Tahun Baru Hijrah paling bermakna buat Malaysia, emas, emas, 40+ semuanya... Many did their best at 25th SEA Games at Vientienne, Laos - swimming, diving, wushu, football... R.E.S.P.E.K.!
Quoting "King Raja" (Dato'-in-waiting Rajagopal):
“We started the competition by recording the biggest win of the football competition (since 1959) – thrashing Timor Leste 11-0. Then, we packed off defending champions Thailand (out of the semi-finals for the first time in 36 years).
“Today, we have won the gold medal away from home for the first time after 30 years (1979) and ... crowned champions after 20 years.
Kepada semua peminat bola Malaysia "KEMBALILAH KE PANGKAL JALAN!" ;)
Have a great Awal Muharram everyone and may your year(s) ahead be blessed by God Almighty...
Today, hundreds of millions of people around the world especially in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving Day with feasts of turkeys and gatherings of family members. How I miss those gatherings with friends during college years in the States.... ;)
By the same evening, about 1.5 billion Muslims will celebrate a three-day Eid-ul Adha starting from the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah - the 12th or final lunar month of Islamic Heejrah Calendar marking a three nights and three days of feasts, mainly from the halaal sacrifices of livestock animals, eg. goat, sheep, cow or camel, aka, 'qurban' - "The meat from the qurbani is to be equally distributed among the poor, relatives and ones self." (Wikipedia, 2009)
Hence, four days of celebrations for many, for the entire weekend from Thursday until Sunday!
The Hajj or annual pillgrimage to Mecca are also being performed by millions at this time of the year, from Nov 25th until 29th, 2009.
Happy Thanksgiving & Eid Mubarak!
In Malaysia, we say: Selamat Hari Raya Haji & Korban al-Adha... Maaf Zahir & Batin... (forgiveness seeked)
Jangan lupa pi Masjid esok pagi untuk solat Raya!!
It's been a week since the 1st day of Eid ("Hari Raya" in Malaysia), but the raya mood is still here. (Malaysians tend to celebrate Eid for the entire month of Syawal, perhaps to make up to the the full month of fasting during Ramadhan)
I even attended another Raya open house hosted by a local State Legistive Hall Member (ADUN) earlier yesterday, and more open houses are on the way - Tuesday at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Pulau Pinang, and all the way to 10th of October, hosted by TechBiz Penang (which I'm also a committee member of) at Pen Mutiara Restaurant, Batu Maung.
So, here again (as wished elsewhere - @twitter, @facebook, via SMSes, in person etc.):
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri Maaf Zahir & Batin!
* Photo taken from the lounge of newly opened Hard Rock Hotel, Batu Feringghi, Pulau Pinang.
OK, thought I'd made only a single post today on the 1st of September, but, glancing the top of the page reminded me to check Twitter Grader again - a full one hundred mark, really? - after many days of low frequency tweets this week, losing updates count by nearly 15,000 (short mishap by @twitter ~13 AUG 2009), and dropped so many ranks down below just a week ago.
(Besides, my top-20 Malaysia rank (in terms of followers just a few months ago), has long gone following my neglect and focus on this one account - I do have another acct with more followers tho ;))
Feeling like a kid again... The @WoNoJo really at #1, huh?
My tweet buddies, @PeterPek and @xmellyssax - you'll have your time on the #1 spot soon... don't worry.
Four months without updates, and finally had the urge to update, and thought this video from Astro radio folks deserves the spot - it's watched barely 3,000 times though since published on YouTube 3 days ago by DemonDJ - not your typical "All Stars", except maybe Aznil kot:
Selamat Merdeka Malaysia!
p/s: haven't been watching youtube much all the months, but think I've watched at least 4-hour straight of video feeds last night, mostly catching up on X Factor Season 6 ones :)
From 10 Zulhijjah (starting from "maghrib" time or the dusk of 7 DEC 2008) until 12 Zulhijjah, 1429th year of Islamic Hijrah Calendar, some 1.5 Billion Muslims are celebrating their loyalty to the one God of Ibrahim a.s, Musa a.s., Isa a.s and Muhammad s.a.w...
Joining over three millions Muslims congregating in Mecca are everywhere else in the world, starting with a morning prayer and khutbah on the morning of December 8th, 2008, and a special takbir utterance will continue to be heard until the Asr afternoon of the 10th of December.
For fellow tweeters, don't forget to tag your twitwishes with #EID for the next couple more days. (Psst. feel free to follow me, ie. @WoNoJo on twitter or friendfeed)
And here's another special card for the the month I found at Viprasys.com Forum, as posted by its moderator named "moosa", last year, for the similar 3-in-1 occassions:
It's been a busy month for me since early October, and a packful week just the most recent one (the 1st Global Entrepreneurship Week/Malaysia - 17th until 23rd of November 2008, which I co-hosted especially in Penang, Malaysia) that I could barely write much about anything. But they say "pictures are worth a thousand words each" (or so), so, here are my 300,000+ words (enough?):-
Though, I have always been microblogging on twitter, facebook, topix etc. including for "The Week" itself, so, this blog had never really been dried of feeds.
The favorite colours here were RED (shown above by the beauties who visited my house yesterday - the one in pinkish dress if my niece, and the rest are part-time model wife of my cousin and her offsprings) and green here in Balik Pulau, Penang (CLICK FOR OUR GREETING CARD!), when we celebrated the 1st of Syawal month of Islamic calender. It's the celebration of Eidul Fitri al-Mubarak for over a Billion Muslims around the world including some nearly 20-million in Malaysian and over 200-million more in neighboring countries of Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei and Singapore.
Happy Syawal to all, and my best wishes to all who celebrate this joyous season of strong brotherhood, friendship, unity and forgiveness. World Peace! (me being a beauty queen/Miss World contestant).
Salaam 51st Merdeka 2008 (31aug-16sep08) & Ramadan al-Mubarak 1429H (sep08)... To all Malaysians, enjoy the weeks of celebrations of 51 years of Nationhood (1957-2008), from tonight, 12:00 am, 31 AUGUST 2008 until 16 SEPTEMBER 2008 (Malaysia Day, since 1963)! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA!
And to all Muslims around the world, Happy Fasting the whole of Ramadhan al-Mubarak! May God accept your sincere ibadah, and rewards you in hereafter...
To quote the Khatib (deliverer of Khutbah speech during Muslim prayers every Friday afternoons and during Eid al-Fitri and al-Adha) who gave a speech after Eid morning prayer today:
"... we sacrifice animals during al-Adha beginning after this khutbah and until the third day of Eid al-Adha, from 10 until 13 ZULHIJJAH 1428H (20-23dec07), to symbolize sacrificing negative animal instincts and acts that may have stained or will continuously stain us throughout the year (greedy, murderous, lazy etc), and embrace human aspects more: helping and caring of others, offer food for the needy of the community, offer friendship with all human beings etc and be humble - thankful through zikr and prayers, e.g. joining takbeer sessions etc."
(indirect transliteration from Malay language)
Here's the second half of the 30-minute khutbah (speech) at al-Mokhtar Mosque (Masjid Daerah Barat Daya), Balik Pulau, Penang:
Tak banyak iklan khidmat masyarakat tahun ini berbanding dengan tahun-tahun sebelum ini, tapi Petronas yang cukup tersohor dengan iklan-iklan yang selalu membawa mesej penyedaran kembali dengan iklan yang cukup menyentuh hati...
Today - 2007
(Ayah duduk di luar rumah ketika waktu makan, bermenungan...)
Anak mengeluh tapi bersapa dengan lembut: "Abah, kenapa ni? Jom kita naik makan..."
(Bunyi burung berkicauan)
Ayah dengan ceria: "Burung ape tu nak?" Anak tersengih: "Burung murai."
Ayah dengan selamba: "Burung ape?" Anak mula rasa meluat lantaran menjawab dengan laju: "Burung murai, Bah."
Ayah 'testing' sekali lagi: "Burung ape?" Anak: "Burung murai."
Ayah buat muka lawak: "Burung ape'"?" Anak dah tunjuk muka meluat betul: "Abah, Abah ni tak dengar ke buat-buat tak dengar? Apa lagi yang Abah nak saya cakapkan? Burung murai, burung murai tu bah.
Ayah tersenyum sambil menyerahkan coretan arwah ibu si Anak: "Nah, kau baca apa yang mak kau tulis..."
(Anak menyambut dan membelek buku nota berjudul - Kenanganku - Milik Salmah)
<<<>>>
26 JUN 1976
Ibu mengenangkan rasa bahagia memerhatikan bagaimana si Ayah tak jemu-jemu, malah begitu ceria sekali melayan karenah si Anak yang melontarkan soalan yang sama, berulang-ulang kali:
Anak: "Bah, ni burung apa ni Bah? Ayah: "Burung murai...
Anak: "Burung ape? Ayah: "Burung murai nama dia...
Anak: "Burung ape? Ayah: "Burung murai, sayang...
Anak: "Burung ape? Ayah: "Burung murai, man..."
(berulang-ulang kali sambil mengembalikan burung murai yang terjatuh semasa cuba terbang kembali ke sarangnya.)
Anak tersentuh dan terus sedar keangkuhannya dan terus memohon kemaafan daripada si Ayah.
Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri, Maaf Zahir & Batin... OK, dah abis bulan puasa ni, jangan sambung memurai pulak. cakap baik2 na.... don't play2.
Dah abis tersedu, jom bergelak dengan Proton pula (AMARAN: VIDEO TAK SESUAI UNTUK ORANG YANG LEMAH SEMANGAT ATAU YANG RAJIN MEMANDU WAKTU-WAKTU MALAM):
Sedang saya promosikan video-video YouTube ini, saya nak war-warkan projek berkaitan terbaru saya dengan Pusat Penyelidikan Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) di bawah skim geran Universiti Penyelidikan (RU) untuk mengkomersilkan produk-produk kajian staf-staf dan pelajar-pelajar USM. Nantikan pengumuman tentang hasil kerjasama ini tak lama lagi.... Kalau semuanya berjalan lancar, ada sesuatu yang menarik bakal lahir dari industri ICT Malaysia untuk kemanfaatan sejagat. Doakanlah kejayaan kami, kejayaan Malaysia!
A heartfelt Eid holidays greeting to all Muslims in Malaysia and elsewhere - may you have a festive celebrations and safe travel.... Congratulations for completing the full month of Ramadhan fasting!
Here's me today after trying tons of Penang delicacies (eg. nasi minyak, mee rebus, satay etc) and specialized drinks (eg. cendol, bandung, teh tarek) with Dato' Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya, Parliamentary Secretary to the' Finance Ministry of Malaysia, who's the local assemblyman for and from my town, Balik Pulau -- see, I'm about his height (but I'm with a much larger size of course!):
And our Malay traditional outfit (for men) looks comfy enough like pajamas -- we Malays indeed sometimes sleep wearing it, minus the 'kain samping' (skirt-type adornment that's worn during various events, both formal and casual).
The joint-venture 'open house' event was held at Balik Pulau Sports Complex, and hosted by three elected officials -- Puan Siti Faridah binti Arshad (ADUN for Teluk Bahang) and Encik Muhamad Farid bin Saad (ADUN for Pulau Betong) along with Dato' Seri Hilmi (also a former ADUN for Teluk Bahang).
BTW, a Malaysian citizen has been officially in space as of this week! After two days of rocket jetting, one of the first two Malaysian astronauts, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar reached the International Space Station along with fellow crews and astronauts from Russia and the USA on Eid night (the evening before Eid Day), as televised live last night. How many countries can claim that? Now, anything's possible -- not even space can be a limit!
If you have a dream, work on it. I know I will. See you when you get there... (ciplak daripada Coolio)
