Ashtrays the shape of lungs

It annoyed me the other day when two colleagues smoked away during a team lunch, steadily finishing three cigarettes each throughout the hour. Luckily, the fan was blowing the smoke away, so it was too bad. Still, that wasn’t too polite (to smoke in presence of others), I think.

Those who knows me closely would know that I am against smoking. It’s not just a health and economy concern, but also a social concern. Just look at a ten of twelve-year old kids picking up this addictive habit and you’ll understand what I mean. It pains me to know that two of my closest family member are smoking and they couldn’t quit (or perhaps choose not to) although I wanted to help.

Anyway, what I’m writing next may sound light after all the concerns that I’ve just listed above. But sometimes I do ponder, that when a smoker visits a home with no smoker and he needs to smoke (outside, preferably), the host would usually hand him (or her) a ceramic bowl or a biscuit tin as ashtrays. What if, there are ashtrays designed in the shape, feature, and colours of human lungs? I think I would buy one. I would hand it to my smoking visitors to use, who would then snub their ciggies in the ashtray, and hopefully be reminded that that is essentially what he (or she) is doing, inflicting the fire and ash of the cigarette to the lungs. Is this too rude? This doesn’t mean smokers are not welcomed in my home! Of course they are. In fact, precisely because I respect and care about them, that I wish they’d quit smoking.

I waited for 16 days

The best part of shopping online is when the goodies arrive. This time, I waited for 16 days. I was still excited when the parcel arrived though. But I remembered to drop a note (below) via the ‘Hubungi’ form, as a constructive feedback.

Assalamualaikum,

Saya telah membeli beberapa buah buku daripada Bookcafe.com.my pada 23 Jun 2009 lepas dan baru menerima parcel tersebut hari ini, 9 Julai 2009 (16 hari). Pada Nota Konsainan Bungkusan Pos Malaysia tarikh bungkusan dipos ialah 3 Julai 2009. Saya berpendapat 16 hari adalah tempoh menunggu yang agak lama. Saya bertujuan menghadiahi seorang rakan sekerja yang baru bersara beberapa buah buku yang dibeli itu, dan hampir-hampir sahaja tidak sempat berbuat demikian 'by person' (mungkin terpaksa pos) kerana hari ini hari terakhir beliau di tempat kerja.

Apa-apa pun, saya seorang pembaca dan peminat setia PTS.

Terima kasih.

Anyway, the retired colleague (now ex-colleague) mentioned above cooked lunch for us that day, and it wasn’t just a simple lunch. There were at least 10 delicious dishes! The department administrative executive (also known as the secretary) already indicated interest that she would like to order food from her for future department events. As had several other colleagues, for personal events. And I told her, “Saya dah kata dari dulu kak, akak memang boleh buat bisnes catering ni!” All the best to her :)

Rejected and dejected

End of last year I told my boss I’m interested to work 4-day weeks.

My request has been rejected.

Huaaarggh :(
(belum ada mood nak belajar buat html icon nangis-nangis ;p)

RON95 is coming this 1 September

MDTCA (I think this ministry got a new initial now but tak sempat nak check) has indicated as early as last year that the fuel RON92 will be replaced by RON95. Earlier this year, the implementation date was announced to be 1 September 2009. Effectively, there will be 2 gasoline grade available in petrol stations: RON95 and RON97. RON95 will be a controlled and subsidized product (price is expected to be RM1.75/liter on 1 September), while RON97 will be priced higher and ‘semi-floated’ (floor price imposed, prices to be reviewed and possibly approved by government, if I’m not mistaken). Because RON97 will be priced at about 20 sen higher than RON95, most users probably plan to switch to RON95, while RON97 will be seen a premium product.

But which car can and cannot use RON95? The following list is from the Motor Trader site. Please click the link to see the full list.

And I would like to reproduce their disclaimer here (to exempt Everyday Ice Cubes from liabilities too):

The following list has been compiled based on confirmations and unofficial discussions with some car companies. MTM Multimedia Sdn Bhd and its employees do not accept any liability or responsibility for any effect arising from use of this information. In some cases, even though an engine may be originally tuned to run on fuel with a certain RON, its age and condition may require a higher RON grade to avoid knocking. Some engines may also have knock sensors which can automatically adjust ignition timing if knocking is detected but this will result in some reduction in power output. If in doubt, do contact the car company dealing with your model.

In any case, better check your car’s manual to be sure. So, which grade do you plan to use? I’ll probably vote for my pocket and choose RON95.

As for diesel, the government also plans to upgrade the current grade of diesel with 3000 ppm (parts per million) sulphur to 500 ppm, which will be good for the environment. However, as one would expect, the price for the lower sulphur content grade is more expensive. I just hope it won’t bring another round of prices-of-everything-goes-up.

Bahulu strawberry dan blueberry

Saya ingin membantu mempromosikan produk keluaran Mama Bahulu Enterprise, hasil usaha kakak kepada seorang rakan sekerja, iaitu bahulu strawberry dan blueberry. Memang sedap. Lembut, dan ada jem strawberry dan blueberry di dalam. Sesuai sebagai doorgift untuk majlis-majlis contohnya majlis perkahwinan, aqiqah, dan sebagainya.


Harganya 25 sen sebiji, boleh kurang jika pesanan banyak. Bahulu-bahulu ini dihasilkan di Tanjung Karang, tapi penghantaran boleh diuruskan bagi pesanan yang banyak.

Jika berminat, sila hubungi Puan Maimunah di nombor 012-2805504 atau 019-6488284.

Basic Introduction to Islam

Dear visitors,
Thanks for dropping by. The following article is adapted from ABIM’s Islamic Outreach website. For more reading, you can try visit Introduction To Islam and Islam Online.

Islam is the religion of a quarter of the world population. Muslims live in all continents and occupy a significant portion of the earth. Countries like Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, libya, Iraq , etc are some example of countries with large population of Muslims. Islam is the name of the code of life acceptable to Allah and Muslims are those who submit to the Will of Allah.

Definition

Islam is an Arabic term which means submission and obedience. Submission is to accept Allah's commands and one who submits to Allah's command is called a Muslim. Acceptance of Allah's commands requires one to act and behave in a specific way. That is, one has to put into practice His commands. Only then he would have obeyed Allah and thus submitted to His commands. Submission to His commands reflects one's submission to Allah Himself. Allah's commands cover all aspects of a man's life. That is why Islam is referred ,to as "ad-din" - a complete way of life. Islam provides guidance for man from Allah, the Creator of the Universe. As a complete way of life, it gives guidance in respect of conducting man's private, social, political, economic, moral and spiritual affairs. Islam provides answers to man's most pressing questions on life, such as the purpose of creation, final destiny and man's place in the Universe and among its other creatures.

Submission and obedience to Allah bring peace. That is why the word 'Islam' also means peace or as a means to establish peace. There is peace in everything. From the high mountain to the deep blue sea, from the bird in the sky to the worm in the soil, all submit to Allah's commands they find peace in their existence and in their relations with the rest of the creation. And there is no contradiction in His creation. Everything fits in the realm of creation perfectly and harmoniously to collectively for the universe.

The Message of Islam

Islam teaches that there is only one God, who is called Allah in Arabic. He is the Creator of all and is above all things in the universe, and there is nothing or no one who is like Him or can be compared to Him. God, out of His love for us, has sent down guidance through his commandments and laws. For this purpose through the ages, he chose selected persons to convey His messages. These were His Messengers and Prophets. The number of such messengers and prophets is large and they were sent to all communities. There is no community where He did not send a messenger with his message. The core of the commandment has always asked man to serve Him alone and not to associate partners to Him. Thus the message of all the prophets and messengers from Adam to Muhammad is the same. This message sent through prophets reached its perfection and culmination wit Muhammad who was the last in the chain of prophets.

The message of God sent through Prophet Muhammad, in the very words given by God, is recorded in the Qur'an.

Islam by Choice

The universe created by God is full of living and inanimate creations. In man's daily experience, he observes a larger variety of these around him on earth. All these creations are governed by the law of God, which through submission brings harmony.

All these creatures go through their existence in accordance with the instincts and nature which are in-built in them. God has made it their nature to submit to His will.

In case of man, an additional distinguishing faculty has been granted, that of consciousness and reason. With this he can aware of and distinguish between right and wrong. Whereas his physical being submits to the will of God by its nature, man is free to make this choice with regard to his consciousness and will.

Everything in the Universe is created a Muslim, in that by its nature it submits to the Will of God. The exception to this are the creatures of God which have been given reason and freedom of choice. For them, being a Muslim means making a conscious of submitting to the Creator's will.
Complete way of life

As mentioned above, Islam is a complete way of life. Its guidelines are relevant to every sphere of human activity. It has the following three distinct dimensions.

a) Iman (or faith, belief) : Iman is the belief system of Islam which provides the worldview on which the Islamic way is based. It tells us about the Creator and His Creations, and their relation with respect to one another. It also defines the place man occupies in God's creation, and the purpose of his life. It therefore sets out the basis of understanding of one's life. The various aspects of Iman are described as Arkanul Iman, usually translated as the Articles of Faith.

b) 'Ibadah (or acts of submission to God) : Based on the purpose of life defined by Iman, the belief system, this dimension lays down the ways in, which man is to lead his life to achieve the purpose. It gives detailed guidelines of right and wrong action and conduct in man's life as an individual and as a member of the community.
It also prescribes the obligatory acts of service and worship enjoined for him by his Creator. These acts are called Arkanul Islam, or the Pillars of Islam. These are the pillars which support the structure of the Islamic way of life, which is made up of the acts of submission.

c) Ihsan (or perfection of Conduct): 'Ibadah tell us what to do and Iman gives us the reason arid understanding of why to do it. Ihsan concerns itself with bringing our motivation and spiritual qualities in harmony with our actions and understanding. It adds the quality of beauty and perfection to one's actions and conduct. Just as God has created the cosmos in goodness and beauty, so human activity which must follow the divine model has to be performed with similar attributes.

Purpose of Creation

Allah, the Almighty, creator human beings to serve Him through obeying His commands. "Service" in this verse means total obedience to Allah's commands. The Qur'anic word for service is 'Ibadah if we do it for Allah's sake. Our purpose in life is to please Allah through 'Ibadah.

Arkanul Iman

The structure of any building must have pillars, without which no building can be erected. The structure of iman is likewise built on pillars called arkan (sing. rukun) meaning the articles of faith. Profession of belief without any one of these pillars would render one's faith incomplete and rejection of any of these pillars would constitute deviation.

Article of Faith of Islam are:

1.Belief in Allah
2.Belief in His Angels (mala'ikah)
3.Belief in the Books of Allah (kutub)
4.Belief in the Messengers of Allah (rusul)
5.Belief in the the Day of Judgement (yawm ad-din)
6.Belief in the supremacy of Divine Will (al-qadr)

Arkanul Islam

The first pillar of Islam - Shahadah

This pillar of Islam requires a believer to profess that there is none worthy of respectful service except Allah and that Muhammad is His messenger, sent to guide the entire creation towards serving Him alone. The phraseology in Arabic is:

Ash-hadu al la ilaha illal-lah wa ash-hadu anna muhammadar rasu-lul-lah

I bear witness that there is none worthy of service except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is a messenger of Allah

Anyone entering Islam declares his faith by professing this statement. To be meaningful the declaration is to be accompanied by the belief in its meaning and its implications.

The second pillar of Islam - Salah

Allah commands His servants to establish salah (prayers). He says salah prevents abominable and detestable acts.
Salah is an act of remembering God with His praises.
The first question raised on the day of judgement will be regarding the performance of salah.

Salah which one does including intention, recitation, actions and salam through standing, bowing, sitting and prostrating. Salahs are to be performed at the appropriate time with wudu'.

There are five obligatory salahs prescribed in a day, at specified times. A salah means presenting oneself to God in the state of concentration, focus and physical and mental purity.

The third pillar of Islam – Zakah

After salah, comes zakah, which in its broadest sense includes any act of service to other men. Being good to others is the fruit and the proof of the tree of faith. Acquisition of wealth for its own sake or so that it may increase the worth of its collector is condemned. Mere acquisition of wealth counts for nothing in the sight of God. It does not give man any merit whether here or in the hereafter. People should acquire wealth with the intention of spending it on their own needs, and the needs of others.

This word zakah is derived from the verb 'Zaka' which means: 'to grow', 'to increase' and 'to purify'.
Spending the wealth for the sake of Allah purifies the heart of man of the love of material wealth.

In addition, the institution of zakah is a manifestation of social justice. The goal of zakah is the spiritual development of the Believers. By making them give up some of their wealth, the believers are taught the higher moral characteristics of generosity, compassion, gratitude to God and righteousness. But, since Islam does not neglect man's material need, part of the goal of zakah is the economic well-being of the members of society who are poor, in need and deserving.

The fourth pillar of Islam - Sawm

The word siyam or sawm (fasting), is derived from the root sama, to refrain from normal things, such as eating, drinking or talking. If an individual refrains from these things, he is called a sa'im, the observer of fast. In Shari'ah, the Islamic law, the "sawm" refers to a specific act of abstaining oneself from eating, drinking and sexual activity from dawn to dusk.

Fasting is obligatory on a healthy adult Muslim everyday for the entire month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is in the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. It is a month of great blessing. During this month, Muslims pay special attention to the spiritual aspects of their lives as compared to the worldly affairs. In addition to fasting during the daytime hours, they spend much of their time in prayer, reading the Qur'an, dhikr and contemplation. They concentrate on acts of charity, kindness and brotherhood.
They also try especially to stay away from the forbidden and the disliked behaviour. It is a month of endeavour when they seek to raise the level of their spirituality, god-consciousness and nearness to God.

Through abstinence from the normal human activities of eating, drinking, ets, fasting provides a physical platform to pursue the spiritual aspects with a single-minded focus. It puts into perspective the importance of the spiritual life in relation with man's worldly pursuits.

It was the sunnah of the Prophet to fast on certain other days in the year. These are optional fast, and Muslims are encouraged to fast at least on some of these days.
The two basic elements that constitute the essence of fasting are: (1) the full abstinence from consuming food, drink and from sexual activity from dawn to dusk, and (2) the niyyah (intention) of fasting for the sake of Allah alone. Without these elements the fast is invalid. Fasting is obligatory on a sane adult Muslim (male and female) who is healthy and is not in state of travel. Additionally, for women, they must be in a state of purity (clean from menstruation and post childbirth bleeding).

The Fifth pillar of Islam - Hajj

The word hajj means, to visit to the House of Allah (al-Ka'bah) to observe the necessary prescribed devotions. Hajj is not a new institution introduced by the Prophet. This institution is as old as al-Ka'bah itself. In a hadith it is mentioned that al-Ka'bah was first built by Adam, the first man on earth.

Refurbished mother’s room

Mother’s room is the official name for the room provided by the company I work with for mothers who wishes to express breastmilk at the office. Recently it’s been refurbished, tastefully at that, thanks to the room focal point who had been persistent in asking and asking again for the budget. The number of cubicles (separated by curtains) was increased from 3 to 4 (due to increased number of users). New furnitures (bearing the IKEA lables) and equipments were procured, including a bigger fridge-freezer, a steam sterilizer, LAN points for those who likes to multitask, and – get this, a hospital grade Medela Lactina! Mothers who are interested to use this only needs to purchase the individual kit which consists of the breastshield funnel, tubings, valves, and bottles. Looks like I can put my plan to purchase a Pump-In-Style for the next baby on hold. Yesterday, the vendor came to show how to install and use the Medela Lactina. I asked how much it was, and the answer was - RM3800, and that’s after discount (mahalnya). Anyway, the pretty room and the complete facilities have motivated me to keep on pumping, eventhough I don’t get much anymore nowadays.


I know there’s other blogs out there who talks more about breastfeeding, but just in case, I’d just like to mention here that it is possible to continue breastfeeding even if we work outside the home fulltime. All you need is a breastpump, a cooler bag, a good coolant (if the office don’t have a fridge), and the will and basic knowhow.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

source

I first heard about Khaled Housseini through a blogger’s review of his first book The Kite Runner. The blogger revealed quite a bit of the storyline, which put me off reading the book itself (which is why I try to be careful not to reveal too much when I write about books). But the story had sounded really interesting, so I was looking forward to reading his second book. And I was not disappointed! As one of the blurb pointed out, Khaled Housseini is a masterful storyteller. His story flows smoothly, and keeps readers eager to know what happens next. A Thousand Splendid Suns (available for book swap) tells the story of Afghanistan (in the span of about 30 years) seen from the eyes of two ladies, Maryam and Laila. The stories of Maryam and Laila are themselves intensely moving, but I’m also quite glad to understand a bit more on what was happening in Afghanistan. Reading this novel, I feel grateful for the abundance of nikmat that I have, not least peace and stability.

I like Khaled Housseini’s narration so much that I now found myself wanting to read The Kite Runner, despite my former reservation. I’m now certain the few spoilers I've read is negligible compared to the treasure I will find. And ‘the prudent bookaholic’ in me starts asking, can anyone lend me The Kite Runner? ;p