Neighbors house is getting renovated.
Its like living on a different freaking planet.
The Noise.
The Vibrations.
The Dirt.
The SMELL.
Cant even have a decent sleep-in.
5.13.2008
4.23.2008
Mamak
Posted by Raja Petra
Wednesday, 05 March 2008
BY Sheikh Moinudeen Chisti Syed Abdul Kadir
Kurma is an excellent Indian Muslim dish. The diference between a
kurma and a curry is in the chilli.
A curry is reddish because it uses dried red chillies and also dried
chilli powder. A kurma does not use dried red chillies or dry chilli
powder. Instead a kurma is cooked with fresh green chillies. The taste
and the colour are therefore different. Both are excellent methods for
cooking poultry, mutton, beef, duck and even fish.
Kimma is of course the Kongres Indian Muslim Malaysia, which is the
'mamak' version of the Kongres India Malaysia or Malaysian Indian
Congress or MIC which itself is a namesake of the Congress Party of
India. The MIC was founded by Mr John Thivy of Ipoh in the 1940s as
the Malaysian chapter of Nehru's Congress Party of India.
It is really ignorant of the KIMMA members to claim that they are
Malays when their party is still named after the Congress Party of India.
This is a case of extremely serious mamak confusion.
An Indian Muslim can be anyone of Indian ancestry who is a Muslim.
Tamils, Keralas, Punjabis, Sindhis, Mahrattas, Hydrabadis etc are all
Indian Muslims. But in Malaysia a large majority of Indian Muslims are
Tamil speaking. Hence the term Indian Muslim is generally applied to
the Tamil speaking Indian Muslims. In Malaysia, Indian Muslims are also
known as mamaks, DKK (darah keturunan keling), Kelings and Jawi
Peranakan. The last one Jawi Peranakan is a strange misnomer. There is
even a recent book written about the Jawi Peranakan which actually
talks about the Indian Muslims.
In contemporary Malaysia Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhari, Zainuddin
Mydin, Siti Nurhaliza binti "Thaarudeen" , Justice Haidar Mohd Noor,
Ahmad Nawab, Akbar Nawab, P Ramlee, Man Bhai, Tan Sri Elyas Omar, Tan
Sri Ali Abul Hassan are all Indian Muslims or descended from Indian
Muslims. Malaysia's first Speaker of Parliament Tan Sri CM Yusuf was
a mamak. So was the permanent Chairman of UMNO Tan Sri Sulaiman "Ninam"
Shah. 'Ninam' is actually truncated Tamil for 'Naina Mohamed'. Former
Sabah Chief Minister Dato Harris Salleh and present Chief Minister
Musa Aman are all mamaks. They are not Pushtuns, Pakistanis or Yemenis.
Among our Prime Ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the son of an
Indian Muslim. Abdullah Badawi has mamak blood from his father's side.
Toh Puan Sharifah Radziah Syed Alwi Barakbah, the wife of our first PM
Tunku Abdul Rahman, had mamak ancestry. The Tunku himself was of mixed
Thai and mamak parentage. Ex DPM Dato Sri Anwar Ibrahim's father is a
mamak. The intellectuals Kassim Ahmad and Farish Noor have Indian
Muslim fathers while the late Tan Sri Muhammad Noordin Sopiee had a mamak
grandfather. Munir Majid is a Tamil speaking mamak and Tengku Adnan
Tengku Mansor is a mamak too.
Here it is pertinent to note the "Syed" and "Sheikh" name. Among
Indian Muslims the name Syed or Sheikh is common, its no big deal. The
names
"Shah" and "Khan" are also very common mamak names. Other 'Malay'
names like 'Chik', 'Tamby Chik' and 'Keling' are definitely of mamak
origins
too.
The name 'Shah' is not common among the Malays but strangely enough it
is very common among the Malay sultans, for example Sultan Azlan Shah
and Raja Nazrin Shah. Shah is NOT an Arabic name. It originates from
Persia and comes to Malaysia from India through the Indian Muslim
influence. This is just more indication of the mamak ancestry of our
Malay rulers.
But among kampong Malays the name Syed and Sheikh are supposed to
indicate Arab ancestry, the name Syed being associated with 'keturunan
nabi' or lineage from the Prophet. To the kampong Malays these names
are a really big deal. This is the furthest thing from the truth. Another
common mamak name is 'Maricar'. Actually it is 'Marikiyaar' . This has
evolved into 'Merican'. Hence the thousands of Malays who bear the
'Merican' name today are also of mamak ancestry. They call themselves
Jawi Peranakan. They are actually mamak.
Many smart Indian Muslims realized very early on this Malay liking for
Arabic names and Arab ancestry. So they started passing themselves
off, (or did not object if they were referred to) as Arabs, usually of
Yemeni descent. In Malaysia too many Syeds and Sheikhs from among the
Malays
today are actually recycled mamaks. One good example is Tan Sri Syed
Mokhtar Al Bukhari. Among the Malay elite Tan Sri Syed Mukhtar Bukhari
passes of as being of Yemeni descent. His family actually comes from
India. The former mayor of KL Tan Sri Elyas Omar is also of Tamil
mamak origins from Penang.
Among the Malays it is also 'ok' if a mamak is from Pakistani descent.
Perhaps Pakistan is closer to Bollywood. So some clever mamaks claim
to be from Pakistan. The former Sabah Chief Minister Harris Salleh and
present Chief Minister Musa Aman are said to be 'of Pakistan origins'
but in actual fact they are of Indian mamak ancestry, and usually
Tamil speaking.
Mamaks come in all colours and complexions from the dark skinned to
the light skinned, green eyed and brown eyed types. A visit to the Masjid
Kapitan Keling in Pitt Street in Penang or Masjid India in Kuala
Lumpur on a Friday will witness all varieties of mamak.
The Indian Muslims in Malaysia today can be classified as follows :
1. Those mamaks who have inter married with Malays for generations
and have actually become Malays. You can only know their mamak
ancestry by their mamak sounding names like Merican, Shah, Syed, Sheikh
etc, by
their 'Indian' appearances - prominent nose, rounder eyes etc.
2. Those mamaks who have not inter married with Malays but who
have assimilated closely into the Malay culture. They can only speak Malay
and have cut off almost all their links with India. These would
include thousands of mamaks in Penang, Kedah, Melaka and other parts of the
country. Only their DNA remains Indian. But practically, for all
intents and purposes they are Malay.
3. Those mamaks who are still very much Tamil and who can only
speak pasar Malay. They may not have links with India but they watch Tamil
movies and do not read the Malay papers or know much about the Malays.
Despite being born in Malaysia they still would not know a 'kuih
talam' from an 'otak-otak'. Many KIMMA members fall in this category. That
is
why they still call themselves Kongres Indian Muslim Malaysia after
the Indian Congress Party of Panditji Jawaharlal Nehru.
4. Those mamaks who are still very much Tamil and who cannot even
speak pasar Malay despite being born in Malaysia. They will not know
'nasi lemak' from a hole in the ground. They will have strong family
ties to India. They watch Tamil movies and know more about Tamil Nadu
politics than Malaysia politics. They read Tamil Nesan and Malaysian
Nanban religiously everyday to find out what is happening in Tamil
Nadu and India. Again many KIMMA members also fall into this category.
Before 1970 the last two classes of Indian Muslims above (no.3 & 4)
were usually overtly prejudiced against the Malays. Before 1970 many of
them were not even citizens of the country. Their slang term for Malays was
'valayan-katti' . This is a term invented by Tamil estate workers but
which became widely used by most Tamils including Indian Muslims to
describe Malays.
A 'valayan' means wire. 'Katti' means to tie something. So
'valayan-katti means 'a person who ties a wire'. What does this mean?
In the early days of the rubber industry, the British tried to get the
Malays to tap the rubber trees. However the native Malays had problems
tapping the rubber tree in the proper manner and ended up injuring the
tree, reducing the output of rubber. The British had better luck
getting the trees properly tapped with the Tamils from India. Malays were
then
delegated the simpler job of using wire (valayan) to tie (katti) the
little latex cups to the rubber tree. Hence the name 'valayan-katti'
.
Another Tamil term used for Malays is 'naattu kaaran' or 'naattan'
which means 'native'.
Before 1970 the type 3 and 4 mamaks above and everyone else did not
see much in the Malays. But post 1970 and the New Economic Policy the
mamaks realized that they suddenly depended on the Malay for everything,
especially the ever precious 'Entry Permit' to get Permanent Resident
status in Malaysia. Until then few mamaks got married in Malaysia.
They always went back to India to get married. After 1970 and the NEP, the
trend disappeared in a hurry. The Malays refused to give Entry Permits
for mamak brides and grooms from India. All of a sudden mamaks
realized that they were short of wives and husbands. Hence the rate of
inter
marriage between mamaks and Malays increased tremendously after 1970.
After 38 years of the NEP, the mamaks are even more assimilated now
through marriage than ever before. Today there is rarely a mamak
family which does not have a Malay son or daughter in law.
Post 1970, the mamaks realized that real political power and with it
economic largesse had shifted to the Malays. But many mamaks included
in class 1 and 2 above had no problem with this shift in power because
often they were the ones holding high office. For example the first
Speaker of Parliament CM Yusuf, a mamak, was his own power in his day.
It was only the class 3 and 4 mamaks described above who were (and
still are) slow in assimilating into becoming Malaysians. The KIMMA
represents many of these people.
Hence the present scramble among them to be recognized as bumiputras,
to get Malay classification in the Birth Certificate, BIN in the IC etc.
But it is a fact that the Indian Muslims are heavily intermarried with
Malays. This trend started over 600 years ago and continues until
today. They and their offspring have played major roles in the history of
this country. Sang Nila Utama, Parameswara, Tun Ali, Hang Kasthuri, Hang
Tuah, Mani Purindan, Tun Teja, Abdullah Munshi and ALL the Malay
Sultans are descended from Indian Muslims. The Perlis Royal family is
almost
certainly of mamak/Thai mix.
It is also true beyond any single doubt that from their earliest
history here, the mamaks have had extreme affection which the Indian
Muslims
have had for the Malays throughout history. This could be attributed
to the similarities in religion but there are also other Muslims in the
country (including from India) like Pakistanis, Punjabi Muslims,
Patans and also others like the Chinese Muslims.
Although the Indian Muslims are generally friendly with all races
there is not as much intermarriage between Indian Muslims and other Muslims
compared to the heavy intermixing and intermarriages between Indian
Muslims and the Malays.
And it is an established fact (evidenced by all the names mentioned
above) that throughout history the Indian Muslims have always stepped
forward to defend the rights of the Malays. In the process many of the
Indian Muslims have lost their identity almost completely to the
Malays. Who are the descendants of the Tamil educated Munshi Abdullah
today?
No one knows. A DNA test will reveal Indian DNA among all our Malay
rulers but which Sultan can or wants to retrace his Indian ancestry? These
are the mamaks who assimilated into the Malay community from generations
ago.
Fast forward to today : in UMNO there are thousands of mamaks
fighting for Malay rights. In PAS there are mamaks fighting for Islam (aka
Malay) rights. PAS stalwart Hanipa Mydin is a pure mamak while Deputy MB of
Kelantan Dato Husam Musa may have mamak blood. In the old Keadilan
'brother' Abdul Rahman Othman, another mamak tulen, became party
secretary general and then quit later - to join PAS. In the Civil
Service and in the Melayu korporat sector there are thousands of
mamaks helping the NEP 'social engineering' come true.
In Penang pure Malays are a rarity. As late as the 80s, they could
only be found in Sungai Ara, Balik Pulau and other places where there were
no roads. In all other places in Penang, mamak blood is almost a
certainty. Hence words like 'chacha' and 'nana' are a part of Penang Malay.
In
Kedah and Melaka the mamak 'penetration' of the Malay populace is much
more earlier than in Penang. Which means the mamaks in Kedah and
Melaka have diluted their DNA into the Malay population from much earlier
(from Portugese, Dutch and British times).
In short mamaks are a permanent feature of the Malay 'make up'. It is
the karma of the mamaks that they have become kurma in Malaysia.
Wednesday, 05 March 2008
BY Sheikh Moinudeen Chisti Syed Abdul Kadir
Kurma is an excellent Indian Muslim dish. The diference between a
kurma and a curry is in the chilli.
A curry is reddish because it uses dried red chillies and also dried
chilli powder. A kurma does not use dried red chillies or dry chilli
powder. Instead a kurma is cooked with fresh green chillies. The taste
and the colour are therefore different. Both are excellent methods for
cooking poultry, mutton, beef, duck and even fish.
Kimma is of course the Kongres Indian Muslim Malaysia, which is the
'mamak' version of the Kongres India Malaysia or Malaysian Indian
Congress or MIC which itself is a namesake of the Congress Party of
India. The MIC was founded by Mr John Thivy of Ipoh in the 1940s as
the Malaysian chapter of Nehru's Congress Party of India.
It is really ignorant of the KIMMA members to claim that they are
Malays when their party is still named after the Congress Party of India.
This is a case of extremely serious mamak confusion.
An Indian Muslim can be anyone of Indian ancestry who is a Muslim.
Tamils, Keralas, Punjabis, Sindhis, Mahrattas, Hydrabadis etc are all
Indian Muslims. But in Malaysia a large majority of Indian Muslims are
Tamil speaking. Hence the term Indian Muslim is generally applied to
the Tamil speaking Indian Muslims. In Malaysia, Indian Muslims are also
known as mamaks, DKK (darah keturunan keling), Kelings and Jawi
Peranakan. The last one Jawi Peranakan is a strange misnomer. There is
even a recent book written about the Jawi Peranakan which actually
talks about the Indian Muslims.
In contemporary Malaysia Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhari, Zainuddin
Mydin, Siti Nurhaliza binti "Thaarudeen" , Justice Haidar Mohd Noor,
Ahmad Nawab, Akbar Nawab, P Ramlee, Man Bhai, Tan Sri Elyas Omar, Tan
Sri Ali Abul Hassan are all Indian Muslims or descended from Indian
Muslims. Malaysia's first Speaker of Parliament Tan Sri CM Yusuf was
a mamak. So was the permanent Chairman of UMNO Tan Sri Sulaiman "Ninam"
Shah. 'Ninam' is actually truncated Tamil for 'Naina Mohamed'. Former
Sabah Chief Minister Dato Harris Salleh and present Chief Minister
Musa Aman are all mamaks. They are not Pushtuns, Pakistanis or Yemenis.
Among our Prime Ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the son of an
Indian Muslim. Abdullah Badawi has mamak blood from his father's side.
Toh Puan Sharifah Radziah Syed Alwi Barakbah, the wife of our first PM
Tunku Abdul Rahman, had mamak ancestry. The Tunku himself was of mixed
Thai and mamak parentage. Ex DPM Dato Sri Anwar Ibrahim's father is a
mamak. The intellectuals Kassim Ahmad and Farish Noor have Indian
Muslim fathers while the late Tan Sri Muhammad Noordin Sopiee had a mamak
grandfather. Munir Majid is a Tamil speaking mamak and Tengku Adnan
Tengku Mansor is a mamak too.
Here it is pertinent to note the "Syed" and "Sheikh" name. Among
Indian Muslims the name Syed or Sheikh is common, its no big deal. The
names
"Shah" and "Khan" are also very common mamak names. Other 'Malay'
names like 'Chik', 'Tamby Chik' and 'Keling' are definitely of mamak
origins
too.
The name 'Shah' is not common among the Malays but strangely enough it
is very common among the Malay sultans, for example Sultan Azlan Shah
and Raja Nazrin Shah. Shah is NOT an Arabic name. It originates from
Persia and comes to Malaysia from India through the Indian Muslim
influence. This is just more indication of the mamak ancestry of our
Malay rulers.
But among kampong Malays the name Syed and Sheikh are supposed to
indicate Arab ancestry, the name Syed being associated with 'keturunan
nabi' or lineage from the Prophet. To the kampong Malays these names
are a really big deal. This is the furthest thing from the truth. Another
common mamak name is 'Maricar'. Actually it is 'Marikiyaar' . This has
evolved into 'Merican'. Hence the thousands of Malays who bear the
'Merican' name today are also of mamak ancestry. They call themselves
Jawi Peranakan. They are actually mamak.
Many smart Indian Muslims realized very early on this Malay liking for
Arabic names and Arab ancestry. So they started passing themselves
off, (or did not object if they were referred to) as Arabs, usually of
Yemeni descent. In Malaysia too many Syeds and Sheikhs from among the
Malays
today are actually recycled mamaks. One good example is Tan Sri Syed
Mokhtar Al Bukhari. Among the Malay elite Tan Sri Syed Mukhtar Bukhari
passes of as being of Yemeni descent. His family actually comes from
India. The former mayor of KL Tan Sri Elyas Omar is also of Tamil
mamak origins from Penang.
Among the Malays it is also 'ok' if a mamak is from Pakistani descent.
Perhaps Pakistan is closer to Bollywood. So some clever mamaks claim
to be from Pakistan. The former Sabah Chief Minister Harris Salleh and
present Chief Minister Musa Aman are said to be 'of Pakistan origins'
but in actual fact they are of Indian mamak ancestry, and usually
Tamil speaking.
Mamaks come in all colours and complexions from the dark skinned to
the light skinned, green eyed and brown eyed types. A visit to the Masjid
Kapitan Keling in Pitt Street in Penang or Masjid India in Kuala
Lumpur on a Friday will witness all varieties of mamak.
The Indian Muslims in Malaysia today can be classified as follows :
1. Those mamaks who have inter married with Malays for generations
and have actually become Malays. You can only know their mamak
ancestry by their mamak sounding names like Merican, Shah, Syed, Sheikh
etc, by
their 'Indian' appearances - prominent nose, rounder eyes etc.
2. Those mamaks who have not inter married with Malays but who
have assimilated closely into the Malay culture. They can only speak Malay
and have cut off almost all their links with India. These would
include thousands of mamaks in Penang, Kedah, Melaka and other parts of the
country. Only their DNA remains Indian. But practically, for all
intents and purposes they are Malay.
3. Those mamaks who are still very much Tamil and who can only
speak pasar Malay. They may not have links with India but they watch Tamil
movies and do not read the Malay papers or know much about the Malays.
Despite being born in Malaysia they still would not know a 'kuih
talam' from an 'otak-otak'. Many KIMMA members fall in this category. That
is
why they still call themselves Kongres Indian Muslim Malaysia after
the Indian Congress Party of Panditji Jawaharlal Nehru.
4. Those mamaks who are still very much Tamil and who cannot even
speak pasar Malay despite being born in Malaysia. They will not know
'nasi lemak' from a hole in the ground. They will have strong family
ties to India. They watch Tamil movies and know more about Tamil Nadu
politics than Malaysia politics. They read Tamil Nesan and Malaysian
Nanban religiously everyday to find out what is happening in Tamil
Nadu and India. Again many KIMMA members also fall into this category.
Before 1970 the last two classes of Indian Muslims above (no.3 & 4)
were usually overtly prejudiced against the Malays. Before 1970 many of
them were not even citizens of the country. Their slang term for Malays was
'valayan-katti' . This is a term invented by Tamil estate workers but
which became widely used by most Tamils including Indian Muslims to
describe Malays.
A 'valayan' means wire. 'Katti' means to tie something. So
'valayan-katti means 'a person who ties a wire'. What does this mean?
In the early days of the rubber industry, the British tried to get the
Malays to tap the rubber trees. However the native Malays had problems
tapping the rubber tree in the proper manner and ended up injuring the
tree, reducing the output of rubber. The British had better luck
getting the trees properly tapped with the Tamils from India. Malays were
then
delegated the simpler job of using wire (valayan) to tie (katti) the
little latex cups to the rubber tree. Hence the name 'valayan-katti'
.
Another Tamil term used for Malays is 'naattu kaaran' or 'naattan'
which means 'native'.
Before 1970 the type 3 and 4 mamaks above and everyone else did not
see much in the Malays. But post 1970 and the New Economic Policy the
mamaks realized that they suddenly depended on the Malay for everything,
especially the ever precious 'Entry Permit' to get Permanent Resident
status in Malaysia. Until then few mamaks got married in Malaysia.
They always went back to India to get married. After 1970 and the NEP, the
trend disappeared in a hurry. The Malays refused to give Entry Permits
for mamak brides and grooms from India. All of a sudden mamaks
realized that they were short of wives and husbands. Hence the rate of
inter
marriage between mamaks and Malays increased tremendously after 1970.
After 38 years of the NEP, the mamaks are even more assimilated now
through marriage than ever before. Today there is rarely a mamak
family which does not have a Malay son or daughter in law.
Post 1970, the mamaks realized that real political power and with it
economic largesse had shifted to the Malays. But many mamaks included
in class 1 and 2 above had no problem with this shift in power because
often they were the ones holding high office. For example the first
Speaker of Parliament CM Yusuf, a mamak, was his own power in his day.
It was only the class 3 and 4 mamaks described above who were (and
still are) slow in assimilating into becoming Malaysians. The KIMMA
represents many of these people.
Hence the present scramble among them to be recognized as bumiputras,
to get Malay classification in the Birth Certificate, BIN in the IC etc.
But it is a fact that the Indian Muslims are heavily intermarried with
Malays. This trend started over 600 years ago and continues until
today. They and their offspring have played major roles in the history of
this country. Sang Nila Utama, Parameswara, Tun Ali, Hang Kasthuri, Hang
Tuah, Mani Purindan, Tun Teja, Abdullah Munshi and ALL the Malay
Sultans are descended from Indian Muslims. The Perlis Royal family is
almost
certainly of mamak/Thai mix.
It is also true beyond any single doubt that from their earliest
history here, the mamaks have had extreme affection which the Indian
Muslims
have had for the Malays throughout history. This could be attributed
to the similarities in religion but there are also other Muslims in the
country (including from India) like Pakistanis, Punjabi Muslims,
Patans and also others like the Chinese Muslims.
Although the Indian Muslims are generally friendly with all races
there is not as much intermarriage between Indian Muslims and other Muslims
compared to the heavy intermixing and intermarriages between Indian
Muslims and the Malays.
And it is an established fact (evidenced by all the names mentioned
above) that throughout history the Indian Muslims have always stepped
forward to defend the rights of the Malays. In the process many of the
Indian Muslims have lost their identity almost completely to the
Malays. Who are the descendants of the Tamil educated Munshi Abdullah
today?
No one knows. A DNA test will reveal Indian DNA among all our Malay
rulers but which Sultan can or wants to retrace his Indian ancestry? These
are the mamaks who assimilated into the Malay community from generations
ago.
Fast forward to today : in UMNO there are thousands of mamaks
fighting for Malay rights. In PAS there are mamaks fighting for Islam (aka
Malay) rights. PAS stalwart Hanipa Mydin is a pure mamak while Deputy MB of
Kelantan Dato Husam Musa may have mamak blood. In the old Keadilan
'brother' Abdul Rahman Othman, another mamak tulen, became party
secretary general and then quit later - to join PAS. In the Civil
Service and in the Melayu korporat sector there are thousands of
mamaks helping the NEP 'social engineering' come true.
In Penang pure Malays are a rarity. As late as the 80s, they could
only be found in Sungai Ara, Balik Pulau and other places where there were
no roads. In all other places in Penang, mamak blood is almost a
certainty. Hence words like 'chacha' and 'nana' are a part of Penang Malay.
In
Kedah and Melaka the mamak 'penetration' of the Malay populace is much
more earlier than in Penang. Which means the mamaks in Kedah and
Melaka have diluted their DNA into the Malay population from much earlier
(from Portugese, Dutch and British times).
In short mamaks are a permanent feature of the Malay 'make up'. It is
the karma of the mamaks that they have become kurma in Malaysia.
4.10.2008
Academy Adelphi Worldwide
Our website can be found here: www.academyadelphi.com
Our company offers courses in:
Our company offers courses in:
- Culinary, Food & Beverage and Housekeeping - Academy based in Seremban 2, Negeri Sembilan.
- Medicine: Affiliated with SDM College of Medical Science and Hospital, Karnataka, India: http://www.sdmhospital.org/
- Engineering: Affiliated with SDM College of Engineering and Technology, Dharwad, India: http://www.sdmcet.ac.in/
- Dentistry: Affiliated wth SDM College of Dental Science and Hospital,Dharwad, India: http://www.spandana-alumni.com
/sdm/home.html
- Dental Technician: Affiliated wth SDM College of Dental Science and Hospital,Dharwad, India: http://www.spandana-alumni.com
/sdm/home.html - Nursing: Affiliated with SDM College of Medical Science and Hospital, Karnataka, India: http://www.sdmhospital.org/
- Pre University College(PUC)/A Levels.
2.22.2008
New addition....
Well, lately there was an immigrant, that managed to wiggle its way into our house and somehow we got attached to it. It goes by many names: Tiger, Capsule and Ketat(LOL).
After doing much research on the Internet..haha yea on the Internet..., my housemates and i came to a conclusion that it's about 3 months+ old. We are students turned cat experts.
Then recently, while having a drink at this mamak shop, we saw a larger version of our kitten, and it had similar patterns and same colour. I dont know why but somehow I thought this cat was the mother, Shakir and Bob went along with this idea of mine.
It followed us home (maybe it can smell the kitten on Shakir as he was previously cleaning up after the kitten after it did its business..hahaha). When we reached home, errrr it wasnt exactly a happy reunion, as the cat and our kitten started to hiss at each other. So yeah, this wasnt the mom. LOL!!!
Memory Lane
Wow..I really kinda like Facebook at the moment. Only reason being is that I can finally keep in touch with my friends back in NZ.
Sigh.....New Zealand......i really wanna go back there and probably never come back. Malaysia is just....err.....i shall leave it as "messy".
I was really happy in New Zealand, even though I went there for High School, it didnt feel like high school at all, more like a vacation to me. Coming from Malaysia, NZ is like a total breath of fresh air in every way possible.
Still kinda new to Facebook, with all the extra features and applications and games and what not.
Next: Find more friends!
Sigh.....New Zealand......i really wanna go back there and probably never come back. Malaysia is just....err.....i shall leave it as "messy".
I was really happy in New Zealand, even though I went there for High School, it didnt feel like high school at all, more like a vacation to me. Coming from Malaysia, NZ is like a total breath of fresh air in every way possible.
Still kinda new to Facebook, with all the extra features and applications and games and what not.
Next: Find more friends!
1.14.2008
Mary J....
"If you're gonna dance with Mary J, get ready to get your toes stepped on" - Eric Foreman, That 70's Show.
"Even counterfeiters try to follow a good example" - Comic Section, New Strait Times.
"Even counterfeiters try to follow a good example" - Comic Section, New Strait Times.
Just for now......2008
Have to start blogging again....
Favorite Youtube Vid of the New Year for me. Cant seem to get enough of it. :)
Favorite Youtube Vid of the New Year for me. Cant seem to get enough of it. :)
11.02.2007
Random update of life....
My German Chick, also known as my 1969 VW Beetle is sick. On the highway the engine started smoking...so i got scared and stoppped. Was stuck on the highway in the rain for 2 hours. Dad eventually came wqith I was already staring at the "Ayer Keroh 2km" sign when the car died. As you read, it is undergoing an engine transplant (too much Grey's Anatomy). Lowering it frm a 1.6L to a 1.2L but there will be some nice modifications, twin cam and electronic fuel injection....i think thats what the dude said haha...
Back at beloved house in Bkt Beruang...total freedom, no one to answer but the phone, thats even if i am awake.
While Beetle is in the workshop, I am back using old trustee VW Kombi. More comfortable, feels like a bus hehe compared to a small Beetle, but somewhat still nice to drive...
Back at beloved house in Bkt Beruang...total freedom, no one to answer but the phone, thats even if i am awake.
While Beetle is in the workshop, I am back using old trustee VW Kombi. More comfortable, feels like a bus hehe compared to a small Beetle, but somewhat still nice to drive...
9.15.2007
8.23.2007
Zdzislaw Beksinski's Interpretation of Hell..
Found this kinda eerie and also interesting. Paintings by Zdzislaw Beksinski.
8.20.2007
8.17.2007
LRT...
Dear blog,
The LRT is really getting to me. Every morning I wake up early not to get to work early but to get a decent summon-free parking spot and when I do, someone idiot inconsiderate driver, just has to block me in, double parking and what not. Had to wait 1hour+ for the idiot to move his car.
When he finally came, I just said out loud "Motherfu*ker" and I know he heard me cos he looked at me, I didnt even look away. Damn I am so bitchy lol....
Other than the Morning Race for Parking, the LRT ride is a very challenging experience for my Nose. I have a big Nose and it works pretty well LOL and on the LRT I bumped into people who doesn't know the existence of DEODORANT!!!! Some are just plain rude, step on your shoes, without even a sorry, one fucking aunty hustled past me, at the same time, ripping my watch strip apart (this was sometime back actually, but worth a mention).
So....I have adopted a stone cold attitude while on the LRT. Never give anyone a chance. Except for the blind, pregnant ladies and all that fit those categories. There was this uncle, sweating like a pig, just pushed right in front of me, I just "kindly" used my size lol and just pushed him back, pretending that the LRT did it heheh.
Yesterday there was this Chinese guy started coughing like mad and he didn't even cover his mouth, I just stared at him and he stared back. I just shook my head in disgust. He saw me shaking my head at him then he smiled!WTF? Funny is it and just continued with my disgusted look on his face, finally he got it.
The LRT is really getting to me. Every morning I wake up early not to get to work early but to get a decent summon-free parking spot and when I do, someone idiot inconsiderate driver, just has to block me in, double parking and what not. Had to wait 1hour+ for the idiot to move his car.
When he finally came, I just said out loud "Motherfu*ker" and I know he heard me cos he looked at me, I didnt even look away. Damn I am so bitchy lol....
Other than the Morning Race for Parking, the LRT ride is a very challenging experience for my Nose. I have a big Nose and it works pretty well LOL and on the LRT I bumped into people who doesn't know the existence of DEODORANT!!!! Some are just plain rude, step on your shoes, without even a sorry, one fucking aunty hustled past me, at the same time, ripping my watch strip apart (this was sometime back actually, but worth a mention).
So....I have adopted a stone cold attitude while on the LRT. Never give anyone a chance. Except for the blind, pregnant ladies and all that fit those categories. There was this uncle, sweating like a pig, just pushed right in front of me, I just "kindly" used my size lol and just pushed him back, pretending that the LRT did it heheh.
Yesterday there was this Chinese guy started coughing like mad and he didn't even cover his mouth, I just stared at him and he stared back. I just shook my head in disgust. He saw me shaking my head at him then he smiled!WTF? Funny is it and just continued with my disgusted look on his face, finally he got it.
8.02.2007
The real life Doctor Who who believes he can build a time machine
Taken from: Here.
Suppose it were possible to go back in time and meet the dead. To say all the things you never got a chance to tell a loved one who died before there was a chance to make your peace.
Just think if you could go back and warn someone that their lifestyle, their smoking or heavy drinking was driving them into an early grave.
You would not only be able to meet the dead - but to save them as well.
A new book tells the story of an extraordinary man whose life work is inspired by a longing to do just that.
It was the devastating sudden death of Ronald Mallett's beloved father which sparked his obsession with time-travel.
In pursuit of his seemingly impossible goal, he has overcome poverty and prejudice to become one of only a handful of top-flight black physicists in the United States.
He has enjoyed a glittering career as a professor at one of the country's leading universities - an achievement in itself.
But there has been only one motivation: to build a time machine. And, after years of painstaking research, Mallett is sure he's cracked it.
His journey began in the early 1950s, when this intelligent and inquisitive boy was ten years old.
He lived with his parents Boyd and Dorothy in a working-class Jewish area of the Bronx, in New York city. The Malletts were happy there, having escaped the terrible racism of the Deep South.
Boyd Mallett was a gadget freak, and a talented, respected electronic technician - one of his jobs was to wire up the new United Nations building being constructed in Manhattan.
His son worshipped him, and the pair would spend many hours in the evenings experimenting with capacitors and circuits, building crystal radios and other gadgets.
Then, the night after his parents' 11th wedding anniversary, Boyd died suddenly of a heart attack.
"For me, the sun rose and set on him," Ron Mallett said later. "It completely devastated me."
Boyd Mallett's death was probably preventable. He had always been a heavy smoker and workaholic and had started drinking too much.
Scroll down for more...
The Dr Who on telly: Already has a time machine
His son sank into a despair that would not lift; indeed, he became severely depressed. Ronald simply could not accept that he would never see his father again. And he began to wonder if there was a way they could be reunited.
Mallett devoured the pulp sci-fi comics of the time, and began to realise that time travel was, at least in fiction, a possibility. Then he read what is one of the finest science-fiction stories ever written, HG Wells's The Time Machine.
In the novel, the time-travelling hero explains: "Scientific people know very well that time is only a kind of space. We can move forward and backward in time, just as we can move forward and backward in space."
Mallett was dumbfounded. If he could build a time machine, he could go back and change history and prevent his father's death.
From that day, Mallet became obsessed with time travel, despite having no clear idea of how it could be accomplished.
Wells's book was, of course, entirely fictional, and yet, just a few years after it was written, a German-Jewish physicist called Albert Einstein blew the science community apart. Einstein showed that time and space were indeed different aspects of the same thing - a concept called spacetime - which is at the heart of how physicists understand the way the universe is.
Mallett became obsessed with the German scientist - who had died in 1955, the same year as his father. Most importantly, Mallett realised - as Einstein had himself - that the new way of thinking about gravity, space and time contained in the physicist's Special and General theories of relativity meant that a time machine was at least possible in theory.
Einstein's equations showed that by twisting spacetime around, it is possible in theory to make a connection from future to past. Step into this timeloop, and you could emerge years later or earlier.
This idea would form the basis of Mallett's putative time machine. But, back in 1950s New York, he was a long way from his goal. Growing up poor and black, one of four children raised by a widowed mother who made ends meet by window-cleaning, is not an ideal recipe for academic success.
Undaunted, he studied hard at school and achieved good grades, particularly in the sciences. However, a university education was out of the question - there was simply no way his family could afford to pay for it.
So Ron Mallett joined the U.S. Air Force, in the hope of being granted a military scholarship so that he could later study physics. His test grades were so good that he was fast-tracked into the USAF's electronics school.
Despite his success, the past still intruded in the most horrible ways. Mallett's first tour of duty was in Biloxi, in the Deep South. There, for the first time in his life, he encountered the soul-destroying racism that had driven his grandparents north 40 years before.
"The first thing I noticed," he writes, "were the signs, the likes of which I had never seen before. 'Whites only'. 'No Colored'."
There was talk of beatings and worse for black servicemen who strayed off base. Mallett made a vow to remain on base for the entire duration of his training, which included courses in electronics and computing. He also spent hours in the well-equipped library, devouring everything he could both by and about Einstein.
His studies paid off. After he was discharged, he won a place at Pennsylvania State University, and began a degree in physics.
Eventually, in 1973, he won his doctorate, only the 79th black American ever to do so in this subject. Part of his thesis was an investigation into the theoretical possibility of using gravity to reverse the passage of time. In 1975, he was awarded a job as a professor of physics at Connecticut University - where he has worked ever since.
He remains the only black physics professor in America.
Despite the respectability of his CV, he still felt he couldn't discuss his ideas openly. "I feared professional suicide," he says now.
But, as his work continued, the story got out. Mallett's time machine went public in 2001, when New Scientist magazine ran an article about his design, and TV appearances followed.
"Mallett isn't mad," the New Scientist article said. "None of the known laws of physics forbids time-travel.
"In theory, shunting matter back and forth through time shouldn't be that difficult."
So, how do you build a machine which will take you back into the past - or forward to the future?
In fact, there have been several plans for a time machine devised by physicists since Einstein's mind-blowing discovery that reverse timetravel should be possible.
In 1974, Frank Tipler, a physicist at Tulane University in New Orleans, calculated that by constructing a huge cylinder in space and setting it spinning, it would be possible to drag spacetime into loops, creating lots of backwards time portals into which you could leap and then emerge in the past.
But he calculated that the cylinder would have to weigh about as much as the sun, and be compressed into a tube 60 miles long and 40 miles across.
Alternatively, as physicist Kip Thorn proposed in the 1980s, you simply need to create a 'wormhole' - a tear in the fabric of spacetime, using perhaps a tame black hole or dozens of nuclear bombs.
These ideas, while scientifically correct, were hardly practical. Squashing the sun into something the size of Dorset is likely to be beyond our ken for some time, and harnessing the power of a black hole sounds even harder.
Mallett's solution is much simpler. He thinks he can reverse time by using just a circulating beam of light. Light is energy, and energy can cause spacetime to warp and bend, just like gigantic spinning cylinders, he explains.
In 2000, he published a paper showing how a circulating beam of laser light could create a vortex in spacetime. It was, he says, his eureka moment.
The details are complex, to say the least. But, in essence, Mallett believes it is possible to use a series of four circulating laser light beams swirling spacetime around like "a spoon stirring milk into coffee".
If you were to walk into this 'timetunnel' - which would resemble a large vortex of light a few feet across - you could emerge at some point in the past. He thinks he can build a prototype machine in the lab, using today's technology, with funds of just $250,000 (£120,000).
However, Prof Mallett is fussy about who gives him the money. "We want non-military sources. I don't want to get to a certain point and get 'top secret' slapped over the project and have it taken away from us."
There are several important things to realise about Mallett's time machine. For a start, it would only be possible to travel back in time to a point after the machine was first switched on.
If you turned on the machine, on January 1 say, and left it running for three months, you could enter the machine in March and only travel back as far as January 1.
So no trips back to the Middle Ages or to Ancient Rome.
This would be staggering enough. Just think: a time-traveller could go back and meet himself. Or he could send back information into the past - including the results of horse races, stock market movements.
But consider, too, all the weird paradoxes that the time machine would create. You could come face-to-face with your past self, causing untold confusion. What, for example, would happen if you killed your past self? Would both versions of 'you' die at the same time?
Mallet believes these paradoxes would not in themselves prevent the construction of such a machine. But there are plenty of sceptics.
Some physicists think that the laser upon which his machine depends would need to be impossibly large or powerful. Others point to Stephen Hawking's 'chronology protection conjecture', which says that quantum effects may conspire to prevent the possibility of a time machine.
But, while some physicists have questioned Mallett's approach, no one has yet proved with absolute certainty that the machine would not work.
Mallett is now 62 years old. He still believes he will live to see the creation of the first time machine.
Sadly, the way it works means that he will never be able to fulfil his original wish - to warn his father about his deteriorating health. "My solace is that if this works, future generations will be able to use this technology to prevent the tragedy that I went through," he says.
If he is right, the little boy from the Bronx who lost his beloved father all those years ago will end up being the most famous inventor in history.
7.31.2007
Your Windows XP Running Slow?
My laptop was running a little slow so as I was looking thru the Internet for possible solutions, this particular article helped a lot and my laptop is much faster now.
Taken from:
http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk/2005/12/03/10-simple-ways-to-speed-up-windows-xp/
Taken from:
http://www.connectedinternet
1. Disable Indexing Services
Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don’t search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:
- Go to Start
- Click Settings
- Click Control Panel
- Double-click Add/Remove Programs
- Click the Add/Remove Window Components
- Uncheck the Indexing services
- Click Next
2. Optimise Display Settings
Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:
- Go to Start
- Click Settings
- Click Control Panel
- Click System
- Click Advanced tab
- In the Performance tab click Settings
- Leave only the following ticked:
- Show shadows under menus
- Show shadows under mouse pointer
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons
3. Speedup Folder Browsing
You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:
- Open My Computer
- Click on Tools menu
- Click on Folder Options
- Click on the View tab.
- Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
- Click Apply
- Click Ok
- Reboot your computer
4. Disable Performance Counters
Windows XP has a performance monitor utility which monitors several areas of your PC’s performance. These utilities take up system resources so disabling is a good idea.
To disable:
- download and install the Extensible Performance Counter List
- Then select each counter in turn in the ‘Extensible performance counters’ window and clear the ‘performance counters enabled’ checkbox at the bottom.button below
5. Improve Memory Usage
Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings.
Once Installed:
- Go to Show Wizard and select All
- Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing
- Exit and Save Cacheman
- Restart Windows
6. Optimise your internet connection
There are lots of ways to do this but by far the easiest is to run TCP/IP Optimizer.
- Download and install
- Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
- Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
- Check Optimal Settings then Apply
- Reboot
7. Optimise Your Pagefile
If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.
- Right click on My Computer and select Properties
- Select the Advanced tab
- Under Performance choose the Settings button
- Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
- Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.
Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.
Update: If are feeling more adventurous I have also posted 10 Intermediate Ways To Speed Up Windows and also More Ways to Speed Up Windows XP 8. Run BootVis - Improve Boot Times BootVis will significantly improve boot times Your desktop background consumes a fair amount of memory and can slow the loading time of your system. Removing it will improve performance. Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require. Hope you find these 10 tips useful please leave a comment below and please share any other tips you may have with other readers.
9. Remove the Desktop Picture
10. Remove Fonts for Speed
Joke of the Week
Three Little Pigs
One day the first grade teacher was reading the story of the Three
Little
Pigs to her class. She came to the part of the story where the first
pig
was trying to accumulate the building materials for his home. She
read,
"...and so the pig went up to the man with the wheel barrow full of
straw
and said, "Pardon me sir, but may I have some of that straw to build
my
house?" The teacher paused then asked the class, "And what do you
think
that man said?"
One little boy raised his hand and said, "I think he said
'Holy Sh*t! A talking pig!'"
The teacher was unable to teach for the next
10 minutes.
One day the first grade teacher was reading the story of the Three
Little
Pigs to her class. She came to the part of the story where the first
pig
was trying to accumulate the building materials for his home. She
read,
"...and so the pig went up to the man with the wheel barrow full of
straw
and said, "Pardon me sir, but may I have some of that straw to build
my
house?" The teacher paused then asked the class, "And what do you
think
that man said?"
One little boy raised his hand and said, "I think he said
'Holy Sh*t! A talking pig!'"
The teacher was unable to teach for the next
10 minutes.
Harry Potter.....
After 9 years of following the series, it has finally ended.The book is awesome, just finished it the day the book got released. hehe.
I only stopped for meals/nap/bathroom matters. haha. Other than that I was locked in my room with book in hand.
Trader's had a special 50% discount on the books which is kinda awesome since original price is RM109+. So far work is great, I am beginning to detest Arab guests as they are very bossy, rude and at times, extremely impossible to work with.
Its been raining almost every morning while I am going to work which is sorta welcomed, as during the day it can get pretty hot.
Was browsing through J.K Rowling's website and read that she isnt going to stop writing, she is working on something else, two projects, one for Adults one for Children, which is also funnily enough how Harry Potter came about. Maybe she will continue with the Harry Potter series? haha
I am dreading the last two movies of the Harry Potter sequel since Order of the Phoenix was a downer. What a waste of time really, I couldnt stop yawning in the cinema. Parts when it wasn't funny people laughed, when it was funny no one did - I looked like a fool when I laughed at the little amusing bits; I dont care.
They should'nt have changed directors and also drastically change the storyline. Original story is much better as it is, why the silly changes here and there? I just have a feeling they are going to spoil the last two movies.
7.13.2007
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