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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.


Friday, March 09, 2007

Writing to let go off steam

Note: This spontaneous piece was written at around 10pm last night, when I was piggy-riding on the neighbour's Wi-Fi signal. However by the time I'm done with the piece, the signal was already out. Now, I'm somewhere near KLCC hopping on someone's else signal, so there...

It has been a while since I felt like writing anything in English, or for that matter even in Malay. I'm supposed to complete the editing process for my second book in Malay, "Berpetualang ke Aceh: Membela syiar yang asal" (literally translated: "The journey to Aceh: Advocating the true faith) or BKA II... After all, there's only the last or closing chapter left, just 12 more pages to go before the editting process for the 300-page book is completed, then it's just a matter of final reeditting and layout using InDesign before turning the whole document into PDF format ready for printing. But yet I found myself rather lethagic the last 2 weeks, unable to even string a few words into a proper satisfying sentence.
To top it all, I'm also supposed to submit a brief 2-page summary of the first book "Berpetualang ke Aceh: Mencari diri dan erti" ("The journey to Aceh: In search of self and meaning) or BKA I to a tv programme producer but even that I haven't finished. And I haven't even started writing for the latest installment of the "Laksamana pulang ke Perak" ("Admiral returns to Perak") for the Malay-language Kencana tabloid paper of which I have become a regular contributer since late last year.
Tonight, after returning from a massage session (decided to have one to unblock my system), I opened up the Internet to enter my favourite forum, Forum CVT only to find an internal server error blocking the page. In the morning, a friend had called saying she had been trying to enter the forum several times and found the same error. Apparently, the forum is going through some updating process and some friends guessed it has something to do with the fact that the forum and some forumers were featured prominently in the latest issue of Kencana which came into market the last few days.
I bought one yesterday and had a good laugh. The March 1-15 issue which happens to be the 113rd edition is the first to feature stories from the forum following a discussion held among prominent members. It happens that Kencana's editor is among them so he had dedicated 5 pages of pictures plus our tomfoolery in the last few pages of the tabloid... The main focus, the gathering we held in Manjung, Perak on Jan 27 attended by some 20 plus forumers, also the trip to Pangkor made by four - me (MerahSilu) and the forumers with nick-names AbnormalSuam, DiamondArcher and Master C-Fu.
Why, there's even a complete article on our friend PenditaGila who is getting married soon. Imagine the laugh I had upon seeing that just below that article was another about advices given by another friend who uses the nickname Kuali - on the do's and don'ts of having sex, the title, "Pesanan Kuali kepada bakal pengantin" (Kuali's advice to the future groom). Among the advice, don't have sex under a tree which is bearing fruits... Or you might end up with a baby who will grow up to be a fierce beater or something like that, haha!
Admittedly, it is serious advice based on old wisdom but still I can't hold myself from laughing like a jackal... Must be the context of the situation. Come to think of it, there's another article about forumer KurmaJalis who got lost on the trip from Ipoh to Manjung. It should have taken only an hour or so but this dreamer actually took 7 and half hours to do the job! And just below that article was a picture of one forumer posing in meditation with his head covered by a towel. It was taken for fun but the serious twist given in Kencana was just too hilarious... I mean, yes the pose was a serious one normally done by advanced meditators but the accompanying article which seemed to imply this particular forumer is a member of secret sect sounded rather spooky and zany.
Anyway, I'm just writing all this to let go off steam.... At least I'm writing something in English especially in this blogspot which was last updated almost a month ago.
Hopefully this should unblock whatever it is that seems to make me very lazy to write the last few weeks. Oh did I tell you that I've completed a trip to the East Coast then down south to Muar and Pulau Besar, Melaka then up north including travel to Langkawi and a climb alone at night up Gunung Jerai in Kedah? Come to think of it, that could also be the reason why I was so lethargic. Yes, the trip was completed more than a month ago but it did take nearly two months to do and only God knows the circumstances I was in while making it.
Hmm... Enough for now. Hopefully, I will feel like writing again here soon enough... Cheers! :]