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)