Breaking News

Thai capital was in dissaray as thousands of anti-government protesters laid siege on the city's airport.
101 people were killed and 300 more injured in a coordinated suicide attacks in Mumbai.
But first, romantic vampire movie Twilight opens worldwide. Hundreds of "fanpires" waited hours to get a glimpse of new stars Robert Pattinson, who plays the heart-throb vampire Edward and Kristen Stewart, who plays the girl-next-door character Bella - the narrator of the stories. There has been a targeted advertising blitz in recent weeks on television shows that cater to female teen and young-adult viewership. But the phenomenon that is Twilight has actually managed to capture the imagination of older women as well, including married women with children.
I mouthed "Amazing" when I heard this radio headline this morning.

Yoga Haram


I read a letter sent by a muslim yoga practitioner that was published by NST yesterday. It goes like this:

I have to admit that I loved yoga. When I first learned that a fatwa would be issued regarding yoga, I was furious. I began debating with my family, telling them that yoga had nothing to do with religion and the only goal was good health.

I said the National Fatwa Council members were not people who had ever done yoga and they have in no postion to judge what yoga is.

Fortunately, I am still a faithful muslim and when a fatwa was announced, I quickly complied with the new ruling. However, I did a simple Wikipedia search on yoga and pilates. This was the first time I did any research on the word. I was defending yoga with no real knowledge and basis of what yoga really is.

After a mere 10 minutes, I was shocked by what I discovered. The goal of yoga is definitely agaisnt all Islamic teaching and values. I urge yoga lovers to look into these articles. I also learnt that yoga has been banned in several churches in Britain as being un-Christian.

Even though I was practising yoga purely for health reasons, I was blinded by the meditation and relaxation techniques actually stand for. As a former yoga enthusiast, I humbly admit that what the National Fatwa Council proposed is undoubtedly the right thing to do. We should be thankful that such fatwa came at this time when we are still faithful to Islam.

The ban on yoga isn't the end of the world. There are many exercises out there. And I wouldn't trade my faith for any exercise routine, ever.

Munirah Muhammad
Johor Baru

A Very Interesting Conversation

An Atheist Professor of Philosophy was speaking to his Class on the Problem Science has with GOD, the ALMIGHTY. He asked one of his New Christian Students to stand and . . .
Professor : You are a Christian, aren't you, son ?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor : So, you Believe in GOD ?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Professor : Is GOD Good ?
Student : Sure.
Professor : Is GOD ALL - POWERFUL ?
Student : Yes.
Professor : My Brother died of Cancer even though he Prayed to GOD to Heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn't. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?
(Student was silent )
Professor : Is there Sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the World, don't they?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor : So, who Created them ?
(Student had no answer)
Professor : Science says you have 5 Senses you use to Identify and Observe the World around you. Tell me, son . . . Have you ever Seen GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor : Tell us if you have ever Heard your GOD?
Student : No , sir. Professor : Have you ever Felt your GOD, Tasted your GOD, Smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any Sensory Perception of GOD for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Professor : Yet you still Believe in HIM?
Student : Yes.
Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my Faith.
Professor : Yes,Faith. And that is the Problem Science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as Heat?
Professor : Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as Cold?
Professor : Yes.
Student : No, sir. There isn't.
(The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events )
Student : Sir, you can have Lots of Heat, even More Heat, Superheat, Mega Heat, White Heat, a Little Heat or No Heat. But we don't have anything called Cold. We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is No Heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as Cold. Cold is only a Word we use to describe the Absence of Heat. We cannot Measure Cold. Heat is Energy. Cold is Not the Opposite of Heat, sir, just the Absence of it.
(There was Pin-Drop Silence in the Lecture Theatre )
Student : What about Darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as Darkness?
Professor : Yes. What is Night if there isn't Darkness?
Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the Absence of Something. You can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing Light . . . But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and its called Darkness, isn't it? In reality, Darkness isn't. If it is, were you would be able to make Darkness Darker, wouldn't you?
Professor : So what is the point you are making, Young Man ?
Student : Sir, my point is your Philosophical Premise is flawed.
Professor : Flawed ? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality. You argue there is Life and then there is Death, a Good GOD and a Bad GOD. You are viewing the Concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can't even explain a Thought. It uses Electricity and Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view Death as the Opposite of Life is to be ignorant of the fact that Death cannot exist as a Substantive Thing. Death is Not the Opposite of Life: just the Absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your Students that they evolved from a Monkey?
Professor : If you are referring to the Natural Evolutionary Process, yes, of course, I do. Student : Have you ever observed Evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shook his head with a Smile, beginning to realize where the Argument was going )
Student : Since no one has ever observed the Process of Evolution at work and cannot even prove that this Process is an On-Going Endeavor, Are you not teaching your Opinion, sir? Are you not a Scientist but a Preacher?
(The Class was in Uproar )
Student : Is there anyone in the Class who has ever seen the Professor's Brain?
(The Room was Silent. The Professor stared at the Student, his face unfathomable)
Professor : I guess you'll have to take them on Faith, son.
Student : That is it sir . . . Exactly ! The Link between Man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that Keeps Things Alive and Moving.
Oh yeah, that student was Albert Einstein.

Kek Cawan

A few months back when everyone (who eats carb irresponsibly) (as if I don't) was crazy about cupcakes, I was one those people who will show my discontent by provoking my friends who joined in the craze by asking them "Ada apa dengan cupcakes?"

"It's a cup in a cake. It's more mobile than your usual cake."
"But the hype is overwhelming. It doesn't make sense! Satu lagi, people are crazy about the decoration than the taste."

"Like your design lah, you're always more concerned about the aesthetics."

"Touche."

It's true. The only thing I like about cupcakes is the creativity that comes with it, especially when it serves as a form of expression.

I'm calling this cupcake of mine Kecewa

Pidah & Ijat

Rafidah grants imported car licences.

Shahrizat plays Fast & Furious with her imported car.

In the end, Shahrizat contributes to our country with her traffic summons, thanks to powerful imported cars by Rafidah Aziz. This is what we call counter-productive.

It'll be a fitting ending if they do a Thelma and Louise together. You know, the part both of them speed off from a cliff.

Afiq told them to take a hike.... so they did
In politics, there are no permanent enemies or permanent friends. Just permanent interests.

Holier-Than-Kamu


I've to admit I felt extremely guilty the day after I went clubbing. During the Friday prayers, the khutbah was about how western influence are brainwashing youths by permeating them with 'budaya kuning'.

It's good that the Imam reminds us of the negative effects of western influence by telling us the statistics of illegitimate children and people infected with HIV. Right, it's important to pinpoint the evil that surrounds us but it is also important to propose and organize alternatives.

I don't see how preaching without understanding the needs and feelings of youth can benefit either the imam or his intended audience. I'm sensing that the elderly religious community is rather selfish by only preaching without practicing proactive measures. Imagine:

God: How did you contribute to groom the next muslim generation?

Imam: We preach about their wrongdoings every week on Friday, we preach to them about them every chance we get to be with them.

God: Have you succeeded?

Imam: No but we did our part and they should do the rest of the work themselves.

God: Right.

Imam: So... can I like go to heaven now?

So how la like this? A church near the place I'm staying now organizes weekly meet-ups at their church. Every weekend, they'll be loads of cars parked along the neighbourhood to attend the services there. When I drove passed the church, there were picnics attended by families, basketball tournaments where all the teens hung out and friendly drawing competitions for kids.

Why can't our mosques do this kind of activities? Mosques should be hubs where muslims of various stages of life can interact, not a place exclusively for old farts and bums to pray their hearts out to die peacefully (if possible, on a good Friday while doing the sujud)

When youths are bombarded with judgements by religious authorities, in a blink they will avoid any religious related activities and embrace trends and cultures that readily embraces them back.

That's how things are nowadays and unless old religious farts realize this, they will be partially responsible for the deterioration of muslims youths.

A Virgin No More

Preparation was nerve wrecking. I didn't know which shoes to wear.
"There'll be a lot of jumping and dancing kan?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"So pakai running shoes lah kan? It's light and..."
"Running shoes? No no no, pakai your black shoes."
Once we arrived at Euphoria, there was a long queue to get in because entrance before 11pm is free of charge so the bouncers purposely blocked the entrance the whole night, only to let people in a few minutes before 11. All the bouncers are 6 footers and ridiculously huge, making Puan Marina who taught me BM in highschool immediately eligible for the post. As we neared the entrance, they announced that we have to pay pulak. Aiseh! My female friends got in for free because they're girls. For a place where kononnya open-minded people hang out, this place is surprisingly sexist.
Once we got in, I realized how men here are well dressed and the women are literally wearing skimpy whore-like outfits. Even those who are not keen on salad exposed their udders to perhaps help advertise dairy products. I got in the dance floor and whoa-wie. Imagine red, blue and green projected lasers, shisha smelling smoke, booming speakers surrounding the dancefloor and and people all over the place. For those who've never been to clubs, it's similar to crowded pasar malams with funky lights kelantanese gangsters use to promote their dvd haram stalls.
"People susah-susah dress up and put up make-up but we have to dance in the dark?"
"Yeah, it's where people get dates and flirt lah."
"Only to wake up and find out that the girl they slept with looks like Big Mama."
"Hahaha!"
I promised myself to only observe. As an observer. But after 5 minutes of crossing my arms and slightly bobbing my head, I got loose and boogied to the beat, kayu style... After a while, I secluded myself from the centre of the dance floor to do what I promised myself to do; to observe.
Okay, so there were cina bukit who wears expensive looking set of generics they probably bought at BB or PS. They only stood around like dumbfounded waiters/waitresses and those who attempted to dance either can't dance or tried too many dances all at once. There were teen arabs who danced to the rythm of Pink's So What like they were dancing to Ya Habibi, ya habibi, ya habibi ya nurul ain. There were also english speaking indians and chinese who are probably Sunway College students. These people don't think twice when they drink so after they got tipsy, they'll be all over their girlfriends' face.
Ahah, there were two types of malay who clubbed at Euphoria. The first type are the malays who live nearby, speak broken english, drink their allocated alcohol and dress up casually (usually t-shirts) The second type are those who had to travel in overcrowded local cars to Subang, queue up right in time to get in for free and take load of pictures that they will later upload on friendster and myspace so they could look like the first type.
After a few minutes of 'observing', I tipped an aging dancer (who performed on an elevated podium) by shoving 5 ringgit into her cash-filled beer mug. After a quick look of her exposed panties, I went back to the dance floor and group boogied. When the dancefloor got overcrowded, we took a break from clubbing and went to a nearby kedai mamak for drinks. On our way, there were kononnya drunk friends of my cousin. Seriously dude, you won't get drunk after drinking a bottle of Heineken!
I don't see how drinking can make clubbing more fun. I had fun because I was conscious of the fun I had. Sure there were things that weren't so fun like the sight of overly provocative girls. I had to look up or close my eyes when they suddenly appear in front of me. There were people who shoved their way to the centre of the dancefloor but yang paling tak tahan were those who grope their way to the centre. Pegang sini, pegang sana, excuse me macha, leave my lovehandles alone!
We left the club relatively early (2 am!), walked into a very empty Sunway Pyramid to get to the parking lot. My eyes were dazed to a point that I could easily get epilepsy. I've to admit, nothing particularly spectacular happened. I wasn't expecting much anyway so I wasn't dissapointed.

Nope, I wasn't drunk. I was just slightly flustered. And yeah, I am also still slightly deaf.

Slightly.