Views of Aceh from our hotel early morning...

Tuesday morning 16th June 2009, after a good night sleep at the hotel we decided to have an early morning walk.

It is a refreshing sight to see the locals walking, jogging or cycling for exercise at the public roads, some bare-footed! And this is not even a weekend. It is a good thing that the air in Aceh is still fresh unlike in congested Kuala Lumpur where you could only see views like this only on the weekends and even then at the parks, not on public roads.

Then it's time to get back to the hotel...

The night before, me and wife went up the top of the hotel and found the view fascinating. So we made it a point to come up again in the morning to snap the views. This should be the view direct to the south with the main mountain range of Bukit Barisan imposing in the horizon.

A 30 degree turn anti-clockwise and you could see the mountain called Seulawah Agam...

Another 30 degree turn anti-clockwise and it's the turn of the mountain of Seulawah Inong to come into view...

60 degree turn anti-clockwise...

Another 30 degree turn and it's all the way to the north. The view is blocked by these parts of the building but never mind, we'll change positions later...

Another 30 degree turn and you could see plenty of houses...

60 degree turn and you will face the West with the centre of Banda Aceh in view. It is interesting to note that there are plenty of padi or rice fields still existing here, what more within the boundaries of the city itself!

Another 30 degree turn and we are back to where we started except I decided to take the view slightly downwards...

Look more downwards and you can see part of the hotel swimming pool...

By the way the time then was about 7am or so...

Now, a look northwards from the north-wing of the hotel.

One towards the house 30 degree anti-clockwise turn...

A view towards city centre... that's all! :]

The place called Uleelheue in Aceh

This is a view from the place called Uleelheue just outside Banda Aceh. The name sounded like a Swiss yodel or something isn't it? In fact it sounded so funny to me that I never thought it was the real name of a place in Aceh, a place which gained prominence after the Tsunami of 26th December 2004.

Another superb view there. For Uleelheue being a coastal area was one of the place worst-hit by the Tsunami. Yet when I was there on 15 June 2009 which is actually less than four and a half-years later, all signs of destruction looked almost non-existent...

Bear in mind that most of the infrastuctures here, plants included were totally destroyed and washed away by the huge tidal wave that is the Tsunami. Only few structures managed to survive the impact if I recall correctly and suffered minimal damage. One of it is the Baiturrahim mosque with its later-built minaret seen here. I will post an article on the mosque in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) later.


Here is an inland view with the mountain Seulawah Inong on the left and 'her mate' Seulawah Agam to the right.

And the opposite view...

And that's my wife to the right and our driver @ tourist guide to the left. That's all here for the night. Cheers! :]

Remembering the Tsunami which ravaged Aceh in 2004...

I believe many know or have heard about the Tsunami of 26th December 2004 which ravaged Aceh and took the lives of over 200,000 of its inhabitants. Well now, some 5 years later they have a museum to remember what had happened.

On its first floor is plenty of water, perhaps symbolic of the Tsunami itself...


However the upper part which should house some exhibits was not opened yet when I went there on 15 June. Still the lower floor has some visitors treating it as a recreational place...

Behind lies a cemetery which if I remember correctly is called the Kherkoff. For here lies the bodies on many Dutch soldiers who lost their lives in the war against Aceh. While it has nothing to do with the Tsunami, it is interesting to note that the cemetery lies within a patch of land which used to be part of the Aceh palace and garden complex. In the background, one could see a famous remnant from that era. Look at the article Gunongan... in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) .

Slightly further at the outskirts of the city of Banda Aceh lies this huge ship on dry ground.

For the record, this 160-metre plus long ship housing an offshore electric generator was washed up more than 5 miles inland during the Tsunami and then left here when the water subsided!

Nearby, lies another monument to remember what had happened during the Tsunami. We'll procede with another story after this...

In and around the Baiturrahman mosque in Aceh...

And so we arrived in Aceh as told in the article The flight to Aceh... We soon checked into the best hotel in town, in fact the best in the whole of Aceh. After having lunch we went to Kak Ann's office. Then it's time to check what is available in town...

This tower is the highest building in Aceh.

It is situated in front of the famous Baiturrahman mosque...

At the right-side of the mosque lies Pasar Aceh (literally, Aceh market) or what is left of it. I understand it is still under renovation and now under-utilised since a major part of it got destroyed during the Tsunami of 26th December 2004.

Back inside the mosque's compound, from the entrance next to Pasar Aceh one could see this plaque commemorating the place where the Dutch general Kohler was killed in the Duth colonialists first direct attack and invasion against Aceh in 1873.



This is the plaque in relation to the highest tower/building in Aceh...

A look at the mosque compound behind right...

Me and wife then saw these students outside the left-wing of the mosque. I think the mosque also houses a religious school...

Me and wife inside the mosque...

A look at the Baiturrahman mosque from the outside the main entrance, that is at the back or rear. For more and better pictures of mosque, look at the article Masjid Raya (Main mosque of) Baiturrahman, Aceh in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) .

We also posed at this arch...

It is situated right in front of the tall tower. Too bad the tower was under renovation and closed to the public. Otherwise we could have a look at the whole of the city of Banda Aceh from its top.

A last look at the mosque as we go outside. Good night! :]

The flight to Aceh...

As promised in the article The visit to Aceh 15-22 June , let's start the story on the recent Aceh trip rolling...

Here is my wife (on the left) and our friend Kak Ann as we were ready to take the flight to Aceh from the LCCT terminal in Sepang...

And that's our plane, an Air Asia Airbus 320 if I remember correctly. For the record this would be my first time on Air Asia.

Flight was smooth and said to take only an hour and 25 minutes or so. After a while, I became very excited as I recognised the landscape which I have seen many times in maps. For the apex-like land jutting out into the sea as can be seen through the window of the plane signifies an area I remembered from a passage out of the Malay classical text "Hikayat Raja-raja Pasai". The area called Jambu Air (or is it Tanjung Jambu Air or something like that?) in old times caught my imagination as the passage related the story of Sultan Malikul Mansur who was sent to exile out of his native kingdom Samudera after making the mistake of taking a woman from the palace of his elder brother Sultan Malikul Mahmud who ruled the nearby kingdom of Pasai.


Now, I thought this is the river Perlak which is related to the ancient kingdom of Perlak also mentioned in the "Hikayat Raja-raja Pasai". But Kak Ann said we have passed Perlak just about 10-15 minutes earlier.


From the windows on the left, we could see Takengon, the huge freshwater lake on top of the mountains of Aceh. I understand it is situated at 1,250 metres above sea level!

As the plane moved on, I rushed back to the right windows to catch the part of land which I believe should house the centre of the old kingdom of Samudera.

There. I try to catch it again. For somewhere down there lies the tomb of the much-vaunted ruler Sultan Malikus Salih @ Raja Merah Silu (deceased in 1297 AD or so) who founded both kingdoms of Samudera and Pasai. For the record, Malikul Mansur and Malikul Mahmud are both his grandchildren. Later do I realised that I had missed the actual area containing the tomb. But you could still see it in this picture... for it lies somewhere in the lands in which the sea looks like an inverted triangle just above the jet engine...

The mountains and hills called Bukit Barisan as we near the city of Banda Aceh, capital of Aceh.

At last, Banda Aceh in sight...

Another view of Banda Aceh, this time with a patch of land below containing the famous tomb of the venerable saint Sheikh Abdul Rauf as-Singkili or Abdul Rauf Fansuri, better known here as Syiah Kuala who lived sometime in the 1600s.

Touchdown. And we have arrived at the new building of the Sultan Iskandar Muda airport which I learned was opened just 2 weeks before we arrived! To be continued...

The visit to Aceh 15-22 June

This is a picture of me and the wife in front of the famous mosque of Baiturrahman in Aceh. We were in Aceh 15 - 22 June and visited a number of places. Below, let me give the same list (but translated) as shown in the recently-made article Ole-ole dari Aceh... coming! in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU . God willing starting next week, I will post stories and pictures regarding some of the places shown in the list and others that I forgot to put in the list, as and when I see it fit. Good night! :]

1. Mosque of Baiturrahman
2. Gunongan, the place where the Princess of Pahang who became wife to Sultan Iskandar Muda used to play at
3. Tomb of Sultan Iskandar Thani
4. Tsunami museum
5. Ulelee beach
6. Mosque of Baiturrahim
7. Tomb of kings from the Bugis dynasty
8. Bell of Chakra Donya
9. Tomb of Sultan Iskandar Muda
10. Tomb of Syiah Kuala (Sheikh Abdul Rauf Fansuri)
11. Peunayong market area
12. Village of Keudah (Kedah)
13. Tomb of Teungku Chik di Anjung
14. Tomb of Tuan di Kandang
15. Mosque of Indrapuri
16. Tomb of Teungku Chik Di Tiro
17. Tanoh Abee Dayah (religious school)
18. Lampuuk beach
19. Mosque of Rahmatullah
20. Pekan Saree
21. Mosque of Pekan Saree
22. Tomb of Syahid Lapan, the eight martyrs
23. Town of Siglie
24. Mosque of Beuracan
25. Town of Bireun
26. Dayah Saadah
27. Dayah Karang
28. City of Lhokseumawe
29. City of Langsa
30. Main mosque of Langsa
31. Tomb of Teuku Banta Chik Bereudah
32. Little town of Perlak
33. Tomb of Sultan Maulana Sayyid Abdul Aziz Shah
34. Town of Idi
35. Old mosque of Idi
36. Tomb of Sultan Malikus Saleh
37. Fort of Indrapatra
38. Tomb of Laksamana Malayahati
39. Fort of Inong Balee
40. Fort of Iskandar Muda
41. Tomb of Teuku Nyak Arief
42. Ulu Kareang
43. The traditional dances at GTZ Germany's function in our hotel
44. The dabus show at an election function in our hotel

Compilation of "Remembering the 'A' Levels college days"...

The shoplots near Uptown Damansara were me and my mates used to study at...

Hi again everyone! I've just got back from Aceh on Monday but it's only today I feel like updating anything on my blogspots. Before I write anything on the latest trip, let me just compile first the links to the "Remembering the 'A' Levels college days" series of writings which was concluded just before I left for Aceh the previous Monday. So here goes. Do have a look at the writings based on real experience in college more than 20 years ago ya. Do read it in order as when I first started the series, there was no such order... it was then just then a string of incidents I would like to let out as time and opportunity allowed, as I try to remember what had happened without any premeditation and such.

Remembering the "A" level college days some 20 years ago! Just to get the juices flowing...

Remembering the "A" Level college days. How I got the nickname Fly!

Remembering the "A" Level college days. Damansara Utama where the cool days started!

Remembering the "A" Level college days. Start of the disco fun and girls...

Remembering the "A" Level college days. The disco circuit of those days... and the girls

Remembering the "A" Level college days. My lecture class, group J

Remembering the "A" Level college days. Drama night - Enter Johnderella!

Remembering the "A" Level college days. The radio station at 51C

Remembering the "A" Level college days. My dear sweet Ann...

Remembering the "A" Level college days. The "scandal" with Ann, my dear sweet Ann...

Remembering the "A" Level college days. The 'ghosts' that haunts 51C...

Remembering the "A" Level college days. A 'get along' session with the BTU juniors...

Remembering the "A" Level college days. The seventh and last trial for a rebel... the one that could have changed it all!

Remembering the "A" Level college days. The seventh and last trial for a rebel... the one that could have changed it all!

At last found a suitable picture from the Net. Order, order!

I cant' remember off-hand if I've written about the college court trials at the student court in this series on 'Remembering the "A" Level college days". Hmm... wait a minute, now I remember. Yes, I did mention about it in the article Remembering the "A" Level college days. The "scandal" with Ann, my dear sweet Ann... .

OK when the situation mentioned in that article happened sometime in 1989 I think, I have already been subjected to 2 or 3 trials there. Hmm... come to think about, the student court session mentioned in Remembering the "A" Level college days. The "scandal" with Ann, my dear sweet Ann... is probably the 4th... probably. What I do remember for sure though is I've been subjected to the student court a total of 7 times, said to be the highest in history of the PPP/ITM "A" levels programme. Why? Because normally a student would have been thrown out of college after the 3rd trial. But I managed to stick around long because I was considered as one of the smartest student ever, in fact hailed by many as some sort of mathematics genius because of what I was capable of then.

In the previous instalment of the series, Remembering the "A" Level college days. A 'get along' session with the BTU juniors... I mentioned this...

Nevermind, that is the attitude I took as I entered the PPP/ITM "A" Levels college. I was arrogant, cocky, supremely-confident of my natural intelligence without having to study and was very sure of my ability to attract women while handling the other guys.

That was also the same attitude I displayed when subjected to trials at the student court. You see, most of the trials happened because I didn't attend classes for long periods. If I remember correctly, my first trial regarding the matter was only made after I missed 10 to 15 lectures. If I remember correctly too, I have also missed classes in a row for more than week. This is of course a huge offence at my college as all the students then were either sponsored by the government or major conglomerates and thus expected to be obedient students who could perform and pass the grades while obeying the laws and regulations of the college.

I did not obey the regulations and that was very much expected out of me, the well-known rebel called Fly. But unlike most who would have problems academically if they missed even one or two classes, I continued to excell in my studies and in fact often scored full marks of 100 per cent in mathematics papers. That was why I was so supremely confident. Despite missing the classes, despite not studying anything at all, I had a very agile mind which could figure a mathematical solution right on the spot, anywhere at anytime, solving problems using methods which were never thought by anyone, at least anyone of common intelligence...

That was the particular ability that lead people to call me a genius since secondary school days. I might have missed classes for even two weeks in a row but I was capable of solving a current problem by creatively reapplying a method or mathematical tool which I've learned in a lesson I happened to attend some 3 months before. While the way of solution was not expected as everyone was supposed to apply the latest method they've just learned in class, the detailed steps and logic I offered was sound enough leading to the proper eventual answer. As we in mathematic classes have been thought up till university days, when a solution has been arrived at, just write the initials Q.E.D. Quite Easily Done. Very cocky and arrogant aint' it?

Since my primary school days, I could attend a mathematics exam or test and sit for only half the allocated time. I was capable of solving the problems accurately so fast that I even had time to make an exact hand-written copy of my answers for reference of others right after the exam or test was done. Why? Because my mates were so confident of my answers, they would use the extra copy to gauge how they themselves could have fared before their actual papers were completely examined and marked which took no less than 3 days later.

Being so cocky, I could have made mistakes here and there. Then again having a clean record of scoring anything from 95 to 100 per cent since primary school days to college while having the time to make an extra copy and yet leave the class at least 15 minutes before the allocated time for exams or test ended speaks volumes for one's reputation. And I had that reputation for quite a long time.

So anyway back to the college days and the student court trials. I was so cocky that everytime I went to court I would challenge all those present, at least 3 persons of authority to prove me wrong. Yes, I did miss classes I said but look at my scores. Aren't the classes meant to teach everyone something and then they would be gauged through exams and tests to see how much they have learned? My arrogant logic was this. Since I've scored well, perfect 100 per cent most of the time despite not going to classes, this means I should not be subjected to the same rule that one should attend classes.

Nevertheless the court was not about finding out how well I did but about proving and punishing a culprit and I did go against the laws and regulation by not attending the classes. So of course I was punished and had to be punished often with fines. The only upside was the court could have decided to simply suspend or expel me straight away but they didn't. Why? Because they can't deny that I indeed did well in my exams and tests (that is if I did not miss an exam or test which actually happened a few times).

That is why I hold the college record of having been subjected to 7 trials while none have survived pass the 3 trials mark, at least that is what I was told. Because you either toe the line after 3 trials or got simply expelled. But I was actually given the rare, perhaps the only distinction of being allowed to continue studying there because I did score and excellently at that. The statistics speak for itself, it's just when it came out of my mouth, I sound so cocky and arrogant and yes that admittedly is how I was.

Good Lord, I haven't spoken this way about myself for a very long time. But I have to honestly let it all out for the sake of the remembering process which is my own way of facing my own ghosts of the past. Hmm... that makes me think about a recent comment in my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU which pointed out to fact that lately in the last 4-5 articles there, I have been using pictures of the holy city of Mecca intermitten with pictures of 'ghost'. Perhaps that is the reason why I subconsciously did that. Because I was trying to face my old ghosts by writing a series of articles here and there which is very true indeed!

OK. Another reason that nobody ever got pass the 3 trials mark is that it is common wisdom that if you create that much trouble to deserve being subjected to the trials in the first place, then you must be not that smart. For the intelectual ones tend to toe the line and thus not subjected to the student court leaving the less smart troublesome people either kicked out for the troubles they have caused or they simply slipped away in their exams and kicked out because of bad grades. In my case I was subjected to the trials mostly because I didn't attend classes. Logically that would lead to poor grades which would eventually cause me to be expelled as the level of education was already high enough that it is not easy to keep up to the pace of studies even when one attends every class and take extra ones too, what more for someone who have missed more than a week, up to two weeks of classes in a row?

So there were rumours that the authorities kept me around because they were waiting for me to "die a natural death". Well, I was a very defiant one. I kept coming in with excellent grades despite missing classes and thus subjected to further trials which is why I hold the record. So why stop at 7 you may ask? Here goes the rest of the story.

While I was known to regularly patronise night-clubs and spend good times with many many girlfriends, that was not the actual reason I missed classes. Granted that since my mid secondary-school days, I developed a fierce rebelness against authority which also could be a reason why I missed classes (and that is what was generally on the minds of the authorities, that I simply refused or that I was just too busy playing the adult game outside and that was why I missed classes) I was actually having another problem.

I don't know why, since Form Four I develop this sleeping problem. I would have trouble going to sleep and when I do sleep I have trouble waking up and thus would go on sleeping for more than 10 hours at one shot! During Form Four, this usually happened in patches. I might be normal, attending classes for a full one month or so before I suffered this problem again for a streak of 3 days, and then things got normal again. The problem however got worse as I went to college and later, university. Believe it or not, in England I've even slept for 3 straight days, waking up only to take a pee or a glass of drink and a few bites of bread.

Anyway back to the college student court trials. My 6th trial was definitely about me missing classes. If I remember correctly, I was charged after missing only 3 straight days of classes and that actually got me dumbfounded as previously, I could go on missing more than a week of classes before the authorities came aknocking.

At the same time I was having problems with my father. Then again we've been at odds since as long I could remember. My father has been receiving complaints from the college of my behaviour. While me myself was starting to get tired of missing classes because it was due to my sleeping problem. You see, it has got to the extend that I missed my regular night-outs at the clubs because I prefer to sleep alone in the room. And I even missed times with the girls because I was too sleepy to go out and meet them which is a serious sign of sickness on my part.

And thus I resolve to start attending classes. I was so certain I wanted to change that in my 6th trial at the student court, I made this promise: "You can kick me out if I missed my classes again!". This time I didn't fight them as I used to do... well, maybe I did a little but I believe it was not that much because I myself have become tired of all these...

OK, I can't remember if my 6th trial happened in Damansara Utama or in Shah Alam. What I do remember the whole college moved from Damansara to Shah Alam and the 7th trial was set there.

So it happened. I just couldn't get over my sleepy head problem. Classed were missed and I soon was called to the student court again. I believe I did say something to this effect without the authorities initiating it: "Well, what could I say? I made a promise that you can kick me out if I miss classes, so do kick me out!"

Even the authorities whom I so often fiercely defied were surprised with what I said. One of the more senior ones with whom I have often been at loggerheads with since the first day we met in court persuaded me to retract that statement. I said no, I made a promise. With that he nodded and I was officially kicked out. I am sure his eyes and face showed respect for despite all my faults, I have kept my words.

I was kicked out just about a month or two before the actual "A" Levels examination which is admittedly very stupid. But the 'stupider' thing was if I worked for it, I could have found another place just to sit for the exams but didn't. After all I was so supremely confident of my intellegence, I could still score without having to attend any classes. Instead I became dumbfounded and just sit the whole period out wasting time much to the chagrin of my family especially my father.

Yes. I was a boy who wasn't thinking of the consequences. It didn't cross my mind at all then that my family might have to pay compensation to my sponsors for being a drop-out. I was just too engrossed in my own thoughts, problems, rebelness against the system and such to pay attention to other people's perception. As the "A" Levels examination approached very near, I tried to get the college authorities to allow me to sit. After all my name was still registered. But they said I was already kicked out. Besides, what is the point of the punishment if I could still sit for the exams and scored.

Still I could try and register for the exams at private colleges or such but it didn't cross my mind then. So there I was for the next few months either loitering around in the Klang Valley bumming at relatives and friends' places or stay in my native hometown in Muar. In between I did take up jobs but it did not last long. I remembered being a trainee auditor at a firm in Jalan Raja Chulan but ended up missing work as I was more engrossed in joining my busker friends at Central Market plying their trade.

I only became slightly 'useful' early 1991 when I joined a computer education software firm as a junior editor. That's when I met Mas (yep, here let me use the familiar part of her real name), while having lunch between work , a junior from PPP/ITM "A" Levels programme which I failed to notice before and we immediately hit on. I won't go into much lengths about this. Suffice to say we got on so famously that for the first time ever I really wanted to marry a girl and told both our parents about it.

Mas was the one who got me motivated to continue studies again after I've decided to just climb the ladder of life without any universiy education. And soon, I got a powerful uncle to reinstall me back into the "A" level programmes but at another college.

The problem is I was still very much a sleepy head. In fact it got worse as you could say in the whole 2-3 months at the college leading to the next "A" Level exams, that for summer 1991, I have only practically attended maybe less than 10 hours of class. Fast forward, and soon its time to sit for the exams. Except this time I have lost something very important, the sharpness of intellect as I sit down at the exams very clouded, not able to figure out the answers as easily as it could be.

In fact I was not even operating at normal people's pace. I really couldn't find the point when this actually start to happen as just 3 months earlier at the computer software firm, I could still mentally play with large numbers fast while spontaneously without notes, charts or references write moderate level computer programs in BASIC and PASCAL. In fact just half a year before at the audit firm, I could still add and balance a spreadsheet of 10 x 30 numbers or so on paper without the need of calculators and still able to get accurate figures in about the same or faster time people take to input and add the numbers into a calculator.

I really did not know went wrong. More shock was to come when the results was announced. I got a D and E! That I could still remember until today. What I can't properly remember is whether the D is for Additional Maths, E for Pyschics or was it the other way around. Whatever, the invicible aura was broken. Me, the infamous genius Fly has taken a downturn.

Luckily, before I was kicked out of my original college, I took an "A" Level January paper in Mathematic and got an A which of course, I had supremely confidently predicted beforehand. Perhaps I would have done as good if I were to take the other two papers in 1990 not 1991 because of what has happened. Then, the momentum was still on my side. All I had to was sit for the exams but I've wasted it away.

Nevertheless, it was with that A, D, E that I luckily managed to get a solid offer to study for a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematic from a very reputable British institution, the University College of London. But with such bad grades, I couldn't fly straight to Britain as I should at least get an A, B, C or B, B, B to meet the sponsors requirement. The rules dictated that I should do the first year of studies locally under a programme called NCUK (Northen Consortium of United Kingdom) and missed the chance to study in London. At the same time Mas was offered a place at the prestigious LSE (London School of Economics) while slightly missing the grades to qualify for straight studies in the UK.

Being the lovebirds that we were then, we decided to go privately for the first year in London and get our sponsorhip (actually it turned into a changeable loan programme after 1991) reconnected for the second year. So we flew there being a very contented couple. But I continued to be a sleepy head. even a worse one at that and again missed most of the classes.

While I loved Mas very much, the satan inside me lead me to blame her for the lost of my 'genius'. I thought I was alright all this while when I could have all the girls I wanted but the minute I turned into a one-woman man with this girl, my mind started getting clouded and lost its sharpness.

It took many many years later, after I've broken up our 6 years of beautiful but turbulent relationship, after she married a junior of mind that I realised it was all my own fault. With this I'd like to end the series of "Remembering the "A" Level college days" which now has 13 instalments. And I'm happy to note that this is the 333rd posting in this blogspot. Tata! :]

p/s: Me and the wife are going somewhere abroad for holidays. So take care ya... :]

Prohibition from deriding other religions...

The eight article from my voluntary translation project. Here goes...

PROHIBITION FROM DERIDING OTHER RELIGIONS

By Ustaz Syed Hasan Alatas
http://www.shiar-islam.com/

English translation by Radzi Sapiee

Allah revealed in the Quran:

“Do not curse the idols they set up beside Allah, lest they blaspheme and curse Allah, out of ignorance. We have adorned the works of every group in their eyes. Ultimately, they return to their Lord, then He informs them of everything they had done.” (Verse of al-Anan'am:108)

Islam prohibits its adherents from deriding or ridiculing the object of worship of others. Fights normally ensues because of humans who like to follow their whims and fancies humilitating the faith of others. Islam forbids us from forcing other people to embrace Islam. While it is the only true religion, our obligation is only to call people to its path, not force but get them to willingly submit.

Forcing others would only lead to bad things and those forced won’t be sincere. Islam asks the other communities to return to the real common ground, that is to worship the One Unique God and not attributing partners to Him in any way. Allah said:

“Say, ‘O followers of the scripture, let us come to a logical agreement between us and you: that we shall not worship except Allah; that we never set up any idols besides Him, nor set up any human beings as lords beside Allah.’ If they turn away, say, ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims (those who have submitted).’” (AIi Imran:64)

Islam forbids us from hurting the feelings of other people with rude, unjust and filthy comments and actions. Look at how the holy book al-Quranul karim give such high honour to Prophet Moses a.s., Prophet Jesus Isa a.s., and other prophets despite the fact that these prophets are often associated with religions other than Islam. We should respect the faith of others and not hurt their feelings. If we do so, God willing, an Ummah in full concord, orderly and just will become a reality and our reward.

There are men who really likes to ridicule others’ faiths using the excuse of “freedom of speech” to attack Islam among others. Too bad the so-called freedom is not sincere but only exist because of hatred and racism. This resulted in anger of the Muslims all over the world. In fact it cost lives in some places, all because of skewed write-ups which are actually clear slanders and lies.

Such men have not only humiliated and belittled the whole Muslim community which comprise one fifth of the world population, they also potrayed Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. as a fierce oppressor, womaniser and throw other wild accusations. On the contrary the prophet was a person full of love and caring for all creatures and very responsible to his wives. He lived with just one wife, Siti Khadijah for 25 years and married others only after Khadijah had died. Then again most of his wives were widows. He only marries them to support their orphaned children left by fathers who died as martyrs on the battlefield.

He only married one virgin named Siti Aisyah, daughter of Abu Bakar As-sidiq, his companion in fighting to uphold, defend and spread Islam. For the record, Saidina Abu Bakar became the first Caliph of Muslims after the death of the prophet s.a.w.
Islam strongly forbids us from deriding the personalities of other Samawi (heavenly) religions like that of the Jews and Christians who also receives revealed manuscripts although the manuscripts were later tampered with. This is because the personalities are also prophets for Muslims as is the case with Prophet Moses a.s., Prophet Jesus a.s., Prophet Abraham a.s. and others.

Although adherents of such religions have gone astray and make their prophets objects of worship, god even, Islam still forbids us from deriding or ridiculing them. Hopefully our kindness and tolerance would make them interested to study Islam. Who knows they would become converts because of our examples?

Remembering the "A" Level college days. A 'get along' session with the BTU juniors...

Tried to find a suitable picture using Google Search image of the keyword "ragging" but found none. So decided to use this rugby picture instead...

As promised at the end of the article Remembering the "A" Level college days. The 'ghosts' that haunts 51C... , let me try to remember a ragging session conducted in college. For the record, I was a product of old boarding school ragging. So what do you expect?

OK. This must have happened before the juniors me and my mates spooked came as told in the previous instalment of the "Remember the "A" Level College days" series. I said this because now I remember, when the ragging session happened, I still got only my own batch staying in my room 51 C. I can't remember when the BTU (British Top University) juniors came. But unlike the regular juniors who like me and my batch were slated to do the "A" Levels locally before flying off to Britain, the BTU boys were supposed to go through only 3 months of preparation locally before they were sent to study at boarding schools in Britain, followed by universities.

So we regular joes (compared to the more elite BTU) have to stay for almost two years in the Klang Valley (and also Shah Alam) while the BTU guys would be already abroad. Heck, they were supposed to be the cream of the crop from the whole Malaysian secondary education system, scoring the best in the Form Five examinations. While the rest of us under the "A" Levels program could be considered second-tier best with a few including me having been called to the BTU interview but failed to make the grade.

So the BTU students were admittedly smarter than us. Some might argue it was also a case of getting the chance to study better. Well, I can't refute that. I went through a rough and stumble patch of life starting at the age of 15 where I became very anti-establishment and started running away from home a few times especially after fighting with an equally hot-tempered dad. Why, during my SPM itself I ran away from home and nearly forsake the all-important examinations... if not for conscience which says don't waste it. Thus I managed to get hold of a pair of school uniform through my brother and took the exams, some 3-5 days of it while bunking at a working friend's place.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to get grades good enough to get me called to the BTU interview, ensuring a place for the "A" Levels programme despite failing the interview. I remembered the interviewer asking: "Most of the people interviewed here have better grades than you. So why should we choose you to be in BTU". I can't remember my answer but being at the height of my rebel days, it would not be surprising if I gave a very detrimental answer.

Nevermind, that is the attitude I took as I entered the PPP/ITM "A" Levels college. I was arrogant, cocky, supremely-confident of my natural intelligence without having to study and was very sure of my ability to attract women while handling the other guys. Then came the BTU juniors who generally rubbed us "regular joes" the wrong way.

OK. Some might say we were jealous of the BTU boys because they were considered the creme de la creme of the Malaysian education system and would go to the UK much sooner. Perhaps we were jealous but when I think about our own batch of BTU, I'd say I don't think so. I think in general, we (if not just a number of us) got on famously with our own batch of BTU. Maybe a few were good friends from boarding school days while others got along during their 3 months alongside us and soon prove to be good friends when we meet up again in the UK, albeit 2 years later than them.

Yep. That was really the case. It was not so much jealousy but being snubbed by the BTU juniors. This was very evident when we bumped in the hallways. They hardly acknowledged our existence and soon many of my mates started to complain to me. And being a product of the old boarding school ragging system I soon spontaneously came up with something...

I can't remember how it actually started but one day I simply and single-handedly called a number of the BTU boys giving them a message or rather a warning: " Do ask all your mates to come up to my dorm 51C all of you at ... (what time, I couldn't remember but it was in the afternoon) or I will come up and teach you guys a nasty lesson in your own dorms". By then I already had a notorious reputation among my batch and seniors as someone capable of getting what I want.

Perhaps I made the warning a few times, perhaps only once. But soon I just went on with other things. Then I realised most of them some 50 or so actually came to my dorm.

OK, I can't remember if I invited my batch to join in the coming ragging session. What I do remember is I was having an afternoon nap when my mates, just about 10 of them woke me up as the BTU juniors started streaming up into my room. The funny thing is I was non-chalant at all as I told everyone to wait for me to take a shower. By the time I was done, the room was full with juniors.

After putting on some decent clothes, the session started. I think it was with a preaching from me about how the juniors did not know how to respect the seniors. No sir, we don't want you to put us up on a pedestal, we just want you to acknowledge our existence as should be the case in any school or college. And being the younger ones, they should be the first to greet us not the other way around. This is just simple tradition and good manners. It's not like we expect you to do our laundry and massage our bodies at night as is normal in boarding schools of those time.

OK. Maybe I didn't put the message in a very nice way. I remember challenging the lot to a fist fight. I said some of you must be martial artists. Come, let's see what you've got but none dared. Hmm... there may be one who answered back but not to take up my physical challenge. Instead he was being a smart aleck questioning the legitimacy of this session of ragging, saying it was not sanctioned by the college authorities and he would complain. I shoved him to the wooden locker before punching straight just next to his eyes right into the locker. I started demonstrating how to make holes using the fist and elbows, just barely missing his body parts by an inch or even less. I think that was about as violent as I did actually got.

There's one guy who looked like he was being defiant through his funny-looking stare. I asked: "You're looking at me?" He just shaked his head. Then he looked back at me again with those eyes. I asked: "You want a fight?" He shaked his head again. I went right to him ready for a brawl. Then I realised it was just the way his eyes looked like. I started laughing and said sorry and this was followed by the laughter of others.

A lighter mood ensued. With a gentler tone I started pouring out why we the seniors felt that we must have this ragging session or rather an informal orientation session. I then asked every senior to voice out what's on their minds and gave room for the juniors to give feedback. Next, I asked the juniors to one by one shake the hands of each and every senior while introducing their names. Once that is done, I explained now we have known each other. Don't forget to greet us and other seniors when we next met anywhere especially in the hallways. And don't hesitate to share any problems with us as being like elder brothers we would try to help whenever we can.

With that the session ended. I think that's enough of remembering the matter. For the record, a number of the BTU juniors are now bigshots in the Malaysian politics and business scene. My next instalment on the "A" Level days would be how I was finally kicked out of college. Good night! :]

Zikir and fikir (remembrance and reflection)

There should be no more need to explain this. Just read...

ZIKIR & FIKIR (REMEMBRANCE & REFLECTION)

By Ustaz Syed Hasan Alatas
http://www.shiar-islam.com/

English translation by Radzi Sapiee

Zikir literally means ’remembrance’. Doa (suplications), tahmid (reciting Alhamdulillah, thanks to Allah), wirid (a group of repetitious recitals), ratib (similar to wirid), the prayers, fasting, paying the obligatory yearly alms, pilgrimage of hajj, reciting the Quran, reciting the Asmaa ul- Husna (names of Allah) and such are all methods of remembering Allah s.w.t.

Allah commands us to always remember Him in all situations. As revealed in the Quran:

“They remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and they reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth: ‘Our Lord, You did not create all this in vain. Be You glorified. Save us from the retribution of Hell.’” (Al-Imran: 191)

In the verse above we are also asked to reflect as both remembrance and reflection contain huge benefits for our lives here and in the hereafter. Verily to do zikir to Allah brings huge rewards. If we always remember Allah, then Allah would surely remember us (Quranic verse of Al-Baqarah: 152.). We would also gain spiritual strength and set our souls at peace (verse of. Ar- Ra’d:28).

The Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. said:

"The words that are most liked by Allah S.W.T. are four: Subhanallah (Most holy Allah), wal Hamdulillah (all praises for Allah), walaa ilaaha Illallah (and there is none to be worshipped but Allah), wallahu Akbar (and Allah most great).” (H.R.Muslim).

Reciting and remembrance of Allah must be done humbly, no need to be loud (as Allah is Most Hearing), in deep concentration, sincere only for Allah. God willing, our zikir will bear fruits. At the same time we are also asked to use our minds to reflect on everything which exist on heaven and earth. When we think about the creation of the heavens and earth alongside everything in it, we would surely be amazed at how ordered things are in space.

Earth and other planets, countless stars and other celestial bodies all revolve in its own orbit, all too numerous making it impossible to count their numbers. What would happen if their paths are not ordered, for example the earth approaching the sun, the moon going into earth or a planet in collision with another planet, star with star? For sure everything in this universe would be destroyed isn’t it?

God’s creations are so perfect. If we care, do reflect how we ourselves were created, from the seed of a man and woman becoming beautiful human beings. From the weak state we were born in, bit by bit we began to grow big. We are blessed with hearing, sight, ability to talk and such as we mature then grow old. Aren’t we supposed to thank Allah for all these?

Let us reflect on the purpose of us living in this world. Is it just to eat and drink, play around and then die? If that is the case, what is the difference between us and the other creations of Allah which we call animals?

We should reflect on how the Muslims are now so far left behind compared to the other communities. We should try to mend our mistakes by returning to the Quran and Sunnah, practices of the prophet s.a.w.. We should also love and care for each other. If we do these, God willing Muslims will become the best of communities.

Since the Muslims number more than one fith of the world’s population and the land in Muslim nations blessed with all sorts of wealth, by right the Muslims should not be weak as is the case now. Thus let us always remember Allah S.W.T. and use our minds for the prosperity of our lives in this world and the hereafter.

Remembering the "A" Level college days. The 'ghosts' that haunts 51C...

Peace be upon you all. It's been three weeks since I last wrote anything about remembering the "A" level days, through the last article Remembering the "A" Level college days. The "scandal" with Ann, my dear sweet Ann... . Tonight I feel like remembering again. This has something to do with a prank me and my mates played on the juniors who were staying at my dorm 51C.

OK. This one happened sometime in the middle of 1989, after a year my batch, Batch 7 have studied in the PPP/ITM "A" Levels College at Damansara Utama. Hmm... whenever I think about our juniors Batch 8, I can't help recalling the number of pretty girls they have. But hey, this is not about the girls as that has already been touched in the article Remembering the "A" Level college days. The disco circuit of those days... and the girls , this is about the guys.

First, the change of 'guards'. As the juniors were about to enter college, our batch was told that there would be major reshuffles in the list of dormitory inhabitants. While most of the original 51C guys decided to move out and join other rooms, I decided to stick around. Apart from sentimental values, I was just too lazy to pack my things out. So there I was with Nash and Tonga being the original 51C guys who decided to stick around. Soon, the juniors came and about 15 or so settled in our room.

As usual in college, cliques were immediately formed as the popularity game continues. 51C was already a popular dorm when my batch first entered the fray, now it continues to be popular with a new bunch of guys, the juniors who immediately invented nicknames and named their whole lot the "Brat Pack". OK, let me try to list the nicknames as far as I could remember. There was Ice, Wolf, Maverick.... hmm, I forgot the rest. But the ones I do remember when writing this seems to have their nicknames copied lock, stock and barrel from the then famous movie "Top Gun". Well, what do you expect?

Ah. Now I remember one thing. The juniors came in the during the mid-year holidays. All of my batch was actually on holiday but somehow I didn't feel like spending it at my native home in Muar and decided to stay on in the dorm. Yes, that is how I started to get along with the juniors. In fact during the first few days they came, the lot went around Kuala Lumpur city centre with me showing the way and decided to drop by Central Market. That's when we decided to make military-like pendants with our nicknames engraved on it. Yes, I remember that now. And we continue to wear the pendants for sometime. This lead to many of the 400-plus Batch 8 guys and girls taking me as the leader of "Brat Pack".

Now, I'm not sure if that was a compliment or an insult. Seeing that the "Brat Pack" were considered as popular guys coming from the middle and upper-class society of Klang Valley, it could be seen as a compliment. Then again I was the senior and already popular enough on my own. When I think of that (yep, the pride likes to creep in), saying that I was the leader of a bunch of city-folk juniors who were mainly still wet behind the ears felt like an insult.

Never mind, it soon came around how the juniors were actually brats and some of the seniors thought let's make them grew up. It happened that as normal in any college, boarding school or even anywhere with dorms where youngsters stay out of the comfort of their own homes, ghosts stories are abound and we decided to some more. A number of seniors (my batch that is) from different dorms decided to collaborate for the 'project'. The main leader was myself followed by Nash and Tonga, the original 51C guys.

So one night it started. I think it was only about 11pm or so when the lights went out. But I really can't remember this. Did the lights went out because we managed to create a local blackout or was it the dorm regulation that says the lights must be turned off after a certain time at night. Hmm... if I remember correctly, a few days before that we started feeding the juniors every night with ghost stories said to have happened at the college, particularly in 51C. So they started getting feverish when suddenly they could smell the kemenyan (a type on incense) followed by a strong sweet smell in the air.

Now, Malay ghosts stories are full of instances where one can smell the kemenyan followed by a strong sweet smell. What happened was the minute the signal was given, Nash went to a corner of the room (it was dark then I think) and subtly started burning a small piece of kemenyan before spraying the room with perfume, actually own of those expensive branded ones. While that happened me and Tonga were supposed to go like "O'oo... its happening again!" while pretending to show slight fear in our eyes. Then we started calming the juniors. For some were starting to panick, being mummy's boy and such who have never stayed outside the safety of their own homes.

Then strange noises started coming from the roof. For the record, our dorm is on the 3rd floor, the top floor of a row of shophouses. The juniors started to huddle together. Now comes the next stage of the act...

I can't remember Nash and Azmil's roles at this point. I think they were around to induce more fear into the juniors while pretending to help calm them down hehe! As for me, it's time to play the hero. "We can't go on like this!" I said. "It's time to fight". Hey, wait a minute. I seriously can't remember if all this happened in the dark or was there light. But I do know there's enough light at least from outside for us to be able to see each other's expression, hehe!

Anyway there I was climbing up to the roof using the escape door on the ceiling while the others prayed for my 'safety', hehe! Some wanted to follow me to 'fight' alongside but no, I told them. It's too dangerous. Something bad could happen to you. Besides I've done this before, hehe!

So I climbed up. Once clear from their view, I started laughing albeit while controlling it from becoming loud. For here on top of the roof, there was no fewer than 10 guys from my batch, from different dorms working their trade. Some were tapping the roof with sticks, some scratching it with bricks. If you were there, I'll bet you'd laugh your stomachs out. While down inside the dorm, the juniors were really scared.

Then I started making noises as if a fight was in action. Once in a while I shouted "Allahuakbar! (God is great) and such implying that I was using 'religious powers' to fight the ghosts, hehe! And soon the disturbance from up the roof abated as I went down feigning a blank face to show that I just got away from a very terrible ordeal up there.

"Ah! The ghost are just too strong!" I told the juniors. "I almost didn't make it!". as some showed concern by trying to comfort me. The thing is they took it hook, line and sinker... except for one or two who realised what was going on but decided to play along.

I took my place among the huddled lot. Soon the noises from up the roof started coming again. That's when me, Nash and Tonga decided to sit together, only the three of us for our special ritual. "It looks like we have no choice but to concentrate our powers to drive the spirits away!" we told the juniors. And this only us can do. You juniors keep on reading the Quran and Yasin ( a verse from the Quran).

My God, it was a really funny sight as half the juniors don't even know how to read the Quran as they were mainly very Western educated kids, brought up in posh neighbourhoods with not much Islamic education. God knows how hard we tried to stop ourselves from laughing. Anyway, our ritual finally 'calmed things' down, hehe. After a while we started going to sleep.

The story soon spread out among the juniors (and seniors too) of what has transpired. Some of the juniors of 51C were even thinking of changing rooms. Some wanted to complain to the college authorities because the room was haunted. Who knows when the spirits will attack again? For us seniors, something must be done quickly before the authorities found out what has actually happened.

A plan was devised. Our mate Derrick from another room was given the role of the senior who knows how to clear ghosts from a premise. He soon come knocking at our doors and offered his help wearing a long robe complete with the right headgear to make him look very religious hehe! Suffice to say the juniors started pouring their hearts...

As the usual practice with actual religious men in such matters, Derrick asked for a glass of water and started reciting somethin before blowing into the glass. He then asked the juniors to throw the water out. With that, there was no more incidents of ghosts disturbing 51C. Life went on as usual without complaints. It took more than a month or so before the juniors realised what has actually happened.

p/s: Writing this piece made me remember an unofficial orientation session made by me and a few other mates on another group of juniors, the BTU (British Top University) boys. I think I will touch on this in my next article on remembering the "A" Level days before closing the whole series with what happened in my 7th trial at the student court. Good night! :]