BERPETUALANG KE ACEH: Muar river cruise part I...

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This blogspot is a medium to share my thoughts and adventures apart from promoting my books. Below are the books which have been written or authored and published by myself.

"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Mencari Diri dan Erti".

ISBN 983-42031-0-1, Jun 2006

"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Membela Syiar yang Asal"

ISBN 983-42031-1-x, May 2007

"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?"

ISBN 978-983-42031-2-2, November 2007

It is interesting to note that while these books were written in Malay it has gained enough attention to merit being part of the collections of the American Library of Congress and National Library of Australia. Look here and here.

While the first three books were published by my own company, the fourth titled "Rumah Azan" was published in April 2009 by a company called Karnadya with the help of the Malaysian national literary body Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. It features beautiful pictures along with stories behind selected mosques which could be related to the history of Islam and the Malays alongside the formation of the Malaysian nation. Look at the article A collaboration of old collegemates - the book "Rumah Azan".

My fifth book "Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and Malay Sultanates", an English translation and adaptation of the Malay book "Ahlul Bait (Keluarga) Rasulullah SAW dan Kesultanan Melayu" authored by Hj Muzaffar Mohamad and Tun Suzana Othman was published early 2010. Look here... My 5th book is out! Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and the Malay Sultanates... . For more information check out my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU.

Like my fourth book "Rumah Azan", the sixth book "Kereta Api Menuju Destinasi" is also a coffee-table book which is published by the company Karnadya with the cooperation of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the main Malay literary body in Malaysia). Coming out January 2011 it features pictures and stories on the adventure travelling by train to all of Peninsular Malaysia along with the interesting places which could be reached this way.

My seventh book "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" in turn is a coffee-table book which is written, editted, designed and has pictures taken by me. Coming out of the factory October 2011, this book which combines family history with history of places such as Singapura, Johor, Batu Pahat, Muar and in fact the history of the island of Java and England has been reviewed with me interviewed live in the program Selamat Pagi Malaysia at RTM1. Look at the article Siaran langsung ulasan buku "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" dan temu ramah di Selamat Pagi Malaysia. Some selected contents have been featured in Sneak peek "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah".

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The "Berpetualang ke Aceh" series of novels could be obtained in e-book form. Enter http://www.e-sentral.com/, click general novel and go to page 4. You can also type the word "Aceh" at the search box. Or click straight Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Muar river cruise part I...

Ladies and gentlemen, without much further ado, as the title suggest...

You see, for me there's something mystical about the Muar river. After all it's the biggest and longest river in the southern parts of the Peninsular and I have spent a major part of my teenage years playing alongside its banks. But I've only been on the river cruising on a boat only 3 times my whole life! The first, if I'm not mistaken was some 10 years ago when the Muar river cruise was first started... The second I think was about 5 years ago or so when I was still a married man. Now I want to share some pictures of the 3rd cruise, made slightly over 2 weeks ago... Come!

Here is the yatch harbour next to the jetty seen in the previous picture. It is situated right at the immense mouth of the Muar river. If memory serves me right, works on it started sometime in 2002 and were completed early this year. But I have yet to see yatches mooring nearby... Then again I don't often come down to visit Muar nowadays although it is the town where I was born and grew up at...

On thing's for sure, they have gone a notch up or two in promoting tourism and the river cruise. Last time I remember, the boats used then were simple functional white. Now, it has a more classic look befitting a place for tourists... Especially one that is rich in history...

For information the Muar river has been featured in some prominent classic Malay literary pieces. In fact the Sulalatus Salatin (known also as the Sejarah Melayu or the Malay Annals) mentioned Muar as the place where the founder and first king of Melaka twice tried to set up new states but failed. Thus that's why he travelled furthered up north to open Melaka and this happened sometime 600 years ago!

Actually this picture was taken one afternoon while walking around Tanjung Emas (part of the southern tip of the Muar estuary). One look at this boat and I felt I must take a river cruise. And so I did 2 days later or so...

Now, this picture is taken just after embarking on the boat. You can see the second main mosque of Muar in it...

The boat starts to move along the much frequented parts of Tanjung Emas... The Muar town centre beckons...

And so, for the first time ever I had a view from the river of the Dataran Muar (literally translated as the Muar square) area built at Tanjung Emas and completed 3-4 years ago...