Asian Cup Going to the Arabs

I was rather surprised reading ESPNsoccernet the other day to find out that two Arab nations made it to the finals of the Asian Cup. Iraq beat South Korea 4-3 on penalties while Saudi Arabia enjoyed the thrill of beating defending champions, Japan, 3-2. Iraq were in their first Asian Cup final ever.

This years Cup, like all other soccer tournaments, had it's fair share of surprises. Along with Japan, and South Korea, Australia, making a debut performance in the Asian Cup after ditching Oceania, were fellow favourites to win the tournament also. They, however, bowed out even earlier to the hands of Japan in the quarter finals. Very disappointing, considering the players they have at their disposal. China, also another Asia soccer powerhouse, were left stunned some part earlier in the competition.

And don't even bother knowing how Malaysia did. As if being trashed 1-5 by China wasn't enough, Malaysia fell victim to another humiliating defeat, and this time around, 0-5 to Uzbekistan. Aduhai Malaysia...

A Thought to Ponder

We were getting ready for our orgo lab today and as usual, we had to go pray zohor first. We usual pray at the stair case at the back of the chemistry building which people don't use much especially in the summer. It's quiet and all, but since it had cement floor, it was rather dusty and smelly. Quite uncomfortable.

Today Qayyum opted to go pray at the front stair case which other than the elevator, was the main way to the labs. And sure a lot of people used it, which caused me to initially feel unease to pray there, infront of the public and all.

But then Sakina said, "Ape nak malu? Kite hanya menjalankan tuntutan agama je,"

It hit me right there and then. Ya, why should we be embarrassed to pray? Why should we be embarrassed to perform our duty towards our religion? Towards Allah? Heck, we should be proud! I prayed right away, of course, after that.

Well, that was just a thought to ponder..

When Nature Calls (Pt 2)

Ya, so i got a request to list down things that can be done to help save this world. Mind you, the list that I'm about to jot down here are things that can be done, and not things that I'm doing, to help save the earth. And mind you also, I'm not saying that I'm not doing these things at all, there are some that I'm capable of and I find easy to do, while there are a few which are just out of my reach.

Foremostly, there's recycling. With all the advertisements around, it's safe to say that everyone knows recycling, it's just a question of whether or not you do it. Sure I do recycling, sometimes. My bad. But this is not just about me, so everyone out there, meh la same2 kite berrecycle! And I don't think I have to mention what effect recycling has on saving the world, we're grown ups now, and things like these are just known to be. But heck, here's a link to recycle.com.

You can also go help replant trees in the forest, sure, help the earth one tree at a time. But for me, it's just one of those things I'm incapable of. I do love gardening though, if that counts.

Owh, in Malaysia, orang2 kampung just love to burn their trash. Sure it's easy, and a lot of fun, too. I used to enjoy it once (i just love playing with fire). But open fires are just too hazardous to the air. God knows what gases their passing out with each burn. So, orang2 kampung di Malaysia and to whom ever it may concern, if you're reading this, please stop open fire! Bahaya2.

And we can also use solar powered cars, but then again, for me, at least, it's also something I prefer not talk about for now.

I don't see myself driving one of those to Walmart.

Solar energy by itself can be considered too. We have plenty of it, and sure enough, insyaAllah, we'll have the sun for as long as we stay on this planet. Solar energy doesn't give out pollutents, and they're one of those reproduceble energy sourses. But ya, it's expensive.

And yeah, you can also go out to the world and personally tell them to stop polluting, and start saving the world. Plenty of people are doing it, take Al Gore for example. He seems to be having a lot of fun doing it, and good for him too. I went to his talks once and his devotion to help save the world, stop global warming to be exact, woke me out of my slumber and realise just how severe the Earth is now. But again, as of now, I don't see myself capable of doing something of Al Gore's standard. So, bare with me please.

I'm finding it kinda hard to find logical ways to help save the earth now. Probably due to the lack of myself doing it, and again, my bad. Probably it's because I just woke up from bed too. But as a student, recycling is merely all I can think of for now. Whatever it is, helping the world is a responsibility we have to carry out together. After all, man was brought upon this earth as caliphs.