Anwar wins big time

Keputusan tidak rasmi pilihan raya kecil Permatang Pauh menunjukkan DS Anwar Ibrahim menang besar. The majority was more than 15000.


Read more here.

So what's BN got to say? Tan Sri Pandikar Amin recently announced that the winning candidate doesn't necessarily have to be sworn into office right away. He said the winning candidate can opt to go for a holiday or even an umrah if he wants to.

Dewan Rakyat is currently assembling to discuss the 2009 budget this Friday. Is this just an accuse to prevent Anwar from debating then?

Stay tuned for the official announcement.

Hello America

Just reached Vanderbilt at around 10 am. Class starts.

So Long Malaysia

I'm going back to the US today at 3.15 local time. I would go back to Vanderbilt University as a senior, and insyaAllah, if all goes to plan, I'll be back come 10 months, in June that is.

Till then, sayonara Malaysia!

Jihad Here and There

Jihad, as we all know it, means to struggle or strive. In the general Islamic context, jihad usually refers to striving in the way for Allah.

We've seen many declarations of jihad in the world. We have or have had jihad in Afghanistan and Iraq against the Americans, jihad in Palestine against Israel, jihad in Chechnya against the Russians, in India and many other parts of the world. Take note that these jihads were very big ones indeed, against the enemies of Islam.

But recently, we had a jihad declaration here in our beloved Malaysia. Unbelievable? Believe it! Wanita UMNO, through it's deputy chief, Datu' Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil declared a jihad war against DSAI in the Permatang Pauh by election. Sure it is, Shahrizat. :) Don't you just love wannabes?

Read full story here.

Berat Mata Memandang, Berat lagi Bahu Memikul

Roughly it means, by merely looking we know it's heavy, but it's heavier on the person carrying the task. Something like that.

This idiom suites perfectly well with the voters of Permatang Pauh. They are literally carrying the whole nations cries and pleas on their backs. Whomever they vote for in the August 26 by election wouldn't effect just their kawasan, but the nation as a whole. This by election isn't just about themselves anymore.

If they feel that the general public wishes for a revolution or reformation, then obviously they have to vote for the one bringing that change, which in this case is Anwar Ibrahim. For if they do vote for Anwar Ibrahim, there seems to be no stopping him from conquering Putrajaya. He will make it to office.

But however, if they feel that the rakyat isn't ready for such dramatic shift of power, then vote for BN's candidate, who ever that might be. Guess we'd have to wait till 16 August to know for sure.

Just look at the scale of responsibility on their shoulders. The game is in your hands now, Permatang Pauh. It's your vote that matters.

My Sister's a Mrs!

I know this is more than just overdue, but here it is. This is the blogpost some have been waiting for, and here, I oblige. This is the blogpost that will insyaAllah, cover sedikit sebanyak my sister's wedding on the 2nd of August, 2008.

The akad nikah was preformed by my father, and my uncle was nice enough to sponsor a professional photographer. Well frankly, he was the photographer. Sedikit iklan/promote: Here's his site: Preety peektures. Photos previewed here are of my own, but the photos from the preety peektures will be uploaded once they are processed. Click on the pictures to get the real size image.

The groom, Tg. Abdul Kadir

My sis

The three scrooges

The mother

Abah performing the akad

Bersantai...

Aneka hantaran

I didn't get as many good snaps as I wanted. My views were always blocked by someone.. Argh, tension. haha. oh well, enjoy them!

TV1 yg Purba Kala

I don't have ASTRO installed in my house here in Terengganu, so sadly, I had to watch the live broadcast of the Olympics opening ceremony on TV1.

And I say sad for a reason. The broadcast was horrible! I could hardly make out the colors in tv. Each time there were bright colors, that color would cover the whole screen, making the details impossible to see. And it's not my tv!


It's disappointing indeed that TV1 were given the license to broadcast such an event. The Olympics is no doubt the most watched sports tournament in the world. TV1 clearly doesn't have the right technology to do such a thing. Their system is probably the same one used ages ago. Being the first television in Malaysia, it's a shame they haven't been able to develop.

And their commentators? Don't even mention that. They're embarrassing. Hasbullah Haji Awang is his name, and he is probably the sole RTM commentator. He's pathetic. He's always mixing up names, giving out wrong information, and know little about the sports he comments. And the fact that he's the commentator of every sport broad casted doesn't help at all.

So this guy Hasbullah was the co-commentator for the opening ceremony (I have no doubt he'll be commenting most of the sports later though), he had somebody else helping him. Never mind the fact they couldn't recognize some leaders/kings of respective countries as they were shown on tv, they couldn't even recognize some popular sports people. They failed to announce Taufik Hidayat (badminton) of Indonesia and Rafael Nadal (tennis) of Spain. Heck, they couldn't even pronounce the country names right! They failed to pronounce Mauritania on two attempts, pronouncing it as Marushina once. Lithuania was pronounced Lithuana.

Apart from the faults of RTM, the Olympics opening ceremony was great! The performances were extraordinary, matching the greatness of the Bird's Nest where it was held. What was even better was the sight of Palestine as a country. Even Iran was there as well.

One world, one dream. Go!

Boring Friday Sermon

I attended the Friday sermon at Masjid Terapung today and I must admit, the sermon was really, really boring!

As with many other mosque in BN's controlled states, Masjid Terapung's sermon had to be based solely on prepared text. So as accordance to Hari Pahlawan/Patriot's Day on the 31st of July, the title of the sermon was something like, "Memperingati Hari Pahlawan". Or Merai, or something close to that matter, I don't really remember.

Now don't get me wrong, I have the highest respect dan menyanjung tinggi mereka semua. Without their brave hearts, what would have become of Malaysia. They sacrificed a lot for their future generations, even though it meant they wouldn't live to see them. Portuguese, Holland, the Brits and Japan all witnessed first hand our patriots' courage and strength. Hats down to them all!


But why the Friday sermon? Of all places, why there? Heck, the audience wasn't even right. Old men who were incapable physically and small boys who couldn't even understand the sermon all together. And the sermon asked people to be always prepared to give it all to the country.How could these group of people do that? Schools would be a much better location for such speech.

And not to mention, in a list of steps taken by the government to help patriots, the khateeb didn't forget to mention about sending kuih-muih raya to armed forces stationed overseas. Wow, what a contribution!

I remembered a few years back when I atended a Friday sermon at a masjid in KL. The title: How to prevent Aides mosquitoes. Now khateebs even act as health directors! Fuh, I never knew.

The step to enforce khateebs to read prepared text, if I'm not mistaken, was taken to prevent political 'smelling' sermons at masjeed. But how many masjeeds were actually giving politic sermons were there? If any, it was only one or two PAS masjeeds. Most PAS masjeeds I attended have actually offer political free sermons.

The PAS masjeed behind Sekolah Menengah Sains Dungun's Friday sermon was really first class. The khateeb had a very 'lantang' voice. His eyes were moving from corner to corner, as if he were looking to every attendee in the eye. His grasp on the 'tongkat' was really tight, as if his life depended on it. And he was talking very enthusiastically, which in turn made us enthusiastic just by listening. It was very enjoyable.

This contradicts with khateebs in government controlled mosques. The khateeb is slightly above lifeless. They grasp the tongkat lightly, and hardly look at anyone. And the sermons, well, as above. Hence, the sermon was nothing more and nothing less than a boring speech by the Khateeb.

Political Diversions

We're seeing two very different diversions in quick successions. Whist one is very clever, the other one is a very cheeky one indeed.

The first one has got to be the announcement by Wan Azizah that she would step down as MP of Permatang Pauh to give way for her husband, DS Anwar Ibrahim to take over the seat. Anwar earlier diverted the government's attention towards Bandar Baru Kulim and Bandar Tun Razak by declaring the possibility of contesting a by-election there. Habis government tumpu belah2 sana, only to be deceived embarrassingly. Smart move, Anwar!

The second diversion. The announcement that Anwar will be charged in court this Thursday for the alleged sodomy case. What a coincidence! What bad timing! What DIVERSION! What the heck are they thinking? Do they think they can lie straight to our face? Do they we're blind and stupid enough to not know there's 'shrimp behind the rock'? What a desperate move. And I thought they knew better! Oh how I was wrong!