The Reader

Farewell 2003

Is it fair ...or is it well?

Everyone of us has our own year 2003.Some are good ,some are bad(or not so good) and a few may be ugly.All of us have our own journey in life for the last 365 days....

And to-night, at a few hotspots in all cities all over the world,some people will be there to witness the countdown of the year 2003 and welcoming the new year 2004.To-day and tomorrow, newspapers will print most of the major events that have happened.New years will always bring cheers and good hopes to many people. My good wishes to everyone for the coming year 2004.

If I am asked,"How was your life for this year?",I would find difficulty to have one sentence to summarise 365 days of my life.I live a day at a time.How do I sum up something that I could not add up?Most likely, many will reply it was okay. As for me, in the third age of my life(50+),I am grateful just to be alive and healthy, Alhamdulilah!. As of the countdown (at 2400 to-night),the end of each year reminds me that I am one year closer to death...

I am not going to tell you or ask you what is your new year resolutions. From my own personal experience ,the new year resolutions were forgotten in less than a week after we had made them. As I become older(hopefully wiser), I take time to ponder of what I have done(good or bad), what I have not done and what I could have done.A year as a review period is too long;a month is more appropriate. And then,plan and do something that really matters to us.

To-day is a present to me(the pun is intended).I will try to make the best of it, a day at the time.

All of us look forward to a new year but it is good to look back sometimes.
Happy New Year to Everyone. God bless.

Below is a picture taken from Puan Sarini blog.It is the first time I met some bloggers from Kuala Lumpur at The Dome,KLCC.To all my fellow bloggers,where ever you are,Happy blogging!

News Flash:Congratulations to SDAR!

To all my schoolmates out there, I am pleased to receive the good news that our alma mater has scored 100% in PMR where 110 out of 122 scored 8A's and highest overall(the only school with above 90% straight A's scorers).

Alhamdulilah!

---Adib: Budak SDAR dan Bapak Budak SDAR.
[SDAR -Sekolah Datuk Abdul Razak]

Special Notice: Donations for the people of Bam,Iran

I have just contacted MERCY enquiring about the forms of donations . Only financial donations and blankets are requested by MERCY.MERCY does not accept winter clothes.For details,please call 03-42569999. Other details,please refer to my previous posting.

An Appeal Message from MERCY

Below is a message from MERCY:

From : MERCY Malaysia
Sent : Sunday, December 28, 2003 5:55:22 PM
To :
Subject : [MERCY Malaysia] Iran Earthquake Appeal



EARTHQUAKE in IRAN : MERCY MALAYSIA SENDS RELIEF TEAM

Kuala Lumpur, 27 December

MERCY Malaysia sent an emergency assessment team of medical and non medical personnel to respond to the earth quake that has hit Bam, in Iran’s Kerman Province (south of the capital Tehran). The first team comprising Encik Mohd Shah Awaluddin, Chief Operating Officer and Dato’ Dr. Omar Said Amad, a MERCY Malaysia volunteer, left for Bam, last night at 11:30pm and arrived safely at 3:45 am local time.

The objective of the mission is to assess the medical and non medical needs, establish a network of partners and potential agencies for collaboration and establish the logistics for our following relief missions. The Iranian Embassy in Malaysia and Wisma Putra are assisting MERCY Malaysia in facilitating the relief work. The MERCY Malaysia team will establish contact with the Iran Red Crescent Society to coordinate its work in Iran.

A second team providing emergency mobile medical and other humanitarian relief will be deployed on Tuesday, 30th December. Mission members identified are Dr. Dilshaad Ali Abas, (MERCY Exco Member) Dr. Lai Fui Boon, Dr. Rashidi Ahmand and Dr. Alzamani B Mohd Idrose (Volunteers).

MERCY Malaysia is providing an initial amount of RM50,000.00 for this relief effort. MERCY Malaysia is also appealing to members of the public for cash contribution to assist us in our work. All cash donations are to be channelled to the MERCY Humanitarian Fund. Maybank Berhad ACCOUNT NUMBER 562179504126. For more information on cash donations please contact Tunku Azela Tunku Aziz, Fundraising Manager at 012-3009900 and Shareen Abdul Ghani, Communications Manager at 012-373 1339.

Get more information or donate online through our website http://www.mercy.org.my

Regards
MERCY Malaysia
_______________________________________________
MERCY mailing list

A City Destroyed...

Picture from TehranNews

I am sad to hear the news about 20 thousands Of Iranians died due to the earthquake at a historically famous city of Bam,in the province of Kerman in Iran. Imagine what kind of sight we would see if 70% of the city collapsed to the ground? It is a calamity that all of us must ponder.What are the lessons can we learn from this tradegy?

This incident reminds of some stories in the book written by Harun Yahya entitled Kaum-kamum Yang Pupus.

Honestly, due to my little knowledge on Iran, this is the first time I heard about this beautiful city which has a waterfall in the middle of the desert.It is also on the famous Silk route from Europe to China!

A few years ago I gave a briefing on water industry in Malaysia to a group of Iranian water engineers and they invited me to visit Iran. Somehow, I never got the chance to visit Tehran or any other historical sites in Iran. It is always my dream to visit all those places in the Middle East as shown by a local TV series called Jejak-Jejak Rasul.

I promise...

Before I continue with that sentence " I promise...", I better stop and give a thought. Can I deliver it?

Many people make a lot of promises everyday.Some are immediately forgotten as soon as the promise was made;some are never to be delivered;some are just mere words that they donot have a clue of what it takes to fulfill that promise;and some are just lies....

Promises are made everyday to God,to oneself and to others. How many have we delivered the goods or the services we promised ? Try to make a list if we still remember them.

The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:

"The signs of a hypcrite are three: when he speaks ,he lies;when he makes a promise,he breaks it;and when he is entrusted with something,he betrays that trust."
According to a report by Muslim, The Prophet (PBUH) added:"even if he fasts,prays, and thinks that he is a muslim".

{[O you who believe! Fulfill (all) obligations]}-(Qur'an 5:1)
{[...And fulfill(every) engagement,for(every) engagement will be enquired into(on the Day of Reckoning)]}-Qur'an 17:34

Let's be careful of what we promise...

Merry Christmas

To all Christian readers,may I wish you A Merry Christmas. Let's all pray for a more peaceful year ahead.

To everyone,may I wish you A Happy and Prosperous New Year 2004.

Greetings and Salams to All.

--Adib

Farewell Shawal...

To-day, I bid farewell to Shawal.Illal-liqaq...

To-night ,I welcome Zul-Qa'dah.Tomorrow night, my surau is having a Majlis Doa Selamat for a few of my neighbours who are leaving to Makkah and Madinah to perform their Haj.May Allah swt bless them with Haji Mabrur!

The memory of the last Haj is still fresh in my mind.There were about 50,000 Malaysians there and this year I was informed only half of that could get their visas. If you are the guest of Allah this time,may I wish you the blessings of Allah and may you be rewarded with Haji Mabrur,insyaAllah.

From my observations, some of our jemaah haji lack the knowledge to perform the ibadah haji.It takes physical and spiritual strengths to perform the Haj.Those who are not prepared will most likely fail. Tabung Haji can only teach and guide us with the what and the how.From my personal experience, it is better to take at least one year to 'tarbiah hati' and prepare the mind and the soul before one undertakes the journey to perform all the rukun and the wajib Haji. IMHO, we can only succeed if we are well prepared,have patience and humility to execute all the rukun and the wajib haji and the blessings of Allah swt.

Ya Hujjaj,
All of you may have the same road map in performing the Haj, but everyone will have his/her own personal journey.

Knowledge is important in all forms of ibadah. In one essay written by Sayyid Abul Ala' Maududi,he qouted this couplet of a poet:

If the ass of Jesus goes to Makkah,
It remains as ass when it returns.

Fixed Line SMS

Last weekend my home phone went kaput.I don't blame the phone supplier because it was installed more than 10 years ago. This morning I went to Kedai Telekom in my neighbourhood and started looking for a new phone. Someone there told me that I could have a new type of phone where I can get caller id as well as sms functions.

I bought AJV2003SM model because it has a bigger LCD screen with QWERTY keyboard.It cost me RM 198 and RM3 per month suscription fees. I think it is good value for money.

Nowadays,even senior citizens have to learn how to read and write sms not only because of the business needs but more so to communicate with their children who are studying away from home.Personally,I found the mobile phone screen is too small to read and writing there is a big hassle.That is why I use my palm pda.Now, with fixed line sms installed at my home phone, it would be much easier and my kids can just leave a message for their parents.

Btw, Telekom also informed me that they will take three days to activate these features after registeration.I just wonder why they cannot do it within 24 hours?

Internet @ Hotels

Would you pay RM15.00 for an hour connection to the Internet if you are staying at a hotel? I wouldn't!

That is what a hotel in Malacca is charging their hotel guests. To me, this is worse than vampires sucking blood! At the nearby cybercafe, the going rate is about RM3 to RM 5 per hour.To check my email, I can just use my mobile phone working hand-in-hand with my palm pda.For 1MB of data(my average monthly usage), I was charged only RM 15.

This reminds me of my trip to Redditch(England) where I stayed at a six-room hotel owned by an English geentleman and his son.After I checked into his hotel( or rather motel), he warned me that if I wanted to make him rich, just use the hotel phone,otherwise just walk down the road and use a public phone;-)

When I was in London three months ago, I had difficulties to connect to the local ISP even though my home-based ISP is associated with a London ISP through some global alliance.Every time ,I wanted to be connected through the hotel PABX system, I will be charged about RM 30! Cybercafe is cheaper if your are overseas.

Nowadays,most people are having their own mobile phones.It is ridiculous to use hotel phones anymore.

What is your experience?Thank you for sharing.