The Reader

Community Communication System

So far, we have collected about 200 mobile phone numbers of our school alumni members.Hopefully, by early next month, we are going to do a trial run using sms as a mean to communicate to all of our registered members.One just need to send the message to a special  number and the message will be distributed by the system to all.Initially the trial run will be free through contributions by a few members, but later on we need a financial model to make it sustainable.The benefits are manifolds especailly in seeking information and assistance when one really needs it.

I told the above proposal to one of our Masjid committee members over breakfast this morning. He suggested that a similar system be set up for our khariah so that the information about the religous lectures could be distributed to all khariah members.Not only that, he said that when someone dies, the news could easily and quickly be dissiminated to all.For the record, on everage, about 10 persons died every year in my khariah.

Colourful view of F1

Riding on the EDGE

Yesterday, I went to DiGi office at KL Plaza and registered a post-paid package with a monthly fixed cost for unlimited data usage and today I got my first encounter. It is much faster that my previous connection to maxis GPRS.Last month, I used about 24MB of data and it cost me RM 365! That is the reason for me to migrate to Digi from Maxis.

As a heavy user of Internet,this fixed cost factor will not inhibit me from getting connected while on the move. One thing that of concern to me is my discipline-how not to be addicted to checking my emails and my blogs.

Qur'anun Majid

The photo was taken while a young girl was learning to read Quran with the help of my mother.I was fascinated by the beautiful design and large font.I asked my mother what type of Qur'an is it.She told me it is Qur'anun Majid.

I just love to have a copy of this edition.Anyone can help me?

Buku:Jangan Bersedih

I bought the English version of the book Don't Be Sad by al-Qarnee more than two years ago in Makkah. It contains very good motivational writings with reference to the Quran,Hadith and some world known great figures.Owing to non-availability of the book locally at that time , I took some of the writings and mentioned in my blog. Now,it is good news to those who wish to have a copy in Malay version. The book is now available even at small book stall in Ampang Point.(MPH has a good stock).

Life is not a bed of roses or sun shines everyday. Most of us have our own sad days. We become sad for many reasons, and I recommend this book for deeper understanding of life so that we can minimise the impacts of bad or sad days in our life.

Let me qoute this famous words of the Sufi:

"Allah swt puts turbulence in our heart so that our nearness to Him remains forver."

Yesterday was World Water Day...

Last night, my google's alert sent me email on World Water Day that was celebrated yesterday.Even as  an ex-Vice President of Malaysian Water Association, I also forgot about it. Water is taken for granted by most people. Only when we don't have enough or not at all, then only we know the value of water...

I am glad to note that after almost two months after the tsunami attack, we do not hear of any major water borne diseases outbreak in affected areas.My kudos to those who participated in solving the immediate water needs of the disaster's victims.The long term water needs have yet to addressed.

Water demand increases without fail every year. The amout of water gets polluted is also on the rise.Just put the two together, the cost of production will go up and subsequently the price. Gone were the days  that I pay about RM 40 per month for my domestic water needs. Now, the bill has exceeded RM 80!

From business perspective, I see there is a lot of business opportunities in water engineering business in the region as most of the facilities need refurbishing,upgrading and replacement.

Before you drink that glass of water today for your lunch or dinner, just give a thought what has gone into the planning,design,construction, operation and maintenance of water facilities to enable you to drink that glass of water...

Last but not least, I must thank Allah swt for abundant rainfall in my country.What we still need to improve is the management of our water resources.

Dog attack

It was front page news yesterday and today.A friend asked me what would I do if my kids were attacked and had to get 180 stitches? Well, my answer is bad news-the dog is considered dead and the owner will get a few stitches as well..(That is what the angry young man in me would do).

A few months back, a young boy about 8 years old was chased by a dog right in front of my house while he was walking to school. Luckily there was an elderly lady who was sweeping at the gate of her house who shouted and chased the dog away. The boy ran back to his house badly shaken with fear and told his grandfather. The grandfather came and shouted to my neighbour-the dog owner.(Then only I came to know what was the commotion about). The boy's grandfather challenged the dog owner for a fight! What would the boy's father do if he happened to be around? Luckily, the dog owner did not come out.

From my personal observations,  some dog owners love their dogs more than their neighbours. We had to suffer the irritating barkings of  their dogs as well as the shits on the road! They are very irresponsible people. I can show a few on my street.One of them has more than two dogs! I have reported to DBKL; the van with a few men  came and chased a few dogs and off they go.Nothing changed.

Tolerance has its  limit....

At SIC@F1

First, I must apologise for the quality of the photos taken. I used a phone camera of 0.3 megapixel and the weather was hazy after lunch time.You can see more photos here and here from MBA.

We boarded the ERL to KLIA at about 0845 and arrived at SIC at about 10am.It was a fun day for us,and for me this is the first time of my life watching F1 event alive.Watching alive is really different from watching TV. The roaring sound of the racing cars is deafening but it aroused some form of excitement in me:-)

Another exciting thing was the the acrobatic airshow by Malaysian RAF.To me, it was a world class!

Today, I am taking half a day rest for my ear drum to recover from 'shock waves' from  Sepang....

VROOM,VROOM...

My good friend MBA is taking me to the noisiest place in Malaysia today.For news,watch this link.If I could get connected,please peek at this mobile blog from 9am onwards....

Live broadcast of BTM 19/3/05

For the benefits of our friends overseas and those who can't make it to our BTM,I propose that a few of us will report live-say every 15-30minutes of what is happening together with photos of what is going at Starbuck KL Sentral via the web.

The photos shall be posted at http://palmy.textamerica.com and the text via my blog at http://palmx.blogspot.com

Live broadcast shall begin around 3:00pm Malaysian time.

Below is the photo of previous BTM there.