Nakbah Palestin in Kulim

Nakbah
I would have not known about this program if they didn't put the poster on our notice board. This program, NAKBAH PALESTIN (Nakba Palestine) was organized by the State of Kedah (currently ruled by The Pan-Islamic Party of Malaysia a.k.a. Pas) and Islamic NGOs Malaysia on 20 June 2008 (Friday night) started from 9.15 PM at Kulim Mini Stadium. Among the invited speakers were:

[1] Dr Hadfizi Mohd Nor (Assoc. Prof.) / Head of Board, Palestinian Centre of Excellence, Malaysia
[2] Muhammad Sabu / Pas Vice President
[3] Naji Zuher / Palestinian Representative
[4] Muhammad Azmi Abdul Hamid / President of The Core Ability of Malay (Teras Keupayaan Melayu a.k.a. TERAS)

NAKBA, perhaps best translated as CATASTROPHE in English, is referring to the remembering of the 1948 Palestinian Exodus involving brutal aggression of Israel against Palestinian people, expulsion from their lands, massacres and ethnic cleansing which continues to this day.

All mosques in Kedah were instructed to deliver khutbah (sermon) commemorating 60 years of Palestinian dispossession, thanks to the state government. The khutbah text (in Malay) can be obtained from this link: Khutbah Jumaat - Memperingati 60 tahun Penindasan

What is our role as a Muslim? As a Malaysian, the most practical thing we can do is to contribute a little sum of money from our pocket, in which many of us do on either periodically or non-periodically basis. This shall be continuous, inshaAllah.

In 2006, Government of Malaysia announced to aid Palestine USD16 million (www.kln.gov.my), while Pas collected more than RM3 million from the people.

On May 16, 2008 in Kelantan under the program "Save Palestine", Pas collected more than RM1 million in just one night. The contribution mainly came from:

Perbadanan Kemajuan Iktisad Negeri Kelantan (PKINK) / RM300,000
Kompleks Perkayuan Kelantan (KPK) / RM200,000
Syarikat Ladang Sungai Terah / RM150,000
Bina Raya Sdn. Bhd. / RM100,000
Yayasan Islam Kelantan (YIK) / RM67,000
Majlis Perbandaran Kota Bharu (MPKB) / RM30,000
Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Kelantan (Kelantan Islamic Department) / RM10,000
Persatuan Pengilang Papan / RM10,000

and the rest came from the ordinary people. Million thanks to you people.

Here in Kulim, I saw most Malaysians poured a few of their Ringgit in the donation bags. I'm more proud when I saw non-wealthy people do the same without bordering the petrol price hike. Alhamdulellah, may Allah bless you people. Other than donation, what we can do is doa (prayer). We pray for our brothers and sisters in Palestine, may Allah protect them from Israel brutal aggression, free their land and let them stay united. NEVER EVER GIVE UP!

I will not forgive you ISRAEL-BRITAIN-AMERICA for the conspiracy and destruction you did to my brothers in sisters in Palestine. As a Malaysian that care for Palestine, I know the truth and I will not stop telling the truth!

"MY HEART AND SOUL WITH PALESTINE"

I was so glad that my Palestinian brother Bashir agreed to join me to the program, so I picked him up at USM Engineering Campus and took him for tour to Kulim Hi-Tech and Kulim Town. The next day, he cooked magluba (Gaza style). It was delicious and I never thought that he is such a good cook.

When Meshary makes me cry...

Meshary
Today I received a link from Jafour (my youtube friend) that directs me to his uploaded video. So far, everything from Jafour are Islamic. I started to know Jafour when I made search on Islamic nasheeds a few years back. Alhamdulellah, he seems to have a lot of collections on this one.

During the time I watched his youtube video, my eyes eyed on a related video featuring a blind boy with his mother. It was a nasheed from Sheikh Meshary Rashid Al-Afaasy. Meshary is my favourite, of course. I'm a big fan of him since I know him in 2003. Meshary doesn't associate music in all of his nasheeds, that's what I like. The last nasheed I downloaded was "Ana al-Abd (أنا العبد )". One of the best in this millennium.

This nasheed entitles "Oh Mother, what is the shape of the sky? (يا امي ما شكل السماء)". MashaAllah it's so beautiful. Really touch my heart. I didn't realize tears fall from my eyes. I love blind people, I really do especially when they obey Allah more than those who were born normal.

DO WATCH please...

This is the translation of the nasheed:

Oh Mother, what is the shape of the sky?
What is light?
What is moon?
with its beauty you talk
and I see no trace of it
Is this world full of continuous darkness?
Oh mother
give me your hand
may my loneliness goes away
when I walk I fear tripping
in light or darkness?
I don't walk well
where the road was short or long
I fear of facing danger when I walk
and I tell no difference between hole and smooth roads
my lees is my sight
Is there sight in objects?

young ones run.. play and have fun all at ease...
and I'm blind.. disabled... staying home...
Allah is Kind to me and eases my pain...

(Translation provided by Parvin Hasan... thanks bro)

If we want to count the blessing from Allah, we will never be able to. So we should express our thank to Allah, our mighty God for everything.

Now I'm looking for Madrasah for the Blind in Malaysia. I know there is in South Africa and Yemen. Anybody who has any idea about any Islamic School for the Blind in Malaysia, please let me know....

Farewell to Ms Syajaratunnur...

Farewell
It has been almost two weeks since she left us and I believe she is missed by many of us at Advanced Material Research Centre (AMREC), SIRIM Berhad. Miss Syajaratunnur Yaakub, more popular as Shaja at AMREC, tendered her resignation on the fourth week of May, last month. She joined Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) last week as a lecturer in engineering related field in Lumut Campus, Perak. I heard she got a good offer from UniKL. This is a rizq from Allah. Alhamdulellah. We were so happy for her.

Farewell Night

It was my housemate, Khairuldin who planned for the farewell dinner, which was to be attended by selected people. Assisted by our program treasurer, Shuhada, so we collected money among seven of us (the amount we keep it secret.. hehe). Well then, there we have it, at Teluk Tempoyak, Bayan Lepas, Penang Island on 25 May 2008. The selection of food by Khairuldin were excellent. Ikan masak tiga rasa (three-taste fish), ikan masak pedas (hot-chili fish), sotong goreng tepung (fried squid), kerang bakar (grilled cockles), kailan ikan masin (salted fish kailan vege) and a few more. So delicious, really enjoyed it. Although the farewell may not be grand for Shaja, we did honour her for the night.

To Khairuldin, Shuhada, Azmir, Azuan, Shams and Fatiha, thanks for making the farewell night a memorable one.

To Shaja I wish you all the best....

Congratulations Mahmoud Haddad !

Mahmoud
I should have written this earlier. After months of waiting, my dearest friend, Mahmoud finally had his viva on 24 April 2008. Unfortunately I was not able to attend his viva voce because I was working. As expected, Mahmoud survived. Congratulations Mahmoud for your success in defending your PhD thesis! Mabroook! I'm so happy for you. Alhamdulellah.

Note: Mahmoud will go back to Palestine this week, get married and stay there for a couple of months. After that he will come back to Malaysia as a faculty member of USM.

Btw, thanks Mahmoud for driving my Perodua Kancil from my brother's house at Sungai Petani, Kedah to USM Penang. If not because of your upcoming viva, I know you could have driven my Kancil back to Taiping. You will do it for me instead of Tariq. Again, I thank you so much. May Allah bless you...

Tariq - My first Mandarin-proficient Arab friend...

Tariq

Tariq As-Sabbah (طارق الصباح) is my close friend and brother of Palestinian origin. He finished his Master's Degree in IT from USM in 2005. I met his parents in September last year when they came to Malaysia for a week vacation.

Tariq, who is now proficient in spoken and written Chinese (Mandarin), will be leaving Malaysia today to pursue his business dream in China.

Tariq picked up his Chinese language skills when he came back to Malaysia somewhere middle last year. I never thought he's that serious, but he was. What impressed me was he's a native Arab speaker, and I couldn't find any connection between Arabic and Mandarin, as far as these two languages are concern. I myself am not able to speak Mandarin or other Chinese dialects, even though I have Chinese blood in me and live in surrounding Chinese community.

Tariq, thanks for driving my Kancil back to Taiping. Driving in heavy rain with dysfunctional aircond probably one of your worse experiences, but you passed the test. So i do believe you will sail through the upcoming challenges. InshaAllah.

You know Tariq, I'm really proud of you. What I can see is that you have a clear vision and optimistic. I pray for your success. Do keep in touch...

Get rid of Kavo Virus...

Kavo
I’ve read many forums with regards to Kavo virus, which had infected my office PC last two months. Alhamdulellah I managed to get rid of it last week.

What is Kavo Virus? According to Symantec, they discovered Kavo Virus on August 27, 2007 and classified it as worm. This worm has been categorized by many as Trojan Drop. It steals security information, scripts, commands, etc. without the user’s knowledge or consent. Although the damage caused by Kavo Virus is claimed to be low by Symantec but very irritating to me to my opinion.

These are some signs that your computer is infected by Kavo:

• Notice – kavo.exe application error (appears during entering Windows).
• “The instruction at “0x10013e2d” referenced memory at “0x00ff873a”. The memory could not be “read”. (Note: the referenced memory number might vary)
• Your Folder Options and/or Search Option may be disappeared.
• If your Folder Options did not disappear, you may not be able to show hidden files and folders.
• For Symantec Antivirus users, if you run the Virus Scan, such movement of cursor on the scan box during scanning will cause sudden stop and end up with “Program (Not Responding)” upon closing.
• In some cases you are not be able to update virus definition.
  

How your computer could possibly get infected?

Based on my homework, the infection mainly came from email attachment from unknown senders. It can also be delivered through Messenger’s Instant Message. Some Trojans came from free codec. So be careful of the things to be downloaded. It can infect another computer via portable memory storage devices such as flash drives, diskettes, etc.

For my case my computer is used by many. I allow others to use mine since computers are not many at my office. However not everybody is responsible. So I believe viruses were transferred to my computer via flash drives.

How to get rid of Kavo Virus?

At my work place, we use Symantec. I discovered that Symantec does not kill Kavo, or even traced it (unable to trace even using 31 December 2007 virus definition). Note: I’m not saying Symantec is not good. It is still better compared to AVG Free. Many antivirus software cannot detect Kavo & some other trojan drops because they use compression and encryption of its files. Whether we like or not, a search of a software that specializing in malware removal is definitely a must. There are many software available such as AGV, Norton and Microsoft Anti-Spyware, however they are not free. So I suggest you to search for any trial version anti-spyware (a trusted one please). In my case, I used UnHackMe (Trial Version) – suitable to team up with Symantec Antivirus without conflicts. Now follow these steps:

• First of all of course you need to update your virus definition.
• Disable your system restore.
• Install and run anti-spyware.
• Delete all malicious files/applications recommended by your anti-spyware.
• Reboot system.
• Run a full system virus scan.
• You have the option whether to enable your system restore or keep it disable (I do recommend you to enable it and make a restore point)
  

No need to go to regedit to edit your registry because you will find that your registry is already repaired by this anti-spyware (you can double check if you want). To me this is easier. If your folder option and/or search option are still missing, then go to these websites for solution:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_get_back_the_Folder_Options_in_Windows_XP

http://help.lockergnome.com/windows/Search-option-missing-Start-Menu-ftopict516539.html

Kavo Virus will evolve! Trust me

As we learn to solve computer virus problems, virus creators will always find ways to enhance the capability of their 'creations' (viruses) until they become more and more difficult to be neutralized. I may be able to solve this problem, perhaps just for now. Things will be more sophisticated next month, or maybe next week. Today Kavo might effect your folder/search option & hidden files, in the future they might be designed to effect your Excel, Words, Messengers, etc. I'm worry that new viruses might be the financial interest of some commercial antivirus vendors. The question is DO YOU TRUST YOUR ANTIVIRUS vendors?

~Izat

First Malaysian in Space...

Sheikh

From the BBC News
Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 14:13 GMT 15:13 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7037901.stm

Landmark lift-off for space crew

A Russian spacecraft heading to the International Space Station (ISS) has blasted off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The Soyuz rocket propelled Malaysia's first astronaut into space alongside the first female astronaut to become commander of the space station.

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and American Peggy Whitson were accompanied by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko.

Ms Whitson and Mr Malenchenko will remain on the ISS for six months, replacing two other astronauts. Mr Shukor will spend nine days on the space station before returning to Earth with the outgoing crew.

Malaysians proud

The Soyuz-FG rocket was launched on schedule at 1752 Moscow time (1322 GMT), topped with a spacecraft containing the three crew members. Reports said the rocket was adorned with a Malaysian flag as it lifted off.

The launch has been eagerly anticipated in Malaysia, where it has been hailed as a landmark for the Asian nation. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi joined 1,000 schoolchildren at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur to mark Malaysia's entry into space. They clapped and cheered as a giant TV screen showed scenes of Sheikh Muszaphar smiling inside the spacecraft minutes after the lift-off, the Associated Press reported.

Ramadan rules

Mr Shukor will be the first Muslim to fly in space during the holy month of Ramadan and will be there for the Eid festival, when he will treat his crewmates to a celebratory meal. For the rest of the time he will try and observe the dawn-to-dusk fasting rules of Ramadan.

Muslim clerics in Malaysia have prepared special guidelines for him on observing religious rules while on the ISS. He will use a wet towel rather than water to clean himself before praying, and is not obliged to kneel in zero gravity or face Mecca while praying. To avoid confusion about when to pray, Mr Shukor will follow the time at the launch site in Kazakhstan. The crew are expected to dock at the space station on Friday.


My comment:
Can you imagine, at the speed the space station travels, the ISS will orbit the Earth 16 times every 24 hours, that means Sheikh Muszaphar would have been obliged to pray more than 80 times a day? Also there is another issue, i.e. the direction for prayers, which must usually face the direction of Mecca – a difficult position to maintain in zero gravity.

Alhamdulellah, Malaysia's Department of Islamic Development has drafted a set of guidelines on how to perform religious rites in space. The guidelines allow the astronaut to only pray five times a day and that the times should follow the location of the spacecraft's launch. Also it is not obliged to kneel in zero gravity or face Mecca while praying.

The guidelines can be obtained from this link:
http://www.islam.gov.my/portal/pdf/ibadahIss.pdf

Wallahu a'lam