The Reader

What is simpler?

“Cling to simplicity, sincerity and the power of truth.” ~ from the I Ching

To quote and to repeat the above is the easiest thing to do.We need to ponder in order to understand  the meaning and we need a lot of courage and patience to practise it.

This photo was taken at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa.I do stop here a few times to seek some solitude from the madding crowd beyond the lake.

Below is a photo of white lilies I took from the lake near Restoran Nelayan.I love to see the flowers living in harmony with each other.

Not again..

The photo shows the beginning of a gruelling trail of the Selangor MTB Challenge.IMHO,it should be called Mountain Climbing with your bicycle to push up the hill.I am dead tired now to write about it, but you can read more about it tomorrow at my cycling blog.Bthe way,you can see the photos here.

White flower with a nice smell..

Again,yesterday Her Majesty,the Queen of MyCasa,has summoned the service of her photographer royale to take picture of two flowers blooming in her garden.I don't know the name of the flower, but it smells nice.Have a good weekend to all:-)

Astaghfirullah

Let me share something very short but it has touched me deeply.After reading it(*),I have decided to share this note with my family,friends and fellow readers of my blog.

And she(Rabi'at al-Adawiyah-a waliyah) was saying openly among people-not ordinary people but scholars,awliya,who came to visit her-" O my brothers,our istighfar,our saying'Astaghfirullah',needs another 'Astaghfirullah',because we are not sincere when we say 'Astaghfirullah'.Our tongues are saying it but our organs are never listening to obey." And that is the top point of humility.If our istighfar or our saying "Astaghfirullah" needs another "Astaghfirullah",then what about for other actions or for prayers? Therefore, the Prophet(S.A.W) advises us that after praying we must say"Astaghfirullah-may Allah forgive me".

*page 68,Liberating The Soul,Vol 2,by Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani.

Cameron Highland revisited..

Last Monday,I returned home to KL from KB via Cameron Highland.One of the reasons was to have tea with scones at Bharat Tea Estate.Another was to replenish my stock of Blue Valley teas and delicious short breads.My better half was interested to see some fresh flowers,get some fresh vegetables and strawberry fruits.We have great time as a family enjoying the 2-hour stop-over.Alhamdulilah.

On the way down to KL, my mind  was deeply disturbed with what I saw.I noticed green hills stripped naked, a lot of timber logging activities and the massive use of plastic sheets to protect failed slopes along the roads and covers for vegetables growing.Later that night,I heard a discussion over Radio Bernama that Cameron Highland is dying.The host mentioned the word 'nazak' i.e the state when one is having his last few breaths left!This Bernama Radio program confirmed my worst fears...

The big picture on the surface looks nice, but the smaller picture looks disturbing.Just like looking at the forest and the trees(the pun is intended here).What I am talking about here is about the unmanaged and uncontrolled environmental degradation of the environment.We need development but it must be environmnetal friendly.The obvious one noticed by common folks is the not so cool temperature as more and more trees were being felled.The indiscriminate use of fertilisers like 'tahi ayam' dirty the water upstream of the catchment areas and the usage of plastic sheets increased the surface run off from rainfall.One or two NGO's had voiced their concerns years ago, but alas,so far(according to the Bernama Radio discourse), not much have been done by those relevant authorities to arrest the problems.

In my humble opinion, the resort features of the old Cameron Highland will be 'flattenned' into a metaphorically Tanah Rata if no action prevails.God forbids..

To those in power,please do something fast before it is too late..

Note: what I have written above is an old story.Now, I am the witness.

Photos below were taken around Lojing areas.More photos at my Flickr

Please don't bite this photo;-)

Close encounter with a man in ski mask!

This picture is worth more than a thousand words.I shall not add one more!

Bicycle hackers?

After doing a few 'ziarahs' to my older folks and to those who passed away,I took a detour to Pasir Mas from Kota Bharu.My wife wanted to show my eldest son the house we lived there before he was born.When we arrived at Jalan Mahmud next to the town padang,the old wooden government quarters which we lived in 1978-1980 was gone!On the site, a big new  kindergarden named after the Raja Perempuan of Kelantan was constructed.Not only 'our house' was demolished but Restoran Kamal was not there any more.It was the place where my wife and me had a few romantic dinners when we were younger..

Before we arrived at the town,we passed through a place called Mekasar.It reminds me of the blog posting entitled Basikal Jepun written by my friend Pak Zawi some time in June,2008.When I saw a wooden shop selling bicycles and water melons,I stopped and met the owner Encik Azmi.It is love at first sight for me!It is cute ,simple and cheap-ranging from RM150 upwards...I told him I wanted one simple bicycle for me to commute to my masjid,pasar and kedaikopi around my neighbourhood.

To me,Encik Azmi,ex-lorry driver is a bicycle hacker.There may be more people around Pasir Mas/Rantau Panjang  like him.What I was impressed was his business acumen and entrpreneurship to get those  discarded Japanese bicycles,repaired and upgraded them into something much better.He may not go to MBA schools like many of us, but he knows the meaning of value creation and making money out of it!

You are most welcome to read more about these bicycles at Pak Zawi blog.

Pembatalan amalan

Pada pagi Sabtu yang lepas ,YAA Ustaz Husin Ahmad mengingati kami ahli jemaah kepada satu ayat yang dibicarakan didalam Kitab Al-Hikam:-

[47:33] Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Taatlah kamu kepada Allah dan taatlah kepada Rasul Allah dan janganlah kamu batalkan amal-amal kamu!

Pada hemat saya,amatlah bodoh jika saya bersusah payah mencari wang dan apabila ianya saya perolehi,saya dengan sengaja membakar wang sendiri.Perbuatan sebegini samalah dengan mereka yang membuat amalan baik tapi dimasa yang sama masih meneruskan amalan yang di larang oleh Allah dan Rasul sama ada secara sedar atau tidak sedar.Jika kita sedar, kita boleh tinggalkan perbuatan2 tersebut,tetapi yang jadi masaalah apa bila pada asasnya kita tahu ianya salah,tetapi oleh kerana kebiasan atau menjadi amalan biasa masyarakat tempat kita tinggal atau di pejabat tempat kita kerja atau tempat kita bermain,kita terus melakukan perbuatan2 yang membatalkan amalan kita tanpa kita sedari.Amat malang sekali,apabila 'beras' bekalan yang kita bawa habis termakan bubuk anai2 secara senyap sebelum kita sampai kepada destanasi yang kita tuju..

Satu lagi kerugian yang amat besar ialah apabila amalan yang buat tanpa ilmu dimana hasilnya amat sedikit sekali.Sama-sama kita semua berterusan menambah ilmu kita sehingga akhir hayat..InsyaAllah, kita akan mendapat ganjaran yang lumayan di akhirat nanti.

[103:1] Demi Masa!

[103:2] Sesungguhnya manusia itu dalam kerugian;

[103:3] Kecuali orang-orang yang beriman dan beramal soleh dan mereka pula berpesan-pesan dengan kebenaran serta berpesan-pesan dengan sabar.

Got the picture?

Two friends having cheat-chat:

Friend:You got the picture? 

Me:Yes,I think so...

Friend: Tell me what do you see?

Me: A bit blur...the overcast weather did not give enough light.I can see the two towers but it does not look nice.

Friend: It is not that picture from your camera.That is not what I meant!

Me: Then,tell me what do you mean?

Friend: You know ..the big picture,my friend.

Me: If you want the big picture,I can enlarge it for you.It has enough pixel.You know,my camera can capture 10megapixels!

Friend: I am not talking about the picture from your DSLR camera! I am talking about the economy,stupid!

Me: Why did not you said so?

Friend: What is your view?

Me: It all depends on whether I am using my kit lens or telephoto lens or wide angle lens..

Friend:Okay,that is enough.Let's have teh tarik.

Me: Okay,let's go..by the way,I prefer Earl grey to Boh tea;-)