Happy Birthday My Love!!

To My Wonderful Azian

How do I begin to tell you how lucky I am to have you in my life?
I'll start by saying what a gift you gave me the day you became my wife.
You're my best friend in the good times
and my rock in times of sorrow.

You're the reason for sweet yesterdays
and my promise for tomorrow.
I never thought I could feel this loved
until you became my wife.

You made this year and every year the best one of my life.

Happy Birthday My Love
Love always

Sweetness In The Belly

After The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini that I read last year, I stumbled upon Sweetness in The Belly by Camilla Gibb. And I was emotionally spent after reading it.
It is indeed a beautifully crafted novel. Sweetness in the Belly transcends the boundaries that are defined by the propaganda makers that pit Islam and the West against one another. This is a profound novel, exploring themes of female circumcision, politics, war, tribalism, yet it is also an exquisite homage to Islam. Some of the most beautiful passages are about Lily's (the protagonist) faith. Islam is her guiding force, as she seeks to discover the true meaning of jihad, "The holy war we have within ourselves ... Our internal struggle for purity".

"Sweetness in the Belly is one of those near-perfect fictions: a sustained flight of imagination backed up by firsthand experience, with a sympathetic but alluringly outré central character and a teeming, colourful supporting cast. That it concerns East African Muslims, both at home in Ethiopia and in exile in London, only adds timeliness to a book that’s already brimming over with an irresistible plot and great social significance… Readers are likely to emerge from its pages feeling bruised but hopeful, and better informed about both Islam and émigrés everywhere." Georgia Straight

A must read.

Sudah Jumpa!!!

Alhamdullillah!! Anak yang hilang sudah ditemui. Sujud Syukor.

Help Find Yin!!

This is 5 year-old Muhammad Nazrin Shamsul Ghazali. Fondly called Yin, he went missing after visiting the Sogo Complex in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman on March 31.Yin had gone to the complex with his father, 34, and mother, Nur Amizah Ahmad, 25. Nazrin was with his father in the men’s department store when he disappeared.
On Friday, Nur Amizah viewed Sogo’s closed-circuit television footage for the first time, showing Nazrin walking confidently out of the complex. In the 17-minute footage, Nazrin was first spotted at 2.48pm when he played near the escalator on the second floor. He then followed the crowd and took the escalator to the ground floor. About 3pm, he was seen walking towards Jalan Raja Laut. Nazrin was wearing a grey-boxed short-sleeved shirt and a pair of blue jeans at the time of his disappearance.

Until today, Yin is still missing.

His father Shamsul Ghazali, from Medan Klebang Restu in Chemor, Perak, has offered a reward for information on Yin and can be contacted at 012-5090451.

Note: Our hearts and doas for the parents. Moga-moga Yin selamat dan sihat dan dapat ditemui. As a parent I empathize with them. We went through quite a similar traumatic experience many many years ago at Sunway Pyramid. We were in a shop browsing through the shirts and what not when suddenly we realized Arissa, then 3 year old, had gone missing. Both Yan and I thought we would die that instant. Luckily, we found her a few minutes later. We we so traumatized then that we went straight home and did not venture into any shopping malls for almost two years thereafter.

Pesta Main Air

Scene 1

I'm a person who would not come near any public events, with the exception of a Pesta Buku, of course. So you won't see me at events like Jom Heboh segala. Suffocating ler.
Anyway, that's going to change as I'm currently in Langkawi attending the launching of National Water Festival. I came yesterday (Friday) with Marilyn. Yesterday, we spent our day at Pantai Cenang where most of the events are being held. I'm writing this entry at a media centre in Dataran Lang where the official opening of the festival will be held in like 15 minutes. Lucky me as the media centre siap ada Internet connection and yang penting sekali ada air-cond. Very me.
Anyway, tak kenal maka tak cinta. I'm here and actually the atmosphere is not bad. Very meriah. I guess you have to be present to enjoy and soak in the fun of any events. Beat watching it over TV, anytime. So, next I guess would be Konsert AF. Yeah right!
The Pesta Air yesterday was a lot of fun. And this evening later ada Mawi and Anita Sarawak.
I'll post the picture (by Marilyn) later. Didn't bring the camera le pulak.
Anyway, now I'm going out to the tapak pelancaran. I'll update later on...

Scene 2

Okay, the launch was successfully done. Very the RTM with long boring speeches. Why these VVIPs need to deliver long boring speeces during events like this is beyond me? Bukannya ada orang pay attention pun. Anyway kalau opening macam ni tak sah la kalau tak disusuli dengan persembahan kebudayaan and hiburan. Jadilah kan untuk ganti missing the Konsert AF number 4. Sapa yang kena sembur dek Ogy malam ni ya? Dalam pada boring-boring tadi, I decided to become a judge for the persembahan artis. Here's my take:

Mawi (Perempuan): Mawi, kalau macam ni ler awak nyanyi, malu tau jadi juara AF. Apasal awak nyanyi mesti tengok lantai. Awak tak hingat ke penonton yang ada kat sini?

Anita Sarawak (Celebration and Seksis): Mintak maaf ler Kak Nita, saya sikit pun tak faham apa yang Kak Nita nyanyi. Kena improve diction ni. Dan kalau nyanyi, boleh tak jangan over-over. Kena faham apa lirik agu.

Datuk Ahmad Jais (Cenderawasih): Maaf Datuk. Datuk kalau nyanyi boleh tak jangan jalan merata-rata. Rimaslah. Nak jalan kena ada sebab, bukan main suka aje.

David Arumugam (Sampaikan Salam): Dey, apa masalah awak? Tak dak tenaga! Malu saya tengok.

See, very Ogy-based punya comment.