A DAY OUT IN WIMBLEDON

Well, this year has been really eventful. The world cup has been keeping me occupied since my exam days, and a day without a match seems really dull.

There was a 2-day gap between the second round and the quarter final stages. I persuaded Al to join me going to Wimbledon, and we took this opportunity to attend on of the world finest Tennis Grand Slam Championships (there's only 4 anyway).

Posing with the Championship Crest

So, we headed to London on Wednesday, 28/06 without knowing where we'd spend the night in London. I kept myself quite occupied trying to arrange for accommodation in London. Almost everyone that i knew has gone home, leaving us with no choice apart from the Malaysia Hall.

We chose not to let the accommodation issue to spoil our day anyway. I took Al around London, and we went as far as Greenwich Maritime Museum. We managed to get into the museum, about 30 minutes before it was closed. We could not make it into the Royal Observatory, but we still enjoyed the panoramic view from the top of the hill, and Al had to make-do with taking pictures from outside the fence.

The Royal Observatory Gate

Al Relaxing Around the Greenwich Park

Finally, the name shahbaz hit me, and I just realised that he'd be more than happy to accept us.

He answered my call by telling me that he was in carmarthen, and I nearly gave up hope. He quickly dismissed my worry by confirming that he's going home that night, and we could meet him at Paddington Station.

Fate unravelled itself when we realised that his house is in Tooting, and this is just few stations away from Wimbledon st. There's no direct Tube line, but we were not planning to go about by Tube anyway. Bus is simply a cheaper and better ventilated option.

We crashed shahbaz's place, and was entertained by the best make-do treatment, considering our late notice. His mum was so worried that we were not satisfied, that we had to convince him and indirectly his mum that everything was fine. He had a nice little garden behind the house, which gave us the impression of an airport runway. The meal was superb, and we spent that night in a deep slumber in a room in the attic.

Crashing at Shahbaz's

to be continued...

FEW DAYS LATER...

ON RESULTS:
Well, i have been quite for the past few days. I got my exam results on friday evening, which for me is not really satisfactory.

ON TRIPS:
Well, nothing really matters anyway. I went for a bike-ride trip plus country side sightseeing. It was worth the effort, although i think i spent too much money on this one trip.

ON BLOGGING:
I have been quiet not because i don't have anything to write. It was simply because my friend's computer cannot detect any keyboard, hence the difficulties in typing. I'd like to comment on few things, which have been talked about on the net.

Most of my friends have gone home. There's one guy, who i simply pissed him off at the beginning of the year. I reckon he has many potentials that need developing, yet he's so attached to many things. I know, i should not have done what i did, but i thought it is best for him to detach himself from his comfortable world. I saw myself in him, and I just don't want him to be like myself couple of years back. I hope he can thank me for being harsh on him in years to come.

ON TENNIS:
Now i also began to understand my bro's enthusiasm in tennis, and the reason behind it. Tennis in the morning, huh?

Wimbledon started yesterday. Most probably, I'll just go there for a day, just to see the crowd, and who knows whom I am going to meet.

ON WORLD CUP:
Italy won the match against australia yesterday. I was so delighted, since I really support Italy in this world cup. Well, australia played well, especially after the harsh straight red card for materazzi. All went well, what goes aroud comes around. Australia were on the receiving end of the bad refereeing in the last minute of the game. BANG, Totti scored the penalty, and Italy is through to the quarter final.

ON LIFE AFTER GRADUATION:
What else? I should start looking for jobs. I should not have problems finding jobs, but I am so lazy at the moment. I cannot wait to go away after graduation. Most probably, I'll start looking for jobs in september, and maybe start working in November.

That's all for now...

APSAL BLOG AKU PADAM TAPI DAH OK

Sebentar tadi, blog aku telah padam. klik tak keluar apa pun. tapi sekarang dah ok pulak. musykil...

At the moment, I am busy with packing up. Semalam tengok Ronaldo melaukkan goalie jepun. Awal2 tu, tengok susah gak nak break mamat tu dengan long shot. tetapi selepas rembatan demi rembatan, aku rasa tangan dia jadi kebas, maka terlepas la dia gol2 long shot dari juninho dan ronaldo sendiri.

dan commentator tu menokok nambah "he doesn't need to move if he can shoot like that", referring to kegemukan ronaldo. Rembat cam haraaammmm.

Last but not least, the pride of english FA, graham poll telah membuat kesilapan yang super mangkuk dalam match australia-croatia. dia telah memberikan 2 kad kuning kepada simunic, tapi tak send mamat tu off. lepas dia tambah satu kad lagi (3rd yellow), baru dia send mamat tu off.. kelakar sungguh. yang peliknya, ref lain pun senyap je, fourth fifth officials.. ntah la..

untuk melihat highlight, sila lah lawat website bbc, click world cup, dan click video archive. tapi untuk orang yang berIPaddresskan UK aje..

God save the Queen (so that we can watch more football at no expense).

God save our gracious queen
long live our noble queen
God save the queen

Send her victorious
Happy and glorious
long to reign over us
God save the queen..

Exhausting day

Well, today has been very fruitful. I spent last night away from manor hall, and after breakfast, i returned, only to realise that i have spent about 4 nights away from 'home'.

I had a very interesting conversation with Ross, our lady cleaner. She has not stopped promoting her 'buy before you buy' policy to me. I wanted to attend a discussion with U Marzuki, but was delayed by the conversation. I ended up making her a cup of coffee after she said 'over the 4 years that i have known you, you've never made me a cup of tea'..


Anyway, i promised Adam that I'd meet him outside his house at 11 am. I went to Queen's Building first to check my mail, and return few books to the rightful owner. The Queen's Building of the University of Bristol was opened by the queen in 1955, and last year (2005), she came again to open a state-of-the-art Earthquake Lab, which forms the new wing of the building.

After few hiccups, we left Bristol heading to Bath at about 11.45am.. The Bristol and Bath Railway Path, opened in 1984, was the first section of the National Cycle Network to be built. The journey was smooth, and the sky was really bright. We arrived at Bitton station quite early, and after enjoying late breakfast meal (sandwiches and ice-cream), we continued with our journey.


We arrive in Bath at about 1.15pm and we found ourselves amazed at the buildings around Bath. This time, i became the Tourist Guide, showing Adam around Bath. The pulteney bridge, the Guildhall, the Sally Lunn etc. We bought few cookies from Ben's, and enjoyed our cookies with ice-cream on a bench in the abbey courtyard.

Bath was full of street musicians, and we did not miss the opportunity to listen to the relaxing mozart composition.

After that, we headed to Jane Austen's centre, just to show Adam where she used to live. We navigate further uphill, until we reached the Circus and the Crescent. He spent few minutes enjoying the panoramic view, while I perfomed the Midday prayer. Few minutes later, we again cycled aroud Bath, and finally headed home.

We left Bath at about 3.10pm, but this time the weather was quite hot. We nearly got into trouble. There were two ladies who let their dogs loose, and Adam nearly hit one, who was running and suddenly stopped. At the same time, i could not avoid hitting Adam from behind. Fortunately, my swift act managed to reduce the damage to a minimal. Because of the temperature, I felt quite dehydrated, and we had to stop at Bitton again, this time to buy some drinks. While i sticked to the more traditional mineral water, Adam chose a more sophisticated energy replinishing drinks, Lucozade. We continued cycling and arrived at Adam's at about 4.30pm

Immediately, we went to the common room, and yay, I saw Inzaghi escaped the off-side trap, rounded the goalie, and scored.. and Italy won the match. Go Italy go..

Having had this double jack-pot, i went home, and there, i see something i have been waiting for. I received a mail from a far-away friend, which i have been waiting for ever since.

To all that contributed to these events, I thank you very much for making my day. A special thank to...

Home sweet home

Can't wait to go home. Soon.. real soon..

FRIENDS (II)

well, the wise men said, we do not choose our destiny, it chooses us (refer saladin trailer).

i did not choose to be in this position. a girl said to me last week 'we did not choose to meet, we did not plan to meet' and ...

anyway, i am the only malay and practising muslim in my class. In my first year, i used to attend my lectures regularly, sat in one corner without talking to anyone, and at the end of the day, went home. Imagine the whole cycle 9-5 almost everyday. Things got better in my second year, and the third and fourth.

I got along very well with people from the islamic society, mainly due to our common belief and similar codes of ethics. I have been a worker for the ISoc over the past four years, which allowed me to enjoy the ups and downs working for it. I was on the frontseat in a Yvonne Ridley's lecture which was eventually broadcasted on BBC, hence the up. I was also there trying to understand everything when a conflict between 2 camps started.

I always believe that a leader can always be a leader, in any situation he's in. With the charisma and leadership skills, there's no reason why a foreigner cannot lead a group of British people. This is a fact that needs attention. We always see that a Malay will feel inferior to these British people, and not taking up responsibilities if there's some British students in the group. If we look carefully, most of us have the required skills. Just look at our CV's, and how many of us were prefects, president, this and that when we were in secondary school? Some of us were headboys, deputies, presidents of the best socities whatsoever. The point is, everything goes to thin air when we come to the UK. The question of whether it is inferiority or it is laziness still needs answering.



Once the question was put forward to me. My answer was " We malaysians, we operate on the 'cometh the our, cometh the man' basis". That is quite fair i think. I was not that involved in the Isoc planning couple of years back. Everything changed when I was told to step in during the time of crisis. That was an Order from the president of that time. As much as i did not like the job, i knew that i had to do it, for the sake of Allah. And here came ta'ah, obedience to leader in islamic movement, which i found extremely lacking in ISoc members, especially in those who were brought up in this country.


Malay friends of my batch left uni last year, after finishing their respective courses in 3 years time. To be fair, our batch is not that big anyway. I had many good friends. One of them simply dissappeared into thin air after leaving Bristol. I believe that he has his own reasons, and as a good friend, i make du'a that he finds every success in whatever he does.

FRIENDSHIP

I am pretty much in stress at the moment. There's something mystery, unexplainable about this condition I am in. It was almost similar to the 'depression' that I experienced before my trip to Sarajevo.

At this moment, I really want to shun everyone from my life. I don't feel like talking to anyone.. I think, the main reason is that I am forcing myself to accept the fact that I am leaving this place for good soon.. real soon.. and leaving so many people that have been real friends to me..



One person whom I really have to pay tribute to is Shahbaz. He'd always been there for me. Regardless of his situation, he will always allocate times for his friends, should they be in dire needs. I remember asking him a favour of correcting my 3000 words essay, which was due within few days. Having had to do revision himself, he still found some times to help me out. Another time, when I asked him to help me with my presentation, he provided me with all I need to know to improve my presentation. He would have harassed me on repeating the whole thing, had the solah prayer not interrupted the session.

Shahbaz has left bristol, and before he left, he did say something like "we knew each other too late" which i exactly know why.. but there's wisdom behind everything Bro..

Armaj turned out to be a great friend too. Just simply put it this way. He's a worker, a leader, a speaker, a listener, everything combined, which gives everyone the likeliness to stick around him and know him better. He is honest, speaks his mind ( which can be annoyying sometimes), but above everything, he is a real friend. One who will ask and listen to your advice, at the same time, correct you should you stray from the path.

Within last week, i met someone with a great personality. Someone whose aura brings the better side of me. Someone whose presence alone gives me comfort and calmness. Someone who is real, honest, and is not ashamed of being himself/herself around me. I wish i had more time to know this person, unfortunately, this person has gone too.

Wallahua'lam...

My Squash Racket

Unfortunately, I cannot play squash anymore..

ZAGREB (continued)

Actually, my heart is elsewhere at the moment.. Due to obligation and other unforseen circumstances, I have to put up with staying in Bristol, at least for the next few days..

After that visit to the fantasy club, Duc and I went around the city. First, we headed to an old building. There's something rather majestic and antique about the building, yet it was empty. Apparently, it has been converted into one of the shopping complex, and since it was sunday, most of the shops were not open.

Zagreb is a city full of Trg (Square), and most of the squares are dedicated to special person that has brought great honour to the country. There's Trg Bana, Trg Britanski, Trg Kralja Tomislava and many others. The old zagreb town can be divided into two parts. The first sector was under the control of the church or the religious institution, whereas the other one was controlled by the merchant. There were moments of tension between the two parties, which resulted in rather undesired ramification. The two sub-urbans were separated by a stream, yet connected by a bridge called The Bridge of Blood. These days, the stream is no longer there, and you can simply walk from one city to another.

First, we headed to the church controlled part of the town. To get there, one can walk, or one can choose to ride a small cable-car/train type of vehicle. The fare was reasonable, and the journey did not take very long. Located on top of the hill is a cannon tower, a remnant from the 'crusade war'.

When the ottoman empire was pushing its borders in order to expand into the catholic-controlled region, they came across the Hrvatskans. These people were warlike people, which were huge in built, and fierce in character. They managed to stop the Ottoman's expansion, hence maintaining their allegience to the Roman Catholic Church. Their Slav brothers, the bosnian had opened up to the muslims expansion, and eventually accepted islam as their religion. On the other side, their serbian brothers had decided to embrace the orthodox creed. Therefore, the croatians had to be strong to defend the 'catholic empire'. In fact, until today, the croatians are really proud for being the 'defender of the catholic church'.

Well, the cannon tower is located somewhat a hundred metre above the sea. During the war, it was used to fire against the muslim forces, and also served as a warning to the city regarding the invasion of the muslim. Today, the city council decided to keep the cannon and fire blanks every day around mid-day. We missed the firing that day, and honestly, I kept missing it throughout my stay in Zagreb.

The Gornji grad area has been greatly preserved by the croatian government. It houses many government offices, croatian parliaments, catholic churces, and many other relics of the previous centuries. Duc is a religious catholic, and he took me into most of the churches. I had a decent guided tour, which i willingly accepted. There were so many factions of christianity in zagreb, where each faction has their own churches. While most of them were tolerable, there were few who lived on the extremes and used to preached war all the time. I was not surprised at all, considering that even the muslim community is facing similar problems.

On the rooftop of one of the churches, one can see carefully-arranged tiling roof, which formed the country's coat of arms. The main symbol (and currency) is Kuna, a type of fox, which used to be the main trade of the Hrvatskan. They hunted the creature and sold the fur, and used them in their trade and exchange, hence the name kuna for the currency. 10 Kuna = £1.. and decent meal will cost about Kn. 50.

... to be continued.. pictures to follow...

PAKCIK, JAM PUKUL BERAPA?

Seorang pemuda sedang dalam perjalanannya kembali ke Kuala Lumpur   dengan menaiki keretapi Mel-malam. Antara penumpang yang ramai ada  seorang tua 

yang duduk disebelahya 

Setelah lama berdiam diri, sambil menguap si pemuda bertanya kepada orang tua 

tersebut, " Pakcik, pukul berapa sekarang?"  Sebuah pertanyaan yang biasa, 

yang kadangkala kita tujukan kepada sesiapapun  kan?                                                                  

Dan selalunya kita akan mendapat jawapan. Namun kali ini sungguh diluar   dugaan, 

orang tua tadi berdiam diri sahaja. 
                                     

Mungkin orang tua ini kurang pendengaran, berkata pemuda tersebut.  

Dia  mengulanginya sampai 3 kali. Namun orang tua itu tetap berdiam diri tanpa 

sebarang riak dari wajahnya.

Pemuda tersebut mencuit orang tua tersebut dan berkata, Saya hairan mengapa 

pakcik tidak menjawap pertanyaan saya? Salahkah saya bertanya?                    

Orang tua itu menoleh sambil berkata, "Bukannya saya tidak mahu menjawap, 

tapi nanti kalau saya jawap, kita pasti akan bersoal jawap mengenai soal ini soal itu, 

dan akhirnya kita akan bertambah mesra. 

 Si pemuda termangu mendengar ceramah orang tua itu. Terus dia bertanya lagi, 

"Lalu apa salahnya kalau kita menjadi lebih mesra?"Orang tua itu berkata lagi, 

"Apabila kita bertambah mesra  ketika anak gadis dan isetri saya menjemput saya 

di Kuala Lumpur, nanti kita akan turun sama-sama. 

Dan saya pasti mengenalkan mereka kepada kamu."                        

Si pemuda itu tambah bingung dan tidak tentu arah. "Kemudian?"  tanyanya lagi. 

"Isteri saya orangnya baik sekali kepada semua orang, takut nanti dia mempelawa 

anda ke rumah. Nanti kamu akan mandi dan berehat di rumah saya,

 dan juga akan kami jamu di rumah saya. Setelah itu kamu boleh menjadi rapat  

dengan anak gadis saya dan kamu akan menjadi teman lelaki anak  saya. 

 Lama-lama kamu akan menjadi menantu saya," katanya lagi. 

Si pemuda yang tadi sudah bingung sekarang semakin bingung.

Terus dia bertanya, "Pakcik, apakah hubungannya semua ini dengan pertanyaan 

saya yang pertama? Sambil berdiri orang tua tersebut menjawap dengan lantang. 

"Masalahnya?, 

SAYA TIDAK MAHU MEMPUNYAI MENANTU SEPERTI KAMU. JAM TANGAN PONG TAKDERRR!

FNALLY IT'S OVER (18sx )

Assalamualaikum, and peace be upon those..

and today, the final showdown. After four years of battling with Rogers&Mayhew, Massey, Ribando, Epigram, (well.. and blogging and soccernet and...), we had our last paper.. Design & Nature. Over the past few days, i had been revising this subject, which dealt deeply with the mechanics of flight for birds and insects.



Also, how dolphins, despite their relatively large size, manage to reduce reynold's number down to laminar region, therefore requiring less power at around 12 m/s (that is about 43 km/h).



Anyway, right after the exam, most of the students headed to Epi Bar, which is located in the union building, about 5 mins away. I went there slightly later, just to see some friends off. Some have got job lined up, some are staying for PhD, some are, like me, undecided.

Well, as a not-so-religious-but-keeps-trying-i-hope muslim, we were taught to celebrate success with alhamdulillah (All praise to God). Interestingly, other cultures have other ideas of celebrating success.

'I want to pull a ***** tonight', said one. 'See Zac, sex in the brain', said another while shaking his head approvingly.

And i could just smiled. Well, it was somehow related to design and nature, wasn't it?

another conversation..

'Zac, once you get home, how many wives do you want to have? 5?'
'Well, the maximum is four. but four at a time. I mean, you can divorce one, and replace it, as long as it is not more than 4 at a time'
and i added 'Well, i would like to form a football team.. with reserves..'

and they started chatting and blabbering on how many days are required, plus waiting time of 9 months, and building up and training of 18 years. owh, not to mention, the probability of getting a boy over a girl... and if you do the differentiation correctly with respect to.... (i think they were half drunk already)..

Well, it is such a wonderful feeling having gone through everything. But, the frightening bit has just began. What is coming is very uncertain. And, like other human beings, we fear uncertainties. We don't like uncertainties. We like our life to be planned ahead step by step, so that we won't stumble.

So, here i am. trying to figure out my next step. I am going to be here? will I be gone?


..find a girl, settle down, if you want you can marry..
..look at me, i am old but i am happy..

OUR BEST FRIEND

There is a creature, which is well known to be men's best friend.

When i first came to Bristol, i stayed in Manor hall for a year. I left the hall in my third year, only to come a year later.

Living in the same floor as i was in my junior year, I got to meet our lady cleaner, whom is in her mid-forties.

She is a very nice woman, and in my first year, she lent us (me and azmir) bedcloth, duvet, its cover, pillows, everything (you name it). Well, it was really out of her way, since we should be paying a 'rent' of £10 a year for all those stuff. Anyway, she did not charge us, and we were very happy. I gave her a christmas day present, and she was really overjoyed.

Later, at the beginning of my third year, I met her again. She told me that she now has a Jack Russell, which she named after me. For those who are not familiar with this name, Jack Russell is not Kurt Russell's cousin. Neither it is Russell Crowe's distant relative. It is a DOG. Can you imagine, she called her dog 'Zac'?



Should i get mad, or should i...? anyway, i simply smiled at her, feeling that she named the dog because she wants to remember me and my other nice malaysian friends. Well, she likes malaysians simple because we don't make a mess in the kitchen that she has to clean everyday.

The whole scenario reminded me of a thing which occured almost 20 years ago. As a little kid who knew nothing much of the world, I learn my ABC and language from television and books. I remember my mum taught me all the names of dogs, german shepherd etc.. and cats, and fishs, and birds and many others using flashcards.

And we learnt that dogs are cute and friendly creatures, whose mere existence has been very beneficial to mankind. Living in a malay village, i hardly remember encountering any dog when i was small.

One day, the whole family visited mak ngah's house in JB. That was one of my first memory of seeing a living dog. It was white a fluffy. And i really thought that it was cute.

I was the oldest son in my family, and was quite close to my dad. and i said to my dad 'You are like the dog'.. i mean, in a positive way. Out of the sudden, the whole house turned against me, as if i had done something unforgivably wrong. I did not understand why. That was the moment that i learnt, although dog is well known as men's best friends, it is very offensive to call someone 'dog' in our malay culture.

That's to say that there are differences in communal code of ethics. While i may think it differently, others have surely got the wrong idea. I surely could not have defended myself. I was real tiny at that time. Series like lassie, or on any other smart dogs had deceived me. So did the flashcards, and other external influence.The same story has been mentioned over and over again, by my parents, sisters whosoever, everytime i did hurt my parents. It is as if to say that i have never learnt and have never had enough of hurting them.

I did not understand and in fact refused to say sorry at that time. To my parents whom may be taking their time out to read this entry, I would like to apologise if i have ever offended you over the past 23 years. However, i would like both of you to read this entry, so that you would understand the reason i uttered those words.

wassalam

BOMB TURNS OUT TO BE CONCRETE

source: BBC NEWS

A suspected World War II bomb, which closed much of the Broadmead area of Bristol for two days was actually a piece of reinforced concrete.

The suspicious object was discovered as builders carried out drilling as part of the development on Wednesday.

A 100-yard cordon was set up around the scene as experts attempted to discover whether the item was a German bomb.

But on Friday night a police spokesman said the operation had revealed only a section of steel-reinforced concrete.

A team from the Royal Engineers was called to the site but, because the "bomb" was buried so deep, they had to painstakingly dig down to it so they could properly examine the object.

The incident was declared a major emergency although police stressed it was just a precautionary measure to allow contingency plans to be used.

SEX OFFENDER IN BRISTOL

I was walking home from the islamic centre after isya' yesterday, together with mahmud, an ahl syaam.

We passed by a group of police, and all of a sudden on of them stopped us. He was asking if we frequently use the richmond hill rd (i think), which leads to the union. the road is quite small, and very quiet.

'Have you seen this man?'



Apparently, there have been rape incidences occuring last week. Police is still monitoring the area. Owh, they were also distributing a leaflet describing this man.

Police are reminding women not to walk home alone and to always stick to well-lit areas whenever possible.

Few weeks before, a report has been filed of a man who kept exposing himself outside the girls' resident, manor house. Pervert...

Anyway, just be careful everyone...

BOMB SCARE IN BRISTOL

I happened to accompany a friend of mine shopping in Broadmead today, when a policeman came into a shop where we were in.

'We need you to close the shop. Apparently there's a bomb scare near the construction, and we need you to evacuate this place. take your own time'

'can we stay in the building?' ask the manager

'i'm afraid you can't'

'how serious is it?'

'they are bringing in the army. it is very serious'

so, we had to do the transaction as quickly as possible, and later went to debenhams.

about 20 minutes later, an announcement was made, telling people to evacuate the building too. and, this time, we were told to rush.

initially, i thought it was a terrorist bomb scare. but, it was different. full story can be read on bbc news.

DURIAN

I was trying to do my revision, when I switched on my MSN messenger. I saw on of my friends online.. her status said 'tengah makan durian' ( Eating Durian).

Wondering what it looks like?



We Malaysians call it the King of fruit.

Wondering what the inside looks like?



I just realised what i have been missing over the past few years.. our EXOTIC fruits..

BALIK KAMPUNG...

SEYMOUR vs. SHELDON

The exam weeks have been dragging on and on.. and so far this is already my third week. I can feel that fatigue is taking its toll and i just become less and lesser enthusiastic when it comes to doing my revision.

Well, it was rather surprising to see how many novels i have read over the exam season. I would like to compose a short comparison of writing style of two great writers, sheldon and seymour.

I enjoy reading seymour. Well, i think i do. Although he took so much time to get to climax, it is worth the wait. He used many adjectives and can be very descriptive in his novels. Sometimes the first few chapters made me sleepy. However, once it gets to full throttle, it is definitely a page-turner.

Sheldon, on the other hand is a 'high pacer'. He keeps the story moving by adding in new character, insight, twist etc. I really fancy reading his books, because you don't spend much time imagining how people look like etc. You actually have things moving on. And at the end of the day, there's always this element of surprise.

I was thinking. Had sheldon been writing like seymour, his 300-pages novels would have become 600.

Overall, I'd prefer Sheldon than Seymour. Although, I would prefer Sheldon to be more descriptive (well, many times, he did not bother describing things at all). Many times he got his facts wrong too. Well, he is a fiction writer anyway. I keep telling myself not to dwell on reality.

... McCourt is better...

Tolong orang susah...

assalamualaikum

mungkin ramai yang salah faham dengan email saya baru-baru ini.

1) saya sememangnya tidak gemar sikap pelajar yang tidak proaktif

2) dalam email tersebut, saya ada bertanya akan sebab kenapa usaha tersebut tidak dilaksanakan. jawapan yang diberi adalah peperiksaan. sebagai seorang 'rakyat', saya tiada sebab untuk menolak atau menerima. cuma, tak perlulah jawab kepada saya, kerana anda hanya perlu jawab kepada Allah di padang mahsyar kelak.

3) dalam sibuk exam, WMFirdaus ada juga usaha dia. persatuan-persatuan pelajar MALAYSIA lain ada juga usaha mereka. MSM pun ada usaha. dan mereka ni semua pelajar juga.

4) saya tidak menolak peperiksaan mungkin salah satu sebab. tetapi saya lebih cenderung untuk berpendapat, ia adalah satu masalah sikap di kalangan ramai pelajar melayu. macam tukul dengan paku. selagi tak ketuk, tak berjalan.

5) seperti yang pernah saya coretkan dahulu, pimpinan itu bukan satu keistimewaan, tetapi satu bebanan. sebagai pemimpin, anda perlulah bersedia mendengar celoteh, komplen dan apa apa lagi, dari ahli pelbagai ragam. tanggungjawab memimpin ini berat, ibarat sebelah kaki dalam neraka, sebelah dalam syurga.


renungkan...
berapa kali syurga mengetuk pintu rumah,
tetapi jawapan yang diberi,
nantilah.. lain kali.. sebentar lagi...

wassalamualaikum

ahmad zaki
5 jun 2006

On Helping The Less Fortunate

Peace be upon those who follow the guidance...

as one lowly human being, i surely cannot do much. But i believe, as part of this malay community of ours, we should have done more.

well, it is a fact that MCS has never paid ZAKAH, the compulsory alms giving, obliged to all muslims and muslims organisation. Considering that our society has long fulfilled both the nisaab and haul, there is no doubt that we should be paying all that is due.

i believe, we have not yet fulfilled our duty, and MCS should make a conscious effort in helping our brothers/friends/neighbours whom was badly affected by the disasters.

before the earthquake happened, muslims all over the world were talking about palestine, and how difficult the situation is there. They have a legally elected government, yet foreign aid was somehow blocked by world 'super powers', on the basis that hamas (the islamic party of palestine) is a 'terrorist' organisation.

i was aware of some conscious effort being done by few committee members of MCS to help raise donation for palestine. however, it did not go very well... well, it is for them to answer.

as a member of the student union (UBU), it is worth noting that the union has decided to allow people to have their own stand regarding the palestine issue, i.e: we can support palestine, and others can support zionis.

on the other hand, it is also worth noting that there is a sound tradition of the prophet, which translates to:

'None of you [truly] believes until he loves for his brother that which he loves for himself/herself'.

further, Allah warned us in the quran that whenever you do good, there will be people opposing it. It has been foretold to us, so.. why worry? people can say whatever they want, but on the day of judgement, it is us who will be answering the questions ourselves. refer to almaidah, ayah 54, and ponder...

5:54 O ye who believe! if any from among you turn back from his Faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him,- lowly with the believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the way of Allah, AND NEVER AFRAID OF THE REPROACHES OF SUCH AS FIND FAULT. That is the grace of Allah, which He will bestow on whom He pleaseth. And Allah encompasseth all, and He knoweth all things.

above all, if you are not feeling like doing it for islamic brotherhood, please do it for HUMANITY.

salams.

ahmad zaki
3rd june 2006

Donkey..

WARM WELCOME FOR BABY DONKEY


One of its distant cousin

16:35 - 02 June 2006
The latest addition to Weston-super-Mare's tourism industry can now be seen walking the beach - a four-day-old donkey. The donkey, which was born on Monday, will not be ready to carry tourists for another four years, but he is already getting used to his surroundings.

He has no name and currently stands a little over two feet high, but will eventually stand at around 14 hands - the height of a small horse.

Yesterday was the baby donkey's first day on the beach and owner Richard Warburton said he was settling in well.

He said: "It will be four years before he can work but we need to get him used to people and the beach so that he's happy to carry children once he's big and strong.

"This is the third one we have had this year and there are another four on the way - donkeys are pregnant for 11 months so we keep a constant cycle of rearing new ones and replacing the old ones.

"The next four are due before the end of this month."

Mr Warburton said that with poor weather so far this year, times have been tough.

He said: "We haven't had a busy day yet.

"Now the weather is getting better hopefully things will pick up over the rest of the summer."

Bristol, Safe City...

ARSONISTS HIT DOUBLE-DECKER
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16:36 - 02 June 2006
Bristol: Fire crews and the police were called to St Augustine's Parade, opposite the Hippodrome, shortly after 8pm yesterday to find the top floor of the number 54 First bus in flames. No one was injured in the attack, which both police and the fire service believe was started deliberately.

The bus suffered major smoke damage and some of the seats, particularly those at the back of the top floor, were badly damaged.

Police are using CCTV footage from the affected bus and from another bus, which the suspect got onto after the fire, to try to identify him.