Saie. Why we do it

1. Part of the umrah and haj rituals is to circle back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwah 7 times.

2. This is to reenact Hajar frantic search for water for the crying baby Prophet Ishmael. Story goes that she left him in the valley between the 2 hills whilst running back and forth up and down those 2 hills in search of water.

3. Why do we reenact it ? To me it symbolises that act that we should never give up even though we have failed repeatedly. Strangely
enough, was browsing Napoleon Hill's critically acclaimed book "Think and Grow Rich" and this was the first and main principle and theme of the book. Never give up and you will succeed.

4. Of course it means a whole lot more than just that. It symbolises one's faith to Allah. The love and sacrifices of a mother to her child. If you could see the pic of the hill of Safa and Marwah we are talking about Hajar a female with her limited female strength frantically running up and down those 2 SOLID HARD ROCK hills. This is no sand dunes we are talking about here. It is also no easy slope. It is steep and it is razor sharp. Imagine doing that thousand of years ago with perhaps a leather slippers and no gloves. Even today with proper boots and gloves I wouldn't want to do it. A fall would from Safa and Marwah would mean deep cuts from the jagged rocks. Like I said, this is no bukit from tanah merah or sand. All of ut is made of cold jagged rocks. Also imagine Hajar doing this in the midday heat of the Arabian desert.

5. The Saie we perform today is a far cry from what Hajar did. Now we have long air conditioned corridors between the two hills with smooth tile surfaces along the way. Sometimes I think this luxury will make us forget te reason why we are reenacting this sacrifice in the first place. Oh well.. Hopefully that won't be the case.

6. This forms my personal opinion on the matter. All views are welcomed.

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Out Forefathers got it right

1. The declaration of independence was read in English. If we can read our proclamation of Independence in English, why cant we learn school subjects in English?

2. After Tunku declared Merdeka, Islamic prayers was read. Islam was intended to be the State religion and will always be .

Taking a break from blogging

Dear friends,

Due to

a) work
b) another project of mine which i believe creates better value for all, i am taking a break from blogging. I will keep blogging from time to time but my research and focus are now focused to something which i feel will create better value than commenting on current issues and my personal life.

see you guys around.

Lessons that We can learn from Iran Revolution

(1) There's an excellent show on BBC right now. It's titled –Fall of a shah.

(2) I recommend all of you to watch it if you can.

(3) There's a lot that we can learn and draw comparisons with.

(4) what Strikes me the most was the similarity of the Shah and Tun M in certain respects.

(5) Although their upbringing is completely different (one is of royal upbringing, the other is from a rural upbringing) they share a common passion in modernizing and improving their country.

(6) Both men also had ideas far ahead of its time. The shah for example wanted to give the right to Vote for women. An idea which we took for granted and accept it as a natural right now was vehemently opposed by the mullah groups at that time. Tun M had pegged the ringgit during the economic crisis of 98. An unheard idea at that time.

(7) More info as I research more on the topic

 
 

Beza Lawak Malaysia dan Lawak American ( The difference between Malaysian and American Jokes)

(1) I was having dinner and the tv at the restaurant was turned to Raja Lawak at Astro.

(2) The quality of our jokes is a joke (pardon the pun, couldnt help it)

(3) They really lack the creativity needed to crack up jokes. If this are the best that passed the screening stage, i wonder what is the level of the rest that didnt made it ?.


(4) It is no surprise that till TODAY, the best jokes are from P Ramlee and geng, some of our comedians came to the extent of making their living paraphrasing and repeating the jokes from the P Ramlee era.


(5)Below are two video clips for you to decide on our standard of jokes.










but i do notice certain things that may be conducive to nurture a good comedian growth

(1) A mature society - notice how Chris Tucker can diss (kutuk) Democrat/Republicans/Whites/Blacks/Jews without fear of repercussions. You do that here in Bolehland and we're gonna have demonstration/marcharound town and 34 police report filed against you.

(2) A tolerant law - The American First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech eventhough it may be unpopular or may be not to the taste to the current ruling government. Over here ..........???... The Sedition Act, The ISA is but two of that comes to mind, not to mention the various censorship laws and publishing permits that may be revoked.

(3) People who can keep an open mind - i think we still have a longgggg way to go here........ Can we take jokes that pokes the Malay that comes from a Chinese and vice versa ?

Note: Why does all (correct me if i am wrong) the Raja Lawak participants are Malay ?, Interesting to note isnt it....but thats another discussion for another day.

What we all can learn from a Mamak waiter at Hakim

(1) i think Malaysians are missing the big picture. The big picture that only the educated Malaysians are realising. Them and the Mamak Waiters and the Bangladeshis.

(2) While we are busy bickering about the small stuff, like local politics, Perak, DAP, UMNO, Pakatan Rakyat, the world is expanding and expanding.

(3) I believe at this level what we can do to help improve ourself is to gain as much knowledge as possible in order to competein a globalised world.

(4) While we are busy arguing on whether UiTM should be allowed to Non malays , the rest of the world is figuiring out how to enter other country and market. Why be so defensive Malays ?, Why dont we let the Non Malays in and increase the size of UiTM ?

(5) When i was studying in Shah Alam i had a mamak waiter friend who was waiting at the tables of Hakim Restaurant, He was from India. He has been working here for about 5 years. Later i got to know that he has now moved to Dubai to work in a restaurant there.

(6) The lessons that we can learn here are ;
(a) Even the lowly paid waiters from India has realised that the world is flat
(b) The world is now flat and borders are no longer barriers for employment
(c) One can make good anywhere in this world so long he/she is willing to work hard and brave the unknown.

Instead, what we are doing ?. We are busying ourself with political issues that adds very little value to ourself. Things like holding rallies,

It is in my belief that if you want to help your people , the best way is to garner as much knowledge as possible and give them back to people.

Standing in front of buildings and holding rallies is not one of them.

If i have a Non malay Muslim friend, he would be denied entry to UiTM because he is a non Bumiputra eventhough he is a brother of mine in religion.

Looks and feel wrong somehow.

I believe we should focusing on how to compete in a globalised world rather than bickering among ourself.