Dakwah yang ... hurm...

I found a somewhat weird news today..

Gaddafi preaches to Rome beauties

Party host Colonel Gaddafi extolled the virtues of Islam

A group of party girls got more than they bargained for when they were recruited to attend a posh do in Rome on Sunday night.

Instead of canapés and cocktails, the 200 young women found themselves being encouraged to become Muslims.

It turned out the host was Libya's leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi, in town for the UN food summit.

He spoke of the wonders of Islam and assured his guests it was not anti-women, as some critics argue.

The selection process had been rigorous; the identity of the host, a mystery.

The girls had to be beautiful, between 18 and 35 - and at least 1.70m tall.

The dress code was strict: plunging necklines and short miniskirts were most definitely out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8362525.stm

I am still wondering why must he set such criteria for the attendees of that event? (The girls had to be beautiful, between 18 and 35 - and at least 1.70m tall). I do not want to question his motives but in my opinion, it is best if he just preach the message of Islam to all people rather than focusing it on 200 beautiful women. Hopefully he has a pure intention and will be rewarded for that.

Label

Assalamualaikum!

(I’ve been writing this for quite sometime but in the recent event happened in Malaysia, I guess I had to publish this entry now)

It has been a long time since my last post. I was a bit busy finishing my project (plus doing other stuff) and also because it was Ramadhan, I am pretty much occupied with doing stuff. Now that I have finished my project and submitted my paper, I am a bit free (well I have to do other stuff as well - am trying to be a bit productive now) so InsyaAllah I will try to write something here. (btw, the purpose of this blog was initially for me to prepare myself for writing my paper as what I've stated in my 2nd entry of this blog and since I am already done with my studies/paper, I am not sure what the fate of this blog might be in the near future – just wait and see how everything goes)

How often you hear people in conversations that they associate some brand name with either greatness or with poor qualities? For example when people are buying laptops, they will say Lenovo (previously it was IBM) Thinkpad is the best model for business use. For jeans, we associate Levi's to be a good brand. Intel is labelled as the leading brand in microprocessors. "Cap Ayam" is a brand or label that we put on something that is bad in quality.

Once we have associated something with a brand or label, often we jumped straight into the conclusion that all items/things that carry the brand's name/label is of the same quality. For instance, Proton in previous years made some bad quality cars, but that doesn't mean Proton cars are bad now (I am a Proton user hehe). So it is wrong to say label that all Protons are bad. Windows are another example. Just because some windows version crashed often, doesn’t mean the new Windows 7 will be bad as well.


Labels are not only given to products but also to people. Once we have given them labels, we will give treatments to the people according to the label we have given them. For example, when we are doing some act of worship and someone said to us "in Islam, we have never done this, this is an innovation in our religion", we quickly without thinking, label them as "the Wahhabis". And if people do things that we have never seen before, we label them as "the Bid'ahs" without even checking their dalils of making such things. And also, when we have labeled someone as this or that, whatever they say is wrong and irrelevant to our lives.

I am quite sad that even in this day of age, some people are still practicing that the Jahiliyyah method.

The Jahiliyyah Method

"Ah apa dia tau, dia tu kan Ahli Parti XXX!"

"Tu la dia orang XXX, merepek je"

When presented some fact or arguments, the people with the Jahiliyyah mentality will often give responses like that. I like what Dr MAZA said before "Islam ini berdasarkan hujan dan fakta". If you disagree with something, bring your own arguments to the table. By just pointing that he is a "Wahhabi" or from political party XXX, you are not making your arguments any stronger.

If you read the Quran, you should notice the people of the old days. When Prophets came to them bringing them the word of Allah, you know what were their responses? Their responses were almost the same regardless of which Prophets those people got.

In Surah Al - A’raaf (The Heights)

قَالَ الْمَلَأُ مِنْ قَوْمِهِ إِنَّا لَنَرَاكَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ

[7:60] Ketua-ketua dari kaumnya berkata: Sesungguhnya kami nampakmu (wahai Nuh) berada dalam kesesatan yang nyata.

In Surah Al Qalam (The Pen)

إِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا قَالَ أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ

[68:15] Apabila dibacakan kepadanya ayat-ayat keterangan Kami, dia berkata: (Ini ialah) cerita-cerita dongeng orang-orang dahulu kala.

In Surah As Saffat (The Rangers)

وَإِذَا رَأَوْا آيَةً يَسْتَسْخِرُونَ

[37:14] Dan apabila mereka melihat sesuatu tanda (yang membuktikan kekuasaan Kami dan kebenaranmu), mereka mencari-cari jalan memperolok-olokkannya, -

وَقَالُوا إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ

[37:15] Serta mereka berkata: Ini tidak lain hanyalah sihir yang nyata.

They never brought any kinds of evidence or arguments to refute the claims of the Prophets. You should also notice that Allah, in the Holy Quran, challenged those people who doubted Quran to bring a Chapter that is comparable to the Quran. Meaning, before they could refute anything, they should bring proof that supported their stand.

In Surah Al Baqarah (The Cow)

وَإِنْ كُنْتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا بِسُورَةٍ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ وَادْعُوا شُهَدَاءَكُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

[2:23]. Dan kalau kamu ada menaruh syak tentang apa yang Kami turunkan (Al-Quran) kepada hamba kami (Muhammad), maka cubalah buat dan datangkanlah satu surah yang sebanding dengan Al-Quran itu dan panggilah orang-orang yang kamu percaya boleh menolong kamu selain dari Allah, jika betul kamu orang-orang yang benar.

Do not be like the ignorant or the jahiliyyah, they will just say "ah that guy is stupid" or "since he is from this group/party/organisation, they are wrong". I admit although some organisations are like that (meaning most of their actions are stupid), but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will always be wrong all the time. If they state some facts, like 2+2=4, they are still right.

We should not be prejudice in making our decisions and judgements. Else, we are no different that those people who refuted the word of Allah by just simply saying "It is a sheer magic" or "these are nothing but tales of the Ancients" without even pondering whether the messages made sense or not.

In Surah Ad Dhariyat (The winnowing winds)

كَذَٰلِكَ مَا أَتَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَّا قَالُوا سَاحِرٌ أَوْ مَجْنُونٌ

[51:52] Demikianlah (keadaan tiap-tiap kaum terhadap Rasulnya samalah seperti keadaan kaummu wahai Muhammad) tidak ada seorang Rasul pun yang datang kepada kaum-kaum yang terdahulu dari mereka, melainkan ada yang berkata: Dia adalah seorang ahli sihir atau seorang gila.

When we discredit people arguments just because they are associated with some party, we are acting exactly like the jahiliyyah. They have never brought any proof to deny Muhammad S.A.W as Allah’s prophet, instead they were just saying

In Surah Al-Furqan (The Standard)

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا إِفْكٌ افْتَرَاهُ وَأَعَانَهُ عَلَيْهِ قَوْمٌ آخَرُونَ ۖ فَقَدْ جَاءُوا ظُلْمًا وَزُورًا

[25:4] Dan orang-orang yang kafir itu berkata: (Al-Quran) ini hanyalah satu perkara dusta yang direka-reka oleh Muhammad dan ia dibantu membuatnya oleh kaum yang lain. Maka (dengan kata-kata itu) sesungguhnya mereka telah mendatangkan satu tuduhan yang zalim dan dusta.

In the Holy Quran, there are multiples places where you will find verses that gave evidences of the existence of the Supreme Power - Allah SWT, and the proof that Islam is the only religion for mankind.

In Surah Al-Furqan (The Standard)

وَلَقَدْ صَرَّفْنَاهُ بَيْنَهُمْ لِيَذَّكَّرُوا فَأَبَىٰ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ إِلَّا كُفُورًا

[25:50] Dan demi sesungguhnya! Kami telah berulang-ulang kali menyebarkan hujjah-hujjah di antara manusia melalui Al-Quran supaya mereka berfikir (mengenalku serta bersyukur); dalam pada itu kebanyakan manusia tidak mahu melainkan berlaku kufur.

It is really weird that in this day of Information Superhighway age, there are still people who acted like they came from the Jahiliyyah period. Most of the time, I see these people, when they failed to bring proofs to support their claims, they will resort to either strawman arguments or ad hominem attacks (close to character assassination).

In the recent event of the arrest of the Ex Perlis Mufti, Dr MAZA, I am saddened that some of my contacts cheered with the arrest made on Dr MAZA. I am not making any assumptions of why they agreed/cheered but I could take a hint that Dr MAZA is labelled as Wahhabi by them. The sad thing about it is that I really doubt that they could prove Dr MAZA as Wahhabi (Dr MAZA has denied that countless of time) and to me, they are just making a baseless accusation.

“Presidennya, Datuk Syed Hussein al-Habshee berkata, pihaknya menerima banyak rungutan dan aduan di kalangan ahlinya dan masyarakat setempat di Wilayah Persekutuan dan Selangor tentang ceramah yang pendekatannya disyaki beraliran Wahabi.”

I really would like to see the people claiming to give evidences of what teaching Dr MAZA had given can be classified as “Wahhabi”. Heck, just give a clear cut definition of what can be considered as Wahhabi and what is not. Also, I really doubt that they could bring any arguments to refute the arguments that Dr MAZA made against whatever they are practicing.

Conclusion of this entry is that, we should stop labelling people that we disagree with. If we disagree with something, we should bring our own arguments to the table. Then people could make their own judgment after listening to both sides as to who is right and who is wrong. By making accusations that even we ourselves could not prove, we are acting like people of the old age and those people we know how they end up being – they were the deniers of the true faith and they died a horrible death. If we do not to plan to end up like them, why are we imitating their behavior and way of thinking?

Interesting Fact

One in four is Muslim, study says

A report from an American think-tank has estimated 1.57 billion Muslims populate the world - with 60% in Asia.

The report, by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, took three years to compile, with census data from 232 countries and territories.

It showed that 20% of Muslims lived in the Middle East and North Africa.

The data also showed that there were more Muslims in Germany than in Lebanon, and more in Russia than in Jordan and Libya together.

Surprise

Researchers analysed approximately 1,500 sources including census reports, demographic studies and general population surveys.

Senior researcher Brian Grim told CNN that the overall figure was a surprise and said: "Overall, the number is higher than I expected."

The report, published on Wednesday, also found that Ethiopia has nearly as many Muslims as Afghanistan.

Interesting to know that we made up a quarter of the world population! But then why are the muslims still being oppressed and our voices do not matter much? (with regard to the Al Quds situation)

How badly do you want something?

*this entry is just a reminder and motivation to myself*



While I was walking towards a bank in my area, I saw something that I had not seen for quite a long time. I saw people camping in front of shops (camping literally). I knew that they were waiting for something and I asked one of the guys that were waiting there.

Me: What are you guys waiting for?

That Guy: STA Travel will be selling tickets to Australia for 10 quid and they are only selling a few of those. Me and my buddy wanna go there so we wait in line..

Me: Oh, when will they start selling it?

That Guy: On Wednesday. We would want to be the first to get it.

Whoa, and I asked that question on a Monday morning! So they will be camping there for another 48 hours before they could buy the cheap tickets. I’ve seen such thing before (but usually in pictures) when people wants to buy a newly launched product, limited edition product/tickets to meet celebrities or to get in front row of any events. I really adore such spirits. Well one thing, for them, they do not have any "attachment" so they could spend a whole month sitting there if they wish to. For me, as for Muslims, I am not sure what the guidelines for such things are but it would be so much better if we spend our time doing something that would allow us to get nearer to Allah S.W.T.

Still, after looking at that, I realized something that these people, when they really want something so bad, they will just go for it and do everything possible to get it. Like always, my mind will keep trying to associate stuff that I see with whatever is happening in my life and I did a bit of self reflection after that event.

We keep saying that we want to be successful, but how much have we worked for it? We look at successful people and we wish we could be like them, but then is our effort enough for Allah to grant us success? Making supplication to Allah asking Him to grant us success without us working for it will never work. Also when we study, we say that we want an A or the highest mark in one of the courses we are taking, but if we spend our time on Facebook (or anything else that’s not beneficial) more than we spend on studying the course’s materials, aiming for an 'A' wouldn't make any sense right?

In Surah Ar-Rad (The Thunder)

لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ ۗ وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُ ۚ وَمَا لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ مِنْ وَالٍ

[13:11] Bagi tiap-tiap seorang ada malaikat penjaganya silih berganti dari hadapannya dan dari belakangnya, yang mengawas dan menjaganya (dari sesuatu bahaya) dengan perintah Allah. Sesungguhnya Allah tidak mengubah apa yang ada pada sesuatu kaum sehingga mereka mengubah apa yang ada pada diri mereka sendiri dan apabila Allah menghendaki untuk menimpakan kepada sesuatu kaum bala bencana (disebabkan kesalahan mereka sendiri), maka tiada sesiapapun yang dapat menolak atau menahan apa yang ditetapkanNya itu dan tidak ada sesiapapun yang dapat menolong dan melindungi mereka selain daripadaNya.

When we are trying to find our partners in life, we keep wishing that Allah will give us good spouses and that is definitely a good thing, but we should really take a good look at ourselves and see whether within ourselves, we have the "good spouse materials" or not. Ask ourselves this question "If I meet someone like me, but in different gender, would I want to marry that person?" We know ourselves better than anyone else, our good deeds, bad deeds and sins, strengths and weaknesses. If we could not lower our gave at the sight of something that is forbidden for us, or if we could not help our tongue from talking bad about others, try imagining an opposite sex that has done all the stuff that we have done and still been doing, if we could like/love the person what we just imagined, then that might be characteristic of our future spouse.

Allah has even stated that we will get what we deserve in Surah An Nur.

In Surah An Nuur (The Light)

الْخَبِيثَاتُ لِلْخَبِيثِينَ وَالْخَبِيثُونَ لِلْخَبِيثَاتِ ۖ وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ لِلطَّيِّبِينَ وَالطَّيِّبُونَ لِلطَّيِّبَاتِ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ مُبَرَّءُونَ مِمَّا يَقُولُونَ ۖ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ

[24:26] (Lazimnya) perempuan-perempuan yang jahat adalah untuk lelaki-lelaki yang jahat, dan lelaki-lelaki yang jahat untuk perempuan-perempuan yang jahat dan (sebaliknya) perempuan-perempuan yang baik untuk lelaki-lelaki yang baik dan lelaki-lelaki yang baik untuk perempuan-perempuan yang baik. Mereka (yang baik) itu adalah bersih dari (tuduhan buruk) yang dikatakan oleh orang-orang (yang jahat); mereka (yang baik) itu akan beroleh pengampunan (dari Allah) dan pengurniaan yang mulia.

(these points are just a repetition from my entry in February )


If we ourselves did not take care of our Aurat, or our relationships with the opposite gender, do not be surprised if our future spouses do the same thing too. When we see her/him free mixing with the opposite sexes, do not be mad as we are doing it ourselves as well.

If we like to watch pics of cute animals, we should expect
that our spouses to be the same =b (gambar hiasan)

The last point, we keep saying that we want to be among the people of Paradise, but do we really work for it? Do we really follow the guidance that our religion has set for us? Even if we follow the guidelines, how hard have we worked for it? On top of the obligatory act of worship, have we been doing supplementary act of ibadah to complement the obligatory ones? Reading the stories of the Prophets, and the Sahabah and Tabi’in, we should know that they were among the best of generations and they had given everything that they had for the sake of Allah in order to gain His mercy and His Paradise. When I compared the efforts that they had put for the benefit of Islam with my efforts, I got really ashamed. Having tons of sins and on top of that, I am not working as hard as them, how can I still possibly sit happily when I know for certain that my deeds are not good enough..

As the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W, we are bestowed with so many wonderful things whether we realized it or not. For example, for the people of Bani Israel, at the time when they worshiped the calf, Allah has ordered them to kill themselves as a mean of taubah for them.

In Surah Al Baqarah (The Cow)

. وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ بِاتِّخَاذِكُمُ الْعِجْلَ فَتُوبُوا إِلَىٰ بَارِئِكُمْ فَاقْتُلُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ عِنْدَ بَارِئِكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ

[2:54] Dan (kenangkanlah) ketika Nabi Musa berkata kepada kaumnya: Wahai kaumku! Sesungguhnya kamu telah menganiaya diri kamu sendiri dengan sebab kamu menyembah patung anak lembu itu, maka bertaubatlah kamu kepada Allah yang menjadikan kamu; iaitu bunuhlah diri kamu. Yang demikian itu lebih baik bagi kamu di sisi Allah yang menjadikan kamu, supaya Allah menerima taubat kamu itu. Sesungguhnya Dialah Yang Maha Pengampun (Penerima taubat), lagi Maha Mengasihani.

For us, we just need to make repentance to Allah anywhere we like, and it doesn’t have to be at any specific place or time and it is only between us and Allah (we do not have to meet anyone to confess our sins). Even so, how often we recognize our mistakes and make repentance to Allah? The best of people, our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W made repentance to Allah a hundred times a day. And that was the person that his past and future sins are already forgiven and yet he still make repentance to Allah daily.

Sahih Muslim - The Book Pertaining to the Remembrance of Allah, Supplication, Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness (Kitab Al-Dhikr)

[035:6523] Al-Agharr al-Muzani who was from amongst the Companions of Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) reported that Ibn 'Umar stated to him that Allah's Messenger (may peace 'be upon him) said: O people, seek repentance from Allah. Verily, I seek repentance from Him a hundred times a day.

Also, we are blessed with Ramadhan, a month where our deeds are multiplied so we should really make full use of this month because who knows, this might be the last Ramadhan we will ever experience. Try benefiting from this month by making tons of acts of worship, reading the Quran and understanding it. Just reading it is not enough; we have to at least understand the meaning of it. Understanding the meaning while we are reading the words might be hard for us non native Arabic speakers but after each verse we read, try reading the translation and try to get the message conveyed in the verses we just read.

In Surah Yunus

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءَتْكُمْ مَوْعِظَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَشِفَاءٌ لِمَا فِي الصُّدُورِ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

[10:57] Wahai umat manusia! Sesungguhnya telah datang kepada kamu Al-Quran yang menjadi nasihat pengajaran dari Tuhan kamu dan yang menjadi penawar bagi penyakit-penyakit batin yang ada di dalam dada kamu dan juga menjadi hidayat petunjuk untuk keselamatan, serta membawa rahmat bagi orang-orang yang beriman.

If we really want something, for example if we want to be the people of Paradise, we should show and display that we really want it by putting tons of efforts and work hard to achieve it. In the end, Allah will ask us whether we have done enough for Him to grant us His Paradise. Since now is Ramadhan, it would be really wasteful if we let time passes just like that especially in this blessed month. So let’s us use this time to multiply our deeds and hopefully we could see the outcome of our efforts when the month is over. Hope that our efforts will help bringing us closer to Allah's mercy and forgiveness (so that He will grant us Paradise) and hope we could be steadfast with the deeds we are doing in this month and continue doing it after the month is over, InsyaAllah.

We meet again!

Alhamdulillah, Ramadhan is here, again.. We've been granted to live up to this blessed month (whether we will live to see the end of it I am not sure). The month where all of our deeds are multiplied countless of times. To really take benefit from this blessed month, have you set any goals that you want to achieve by the end of Ramadhan? I have =) So let's use this opportunity (that might be the last opportunity that we have) to improve ourselves and hopefully by the end of Ramadhan, we have achieved something, InsyaAllah..

Just want to share a video from Dr MAZA talking about Niat (Niat in general) especially regarding Fasting and Praying. Hope we can take some points from it.

Ketika Cinta Bertasbih

Whew, I just finished reading a novel - Ketika Cinta Bertasbih (KCB)

"You read what??!!‽‽" says Maru-chan (the only cat that has a blog)

Hehe, recently I got a bit lazy to continue doing my project so I occupied my time with reading (well, reading stuff that were not related to my project.. yeah! =b ) and after waiting for a while, I managed to get a copy of the latest novel by Habiburrahman El Shirazy - KCB.


Actually it was a novel but was split into two parts/novels (the story was quite long). It is definitely not a typical novel that guys often read but since I've read his first novel Ayat Ayat Cinta (AAC), I liked the author's way of telling a story and the lessons he instilled in the storyline that he crafted. So last year when I heard he has another novel that just got published, I went to the bookstore to buy it. Sadly it was in Indonesian language. Although I know for certain I can understand Indonesian language, I still prefer to read the Malay version. This was based on my experience of reading AAC in both languages.

So I waited for a while hoping that the book will be "translated" into Malay. Now that the Malay version was out, I asked a friend of mine to buy me a copy and thankfully I got it last Saturday (mekasih yer!). Within 48 hours of receiving the novels, I managed to finish reading both of them (an accomplishment I had never ever achieved with my academic text books.. yeay for me ^_^ ).

Although it seems weird for a guy to read such novel, for me, as long as I know what kind of messages the author tries to convey, I do not care what people will say (but no, I will not read novels by Ahadiat Akashah or any other jiwang karat tahap gaban novel yang tak membawa mesej apa apa - for example TWILIGHT haha..). AAC for me proved that reading "love novels" can also be beneficial. One of the messages that AAC tried to convey (or at least what I thought it tried to bring forth) was that love/relationship that is built in accordance to Sunnah and Syariah is more interesting and will be blessed. Nowadays, we are so exposed with the way of life that has been glamorized by Hollywood with all the datings, hooking ups, partying, holding hands, kissings and so many more that might have made our mind to think "Ah that is what we should do while we are finding partners in life". Reading AAC is a change from all of that. It managed to portray what life in accordance to Islam and how beautiful the process of finding spouses in our deen actually is.

Now after reading the 2 novels, I think that AAC is way better. His second installment isn't as good as the first one. I am not trying to be a novel reviewer here but in my opinion, in this novel, the author introduced quite a number of characters and he did not develop all of the characters fully. The novel was split into 2 parts. The first part/book revolves around the life of the main character while he is in Egypt and the second part is about his life when he went back to Indonesia. Some characters that were introduced in the first part appeared in the second part but some are gone with the wind (nah, I have no idea where they went to). The story showed the main character, Azzam as a very hardworking guy with principles and all the struggle he went through to find his partner in life. With so many failed attempts, rejection and problems, he eventually managed to meet his wife (yeay, a happy ending for the protagonist.. ahaha). I also noticed that there are some weak points and scene that I have no idea what was the purpose he put it in there. It left me hanging with questions.

Also, at the end of reading the novel, I am left wondering as to what had happened to some of the characters especially the characters introduced in the first part. I guess this is bound to happen if you introduce too many characters in a story. You will not have enough time to develop and put personalities in all of them.

Contrary to KCB, AAC was more focused on the life of a single protagonist called Fahri and everything revolves around Fahri's life and that for me is a bit better than changing the focus of the story to portray what each character feels like what he has done in KCB. Even so, the messages in the novel were quite okay and I think I found some useful lessons that might be applicable in my life.

Not sure what else I could write about the novel (I know there are tons to write about it but I doubt my ability to describe the novel further than what I have described above). So for everyone out there, if you like AAC, you *might* like KCB. For me, I like it but slightly less than AAC. Buy a copy and read it for yourself.

Okay now, have to get back to reality and continue doing my project. Most likely I will be away for a month (have to really focus on my project this time) which means there will not be much entries from me until Raya.

I'll post something here if I found any news that's worthy of sharing. Till then, illal liqa' =)

When everything else fails

Jobless graduate sues her college

A New York woman who says she cannot find a job is suing the college where she obtained a bachelor's degree, the New York Post reports.

Trina Thompson, 27, filed a lawsuit last week against Monroe College in Bronx Supreme Court.

She is seeking to recover $70,000 (£42,000) she spent on tuition to get her information technology degree.

Monroe College spokesman Gary Axelbank said Ms Thompson's lawsuit was "completely without merit".

The ex-student, who received her degree in April, says the college's Office of Career Advancement did not provide her with the leads and career advice it had promised.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8180806.stm

When everything else fails, blame others ..

It is easier to blame others rather than pointing your fingers straight into the mirror.

I found it sad that this lady thinks her college is supposed to find her jobs. Maybe she did not do enough to get jobs. Maybe her degree is too common these days. Maybe her result wasn't good enough. Maybe she lacked the skills that the job market requires at the moment. So many possibilities that her failure to get a job might have been caused by her lack of efforts (efforts when she tried to finish her degree, efforts when she send resumes, efforts when she went for any interviews and many more).

But yeah, blaming others is much much easier even when the fault lies on your side.

(~_~!)