The Reader

Goodbye 2007,welcome 2008..

So much water has passed under the bridge;some are clean,some are muddy and a few are ugly.Flows it must;because it is its nature.No same water will flow from the river to the sea;either we take it or it is gone to the sea...

In the words of the wise;when the sun rises every morning,it is talking to us to take it as it is.When the night comes,it must go to rest and it is gone.You can't have it anymore until the next morning.

In a few hours time, the year 2007 will come to an end.InsyaAllah, tomorrow all of us will see another day,the first day of 2008. A lot of people will stay late tonight to welcome the new year.My friends invited me to be at the countdown but I prefer to be at home to comtemplate more of what I had done last year than to celebrate the new year.However,I join everyone to welcome the New Year 2008.Honestly,I prefer to pray for a safe,peaceful and prosperous new year for all.

Tomorrow is a holiday.It is a good day to ponder on our personal lives and plan ahead what we could do better next year.

My best wishes to all readers of The Reader.

LET'S KEEP AN EYE ON MALAYSIA FOR THE YEAR 2008!

Personal note:Today,I bought myself two books as a present for myself.The books are The Garden of Truth by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Imam by Abdullah Hussain

Cheaper PC

Yesterday,my son Munir and me went roaming at Low Yat Plaza.In Kuala Lumpur, this shopping complex is famous for its IT shops.Almost anything on computers/mobile phones I want ,I can find there cheaper.

My original purpose going there was to look for a Eee PC which cost about RM1300.When we arrived there is only one Eee PC -the display unit.After asking a few questions,we decided it is not suitable for my son's needs.The form factor and the ergonomic turned us away from this little pc.Then ,we roamed around looking for a cheaper pc notebook that cost less than RM2500( i.e our budget).Later, we visited a shop selling Acer products.My son fell in love with one that suits him.It cost about RM2600. I decided to delay the purchase and to get more information from other users experience first. May I ask you views on the lower end of Acer pc(or any other brands) and do give suggestions.One other thing is that I would like my son to install open source software like Linux so that he knows more about computing and not like me -just a user of IT.By the way, he is doing a diploma in civil engineering at a local university college.

While we were walking from shop to shop,my eyes caught the advertisement of Kingston thumb drive.I already have a 1 GB which I use to carry around.It contains some lecture notes,good articles that I like and a few photos that I have selected. Now, it is almost 80% full.My son told me that a few days ago, he bought a new 2GB thumb drive.It cost him about RM40.Then and there I decided I must buy a 4GB Kingston DataTraveller(the kiasu in me?).After 'tough negotiation and persuasion' with the shop owner,I managed to get one 4GB thumb drive for RM73! Now,to avoid feeling guilty about the purchase, I justify myself that I need it to store more information for my work and it is with me all the time(together with my car keys)!What more can I say because I already have a 120GB portable HD which still have more than 80GB!(but it is in my business bag).So, you see that one can justify anything to please himself;-)

Have a good weekend and holiday before the New Year 2008.

The Hijrah..

First,let me thank Allah swt for His Mercy on me to have the opportunity to attend a majlis ilmu last night.In the light of the year ending and also the coming of the Muslim New Year 1429 in less than two weeks from now,the Professor read and discussed the following ayats from Surah Al-Anfal:

[72] Those who believed, and adopted exile, and fought for the Faith, with their property and their persons, in the cause of Allah, as well as those who gave (them) asylum and aid, these are (all) friends and protectors, one of another. As to those who believed but came not into exile; ye owe no duty of protection to them until they come into exile; but if they seek your aid in religion, it is your duty to help them, except against a people with whom ye have a treaty of mutual alliance. And (remember) Allah Seeth all that ye do.
[73] The Unbelievers are protectors, one of another: unless ye do this, (protect each other), there would be tumult and oppression on earth, and great mischief.
[74] Those who believe, and adopt exile, and fight for the Faith, in the cause of Allah, as well as those who give (them) asylum and aid, these are (all) in very truth the Believers: for them is the forgiveness of sins and a provision most generous.
[75] And those who accept Faith subsequently, and adopt exile, and fight for the Faith in your company, they are of you. But kindred by blood have prior rights against each other in the Book of Allah. Verily Allah is well-acquainted with all things.

Lesson learnt are as follows:

There are four groups of people who are classified according to their iman and their deeds in relation to their infaq of themselves and their wealth.This best among them is the group which Allah swt mentioned as "al-mukminuna ha'qaa"-The true believers.

In the present context,as muslims/muslimah,we should hijrah from living the life-style of jahiliah to lifestyle of good muslims/muslimahs and bettter  mukmins and mukminahs in all aspects of the mind,body and soul.One learned man expressed his concerns about the fading identity of present day muslims/muslimahs.He observed that the attributes of good muslims/muslims are lost in the exchange or embrace of modern secular development/progress.As parents,I must allocate more time in the ta'dib of my children.

Another lesson I learnt is about the significance of the 'niat' in our actions.The 'niat' identifies the purpose,direction and destiny of our actions and at the same time it will align our efforts/actions toward our goals.

Reading these ayats above reminded me of another wise words in the book Al-Hikam which stated that the real 'hijrah' should be from this world to Allah swt and not to another place in this world.

Almost a year ago,I wrote this.

Wallahu a'lam.

Lest I forget...

Last November,2006, I started a new blog in Bahawa Melayu(Malay Language).My intention was to talk about life and development of my Kampung Pondok Beris.Somehow,I failed miserably to keep it updated.In 2007,I only posted less than 10 postings as compared to a few hundreds in this blog in English.Honestly,I am not confident to write in Malay.When I was at school, my English was always better than my Malay.Anyway,I will try harder to write in Malay.By the way, my English is not much better;that is why I write everyday so that I can improve it.

After I read GUiT by Awang Goneng,it inspired me to write also the snapshots of my life in my kampung,lest I may forget it and will get buried with me when I die.If I were to write about my childhood days at my kampung in the 50'and the 60's,at least my children can read them and will be grateful that they have better lives than their father.

Here is the link to my first posting.

The full moon-15th Zulhijjah,1428

  The full moon 
  Originally uploaded by Adibi

I took this photo on 2007:12:24 at 22:34:44 .It was a really very bright moon due to some astronomical special alignment between the earth,the moon and Mars.I read that this phenomena next occurrence will be in 2023.It appears as bright as my neighbour's lighted porch  as seen at the bottom of the photo.

If you miss it,try tomorrow night.

Too hot here..

  Too hot here.. 
  Originally uploaded by Adibi

What a pity!No customers were seen here during the lunch time yesterday at Selera Putra,located next to Masjid Putra,Putrajaya.In fact the place were bustling with the tourists including my family members.But all of us were inside the building and NOT at the nice but hot verandah.I would think it would be nice and cool during breakfast and dinner time.

I am no expert to comment on the building design.However, I think someone must come with a good idea so that we customers can use this space and then enjoy our lunch with the view of the lake.Is it too much to ask?

KL-Putrajaya Expressway

My first time using KLP Expressway was by taxi from KL to KLIA on 19th Dec.,2007 and the second time was on 21st Dec.,2007 on my return journey.Today,I decided to try the highway by driving my own car from Kg Pandan Roundabout(Lat 03 08.430',Long 101 43.260') to Putrajaya. (At exit:Lat 02 56.567',Long 101 39.120')

It took me about 18 minutes to travel for a distance of about 25km.With the help of my GPS and my son as a co-pilot,I managed to locate Selera Putra for our lunch.The place was full of foreign tourists.

At the moment, there is no toll collection yet, but the toll gates are ready.It is a matter of time and the amount. The speed limit is  90km/hr and I think it is a good decision considering the road geometry with quite a few of sharp horizontal curves plus some tricky double curvatures(horizontal and vertical curves combined at one place).As a road user,I welcome this highway so that I don't have to endure traffic jam along Jalan Sg Besi.It cuts my travel time to Putrajaya  by about half.

By the way,if I were to use the normal highway from Bulatan Kg Pandan to KLIA,I have to pay toll about RM6.80.With this new expressway,I can save my travel time about 20 minutes and surely there will be some saving on the toll.(for the moment,it is free ride all the way from KL to KLIA).

Looking back to the days when Bulatan Kg Pandan (in 1983 when I moved to KL)was then a really 'bulatan'( circle) with no traffic lights.Now,there is no more 'bulatan' but it is a 4-level interchange-one below the ground(The Smart Tunnel) and two above the ground!Good bye Bulatan Kg Pandan. Now,if I may call it Kg Pandan Interchange!

Rain drops on the flower..

The Joy of Qurban

Just about one hour ago, I have just participated in the Qurban of a cow.I was very grateful and happy to be in such a gathering as part of our ubudiyyah to Allah swt.The joy of giving away the meat to the poor folks is great!

The poor and the needy are never being neglected in both our celebrations of Eidil Fitri as well as Eidil Adha.Let us be reminded of the following ayats from surah Al-Maa'uun.(1-3)

Below is a Malay translation:

[1] Tahukah engkau akan orang yang mendustakan agama (meliputi hari pembalasan)?
[2] Orang itu ialah yang menindas serta berlaku zalim kepada anak yatim,
[3] Dan dia tidak menggalakkan untuk memberi makanan yang berhak diterima oleh orang miskin.

[1] Seest thou one who denies the Judgment (to come)? [2] Then such as the (man) who repulses the orphan (with harshness), [3] And encourages not the feeding of the indigent.

Eis Mubarak to all.

pH of budu

It never crossed my mind to check and find out the pH of budu. However,after reading Awang Goneng's book about Growing Up in Trengganu(aka GUiT by bloggers),now I knew it is quite acidic by nature.According to our local folklore,who ever eat budu and asked for a top up,their wedding day will be a day of heavy rainfall.

If you are wondering what is pH,look here or check back your old chemistry book.

I just wonder....thinking a loud,the school present holiday season is full of weddings. The recently Raja Sehari(recently wed couples) must be eating a lot of budu that had brought down  heavy rainfall to Kelantan and Trengganu! Dah nak wak guane!

Do you wish to know the value of pH of budu? It is mentioned in the book.Go and read GUiT and let me know. By the way, there is going to be a launch of the book at Pak Lah Yunang bookshop in Kuala Trengganu on 25th Dec, 2007 at 11am.All are welkang!

Click here for the latest info of the book launch.

NB:Dah nak wak guane! is the motto of Awang Goneng's blog.