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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.


Thursday, July 23, 2009

Looking for the Selangor-Perak connection along the Bernam river

You could say this is a continuation of the article with video clips The 'Bermuda Triangle' that is Lubuk Pusing in Sabak Bernam . Actually the clips were taken in a trip last Saturday. Look also at the articles Masjid (mosque of) Marzukiyah, Lubuk Pusing, Sabak Bernam and Makam (tomb of) Sheikh Sayyid Ahmad Marzuki in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) .

After watching remnants of the 'Bermuda Triangle', me and wife went deep inside the surrounding areas to look for the part of Bernam river closest to Lubuk Pusing. I did this because I'm trying to establish how the river could have been connected to the parts at Lubuk Pusing which the stories say later became land.


From Lubuk Pusing, we have to travel some 3km or so before we could find the closest point off the tarred roads as shown here. A villager whose house is close by told us, there is a part of the river where you could find a pedestrian bridge across.

For the record, the Bernam river marks the border between the states of Selangor on its south and Perak to the north. So I was taking this picture from the Selangor side while Perak lies across.

The prospect of walking across the states using a pedestrian bridge across the rather wide Bernam river urged us to find it using this untarred road as pointed out by the villager.


All along you could see the river behind the palm trees. But it seems in this picture you have to take a closer look. Sorry...


We soon arrive at this laterite parts...


To the left we could this hut besides the river. Now, the villager did mention something about a hut. But we couldn't see any bridge around.


So we decided to press on. At this juncture I have to walked out of the car to set aside a thorny bush or something which blocked the path.


We went on for another kilometre or so upriver and still no sign of any pedestrian bridge. The path started veering to the right getting further from the river and looked very unkempt with potholes and such. Something is not right here. So we decided to turn back to the point where there's a hut and walk towards the river.



Ah! Maybe this is what the villager meant by a bridge... a jetty actually. Or is it a bridge with some parts having been submerged over time?

Then when I think of it, it's quite impossible or rather unfeasible to erect a pedestrian bridge all the way over this wide expanse of water. For one it would block traffic of boats and such. Of course one could build a high enough bridge allowing all sorts of boats to pass under. Nut that wouldn't be feasible considering how far these areas are from modern civilisation.

Hmm... maybe we heard the villager wrong. Or maybe he described the matter unclear. What is sure, he did use the word bridge as he said it is used by people to get to the middle of the river. Then again he could have exaggerated the descriptions of this jetty or how far it actually extends across the water...


Anyway since we were already there, might as well enjoy the view. Here's one to the left heading towards the sea which should be some 30km away if directly seen in a map, maybe 50km or even more if navigating through the many curves of the river.


And here is an upstream view to our right. That's all.


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