Not feeling good

I went to Bristol last weekend, attended the 'Ma'al Hijrah Forum' organised by the Bristol Malay Cultural Society. The forum was chaired by a dear friend of mine whom we have not contacted each other for years. He's Amir Syafiq. I first met him in 2001, when I came for the SBP's PPM (Piala Perdana Menteri). He was a SEMESTI's debater, a very good one! I'm a nobody, just like to fill up the space in our school bus.

It really feels nice to see how our friends progress. These people are nice & good people, with loads of warmth & love. Loads of them (back then they were debaters of their schools) are now studying all over the place....London, Melbourne, Nottingham, Ireland etc.

They offered me to stay at their place for the weekend, and I accepted it happily. They even gave me a treat at a Kurdish restaurant!

Kak Sawiah told me that she got caught with flu for 3 days, and she stayed at home since. Same goes to my other 'akak' & 'abang' postgraduates. I could feel that i'm getting it too. Coughing, sneezing..... dizzy.

There was once when I was not well in KMB, a friend of mine kindly gave me a bottle of panadol. My roommate (Gemoi....huhu....sorry la ye san!)), on the other hand, was generous enough to cook MAGGIE mee for me. I acknowledge their kindness, and appreciate it very much. May God bless them all.

Speaking of memories, have you ever felt something weird whenever you hear some familiar songs? Some songs that bring back memories. Songs that reminded you of something. Songs that sparked you to think back on something or someone or some place....

My advice, let it only be good memories to you. Don't let it hold you back. The past is in the past. Most important, take a good care of our heart, and pray a lot to Allah...

"Ya Muqalliba al-quluub, tsabbit quluubana 'alaa diinika, wa 'alaa tho'atika"

Reformatting & reprogramming oneself

There are great challenges laying ahead of me. Studies, families, commitments etc. All I want to acheive is happiness & tranquility, through challenging myself doing multiple tasks at one time. I dont know why, but this is just me.

Just registered for 'a few' courses offered by the Student Development Unit of Cardiff University. It's free, and I got nothing to lose! Here's my list of schedule:

Monday, 29th Jan, 6-8pm - Teamwork
Monday, 5th Feb, 6-8pm - Speaking & Presenting (Stage 1)
Monday, 12th Feb, 6-8pm - Speaking & Presenting (Stage 2)
Monday, 29th Feb, 6-8pm - Listening & Awareness
Tuesday, 29th Feb, 6-8pm - Negotiation Skills
Tuesday, 29th Feb, 6-8pm - Customer Communication Skills
Tuesday, 29th Feb, 6-8pm - Motivation
Monday, 29th Mac, 6-8pm - Successful Networking
Tuesday, 29th Mac, 6-8pm - Problem Solving

I goOne nice weekend waiting ahead. I'll be off to Naseer's house for our weekly circle, then sleep, then Qiyaam (cergas cergas! huhu...), then breakfast (tebar roti canai!!), then will head to Bristol for Ma'al Hijrah Forum!

Might not update this blog for the weekend.

Roger & out. God bless

"What the mind can conceive, and believe, it can achieve!"

When the going gets tough....

I stayed at Wansah's house yesterday, watched Arsenal played against Totenham Hotspurs. The Gunners were down 0-2 in the first half, but they managed to make an impressive comeback, thrashing the Spurs 1st team. The score was

Arsenal 2 - 2 Totenham Hotspurs

Baptista scored a hatrick?! Hehe...

We had a string of continuous lecture-practical-lecture today. Some of us got knacked by the end of the practical session. 5-long, non-stop hours of academic input. It was a bit dreadful, but a good mental training as well. Oh well....

Rashdan & Aston will be heading to London this weekend. i couldnt join them for the UKEC National Council. Firdaus asked me to be there, Ang (a good friend in Edinburgh, DA MAN, UKEC Scotland Chair....huyooo! Next limkitsiang ka? huhu), but i cant. have some Islamic Society & FOSIS stuff need to be done. I'm sorry guys, my weekends are occupied until the end of March. There are reports need to be done & emails need to be replied. Huhu.... busy busy!

I read my email just now, and saw an email from the International Development Division in my Inbox. It's about The International Students Award 2007 by British Council. I've heard about it last year from Zaki (Zacharias....makhluk asing dulu di Bristol...huhu). Without thinking much, i went through the website, composed a short 'essay', filled up the form, and submit! It took less than 30 minutes for me to finish it. Not intending to win the award, just wanna give it a try. Friends, if you read this post, do go through it, and submit your application. Who knows, you might get selected, God-willing!

Today marks the 6th day of Muharram. I hope that im still strong to carry all my responsibilities and becoming a better person as days pass by. A reminder to myself and my dear friends: Just be ourselves! Strive to be the best that we could by imrpoving our own qualities. We may look at other's success as a source of motivation, but never ever compare their achievements with us. They have their own qualities, and we have ours. They may have started earlier, but it's not too late for us to create something meaningful now & tomorrow!

Strive, then reward! What a fine day!

I managed to compose about 1/2 of my EA1013 Geoinformatics essay coursework until 5.00am on Monday. It didnt take long for me to go back to my house as soon as I logged off from the university library's computer, had a short 5-minute nap, and cycled to the Probation Centre. As soon as I reached my house, I prayed, and off to bed!


I woke up at about 11.00am, awful! Cleaned myself and rushed to the university. We had an hour of tutor-tutee session today, with Dr Andrew Kerr explaining the usage of a polarized microscope to us. We did have a quick discussion on our next fielftrip to Arran (an island located to the South West of Scotland) due this March.


1st mission that i successfully completed today = finishing & submitting my coursework (finished composing, editing,printing, submitting etc by 4.00pm)! It's a big relief, really! I could concentrate on other stuff now...


I cycled to Wansah's house that night, with the intention to watch Chelsea plays Wycombe for the 2nd leg match of the Carling Cup Semifinal. How rewarding.....

Chelsea 4 - 0 Wycombe

all hail Chelsea!! Sensational goals scored by Shevchenko (2 goals in the 1st half) and Lampard (2 goals in the 2nd half)


Later that night, Aufa asked me if I'd like to join him for a movie. It was "Brother Bear 2". I love watching Disney's since i was a young boy. There were not much spectacular scenes in the movie, relative to "Mulan" (my favourite) and "Beauty & the Beast", but some of the messages were kinda sweet & nice.


"If you love someone, he/she'll always be in your heart."


Who do you love?

A sneak peak on my personal political stand

You are a Social Conservative (26% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (31% permissive) You are best described as a: Totalitarian Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

I am at the library, in the process of finishing an essay on the topic as below:

"Discuss the geological time scale, and why it is necessary in the intepretation of the processes that have shaped the Earth and its life".

While doing so, i surfed some websites, and got a link to this test from a respected brother's blog.

Interesting to see, based on this test, that I'm personally a Totalitarian, with

Socially conservative and,

Economically liberal.

Briefly, I would prefer a higher moderation rate, a more controlled, regulated method of conducting life. Less acceptable to liberalism. More or less like the Communist! Read more to know what these means. Also, correct me if im wrong.

I guess those whom had worked with me all these years may have noticed this, directly or indirectly. Or are you one of those who dont bother on all these things?

Do we listen to our heart?

It's 2nd Muharram, 1428H.

I was invited to a party for the Hujjaj (those who just came back from performing pilgrimage) in Darul Isra'. There were loads of people, but there were only 4 Malaysians, namely Uncle Rubiat, his 2 sons & myself. I wonder why the other Malaysians segregate themselves from getting involve in the local mosque's activity. Oh well.... My sheikh, Sheikh Sameh, chanted 3 beautiful arabic nasheed. 3 brothers went up and shared their memorable experience. They said, that when they went to Raudhah (a site next to Prophet Muhammad's grave), they could feel as if they are praying next to Rasulullah. Listening to these stories were so meaningful, and I wish, God-willing, to perform Hajj soon. Some of my friends, local Muslims, went for Hajj as well. They are Haji Matthew (a nice 3-years-ago-embraced-Islam guy), akhi Abdul-Atheem (now the Gen Sec of FOSIS Wales), and the lovable, well known Abu Baraa' (Darul Isra's Imaam).

It's been more than a week since I last came to Aufa/Wansah/Din/Anep/Faruq's house. They've been busy with exams, and I'm with my courseworks. Truly, disengaging with our beloved friends really make us more aware the meaning of friendship. We didnt have to talk much on any issues, seing each other's faces smiling is just enough. May God reward us with the love that He bestowed upon Muhammad & Abu Bakar, Muhaajirin & Ansar, and the other great figures.

Went to Arabic class this morning, and as I went back to Aufa's house, we prepared 'Kari Daging Cincang + Roti Canai' for breakfast! Bachelor-version 3.1 !!

Ma'al Hijrah 1428

A new year, a new hope!

My dear self & friends,

Let us not grieve on what we don't have, but appreciate on what we have. Gratitude

Educate ourselves, train our soul, cherish our hearts, challenge our minds.

Let's make a difference in our life. God-willing, a small effort by a person, collectively, who knows, we could change our community or even the world perhaps.

One new question everyday?

Not having exams doesn't mean that I am excluded from being busy. There are piles of work need to be done, deadlines need to be met, meetings need to be organised, people need to be contacted, paperworks need to be drafted, and the list goes on & on. The world seemed to be filled with tasks & challenges that are waiting for some guys to carry on their backs. Oh well, life means nothing without giving. Why? because we care.

My laptop is yet to be repaired, which have made me becoming a regular library user for the past 2 months. I have a coursework which is due today at 430pm, but i've submitted it anyway, before Juma'at prayer. It took me 2 solid days to complete the project, which made me crashing through my life system that i documentized months ago. Lectures finished at 430pm (yesterday), i headed for the mosque & prayed Maghrib, then went back to the computer room. The work needed to be done as soon as possible, and so i decided to stay until it finished. Alas, it's done, and the time was 330am! The sky outside was dark, it looked like it was raining, and the big gate had already closed! I'm stranded!

Surfed through the internet boringly and decided to take a nap. 430am-500am, that's enough, i guessed. Gate's open by now. I cycled back hurrily and have another short 10-minute nap, as I have to be at work by 530am.

Off to my house by 730am, and had my 3rd short-10-minute nap again. First lecture in the morning: 9.00am! Subject: Statistics! Oh....

As usual, i love walking through Blackwell's bookstore. I dont have the money to buy books from the shop, but walking around & browsing through some books somehow made me felt, as if, my IQ has been raised! Feel more intellectual, and it really feels good! I stopped at one of the shelves, browsing around for some nice, catchy titles, and then grabbed a book written by Jack Welsch (somehow i forgot the title). I flipped to the books thouroughly, skimming bits & pieces, and of all the lines in the pages of the book, the phrase that struck me most was...
"One New Question A Day"
I asked myself, again & again. What does it mean to you?

There are always people who care

Yesterday's lecture was cancelled, so there's nothing much that i could write (a silly excuse).

The night before yesterday, which was on Monday night, i sent a text to almost all Malaysian-Muslim friends whose names are in my mobile phone's (W950i, just grabbed it 3 weeks ago) phone book. The text went something like this:

"Selamat berexam @ imtihan! Allah ma'ak (Allah bersamamu). all d best! -azad-"

The time was 1052pm when i sent it. I didnt stay awake for long, my eyes went heavy as i laid down, and i dozed off instantly. It was about 500am when i woke up, and i noticed that i received more than 20 text messages! I went through each of them. Tears didnt came down from my eyes, but my heart was deeply touched. Honestly, friends, i did not expect any reply from anyone, yet, some of those whom i sent the text messages replied with beautiful, meaningful, thoughtul messages. It was there and then when i started pondering, while dressing myself to go to work (I work as a cleaner in the Probation Centre, by the Millennium Stadium, from 5.30am-7.30am), that there are always people outside there somewhere that really care about me. They might not be my family members, they might not be my lover, or fiance (do i have one??! huhu....), or whatever-you-name-it, but these people really care, and I could feel it, and i appreciate it. Also, I have not contacted most of them for months (some of them, nearly a year!), but they did make an effort to reply my message. Now that's thoughtful.

I was in the computer room when my mobile phone vibrated. The call came from a friend, older-by-age, a friend whom i 1st met about 2 years ago in one of the camps i attended in Malaysia. We seldom meet, though both of us are studying in the UK. He's a busy man, and so am I (teeheee.... self-proclaiming!). He was having a lunch break in a hospital (he's a medical student) and we talked about a lot of things. It wasn't long, about 35 minutes later, he asked to be excused as he needed to go for ward rounds. At about 5pm, I called him, and we continued our conversation. It's really nice to chat with a friend whom you admire (because of his charisma, goodwill, attitude etc) a lot, and honestly, I wouldnt be ashamed to say that he's one of my best companions. We seek advice towards each other. Obviously, we did criticise as well. Well, sometimes big-headed guys couldn't easily be contented with certain things! I had to stop the conversation because Maghrib prayer time nearly ended. All in all, phew, more than an hour of talking!!!

Most of my friends have exams, while im not. Most of them communicate with each other using YM or MSN, but i've stopped doing so because my laptop has crashed for more than 2 months!

At least i know that i still have a number of friends who appreciate me. May God's blessings be with all of you!

How could energy resources cause political conflicts?

I missed the 1st lecture this morning, thanks to my half-conscious mind after spending 2 long hours cleaning toilet bowls and mopping the floor early in the morning! I guess it might take some time for me to re-programme my mind back to 'student mode'. I was introduce to a new module today, EA 1005: Natural Resources & Energy. The lecturer was Dr Peter Brabham, the same man that taught us EA 1013: Geoinformatics (this module is so cool, we play around with loads of computer graphics softwares as well as making maps!).

His 1st lecture was realling enthralling! He briefed us on the importance of understanding 2 main global issues that the world is witnessing nowadays:
1. Global climate change (reports said that nights in the UK now (recorded, about 12.4'C) is warmer than during summer (12'C)!)
2. Wars
Nations that fought over in numbers of battles were driven to do so because of a few known factors. Apart from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in which I strongly believe to be a fully religious conflict, other wars were caused by the disputes in the world's natural resources. The world's riches. Despite an awful lot of conspiracy theories laid out by the minds of the concerned, I believe that the invasion of Iraq by the bloody American troops we primarily driven by their greed in Iraq's 2nd-world-largest oil reserve! Oh yes, guys, here's some important facts on oil that i guess you should know:
1. God did not distribute oil equally beneath all soils.
2. The region that has the largest oil reserves is around the Persian Gulf
3. Oil is not made of dinasours carcasses, as what it is popularly knowned. It's formed by the mixture of dead tiny-miny planktons and clays that underwent a millions of years of chemical and physical processes

Realising it or not, people just can't live their life happily without energy. I find it hard to live without computers & books. Some of you cant live without Ipods or internet chatting or whatever you name it. How could these things been produced, transported, popularised, marketed without being driven by energy-dependent mediums?There was once a 2 day of hell in the UK when all petrol stations were limited in providing petrol to road users. Loads of them engaged in a fight, some were nearly killed.

So you see, nations all around the world seek resources and energy to survive. Loads of these resources and energy were treasured below our feet. Let the politicians do all the talking, but when it comes to these 'world-rich-resources' issues, the GEOLOGISTS have the final say. Why? because they understand how the earth system works!

I am really energized from the moment I went out of the lecture hall (about 2pm) until now. I read books, surf through the internet, hoping to clear off some doubts about oil and gas. And guys, here's something I thought to be worthwhile sharing with you....

I'm gonna use a UK-version of units..
1 tonne = 1000kg (a measure of weight)
1 gallon = about 4.54 Litres (a measure of volume)
1 barrel (of oil or beer or etc) = can fill about 35 gallons of oil or beer or etc
Now....
in 2004, Malaysia's oil reserves could produce (average) 912,000 gallons a day (i.e. 912,000 gallons of oil were able to be pumped out from all the reserves in 1 day)
Malaysian consumers: 504,000 gallons a day
Exports: 408, 000 gallons a day
Research shows that Malaysia is going to run out of oil, if they dont find new oil reserves, by 2009 (quoted from Najib Tun Razak in one of his press statement)!! That's 2 more years to go!!
The US is the largest consumer of oil (no doubt, just look at their progressive 'worldly' developments) with the rate of usage of 7 million barrels per day! (about 25% of world consumption).

That's how important a geologist is. Also, a wise decision made by a geologist to his/her company, with regards to the possibility of an oil reserve lying beneath the ground of a certain region, could provide him/her a handsome amount of income! Why? A decision couldnt be made easily as the cost of making an 'offshore drilling platform' costs more than $10 million!

After having a plate of nasi lemak...

It was about 730pm yesterday when i went to Wansah's house. There were a few things which I had to sort out. Things had been quite messy, and I needed to deal with them asap since my lecture will commence soon. I dealt with my work, read a few paragraphs of a book, played Pro-Evo Soccer with Faruq for a while and then off to bed! DONE

That's how my weekend starts, almost every weekend. The following day came. As usual, we prayed Fajr & recited Ma'thurat together. Being the only person whom does not have to face any exam anytime soon, i was asked to make breakfast. Fine! It took me a while, and walla..! Mee Rebus for all! It was perfect, well, at least for me. After enjoying bowls of it, i flipped through my arabic language book, revising it bit by bit. I missed last week's sessions, and I dont like to be left behind. Went for a 2-hour arabic language lesson, then came back to my weekend-house with 2 trays of Rocket Joe's Pizza, a packet of aromatic garlic bread and a bottle of coke! That's dinner! Wansah left us that evening for badminton practise, the others continued their revision, and I had a deep discussion with some friends, online of course.

Sunday came, and I's off to my arabic lesson at 8.00am. After an intense 2-hour session with Sheikh Sameh, I was served Nasi Lemak as soon as I reached my '2nd house'!! Huhu....how lucky can that be! I ate it while watching Malaysia's football team (in their new Nike shirt) battle against Myamnar.
Malaysia 0-0 Myanmar
No comment. I went drowsy later that afternoon and dozed off soon. Was it because of the Nasi Lemak?!

Before i made my way to the Main Building (after Zuhur prayer, this is where i usually hang out after my laptop malfunctioned about 2 months ago), Wansah showed me a few video clips.
1. 20-minutes Shin Chan cartoon series (Malaysian edition) --> this was a good one!
2. Saladin (MSC-project, but has yet to be released to the masses) trailer.

Off to school! And here I am, still here....

All d best for those who are sitting for exams! God bless!

Everyday is an interesting day!

Time flies, and I’m on my way making the best of my day everyday.

Emotions & will seemed to be shaking recently, which made my biological clock working like tides. It did feel nice to come to the library at 9.00pm and working with the computer there until 5.00am, and then made my move to the Probation Centre by the Millennium Stadium; to work of course! Eyes started watering and I nearly lost composure by 7.30am. Off to my house, home sweet home! After performing Fajr prayer with a little recitation of the Quran, the bed & pillows suddenly looked so attractive, drawing me closer and closer…..and there you go!

The sun was up, and so was I. With a messy face, I reached a clementine, peeled it nicely and have my breakfast! Well, what can you say, it’s 12.00pm, my stomach went groaning angrily and the tasty fruit was within reach. I picked up my book, and continued my reading from the page I marked the previous day. 3 hours of reading, with a little bit of shower & prayer in between, I’m off to the world again!

That’s how my life was, only recently….

I thank God for giving me the strength to read passionately, an interest which I developed only recently. Loads of my friends have turned to Enid Blyton, Beatrix Potter, Disney books and what-not when they were young. How fortunate! Could I maintain this obsession for the days ahead?! Hopefully!

I called home, almost once a week, and had a great chat with mama & papa. Papa was so ardent on computers & technological gadgets! He’s a fan of some old-school politician as well! That made our conversation seemed endless almost every time I rang him. Mama was more concerned on my studies. She kept reminding me not to focus on other non-academic related activities. Huhu……am I a disobedient child?

It’s only about 16 months since I left home, but I notice the difference in my siblings. My 2 younger brothers, Arif & Riduan, seemed to care less on reading, but they enjoy playing computer games & watching TV. Guilty, I really feel guilty….

TV, you culprit!

Mama Papa & the family need me, and I need them. I’ll pay them a visit this summer, and we’ll see what I could do.

Oh yes, by the way, for those of you who are sitting for exams, all the best! I’ll just continue reading my collection of books……yada yada!

Books

It was about 5 hours ago when i reached the last page of this book:

THE MAN WHO FOUND TIME; James Hutton & The Discovery Of The Earth's Antiquity
by Jack Repcheck
Perseus Publishing, Cambridge

Enthralled! It gave me a clearer idea on:
-how the Scottish Enlightenment started
-what made the Europeans so paranoid of the church
-why people went to Pubs & Bars in those days
-the relationship between James Hutton (doctor-turned-farmer-turned-geologist) & Joseph Black (great chemist who isolated CO2), James Watt (ingenious steam engineer), David Hume (social philosopher), Adam Smith (economist) & Charles Darwin (mathematician-turned-natural philosopher-turned-biologist)
-etc etc....

I think i know more about Scotland now than Wales! God-willing, i'll make a geological fieldtrip there sometime in March. Off to my next book, also an academic novel, entitled:

THE SEASHELL ON THE MOUNTAINTOP; A Story Of Science, Sainthood, & The Humble Genius Who Discovered A New History Of The Earth
by Alan Cutler
Arrow Books, Berkshire

What about you?

Tahun Baru

Satu demi satu manusia mengukir azam baru di tahun yg baru menjelma. Aku juga berazam.
Aku banyak salah
Aku banyak silap
Aku banyak cuai & alpa

Tapi aku juga punya azam, punya cita-cita, punya prinsip, punya kemahuan, punya perjuangan. Aku tidak mahu lagi melongo tanpa hujjah macam tin kosong.

Langkah pertama: BACA!

Buku yg baru sahaja dihabiskan:
1515 - Faisal Tehrani
A Note From A Friend - Anthonny Robbins

Buku yg sedang dibaca:
The Man Who Found Time
360 Degrees Leadership
Al-Ubuddiyah; Being A True Slave of Allah - Ibn Taymiyyah
Risalah Hassan Al-Banna

Aku seru diri aku & rakan2 sekalian.....bacalah.....penuhkan kepala dengan ilmu biar kita tahu, penuhkan dada dengan azam biar kita mahu, penuhkan jiwa dengan iman biar kita mampu!

Selamat tahun baru masihi 2007

P/S: buat mereka yang masih kebingungan,
BC : Before Christ
BCE : Before Common/Current Era
CE: Common/Current Era
AD: Anno Domini (Year of The Lord)
BC = BCE, CE = AD