Imran's Kifli.net

I’m a history fan. Recently, I found out that Matahari Books started a project to rewrite Sejarah Melayu in a lighter and easier to read version (they also added humour to it). Link below:

http://www.mataharibooks.com/sejarahmelayu/

They call this project Sejarah Melayu Reloaded. After reading a few chapters on their website, I started promoting it to my family and friends. I insist that they must read it.

Sejarah Melayu

I totally understand the difficulties in reading old text. I have my own hardcopy of Sejarah Melayu at home. You have to be a die-hard history fan to want to read the original copy. Just like Shakespearean English, the original Sejarah Melayu has an elaborate (not to mention archaic) language structure that the average person would have difficulty understanding. The Reloaded version is funny enough that it builds up interest for the average reader. What better way to make the younger generation understand history better!

Kudos to the guys at Matahari Books! If you guys ever produce a printed version (perhaps with some pictures in it), that’ll be awesome!

I went for a short holiday with my mum and sister to Jakarta from 3rd August to 5th August 2010. I had a few days of leave to burn hence the short notice travel. Getting the tickets was easy as AirAsia’s website (AirAsiaGo) was really user friendly. They also offered amazing rates hence I chose the best hotel offered, the Mandarin Oriental.

Our flight departed at 7AM and we arrived some 1 hour 55 minutes later. My first impression of the Jakarta airport was that it was exactly how I had it in mind, a similar version of the Subang airport back in the 90s but slightly more dull. What I didn’t anticipate was the power outage. Yes, there was a blackout just as when we were passing Customs for 5 mins.

Our transport to the hotel from the airport was smooth as there was somebody waiting for me there. The taxi system was efficient (we took the Silver Bird) and it’s meter based. The trip to the hotel took us nearly 1 hour and the cost was 270,000 Rupiah (~RM90).

View from hotel

The Mandarin Oriental was superb. It was the only thing throughout the whole trip that exceeded my expectation. The service was top class, the room was amazing with a fantastic view of the city. The restaurant had an excellent choice of ala-carte menu and a mouth-watering breakfast buffet. If  there was something about the trip I was pleased about, it was the hotel. Definitely worth the money.

Plaza Senayan

Senayan City

In the afternoon (on the same day we arrived), we took a cab and went to Plaza Senayan. Apparently it’s  similar to KL’s Star Hill. I wasn’t there to shop but I had to accompany sister & mum as they had things they wanted to check out. After that, we went to Senayan City, which was right in front of Plaza Senayan. 

Read more…

A few days ago my 2 year old Blackberry Bold (9000) died.

Lucky me that I did a full backup prior to that. I’m thinking of getting the new Bold 2, but before that happens, I’m currently on a temporary phone, the Nokia e71 (below).

I’ve been googling on how to sync your contacts in Google Sync (if you haven’t sync your mobile contacts to Google, you should, you never know when it’s gonna come in handy), and found out a few useful websites. In short:

On your e71, go to Menu –> Tools –> Sync  and follow the steps in the article below

http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=98230&cbid=-w48waez3uf7e&src=cb&lev=topic

It’s quite simple and it shouldn’t take more than 5 mins!

I would like to share this short article written by Harussani Zakaria, the Mufti of Perak. The same article was published in Utusan Mingguan yesterday (Sunday, 9 May 2010).

http://umno-kgserdang.blogspot.com/2010/05/sultan-payung-negeri.html

The article was well written and it is a timely reminder to all of us. One of the interesting bits is that my ancestor was mentioned in the article:

Masih segar juga dalam sejarah, apabila al-Marhum Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin yang memerintah bersama regu ulamanya Sayyid Hussain al-Faradz mengisytiharkan Undang-Undang 99 sebagai undang-undang keadilan bagi jajahan Perak. Yang zalim dihukum, yang mangsa dimulia, yang lemah jauh dari dihina, yang kaya diwajib menderma. Maka hiduplah rakyat jelata dalam aman sejahtera, makmur dan bahagia.

I have written an article about the descendants of Sayyid Hussain al-Faradz al-Jamalullail on wikipedia. Check it out.

I just finished wathing Agora and I find it to be a really refreshing movie. Basic knowledge of our age are taken for granted when ancient philosophers spent years trying to figure out something as simple as the relationship between the earth and the sun.

Below is a short review on my thoughts on the movie [spoiler warning].

The movie was set in old Alexandria, Egypt around 391A.D. Alexandria was part of the Roman Empire and the major theme of the movie is religious extremism (yes, we can all relate to that in this day and age), the lost of culture and knowledge. In 391A.D, it was a time when Christianity was growing rapidly and the old Roman religion was quickly dying out. Even the Emperor Theodosius himself is a Christian. The main character, Hypatia, is one of the earliest women philosophers in history. She teaches philosophy, astronomy and mathematics. Throughout the movie, various scenes of scuffles are shown between the early violent Christian fundamentalist (similar to the Taliban of our time) and other religion, mainly, the Roman pagans and the Jews (Islam only came later in 6th Century).

The fundamentalist, lead by pope Cyril, forced their agenda on everyone, to the point that some government officials had to be baptised to have a career in Roman politics. The fundamentalist were also against knowledge (they have their own version, as opposed to Hypatia’s primitive science), where they would burn all the priceless books and scrolls from Hypatia’s library, which is the Library of Alexandria.

In the end, Hypatia was killed by the fundamentalist mob, and her discovery of the eclipse and the central position of the sun was lost for a few hundred years. The same attitude towards knowledge persisted for a few decades and with that, the Roman empire went further into decline. By the 7th century, the dark ages loomed and the rest is history.

I was so taken by the notion that a discovery so profound was easily lost due to narrowmindedness and religious extremisim. In short, the key takeways from this movie is that religion must be practiced in moderation and must not be forced onto others. Knowledge should be appreciated as it is the single one thing that marks the progress of man kind.

I was walking in Pavilion (a mall in KL) when I came across a small booth selling teddy bears. Some were funny and cute until I saw the section selling this:

Yes, you’re seeing it right. It’s a stuffed soft toy of faeces, human excrement, or to be blunt, shit.

I cannot see how could such a disgusting object be portrayed as ‘cute’ and ‘cuddly’. It’s absolutely disgusting.

I was in the Balai Rong Seri in the Istana when the Sultan stated this. I would like to repost his key points as published by The Star here: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/20/nation/6089403&sec=nation

KUALA KANGSAR: The Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah expressed regret at the actions of certain individuals and groups who disgraced their own country at international forums.

This, he said, gave an opportunity to outside powers to interfere in the internal affairs of the country.

“I call on the people to use their wisdom for the sake of the nation and not to be influenced by their emotion based on desire which would eventually be to the detriment of the country,” he said at the investiture and pledging of loyalty ceremony in conjunction with his 82nd birthday at Istana Iskandariah here yesterday.

Sultan Azlan Shah noted that all members, be it in Parliament or the state assembly, should respect the sanctity of the august House.

“Those who are called the Yang Berhormat should show exemplary behaviour,” he said.

“It is embarrassing that proceedings in the august House are done in an environment filled with shouts and abuses,” said Sultan Azlan Shah.

“It is also an insult to the assembly if members bring placards with degrading words and hurl abuse at each other,” he added.

At the same event, Raja Muda of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah said elements of ill-mannered behaviour by people in high positions and professions were not happening on the streets or in markets but in places that should be regarded highly and respected.

Dr Nazrin said courtesy was the key factor that determines the rise and fall of a country and its leaders.

“Politeness plays an important role in shaping a society let alone a prosperous and steady country,” he said.

Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said that the Barisan Nasional government would do its best to maintain peace and harmony in the state while continuing with its development.

Dr Zambry noted that he had during the March 31 state assembly, called on Pakatan Rakyat state assemblymen not to jeopardise the people’s welfare with their never-ending politicking.

At the investiture ceremony Sul­tan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Ismail Almarhum Sultan Iskandar headed the list of 912 people conferred with awards and medals in conjunction with Sultan Azlan Shah’s birthday.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was conferred the Darjah Kebesaran Seri Paduka Sultan Azlan Shah Perak Yang Teramat Dimulia (SPSA) which carries the title Datuk Seri Diraja.

No Pakatan state assemblymen were present during the ceremony.

When contacted, state DAP chairman and Sitiawan assemblyman Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham said the Pakatan state assemblymen did not receive any invitations to the ceremony.

“We have been waiting for the invitations but none of us received any,” he said.

State secretary Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Rahman Hashim could not be reached to verify Ngeh’s claim.

 Accenture Ltd. plans to shed 7% of its senior-executive ranks, or about 336 positions, and plans to cut excess real estate capacity, seeing total restructuring charges of $247 million in its fiscal fourth quarter.

The technology outsourcing and management company said about $128 million of the charge was for severance and related costs of work force reductions at the senior-executive level. Prior to the cut, the company had 4,800 senior-executive employees. It had a total of 177,000 employees, according to a company spokesman.

Accenture already laid off half of its work force in the Philippines in March. So far, a hope that the global recession could spur demand for companies like Accenture, which provide consulting and technology services to corporations, has failed to materialize.

The rest of the charges were attributed to cutting excess office space. The company sees the restructuring charges lowering the fourth quarter and full-year results by 24 cents. The periods end Aug. 31.

“We’re taking proactive steps to ensure that we have the right cost structure to support our business going forward and that our organization is properly aligned to most effectively capture future growth opportunities,” said Chairman and Chief Executive William D. Green.

The company expects the space reductions to be completed at the end of the fiscal year. The work force cuts should be substantially completed during the fiscal first quarter of 2010.

Accenture also maintained its revenue target and its operating margin, absent the impact of the restructuring charge.

The article above was written by John Kell and published at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125080162578047511.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

After my last 10KM event, I was very enthusiastic in participating in another run, so I quickly registered for another 10KM event, which is the Siemens Run 2009. The Siemens Run main event is the 10KM run (there’s no Full Marathon or Half Marathon). Despite it being the main event, the number of participants is almost half of the 10KM event at the KL Marathon. The registration count for the Siemens Run is about 3000, and the the KL Marathon was 5500+. Later I was told that they have a maximum participant number, which is a good thing or else the route is going to be packed like sardines.

As shown below, the route started at Dataran Merdeka with a tour through Bukit Tunku before going down to Jalan Parlimen and back to where it started. The interesting part are the slopes at Bukit Tunku as it really eats up your energy. I’m guessing that’s where everybody started to drain out as right after the Bukit Tunku exit there’s a water stop and everybody was more than happy to grab a cup.

I finished the race just under 1 hour 11 minutes, a 7 minute improvement from my previous 10KM. With this new spirit, I look forward to the next 10KM event. Hopefully next event I would be able to break the 1 hour barrier.

Greetings. I would like to share my experience in the recent KL Marathon where I ran the 10KM event. The KL Marathon is considered one of the major annual running events in KL and this year it is organised by Standard Chartered. It was my first official long distance run since highschool, which is a good 9 years ago. Over the past 2 years I’ve been doing some casual running at the nearby park, hence I decided to test myself by entering the 10KM run.

The 10KM event turned out good for me. I ran the whole 10KM and qualified (the qualification time is 1 hour 30 mins) . At the finish line, my time was 1 hour 18 mins. I believe this is quite the achievement as this is my first long distance event in years. Now I’m loooking forward to the next 10KM events around KL!

On the other hand I heard there were a lot of complaints with the other events (half marathon and 5KM event), where the officials on duty were not able to control the crowd and the people running the 5KM run made a wrong turn and ended up running 2.5KM. I can understand their dissapointment. Below is a picture of me and my brother. Both of us qualified.