If you happen to be searching for links to listen to some of our local Islamic talks, here’s one:
They have a variety of good-quality audio ranging from Friday sermons, monthly forums, weekend talks for youth to even some recitations of the Holy Quran for you to download and listen.
Do be on the look-out for a certain Ust named Md Tarmizi Abd Wahid 
Warmest regards,
Mizi
Mr Obama has spoken of their strong bond and referred to her in some of his most powerful campaign speeches.
Announcing her death on Monday, Mr Obama said: “She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility.
“She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances.”
For the full story, visit the following links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7707364.stm
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/03/obama.grandma/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Caller: Assalamualaikum Ust
Ust: Wa’alaikumussalam wr wb, how can I help you brother?
Caller: I have a question about something that I’m not too sure of…do you mind clarifying?
Ust: Sure, no problem. What is it?
Caller: You see, I just bought a new handphone and I’m not too sure if I can use it..
Ust: Why? Is it not good enough? Too complicated?
Caller: No no no…that’s not it Ust. Actually… I was wondering about something else.. Hmmm.. Would I need to perform the cleansing (sertu) on the handphone..?
Ust: Sertu the handphone?? What?! Why would you wanna do that??
Caller: Well it’s because I bought it from a non-Muslim.
Ust: Huh? and what made you think you would need to sertu everything a non-Muslim had touched or came into contact with?
Caller: Well…
Ust: If that were so, then we would need to sertu the door knobs at our schools and offices, the handle-bars in buses and trains, and the blah bla blah bla blah..and the blah bla blah bla blah…
Caller: Ust? Erm…I think I get your point…
Ust: No wait..! I’m not done yet brother… have you even thought about what your brand-new handphone’s condition would be after you sertu it….???
Caller: ……….*thinking*..*imagining*….
Sertu: The art of cleansing an area which has come into physical contact with a dog’s saliva, its wet body, or a pig (according to Imam Shafi’ie). This requires cleansing for a number of 7 times, one of which needs to be mixed with pure soil (until it becomes muddy).
Warmest regards,
Mizi
Below is a recording of a real phonecall we received. (paraphrased)
Caller 1: Ust, saya ada soalan agama saya nak tanya boleh?
Ust: Boleh. Silakan…
Caller 1: Ok terima kasih. Saya dengar-dengar kan Ust, pokok-pokok, bunga-bunga dan segala tumbuh-tumbuhan semua berzikir pada Allah pada setiap masa. Betul ke?
Ust: Betul tu. Bahkan semua makhluk ciptaan Allah s.w.t. senantiasa berzikir. Ini termasuk sekali bulan, matahari, bintang, gunung–gunung, batu-bata dan sebagainya.
Caller 1: Oh ye ke? Hmm..
Ust: Ada apa-apa lagi yang boleh saya bantu?
Caller 1: Jadi kalau gitu kan Ust, adakah ini bermakna kita tak boleh letak bunga-bunga atau pokok-pokok hiasan di dalam tandas?
Ust: Huh? Kenapa pulak tak boleh?
Caller 1: Sebab kita kan tak boleh berzikir dalam tandas! tak bagus…
Ust: Sigh… (pokok pun pandai la! dalam tandas dia senyap, tak berzikir!!)
Boleh tak Ust? ...Ust? ....Hello? hmmm...
Salaam & May peace be upon everyone!
Have you ever had one of those days when you have so many things in your mind that you’d like to write about and share with others but in the end you end up feeling lazy cos there was just too much to talk about? I’ve been having that demoralising feeling these couple of days… I shut my notebook off everytime I complete a paragraph of a new post thinking that I should be writing about ’something else’… well… So I think I’m just gonna post some photos, and maybe..just maybe.. I’ll have enough energy in me to elaborate about some of the photos here…(maybe in future postings) hehehe
Btw, I’d like to say my utmost thanks to everybody who played a part and contributed to my wedding, which lasted for three whole days. I know many sacrificed their time and energy for my special day. I felt like a king! 
Will blog more about marriage life soon. Till then, take care, and have a wonderful day!
Be awesome,
Mizi
We’re all going through a lot right now. People are worried about their finances, their investments, the security of their jobs. They’re concerned about whether they will have enough to support their families.
Check out what Anthony Robbins has to say about this in The Power of Crisis. He was also interviewed on the Today Show on MSNBC yesterday.
You're right Mr. Friedman, the World is truly FLAT
I think the key attitude we need to have in order to pull through these tough and challenging times is to acknowledge the current situation. Acknowledgement is such a powerful tool, especially for me, personally. To acknowledge is to simply be aware of a certain situation/problem/challenge/, take notice of its presence, and accept it as it is. This works best on situatuions whereby you are absolutely powerless to change anything about it.
A simple example would be like missing the bus or train to school/work by a few seconds. And you end up arriving late. Most people get so enraged and p****d by something like this. Even when they truly know that they cannot turn back time, even for a mere 5 seconds. So why waste all that energy in a negative way? What I would usually do is to take one deep breath, exhale, clear my mind, and think about what held me back at home for this short delay. Was it my wallet which I left and went back to get? Was is the coffee that was taking a lot of time to cool down? Or was it the elevator that was full so I had to wait for the next one?
If there was something that I could improve on so that I could avoid future delays, then I would. If there wasn’t, then I would just accept it as it is. This has helped me a lot in being more patient. A lot of my friends had started to notice this as well. I think patience will come in handy after marriage…don’t you think?
إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى ٱلصَّـٰبِرُونَ أَجرَهُم بِغَيرِ حِسَابٍ
“Those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure!” – [Az-Zumar:10]
Be awesome patient,
Mizi
I attended a business leadership conference when I was in Egypt in Dec 2005. It was an exclusive type of conference which was telecasted live via satellite in some selected countries around the world, and Cairo happened to be one of them. I remember paying around 150bucks and managed to pursuade one of my friends to tag along. The speakers who presented on that day were some of the best in the business. Names such as Jack Welch of GE, Sir Richard Branson of Virgin, Stephen R. Covey of the 7 Habits took to the stage to present on the theme which was: Leadership from the Ground Up. One of the speakers was a young man named Marcus Buckingham. That was actually the first time I’ve ever seen or heard of him. He’s English, and has a background of working at the Gallup Organisation for over 17 years. With his years of working and researching thousands of successful businesses at Gallup, his facts were solid, and his ideas were refreshingly new.
His book entitled “The One Thing You Need to Know” catapulted him to fame and resulted in more recognition and awareness of his excellent work around the globe. He’s now a highly sought after speaker by major corporations and organisations. Hoping to meet the man in person one day.
Be awesome,
Mizi
Check out the latest initiative by a.L.I.V.E. -> a.L.I.V.E. E-News
Btw, I was thinking if I should accept questions on religion here on my blog… hmm.. I’ve been doing it daily from 9-5 for the past two years… From the really tough ones, to the outrageously funny ones! (maybe I should share some of em here 
)
Well, I guess it should be ok..
Just leave a comment if you have any queries then, I’d be more than happy to help out if I can.
Have a great evening!
Mizi
Communication: MSN & Yahoo
Meetings: Skype?
Making Friends/Socializing: Multiply, Friendster, Facebook, My Space and many more….
Games: There’s even an international online gaming event nowadays ala the Olympics
Discussions and Dialogues: Online public forums and chat rooms (some w/personalities)
Getting a Formal Education: Online E-Education/Courses such as Trump University
Shopping: E-Bay, Amazon etc
Watching Videos: Youtube
Listening to the Latest Hits: I-Meem
Sending Eid Cards: E-Cards…save the earth!
Family/Personal Photo Albums: Picasaweb, Picturetrail etc…
Online Diaries: Live Journal, Blogspot, My Diary, WordPress…
What else? Feel free to add on to the list…
All of the biggest technological inventions created by man – the airplane, the automobile, the computer – says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness. ~Mark Kennedy
Eid Mubarak,
Mizi
Entertaining, humourous, educational and easy to digest. There should be more of this and others similar to this. It is a much simpler and fun way to educate our young ones, rather than to preach or teach from a book. Not only will kids as young as 4 or 5 will learn, it is very highly likely that they will memorise all the lines in the show as well. Enjoy.
Eid mubarak everyone~
Eidul Fitri has always been a happy occasion for me and my family. Food becomes secondary when all us cousins get to meet and go visiting to relatives together in a convoy of between 5 to 7 cars.
To me, Eid has always been the day that I look forward to meeting up with my close (and distant) relatives, friends, teachers and neighbours too. People look forward to different things whenever Syawwal is approaching. But nothing is bigger than the tradition of visiting one another. That’s probably the only time of the year when you’ll get to meet up with old buddies to catch up on life, and also talk about past stories which can be very entertaining
11 more days to lifetime imprisonment, the end of my most eligible bachelor days, my lovely wedding!
Warmest regards,
Mizi
On the 6th and 7th of Ramadhan/September, I visited Batam with some friends and family in an event organised by VP. The destination was an orphanage cum boarding school called Pesantren Bina Ummah. It houses nearly 200 orphans ranging from 5 or 6 years of age all the way to 19. The objective was to cook for them some food for breaking of fast, we also collectively sponsored all the other food and drinks. Apart from that, we brought along goodiebags and gifts to give away. Also played some games with them, and it was a lot of fun! Satisfaction came in most of us when we saw the smiles and laughter in their faces. The prayer hall (musolla), their classrooms and their dormitory were all in a poor conditions. So probably next year, if we’re able to visit them again, we’re gonna help to clean, refurbish the whole area. Any new volunteers…?
… & may heaven bring us back together again
Countdown: 3 weeks & 3 days … رب يسر ولاتعسر
Ramadhan will be leaving us in 8 days…
تقبل الله منا ومنكم صالح الأعمال
Aysha (Ra) said: “When the last ten days come, he (SAW) would pray most of the night and wake his family. and she also said:
“The Messenger of Allah (SAW) used to strive in the last days of Ramadhan more than he did during the other days.” (Related by Muslim).
Warmest regards,
Mizi
Assalamualaikum!
Last Friday, I tagged a long with a group of Muisians to Darul-Takrim after work to visit the home and to break our fast with the residents there. The moment I arrived, it triggered back memories of 2003 when I was Pres of the Singaporean Students’ Club in MARSAH. We did a similar visit during the month of Ramadhan at the exact same place, mingled and interacted with the old folks, listening to their sad and happy stories, though mostly sad. Visits there always reminded us on how crucial it is for us to be of service and care to our parents. Its sad to hear some of them tell us how their own children actually left them at the home. Even worse, the caretaker told us of a case where the children did not even want to claim their late fathers’ body upon his passing. And there are those who suddenly appear to claim their share of the inheritance money, when they never once visited their late parent.
We can only pray that we won’t get trapped into such shameful and selfish behavior. Na’uzubillah min dzalik.
On Saturday, we headed for Pesantren Bina Ummah @ Batam. A group of 16 Singaporeans – aged between 55-6 – left Harbourfront at 2.20pm on a mission! A mission to make the children at the orphanage cum boarding school cheerful and happy
We cooked the briyani rice from home, asked them to cook some local dishes there, and upon our arrival, our very own male chefs (Hamzah & Fariz) managed to cook-up one last dish with little time left! Superb! After maghrib, we feasted on all the food with the orphans and their caretakers, before I was requested to lead their tarawih. One caretaker in particular, I beleive she is the overall person in charge, at the age of 74 (can you beleive it?), affectionately known as Ummi at the pesantren, came up to me after the prayers and told me that she cried during the prayer as my voice reminded her so much of her late husband who passed away 5 years ago. From then on, she started calling me anak ummi as though I was her own son. Nice, loving, frail-yet-strong lady ummi was, ala Mother Teresa. We played some games and quizzes with the kids after tarawih, it was chaotic when everybody wanted to answer to win the prizes! hehehe… but before they all left to bed, we took one big photo and gave each and every one of them a goody bag we packed from home. (photos to be uploaded soon)
Someone asked me after the event, “Will this be a yearly affair with Vocal Point?” I sure do hope so.
My latest updated schedule (click to enlarge):
“Ramadhan is a month whose beginning is mercy,whose middle is forgiveness,and whose end is freedom from the fire of hell.” – Hadeeth
Warmest regards & salaam,
Mizi
