Back in Malaysia

Salams everyone!!! =)

Back, back in Malaysia . . . I got back to Malaysia with my family about 3 weeks ago because the problem in Sana'a, Yemen escalated. I do not know how is the condition in Yemen now but it surely has worsen... I really hope this crisis of theirs ends soon though

These 3 weeks have been quite busy, helping my mum to arrange for my sisters' studies as 2 of them will be taking IGCSE (O Levels) this October/November insha Allah.

As for me, if you're wondering about my progress than it's a no, I haven't completed surah Baqarah yet and about learning Tafseer and Hadith I don't think I might get the chance for now but there is still a possibility of learning it through my fiancee ;)

I have just resumed my memorizations and is currently bored half through the day and has nothing to do, except for doing my tahfiz in the mornings and looking for scholarships. Insha Allah if all goes well I will start my pilot studies at Asia Pacific Flight Training (APFT) which is located in Kelantan's airport by the end of this year.

Oh yeah, I got engaged just before returning to Malaysia. hehehe =D Alhamdulillah

Marriage? Unknown yet as we haven't had the time to discuss anything in particular actually. I don't think I will be blogging about how it all happened =P

Ramadhan 2009 in Yemen

Ramadhan 2009 in Yemen
*just incase the nodemap does not load, go here*

How US-UK Create 'Terrorist' States?

How US-UK Create 'Terrorist' States?

*Just incase the nodemap does not load, go here*

How US-UK Create 'Terrorist' States? Part 2

A continuation of the previous post, How US-UK Create 'Terrorist' States? Part 1.

• Step 6:

Capture and torture people from all over the world in a prison such as Guantanamo Bay. Deny them rights: no charge; no trial; no representation; no right to a lawyer; no right to visit from friends, relatives or the Red Cross; and do so for an indefinite period. Select people whose religion is the same as those in the terrorist state you are looking to create (in this case Islam). This will make the enemies seem more closely knit, yet from varying countries, giving your country the excuse to invade country after country.

• Step 7:

Destroy the stabilizing government of the neighbouring country. In 2006, Britain and America supported Somali warlords, such as Abdullah Yusuf, who invaded Somalia in order to overthrow the emerging government (the Union of Islamic Courts) and replace them with a facist government nobody wanted (the Transitional Federal Government, or TFG)

• Step 8:

Murder people without charge or trial in both countries with new, super-weaponry, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones). This will terrorize and radicalize the population of the country you are trying to turn into a terrorist state. Hopefully, your media will attempt to vindicate the drone attacks by either not reporting them or else uncritically quoting officials who claim that the drones target terrorists.
Without journalist challenging these official statements, the public may assume that they are correct. (This is happening in more and more countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Palestine, Yemen, Somalia, and possibly even Haiti).

• Step 9:

Omit as much of the previous steps as you can from public knowledge via the media and education system of your own country. This will make any action from the country you are trying to turn into a terrorist state seem unprovoked, giving you the chance to invade as an act of self-defence. It will also allow you to carry on without your public overthrowing you (as mentioned in Step 1). Also, get your media to make meaningless statements about the country you are trying to turn into a terrorist state, sucha as "Osama Bin Laden's grandfather was born there" or, or "the failed Christmas underpants bomber (Umar Farouk Abdulmuttallab) was radicalized there by the cleric Anwar Al-Awlaqi" - even though Abdulmuttallab's father informed the FBI of his son's radicalization months before, which the FBI ignored - or, "Nidal Malik Hasan, the major who killed several of his colleagues at a US base, was radicalized there" - even though this was not terrorism because they were military targets.

• Step 10:

Wait for a terrorist attack to occur, in the country itself, against a British national stationed there, such as an ambassador who has previously worked in another country you helped to destroy.
When the British ambassador to Yemen, Tim Torlot, (who had worked for the British government in Iraq) was attacked in April 2010, the "left" and "right" media leapt at the chance to emphasize how dangerous Yemen is to Britain (for which we planned in Step 1)

• Step 11:

Now sit back and wait for the country to boil over into extremeviolence, making sure you poke the bear with sticks, such as increased drone attacks and security raids by the puppet government being armed and trained by your own.
After a few years, you will have yourself a nice terrorist state. Later, academics can refer to the country as a "failed state". While your domestic population assumes that you are either incompetent or out there to combat terrorism, you can secure energy routes or raw resources.

How US-UK Create 'Terrorist' States? Part 1

Today's post is extracted from the Yemen Post, an article written by Tim Cole, a very interesting article indeed.

How US-UK Create 'Terrorist' States: Yemen as a Case Study

• How to create your very own terrorist state:

Using Yemen as a case study, Tim Coles argues that these steps precisely match US and British policies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran as well as Yemen to grow "very poisonous seeds", some which have ripened while others are ripening.

So, you want to create your own terrorist state, do you? Follow these simple instructions and you will be able to grow "very poisonous seeds. These seeds are growing now. Some have ripened while others are ripening."
Here is how to create your own terrorist state, using Yemen as an example.

• Step 1:

Make sure you have a media and an education system sophisticated enough to omit what your country does to others, but emphasize what other countries do to you.

This will enable your domestic population to hate the people of the other country, allowing you to pursue your agenda without the risk of being overthrown by your own population.

• Step 2:

Select a country that has suffered under your colonial rule in the past. Aden, now Yemen, was occupied by the British in 1839. In 1947, the Amir of Dhala's son, Haidan, led an uprising which was crushed with overwhelming firepower from Britain's Royal Air Force. In a study for the RAND Corporation, Briuce Hoffman explained:

• Step 3:

Make sure that your selected country has a neighbour across the sea, or on its border, which has also suffered under your colonial rule. You will need to do this for Step 7 later on. In 1925, the colonial administrator, Douglas Jardine, no to be confused with the cricketeer, explained the geographic importance of Aden and British Somaliland, now Somalia:

• Step 4:

Now that you have chosen a country, in close proximity to its exploited neighbour, you'll want to ensure that the suffering inflicted upon it had contined throughout the course of, say, one hundred years.

• Step 5:

Now that you have fostered enough resentment and ruined a country's chance of socio-economic recovery, you might want to try betraying even the mercenary elements of that country attempting to side with you. In 1979, Amreica and Britain began funding, arming and training the Afghanistan mujahideen in order "to draw the Russians into the Afghan trap", to quote US President Jimmy Carter's national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski. This worked. Russia and the mujahideen ruined Afghanistan - and out of the ashes rose the Taliban, whom Britain and America supported almost up to 9/11. Britain's leading independent terror specialist, Jason Burke, documented how many of the more fascistic elements of the mujahideen were Yemenis who "had distinguished themselves at the battle of Jalalabad in 1989.

Bus Fares Reverted

. . . As of 24th April 2010, bus fares was raised to YR30. Why? Because they said that the price for petrol, gas, and benzene was raised..

Unfortunately, a few days ago the bus fares has been reverted back to it's normal pric, YR20. It seems that the rise in bus fares was not official, not approved by the government. The weird thing was that the Traffic Police Officers were in it as well!!! They were stationed at every bus points and telling the passengers that the bus fares will be YR30 from then on.

I guess the bus drivers and Traffic Police Officers had made a pact in ensuring the bus fares is raised to YR30. Not only was the bus fares raised but the number of buses had decreased dramatically as well so that pedestrians will have no choice but to take the bus and pay YR30 because of shortage in buses.

Anyway, I am still on holiday and it is still unclear wether classes will be starting next week or not. Even if it does, perhaps only 3-4 months of classes and then holidays again until the 10th of Muharram next year.

Price hikes

Salam.

I am still on holiday (this is the 4th week) eventhough it was supposed to be only for 2 weeks and it is still unsure whether there will be classes or not next week.

Recently, there was price hikes for almost everything and two days ago even the bus fares increased (by YR10=RM0.60). Eventhough the increase is little but it will greatly burden the people here, especially those of low class, and students from foreign countries.

The Yemenis have a large family so taking a bus will prove have a great effect on them and it's not like we need to take only 1 bus to go somewhere. And when you have to take multiple buses everyday it can be quite costly. E.g. for me to go to Iman University I have to take 3 buses, each bus costs YR30 = YR90 for one way. If two way then it would be YR180 = RM3.60 per day and this is if it's only just ME!!

This does not only effect the passengers but also the bus drivers. Yemenis are quite rebellious so they do not wish to pay YR30. Some do but most of them do not. Because of this the bus drivers are not in a good mood nowadays and results in SHORTAGE OF BUSES!

As a result of bus shortage, Traffic police was stationed at almost every bus points. Their job is to halt any empty taxi or lorries or trucks and order them to function as a bus. Since, people had no other choices they had to take these transportations. If u take a taxi, you'll have to pay YR50 per person and they will "clog" each taxi with 6 passengers. If a lorry or truck you'll have to pay YR20 and you'll have to stand!! haha.. What a scene..

Today, I wanted to go home from Diary Street, took a bus. The bus drivers had told the passengers before hand that he will charge YR30 but there were some who did not wish to comply. So, this group of people of five gave the bus driver YR100. Of course the bus driver refused and insisted on charging YR30 per person and this people insisted on YR20 per person.

In the end, the bus drivers turned around and went back to where we came from and did not stop at all eventhough the passengers told him to stop. When we were near to the street where we took the bus he took another turn, going to another place resulting in an almost quarrel scene.. (I think that bus driver was going home) Finally, he stopped and we all got down from the bus and took another bus.

MYF 2010

Salam. Wanted to post this a few weeks ago but was busy with my exams..

What is MYF 2010? MYF stands for Malaysia Yemen Festival. It is the first ever Trade exhibition in Yemen, in collaboration with Malaysia (if I'm not mistaken). It was held at SANA'A EXPO CENTER (APOLLO) from the 17th March - 20th March 2010.

The purpose of this event was to persent new opportunities for Yemenis to invest in Malaysia and vice versa, also, to increase trade between Malaysia and Yemen.

There were about 40 companies that came to exhibit in Yemen. Among them were, Lim Kok Wing University, IIUM, Proton. By the way, Proton cars are now available in Yemen, they opened a branch here a few months ago.

In the picture below you will be able to see who are the organizers, event managers, etc.

However, the attendance was quite disappointing. There were not many Yemenis and once the Prime Minister left, most people left as well..

Among those with boothes are: IIUM, Lim Kok Wing University, TwinTech University, PROTON, Tourism Malaysia, DPMM, and a few Malay Cafeteria set up by the Malaysians students here. (there are a few more which I don't remember now)

Also, the Trade Delegates who came gave disappointing impressions on Malaysians. Some considered coming here as going on a holiday and did not open their booths, going for sight-seeing instead of doing their job. And the businessmen that came here did not bring a lot of things and not many companies participated in this event. We were even criticised by the Yemenis who attended the Exhibition, it was such a disgrace, especially since it were Yemenis who were criticising the Trade Delegates.

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Finally, I have finished my exams and waiting for the results. Currently, having holidays for a week or two.

The exam here is very very different than in Malaysia. It is only a one-page questions!! Believe it or not and it's only short answer questions. So, usually students finish answering the paper in half an hour, fifty minutes the most. And since we only have 1 paper per day, it feels quite not worth it going. I would go out from my house by 7.20am, reach at the University at around 8am, the exam starts at 8.30am and I'd finish by 9am-9.15am and reach home by 10am..

The only hard part is that there are no clues to what will be coming out in the exams. For some subjects we have finished the whole book, some three-quarter, some half and we have to memorize or know what we have learned.. The hardest was hadith and fiqh and Tauhid as we had to memorize Hadiths and some verses of the Qura'an. Among all papers Adab was the hardest paper for me, I couldn't understand the class and most of what is in the book. And on the day of exam, I could not answer much, racked my brains as hard as I could but in the end gave up and passed up the paper (I did answer some of the questions) but one thing I am sure of is that, I definitely failed that subject..

Right now just waiting for my results and will be applying to enter First Year at the start of the Second Semester, Insha Allah. Pray that I do get into First Year.. Plans for the hols? Nothing particular. Just concentrating on my Tahfiz as I have stopped my memorizations for a long time now.

That is all for today. Until next time.

Yemen Net

I really hate Yemen Net . . . Why?? Take a look at the picture below.

click on the picture to enlarge

Sometimes I am able to open some websites and then the next minute/day/week I can't open it. Especially torrent websites, and sometimes I can open the website but I can't download some of the torrents.. It really is a . . . . a . . . . an . . . . annoying!! . . .>_<'' . . . . =.=

Book Fair

Salam. This will be just a short post.

I have finally found a new way in dealing with my bored and free time!! Usually I would just go to the cybercafe and play some games but now I can spend it in a better way!. A few days ago there was a book fair at the Apollo International Exhibition, Sana'a. I went in hope of being able to buy some novels and a Tafsir Ibn Kathir but in English or some books regarding pilot.

The place was really huge but I wasn't interested in having a stroll, I just wanted to find the books that I want and leave and that was just what I did. I found some novels and some books regarding pilot and bought it. Unfortunately, I could not find a Tafsir Ibn Kathir translated in English.

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my mum and sisters will arrive in 2 days, Insha Allah!!

of Random of Babblings..

Hello there!! Sorry for the long absence. It was just that I had nothing to write about, nothing worth to be written here. Anyways, I am back for today and will write about what I've been through since my last post.

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Eid-ul-Adha

This year was my first time having Eid overseas, in Yemen. The Eid prayers starts quite early in the morning, at around 6.30am, some at 6am.

1st day of Eid was spent mostly with me staying in my hostel almost the whole day. Malaysians here was invited to have Eid prayers at the Embassy's house and had "bihun sup, nasi impit and kuah kacang" for breakfast.

The rest of Eid was .. .. ..

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Roommates

In August my previous roomates (Faez and Zikry) returned to Malaysia leaving me the only Malaysian in the hostel and the only one in the room. However, a few weeks later a group of new Tajikistani students came to study in Yemen and 2 of them came to stay with me in my room. At first things were bad between us but was soon sorted out. And in the end, they CHANGED ROOM!! HAHAHAHA.. Why?? Let's just say that they just can't stand our lifestyle (or you can say MY lifestyle!)

During Ramadhan another Malaysian, Shakor, came to stay in the same hostel as me but was staying in a different room, now he might be moving to come and stay with me in my room.
After Eid another Malaysian, Ismail, also came to stay in the hostel I am staying at and is currently staying with me.

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Tahfiz Al-Quran

Alhamdulillah, I have now finished 15juz, half of the Quran. Now I am targetting to finish 20juz by the end of November and is looking to start having Tafsir class once I finish 20juz.

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Family

I am anxiously waiting for 3rd November. Why?? Because that is when my mum and sisters flight to Yemen will be! huhuhuhuh. My mum and sisters will be arriving at Yemen in 13days!!!! huhuhuhuhuhu ... They will be coming to stay here.

~ I will only have a few months with them before I go back to Malaysia for my studies though =( ~

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That is all for today. Insha Allah I shall be writing a new post next week!

Ramdhan 2009 in Yemen - Part 3 (Lifestyle)

Salam.

In my previous posts I had posted about I had shared about my experience of having Iftar and Terawih prayers here in Yemen. Today I will share with you about the lifestyle in Yemen during the fasting month, Ramadhan.

In Malaysia, our lifestyle doesn't change except for some:

1. We would rush home in order to be able to have Iftar with our family or have iftar together at a diner.
2. There would be tons of food bazaar that has an "infinite" amount of food, desserts and drinks which we will usually stop by on the way home and most of the time over-buy.
3. After having our dinner, we would go to the mosque for Isya' and Terawih prayers, have Moreh and return home. That would be around 10.00pm the earliest if you prayer only 8 rakaats of Terawih then go and enjoy whatever that is served for moreh.
   

But in Yemen, it's a totally different story!

1. Even if you go out at around at 12pm (which is almost time for Zuhr prayers), you can hardly see anyone or any vehicle on the street - really troubling especially if you need to get a bus to go somewhere. And Fridays certainly doesn't feel like a Friday. Waking up late and then you still see everyone sleeping, no one on the road walking to the mosque, making me doubt myself whether "Is this the right day? Is it really almost time for prayers??", wondering about it until I reach the mosque.
2. Night turns into day and day turns into night, example:

• Shops will be closed from after Subh prayers until Zuhr prayers and then again about 10 minutes from time of Iftar till Isya' prayers.

• Roads are empty in the morning. You can hardly find a bus or cab if you want to go anywhere in the mornings.
  

• Working hours are changed - starting at around 11am or after Zuhr and ends at around 5pm and will continue at 9.30pm until 1.30am. *depends on the companies though*

I guess that's it.. Bye bye.

Lastly, I WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OF YOU:
HAVE A NICE AND JOYFUL EID MUBARAK.

Ramadhan 2009 in Yemen - Part 2 (Terawih)

Salam.

Previously, in part 1 I have shared with you about having iftar here. Today, for part 2 I shall write about the differences of Terawih prayers between Yemen and Malaysia.

In Malaysia:

1. We would be at the mosque for Terawih on time.
2. We don't usually leave until we have prayed at least 8 rakaat of Terawih.
   
3. There is moreh (supper) after Terawih. - the most important part .. lol
   

In Yemen:

1. Most of the mosques do only 8 rakaats of Terawih, not many mosques that does it up to 20 rakaat because there is not many who are willing to do it until 20 at that time as they are all too eager to get their Qat into their mouth. =.=''
   
2. There is NO MOREH (supper) - THE MOST IMPORTANT "PART" OF TERAWIH!!! (for me..lol).
   
3. After every 4 rakaat there will be a short tazkirah or quiz session.
4. We finish Terawih prayers at around 8.40pm
   

Qat, also known as khat. Since they can't chew Qat during the day so they are in a hurry to chew it right after Terawih. Some even chew it till it's time for Sahoor.

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That is all for today. Next up will be Ramdhan in Yemen - Part 3 (lifestyle during Ramadhan).

Ramadhan 2009 in Yemen - Part 1 (Iftar)

Salam. In part 1 I shall write about the Iftar here.

Having Iftar at home.

The time for Iftar here is at 6.24pm Yemen time. So, for Iftar I would go to my step-dad's house, at around 5pm I would get ready to go to his house and by 6.10pm I would be able to reach his house if the traffic is not heavy, there was once when I arrived just on time for Iftar as the traffic were quite heavy as everyone is rushing home for Iftar - his house is quite far from my hostel.

In Yemen, the Iftar "style" is different from Malaysia. Here, we would have light foods such as samossa, dates, juices. Then we would go to the mosque and pray Maghrib. After our prayers we would immediately head home to have dinner.

Of course, dinner during Ramadhan is different from having dinner on other days.
For appetizers we have shufuud (in the pic below - in the bowl) and soup.

1st dishl: rice/macaroni

Main dish: aseed/hareesh, cheese macaroni, macaroni baked with milk and egg, and any kind of gravy to be eaten with bread.

last of all:

• fruits - grapes/pomegrenate
• pudding/jelly/cakes/custards
• bint-sahn with honey
  

During Ramadhan the mosque is always full during Maghrib and Fajr prayers!!!

Iftar in mosques.

In Malaysia, mosques would serve Iftar so anyone can just come and have Iftar at the mosque. But in Yemen it's different. Instead of people having Iftar together at mosques, they have this "Project Iftar Jama'ee (jama'ee technically means congregational)", it is mainly concentrated on giving Iftar for the poor.

So, people would donate some money to the mosque and from that money, the mosque willuse it to cook food and send it directly to the houses of those who are faqeer (poor) in that particular area! Amazing isn't it?? In my opinion it IS a very good project. (Don't ask me how they know where the houses of those poor people are and how they know that they are really poor people or not - I DON'T KNOW the answer .. hehe.. They must have set some system though)

This is all written based on the info I was able to collect from some people.
re-edited on Wednesday, 2nd September 2009.

Next post : Ramadhan in Yemen part 2 - Terawih prayers/Lifestyle(still indecisive)

Thank you. That is all for now.