Light years

Assalamualaikum w.r.t.

Quite a while I have not posted anything in the blog. Went to PTS raya gathering this afternoon (15/10/2009), and got a dose of adrenalin to write something. I have hyperlinked the blog to 'NASA Image of the Day' and today's image, taken from NASA's Swift satellite, is of a galaxy, known as M31 in the constellation Andromeda, which is the largest and closest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way.

This image of M31 merges 330 individual images taken by Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope showing a region 200,000 light-years wide and 100,000 light-years high (100 arcminutes by 50 arcminutes).

A light year is the distance of light travelling in a year. The speed of light travelling in a vacuum is 299,792,458 metres per second or approximately 300,000 km per second or 1,080,000,000km per hour.

The Andromeda galaxy is 2,500,000 light years from our milky way, so getting there has a lot of zeros in the kilometer. That is only getting there, to tour the galaxy from left to right, top to bottom, masyaAllah, it is quite mind boggling. Compare it with distances that we are familiar with like from KL to JB about 400km, KL to KB about 600km. Phew... not comparable. All I can say is, subhanallah wallahu akbar.

How much do you love Islam?

Assalamualaikum w.r.t.



My heart saddens on reading the latest decision by the government on matters pertaining to 'revertion' of faith to Islam. Read the article below extracted from Utusan Malaysia 24/4/2009.



'IPOH 24 April - Mufti Perak, Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria berkata, sebarang keputusan membabitkan agama Islam sepatutnya dibincangkan dengan Majlis Mufti-Mufti Malaysia terlebih dahulu.


Sambil menyatakan dukacitanya dengan keputusan Kabinet berkaitan isu anutan anak-anak apabila ibu atau bapa mereka menukar agama, beliau berkata, jika keputusan itu dikekalkan, ia menimbulkan kekeliruan kerana bertentangan dengan ajaran Islam.


''Dalam agama Islam, mana-mana bapa atau ibu bukan Islam memeluk Islam, anak mereka dengan sendirinya menganut Islam kecuali jika anak itu berumur lebih 15 tahun,'' katanya di sini hari ini.
Beliau mengulas keputusan Kabinet berhubung isu pertikaian agama anak-anak apabila ibu atau bapa memeluk agama lain.


Semalam, Kabinet memutuskan bahawa anak kepada pasangan yang menukar agama yang masih di bawah umur hendaklah dibesarkan mengikut agama asal ibu bapa mereka semasa melangsungkan perkahwinan.


Keputusan itu merujuk kepada mana-mana pasangan yang memeluk Islam harus menyelesaikan isu berkaitan perceraian dan penjagaan anak-anak di mahkamah sivil dan bukannya Mahkamah Syariah.
Harussani berkata, agama Islam tidak seharusnya dikorbankan hanya kerana mahu memuaskan kehendak pihak-pihak tertentu.


''Jangan korbankan agama, akidah dan kepercayaan kita untuk hanya melayan atau menyenangkan orang lain dalam perkara ini,'' katanya.


Dalam pada itu, Harussani memberitahu, banyak pihak meminta kerajaan negeri membantah penganjuran program Jom Heboh di pangkalan Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) Lumut mulai esok.


Bagaimanapun, katanya, program berkenaan dibuat oleh TLDM dan tidak melalui kerajaan negeri.
''Saya tidak bersetuju dengan sebarang program berbentuk hiburan yang melalaikan,'' katanya.
Pada 2004, Majlis Mufti-Mufti Malaysia memutuskan bahawa konsert Jom Heboh adalah haram kerana ia melalaikan dan menggalakkan maksiat di kalangan anak muda.'



Our Prophet (pbuh) was made to endure mortal sufferings by Allah the Almighty so that his love towards work of dakwah never diminishes. The Prophet (pbuh) coached the Companions to follow suit in propogating islamic teachings and to defend the faith with all they have.

We now read how Islam as the religion of the federation and muslims are holding authority, yet sympathy to the 'reverts' could have been more assuring. This episode saddens one's heart and the fear of not being able to answer Allah's query is beginning to grip like a boa constricter tightening around it's prey. There is no power greater than Allah's, there is no greater planner and executioner save Him, and one can only make doa to shower His guidance on to those who are sincere and steadfast in faith. Amin ..... and how much doyou love Islam?

Assalamualaikum w.r.t

The Gaza episode has long gone from the Malaysian press spotlight. The struggle continues even though many news suppression, local and abroad, are being carried out. Read this article posted today by a group of volunteers for a programme they called 'Viva Palestina', please follow the link below:

Gaza or bust (Viva Palestina update)
Yvonne Ridley, Former Taliban Captive, Convert to Islam - Wednesday, 08 April 2009

© Yvonne Ridley, Former Taliban Captive, Convert to Islam

Is this true?

I took the liberty of quoting this article from The Malaysian Insider site. Read and reflect....its excellent for brain stimuli.

Selangor prepared to take legal action against hikes in water tariffs
By Neville Spykerman
SHAH ALAM, March 31 — Selangor is prepared to go to the court to challenge any decision to increase water tariffs in the state.
Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the proposed increase in tariffs is unjustified because of the poor performance of the water concessionaire and the state will take it to court as a last resort.
Khalid said the state would first try arbitration, as provided for in the agreement, should higher tariffs be approved.
“The company has breached conditions in the agreement including reducing non-revenue water and any decision to increase tariffs is untenable.”
Khalid said the matter has been brought to the attention of the Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Water together with a request for the concessionaire agreement to be terminated.
“No decisive action has been taken by the minister but there are indications Syabas will be allowed to be the licensee under a new restructuring plan, which is beyond the comprehension of the state government.”
Khalid added the decision goes against consumer interests and the original intention of restructuring the water industries in Malaysia.
Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) is requesting a 31 per cent price hike under the concession agreement and a decision will be made by the Cabinet tomorrow.
Any increase may jeopardise the 20 cubic meters of free water currently enjoyed by consumers in Selangor.
The state government has been at loggerheads with the federal government over the restructuring of the water industries in Selangor.

Life and it's teachings

Assalamualaikum w.r.t.

Its been some time since my last posting. Running short of breadth because too many tasks needed to be completed, many deadlines that had lapsed.... aaargh....trying to keep my cool and composure. One thing for sure, the priority list must to be reviewed.

I want to share a book that I bought last Saturday from MPH wangsamaju (haven't finish reading it though). The title is 'Life is an open secret: you, me and we' by Zabrina A. Bakar. It contains 18 stories of life experiences and I must say initially it did not catch my attention. The cover is coloured pink (missy look) but after going through first few pages, the appreciation pages, I was impressed.

Her readers are varied and coming from around the globe. This is her second book and there was this review by Yvonne Ridley.....yes.....the Yvonne Ridley (don't know who she is?). She is a journalist and a writer.....the one that was held captive by the talibans.

I haven't gone further than page 22, but the stories that I've read are down to earth stories and the lessons learned are like jewels waiting to be picked up and for you to display as your ornaments.

InsyaAllah, I will continue with this commentary in the coming posts ......hope Allah bestow on me the health and strength to record my thoughts..... amin.

FRAGILITY OF LIFE

You are alive this minute and then the next minute you maybe dead.



Last ight I received a call from one of my colleagues relating to me that a student of mine met with an accident in the afternoon and he passed away at the scene. He is much younger than I am. Logically the oldest will go off first, but death doesn't follow any specific logical sequence.



It struck me that the moment you leave the house, there is no guarantee that you will be coming back home. Its also a fact that there is no guarantee that you will be reaching your office because death can be instanteneous and unexpected.



May Allah have mercy on your soul Br. Noorazrim bin Ismail, and may Allah give me strength to always remember death.

DON'T BE FOOLED (1)

Assalamualaikum w.r.t.

Came across this article in the http://www.islamonline.net, written by Muhammad Gamal Arafa titled "Neocons in Their Democratic Dress : Members of the New Obama Administration". The author is a political analyst and his main argument is no matter who resides in the White House (incidentally that has been the focus of late) the policies are going to be the same but with a different flair. I reproduce the article wholly below for your consumption.

"Obama's government is like a collection of Clintonists," is a remark becoming familiar now after the main features of the President-elect — and very soon President — Barack Obama's administration has become clear. The team that includes most of its ministers and officials who served in the administration of former President Bill Clinton, is headed by Clinton's wife Hillary Clinton.

However, what the Americans did not say — and is important to the Arab region — is that those named by Obama are not only "Clintonists", but also belonging to the hawkish conservative "Democrats", like the neoconservatives in the Republican Party. The main danger that is feared they may pose is that many Arab and Muslim dossiers are expected to be transformed at their hands into bloody ones.

It is not true that only the Republicans do represent the conservative, fundamentalist, and extremist wing in the United States of America. Yet, a general current called "the fundamentalist conservative current" has emerged in the US since September 11th, 2001. This current includes both Republicans and Democrats.

This new current inside the Democratic Party — called the "New Democrats" or the "Neoconservative Democrats" — has the same ideas held by the neocons within the Republican Party and is linked to the hawks of this party. Indeed, it follows the same policies as to the hostile attitude toward the Arabs and Muslims and the bias to Tel Aviv. The neocon Democrats adopt "a progressive strategy for defeating Jihadism and defending freedom," as mentioned in the title of a book authored by the chairman of the Progressive Policy Foundation, one of the conservative, Democratic thinking centers. Some, such as Peter Beinart, the editor of the New Republic newspaper, call for the return to the cold war principles laid down by President Truman, with the aim of expanding the war on terror.
This new Obama team is largely composed of the prominent figures of the conservative hawks who support the war in Iraq and the shift toward escalation in Afghanistan and Pakistan and igniting the already burning region between India and Pakistan following Mumbai bombings.

It is noted as well that Obama has named some figures known for their extreme support for war against some Arab and Muslim countries, notably Sudan. This has raised doubts regarding the change of which Obama spoke about, and that he may prove to be nothing but a copy of Bush and his administration; the only thing that will undergo change is raising the "the Republican Party" sign.

Kesihatan ekonomi

Catitan di bawah ini bagus untuk jadi renungan. Para pemimpin kita menidakkan kesan kejatuhan ekonomi amerika ke atas keadaan ekonomi negara kita. Alasan  yang diberikan bahawa asas ekonomi kita adalah kukuh. Aku tidak mahir untuk menganalisa samada asas-asas ekonomi adalah seperti yang diuar-uarkan. Namun yang pasti dari pengalaman lepas, apa yang berlaku di amerika (mereka adalah pengimpot barangan malaysia) tidak akan memberi kesan segera kepada malaysia tetapi dalam tempoh masa yang terdekat. Bacalah pandangan penganalisis ini seperti yang aku paparkan dalam keadaan asalnya. Rakan dan taulan perlu prihatin terhadap situasi yang bakal melanda. Shipping Rates Hit Rock Bottom - I Hope You Understand What This Means

By Matthias Chang

Thursday, 15 January 2009 22:51

Global Trade Has Collapsed Totally   Shipping Companies Like MISC and Major Ports Will Be In Deep Shits   Revising My Previous Forecast On Growth   It Will Be Negative in 2009 For Malaysia   In a recent Strategy Forum which I conducted, I shared a very simple method of gathering “intelligence on our export trade” with the delegates.   I told them that all I need to do is to observe the ships departing from the ports. I look at the load waterline (L.W.L. - the waterline at which the ship will float when loaded to its designed draft). This will indicate whether a ship is fully laden with cargo. This is simple common sense.   In the past few weeks, many ships were not fully laden. This means that we are not shipping out that many exports – Q.E.D! The authorities can fudge the figures, but the load water-line cannot lie.   Today, if you go to Singapore, ships are all over the port and idling for want of cargo.   It has now been reported that shipping rates for containers hit zero. Holy smoke, the shit has really hit the ceiling fan! This has never happened before. This means that demand for industrial goods have slumped big time. World trade has collapsed. Exporting economies in Asia have been hit hard by the fall in demand in US and Europe.   Last year, I reported and drew your attention that the Baltic Dry Index which measures freight rates for bulk commodities such as iron ore, grains etc. crashed – dropping a whopping 96 per cent.   Some idiots in Malaysia have been trumpeting for over a year that Asia’s economies have de-coupled from the Western economies. This is bullshit!   A big chunk of our exports goes to USA and Europe. Now that these markets have collapsed, it is only time that we will face a major downturn that will be deep and long which I estimate will commence by end of the first quarter 2009.   Had Malaysia took pre-emptive measures in 2006 and early 2007, we could have mitigated our exposure. But Badawi was “sleeping” and his stupid 4th Floor boys were too concerned in plundering the economy for themselves, and to quote one of them, “it is our turn.”   Now is too late.   Even RM73 Billion may not be enough to bailout those corporate entities considered too big to be allowed to fail.   It is time to start PRAYING!

REMEMBER

Aduh.... betapa banyak nikmat yang Allah beri pada diri ini. Selalu aku merungut dan mengeluh tetapi terlupa ada yang tidak punya. Nabi s.a.w. dilaporkan telah bersabda, 'Untuk perkara dunia, lihatlah mereka yang lebih rendah dari kamu, untuk perkara akhirat, lihatlah mereka yang lebih tinggi dari kamu'. Gamadar ni dah acapkali aku tengok, tapi tak rugi tengok lagi dan lagi supaya hati yang keras dapat jadi sedikit lembut. Aku cilok gambar ni dari http://futurefastforward.com, harap tauke tu tak marah.

Heart Touching

Administrator

Friday, 16 January 2009 00:04

If you think you are unhappy, look at them   If you think your salary is low, how about her? When you feel like giving up, think of this man If you think you suffer in life, do you suffer as much as he does? If you complain about your transport system, how about them? If your society is unfair to you, how about her? Enjoy life how it is and as it comes Things are worse for others and it is a lot better for us.   There are many things in your life that will catch your eye but only a few will catch your heart....pursue those...

Aku seorang muslim, seorang melayu yang tinggal di Semenanjung Tanah Melayu.

Saudara Baha Zain menulis dalam blognya (http://bahazain.blogspot.com/) yang aku paparkan di bawah ini:

Dalam teks yang sama ada beberapa gambar orang Melayu. Swettenham memuji rupa wajah dan pakaian perempuan-perempuan Melayu yang memang sungguh ayu dan menarik dalam dua keping gambar.Ada dua gambar lain yang elok juga kita baca keterangannya bagi menyelami persepsi dan pendapat pegawai British ini terhadap orang kita pada zaman dahulu.

Gambar pertama : seorang lelaki Melayu berkopiah ketayap dan berkaki ayam menarik tenggala (bajak) , dan seorang perempuan berkain, dan bertudung kepala menyorong dari belakang. Keterangan atau caption gambar berkata begini:

"MELAYU MALAS BERSUSAH PAYAH MEMBAJAK TANAH"

Alat yang digunakan oleh orang Melayu untuk pertanian sangatlah kuno; sebuah tenggala biasanya dibuat daripada cabang pokok dengan mata tenggalanya berbentuk kasar. Waktu lama yang memenatkan digunakan oleh buruh tani ini bagi mengerjakan tanah kepunyaannya, kerana mereka sangat tak suka berkerja tekun, dan kemalasan serta tabiat suka berseronok membuat mereka lebih suka berhutang daripada mencari wang.

Gambar kedua menunjukkan sepasang lelaki memakai kain, sepatu dan berketayap sedang menari, dan tiga orang lain bertinggung sedang asyik menonton.Keterangan gambar berbunyi begini:

"TARIAN MELAYU DENGAN GERAKAN PENUH BERGAYA"

Bagi orang asing tarian ini memang membosankan--ulangan gerak geri yang itu itu juga; tetapi orang Melayu meminati apa yang dilakukan oleh penari mereka, dan sorakan penonton disambut dengan suara pekikan pujian daripada pemukul gendang yang memukul dengan sekuat-kuatnya gendang yang kosong.

Nampaknya Swettenham merumuskan bahawa bangsa Melayu ini memang baik hati dengan orang, bersopan, hormat, mesra, dan bergaya , tetapi boleh pula tanpa diduga mengamuk sampai membunuh. Melayu juga katanya: malas, tak suka bekerja kuat, leka berseronok dan suka berhutang daripada bekerja tekun mencari wang.

Barangkali kalau orang Melayu rajin dan tekun bekerja tentu hasil negeri bertambah berlipat ganda dan Inggeris akan memuji kerana boleh menjadikan Melayu hamba abdinya untuk mengaut lebih banyak wang untuk dihantar ke London sebagaimana dia ceduk daripada bijih timah dan getah yang dikerjakan oleh bangsa Cina dan India yang dianggapnya kuli. Tapi takkanlah bangsa Melayu macam itu juga sampai hari ini kerana sekarang sudah merdeka daripada penjajah Inggeris. Terserahlah apa yang anda fikirkan. (Bersambung)

Manusia melayu memang terkenal dengan sifat sopan santunnya terutama terhadap orang asing. Sikap tolak ansurnya tiada tolok banding, yalah orang tolak, manusia melayu akan beransur. Namun setiap tubuh yang berakal mempunyai maruah dan had tolak ansur. Jika pegangan agamanya diperbodoh-bodohkan, jika keturunannya diperlekehkan, jika tanah negerinya diinjak-injak, pepatah melayu berbunyi 'biar putih tulang, jangan putih mata', 'berpantang maut sebelum ajal', 'alang-alang menyeluk pekasam, biar sampai ke pangkal lengan'.
Renungkan.