tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43490320379477296602024-03-14T13:12:05.623+08:00The Chukai InsiderFaidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.comBlogger302125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-71459985789586904682013-05-06T02:14:00.001+08:002013-05-06T03:10:58.511+08:00My thoughts on the general election<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And of those whom We have created, there is a community who guides (others) with the truth, and establishes justice therewith. {<a href="http://quran.com/7/181">7:181</a>}</blockquote>
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Here we go; I'm sure by now the blogosphere (I hate this word but it is a thing, you know) is already rife with everybody's thoughts on the recent Pilihanraya Umum in Malaysia. I know for a fact that at least facebook is. It makes me sick, to be honest. This sudden surge of candid not always graceful opinion about politics by Malaysians from every walk of life. </div>
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I am quite naive when it comes to politics. I used to be very opinionated when I was fifteen but looking back, I realize how irrational and immature my stands were at the time, so now I have decided to look at everything from a wider perspective and not be so <i>kecoh</i> about it.</div>
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I say that I am naive because I believe in the validity of the general elections results. I have decided to put my trust in the people behind SPR and understand that Barisan Nasional will be our government again. I am not for BN or the opposition; I am for any personality whom I believe is capable of leading a certain state. I know it makes me sound dated and passive, being aggressive is so trendy these days huh? Let's pick fights and hit all the phantom voters to a bloody pulp! Never mind that we have no authority whatsoever to hurt a living being which has done us no physical harm. Never mind that there is no proof of their alleged crime. Let's just beat them up because we can. We are angry and today is election day. </div>
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See, these kinds of people, I don't get how they think they are mature enough to vote. They expect fairness from others but have no fairness within themselves.</div>
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Facebook is built up of young people and young people in Malaysia are mostly visibly against the government. At least, that's what I understand from where I'm standing. But I think what we youngsters fail to and should understand is that Malaysia is not made up of only young people. Malaysians are old and young, against and for BN. Just because the opposition lost, doesn't mean the election was fixed, it doesn't mean democracy was gone. Sure, BN has been accused of doing a lot of bad things, proven and otherwise, but the fact is a percentage of the population still voted for them. You <i>know</i> these people exist, they're probably just scared to voice out their opinions as loudly for fear of being unpopular so you don't see them rioting out on the streets causing chaos and mayhem and hurling out insults at the opposition. They don't need to go to those extremes because they were already satisfied with the presiding government. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're not there. Just because they don't complain as loudly on facebook (at least not on <u><i>my</i></u> news feed, for all I know yours could be full of Herbalife advertisements or dancing ponies) doesn't mean that they can't turn out to be a majority of the Malaysian population. This is entirely possible.</div>
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Personally, I know a few of my peers who don't want Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be the prime minister, and I know a few who do.<br />
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So what I'm saying is; the fact that BN won again <i>could</i> be valid and is not necessarily a fraud. If you are not happy, try again in five years. In the mean time, let's see what change is going to happen until then. Be cool, <i>jangan gaduh-gaduh </i>and<i> sesedap hati je nak mengata orang. </i></div>
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I should probably start fearing for my life now.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-34473456655522579152013-02-28T18:52:00.000+08:002013-02-28T18:52:10.738+08:00Who doesn't like a wish list?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<ol style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro-1, ff-tisa-web-pro-2, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">
<li style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679723161/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=braipick-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0679723161&adid=0HVE8JX53V0T3V57FNZ4&" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank"><em>Lolita</em></a> by Vladimir Nabokov</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743273567/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=braipick-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0743273567&adid=0PG1XZCW44WRJPNN6QPN&" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank"><em>The Great Gatsby</em></a> by F. Scott Fitzgerald</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812969642/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=braipick-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0812969642&adid=02PBW49F19QDCT0EXTME&" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank"><em>In Search of Lost Time</em></a> by Marcel Proust</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4300" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank"><em>Ulysses</em></a> by James Joyce</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="color: #990000; text-decoration: initial;"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2814" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank">Dubliners</a> </em>by James Joyce</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060883286/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=braipick-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0060883286&adid=1852ZRCFZMPZNAD0YXXH&" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank"><em>One Hundred Years of Solitude</em></a> by Gabriel Garcia Marquez</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679732241/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=braipick-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0679732241&adid=1J4JD6S89BDAB184N0YF&" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank"><em>The Sound and the Fury</em></a> by William Faulkner</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0156907399/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=braipick-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0156907399&adid=15QGZRE4JTJK5PSYKYN5&" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank"><em>To The Lighthouse</em></a> by Virginia Woolf</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374515360/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=braipick-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0374515360&adid=1QQ29YRNDRSZGH7SZEPR&" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">The complete stories of Flannery O’Connor</span></a></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0679410775/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=braipick-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0679410775&adid=017Z1R9NGD1HK17NPGZR" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank"><em>Pale Fire</em></a> </span>by Vladimir Nabokov</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10px;"><a href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/huxley.html" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">Aldous Huxley, England, 1932. <em>Brave New World</em>.</a></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kawabata Yusunari, Japan, 1934. <em>Snow Country</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">RK Narayan, India, 1935. <em>The English Teacher</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/greene.html"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Graham Greene, England, 1940. <em>The Power and the Glory</em>.</span></a></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jean Paul Sartre, France, 1943. <em>Being and Nothingness</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Karl Popper, Austria, 1945. <em>The Open Society and Its Enemies</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Simone De Beauviour, France, 1949. <em>The Second Sex.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ernest Hemmingway, US, 1953. <em>The Old Man and the Sea.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/Orwell.html"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">George Orwell, England, 1948. <em>Nineteen Eighty Four</em>.</span></a></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ayn Rand, US, 1957.<em> Atlas Shrugged</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jorges Luis Borges, Argentina, 1964. <em>Labyrinths</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Michel Foucault, France, 1966. <em>The Order of Things</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maya Angelou, US, 1969. <em>I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">VS Naipul, Trinidad, 1979. <em>A Bend in the River</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Salman Rushdie, England, 1980. <em>Midnight’s Children</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><a class="style36" href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/atwood.html"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Margaret Atwood, Canada, 1985. <em>The Handmaid’s Tale.</em></span></a></li>
<li class="style6"><a class="style36" href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/morrison.html"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Toni Morrison, United States , 1987. <em>Beloved.</em></span></a></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Charles Dickens, England, 1861. <em>Great Expectations.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/turgenev.html"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Ivan Turgenev, Russia, 1862. <em>Fathers and Sons</em>.</span></a></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Feodor Dostoevskii, Russia, 1866. <em>Crime and Punishment.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/eliot.html"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">George Eliot, England, 1871. <em>Middlemarch.</em></span></a></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Arthur Rimbaud, France, 1873<em>, A Season in Hell.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Leo Tolstoi, Russia, 1877. <em>Anna Karenina</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Frederick Nietzsche, Germany, 1880<em>. Al Sprake Zarathustra.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mark Twain, US. 1884<em>. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Emil Zola, France, 1885. <em>Germinal.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Henrik Ibsen, Norway, 1890. <em>Hedda Gabler</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Emily Dickenson, US, 1890. <em>Poems.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thomas Hardy, England, 1895. <em>Jude the Obscure.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anton Chekhov, Russia, 1898. <em>Uncle Vanya.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/conrad.html"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Joseph Conrad, England, 1902. <em>Heart of Darkness</em>.</span></a></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">William James, Us, 1902. <em>Varieties of Religious Experience</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Max Weber, Germany, 1904<em>. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marcel Proust, France, 1913. <em>Swann’s Way</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">DH Lawrence, England, 1913 <em>Sons and Lovers</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/soseki.html"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Natsume Soseki, Japan, 1914. <em>Kokoro</em>.</span></a></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">WB Yeats, Ireland, 1917. <em>The Swans at Coole</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/sassoon.html"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Siegfried Sassoon, England, 1919. <em>War Poems</em>.</span></a></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">TS Eliot, US, 1921. <em>The Waste Land</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thomas Mann, Germany, 1924. <em>The Magic Mountain</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Franz Kafka, Czechoslovakia, 1925. <em>The Trial.</em></span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Martin Heidegger, Germany, 1927. <em>Being and Time</em>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/woolf.html">Virginia Woolf, England, 1927. <em>Mrs. Dalloway</em></a>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://thegreatbookslist.com/brecht.html">Berthold Brecht, Germany, 1928. <em>The Threepenny Opera</em></a>.</span></li>
<li class="bodyText" style="line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">William Faulkner, US, 1929. <em>The Sound and the Fury</em>.</span></li>
</ol>
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Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-2823381238327662302013-02-28T18:38:00.000+08:002013-02-28T18:38:17.906+08:00Where is Amin and Chen?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The memory of a friend who quoted Mark Twain in his essay, never mind what the contents are, is still dancing around in my neurons. Hopefully it will never cease as I still do not want to lose the awe and inspiration of a friend who quoted Mark Twain. Again, it doesn't matter what Chen has quoted from the great American writer and yet it bothers me, at that time, how does this forever-slim friend of mine knows Mark Twain, and more impressively remembers what this long-dead author said. I miss Chen- the only Chinese who can debate in Malay better than millions of other Malays, at least in my mind, and that is the best kind; it's eternal.</div>
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Another memory which hides underneath my grey brain is the hairdo of a dear friend, in fact, the best friend ever; who had a Rihanna-like hair for a very short period of his life. Perhaps he was experimenting his life and in a quite bold way! I miss Amin- the adorable ones who was hungry for power to become the most successful Class Monitor ever, at least in the history of Sultan Ismail School II. </div>
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Our batch is the coolest one, there's no doubt about it. We're not like a bunch of these new products who call SIS II as SID. That's one of the most sickening euw-name ever in the history of Shortening School Name. SIS II, a name of history, class and elegance, and of course a little tinge of Malaysian English-school name; Sultan Ismail School II <i>and so</i> SIS II. They don't call Sultan Ismail I as SIS S! Oh, when the boy who came to me and said he is a student of SID, I felt a surge of vomit crawling through my oesaphagus. Lucky, it did not really happen, otherwise some chicken sate would've their new spots on his face. </div>
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The longing for close knit friends to gossip and <i>mengata-mengata orang yang cakap luar walaupun duduk kat Teranung sejok dinasour pupus (ops!)</i>, and yes, <i>menganjing-nganjing</i> made myself thinking of going into a well. Haruki Murakami's The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is the answer to the question "why going into a well?". It's nice, in fact, really really nice if you can just stay in a well, a dry one of course, and look at the world in isolation and completely alone. Dive into the novel and you can feel how lonely I am in Mak Chili Heights going through day and night only accompanied by Haruki Murakami, Khubilai Khan, Albert Einstein, John Green, Niall Ferguson, Andrew Solomon and recently, my new love of Jared Diamond's books. I'm afraid to say that Hilary Mantel is one of my companies in this lonely time. Again, you might ask why. There's a great invention named as Google. At the top bar of this 'the greatest invention of the last decade', click on the Images tab and you can understand how reasonable I am.<b><i>-The Chukai Insider</i></b></div>
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Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-71114868163072825522013-01-31T12:50:00.002+08:002013-01-31T12:50:43.255+08:00Lame lame lame lame lame lame<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKTmtSrMsq5DmRSUuXzmnKK0_ZN8FhJ1ygDC9Wo80Z3xNDbcU_IbCOSKge7s0ouqqC6xhJACiRNG6GIQDeJxfatfv1n4jkejepu6kGF6lOEdJxHj5F7Q_5yvLM0m2h0gEXBMawMP74e4/s1600/310120131160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKTmtSrMsq5DmRSUuXzmnKK0_ZN8FhJ1ygDC9Wo80Z3xNDbcU_IbCOSKge7s0ouqqC6xhJACiRNG6GIQDeJxfatfv1n4jkejepu6kGF6lOEdJxHj5F7Q_5yvLM0m2h0gEXBMawMP74e4/s640/310120131160.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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I rarely write about personal stuffs and even rarer to say them out loud except when the personal emotions involve politics and of course, dumb politicians. I finished <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15766601-the-world-until-yesterday" target="_blank">Jared Diamond's The World Until Yesterday</a> three days ago and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-the-fault-in-our-stars" target="_blank">John Green's The Fault in Our Stars </a>before that. Don't judge me for reading a young-adult novel in which I probably have said that the genre is not my'type'.</div>
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I choose books mostly based on reviews which include Michiko Kakutani's, NYT and Kirkus. My strong recommendations to read what books always come from two of my best-ever Kemaman friends, Ain and Ainul. Oh, I've just noticed their names are just 2-letter different. The letters U and L that separate the two of them might explain how different their book choices are. Lame. </div>
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I don't want to befriend my Facebook friend on Goodreads who do not even read, but still want to request to be my friend in Goodreads. </div>
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I like Bill Gates now. Maybe because of his <a href="http://www.thegatesnotes.com/GatesNotesV2/Books" target="_blank">reading choices</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKPOqbScD5p9B8Sq4wv51lM-lHx7YkWyx6lozEYhb_XcjjKc4FSHHKduQlK_VZjnTt4GdRX7F3dNmeqs3bOO6-k-Rl_xkDHHViS5VT0YcM-GIn0A8eKxtPvHNCplpE9YEaySUKKEbE0Io/s1600/310120131161.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKPOqbScD5p9B8Sq4wv51lM-lHx7YkWyx6lozEYhb_XcjjKc4FSHHKduQlK_VZjnTt4GdRX7F3dNmeqs3bOO6-k-Rl_xkDHHViS5VT0YcM-GIn0A8eKxtPvHNCplpE9YEaySUKKEbE0Io/s640/310120131161.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I have a big problem now; I have too many books to read.-The Chukai Insider</div>
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Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-24331405382180954622013-01-01T08:07:00.003+08:002013-01-01T08:09:55.333+08:00The Mega Bookish Syndrome<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A mother once told his son ' Doh doh beli buku, mung takdok baju doh! Aku beri seng bukang suroh mung beli buku, beli baju. Ghobok tu dok muat doh nok letok buku. Beli lain kali!'- and so, the son went to H&M with his older sister. Then to all the malls in Bukit Bintang with one mission- to shop for clothes. It was a very hard thing and finally what came of it is 'nothing'! No shirt at all. Why? Because the son wants a DC Comic shirt and not the ouh-I'm-a-grown-up shirt.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCwiEFOWdZfX4A2XbB9dbASJGpJ2cY5G9kAMw01RmXbgcac_tODrJSgBjMXVC_vU9Hjl5YTEZ7dvvsj_-G3Lz6L3OY0pbt716qS8GpCsa6nF_iwr5hp0Juy6ozhTG2LuwwVQttqoyiQk/s1600/20121206_120756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOCwiEFOWdZfX4A2XbB9dbASJGpJ2cY5G9kAMw01RmXbgcac_tODrJSgBjMXVC_vU9Hjl5YTEZ7dvvsj_-G3Lz6L3OY0pbt716qS8GpCsa6nF_iwr5hp0Juy6ozhTG2LuwwVQttqoyiQk/s640/20121206_120756.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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He found himself enjoying filling his luggage with books. He found himself overwhelmed to finish all of these now:</div>
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<b><u>Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2012 Book List</u></b></div>
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<b>Fiction</b><br />
1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami<br />
2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami<br />
3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Underground by Haruki Murakami<br />
4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami<br />
5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami<br />
6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky<br />
7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup<br />
8.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey<br />
9.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See<br />
10.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry<br />
11.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The New Life by Orhan Pamuk<br />
12.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot<br />
13.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Help by Kathryn Stockett<br />
14.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer<br />
15.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes<br />
16.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Please Look After My Mother by Kyung-Sook Shin<br />
17.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Malayan Trilogy by Anthony Burgess<br />
18.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu<br />
19.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie<br />
20.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Pearl of China by Anchee Min<br />
21.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Sula by Toni Morrison<br />
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<b>Non- fiction</b><br />
<b>1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d;">The Malay Archipelago by Alfred Russel Wallace</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Origin of Species and the Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Einstein: The Life of a Genius by Walter Isaacson</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Evolution in Action by Natural Museum of Berlin</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Men Who Mapped the World: The Treasures of Cartography by Beau Riffenburgh</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What on Earth Happened by Christopher Lloyd</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>8.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking</b></span><br />
<b>9.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="color: red;">21 Speeches That Shaped Our World by Chris Abbot</span></b><br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>10.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Iron Lady by John Campbell</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>11.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>High Financier by Niall Ferguson</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>12.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Civilisation: The West and The Rest by Niall Ferguson</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>13.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A Brief History of Khubilai Khan: Lord of Xanadu Emperor of China by Jonathan Clements</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>14.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Curchill by Paul Johnson</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>15.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Thuciydides by Donald Kagan</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>16.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Times Complete History of the World</b></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><b>17.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Can Asians Think by Kishore Mahbubani</b></span><br />
18.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Adapt by Tim Harford<br />
19.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Super Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner<br />
20.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Your Brain: A User’s Guide<br />
<b><span style="color: orange;">21.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How to be More Interesting by Edward de Bono</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: orange;">22.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I Am Right, You Are Wrong by Edward de Bono</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: orange;">23.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Lateral Thinking by Edward de Bono</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: orange;">24.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Simplicity by Edward de Bono</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: orange;">25.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Teach Your Child How to Think by Edward de Bono</span></b><br />
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<b>Children’s Book</b><br />
1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Rani and Two Friendship Tales Disney<br />
2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Curious George<br />
3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Lion King<br />
4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Classic Adventures<br />
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I don't intend to make 'any'one jealous. If someone can help me to shop for clothes with styles that don't make me look like a douche bag, please come forward. <i>-The Chukai Insider</i></div>
Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-70196201607516039112013-01-01T07:54:00.003+08:002013-01-01T07:54:32.616+08:00Alhamdulillah Syukur Nikmat, Malaysia Maju Rakyat Selamat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Look around you and observe. Then, extract all of the images from your observations and use your gray matter in your brain. Have a retrospect- think. Knowledge, understanding and action (<i>ilmu, faham, amal</i>) is hard to live by if we leave even one of the parts. Yes, my birthday falls on the first January of the Gregorian calendar, and it is sad that on this particular day, huge numbers of sex hungry teenagers throne the LRT Station to KLCC to celebrate the New Year. It's sad to see how wasted our times being put to use to celebrate something superficial. If you don't agree- what makes it so special that you have to stay up late night and expose yourselves to the fragile world of making sins. I smell backlashes. </div>
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However, I am very pleased to see a new trend in Malaysia- whatever you want to name it; the Islamist, the da'wah etc.- the ability of young Muslims to counter-act these festival of sins. Last year, Ustaz Azhar Idrus joind hand in hand with Zizan- an unlikely combination ten years ago to share a stage and talk about Islam. Argh, this is what I want to refer as The Alhamdulillah Moments in Malaysian history. Even better, my friend told me that Masjid As-Syakirin was full during Isya' prayer and in his word <i>'macam time solat Jumaat'. </i>Yes, we can assume many things but isn't this is what we have yearned for before?</div>
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Speaking of teenagers, I was saddened when I saw blue, pink etc. dirts on their hairs. Oh please, the blond or even red don't fit your Malay looks. I smell backlashes, ouch! Yes your rights, and yes I have opinions. I'm not a fashionista (even my mother can verify this) but the point is- even the not-the-fashionista-man like me also know that blond is not your colour! Allah SWT has created tribes and races with super-duper-Maha Perfect combinations of your skin tone, hair colour, hairness (?) and thickness of your lips; and why do you want to jeopardise what is super-duper-Maha Perfect with the cheap dyes or botox so that you can look like a man/woman with a mouth like a muppet? Seeing all this, one thing came to my mind on my way hom- parenting.</div>
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Parenting. This is why I thank my parents so much. And the moment when my mother made me cried when I was in Standard One because I couldn't memorise Sifir 4 rushed to my mind. I remembered clearly that I always stuck in 4x7= 28. The Tiger Mothers are common among the Chinese, Indians and many Malays. But I still think the Malays lack of them. Look and observe your friends- aren't they shaped by their parents? </div>
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To my parents, today marks the 23 years and 9 months 10 days that I first became a cell and multiplies. Through my mitosis and meiosis, and for every cells that have long dead and the newly formed ones, I am grateful to you. All of this could not and will not have happened without Allah SWT's will. Look around and find yourselves the Alhamdulillah Moments of your life.<i>-The Chukai Insider</i></div>
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Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-54016167257839772182012-12-19T07:14:00.002+08:002012-12-19T07:14:21.390+08:00The Senses of Reading<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOAGoO8Vugx0OEZO9oeb13FHLXFapgAzxS83OHUggjdwKVIEr6So15U-TnP5Y6e9MZUHO06oxPH1tgjBoshqkfFyFb_tD-gEObcTGkw9a2m-iX83crFH1rivP5lFuo0lvHR2-78itzA4/s1600/The_Sense_of_an_Ending.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOAGoO8Vugx0OEZO9oeb13FHLXFapgAzxS83OHUggjdwKVIEr6So15U-TnP5Y6e9MZUHO06oxPH1tgjBoshqkfFyFb_tD-gEObcTGkw9a2m-iX83crFH1rivP5lFuo0lvHR2-78itzA4/s1600/The_Sense_of_an_Ending.jpg" /></a></div>
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There's always something mysterious about reading- a calming feeling which makes you feel the world widens and the time expands in the universe. I leave it to Stephen Hawking to relate it to 'space'. Or, you could just read The Grand Design written by robot-voiced him. No, I haven't read the book although I own a hardcover copy; instead I've unexpectedly finished reading <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sense_of_an_Ending" target="_blank">The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes</a>. In terms of time consumed the novel is a rival to Malcom Gladwell's Outliers. </div>
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I did not like the plot or the themes of the novel. But hey, who are we the readers to not like the themes of a novel- as for the plot, yes we have the right to not like it. That's what I think. The themes of getting old, coming to terms of what has happened and reminiscing the past seem not able to attract my self claim thinking heart; but it's a different story for the elegant philosophical ideas embedded in the narrative. </div>
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History is written by the victor but we must be aware of the delusion of the loser as well- that makes you 'ahak' for a moment and that's what I like the most in the novel. It's a simple novel and you will able to finish it in one seating.</div>
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It's holiday and the Sale (I don't want to promote it here- it has too many overrated claims) has able me to own almost half tonnes of books. Hey, when again can you buy a fully filled luggage of books with some in a plastic bag in your hands without paying more than RM300? But don't tell me about Malaysian readers habits at booksales or bookstores- they're just stupidly civilised and they call themselves 'avid reader'. I'm not doing a generalisation here but there's always a strata of society of 'certain' demographic which always do 'that'- cutting queues, asking questions when cashiers are with other customers, so cheap that they want every other customers have but hey- they're buying books worth thousand of ringgit and you're just having a comic book for your son. Get real!</div>
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Be nice, Faidhi.- <i>The Chukai Insider</i></div>
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Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-70477302099549560022012-12-14T17:33:00.000+08:002012-12-14T17:33:22.744+08:00Being Kind- A Detailed Study on Maharaja Syafiq<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Being Kind- A
Detailed Study on Maharaja Syafiq<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By Faidhi Yusoff<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: auto;" />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Abstract<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-MY; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-MY; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: always;" />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Being kind has long being
discussed as one of the great good deeds in all cultures transcending across
all religions and beliefs, albeit fragmented. This article detailed the study
conducted on a male homo sapien of Malaysian origin in which he shall be referred
to as Maharaja Syafiq in the following discourse. The exact definition of being
‘kind’ has long been in our plethora of discussions and yet we are still having
a precise act of kindness in which this author feels that it is long overdue.
The author therefore picks a subject based on his communal living with the
subject in almost a year (cumulative). Methods of studies are almost with the
consideration of subject (Maharaja Syafiq) with detailed accounts of everyday’s
lives which delve into projection of kindness in daily encounters. It is to be
noted that this article, albeit sounding scientific and ambitious shall be
regarded as an honest account of oneself of another self of human being’s
kindness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Key
words: Maharaja Syafiq, kindness, friends, daily acts.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This article is to examine the
detailed acts of kindness of a human being referred to as Maharaja Syafiq and
based the situations totally on daily acts without considering the deeper
emotional attachment which cycles the subject’s emotions translating his act of
kindness. The objectives of the study conducted by the author are (i) To
provide analysis of daily kindness of subject matter, (ii) To give accounts of
how act of kindness affect daily lives without restricting to subject matter
only, and (iii) To contribute to promoting act of kindness in daily lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This article shall be discussing
the act of kindness of Maharaja Syafiq in four aspects of lives as a student
living away from family; studies, foods, accommodation and dependency. This
article opts to define ‘being kind’ as ‘doing positive acts deemed as good and
kind in a open community’ which includes values of patience, dependable and
willing to suffer for other subjects’
ease’; in which in this case it is the subject’s friends and most notably his
‘close’ friends. ‘Close’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Studies<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Daily dose of studies involve
lots of information being transferred from one’s brain to others’ (Yusoff,
2012). Despite the challenging environment the University has provided in
preparing students for real world, this author has observed many acts of
kindness from Maharaja Syafiq. Several studies in the past year have concluded
that the subject, Maharaja Syafiq is always willing to give up his study
space/s to friends in need. This act shows how the ‘kindness’ in willing to
give most precious space to others in need. Recent examples include ‘The Table
of 3538 Room 1’ (Naqiuddin, 2012; Yusoff, 2011, 2012). Although the act of
sleeping does not categorically fit to be deemed as ‘studying’ this article ought
to opine that sleep depriving is not good for studying and hence falls under
this category (see Many Studies in the Web, ...-Now). The Bed of 3538 Room 1
provides not just shelter from the hard floor of the scorching room, but acts
as a centre point of the room and a vital part of Maharaja Syafiq’s ‘comfortable
kit’, he always willing to give it up to notably three other subjects
classified as ‘friends’ in which this article refers to as Naq, Haf and Fai as
to protect their privacies. Seldom encounter of the author with Muh (another
friend) on the bed provides a detailed account of how Maharaja Syafiq is always
open on letting his friends to have comforting experience to study.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Foods<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Food has always been a focal
point avenue of kindness portrayed by Maharaja Syafiq. A simple gesture of ‘Dah
makan belum?’ by Maharaja Syafiq points out that he is concerned about people
surrounding him in terms of being ‘full’. Not to take granted of this, the
author feels it is very important since the gesture makes so much difference to
people’s lives especially when they’re hungry (Yusoff and Naqiuddin, 2012).
Daily dose of going ‘there and there’ on a Perodua Kelisa with other subjects
further self-evidence for Maharaja Syafiq’s kindness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Accommodation<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Accommodation in this context
might be referred to be in the form of: laptop, table, bed, pillows, shirts,
pants, toothpaste, shower gel, parking space etc. Although this section somehow
overlap with Studies section, the author feels that there is a need to
emphasise this as it somehow consumes the largest and hence one of the most
important aspects of the subject being kind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Emotional
Dependency<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The subject is one of the best
person in the homo sapien community of dog-is-everywhere community of Senadin.
Not that he is free from those emotional attachments but his ability to grasp
people’s problems in his own personal way makes him to be one of the best. The
solutions and dependency he provided truthfully is the essence of kindness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This article therefore, with
evidences from various studies and interviews and most importantly, detailed
observations on Maharaja Syafiq’s daily acts conclude that the acts of kindness
is not only the essence of the subject but at the same time able to make your
heart moved at times. Let us pray that the subject will continue to be kind and
shall be very useful to the community and the humanities at large.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-9348458431991912372012-12-04T20:53:00.003+08:002012-12-05T03:44:20.790+08:00A Year In Reading 2012<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hello. I am a guest blogger. I normally blog about books since I suspect that is the only topic Faidhi allows me to post up here. </div>
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There's this thing that <a href="http://www.themillions.com/">The Millions</a> does every year where they get people to write about their reading adventures throughout the year called <a href="http://www.themillions.com/2012/12/a-year-in-reading-2012.html">A Year In Reading</a>. Since I have no authority to post on The Millions, I thought The Chukai Insider would be my best bet. Please bear with me.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one's for you, Faidhi.</td></tr>
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I really started to expand my collection of nineteenth and
early twentieth century literature this year. I was acutely aware of
how little I have been reading compared to when I was in high school,
partly from lack of time but mostly because of my inability to manage
what little time I had properly. So I began my journey towards change by
making reading before bed a ritual and making sure I have a book in my bag everywhere I go. This worked so
well that now I <i>enjoy</i> long tram rides to class (which I used to hate
with a vengeance!) and I look forward to train rides and travelling as the perfect
excuse for me to spend solid quality time reading. But before all this
happened, like I said I was running out of ideas on what to read so I most <i>geekily</i> scourged the internet for clues on what I have been missing out
on. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/rory-gilmore-book-list?auto_login_attempted=true">Rory's booklist</a> was the most helpful.
I've always been a fan of Gilmore Girls although I stopped watching when
Jess left, partly because it coincided with me leaving for boarding
school and I just fell out from watching after that, and partly because I am
just a big fan of Jess. But Rory's love for books is also one of the
reasons I love the show so much. So Rory helped a lot with the first draft of list of books I would buy. The rest just came to me as I perused the millions of books and other recommendations found online. </div>
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As a result, this year has been rather 'explorative' for me reading-wise. I delved into non-English speaking writers - Rory was into Gogol at some point in the show - and have not looked back since. I was just bored and out of ideas on which contemporary literature to read next, plus I was, and still am, not up to date with contemporary English literature in general. The tricky part about this is to get your hands on a good translation; a badly translated version will <span style="font-size: large;"><u>kill</u></span> the book for you, trust me. No, I am not dramatic at all. </div>
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I say this because I bought a used copy of <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/135/135-h/135-h.htm">Les Miserables by Victor Hugo</a> online without making sure that it was unabridged and the reviews were inaccurate because they were not about that particular version. So I ended up with a badly translated, abridged (ABRIDGED!) book without even knowing it until I actually finished reading. I enjoyed it nonetheless. I'm guessing the unabridged version would have more details about the French Revolution and would be undoubtedly more descriptive, but my copy still retained the essence of the story, however slight, just enough for me to be deeply touched by it. It is a very touching story, everybody should read it! </div>
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Apart from <i>that</i> little slip up, I did manage to get a few decent translations of great books. </div>
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I read my first Dostoevsky; <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2554">Crime and Punishment</a> this year. I enjoyed it but it is a really heavy book, albeit with plenty of humour now and then. Generally though, Dostoevsky was probably a very sad man. I read this over the <i>Hari Raya</i> holidays, which is a very mentally-draining season, so it was especially tiring for me. His ideas are interesting though, which is why it is a shame that I didn't decide to read the book during simpler times. I plan to read his <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28054">The Brothers Karamazov</a> next and also to finally read Chekhov. I have his Portable collection somewhere in my hoard of books. Books are such wonderful things to hoard; nobody can say you're doing anything wrong. They're just books after all. </div>
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Another first (lots of 'firsts' this year!) would be Japanese literature. I started with Murakami's <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4929.Kafka_on_the_Shore">Kafka On The Shore</a> but I was actually more looking forward to reading <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natsume_S%C5%8Dseki">Soseki Natsume</a> and other classics. I don't remember how or why I somehow started with Murakami. His writing is very westernised in my opinion. Of course, he doesn't write like any western writer I know but he has lots of western influence in the substance of his writing. If you want something pure Japanese, you should read <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/169437.Botchan">Botchan by Soseki Natsume</a>. It is very light and a fast read but so heavily ingrained with messages. It's very funny too, although I'm not sure how much of the puns and punchlines got lost in translation. The copy I got; translated by Alan Turney, I would say it is a good one, so you can look for that if you are interested. It is an old publication though, there might be better newer ones. The thing is, you have to be moderately familiar with some aspects of Japanese life if you are to read Japanese classics since they have some phrases and everyday objects that are somewhat alien to other cultures. Now, I am not anywhere close to being a <a href="http://www.tofugu.com/2012/11/29/weeaboo/"><i>weeaboo</i></a> (God forbid!) but I <i>do</i> enjoy the occasional <i>anime</i> and Japanese movie and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/radwimpsstaff?feature=watch">one of my favourite bands of all time</a> is Japanese, so I am quite accustomed to Japanese culture. As in, when you say <a href="http://japanesefood.about.com/od/pork/r/tonkatsu.htm">tonkatsu</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu">kotatsu</a>, I don't say, "What?" Well, that should give you an idea of what to expect. Don't be discouraged though, if you know what a kimono and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDL8yu34fz0">sushi</a> are, you'll probably be fine. </div>
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I also read <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13752.The_Master_of_Go">The Master of Go</a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasunari_Kawabata">Yasunari Kawabata</a> which is a whole other genre in itself; I enjoyed it immensely but I don't think it's for everyone. It is laden with ideas and personal opinions of the writer. It talks of change and culture, new versus old. Speaking of old, I also read two historical fiction novels; the disappointing <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6101138-wolf-hall">Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel</a> and the unexpectedly brilliant <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/jan/25/costabookaward">Pure by Andrew Miller</a>. Seriously, when I read Wolf Hall (<u>finally</u>, after buying it two years ago during a cold overnight stay on a bench at Stansted Airport) I just couldn't believe why it won so many accolades. Maybe it's just not for me, which is saying something seeing as I love historical fiction and history in general. I'm the kind of person you can find casually reading a history textbook and browsing wikipedia for facts about past wars. So yes, I shocked even myself by not enjoying Wolf Hall.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one's for Faidhi, as well. My, my, what <i>mengada</i> people we are.</td></tr>
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Another semi-historical fiction I read was Tea Obreht's wonderful <a href="http://www.teaobreht.com/">The Tiger's Wife</a>. To end my trend of reading outdated books, I can proudly say that this one is fairly recent. The most recently published book I read this year? Rick Riordan's <a href="http://www.rickriordan.com/my-books/percy-jackson/heroes-of-olympus/The-Mark-of-Athena.aspx">The Mark of Athena</a>. But back to The Tiger's Wife; when I bought it I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what it was about - my other resolution was not to buy books based on reviews - I only knew the fact that it won an award. So it was pleasant surprise when I discovered that the main character is a doctor; something I can relate to, and the story is rich in folklore and myths. I do know that not everyone <i>gets</i> this book, I'm glad I do. </div>
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Well, this post has been long enough. So before I bore you with the myriad other books I read, lets just cut to the chase. Introducing my favourite book this year; <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112147.The_Memory_of_Running">The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty</a>. I think this is a rather 'you either love it or hate it' book since my sister - whom I forced into reading it - hated it. On the other hand I found it very funny and touching and just lovely. I finally read it over the summer holidays on a week long trip with my sister, so now the book also holds my memory of hours-long bus rides and beautiful scenery within it. See why it's great to bring books on trips? Well, my relationship with this book has lasted quite some time; I've been wanting to read it since I was fifteen or so, if I remember correctly. But before the era of me being able to buy books on Amazon (and me abusing that right), I couldn't find it anywhere. So I'm glad I still remembered it after so many years and chanced upon reading it. It's a very good book, definitely my pick for this year although it was published<u> aeons </u>ago! </div>
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Like I said; no, I'm not dramatic at all. Maybe just a little sarcastic.<br />
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Other honourable mentions: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187020.Empire_Falls">Empire Falls</a> by Richard Russo (READ IT!), <a href="http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200991h.html">Mrs Dalloway</a> by Virginia Woolf (read it and explain to me), <a href="http://www.michaelcrichton.net/books-eatersofthedead.html">Eaters of The Dead</a> by Michael Crichton (reading Crichton always makes me feel melancholic) and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/228296.Rosemary_s_Baby">Rosemary's Baby</a> by Ira Levin (<i>definitely</i> read this!). You see? A lot of dated books. I am currently reading <a href="http://www.murakamibooks.co.uk/1q84/">Murakami's 1Q84</a> and <a href="http://www.rogerjonellory.com/page12802641.aspx">A Quiet Belief in Angels by R. J. Ellory</a>. Both brilliant works. Hopefully, I can finish them before the year ends. </div>
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So what have <i>you</i> been reading this year?<br />
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And <a href="http://www.idealbookshelf.com/">here</a>, isn't it a good idea? </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-85471400836128570862012-11-24T18:49:00.000+08:002012-11-24T19:11:04.309+08:00BOOK: Salina<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6X-QOvwVqkGdFc6gVbOWrID8CWA00SiZ_p2HsHVnkJH4rfNKksLIWqg5GHAW6dvXR-AkxiN2neCYQKyuSn-xJZOUzwYuna6hvhDk4Qg2sczOtrCW1B8i5ZeinUQ6_oMW3ud56zh9ldQM/s1600/salina2+(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6X-QOvwVqkGdFc6gVbOWrID8CWA00SiZ_p2HsHVnkJH4rfNKksLIWqg5GHAW6dvXR-AkxiN2neCYQKyuSn-xJZOUzwYuna6hvhDk4Qg2sczOtrCW1B8i5ZeinUQ6_oMW3ud56zh9ldQM/s640/salina2+(3).jpg" width="436" /></a></div>
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Let's settle the fact that I'll be writing my experiences of reading a highly-acclaimed Malay book in English. Salina, a masterpiece of our own National Laureate or <i>Sasterawan Negara</i> A. Samad Said had of course, received its own place in the literary world.</div>
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Salina tells a story of the Malays right after the Japanese invasion in the British-ruled Singapore. Desperations among Malays of the time force them to take up jobs deemed as filthy, so the story tells. A. Samad Said is truly a literary genius in telling stories with a setting of a small, dirty but never rest from controversies Kampung Kambing. The village, named after the goat cage or kandang kambing in which the houses were built from. The owner, Karupaya and Indian modified the goat cages to very bad conditioned houses to be rented to the Malays and Indians of the time. </div>
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The villagers, of whom one is Salina never cease to have their share of stories- all of which are the effects of World War II. The most interesting issue raised is all of the 'effects' are mostly leading to women lowering their dignities to become prostitutes or waitress in which considered as a 'filthy' or <i>hina</i>.</div>
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It tells a story of hardships faced by the poor and helpless Malays of the time. The points that the author may want to project is the Malays nature who are lazy to change their destinies or perhaps, they are so and so just because the conditions or environments forced them to become so. Fast forward, we are still seeing Malays who are in no will whatsoever to change their fate. Or perhaps, a different view would suggest that they are the products of the environment they lived in.</div>
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Many have read the book probably but not the younger generation because I am very sure the shelves for Malay literature in bookstores are mostly filled with love-themed novels. One of the reasons people seem to keep reading English books once they're hooked to it is because they always feel that Malay books lack in substance- a reason which is hard to deny when you want to compare the deep meaning behind dreams of children with a young lad who's searching for a better life in a big city; a theme I found very obsolete in Malay novels.</div>
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Salina should be treated a must-read for these X and Y generations which the theme of Japanese post-war effects in Tanah Melayu and Singapore are only a thing of the past- or worse embedded as 'parts of this and that' in History subject. Who could blame them when there never exist the romanticisation of the history in good literatures widely available and accessible? </div>
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Salina should be read by every young generation and let's protect the masterpiece of our own living Sasterawan Negara by appreciating the words he used to tell a thing of the past. Thank you, A. Samad Said.<b><i>-The Chukai Insider</i></b><br />
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<b><i>Note: The special edition of Salina can be bought online from this website- <a href="http://www.wirabukitonline.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://www.wirabukitonline.blogspot.com/</a></i></b></div>
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Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-64779780442126628772012-11-24T17:54:00.003+08:002012-11-24T17:54:44.152+08:00Munshi Abdullah and his thoughts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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"I have a strong desire of great consequence which I wish to make known to you, as well as to all present." On this the Sultan asked what it was. <b>Mr. Raffles then said that the son of the Sultan and the son of the Tomungong, together with two or three companions and followers, sons also of chiefs, he wished to send to the Governor-General of Bengal in order that they might learn English, writing, arithmetic, and other kinds of knowledge, in order they might not remain ignorant, like other Malays who were not fond of study; arguing further, that while they were young they could learn quickly, and so that in four or five years they would be finished; -'thus in times hereafter' (addressing himself to the Sultan), <span style="color: #cc0000;"><u>'when your son becomes Sultan, he will be one that is accomplished above all others.'</u></span></b> He added, 'See, O Sultan, in Singapore, in all the races there are merchants, excepting amongst the Malays. This is owing to their not learning the more important duties; first, they do not understand accounts, nor writing; now if the sons of sultans were clever in these, the same would be entered on by other Malays. Now, I would be glad if your people could elevate themselves in this respect.' The Sultan was silent for a moment and did not answer, at length he said, 'Very good, sir. Wait a little till I think it over; in a few days I will give you an answer.' <b style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>Then said Mr. Raffles, 'Don't be concerned about the passage money, and the other expenses, for I will make it known to the Governor-General, and he will have a nice house prepared, with clever tutors, who will teach your children, whereby in <u>after times they will be able to understand and gain acquirements, experience, judgment, and knowledge.'</u></i></span></b> On this the Sultan and Tomungong arose and left for their homes, accompanied by their chiefs and followers.</blockquote>
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....<span style="color: #cc0000;"> <b><i><u>But my greatest anxiety is to advance the Malays</u>, by easy degrees, in their own language -- otherwise, let each race have its assigned place, and all this without expense, but let the teaching be gratuitous; the country will increase in population in time, so if there be such an institute, its fame will spread to all races.</i></b></span> What do you gentlemen think of my proposition -- is it good or not?' The Sultan and Tomungong replied that the proposition was excellent, as their children would thus be enabled to obtain instruction. All the European gentlemen also expressed themselves as approving of the scheme. Then said Mr. Raffles, 'Let us settle the matter by subscribing .to the erection of the edifice.' To this all replied assenting. <b>On this Mr. Raffles took pen and paper, and by way of precedence to the East India Company he wrote down 2000 dollars, himself adding from his private purse the same sum. Then he asked, with a smile, what the Sultan would give; shall it be 2000 also?</b> <b><u><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">But he replied, with a loud exclamation and a laugh, that he was a poor man, so where would he get 2000 dollars? To this Mr. Raffles argued that he should give more than he gave, as the undertaking was of immediate utility to the Malays, and greatly more so than to the English; but let it be 1000 dollars. </span></u></b>Then he asked the Tomungong to give 1000 dollars, Colonel Farquhar the same, Dr. Martin 200, and Lady Raffles 200. After this the various European gentlemen gave their quota, the whole amounting to 17,500 Spanish dollars."</blockquote>
Excerpt from the famous Munshi Abdullah's Hikayat Abdullah. More text can be found <a href="http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/ellhpj/resources/abdullah14.HTM" target="_blank">here</a>.<b><i>-The Chukai Insider</i></b></div>
Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-35052541000767709502012-11-23T21:24:00.000+08:002012-11-23T21:24:28.158+08:00How do you 'force' passion?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I've got a friend who asked me few weeks ago right before we both sat for an exam paper: How do you have this passion in what you're studying (i.e geology)?</div>
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I could not have answered properly then but it kept me thinking. Let's settle at first that I'm in no position to talk about 'how to be passionate' in what you are doing- give it to the so-called motivators!</div>
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I've never liked let alone being in good grasp of the knowledge of the Earth sciences. If you asked the Form Five me, I would not have been able to answer what mantle is. I accidentally (it's Allah's plan, Alhamdulillah) 'forced' to study Geology since I got a C in A-Level Physics and not be able to continue my studies in Geophysics- and I chose to study Geophysics simply because I love Physics. And somehow Physics killed the dream! Oh the dream- wet, cold, rainy Seattle!</div>
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Afterwards, I got the sense that I really love studying about the Earth in my first year of undergraduate studies. I myself have been asking as to why do I am in a very passionate quest for knowing about what am I studying. Again, Allah's plan.</div>
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These are my stories as how I think the reasons I got caught up with geology and love every second of it! - (except when I have to look at microscopes not knowing what type of pyroxenes exist on the thin sections).</div>
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1. Praying and asking from Allah SWT</div>
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I've always heard the stories of my cousins who do not like what they are doing. The families of mine are made of professionals who are highly educated- except for my parents. And so their parents are mostly have in mind of what their children should and should not be but not my parents.</div>
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When their stories of dropping out from universities or not in love in what they do pop up in family discussions, I've alway been thinking what if the same thing happening to me? And so when I started my first year of university I always pray that Allah SWT would grant me passion in what I'm studying. Ikhlas is owned by Him and only He shall grant it to whomever He wants. I am no expert in this matter so I highly recommend you to read Ikhlas Tanpa Batas. </div>
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2. Do the extras</div>
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If you like to read- go read anything geology. Each of your subject covers huge scope of more specific discussions and I'm sure you can find one that interests you. No? I love fossils but never liked to learn about dinosaurs- it's the micro-sized ones that interest me. </div>
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3. If you're doing Natural Sciences- read Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything</div>
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Oh not reading again! Well, the book romanticise the discoveries made by scientists and you feel like reading a science novel when you read the book.</div>
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4. Pretend to be interested? </div>
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5. UNDERSTAND, AND RELATE. You find rocks everywhere- the World is your classroom!</div>
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<b><i>-The Chukai Insider</i></b></div>
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Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-11638754147338418392012-11-23T21:13:00.000+08:002012-11-23T21:13:53.930+08:00Thankful<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I've not written anything fun since I came back from Indonesia. Reports, field trips, lab tests and exams since had worked so well together to keep me away as far as possible from writing and reading. I've dreaded reading the most though. </div>
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I bought IQ84 and Gretchen Ruben's Project Happiness right before my final exams. Project Happiness is a total waste although my procrastination to study helped me to finish the book. I stopped reading Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 after I finished Book Two because the voluminous amount of words he put to use to tell the story seem to have no difference with his past books. There's always the cat, weird weathers and of course- two characters whose fate intertwining each other.</div>
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I became very interested to learn about Malay history in particular the Malay's lifestyles under the British rule before the Japanese invasion. I found out about Munshi Abdullah from a dear friend of mine, Maharaja Syafiq and he sparked my interest in knowing about the great contributor to Malay language- and that's why the title 'Munshi'.</div>
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Two main things about Munshi Abdullah made me very fond of him:</div>
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1. He was of Indian origin.</div>
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2. He mentioned that the role played by the Sultans of the past as rulers made the people or <i>rakyat</i> became lazy in nature. If you read his books which are soooo hard to find, you'll know by what he meant. More about this later, maybe. </div>
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I found this bookstore which sells old books, or vintage, antiques or whatever you like to call it. I bought a very old book in Indonesia for less than RM5 about Earth's History and I became interested in books of the past now. Well, every hobby costs you money.<i><b>-The Chukai Insider</b></i></div>
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Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-72163704086739009662012-07-03T22:03:00.002+08:002012-07-03T22:04:03.585+08:00Air Nyior<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJ9nasOXA7K061ayVmer-IpkMniV0-IAlD2jt1tJN4S8IHK9NfqpSWICSQRNi2UoN94_hqE78Y3HT11k-7PKktG4nKrkhC5CrUtxY4uLgauLiIX833TCdOYLjVSn78rGUcra7DtW6lfE/s1600/17062012966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJ9nasOXA7K061ayVmer-IpkMniV0-IAlD2jt1tJN4S8IHK9NfqpSWICSQRNi2UoN94_hqE78Y3HT11k-7PKktG4nKrkhC5CrUtxY4uLgauLiIX833TCdOYLjVSn78rGUcra7DtW6lfE/s640/17062012966.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-18562570320855109702012-07-03T21:55:00.002+08:002012-07-03T21:55:21.281+08:00Dhimas, Mamat, Hafiz and Air Nyior<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At least someone got the conversion right all the time</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And yes, he's Indonesian of course</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Didn't see the Es Potong before</span></div>
</div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-10582312485884076112012-07-03T21:48:00.002+08:002012-07-03T21:48:44.875+08:00Rustic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8FjbHmKshQu1OarfV0alpmD50AR83BbI38_hqqCa6CWv2j9s5gQnWkRyT3_DuZ41_J8OWoeMDmDZjWRZA56rkkUIh6-23sK5zWuWGu3HDiX6u9GrdBa3zZ88PMbWy-0gN-0BmaGLisE/s1600/17062012964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8FjbHmKshQu1OarfV0alpmD50AR83BbI38_hqqCa6CWv2j9s5gQnWkRyT3_DuZ41_J8OWoeMDmDZjWRZA56rkkUIh6-23sK5zWuWGu3HDiX6u9GrdBa3zZ88PMbWy-0gN-0BmaGLisE/s640/17062012964.jpg" width="552" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-66850667478443863042012-07-03T21:44:00.004+08:002012-07-03T21:44:40.756+08:00The Bicycles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-54794808407755093072012-07-03T21:38:00.003+08:002012-07-03T21:38:37.595+08:00Kota Tua [III]<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAEvCld-EOwVdySvQlp37xXvmn2KTfprAMPNmia52FIk0hRtCYpeDsZwqqO9ZU2uSpIb90hoZ99raRzDTVUpmkcZuFU_hWCHYMssn2w8QLOWm_tUEIIv_VRjmzRm-BO5MxiL-cLPTvYE/s1600/17062012962.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAEvCld-EOwVdySvQlp37xXvmn2KTfprAMPNmia52FIk0hRtCYpeDsZwqqO9ZU2uSpIb90hoZ99raRzDTVUpmkcZuFU_hWCHYMssn2w8QLOWm_tUEIIv_VRjmzRm-BO5MxiL-cLPTvYE/s640/17062012962.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">"</span></b>Bekas </span><span class="unicode" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15px; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkas:Nl-Stadhuis.ogg" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Tentang suara ini"><img alt="Tentang suara ini" height="11" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Loudspeaker.svg/11px-Loudspeaker.svg.png" style="background-color: white; border: none; vertical-align: middle;" width="11" /></a> <a class="internal" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Nl-Stadhuis.ogg" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Nl-Stadhuis.ogg"><i>Stadhuis</i></a> <small class="metadata audiolinkinfo" style="cursor: help;">(<a href="http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Memainkan_berkas_media" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Wikipedia:Memainkan berkas media"><span style="cursor: help;">bantuan</span></a>·<a href="http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkas:Nl-Stadhuis.ogg" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Berkas:Nl-Stadhuis.ogg"><span style="cursor: help;">info</span></a>)</small></span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;"> (Balai Kota) </span><a href="http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batavia" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 15px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" title="Batavia">Batavia</a><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;">, kantor Gubernur Jenderal </span><a class="new" href="http://id.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Perusahaan_Dagang_Hindia_Belanda_Timur&action=edit&redlink=1" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: none; color: #a55858; line-height: 15px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" title="Perusahaan Dagang Hindia Belanda Timur (halaman belum tersedia)">VOC</a><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;">. Bangunan ini sekarang menjadi </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_Sejarah_Jakarta" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 15px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" title="Museum Sejarah Jakarta">Museum Sejarah Jakarta</a><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;">.<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">"</span></b></span></span></div>
<br /></div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-20025038140329648442012-07-03T21:30:00.000+08:002012-07-03T21:30:10.451+08:00Kota Tua [II]<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Experimental</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not a good Cameraman</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not a good Editor</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Cokia C5 Product</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hustle bustle</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The worries someone might pickpocket </span></div>
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<br /></div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-22412375530719607562012-07-03T21:23:00.002+08:002012-07-03T21:23:43.062+08:00Kota Tua<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwmYx7WL3qBGYKLImmhhnDqQ-gExu-HXdNiRdi3T0f0Jh9H9SSbXzt3cvS05pJsiG0-SnbAhfzWJ-JUDOBvpGh8flODPCcHiqUgut4-317LzJqZ4hY_p_w94-Be4bJiGD-h3wN3WldNo/s1600/17062012960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwmYx7WL3qBGYKLImmhhnDqQ-gExu-HXdNiRdi3T0f0Jh9H9SSbXzt3cvS05pJsiG0-SnbAhfzWJ-JUDOBvpGh8flODPCcHiqUgut4-317LzJqZ4hY_p_w94-Be4bJiGD-h3wN3WldNo/s640/17062012960.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Kota Tua</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Kota Tua Jakarta, juga dikenal dengan sebutan Batavia Lama (Oud Batavia), adalah sebuah wilayah kecil di Jakarta, Indonesia. Wilayah khusus ini memiliki luas 1,3 kilometer persegi melintasi Jakarta Utara dan Jakarta Barat (Pinangsia, Taman Sari dan Roa Malaka).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dijuluki "Permata Asia" dan "Ratu dari Timur" pada abad ke-16 oleh pelayar Eropa, Jakarta Lama dianggap sebagai pusat perdagangan untuk benua Asia karena lokasinya yang strategis dan sumber daya melimpah."</span></div>
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<br /></div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-8566037131679976182012-07-03T21:17:00.002+08:002012-07-03T21:17:46.561+08:00First Dinner in Jakarta<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh the Memories</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not about the Place</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's about the People</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh the Teh Botol</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A company throughout the Journey</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet have to leave it behind</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh the Ayam Bakar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best in Jakarta</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A non-rival of CTR</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>The Chukai Insider</i></b></span></div>
</div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-22683324024676664272012-04-29T20:52:00.002+08:002012-04-29T20:52:43.252+08:00I agree with you Ustaz Don<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=347615938614772" href="http://www.facebook.com/UstazDonDaniyalDonBiyajid" id="js_0" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14px;">Ustaz Don Daniyal</a> Assalamualaikum, mohon semua menghentikan spekulasi dan memberi kenyataan tidak beretika pada mana-mana pihak tentang insiden yang berlaku. Ayuh kembali pada kitab suci Al-Quran, renungkan keratan ayat ini. Wallahualam. :)<br />
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</div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-64751412590466384012012-04-29T09:25:00.000+08:002012-04-29T09:25:43.397+08:00A sad man<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Everyone thinks they are the right ones. Debates never solve problems, they create heat and most of the times- the speakers are doing it in front of audience; needing supports, and thus create riyak (syirik). Everyone says we should follow The Prophet Muhammad SAW but when feelings get into their minds, Al-Quran and As-Sunnah are forgotten. 'Matlamat dan niat tidak menghalalkan cara'. Jika perancangan anda tidak berjaya, banyak faktor yang anda patut salahkan diri dahulu- keikhlasan etc. Tuduh menuduh bukan dalam kalangan yang beragama lain lagi, saudara Muslim sendiri menuduh sesama sendiri- kalau di pihak sini kejam, pihak sana berusaha sehebat-hebatnya untuk menunjukkan kekejaman dan mengharapkan sokongan. Bagaimana jika anda dapat sokongan, tapi meninggalkan lawan (yang seagama) dalam kejahilan. Adakah itu 'dakwah'? Adakah Rasulullah SAW melakukan kekerasan dalam memperbetul apa yang salah? Namun, dalam kes hari ini, anda mungkin menuduh pihak lawan melakukan kekerasan terhadap diri sendiri untuk mereka dapat sokongan- ingatlah bahawa anda mungkin berprasangka buruk jika tiada bukti. Berfikirlah berlandaskan Al-Quran dan Sunnah sebelum bertindak. Dan ada ketika anda merasakan anda berlandaskan Al-Quran dan ingin memperbetul yang salah, lihatlah pula cara Nabi Muhammad SAW dalam melakukannya.<i>-The Chukai Insider</i></div>
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<i>Kadang-kadang terfikir pernahkah Rasulullah SAW pergi melaung-laungkan kezaliman orang kafir terhadapnya.. Baginda mesti mengetahui jika berbuat demikian, pihak yang ingin disampaikan dakwahnya makin memarahinya dan memusuhi baginda dengan lebih hebat lantas, misi baginda tidak mungkin berjaya. </i></div>
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<i>Sedih dengan negara sendiri. Kedua-dua jaguh hanyalah epal dan oren yang buruk- cantik di luar, berulat di dalam.</i></div>
</div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-85049517272592953092012-04-27T18:26:00.000+08:002012-04-27T18:26:05.895+08:00I missed writing non-serious things<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Salam and bonjour!</div>
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I have been very busy. For the past two months, I have been going through lots of things which made my free time to be consumed by resting or sleeping.</div>
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However, I sometime blame myself for not able to manage my time properly. Well, when you hold positions, things sometimes get unorganised and you made mistakes along the way. It is worse when they are in conflict with your so-called academic life. However, that is not the case if you are able to manage your time properly. But, I am a normal human being and things sometimes do not go with what you have planned or aspired to be. </div>
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You want to be an effective committee, but sometimes you missed the details. Why? You have cluttered your minds with unnecessary things. Not all are unnecessary though. </div>
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Sometimes you feel like you have let someone down. Worse, if you always look upon your friend but you let him down for not doing your job as expected. </div>
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We move to happier things!</div>
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Since the start of this semester, I really really get it when they say 'Second year is hard, busy!'.</div>
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I have found a new 'hobby'- looking at thin sections under the microscope! Trust me it's fun when you know what to look for. </div>
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Other happy things- I went to Labuan for Mapping Field Trip, I received a new bag from my Assabiah friends.</div>
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</div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4349032037947729660.post-73187113418570295432012-04-01T13:23:00.002+08:002012-04-01T13:23:52.203+08:00Taubat dan Doa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</div>Faidhi Yusoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15767892055064695555noreply@blogger.com0