Hari Raya Puasa is NOT a New Year Celebration

Contrary to popular belief among non-muslims, Hari Raya Puasa is not a new year celebration in the Islamic Calendar. In fact, Hari Raya Puasa or Aidilfitri falls on 1st Syawal, the 10th month in the Islamic calendar.

The Islamic calendar is based on visibility of the crescent Moon. However, this is a very difficult scientific problem. We know perfectly well where the Moon and the Sun are at any given time, but how light must the Moon be and how dark must the sky be before we can see the crescent? And what if the weather is bad?

In the sixties, the actual date for Hari Raya is only announced the day before during the sunset..The MUIS (Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura) officials would gather at the Sultan Shoal lighhouse which situated at the southermost part of Singapore to sight the crescent moon.That got the villagers to scramble around for last minute preparations..

In 1974, MUIS then decided that the new month starts if at sunset on the eve of the 29th day the Moon is above the horizon. (The Muslim calendar in Singapore is based on latitude 1 20' 34'' N and longitude 103 51' 08'' E.) In the 80s, they decided to follow a variation of the 1978 Istanbul criteria and require that the altitude of the Moon should be more than 5 degrees at sunset.

In the 90s they switched to 2 degrees. This was part of an attempt to coordinate the major holidays with Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, which occasionally may lead to different results. As MUIS is the sole and final authority on the Muslim calendar and affairs in Singapore. It is very convenient that they use predictions and let the public know their criteria.

So the next time you want to wish a muslim friends Selamat Hari Raya greetings, do not say "Happy New Year" to them. Just a simple "Selamat Hari Raya" will do:)

Countdown to Hari Raya

4 more days of fasting before Hari Raya! As usual, we're super freaking busy with all the preparations for the big day. My sayang, as usual.. bakes her pineapple tarts and other cookies herself:) nothing beats homemade stuff...yummy:)

Democracy in Myanmar

Have you heard about the crisis in Burma?





Burma is ruled by one of the worst military dictatorships in the world. Last month Buddhist monks and nuns began marching and chanting prayers to call for democracy. The protests spread and hundreds of thousands of Burmese people joined in -- but they've been brutally attacked by the military regime.


I just signed a petition calling on Burma's powerful ally China and the UN security council to step in and pressure Burma's rulers to stop the killing. The petition has exploded to over 500,000 signatures in a few days and is being advertised in newspapers around the world, delivered to the UN Security Council, and broadcast to the Burmese people by radio.



We're trying to get to 1 million signatures this week, please sign below and tell everyone!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/tf.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK




Thank you so much for your help!

Dumbo telesales guy

Received a very stupid call this afternoon from a dumbo telesales guy promoting a Beauty Health salon..here how it goes:

Dumbo Caller: Hello, Is this Mr Hu?

Me: Sorry, you'got a wrong number.

Dumbo Caller: Oh, may I know who is this?

Me: You're looking for Mr Hu, I'm not Mr Hu..you got a wrong number

Dumbo Caller: Is this 9859 XXXX, I'm calling from a Beuty Health salon, we're offering you a free facial voucer..no need to buy anything.

Me: Yes, this is 9859 XXXX, but I'm not Mr Hu and I'm not interested.

Dumbo Caller: But you can give it to your wife, if any..or your family and friend.

Me: I'm not interested..(getting a bit agitated now..)

Dumbo Caller: You mean you're not interested to give to anyone? May I know who am I speaking with?

Me: ( this guy really testing my patience...) Look here, you're calling for Mr Hu..I've told you I'm not Mr Hu and I'm not interested in your products..and why do you need to know my name? I don't even care to know yours!

Dumbo Caller: Why are you getting agitated? .....(duh????)

Me: ..Enough said..( ends the call....looking back, I really wonder why I didn't just end the call much earlier..)

Some people..dunno what's in their head...

Aaaargh!!

Aarrgh!! This is nightmare to me, I've gained 3 fat kilos in 3 days of fasting! How can it be???

It's hard to believe as my breaking of fast has been normal meals except yesterday where we went to Sakura Int'l buffet..but I swear I didn't ate that much. And I have only sandwiches for my early morning meals!

Ok, think I have to go for evening jogs as well to get rid of my excess kilos..Oh God, please, please help me to lose weight. I don't want to be a Santa Claus this Hari Raya..

The Reply..Finally

Finally, I received the reply from my elusive MP yesterday. A very detailed reply, i must say..but the last paragraph is very interesting..


from Zaqy M

to XXX

cc mailto:ask.mp@keathong.com,mewr_feedback@mewr.gov.sg, Teo, Carol YEW

date Sep 8, 2007 10:48 AM

subject Re: Bad Smell at nights



Dear Mr xxx,

Thank you for your e-mail. We are aware of residents' feedback on this issue and have been engaging our residents on the ground as well as various channels on this. We have also met with AVA last month to develop a poster note for residents on the latest development - where the final farm has agreed to move when its lease ends in 2-3 years. This will be put on the RC notice boards for affected blocks. This is a recent development, even after your first e-mail complaint.

AVA's response to the Shin Min was specifically to a writer's comment in the forum page. The issue with the smell in the air has been a long-standing one that the NEA, AVA and the Town Council has been managing. However, it is certainly difficult to control odours in the air - despite the fact that the farms in the vicinity comply to the health standards put in place.

Over the past few years, NEA and AVA have reduced the number of farms in the area from 6 to just 1. This was also a result of constant feedback and engagement with the grassroots and Town Council. The one remaiing farm - Seng Choon - is one of the largest and whose chickens are enclosed in an air-conditioned area to prevent foul smells exiting. However, given certain weather conditions, such as high-levels of humidity, the foul smells may worsen if the wind-direction carries it in the direction of our estates. Thus, this is why the smell is often more noticeable at night. However, the emissions, according to NEA and AVA are well within acceptable health standards.

In the meantime, there is nothing much that can be done about the air, as environmental issues are not within our control. Given the situation with bird flu and our dependency on foreign imports for eggs, these farms are crucial to maintain the prices and supply of eggs in Singapore. We cannot be totally dependent on foreign supplies as their prices are difficult to control in times of crisis - such as the situation during the SARS period.

On a separate note, I check all e-mails personally, and am surprised to know that your enquiry was not responded to. I verified against our archives and did not find your previous e-mails there on the dates in your attachments below. Perhaps, there may have been technical errors where we did not receive your e-mail.

Thank you.

Best regards,
Zaqy

Smelly place!

Really pissed off with the people up there..hopefully, there would be an opposition party contesting in my constituency in next general election!

Blur Gila to ask.mp, mewr_feedback
show details
1:02 am (0 minutes ago)
Dear All

After waited for two months without a reply, I'm very surprised to learn from the AVA website that it had replied to a similar complaint published in Shin Min Daily newspaper on 03rd July 2007. Below is the url for your reference, I have also attached the email in pdf. format with this email.

http://www.ava.gov.sg/NR/rdonlyres/63511518-DBB0-4191-8918-0AE94DBA1A3D/18046/SMDNSMELLNUISANCE.pdf

Obviously, someone must have thought that I could have read the reply in the chinese newspaper. Hence, there isn't any need to reply to my emails.

This whole incident really upset me and I learnt the hard way on how to get effective response; that is to channel all complaints to the media directly.

Your unhappy resident,
Blur Gila- Show quoted text -


On 7/2/07, Blur Gila <xxx@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Mr Zaqy

It's been two weeks since I've emailed you the feedback below but I've yet to receive any response from you. Is there someone there looking into the matter? Please advise asap.


Regards Blur Gila
On 6/14/07, Blur Gila <xxx@gmail.com > wrote:
Dear sir / madam

We would like to express our frustrations over the bad air quality in our surrounding area in Choa Chu Kang Ave 4. There is constant smells of chicken farm and fertilisers lingers in the air especially at nights..these smells has worsen due to the dry weather.

I believe that the nos. of chicken farms had decreased and there is an effort done to contain the air pollution but it doesn't seem to work!

I would like to invite to my house and personally experience the 'natural aroma' that we get everyday. We had to close our windows and switched on the aircon every night. We just couldn't do our our part to save on the electrical consumption!

We avoid inviting our friends and relatives to our house now as we're do not want them to experience the bad smells. This really affect our lifestyle as we used to host frequently at our previous flat in Clementi.

I hope this problem could be permanently solved as soon as possible Otherwise, we just have to move out from this area.

Please feel free to call me at 9859xxx should you need any clarification.


Regards
Blur Gila
Blk xxx Choa Chu Kang Ave. 4
#04-xxx
Singapore 680xxx

SMDNSMELLNUISANCE.pdf38K

Ramadhan

How time flies..Ramadhan is only 9 days away. It's that time of the year where I would go on a compulsory diet for a month:)

Ramadhan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, believed by Muslims to be the holiest month of the entire year. Its reverence signifies the revelation of the Holy Qur'an to Prophet Muhammad. During this month, Muslims throughout the world fast from dawn until dusk. The word Ramadhan comes from the Arabic root word ramida or ar-ramad, which means 'intense heat and dryness'. It is a fitting name for the month in which Muslims endure the heat of hunger and thirst.

Ramadhan begins with the sighting of the new moon and ends when the first crescent of the next new moon rises, declaring the start of a new month called Syawal. The first day of Syawal is marked by a joyous celebration called Aidilfitri, meaning 'Festival of Breaking Fast'. This festival starts off with special congregational prayers in mosques, followed by hearty feasts and house visitings of families, relatives and friends.

There are a few important things that Muslims observe during Ramadhan:

1. Fasting. The act of abstaining from food, drink and sexual intercourse is so prevalent during the month that people often misunderstand Ramadhan to mean fasting. Actually, the Arabic word for fasting is sawm. Fasting begins with suhoor, which is a light meal or snack at dawn, and ends with iftar or breaking fast, a full meal just after sunset.

Fasting is two-faceted, involving the physical and spiritual aspects of Islam. Physically, Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking or having any form of sexual contact from sunrise until sunset. Spiritually, Muslims refrain from negative habits, such as gossipping, cursing, lying and badmouthing others. Additionally, Muslims avoid obscene sights and sounds.

Fasting strips away the distraction of worldly pleasures and enables Muslims to concentrate on inner reflection and heightened purity of thought and action. Ramadhan is the month to pray, perform good deeds and pass time with family and friends. It is also a time to remember the poor and how they suffer to get even one meal per day. In fact, at the end of Ramadhan, Muslims are encouraged to give fitra, a sufficient amount of charity to feed one person for a day.

Muslims who find fasting a problem are not obliged to perform the one-month fast during Ramadhan. The elderly, very young children, sickly people and ladies on their menstrual period are exempted from fasting. Those who have a temporary condition that prevents them from fasting are required to make up for any missed days after Ramadhan. If their condition is permanent or extended for a long period of time, they can provide charity to feed a needy person for each day missed.

2. Laylat al-Qadr. Also known as the Night of (Will) Destiny, this is the holiest night during Ramadhan. It is the night when the Holy Qur'an was first revealed by God to Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. Although the exact night remains a mystery, it is believed to be one of the last ten nights of Ramadhan, particularly the odd-numbered nights between the 21st and the 29th.

Muslims are encouraged to seek this night through ardent prayer. The Holy Qur'an has provided that prayers on this single night are better than prayers of a thousand months. Seekers of this night will be blessed manifold, whereby all of their sins will be erased as though they were reborn.

3. Tarawih prayers. Consisting of eight to twenty raka'ah, the Islamic units of prayer, these optional prayers are performed every night during Ramadhan. Tarawih prayers can be performed congregationally at the mosque or individually at home. At the mosque, the entire Holy Qur'an is recited for these prayers. The 114 chapters of the holy book have been conveniently divided into 30 equal sections, one for each night of Ramadhan.

Ramadhan is an opportunity for Muslims to cultivate a raised awareness of God the Almighty. It is a month of spiritual cleansing and reflection on past actions and a time for Muslims to think about their religious future. During this time, Muslims come together with a single objective: to serve God in accordance with His instructions and the practice of His messengers .

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

Just came back from visiting my sayang in KL. It's the merdeka celebration weekend..lot's of parades and celebration happenings everywhere . We managed to catch glimpse of fireworks from the apt's balcony, they were shoot from Putrajaya, KLCC, Dataran Merdaka . Malaysia seem to celebrate their 50th Independence Day in a Big way..


I've been watching lots of tv too, I fell in love with this special merdeka ad by Petronas. It's so cute , candid and real. Tan Hong Ming in Love is about a primary school student declaring that he secretly likes his best friend Umi Kazrina and wants to take her out on a date. He doesn’t want to ask her out because he says he is shy and that everybody will laugh at him.

The crew then interviews Umi and asks her if she has a best friend and boyfriend..guess what were her answers?

What makes the short commercial so special is the look of surprise and joy on Tan Hong Ming’s face as he sheepishly takes Umi’s hand and leads her away. . Aaaaw

Driving Test

I've failed my driving test yet again:(..this is the second time I've failed. If I could blame on anything, that will be the very bad weather..it was raining very heavily since morning and I couldn't see the side mirrors' reflection at all..But how can I blame the God's weather? My re-test date will be on my b'day...I pray to God to give a wonderful and special B'day present this year.

I've been testing my Hp camera function..the pics turn out fine..below are some pics I've taken in my living room. There's more furniture now as my sis put all her stuff in my place while waiting for her new flat to be ready. I'm glad that my house still looks spacious with all these furniture..but it somewhat reminds me of a teak furniture shop...hehehe...

living room

my 7 yr old tv set..waiting for its expiry date...

Dining room...it's actually 2 dining sets..ready for Hari Raya Open House..hehehe

Sighing man

Sighh...I've noticed that it's becoming my bad habit since I'm covering my buddy during her maternity leave...My sayang always scolded me when she heard me sighing..."You know it's very bad to sigh! your wealth will not come if you always sigh!"..sigh...why must she nags all the time....But seriously, I think it's about time to get rid of this bad habit once and for all..Even my Boss ever commented that she hear my sigh from her desk which is about 5 desks away!

It's been a month since my last posting.. how time flies....sigh..Ooops! I thought I could have a breather when Jas came back from her leave, but how wrong I was:(...work is still as busy as before with all the neverending post sales issues and admin stuff .

I've got myself a new mobile phone Nokia N73..and I've decided to have my BB purely for emails and BB messenger. Really sick of carrying that device everywhere I go in the office..hence, need only to carry my BB once I left the workplace although I need sometime to familiarise with the hp's functions and interface as it's been 2 years I use BB. my fingers are used to the side trackwheel and the qwerty keypad that i'm struggling with the texting...

Shit! I've just realised that I've missed to adopt a duck for this year's Duck race..wtf!! i'm kicking myself for this stupid mistake!! This is the result of procastination...always thot there will be tomorrow to do this and that....sigh.. What make the matter worse is that this will be the last Duck Race in Singapore before they turn the Marina Bay area into reservoir next year..sigh..

I'm still alive

It's been quite awhile since my last post...life at work is as hectic as ever. The good news is that my work buddy will be back to office next week ..Finally, I can take a breather..it's been a crazy 12 weeks juggling 2 person's work. I really wonder how I managed to survived all this while..it could be the caffeine. I've become such a caffeine junkie that I could have 4-5 cups a day to survive..

Looking forward to August..already plan some good things with my sayang, booked a room at Swissotel Stamford to watch the fireworks on the 18th :) and going to have long weekend to celebrate Hari Merdeka in KL at the month end..

Insyaallah, tomorrow will be a better day..

Hectic May

It's been a while since I last blog, work is very hectic nowadays..since my working partner goes on her maternity leave last week...Have been receiving an average of 80 emails everyday ..and every customer feels they're important and wanted priority treatment..wtf..Been going on customer meetings nearly afternoons..sigh..

Dear God, please give me strength to work day by day..

Sayang, i'm sorry if I didn't manja you at nights..I know this two months are very precious as you're on holiday but my body is so exhausted after a long hard day ..Promise you we'll go to somewhere nice for a good long weekend holiday on Vesak Day...Lurrve you;-)

My Sayang is back!

My sayang is back for her term break..YEAH!! no more lonely nights for the next 2.5 months:-)

Thinking of going for a short holiday together before her 2nd year starts in mid July..maybe Tioman or Pulau Redang.

Another musical treat

Juz came back from the musical, The Phantom Of The Opera @ The Esplanade an hour ago. It was definitely worth watching, one of the better productions at The Esplanade in recent times...The set was fantastic and the singing was great. The last musical I watched, My Fair Lady was such a disappointment....Eliza was played by an actress in her forties...way too old for the character...

Luckily all my clients turned up for the event...otherwise, need to answer to my boss why they didn't attend when they have accepted the invitation, mgmt doesn't want them to go to waste as they're pretty expensive...

I'm sooo STRESSED!

I feel really odd right now. A part of me is desperate to be held tightly and comforted while the other half is telling me to run, run far and fast... away from it all. Away. This half wants to be alone.To seek some answers to the recurring questions bothering my sanity for the past few weeks. I haven't been sleeping well, not concentrating well at work nor have I been really nice to the people around me. I feel that my temper is flaring like crazy, get so frustrated at every little damn thing... Really pity the old guy sitting beside me..he got the worst sarcastic remarks from me...

I did not mean to turn like this. We can blame the work stress or just the lack of effective communication I have lately. Many many things to do, yet so little time...

In my case, it's a chain of negative feelings... double the no. of clients under my acct, higher sales target but lower comm???..wtf...I have been getting irritated waaaay too easily these days. Poor neighbour is the poor victim (sorry uncle!) yet then I end up feeling guilty for taking it out on him... Hence, guilt sets in. And I feel worse.

And i miss my sayang terribly...shouldn't have watched spiderman 3 without her...felt so lost..watching my colleagues with their partners...uurgh. Missing her terribly mucho grando!

The movie was ok, good special effects...felt privileged to get to see the movie before the official opening date on 1st May . Saw lots of Mediacorp stars..Taufik too.

Got to do the laundry tonight...another long day tomorrow..hosting my clients at the co. event, Phantom Of The Opera @ The Esplanade...some may say I'm so lucky to be able to catch these musicals for free..but how to enjpy when you dun like their company??

Kuala Lumpur

Just came back from Kuala Lumpur, reached home exactly at the stroke of midnight. the journey took about 4.5 hours. Did very little of shopping, in fact..we were holed up in the hotel room most of the time:)..went out only for late lunch on Saturday. Dinner and breakfast was tapau food from Killiney Kopitiam at the mall below the hotel.

The room was okay, loved the rainshower.. Was pleasantly suprised by thier good service, bought several mangoes from the supermarket and called the room service to borrow a knife...instead, they offered to take the mangoes and cut them for us. The room service took them and retum them nicely cut and presented 10 minutes later...waah..must be the Visit Malaysia Year...

Went to Bangsar after we checked out, since there's a lot of time to idle...sayang bought the 6.45pm coach ticket from Airebus. We had a good lunch at Fish & Co and spent the next two hours window shopping and coffee at Starbucks at Bangsar Village Shopping Centre. Bangsar reminds me of Holland Village back in Singapore..very bohemian feel with lots of restaurant and pubs..Was surprised to see Raoul and Zara there.

Thanks sayang for the wonderful and satisfying weekend..terubat rinduku...

My first posting..

Finally, I've decided to write my own blog..tapi aku masih takde idea apa yang nak dicoretkan di blog ni...Aahh..just talk about anything under the sky lah...

Today was quite an eventful day...had a very busy and frustrating day at the office..so many problems and issues kept creeping out throughout the day..really want to kick some a**.

Really missed my sayang that i dun really had any appetite for lunch...end up just tapau some sushi from Cold Storage and eat it at my desk..We haven't seen each other since last Wednesday, when i sent her off at Golden Mile Complex for her coach ride back to KL. Was contemplating to either send her a bouquet of flowers or make a suprise visit this weekend..but then, i scared that she would be angry cos she won't be able to concentrate on her studies when i'm around...I'm too irresistible to be ignored..:) But she gave me a surprise instead when she smsed me that she missed me terribly and want me to go up to see her. Immediately booked the coach from Aeroline and did online booking for the nite at the Bouleved Hotel instead cos we wouldn't wan to disturb her housemates with our noises..hehehe

More good news came later in the evening, managed to get 2 tix for the Spiderman3 movie premier next Wednesday at GV Vivo City...thinking of bringing my dear cousin, eboy along...