O Palestine...

Assalamualaikum...


As i write this entry, the latest count of dead body in Palestine has increased to more than 850... and still counting...
And still, there's no sign - nothing at all - that the demonic Zionist will recede or withdraw from Gaza. Instead, they bulk up their army with significant - and very worrying - numbers by day as they increased their air and ground assault towards Hamas and the civilians of Palestine!

Israel Laknatullah will have their large chunk of punishment from ALLAH The Almighty for what they did - and still do - to the Palestinians and to Islam generally. They are the symbols of Satan in this modern world and no word in any language can describe the magnitude of their evildoing.

Curse Israel!!!!!

Curse Zionist!!!!!

Curse their Allies!!!!!

Curse them for what they did to the children, women, and civilians of Palestine!!!!!

AND Curse the Egyptian Government a.k.a the inexplicably rotten Hosni Mubarak for not allowing all the helps from all over the world to enter Gaza to help those people!!!!!

ALLAH The Merciful will make them pay for what they did!!!



O My Muslim Friends!!! In the wake of this sad and grieving situation that befallen our brothers and sisters in the Middle East; let us strengthen the resolve of our hatred to Israel and her allies!

Let's:

Harden our heart towards them as they harden their actions towards the Palestinians!

Sharpen our tongues and criticism towards them as they sharpen their weapon for the Palestinians!

Toughen our standing and resolutions towards them as they toughen their doings on the Palestinians!

And Tighten our wallets towards their products and economic prowess as they tighten their grips on the land of Palestine and their claws on the throat of the Palestinians!

Please my friends! Whether we realize it or not, we're in this together. No one is excused! The one who excused him/herself is the one Rasulullah said:

"None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself." - Sahih Bukhari.

(Taken from amirmukhtar blog. thanks Mir!)




Let's pray for them...

They need our prayer...








Type rest of the post here

Let's Boycott!!!

Assalamualaikum...

As i write this entry, the death toll of our Palestinian brothers and sisters has increased to more than 650 and counting...
As all the world leaders trying to show that they care (as if they really care!!) about the humanity crisis that is gripping Palestine, nothing seems to be able to halt the movement of Israel regime, which in its tenth days today... and still has no sign whatsoever to stop anytime soon!
Oh, have they no heart?!! Killing all those women and children like mad animals?!! Destroying hospitals and civilian houses like uncivilized heartless being?!! No, i bet they don't! Not after what they have done since thousands years ago until now!
And what the Muslim world do? Stare... maybe feel sorry a little bit and then.. nothing!

Hmm, wrong! We can still do something. However little and insignificant it seems. Let's boycott Israeli and Israeli-related US Companies! Come on my friends! This is the least we can do to help, not to mention the sad truth that it's the only thing we are able to do actually.

Below, i listed down some of the companies. i got the list from PPIM website. Go and have a look if you have time.

• McDonald
• Coke Cola
• Danone
• Starbucks
• Maggie
• Nestle
• L'Oreal
• Rexona
• Kit Kat
• Sprite
• Sunkist
• Intel
• IBM
• Gap
• Johnson & Johnson
• Kleenex
• Kotex
• Maybelline
• NOKIA

Let's pray to Allah to give strength to the Palestinian to face this battle with Israel Laknatullah...



Please my friends, let's do this! We owe this to our Muslim brothers and sisters out there...













Type rest of the post here

'Happy' New Year 2009?

Assalamualaikum...

Last night is the new year's eve and i was one of the thousands of people 'gathered' at The Curve, Mutiara Damansara to 'celebrate' the New Year. Oh, how i wish i wasn't there...!

A meeting with an old friend of mine - Zid from Sabah - turned to half-nigh
tmare... Yeah that was what's in my mind at the time.
After dinner at Dome about 11 pm, the three of us - with Nasri - were then stuck in a sea of people on the street of The Curve. And to be honest, i was sort of claustrophobic last night as we wriggled, squirmed and fidgeted our way out from the thousands of screaming fans as one Chinese singer - i don't know who the hell is the guy! - sang on the stage.

Lucky, no bad incident happened although several push-pull situations occurred, and after about 45 minutes, we safely escaped from the crowd. 45 minutes... for just about 50 meters walking distance! Even in the dark, our faces were flushed and sweaty as we stared at each other while shaking our heads several times. Huu, that was really.. really something, we said to ourselves.

Although we ended up watching the sky for the amazing 'fireworks show' - which can actually be seen from my house not far from there - i know for sure, i don't want to be there next year or the years after...

The next time i wish to experience such things, may it be at the appropriate place and time
As i said to Nasri soon after our 'great escape', "macam buat umrah, sesaknya!"

Here i attach some pics i snapped in the rush of everything that was happened. They are a bit blurry, as did my mind and my conscience last night...





















Hmm...



















































Type rest of the post here

Getting engaged!

Assalamualaikum...

Today, 27th December 2008 is my Engagement Day. Hmm, suddenly it sounds like 'Judgement Day!" But never mind that; yeah, i'm getting engaged today!

The story of my 'love story' - if you can call it that - is sooo ordinary... which in turn makes it kinda extraordinary.
Well, if you're arching your brows right now reading that, hehe, i'll defend myself by saying, that's not my 'saying' actually. That came from one and two of my friends!
Simply said; they told me, for a guy, who is not so 'melayu' (they said, not me!), i chose a very conservative and old-fashioned way of finding a spouse!
And you know what? i happened to agree with them. But, that's the story for another time. Because for now, i'm too edgy to tell anything in here...

Right now, i'm going to grab something to eat, and maybe later, go to gym...
Oh and one more thing, i won't even be there today. i just leave everything to my family. Ironically, i have 'kursus nikah', this afternoon, here in KL.

Hmm, kursus nikah in the midst of engagement day. Not bad huh...

Bye,
AidanZ







Type rest of the post here

Parroting...

Assalamualaikum...

Ok, it's officially has been sooo long since i last write in here.
Since Obama's win... i just realized now.

The last couple of weeks has been quite eventful and hectic for me, although i do not blame that as the reason i can't write anything in here. Not in the slightest.
For me if you want to write, you can absolutely write. It's that simple.
Either you do... or you don't.

So, since i just un-block my 'no-writing' mode - at least for today - i want to share about something very light here with you.

I got this yesterday, during a writing workshop near Wangsa Maju. Just so you know, it's not the main lesson. This thing i wanna share is actually from an article that we have to read and then were asked to do it all over again in our own word.

The title of the article: How To Never Need To Wonder, "What Do I Say Next?"

Nice title, isn't it?

In summary, The article discussed about what to do when you're at lost of anything to say in the middle of conversation. Especially, when the person is someone you just met, or a long-lost friend that you still need time to get familiar again. Hmm, on the other hand, maybe you can include anybody that you distaste or even despise, but you know you need to make good impressions on him/her! (Hmm, your boss, maybe? hehe)

So, the author introduced a rather nice word - PARROTING - inspired by parrots that will repeat other people's word.

In the article, he gave a quite hillarious example of him using the paroting tecnique to coverse with his friend. But i'm not gonna copy that down here.
Instead, i realized i also happened to be in the same position this morning with my housemate, in which i used the technique without i realized it.

One advice beforehand, especially if you're known as a 'good listener' among your friends and peers, this technique will help you greatly.

So this morning, as usual, i was sitting in front of my laptop in the living room, and tried very hard to do my writings.
And then one of my housemate came and sat beside me. For the sake of this entry, i will call him B and just so you know, lately he just developed an interest in Music and has actually been searching for Piano class...

The conversation was something like this:

B: Abg Zahar, yesterday i went to One Utama and there are two Music Shops there, selling musical instrumens.
Me: Music Shops?
B: Yup. But i only went to one of the shop because the salesgirl is really cute.
Me: Huh? Cute salesgirl? Hehe.
B: Yes, really! Anyway i asked if there's piano lesson offered there.
Me: Piano lesson... there, in the shop?
B: Aah. She said yes. And she told me the fee is blah...blah...blah... Really expensive.
Me: Expensive? (Then somehow i remembered about his other survey)
Me: Compared to before?
B: Expensive. (He confirmed)

Then things got quite for several seconds. In case you're wondering, i still struggle with my writings at the time, which made me quite annoyed when he continued talking.

B: But if i take the piano lesson, i need to buy a piano, maybe a classic piano. To practice...
Me: Classic piano?
B: Yeah, classic piano. It differed from 'Keyboard' and 'Organ'
Me: Keyboard? Organ?
(Patiently, he explained to me the difference between those three. I've to admit i can't remember a thing of what he told me. In fact, what i remember was me and my friend, Amir, made a joke out of it until my stomach hurt) Then,
Me: Go buylah. (I suggest, rather uninterestedly)
B: Expensive!

(And at that time, somehow the topic shifted away and although i was still required to be in the conversation, i can't recall any of it.)

Later, i was thinking about something, when suddenly i remember about the 'Parroting' technique i read yesterday and the conversation i had this morning.

At the time, i realized... Wow! I've been using this technique for so long without i realized it. I've survived long and boring conversations with this technique, and i am known as 'the best listener' among the lot!!

Hu, then everybody can be a good listener, right?
Just repeat what your friend is saying, stress the last word to indicate that you want explanation or you're asking question, and believe me he/she will gladly comply and do all the talking.

And while you 'listen', you can do other things also, such as, thinking about what you want to eat after that, perhaps?

(Hehe, But please, never, never do this technique to play-play with people's heart ok...!)

TQ


Type rest of the post here

Barack Obama - The 44th President of USA

Assalamualaikum...

It's confirm now!

Barack Obama, 47 is the new President of United States of America!

A son of a black man from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, Obama is the first black president in the US history.
As now (1345) , he leads John McCain, 72 of Republican with insurmountable lead of 338 Electoral Collage compared to McCain's 141, far surpassed the 270 needed to be the president.
Other than traditional Democrat-leaning State such as California (55 AP), New York (31 AP), Obama managed to snatch almost all the swing states that are tightly contested between the two candidate.
Ohio (20), Pennsylvania(21), Virginia(13), Florida(27) and Colorado(9), all tilted towards the Democrat, giving him the decisive victory over McCain.
The landslide victory is as predicted as the Americans facing their worst economy crisis since 1980, which many pundits put the blame on the failed policies - foreign and domestic - of President Bush's government.

The peril journey of this remarkable man from Chicago is nearing it's end as the next challenge as the president of the most powerful nation in the world, looming ahead of him.

Said Obama, "Yes, We Can!"



Type rest of the post here

Autism dan Anda

Telah lama penulis tidak menulis dalam blog Aidan ini. Dalam entry pada kali ini, penulis akan membicarakan tentang sebuah buku yang ditulis oleh Jenny McCarthy yang bertajuk 'Louder Than Words'. Buku setebal 200 muka surat ini adalah berkenaan tentang anak Jenny McCarthy iaitu Evan yang menghidapi penyakit autism dan pengalaman Jenny apabila berhadapan dengan masalah ini


Apakah itu autism? Autism, mengikut pandangan peribadi penulis, ialah sejenis penyakit mental atau dengan lebih tepat lagi penyakit 'neuroimmune' dan adalah hasil daripada gabungan genetik dan persekitaran. Mengikut buku tersebut, pada tahun 1970-an, 1 daripada 10,000 orang menghidapi penyakit autism dan meningkat kepada 1 dalam 150 orang pada kurun ke 20. Walau pun penyakit ini merebak dengan cepatnya di Amerika Syarikat, penyakit autism ini semakin dikenali di Malaysia walau pun jumlahnya kecil. Buku ini merupakan buku bukan fiksyen kedua yang penulis baca yang ditulis oleh seorang wanita. Buku pertama bukan fiksyen yang pertama dibaca oleh penulis yang ditulis oleh seorang perempuan ialah buku 'I am Muslim' oleh Dina Zaman.
Jenny McCarthy menceritakan bagaimana dalam menghadapi krisis ini, beliau telah dilanda masalah emosi dan kekeluargaan yang dahsyat. Bayangkan, dalam usaha mendiagnos penyakit yang dihidapi oleh Evan ini, Evan telah mengalami 'seizure' sebanyak 8 kali. Doktor demi doktor dan hospital demi hospital gagal memberi keputusan yang tepat berkenaan tentang penyakit Evan ini. Sehinggalah apabila Jenny membawa anaknya bertemu dengan seorang doktor di Texas, Amerika Syarikat. Baharulah diketahui bahawa anaknya mempunyai penyakit autism.
Untuk maklumat yang lebih lanjut tentang bagaimana Jenny McCarthy menghadapi masalah autism ini dengan jayanya, capailah buku ini di kedai buku yang berhampiran......Jumpa lagi.....

US Presidential Election 2008

Assalamualaikum...

The US presidential election is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, once in every 4 years, .

Which means, this Tuesday, on 4th of November. And no matter what the outcome this Tuesday, it will create history of either the first black man ever to hold the presidency in the form of Barack Obama, 47, or the oldest US President ever in the form of John McCain, 72.

I've followed this election since February this year, when Obama first made a huge surprise by upsetting the clear favorite at the time, Hillary Clinton, 60, in the first presidential primary in Iowa - to determine who's going to be the candidate for their party.
Then, in early August, i cheered heartily when Obama finally clinched the nomination for Democrat Party to face McCain of Republican, in November election.

Many pundits say, this election is for Obama to lose, meaning he's supposed to win -and with a big margin at that. Why? It's simply because the Americans are sick of George Bush, the Republican who has steered US into almost-complete chaos, mainly because of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and also because of the Economic recession.

Some even said, IF - and it really is a big if - Obama lose, there will be blood in the cities. America will be divided, Democrat and Republican will clash as never seen before, and worst of all, racial crisis will once again arised.

Foreign Polls conducted by International newspaper all around the world showed overwhelming support for Obama. They said Bush presidency has managed to alienate the world with wars and harsh foreign affairs, especially in the middle east. Obama, they said will exercise more diplomatic foreign affairs, which is what the world needs. More than ever now.

Personally, i believe- i hope, Obama will win. He is the epitome of younger generation, educated, and most importantly, fresh from the old politics of Washington that has been there for so long now. His motto of 'Change' echoed across the America. He managed to rally 100,000, 75,000 people wherever he goes to campaign. He amass hundreds of millon dollars from his supporters and run the most expensive election campaign the world ever see.

And with just i day to go, the world is holding it's breath to see if the young, black, first term Senator from Illinois, who came from nowhere suddenly on the verge of becoming the most powerful man in the world.




Type rest of the post here

Baca Novel...

Assalamualaikum...

Alhamdulillah, saya baru balik dari kampung di Melaka, dan terus terasa hendak menulis sesuatu di sini. Lagipun dah lama sangat rasanya tidak mencoretkan apa-apa, dan lebih lama lagi tidak menulis dalam bahasa Melayu. So, minta maaf awal-awal kalau tulisan ni sedikit tunggang-langgang ek...

Balik baru-baru ni, dua kakak saya dan anak-anak saudara saya semuanya sedang dalam 'mood' membaca novel. 'Ayat-ayat Cinta' dan 'Hijab Sang Pencinta'. Untuk pengetahuan anda, mood membaca bukanlah sesuatu yang aneh dalam keluarga saya kerana kami boleh dikategorikan sebagai ulat buku. Malah, ia adalah situasi biasa jika kedengaran mak saya memanggil, namun tidak mendapat sebarang jawapan lantaran semuanya sedang sibuk membaca!
Namun, jangan risau. Panggilan kali kedua biasanya akan terus mendapat reaksi positif daripada kitorang semua kerana suara mak saya... huu... nyaring betul! Hehe, Sori Mom...!

Berbalik kepada kisah membaca tadi- bagaimanapun. ada sesuatu yang sangat berbeza sebenarnya di sebalik 'kebiasaan' itu. Iaitu material bahan bacaan kami; novel berbahasa Melayu.
Sebelum weekend baru-baru ni, sudah lama benar rasanya tidak ada novel Melayu di rumah kami. Sebulan sekali kami balik kampung, masing-masing pasti akan membawa buku masing-masing. Namun, semuanya buku omputih. Sesekali kami kongsi 'review' buku yang kami baca dalam bulan tu, juga tiada satu pun buku dalam bahasa ibunda.

Dan seperti yang saya katakan tadi, hinggalah hujung minggu ini.

Saya telah membaca novel 'Ayat-ayat Cinta' lama dulu. Memang best! Mungkin novel bahasa Melayu paling bagus yang pernah saya baca. Kakak saya baru nak membaca novel itu sejak menonton filemnya baru-baru ni. Dan anak-anak saudara saya pun baru nak menurut langkah. Since saya sorang saja yang dah baca buku tu, saya pun bagi review pada mereka. Saya katakan pada mereka, novel itu memang bagus, dan mereka memang patut membacanya!

Namun, bukan itu yang hendak saya ceritakan...

Buku yang kedua bertajuk 'Hijab Sang Pencinta', tulisan Ramlee Awang Mursyid, terbitan Alaf21.
Buku ini adalah buku ketiga dan menurut penulisnya, buku terakhir, dalam siri kisah Laksamana Sunan, watak utama dalam buku itu. Buku pertamanya, Bagaikan Puteri, diikuti, Cinta Sang Ratu, dikatakan telah menjadi 'best-seller' dan dijangka buku ketiga itu juga tidak ada masalah untuk mencapai status yang sama.
Saya harus akui, ketiga-tiga buku ini adalah buku-buku yang saya betul-betul suka. Begitu juga dengan ahli keluarga saya yang lain. Jika tidak, masakan saya harus 'beratur' di belakang anak-sanak saudara saya untuk membaca buku itu!

Jadi, di sini saya ingin ambil kesempatan untuk memberitahu, barangsiapa yang seperti dalam mood untuk membaca novel Melayu yang sedap dibaca, saya sarankan ketiga-tiga buku Ramlee Awang Mursyid tadi. Banyak unsur-unsur supernatural diselang-selikan dengan unsur islamik. Unsur sejarah yang menjadi latar belakang buku ini berjaya dikupas dengan menarik, di samping unsur 'romance' yang agak ringan... InsyaAllah, anda akan menyukainya.
Hmm, dalam kealpaan saya, perkembangan buku Melayu sejak kebelakangan ini sudah semakin rancak, dan saya lebih daripada gembira untuk mengikutinya. Jadi, jika anda pernah terbaca buku/novel Melayu yang baik/best, bolehlah beritahu saya ye. Sharing is improving...

Terima Kasih...



Type rest of the post here

Hamba Ramadhan @ Hamba Allah?

Assalamualaikum...

This is the first post-Ramadhan, post-Aidilfitri entry i write in here. For most part, life has gone back to normal, yet i still cannot make myself to write anything in here. In fact, everytime i opened the 'create post' page for this blog, i can only stare blankly at the screen while frowning deeply, until i closed the page and went to do something else.

But tonight, i vowed that i will write something. Anything. Just to get back 'the mood', i told myself. And so i choose to write about something i read in the newspaper recently. Perhaps because it struck me squarely on the face. Perhaps because i hope it will serve as a reminder to us, myself especially, for this post-Ramadhan period.

The topic is, are we the servant of Allah or the servant of Ramadhan? Sounds controversial. But, that's the fact most of us didn't realize.

The issue is, why during Ramadhan, we can do all sorts of ibadah, such as reading Al-Quran, Sedekah, Solat sunat, Control our nafsu and anger, and so many things? Then, once Ramadhan's over, all that seem like a distant memory, if not history?! It was as if, we're two different people; strong and obedient Muslim during Ramadhan, while weak and 'culas' during post-Ramadhan period?

I must admit, i happened to be one with the 'split-personality' as well. Like i said, that revelation struck me squarely on my face. Without realizing, I have been the servant of Ramadhan, while not really served Allah, the Only, and Truly God of mine! Somehow, I'd forgot that Ramadhan is only the medium for me to get closer to Allah, not the end target of my ibadah!

God, it was hard. To maintain the level of Ramadhan for the next 11 months, huh, it was like.. impossible. Just look at 'Puasa Enam'! I don't know about you, but it sure was impossibly hard for me! (and i still didn't finish it yet!)

So, what are we waiting for? Let's check whether we're truly the servant of Allah... or not?!

May Allah bless us...




Type rest of the post here