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Kutbah Multimedia

Kutbah Multimedia
Originally uploaded by Adibi

Delivering the kutbah Jumaat(Friday solat sermon) in multimedia is nothing new in Kuala Lumpur.This is a good enabler to keep the attention of congregation on the message of the sermon.My congratulations to Pejabat Agama Wilayah Persekutuan.

At our masjid kuliyyah subuh, Dr Ali Saripan also uses a computer,projector ,screen and white board when he delivers his Saturday morning lectures to us.This helps us a lot in understanding and remembering the contents of his lectures.I still remember until today when he explained the meaning of ayat 40 Surah Al-'araf using the photo of the camel and the needle.

It is not easy to keep the sleepy eyes from falling asleep.Technology is not enough.More efforts must be made to improve the way the imam deliver his sermon.

A bridge..

During my cycling trip at Broga,Lenggeng,N9 yesterday,I saw these bridges..

A bridge too far..

a bridge to narrow..

and a bridge too simple..(snapped by Elda)but it does its job well.However I dared not ride on it.

@ The Loaf

Harfiah Class

Almost five years had gone by since I blogged about religous knowledge in this blog.Since then,I keep learning to this day.You can read why I have embarked on this journey here.The posting also qouted the meaning of knowledge as articulated by Prof Dr Syed Naguib al-Attas.InsyaAllah,I shall continue my learning until the last day of my life.

In January,2005 I came upon a book on Harfiah for Juz Amma.I blogged about it here.That was what I had done but I have failed to attend a class to learn Harfiah Al-Quran.A few months back, the Chairman of our Masjid Al-Imam Ash Shafie informed me about starting a harfiah class at our masjid.The class have been going on for more than a month, but I was MIA.

Two days ago while I was at the masjid and I saw the Masjid Kuliyyah Program.Staring at me was the Harfiah Class to be held every Thursday at 10:30am.I was forgetful and by our nature,we are forgetful.All of us need reminders and I am one of them.Al- Din is nasiha!By the way,please read this posting about why we need to learn harfiah.I know some of my friends and the readers have attended the class.Could you be kind enough to share your experience to encourage others to follow your good examples.Let's read and undertand our Holy Book The Al-Qur'an.

Once we decided to do something good, donot hesitate.Just do it,lest we forget..

The writings are on the wall

What is this?
Originally uploaded by Adibi

As I walked to the bookshop I noticed this big blue advertisement by Kinokuniya.From this oblique position,I can't read every alphabets. but I knew what it is because I have seen it before and I am regular visitor to the bookshop.As I moved closer,the words became clearer.For those who don't have a clue of this Japanese bookshop and Japanese language,the word "kinokuniya" is just a word that sounds Japanese-nothing more.

I am using this photo to demonstrate the implied meaning of "The writings are on the wall..".Only those who have the knowledge only can 'read' them even though they are staring down at us 24hrs a day .

The writings on the wall come in many forms without the words and the walls.One example is the killing of newborn babies by unmarried couple.This is one symptom of moral decadence we are having now.You can think of many more...

Similarly,if I could see more white hairs than black hairs on my head, then I must read them wisely and act accordingly...

A walk by the lake..

This morning I did not go cycling but I went for a walk with my wife at Taman Tasik Ampang Hilir.Wednesday is my mid-week break for just the two of us.Weekend is family and social events days-the older one gets,the busier his/her weekend activities.

While taking a walk I also do some exercise at a few exercise stations.Now,everthing looks nice and tidy.I hope DBKL should maintain this Taman Tasik as good as new all the time.Compared to Taman Tasik Titiwangsa,this is less the one quarter the size but it is good enough for family walks around the lake.

Here are a few shots that I took...

Donuts and Coffee

Perosnally, I don't like donuts but I love freshly brewed coffee.However, when J.Co came to town,I won't bother to buy and even try to eat the much talked about delicios donuts.One day I was tempted to go in and buy on my way back from the Times Bookshop at Pavilion.Looking at the long queu,it put me off.Anyway sweet pastries are not good for me at my age with the body's BMI asymtotically approaching 28!

A few months back, my brother bought a box for me.OMG, these  donuts tasted great.Still,I remain stubborn not to buy these  round devils, but I never turn them down when my kids bought and brought them home for their father and mother.Thank you boys and now I began to love them.

By the way,I also love the packaging...

Bunga-bungaan..

This photo was taken using my Nokia mobile phone as I was walking to attend a function last night.The only light was from a street lighting nearby.That is how I got this photo blurred and with shadows..

Most of the time when we see something nice, ex flowers,we just pass them by.I promised myself to stop and look and smell the flowers whenever I can.We seem to live the pages of our lives just like we flip through the pages of magazines.I wish to read every word of it and ponder at the end of each page as I go on reading the book of my life...

Taman Cabaran,Putrajaya

Taman Cabaran,Putrajaya
Originally uploaded by Adibi

Now I know why they called it Challenge Park(Taman Cabaran).I got the taste of it after riding and pushing for about 4km over three short trails over 40minutes.It was too much for me and my bike also cannot take it.

As usual I took the 'chicken loop' out and went to the complex fun area where I did try a few dirt jumps.Again, I was not fit for these activities.I met Jason who is one year younger and he told me to be ready physically and mentally.The trails scared the hell of me!I think for this year,I will ride only at FRIM.The photos are at my flickr website.Below is a photo of seven of us who dared to give it a try.

Parfum

Most ladies use perfume in their everyday lives.How about men?I do especially when I go to perform my solat at the moasjid. How about you? The first perfume I bought was Channel No 5 for my mother when I returned home from England after my study-way back in 1976.By the way,is Channel No 5 still around?What is your favourite brand?

Repost: Stamps in my moleskine notebook

Sedarlah wahai orang-orang yang lalai..

Tajuk diatas saya salin dari permulaan ayat 20 surah Al-Qiammah.Surah ini mempunyai 40 ayat-ayat pendek-mudah untuk dibaca dan senang untuk difahami.Saya syurkan kita membaca semuanya(lebih sikit satu muka surat) dan juga membaca terjemahan ayat-ayat tersebut untuk mengejutkan kita semua dari lalai,khususnya diri saya.Dari apa yang saya belajar dari guru-guru saya,kita semua memang dalam keadaan tidur-ada yang tidur mati dan ada yang tidur ayam.Kelalaian berbeza dari seorang ke seorang.Kita semua akan 'bangkit' sepenuhnya dari 'tidur' apabila rohnya sampai ke pangkal kerongkong.[lihat ayat 26],tapi saat itu,segala-gala sudah terlambat.

Dari Surah Al-Qiammah:

[20] Sedarlah wahai orang-orang yang lalai. (Sebenarnya kamu tidak ingatkan kesudahan kamu) bahkan kamu sentiasa mencintai (Kesenangan dan kemewahan dunia) yang cepat habisnya.

[21] Dan kamu tidak menghiraukan (bekalan untuk) hari akhirat (yang kekal abadi kehidupannya).

[22] Pada hari akhirat itu, muka (orang-orang yang beriman) berseri-seri;

[23] Melihat kepada Tuhannya.

[24] Dan pada hari itu, muka (orang-orang kafir) muram hodoh,

[25] Sambil percaya dengan yakin bahawa mereka akan ditimpa malapetaka (azab seksa) yang membinasakan.

[26] Sedarlah (janganlah mengutamakan dunia dan melupakan akhirat. Ingatlah akan hal orang yang hendak mati) apabila rohnya sampai ke pangkal kerongkong,

[27] Dan (orang-orang yang hadir di sisinya heboh) berkata: Siapakah yang dapat menawar jampi (dan mengubatnya)?

[28] Dan dia sendiri yakin, bahawa sesungguhnya saat itu saat perpisahan;

[29] Serta kedahsyatan mati pun bertindih-tindih.

[30] (Maka) kepada Tuhanmulah pada waktu itu engkau dibawa (untuk menerima balasan). 

Waiting..

While I was reading the morning paper at Pasar Wirawati,I saw this young boy in yellow t-shirt.He just sat quietly doing nothing with his head resting on the table.I guessed he must be waiting for his mother going shopping at the wet market nearby..

Waiting is very boring.It is better to keep something handy to read.

First visit to Cziplee Plus

Yesterday was my first visit to the special stationery shop located at No 10 ,Jalan Telawi 4,Bangsar,KL where I can buy almost anything related to moleskine.My only limit is my cash in my wallet.Congratulations to Cziplee and I must say I was greatly impressed with the collections.Now,I would not have problems like before(some two years ago) where I had to look around for moleskine notebooks at a  few shopping complexes.Sometimes,I had to get my friends who went to US or Singapore to buy a few for me.To see what they have got,just click on the link above.

Another lovely suprise for me was the BIG moleskine notebook as shown above.

Some two years ago,I tried to start an online community for moleskine users in Kuala Lumpur, but sadly we lack active members.I hope the owner of this shop will initiate a monthly meet-up for moleskine users to get members to share their knowledge and experience in using moleskine products.By the way,I have the privilege to see the catalog for new products coming next year.Some are really great!

Here are something new I discovered:

1) Sai water colour pen brush 

2) Doodle notebook

Here is a tip from me: The shop will hold a sale beginning 1st July for one month.I was told at least you can get 20% discount.

Note on photos:They were snapped by my Nokia E71 with owner's permission.

Dsiclaimer: I have no direct or indirect interest in this shop-just a passionate user of moleskine notebook

I keep sketching..

Please forgive my indulgence in trying to do something that I have nothing to show off but it is important for me to keep on trying to improve my free hand sketches.It is my effort to improve my hand movements,to improve my fading memory and and an exercise to pay attention to details.This shot is a 3rd attempt to capture what I saw at Putrajaya Wetland using pen and a few coloured pencils.You can see my previous sketches here with some photos.My experience showed me that I learn more about my life when I started To Draw my Life.

Biodiversity of Wetland

Wetland never fails to fascinate me.Every time I passed one,I will stop and take photo like the one shown here.Given the time,I just love to sit there and do some sketches.This photo was taken yesterday when my friends Prof Dr Jaafar,Aliff and me went cycling around the lake.

We began riding from Taman Warisan to Taman Botani and later crossed to Putrajaya Wetland-full circle.Mostly the trail is flat but it offered many types of road surfaces-plain earth,gravel,pavement and at the furthest end of the lake, we had to cross about 20 metres of track under water!The next time,I should have brought some nasi lemak and hot coffee to picnic here.

The wetland always brought me back to the time when I was a kid.I enjoyed wadding through the marshes and the padi fields behind my kampung.It was where I caught fighting fish to play and also I went fishing with my 'tauk'.

Below is a photo taken by my friend Ghazali when more than a dozen of us went cycling around the lakes in Nov,2008.

Geometry is an artistic expressions?

Below is the view from the bottom of the roofs of Masjid Saiyidina Omar Al-Qattab at Jalan Setiabudi,Bangsar,KL

Aeon AU2

This photo was taken using my Nokia E71 camera phone when I went for desserts at Spices Restaurant located at this shopping complex-AEON AU2.I was informed that it has opened for business many months ago,but this is my first visit.I love the spacious design for shoppers to move a round..The name sounds like it is located some where in a remote planet in The Milky Way, but it is quite close to my home.

Time has wings..

Yes, time flies and it must have wings.How about us?We have legs,so we keep on dragging our heavy legs to do what we promised to do- even for ourselves,not to mention for others.Today,it is already 25 Jamadil Akhir,1430.In less than a week from now,we shall enter the month of Rejab,then Shaaban,then Ramadhan Al-Mubarak,insyaAllah.

Remember what you did during the last Ramadhan?And also  what you planned to do after that? I dare not look at what I plannned to do because they are staring me for not completing my schedule(ex reading Qur'an) and some I have not started(puasa sunat-Isini dan Khamis).Now, we have about two months to catch up with what we planned after the last Ramadhan.

[16:128] Sesungguhnya Allah berserta orang-orang yang bertakwa dan orang-orang yang berusaha memperbaiki amalannya.

A few days ago,I took my wife and our youngest son for lunch.He is 20 years old and is having his semester break for two weeks.I took the opportunity to talk to him about the meaning of Syahadah and explained to him its meaning.It is about tauhid/aqidah,a subject which my late father did not delegate to anyone else to teach his children.Now,it is my turn.Likewise,I am doing this for my children before they grow up and leave home and get married and start a family.As fathers,we are responsible to ensure our family members have good undertsanding of tauhid.This will lead to iman and subsequently good akhlaq,insyaAllah.

When I ponder on these three ayats from Surah Al-'Asr,I felt ashamed of myself when I compared the time given to me so far and what I have done or achieved.Please do it for yourself.

Dengan nama Allah, Yang Maha Pemurah, lagi Maha Mengasihani.

[1] Demi Masa!

[2] Sesungguhnya manusia itu dalam kerugian;

[3] Kecuali orang-orang yang beriman dan beramal soleh dan mereka pula berpesan-pesan dengan kebenaran serta berpesan-pesan dengan sabar.

Attention to details

Let me share with you what I discovered lately about the benefits of paying attention to details in design of building components.As I walk down the stairs of Ikea next to The Curve,my friend pointed out to me the two narrow straps of steel embedded at the edge of the steps.He told me the two lines marked the edge of the steps to prevent people from falling.To me, this is real thoughtful and cool!!! I have not seen them yet any where in Malaysia.As I went down the staircase,without those steel straps, the streps would appear just like a piece of wide timber slanting downwards,especially those with impared vision,poor eye sights and deteriorating old eyes like me.

I have heard many horror stories about our older folks fell in the toilets.We have to build safe features to protect them and us if we live long enough..

To my engineer and architect friends,kindly take note-Safety By Design:-)

Kertaskerja :Guru Mursyid

Kepada pembaca blog ini yang berminat untuk mendapat kertas kerja tersebut,sila download file berkaitan Download Mengenali Ciri-ciri Guru Mursyid.Saya memohon maaf kepada mereka yang memohon dihantar kertaskerja ini diatas kelewatan pihak saya untuk mendapat soft copy kertaskerja tersebut kerana saya tidak ada scanner dan saya tidak dapat menghantar fail ini melalui email kerana terlalu besar.Alhamdulilah ,dengan bantuan rakan saya Encik Salihin,dapatlah saya  sertakan file tersebut di blog.Saya rakamkan ucapan terima kasih kepada Ustaz Feisal dari UM-penyedia dan pembentang kertaskerja.Jazakallahu khairan.

Rotting away..

A few days ago I was travelling along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman,Kuala Lumpur.My eyes caught this old building rotting away.What comes first to my mind is the safety of the pedestrians who may walk under the corridor of this row of old shophouse.No sign of dangers was seen posted any where.Not to mention, this is an eye sore not only to the tourists but also to the locals.

By the way, this is not the only one.Just visit Singapore and see what they have done to their old buildings.

Over to you,DBKL.

Places to relax..

Below are the photos I took from Signature Food Court at KLCC Suria.What attracted me to this view is the people sitting by the  lake-talking,watching the playful water fountain,taking photos and just watching the world goes by...

Life in the city is full of stresses and city folks need more places to go for a walk and relax.These photos demonstrated the needs!I used to go to KLCC almost every week for my morning walks.Now,I cycle more but I do go for morning walk with my wife to places like Taman Tasik Titiwangsa,Taman Amapng Hilir and Putrajaya Lake.My next destinations are Taman Cosmopolitan Kepong and FRIM for morning walks.Any other places?Please suggest.

Note on photos: These photos were snapped using my mobile phones Nokia E71.My apologies for blurred images..if you wish to see more details,just right click on these photos.

Who cares about marine life?

Below is a report from The Star today.It caught my attention because more than 20 years ago,I was the project manager to develop one of the resorts on Pulau Perhentian.Faster actions must be taken to prevent further damage to the marine life there.Without the beautiful marine life around the two islands,who want to come anymore?

I am not here to blame anybody but all parties i.e the Terengganu State government, the local authority and the resorts owners must do their parts(their roles and responsibilities).Failure to act, the environment disaster will come in no time. Just look at our rivers where 97% of drinking  water sources come from..

Monday June 15, 2009

Marine life at Pulau Perhentian under threat from trash

KUALA TERENGGANU: Pulau Perhentian Besar and Kecil, the havens for marine life, are under threat environmentally due to poorly planned tourism development, ineffective sewage treatment and solid waste disposal.

The state government is worried that this could lead to severe damage to coral reefs found in abundance surrounding both islands.

State Commercial, Industry and Environment Committee chairman Toh Chin Yaw said the new chalets have compounded the problem as many of them did not have proper sewage and rubbish disposal systems.

“Some of these operators are taking the easy way out by diverting all types of wastes from their chalets direct into the sea,” he said in an interview yesterday.

Black and White lamy pen and ballpen

ShareThis

I have just installed ShareThis icon in my blog.It is located at each of my posting.If you find my blog posting is worth sharing,kindly click on the icon and share with your friends directly or link to your blogs or facebooks or twitters or flickrs etc.Thank you.

Below is a photo of my experiments in sketching while I was waiting for my flight from Penang to KL last weekend.May I wish everyone a great weekend.Today,I have two wedding functions to attend!

Comfort in solat

Do you find comfort in your solat?

In Febuary this year I wrote about khushoo' in our solat.Last week our sheikh reminded us on the importance of it in our solat.Many of us are complacent with only in compliance with the shariat of solat but not concerned enough whether our solat will be accepted by Allah swt.What is the status of our solat without khusoo'?Are we worried that our solat we have done in the last few decades of our lives had become just dusts?Habaan mansura!

I am writing this again,lest we forget.We are insans,and by our nature(refer to the root word 'nasiyan'),we were forgetful.We solat five times a day and yet we still forget and remains in the state of continous disobedience to our Lord Rabul 'Alamin.Just wonder..what kind of solat have we performed?

It is really sad that my peers and me in our 50's are still struggling at the level of 'jihad' (refer to the five levels of khushoo' in the link provided) against the external and internal disturbances during our solat.My late teacher once asked me about the quality of my solat.Most of us had put great efforts in time and cost to upgarde our academic standard from primary school to university level.First degree is not enough,we went for masters and Ph.D!We burnt the mid night oil to achieve our academic excellence and yet we failed miserable in our effort to upgarde the quality of our solat.What about excellence in our solat and ubudiyyah??We only lamented that we have not experienced comfort and khushoo' in our solat,but we have done very little indeed or nothing at all.

Find out what actually went wrong in the last 10,20,30 or 40 years of our lives and yet we have not upgraded the quality of our solat and level of khushoo'? If we took the troubles to get a tuition teacher to teach our kids to get 5 or 10 A's for their PMR or SPM,we must do the same thing for our solat.What happended in the past is gone.Let us make the best whatever days, months or years ahead of us and experience joy in our solat.

Let us be reminded by the first two ayats from Surah al-Mu'minuun:

Dengan nama Allah, Yang Maha Pemurah, lagi Maha Mengasihani.

[1] Sesungguhnya berjayalah orang-orang yang beriman.

[2] Iaitu mereka yang khusyuk dalam sembahyangnya.

I was sublimed

The news of an art theft in Paris reminded me to call my friend Dr Najib,the DG of National Art Gallery.(NAG).My appointment to see him was at 4:30pm but I arrived at 4:10pm.Since he was with a group of people,he told me to visit the second floor where Mosaic Malaysia exhibition is being held.

I am glad to see our NAG is alive and interesting to visit.As I went up the escalator at the entrance,I saw a nice Republik Cafe and saw teenagers doing sketches while having their afternoon tea/cakes.On the left hand side,I saw an artist talking about art to  a group of children.As I entered,I saw another artist doing potrait. On the way,I saw a group of kids partipating in the drawing contest.In short, the place is lively and interesting to visit.

As I entered the hall 1 of the 2nd floor,the first photo measuring about 10ftX6ft greeted me .It was so beautiful that I lost the sense of time how long i was standing in front of it.I was speechless and dumbfounded!As I moved along the walls to see other paintings by the Chinese artist Zhang Zhou,I was mesmerised.The only word that came out of my mouth is 'beautiful'.This is a world class artist that those who appreciate art should not miss at all.I have been to few art museums in London and Paris,the NAG exhibition this time is really great and as good ,if not better than those overseas.

Next, I moved to hall 2 and again,I feel like not going back home.I just wanted to be there!My walk through ended when the DG called for my appointment.I promised myself to come back again and stay there for at least one hour in each hall.

While having tea with the DG,I congratulated him for his efforts to put such an exhibition.The exotic beauty of the artist expression has absorbed my soul into itself and I was consumed by it for a few moments.When I told these feelings to the DG,he smiled and told me that I was sublimed by the arts.Thank you Dr Mohd Najib for a wonderful trip to world of art and now I am quite happy to be transformed back to 'solid state' from 'vapour state'.

Dictionary defination of sublime:

1: to cause to pass directly from the solid to the vapor state and condense back to solid form'.

Outdoor Advertisements

J Sultan Ismail/J TAR Junction
Originally uploaded by Adibi

This red concrete portal attracted my attention yesterday.PRUDENTIAL was telling me that it is Wajah Yang Anda Percayai!(By the way,I am neither Prudential agent nor a client).The whole portal was taken by a company.As I drove along Jalan Sultan Ismail from Maju Junction to Renaissance Hotel,my eyeballs were bombarded by a lot more advertisements from companies selling their products and services. By the time I arrived at Jalan Ampang,I smiled looking at one advertisement:This is Celcom Territory!I was wondering when did the Malaysian government handover this part of KL to Celcom;-)

The visual messages are written all over the city and highways as we travel.We see, we hear and we feel....What really matters is what and how we response to these messages..Here is what I wrote about a road sign.

First visit to Kulim

Urban sketch@Kulim,Kedah
Originally uploaded by Adibi

Last weekend was my first visit to Kulim,Kedah.I went there to attend a wedding ceremony for my wife's niece.It is about one hour of leisure drive via Butterworth Kulim Expressway from Penang International Airport.

When we landed at Penang Airport, my brother-in-law(BIL) hired an Unser for five of us-very nice and comfortable.After he took the steering wheel,he asked me to show the way.Both of us never drive a car from the airport to any where on Penang Island!What more to drive to Hotel Seri Malaysia,Kulim.When I asked my BIL whether he has been to Kulim,he replied yes ...but more than 10 years ago.Now, we have two senior citizens(one engineer and the other is an architect with blurred vision) roaming around Penang Island looking for Penang Bridge to cross over to the mainland.

The car rental company gave us a map of Penang Island.Quickly  my eyes scanned the map looking for the route to Penang Bridge.Thanks God,I can still read the sketchy tourist map.As the car moved out of the airport,suddenly I remember my Nokia E71 mobile phone has a GPS feature.The smile came back to my face when my phone started giving navigation instructions.On the way out of Penang Island,we even stopped at Queensbay Mall for kopitiam breakfast and later drove all the way to our destination without any hassles.Next time,I will bring my Nuvi 200W-bigger screen.

Note: The Satay House in front of MRSM,Kulim serves great satay.Highly recommended.

Red encounters..

Am I seeing red every where?

After my first encounter with a red car a few days ago at KL Sentral,I noticed a lovely read ceiling lamp at a cafe located at LCCT.This time I have a compact camera with me because I was on the way to Kulim,via Penang Airport.

Actually there are so many beautiful things around us....but many a time we took for granted and let them pass away.We were so engrossed with our thoughts and mentally ignore our surrounding.During this breakfast,I was lucky to have my brother-in-law ,an architect by profession to answer a few of my questions.

On the way back to KL,I had a snack at the McDonald at Penang International Airport.Just admire the ambience as shown below:

Going fishing?

If you are going fishing,what baits will you use?It seems that technology has converted all organic ones to plastic baits.While having a stroll around the lake behind Seri Malaysia Hotel,Kulim I saw this boy fishing.When I asked what bait he used,he showed me a cluster of plastic fines lines!I told him about my doubt that the fish would not be stupid enough to eat plastic thingy,the boy smiled and showed me his catch-a big ikan talapia to prove his methodology.Going fishing,anyone?