The World we live in

Mumbai............ Bangkok.............. DR Congo............... Baghdad................Afghanistan................Sri Lanka...............

Another miracle of the glorious Quran

Last night the History channel was showing a documentary on the universe. A group of scientist doing research had found and proven that the universe is expanding all the time. Yes! Expanding. One of the scientist gave an example what they meant by expanding. Imagine rows of chairs placed in a room. Little by little, the room expands and the chairs, which were close to one another before, are now further apart, creating space in between! That's what is happening with the universe. The stars and the galaxies are not only moving away from one another but also from us!
And who would theoretically discover this initially if not that great scientist, Albert Einstein! Unfortunately, because of not wanting to violate the 'static universe' model that was widely accepted at that time, he put this discovery aside. He would later describe it as the greatest blunder of his life!
And guess what! The Quran mentioned this phenomena more than 1400 years ago.

And it is We Who have constructed the heaven with might, and verily, it is We Who are steadily expanding it.
Ad zaariyaat 47

Need I say more!

Nothing Surprises Anymore

In this time of credit crunch and financial woes, nothing surprises me anymore. Just found out that Woolworth, the very famous retailer that can be found in almost every British town, is also having difficulties. It is going into administration!
Woolworth was the first store that I was introduced to when I first set foot in England to begin my life as a student there. I bought my first jumpers there. Later on, Woolworth became the place to be, whenever I'm in need of new clothings or socks or underwear or whatever. So it is with a tinge of sadness to hear that it is going into administration.
I wonder what's next!

The Quran is amazing!

I am sure we all know that the pattern lines at the tip of our fingers are unique to everyone of us. Every pattern line is different, even for identical twins. That's why our thumbprint has been used as an identification tool, very effectively. This unique feature was discovered in 1856 by an Englishman, Genn Ginsen. That makes it 152 yrs ago.
But do you know that the Quran has mentioned this more than 1400 years ago? This is what it says:

3. Does the human being think that We cannot assemble his bones?
4. Surely, We are able to reconstruct even his fingertips
Al Qiayamah (75)

Off course, 1400 years ago or until 152 years ago, no one understood the significant of this sentence or why fingertips were even mentioned! Until the discovery!

Amazing! Isn't it?

Growing up with Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton was my favourite writer during my primary school days. I must have read almost all of her books during those time. The moment I get my hands on one of them and start reading, I will continue reading until I finished. I cannot put them down, so exciting were the stories, until I have finished reading them.
As I grow older, my attention turned to Agatha Christie. Again I must have read almost all of her books. Although I have forgotten most of the characters from her books, the one I still remember is Herculie Poirot. I guess everyone who reads her book will remember Herculie Poirot.
I am an avid reader. I enjoy reading. I remember one time I was reading three books at one go. In the office, during lunch, I will read one book. Back home, downstairs, I will be reading another book. Upstairs, just before going to bed, I will read yet another book.
Although at the moment I have slowed down a bit, when I retire, I plan to start reading again.

Dining Out at Cheng Ho

All the food gobbled up. Must have tasted real good!

My daughter

The wife and me

View of KL from the twin tower.

Now is the time to buy

Despite all the gloom that is surrounding us at the moment, with news of countries and companies struggling to stay afloat being published everyday in the papers, it is still not too bad. If you are brave and are prepared to go against the tide, there's money to be made. Stocks are dirt cheap, having taken a trashing the past one year. So what better way to make money than to look for the jewels among them. If you look hard enough, you'll certainly find them. Buy them and keep! I'm certain you'll make money.
The trick is to buy when people are selling and to sell when people are buying! Not to sell when people are selling and to buy when people are buying. How do you think Warren Buffet makes his fortune?

We are not out of the wood yet!

The woes continue.....
Even before they could decide on what to do with the big three auto makers, another large institution is reported to be in dire straits. Citibank, with over 300,000 workers worldwide, is in urgent need of a cash injection. Otherwise, it too might go down! I wonder what's next?
In Malaysia, the market has been on a losing streak the past few days. When it will end I have no idea!

A busy sporting weekend
A few sporting events kept me occupied last weekend. The A1 race in Sepang, the UBS golf tournament in Hong Kong, the rugby league final in Australia, the rugby union matches in England and Wales and the premier league matches in England. All in all, it was a busy sporting weekend for me.
The results?
Malaysia managed only a 10th placing in Sepang, a Malaysian golfer secured a top ten placing in Hong Kong, New Zealand won the rugby league final beating Australia, New Zealand and South Afdrica both won their rugby union matches and of the big four in the premier league, all drew except Arsenal who lost.

Its a fishy day

The market at Pasir Penampang, K. Selangor

vegetables are a plenty too
If you are looking for fresh fish, then head for the market at Pasir Penampang in Kuala Selangor. There you will find them as fresh as they can be, just like they have just been taken off the sea a second ago. If you have tasted fresh fish before, then you'll know what I'm talking about!
The taste is delicious to say the least!
Its only an hour drive from KL, so why not give it a try!

Just Thinking Aloud......

Time waits for nobody
Time flies so fast. Just seem yesterday when the Formula one races started (in January) and already it has ended. That means we are already in November! So fast! I had in my thoughts of doing a bit of traveling with the family this year but its almost the end of the year now and the only traveling we ever did were ....... I can't even recall. Need to plan better for 2009! Otherwise time will just pass me by and I don't even know it.

Its a Yo Yo
The Dow Jones gained almost 500 points last night. The day before, it dropped more than 400 points. It was the same a few days ago. Its moving like a yo yo. Moving up 500 points and going down 500 points has become normal these days! The same with Hang Seng and Nikkie. Its a roller coaster ride. I wonder what its doing to the heart of the investors. The doctors must be busy giving out treatment!

Pak Hamka
Although I never met him in person, most of my understanding of Islam is from him, his books actually. I read his tafsir Al Azhar, cover to cover. All nine volumes of it. Then there were his other books. All these readings gave me a better grasp of the religion. His tafsir Al Azhar became the foundation of what I know about Islam. It took me almost a year to finish reading them. That was way back in 1988. Since then, I have moved on to other writers and religious scholars, passed a few tajwid exams, learned Taranum, learned Arabic, got my Diploma in Shariah, did some 'hafazan' etc etc.
But Pak Hamka remains special to me and will always be so. He provided me the start through his beautiful writing. I am indebted to him. My only wish now is to be able someday to pay a visit to his kampung. That would be the icing on the cake!

My Amazing Race

I thought the Malaysian mothers have got it nailed but alas! it was not to be. They came unstuck at the Oman airport trying to secure a flight to Phuket. By the time they got to Phuket, they were already too far behind and had too much to do to catch up!
Watching the amazing race reminded me of my student days in England. Every summer holidays I would packed my back and headed off to Europe. Although I was not racing against anybody, still it was a challenge trying to get from one place to another. You see, I was hitchhiking.
One time I was caught in the rain at some highway near Barcelona, Spain, in the middle of the night. I managed to shelter under a viaduct but the rain and thunder and lightning plus the darkness made it a night to forget.
Another time I had to sleep in some bushes near Hamburg in Germany. I could hear dogs barking and howling somewhere nearby but I never cared to find out. Just managing to pass through the night unscathed was good enough.
Another time, I got chased by alsation dogs from a farm in Scotland. Then there was a time when I was refused entry into Switzerland and had to sleep at the railway station near the border.
Off course there were good times as well.
Those were the days. Someday I might just find the time to write all those stories down and perhaps my grandchildren can read them!

Admiral Cheng Ho lives on.....

Last Tuesday night, after picking up the BMW from the Sapura workshop in KL at about 8.30 pm(was sent there for some repair - free of charge as the car was still under guarantee) we decided to have dinner at Cheng Ho restaurant in Wangsa Maju. This is the one owned by Amy Search.
There were four of us including myself i.e. my eldest son, daughter and wife. The restaurant is situated in a new built up area of Wangsa Maju. Parking was easy and once inside, we had no problem securing a table for four. The service was fast, food tasted nice and the price reasonable.
I will have no problem bringing my family or friends to the restaurant again.

The Wedding season is back

The school holidays has barely started and already we are swamped with wedding cards. Almost every weekend there's a wedding to attend. Sometimes there are two or even three in a day! Last Sunday night, I attended a wedding at Tropicana Golf Club. Had some problem locating the club. End up reaching the place almost an hour late. We were the last to arrive. Fortunately, when we arrived, the food was just about to be served. In a way, we did not miss anything!

Energy Security Conference

I attended an Energy Security conference last week at the Shangrila Hotel KL. Malaysia needs to seriously look at its energy options quickly if it don't want to be caught unprepared in the future. There are certainly many options but at the moment, with the kind of technology available, nuclear looks like a good bet. But we have to move fast. Already 10 yrs is gone when we backtracked on this option.
Now we have to start all over again. With the IAEA putting in much tighter rules and regulations, it sure is much harder now!

Inside the Conference Hall

The World Today

US Auto Giants on the brink
Looks like there's no escaping. The whole world is feeling the crunch. Just read the paper this morning. The big three car makers in the US of A, namely GM, Ford and Chrysler are pleading for a bailout to the tune of 25 billion US dollars from the government! If the money don't come soon enough, almost 250,000 people who work for these three companies will be out of work. This is not counting the 4 million from the showroom to the design house who are indirectly linked.
Should the government help or just let the companies fail?

Bailout from China
Ironically, when the much touted capitalist system of the west failed, everybody is looking at China, a communist country, for help. It seems that China has trillions of dollars in reserve. These are the money that holds the key to the survival of the world.
As for Malaysia, it might still be in denial but there's no denying the market. It has fallen almost 40 % from its peak.

Petrol

Filled up my gas tank this morning. Normally rm100 will get me nowhere but with the price dropping recently, the tank is 3/4 full with that amount. Hope the price will continue to drop. The whole world is facing a grim economy. Although people are feeling the pinch here and there, the economy as it is helps to bring the fuel price down. In a way, that helps

The story continues.......

Sun and Rain.....Bulls and Bears
Looks like my theory about the sun, rain, bulls and bears is still holding. After 4 days of glorious sunshine, the rain came back a bit. That coincides nicely with the market where the bulls were in rampaging mood before retreating on the 4th day. Nevertheless, the upward trend is still continuing.

Obama, the star
Usually on the way to the office, I would stopped at Bangsar to buy the daily paper and have breakfast. I would reached Bangsar at about 7.15 am having left my house at 6.45 am. So early in the morning and the papers are a plenty. No worry about not getting your copy.
But on Wednesday, on reaching Bangsar and stopping at the 7 eleven to buy my usual paper, I found they were all gone. What a shocked!
Then I remember. All the papers today were about Obama because the day before he had just won an election! That's why its gone so fast. Everybody wants to read about it.

Nuclear and more Nuclear
There's no doubt about it. Nuclear power is here to stay. I attended a four days workshop on nuclear energy organised by Nuclear Afency, Malaysia and that's the message I got. Apparently, nuclear is the way forward. It is cheaper, cleaner and safer.
Will the government make a decision soon on going nuclear? Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia have all decided on nuclear. When will Malaysia do so?