A journal of my journey as a Language Lecturer who accidently and happily morphed into a Folk & Decorative Artist. Along the way I rant and ramble on issues which I believe in and which affects my freedom and sense of fair play . Of late, I've also dabbled in Baking and Cake Decorating and would love to teach all 3 if time permits !
It's that time of year again when our Muslim friends and readers celebrate the culmination of 1 month of fasting and praying which ends in the Hari Raya celebration.
Although the official celebrations lasts 2 days , 30 and 31 August, a number of my Muslim friends have told me that the celebration will last 1 month , equaling the 1 month of prior fasting. I'm not quite sure if this is the norm or an established practice or if this is really true l but I do find it a trite unreal . I think this would definitely defeat the whole purpose of fasting.
Could anyone of my Muslim readers enlighten me on this ?
I'm still making my rounds of the Malaysian 'open house ' season and will come back with some pictures soon.
Till then, wishing all my Muslim friends, readers and browsers " SELAMAT HARI RAYA IDIL FITRI ' and Eid Ul Mubarak
In view of our impending Independance Day ( Merdeka ) on 31 August 2011, and feeling very very Malaysian indeed , I decided to read up on the origins and history of ' Negaraku ' , our national anthem . Would you believe it if I told you that I actually sang along when it was playing ? Well, I couldn't believe it myself either ( and hearing my voice cracking and croaking on the notes made me realise that I'm not that young chick I used to be anymore, ouch !) Its one of those songs which you sing instinctively with reverence and pride and it's at these moments that I feel so proud and 'banga betul ' to be Malaysian, my ' tanah tumpah darah ku ' ( hey, I'm a very patriotic Malaysian first, then only Indian , unlike our esteemed Deputy Prime Minister's statement of he's Malay first and then Malaysian . So, you agree with me that I'm better qualified to be the Deputy Prime Minister, right ? ! .
I remember the days when as a primary school kid, it was sung during all the school assemblies and the flag would be hoisted up and the song sung with such gusto, vigour and feelings. Of course, I didn't understand the true meaning of the words then , my early primary years , I mean ( the teachers didn't explain and as was usual, we just learned it by rote and sang because everyone did ) But, there was that special atmosphere of importance and reverence whenever the song was sung - teachers and students alike would stop everything and stand as stiff as a ramrod and no one dared to even turn their heads .
This reminds me of an episode in school. During my primary school days, we did not have these backpacks and canvas bags that students so casually sling over their shoulder. We had these strong and sturdy rattan baskets with a semi-circular handle in which we had to carry all our books and fountain pens complete with black and blue ink bottles, blotters and handkerchief . It really did weigh a ton and how did I know that ? Because when I was in Primary 2 , I had come late to school ( at that age of 8, it was not my fault but by parents, okay ) the assembly had started and I had to hold my big and sturdy rattan basket with its contents in my hands and stand still under the blazing hot sun until the anthem had been sung. I was too afraid to even move an inch and put my bag down ! Hmmm..... those were the days, my friend, we thought it would never end...................
Goodness, I've gone off tangent again.......... anyway, my very best friend, Ms Gouri , had emailed me this video of the origin of our national anthem which I thought should be shared with all the readers.
And just to share with my readers, here's some background info about how a melody of a French song, "Mamula Moon" became ' Negaraku ' our national anthem..............
Both the excerpts below were taken from public archives made available online.
It is believed that the melody of the song was composed by a French musician named Pierre Jean de Beranger who was born in France in 1780 and died in 1857. His composition of ' Mamula Moon ' was introduced by an opera group from Indonesia during a show in Singapore. Over a short span of time the song became very popular in Singapore and was given the name Terang Bulan. Even after the song had become the tune for the Perak State anthem under Sultan Idris it was still played at social functions. It remained as such until it became the tune for the Malaysian National anthem named Negaraku.
Another excerpt from the Malaysian archives also gives this information :
"
Another story about the origin of Negaraku was related by Raja Kamarulzaman, son of Raja Mansur who used to serve as aide-de-camp to Sultan Idris. According to him, Terang Bulan was first used as the tune for the Perak State anthem when Sultan Idris visited London in 1888, one year after he was installed as Sultan. His visit to London was in conjunction with the Coronation of Queen Victoria in 1888. Upon the arrival of the royal entourage in London, a representative of Queen Victoria asked Raja Mansur, the aide-de- camp of Sultan Idris, for the note of the Perak State anthem. Protocol required that the Perak State anthem be played as the Sultan walked into the coronation hall. To avoid embarrassment, the quick-witted Raja Mansur told the representative of the Queen that the music sheets for the State anthem had been left behind. However, if the officer could get a musician, Raja Mansur said he could whistle the tune for the musician to write the notes. When a musician was brought forth, Raja Mansur whistled the song that was very popular among the Perak people at that time. So the Perak State anthem was officially played for the first time during the coronation of Queen Victoria in London. And it was actually the tune of Terang Bulan. "
With such interesting historical details, I wonder why History in school is taught in such a dull and drab manner................ no, I don't want to go into that now !
Happy reading and listening and let's celebrate our Merdeka
I've been having a stroke of mild lack of luck for the past few weeks- thus my disruption in writing and updating my board....
I lost my handphone two weeks ago and together with it was all my contact numbers that I had so diligently saved in my SIM card and that was about 70 or more numbers ......( the last time my phone was disrupted and went 'dead', I had lost all my numbers too and so my daughter told me to save all my numbers in the SIM card so that it could be retrieved ) As most of us know, it's not so much the loss of phone but the loss of contact numbers which gets us so worked up . It's so akin to something like when we lose our handbags, we're not so much worried about the money or make-up but our identity documents, driving licence, ATM Cards which hits us quite badly ......and the hassle to get them again...
What made me really mad was how it was stolen, yeah, really stolen from a restaurant with no other customers present except yours truly . I had inadvertently left the phone on the counter when paying the bill and I was the only customer at that time .( I had just had my lunch\dinner at about 5 o'clock in the evening after a late meeting and that was why there were no other customers ) I only realised I had left it there when I returned back home. I quickly rang my number and heard the ringing tone and then just as quickly rang up the cashier ( got the telephone contact from the bill) and explained to him, gave my number and asked him to locate my phone and could he please keep it for me while I'm on my way ? Imagine my chagrin when he told me that he cannot help, his manager was not in and that he'd tell his manager when he comes to the restaurant at 7 o'clock and in the meanwhile to keep on ringing my phone so that someone will hear it ! Hello, you idiot of a cashier, no one except you and the staff/waiters would have had access to it at that time and it must be either you or equally guilty waiters ( I saw 5 there with not one customer about except me at that odd restaurant hour) who could have taken it . Common sense would dictate that the moron would at least ring my number and locate it or else quickly ask the waiters - phones just don't disappear in an empty restaurant , you know , and we are not living in the world of Harry Potter. What more proof do I need to show that one of them nicked my phone in broad daylight ? (literally )
Gosh, I could go on ranting but I knew it was like flogging a dead horse . Anyway, I got tired of talking to those imbeciles, which included the manager as well, and went and got myself another handphone the next day, definitely less expensive one, this time, and hope that history doesn't repeats itself....
That was just the first one and just when I was recovering from that stupidity ( I mean my stupidity for it was my fault after all for not checking ) my warranty for my internet server/streamyx /modem/ whatever went kaput,( it was exactly 1 year from the date of warranty , how come ? ) there was no connection whatsoever and despite repeated calling to the servers/TMNET providers and countless connection instructions, it didn't wake up from its death sleep. My kids cashed in on this opportunity and ' advised' me to change the internet server ( pay more, of course !) and tired of being harangued by them daily on the advantages of a higher broadband service, I caved in ( under distress ) and it was just fixed, ( as at now, 11.30am) thus my ranting...................
And to top it all, someone, probably a bigger idiot , had knocked into my car from the back and dented the side of my car boot while it was parked at the 3C complex ( in a parking space no less ) and had driven off without me being aware of it until my son pointed it out to me upon my return.
Last but not least - my car alarm went bust too,at about the same time. I won't continue anymore for I fear that I'd become a lunatic myself at the rate I'm raving ........................................ I think I need a nice cup of hot tea and a slice of my leftover chocolate cake to calm myself down
A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed: "Dear Lord:
I go to work every day and put in 8-hours while my wife merely stays at
home. I want her to know what I go through, so please allow her body
to switch with mine for a day".~Amen~ God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish.
The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman. He arose,
cooked breakfast for his mate,awakened the kids, set out their school clothes,
fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to
school, came home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners
and stopped at the bank to make a deposit, went grocery shopping, then
drove home to put away the groceries, paid the bills and
balanced the checkbook. He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog.
Then it was already 1:00 PM and he hurried to make the beds, do the
laundry,vacuum, dust, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor.
Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them
on the way home. Set out milk and cookies and got the kids organized
to do their homework, then set up the ironing board and watched TV while
he did the ironing. At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetables
for salad, breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for supper.
After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher,folded laundry,
bathed the kids, and put them to bed.
At 9:00 PM, he was exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed where he was expected to make love, which he managed to
get through without complaint.
The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt down beside the bed
and said: "Lord, I don't know what I was thinking ... I was so wrong To envy
my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please ...
Oh please, let us trade back !!!" The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied:
" "My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were but you'll just have to wait nine months, though. You got pregnant last night." "
A great ' pick me up ' tonic for the day, isn't it ?!
