Monday 31 December 2007

Melodramas Circa 2007

2007, what a year, what a year...Last year on the last day of 2006, i blogged abt how solemn a day it was...Saddam was hanged and it was also Eid ul Adha, a day to reflect on sacrifice, perseverance and struggles. Who would have known that the year that follows, paints that same picture for me. This whole year has been a rollercoasted ride, with me facing many many personal challenges, discoverin more emotions, making more decisions, taking more chances and perhaps shouldering tis overwhelming responsibility that impacted all aspects of my life and the people around me...

Many a time I felt helpless and wish to wake up to a brighter better tomorrow...many a time, it didn't happen and life goes on and despite feeling like i could juz crumble away  many a time too, I realise that tis year, had it not been for the Grace, Blessings, Patience, Strength & perhaps Luck bestowed on me from The Almighty, i would probably not grow & pull thru these difficult times beautifully, though yes, i make mistakes, bitch alot, felt so numbed, turned cold & probably hurt the ones dearest to my heart. 

Let me share with you, one of the most Powerful reminder & prayer from the Quran, that has kept me goin thru all these times tis year...and God willing, may tis be good for u too!

"On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith."  [Al-Baqarah:286]

Amin amin ya Rabbal 'Alamin

 

Friday 28 December 2007

Another Pro-Democracy People's Leader Gone

The lady who was the first woman prime minister in a Muslim country...gone...

The news from Sue came as a shock to me. I was hoping to see her win the upcomin election in Pakistan, and pursue her cause for democracy or at least power-sharing with the military power there to bring about a positive change to her country and people but gone she is, under a suicide-bomber attack. Is this part of a conspiracy for her oppositions to win the election or an agenda to stop a woman from taking control from men?

Whatever the plan is, i think tis is such a loss. My prayers are for her & the people of Pakistan...

Tuesday 25 December 2007

Peace on Christmas & days to come...

I caught "The Nativity Story" on HBO last night and somehow witnessed Mary's (Maryam) journey through her pregnancy till the point she gave birth. I witnessed hardship & a pilgrimage. That reminds me of Hagar, who is commerated in Eid ul Adha, besides the sacrifice her husband, Prophet Abraham (a.s.) had to make.

And through that movie, I learnt that the biblical Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not Nazareth or Jerusalem (hee i dun really noe the history of Jesus lah and i'm a lil confused before). A heartwarming story and today, when I first logged on the Net, i saw a headline on MSN news abt a midnight mass/sermon by a Catholic Patriarch Michael Sabbah, conducted in the Church of Nativity. He CALLS FOR PEACE

Here is an excerpt:

The Catholic leader in the Holy Land again called for peace in the Middle East on Tuesday as he addressed thousands of Christians gathered at the traditional site of Jesus's birth.

"This land of God cannot be for some a land of life and for others a land of death, exclusion, occupation, or political imprisonment," Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah said in a sermon for the Christmas midnight mass.

"All those whom God, the lord of history, has gathered here must be able to find in this land life, dignity and security," he said, addressing thousands of Christians from all over the world in a sermon delivered in his native Arabic.

Sabbah, who last week said that peace in the Middle East depended on Israel, reiterated that message in a less direct way on Tuesday.

"It is not up to the weakest to submit themselves and continue to live a life of deprivation; it is up to the strongest, to those who have everything in hand, to detach themselves and to give to the weakest what is due to them."

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas attended the mass fresh from last month's international conference in the US city of Annapolis, where he formally relaunched the peace process with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Thousands of people gathered in front of the Church of the Nativity hours ahead of the traditional mass given on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born in a stable after Mary and Joseph were turned away at an inn.

Steam billowed from carts selling boiled corn and stands sold tea and coffee to the holiday makers gathered in the crisp temperatures under garlands of colourful lights strung across the square.

Palestinians hope the number of tourists and the income they bring will make it the best Christmas since the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000 and the building of Israel's massive barrier through the West Bank.

Celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem "is a dream come true. We have waited for this for years," said Alice Lyons, a Briton touring the Holy Land over the holidays.

But the festive atmosphere has not hidden the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

"Last night when we came in, there was a banner wishing us a happy Christmas and it was hanging under barbed wire," her friend, Kathleen Joyce, said.

An eight-metre (25 foot) concrete wall erected by Israel in the wake of the uprising encircles much of Bethlehem, but the city was still set to welcome 30,000 to 40,000 visitors this year, twice the number that came last year.

"Last year, there were a lot of problems, security problems. God willing, this year will be better," Adnan Sobh, a souvenir shop owner, told AFP.

The renewed sense of calm convinced Jacques Keutgen, a Belgian-born director at the local Holy Family Hospital, to bring his entire extended family of 17 to celebrate Christmas in the West Bank city just south of Jerusalem.

"The security situation is much better than it has been in years," said Keutgen, who has been based in Bethlehem for four and a half years.

But it was important to show his guests that life remained grim for many Palestinians, he added.

"They have to see the wall to know how the Palestinian people are affected by this political situation," Keutgen said.

Israel says its 650-kilometre (410-mile) "security barrier" is needed to stop potential attackers. The Palestinians say the "apartheid wall" is part of a land grab aimed at undermining the viability of their promised state.

The barrier has confiscated farm land, uprooted olive trees, isolated Bethlehem from Jerusalem and helped to quicken emigration and keep unemployment at more than 50 percent.

But at Tuesday's midnight mass Sabbah urged Christians -- whose numbers across the Middle East have dwindled considerably in recent decades -- to remain in the region where their faith was born and work for peace there.

"Being Christian means sharing the concerns of all, building peace with everyone else, and accepting the sacrifices this implies... the difficulties of daily life, of occupation, of the wall of separation," he said.

"All of this is our common fate, and all of us together, by our sacrifices, we must build peace for everyone."

His speech made me realise that Bethlehem is part of Palestine, the sanctioned land. I just realised that the Christians too are suffering along with my Muslim brothers and sisters, in the name of Israeli's security. A sudden spur of sadness enveloped me and reflectin on how people here are celebratin Christmas with bright lights and crazy midnight sales, I am not exactly sure how spiritually touching are Christmas moments here in Singapore. The same feeling I get for the celebration of Eid ul Fitri too.

Well whatever it is, in facing the grim & hardship & what little freedom of movement & livelyhood the Palestinians have, I could only pray that their Christmas be spiritually enriching, and may peace be upon all them and that the Love the Miracle bring, be alive in each of their hearts...same too i wish to the rest of those who celebrate Christmas!

Monday 17 December 2007

WHAT?! A jaw droppin moment!

And he too dropped to the floor on his knees!

I think we all cannot believe it, himself too!

HADY IS ASIAN IDOL!!!

huh?hah?hahahah!!

i was initially a pembelot negara cos i was rooting for our neighbour's idol, Jac, she's one helluva a singer and she has tis aura of a Superstar, a true Idol quality, but upon hearing what the Indian judge remarked on Hady, my blood boiled & i secretly hoped Hady would win to spite that Indian judge who said "If upsets can happen Hady & -i forgot which idol- might win!

WHAT THE?!?!!

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

siak punye mamak

:::the 11 men delivered:::: says:

wat he said?

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

if upsets happen then hady can win

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

pundek dia ah

:::the 11 men delivered:::: says:

CHEEBYE

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

haha

:::the 11 men delivered:::: says:

ooops

:::the 11 men delivered:::: says:

sorry

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

haha

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

vulgar mulgar kita

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

haha

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

WOOOTTTTTSSSSSS

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

HADY MENANG!!!!!!

:::the 11 men delivered:::: says:

SERIOIUS?

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

YEAHHHH AH

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

now he's on the flooor!!!!!

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

terduduk on his knees!!!

:::the 11 men delivered:::: says:

of cos!

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

he's so stunned!!!!!!!

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

what the hell!

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

hahhaa

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

UPSETS HAPPENED!

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

haha

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

cepat dia nyanyi ni

:::the 11 men delivered:::: says:

well..we are happily upset

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

haha

Fun and Mental are FUNDAMENTAL! says:

i think he won cos he very sincere in his singin

:::the 11 men delivered:::: says:

yeah!'

 

HAH TAKE THAT U,ANU MALIK! SO Full of ur Bollywood self! EY PODAH la dey~~

Should have just shut up when his mike was not workin when his opinion was asked the first time. It was probably a sign!

*POOT*

but i must agree with Ken Lim, tonite Asia Wins!! so thousand apologies for the vulgarities & racist remarks for the insult on our National Pride 

 

Sunday 16 December 2007

Childhood Deprived MacDonalds Birthday Party for PRINCESS Rafeeqah & Friends!




WoOoots~
The birthday party for Pwincess Raf was exceptionally fun! Call us ganyut or childhood deprived, yes we rised to that occassion! LoL we became lil children for that wonderful two hours, havin entertained & played games such as Q&A on MacDonalds characters, MacDonalds food dance-and-stop game as well as steppin on the smallest paper game! Helluva fun seein everyone lookin all earnest & wacky! The shoppers outside the MacDonalds who looked into the glass windows were all amused by us who were actively participating in the games!

The birthday girl was very delighted! the whole time she was laughing n grinning, havin a ball of her life, together with her Prince Goofyz! She was such a good sport, she even lead the Gweenies (those who wore green, like her) to do the Chicken Dance! Yes the Pwincess shaked her royal ass!!

After eatin their Happy Meals, the children magically turned adult and ended up at Club Street, catchin up further over tea, coffee, iced chocolate, cake & feelos...Ahhh what a lovely time spent again with my fellow Multiply peoples, especially to celebrate the birthday of our loved one, our dearest Miss Rafeeqah!

CHEERS everyone for a terrific time!

More pics:
http://deesdaily.multiply.com/photos/album/74/6-year_old_Rafs_MacDonalds_Party
http://raf13.multiply.com/photos/album/163/Its_my_party_and_ill_grin_if_i_want_to
http://boneeta.multiply.com/photos/album/134/-..da.ronald.partee..-
http://sitz.multiply.com/photos/album/116/Were_loving_it_Princess_Rafs_Party._

Saturday 15 December 2007

Emi's & Chris' Ronggeng




Tis is totally spontaneous...the Pakcik & Makcik joget their way from the dining area to the Dais, much to the amusement of the other guests, tagging the bride & groom along their dancin to a Malay classic. Ok i have no idea what the music's called (definitely not Dong Dang Sayang)..but oh well, that's somethin u dun usually see at a Malay wedding nowadays.

Also captured in the vid is the mingling and warmness of Malay people..catching up & getting together is a Must at weddings.

Yes that spirit of Togetherness was alive! As Chris said, we Asians are not so Individual-lised. hah Dee so love the way he said it. hahah!

Cheers~

14.12.2007: Emi & Chris




A Multiply-made friend, whom i finally get to meet up with! Although we've shared pieces of her life & adventures through her albums & blogs, tis is the first time my lesbo partner, Dee ,and I, meet tis lively babe in person! And what's sweeter is seeing her as the bride on her wedding to her love, Chris!

And i must add, such a bubbly personality & love for the wholesome Malay goodness, is so infectious that her weddin is the most wonderful & spontaneous Malay wedding ever! I was so soakin in the ol skool Malay music & the whole meriah feeling! A wedding should be like tis! As how i'd like mine to be too...but Emi beat me to it, so wonderful...i feel so much joy for the two of them, especially when they danced their way*yes i'd love to prance & twirl on my weddin too with BAREFEET preferably*, from the door entrance to their Dais, which was done up by a distant relative of mine *what a surprise*!

Congrats again Emi & Chris! Ur wedding's a blast! thank U for invitin me & Dee to share ur wonderful moments together!

To my dear friend, Rafeeqah

Though years have passed since we first met, a friendship is said to be made for forever!

Let's celebrate tis friendship of ours at ur Birthday Party before u turn into a Wifey!!

MACDONALDS HERE WE COME!!!!

CHEERS FOR THE BUDAK GANYUT!!!

Wednesday 12 December 2007

For the love of Genetics!

HIPPIE GENETICISTS (see pic) quotes:

 

Let's Start an EVOLUTION! U & Me!

Make LOVE not war! It's a Pussy-Dick world Out there!

 

Inspired by naughty hormones, cold wealther, our lecturer Luciano & an article by Yahoo! below:

 

CHICAGO (AFP) - - The world may feel more and more like a global village, but its residents are increasingly genetically diverse thanks to the rapidly accelerating pace of human evolution, a study said Monday.

Geneticists say the huge explosion in our numbers in the past 40,000 years, since Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa to other continents, has resulted in a much faster pace of evolution compared to the previous six million years.

The pace of change has increased 100-fold in modern times compared to our distant past, and most notably since the Ice Age, 10,000 years ago, and has led to increasing diversification between the races.

"We are more different genetically from people living 5,000 years ago than they were different from Neanderthals," said John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who collaborated on the study.

The findings are based on analysis of data from an international genomics project. A team of scientists examined DNA from 270 individuals in four ethnically different populations to see how genetic variations or SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) evolved over time.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, which holds that human evolution has slowed to a crawl or even stopped in modern humans, the researchers' analysis suggested that the process of natural selection has sped up.

"Rapid population growth has been coupled with vast changes in cultures and ecology, creating new opportunities for adaptation," the authors wrote in the paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The past 10,000 years have seen rapid skeletal and dental evolution in human populations, as well as the appearance of many new genetic responses to diet and disease."

Human migrations into new European and Asian environments created selective pressures favoring less skin pigmentation (so more sunlight could be absorbed through the skin to make Vitamin D), adaptation to cold weather and dietary changes.

One example of a genetic adaptation to human culture involves the gene that makes the milk-digesting enzyme lactase.

The gene normally stops activity about the time a person becomes a teenager, but northern Europeans developed a variation of the gene that allowed them to drink milk their whole lives -- a relatively new adaptation that is directly tied to the introduction of domestic farming and use of milk as an agricultural product.

"Human races are evolving away from each other," said Henry Harpending, an anthropology professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

"Genes are evolving fast in Europe, Asia and Africa, but almost all of these are unique to their continent of origin. We are getting less alike, not merging into a single, mixed humanity."

He said that is happening because humans dispersed from Africa to other regions 40,000 years ago and "there has not been much flow of genes between the regions since then."

 

tak sia-sia belajar BIO, jadi BIOL!

the bottom line is: leave being BIASED to the GENES, we should juz CELEBRATE & EMBRACE HUMAN DIVERSITY!

Monday 10 December 2007

Love is....

When u get so vexed up over a comment and ur partner said "It must be PMS" juz hours before the red flood came. And even when the hormones rage on and u turn into a mean nasty Prehistoric Monster, he just tolerated ur hissings and snappings. Only to text u at the end of the day before he sleeps,

"Love u my cranky girl"

All the raging monstrous hormones were exorcised and the cold turned warm & fuzzy and further washed away with sippin hot cocoa on the next cold rainy day...

BLISS

 

Thursday 6 December 2007

Growin Old with U

Out of randomness, I typed the name of one place in Greece i love in the Yahoo! search box, went to the images section so that I could once again admire its beauty & charm. There's so many images that appear especially those uploaded on Flickr. So i did some photo-hoppin and then i came to an album called "My Ritsa". the date of which the photo of tis beautiful young lady in all gloriousness of her youth at that Greek island was 1972.

Wow that was long ago! Then I looked at the avatar of the account owner...an old man with warm eyes being kissed on the cheek. I then read on the description of his album. I Teared! The more I read & go through the photos in the album, I teared more! Here's the description:

Ritsa turns 60 today (14July2006). As a tribute, I have gathered here a set of pictures of Ritsa, as I have known and loved her over the years.

Happy Birthday, my darling.
You are as beautiful now as when I first met you, in December 1970.

If you would like to send Ritsa a message, hit the comments button on the right - she'd love to hear from you!

Ritsa was a real beauty, her smile, her eyes exude a fun & warm personality up till her latest photos and good ol Rob is still so in love with her despite the fact that her hair is now grey, her body is not so hour-glass like...they are so old now yet Rob is doin tis, puttin in the effort of compilin the photos of his lover and puttin up a tribute for her. HOW ROMANTIC IS THAT??

I mean right now we r so young n brimming with all kinda emotions & we love to express our love to our partners, but what abt later? few years down the road? 10, 20, 30 years down the road? Will the love & AFFECTION still remain tis way or will it fizzle out for most of us as we get caught up in work & family & all kinds problems to come? I had a colleague tellin me that in Singapore, relationships are all set in "templates", somethin like "Enchanted" won't happen here. U get hooked up, u get HDB flats as a proposal and u work & have family & that is love life of the people here. I gasped, I smirked and I said to myself "No, i won't be part of that statistic, I'm hopeful...romance is not extinct!" And a few couples came to my mind and I am reassured.

Back to Rob & Ritsa, Tis is the real "Growin Old With U" that Adam Sandler sang abt in "The Wedding Singer"...What warm fuzzy feeling it gave me on such a cold, rainy day....

Anyways here's the link to the album that moved me to tears: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robwallace/sets/72157594198252072/

 

Sunday 2 December 2007

Ripping Songs Bubble

WoOoOoots~
the goodie goodie me hasn't downloaded much songs off the Net since the Government announced that they will penalise any form of illegal downloadings if they tracked u. So IRC or Napster song-ripping ended there & then for me (yes it's been ages!!). so i had to find "clean" sources for the songs that i would love to have on the comp. and those songs are a lil hard to find and hurhur as much as i do not support piracy, some CDs are juz a lil tad expensive to purchase so if i could be a freeloader, then i'll stick by it unless there's really a major slashdown for CD prices in stores! hahah

Dunno what came over me today, i had such an itch to download songs and i bugged my dear friend Firus to gimme his source. And lo & behold, tis was his link: http://multiply.com/search
(of course u gotta sign in first before u can rip songs, so brilliant of Multiply...the idea of puttin up these songs is supposedly for sharin with members of the network!)

hurhurhur! it's not like i didn't use tis link before to find good stuff like pics & reviews etc but hah why didn't i think of usin it to find songs?? *dush dush*

WoOoOOots~
I is very happy! Kinda get almost all the songs that I want from these beautiful artistes....From Avril Lavigne to Belle & Sebastian to Bebel Gilberto to Souad Massi & Ishtar even!

YEAY!!!
Thank U Firus n Hafiz for recommendin it to Firus!
THANK U TO ALL THE MULTIPLY USERS for SHARIN THE WONDERFUL MUSIC for FREE!!
AND THANK GOD FOR MULTIPLY!!!!

And oh yes, before i forget, ATTN BONEETA!!
u remember listenin to my CD in our cozy villa in Bali...yeah the one that "sets the mood"??
Mr Ross actually put it up sometime ago on his site, u might also wanna start rippin his collection! here's the link: http://rosswaja.multiply.com/music/item/305/Janet_Seidel

Ahhh comme ci, comme ca~
Oui oui~