul rest in peace. Amin.

streamyx lalala

I feel you RPK. I've been thru it many times before, exactly as what RPK wrote in his Loony Malaysia column. im getting sick and tired of it already.

Sigh..

Sigur Ros - Gong

Personality test lalalla

My Bloginality is ISFJ!!! (taken from shaira's blog)

In blogging, your journal will always be immaculate and have a touch of style. You may also feel overwhelmed because you want to be a part of everything going on. Because of your wonderful memory, other bloggers may come to you to ask about things you posted months before.

--kohkohkoh..

..and according to personalitytype.com;

Life as an ISFJ (Introvert, Sensor, Feeler, Judger)
People of this type tend to be: cautious, gentle, and thoughtful; hesitant until they know people well then affectionate and caring; very literal and aware of the physical world; uncompromising about personal standards and easily offended; diligent and conscientious, organized and decisive.The most important thing to ISFJs is living a stable, predictable life and helping people in real ways.

--lalalla..

Jack Johnson - Better Together

Novel sejarah & Death Cab For Cutie!

Yeay dah sampai.. (..kat bawah ni email semalam)

From: "Webmaster-Ujanailmu"
Subject: Re: resit BCB-bukti pembelian 'Surat-Surat Perempuan Johor'
To: "shahnon"

Assalamualaikum en. Shahnon,

Buku yang tuan tempah dari ujanailmu.com.my telah diposkan kepada tuan pada 7 Oktober 2005 menggunakan perkhidmatan Pos Malaysia. Ia dijangka akan mengambil masa 2-3 hari bekerja bagi Pos Malaysia untuk sampai ke destinasi tuan.

Kami harap tuan dapat memaklumkan kepada kami melalui e-mel ini setelah tuan menerima bungkusan tersebut. Ini adalah untuk mengemaskinikan rekod kami. Terima kasih kerana menggunakan perkhidmatan Ujanailmu.com.my. Sila datang lagi.

Salam ikhlas,

(Pagi tadi sampai..)

..tiba lebih awal daripada jangka masa yang dijanjikan. Terima kasih daun keladi, ada buku best bolehku beli lagi.

Sebenarnya dah dua bulan lebih aku order buku ni secara online. Tapi asyik tangguh-tangguh punya pasal, kemudian takde duit, maka tangguh lagi sampailah minggu lepas baru buat payment (cash in deposit). Disebabkan order online, maka rekod pesanan tu masih ada lagi dalam database selagi aku tak cancel.

Masuk ni dah kali kelima (kalau tak salah), aku order buku secara online dalam masa lebih kurang 15 bulan. Selalunya aku hanya akan beli online kalau aku tak jumpa buku yang aku cari di MPH, Kinokuniya atau mana-mana kedai buku lain. Contohnya, buku tulisan Faisal Tehrani yang baru sampai ni; 'Surat-surat Perempuan Johor' (Novel ni merupakan pemenang tempat ketiga Sayembara Menulis Novel Sejarah dan Tradisi Johor) terbitan Yayasan Warisan Johor' dan sebelum ni buku 'From Beirut to Jerusalem' tulisan Dr. Ang Swee Chai.

Salah satu novel Faisal Tehrani yang aku beli online sebelum ni ialah, 'Perempuan Politikus Melayu', juga oleh penulis yang sama. Novel ni dianggap underground skit. Seperti tulisan Dr. Zakaria Ali, NST (di kulit belakang buku);

"Rejected by mainstream publishers, Perempuan Politikus Melayu equates politicians to prostitutes, and brands them as people with sense of fair play, justice or compassion."

Ok, berbalik kepada novel 'Surat-Surat Perempuan Johor' tadi, aku tak fikir lama untuk buat keputusan nak beli novel ni dulu. Membacakan sinopsisnya saja dah membuatkan aku tertarik. Sememangnya novel sejarah macam ni salah satu favorite genre aku. Secara ringkasnya novel ini berlatar belakangkan zaman pemodenan Johor di bawah pemerintahan Sultan Abu Bakar dan Sultan Ibrahim pada lewat kurun ke-19 dan awal kurun ke-20, hubungan erat Johor-Turki dan episod sejarah berlatar Majalah Ahkam Johor (dipetik dari kulit belakang buku).

Sekarang sedang dalam proses menghabiskan novel yang dah lama aku beli; 'Bumi Harapan' oleh Ali Jusoh. Novel sejarah jugak. Berlatar belakangkan zaman Raja Mandalika (nama raja yang tercatat di Batu Bersurat Terengganu) di Terengganu.

Ada beberapa lagi novel yang aku target hendak habiskan sebelum hujung tahun ni. Harap-harap berjaya hendaknya. hehe. Lepas ni tunggu novel terbaru Faisal Tehrani, 'Nama Beta, Sultan Alauddin' pulak.

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Tukar topik; album baru Death Cab For Cutie sangat merockkan stokin saya lah! (Death Cab rocks my socks!). Dah dua hari aku layan lagu 'Marching Bands Of Manhattan'. Paling layannn, semestinya part ni;

..Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole
Just like a faucet that leaks
and there is comfort in the sound
But while you debate half empty or half full
It slowly rises, your love is gonna drown;

Boleh abaikan lirik tula. lagu dia yang bestt.

Oklah kawan-kawan, kurang dua jam lagi nak makan sahur dah. Sebelum aku melalut lebih lanjut maka lebih baik aku stop dulu ye. Selamat berpuasa semua :)

And i thought it was over..

See you in court, Dr M to Anwar
by Arfa’eza A Aziz

"Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has rejected the demands made by his ex deputy Anwar Ibrahim, paving the way for a court battle.."

Tak selesai lagi rupanya. haih. memalukan betul la.

Soul Meets Body~

I want to live where soul meets body
And let the sun wrap its arms around me
And bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing
And feel, feel what its like to be new

Cause in my head there’s a greyhound station
Where I send my thoughts to far off destinations
So they may have a chance of finding a place
where they’re far more suited than here

I cannot guess what we'll discover
We turn the dirt with our palms cupped like shovels
But I know our filthy hand can wash one another’s
And not one speck will remain

I do believe it’s true
That there are roads left in both of our shoes
If the silence takes you
Then I hope it takes me too
So brown eyes I hold you near
Cause you’re the only song I want to hear
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere

Where soul meets body
Where soul meets body
Where soul meets body

I do believe it’s true
That there are roads left in both of our shoes
If the silence takes youThen I hope it takes me too
So brown eyes I hold you near
Cause you’re the only song I want to hear
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere
Soul Meets Body by Death Cab For Cutie

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Malaysia Cup Final- National Stadium, Bukit Jalil.

Selangor menang 3-0 kalahkan Perlis! wuhoo!

"Jaringan hatrik penyerang terbilang, Bambang Pamungkas membolehkan impian Selangor untuk melakar sejarah merangkul tiga gelaran dalam semusim menjadi realiti apabila mereka dinobatkan selaku juara Piala Malaysia yang baru selepas menewaskan penyandang juara, Perlis 3-0 dalam perlawanan akhir di Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil malam tadi.." Utusan Online

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3 Oktober - Hari ulangtahun ke-2 domain shahnon.com. Website/blog ni ada banyak ulangtahun. Pertama kali website (personal website) ni wujud di alam maya pada Februari 2002 (geocities). Pertama kali tulis blog pada September 2002 (tripod). Oktober 2003 dapat domain baru, sampai sekarang. >> Web layouts.

Rossa dan Merah_Kuning

Layan gile sial videoklip Rossa-Pudar. kalau ikutkan takdela ape best sangat. Tapi suka aa. Paling layan masa pertengahan lagu tu, time diorang nari ramai-ramai. bestgile! Dulu dengar lagu Pudar ni cam biasa2 je. dah tengok videoklip baru layan habis. Sape yang tau aku kerja kat mana tau la kat mana aku tengok video2 ni suma. haha

aih, ni apa punya update la ni. Orite. Lek lek. Malam ni kita tengok bola ye kawan-kawan! Ayuh ke Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil! Gemuruhkan sorakkan Merah Kuning! Yearhh! Selangor pasti juara! :D

Merah Kuning lambang kebanggaan,

Selangor Merancang Kejayaan,

Gemuruh sorakkan menggegarkan,

Cabaran disambut dengan kesungguhan,

Kecemerlangan,

Kecemerlangan,

Kecemerlangan,

Jadi Kenyataan.

Sesape penyokong sejati (kipas-susah-nak-mati) Merah Kuning sejak zaman 90-an dulu mesti tau lagu ni. Kalau dekad 90-an dulu time half time pasti bergemuruh satu Stadium Shah Alam bila lagu ni dipasang. Memang bestgile! Bersemangat habis sampai nak terkeluar urat-urat tengkuk. Sebab tula penyokong-penyokong Selangor no.1 di Malaysia! Hauahah. Gila bangga dan riak (main2 je). Okok, tak dapat nak lama ni. Kalau nak cerita pasal bolasepak Selangor zaman 90-an memang boleh buat satu blog entry baru plak.

Oh, man tak dapatku bayangkan kalau Selangor kalah malam ni, sia-sia aku update blog petang ni kalau Selangor kalah. Hahah. Ok. Ramalan saya, Selangor-3 Perlis-1.

Kepada Amri & suraya selamat kembali ke sekolah di Jerman dan London. :)

[maaf, penulisan di blog hari ni agak gila sedikit]

twenty two

gambar hiasan

-Sepupu sepapat. Gambar ni tahun 1989 kalau tak silap. Kat Simpang_Kuala, Alor Setar. Hujung minggu ni, kak ija (berdiri paling kiri) akan melangsungkan perkahwinannya di Alor Setar. Aisey sayang tak dapat nak pi. [cuba teka mana satu saya. kohkohoh :p]

Happy birthday to me. I feel old already.

Death Cab For Cutie - Soul Meets Body

Rumah sewa

Tadi pegi condo mak aku kat Sunway. Tenant lama baru keluar hari Ahad lepas. Dia student Arab kat Taylor's_College yang baru grad. So nak kemas-kemaslah apa yang patut, nak cuci langsir apa semua, sebab lusa student dari Indon pulak nak masuk rumah. Macam-macam jugaklah barang-barang budak Arab ni dia tak bawa balik Oman. Printer Canon, souvenirs yang dia beli dari Langkawi, beberapa stationeries, beberapa vcd, minyak wangi Arab, buku, topi koboi pun ada dan ape ntah lagi la. Tak muat dah nak masuk beg agaknya semua barang2 ni. eheh. Aku pun ambiklah apa-apa yang patut. Dah dia tak nak. Dia tinggalkan barang-barang ni kat rumah kita. kita tak curi kan? hehe

Budak Arab ni bagus. Susah nak cari penyewa macam dia. Dia sentiasa bayar on time. Kalau dia balik Oman masa cuti semester, mesti dia akan bawa balik buah tangan, kurma ke apa-apa kuih-muih Arab. Tenant sebelum dia, memang amat mengecewakan. Student Arab jugak. Mase tu mak aku rugi beribu-ribulah jugak. Berapa bulan entah diorang tak bayar sewa. Pastu hilang macam tu je. Call tak dapat/tak angkat. Tau tau je dah balik negara Arab. Tapi kadang-kadang benda macam ni mengajar kita jugak supaya lebih berpengalaman dan berhati-hati.

Tadi aku dapat berita baik. Mak aku beritahu yang ada orang call tanya pasal rumah Cyberia. Dia cakap kat mak aku yang dia jumpa iklan rumah sewa ni kat Friendster! Wah, tergamam kejap mula-mula dengar tu. Baru je 2 hari lepas aku post ad tu kat friendster, dah ada orang call. hehe, boleh pakai jugakla friendster ni rupanya.. :p

Aku tengah habiskan baca buku Azizi_Ali, 'Tuan Rumah Jutawan'. Sesape berminat satu hari nanti nak melabur dalam hartanah, sila dapatkan buku ini. Saya budak baru belajar.

Oklah, sebenarnya tak ada ape nak update ni. Update blog semata-mata nak update je ni.

Jimmy Eat World - 23

10, 20 years ago~

I was tagged by temi. So here goes, my story.

20 years ago: 1985

I was a two years old cute little baby. I was in Perlis then as my mother was teaching in UiTM Arau for a short period of time before we moved back to Subang. Subang Jaya had nothing back then. USJ was not even on the map yet. Seafield estate ade la.There were no roads connecting Subang_Jaya to Puchong. No LDP. No KESAS. The only major highway was the Federal Highway. Subang Parade, Sunway Pyramid, Masjid Darul Ehsan, Mamak Bistro, ADUN Subang Jaya; semuaaa pun takde lagi. So, basically there's nothing. Kalau dulu nak lepak minum waktu malam, tempat favorite ialah area PJ Old Town.

Subang Jaya was under Petaling district but not until the mid 90s, when MPSJ was established. In the 80s, if one were to mention the name Subang, ppl would only thought of the Subang airport or maybe Kampung Melayu Subang, to some.

10 years ago: 1995

UPSR year. I loved my primary school, SRK Sri Subang Jaya or simply known as 'sekolah dua' (SRKSJ-sekolah satu). But not anymore. Sri_Subang was at its best during the era of En. Manan_bin Simpol. During his time, we were one of the 'Sekolah Harapan Negara'. :p

I could remember at one time when TV3 came to our school. Well, actually it was the Alam Ria programme crew. I bet you could still remember the show. I could hardly remember much though but what i know was that the Alam Ria host was my schoolmate; Amelia. Semua orang panggil dia 'budak Alam Ria' dulu. ehe.

5 years ago: 2000

Form 5 was definitely the most memorable year during high school days. It was great to have such wonderful friends around me; budak-budak al-amin (nama team bola je ni). The most dissapointing football event of the year would be the failure of us to qualify for the semifinals in the SMSJ inter-club football as we were one of the favorites to win.

I entered a poem reciting competition organised by the Persatuan Bahasa Melayu. Hahah, lawak gila. I recited Dr. Mahathir's 'Perjuangan Belum Selesai'. Bidan terjun la jugak sebenarnya. Nak mencukupkan bilangan peserta. :p Oh, man that would be the first and last for me.

hmm, what else, oh yea, i represented school in football in the inter-Petaling district level in UM.

Okkay, i should stop here. There's so much more if i were to write them all. heheh

3 years ago: 2002

Mahasiswa universiti. Actively involved in few college societies especially PSSCUHMMU. I liked photography the most during first year, i guess it's because of we had the chance to travel all over Malaysia. :p

This year: 2005

The high point of the year would certainly be the MMU Convocation day and also the number of trips that i've been to; Cameron Highlands, Gua Senyum, Pahang, Tioman Island, umrah in Makkah and Madinah, West Sumatera and Medan, Indonesia.

Finally i got myself a full time job. Lega, dah bukan lagi graduan menganggur. hehe

Next year: 2006

Think I'll just keep this one for myself.

10 years from now: 2015

Same as above.

Farhan, yan dan wanie, sila-sila.

Jimmy Eat World - Disintegration