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| Monday, 4-Feb-2008 23:13 |
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Panda & Jinli Street
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Salam,
Memang dah lambat sangat nak update fotopage ni. Sibuk dan tak betul betul cari masa nak update pun satu isu gak.
Gambar2 ni semua sebelum Sichuan di landa gempa hari itu. Tapi di bandar Chengdu, gempa nya tidak lah menyebabkan bangunan runtuh. Cuma ada jugak banyak yg retak berdasarkan maklumat dari rakan sekerja yg berada di tempat kejadian semasa itu. Jadi dapatlah dia merasa gempa bumi.
Dua tempat yang kami pergi, Panda Natural Conservation Centre dan jugak Jinli Street Ancient Market.
Panda adalah Harta Karun Kebangsaan China (National Treasure), binatang ini semakin pupus dan sekarang hanya boleh didapati di Negeri Sichuan sahaja. Ada Satu lagi pusat pembelaan Panda di Sichuan, di Woolong, tapi kami tak sempat lah nak pergi, sedikit jauh. Ada 2 jenis panda rupa nya, yang biasa di lihat warna hitam putih tu, dan jugak panda merah, yg aku pegang tu. Tapi nampak macam musang ye tak. Panda merah tu boleh di pegang dgn kos kalau tak silap RM 20 agaknya. Oh ye, yuran masuk ke park ini dalam RM15 kalau tak silap. Mungkin tersilap, dah lama sangat pun.
Jinli Street pulak adalah satu section bandar Chengdu yg original. Semua bangunan dan struktur nya sudah wujud sejak lebih kurang 400 tahun yg lepas. Jadi dapatlah tengok rupa bandar lama. Tapi sekarang kebanyakan kedai, adalah kedai moden. Tapi memang menarik.
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| Sunday, 3-Feb-2008 18:32 |
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Sekitar Chengdu, Sichuan
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Snek tepi jalan yg sedap, sate telur puyuh
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artis jalanan Zhangli, seorang pengukir
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ATian Fu Square, dgn patung Presiden Mao
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Seekor naga yg melonjak ke langit
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Hari ini jalan2 sekitar area downtown Chengdu,
Pagi lagi dah keluar, dalam pkl 10 macam tu, ingat nak pergi tourist information centre. Nak recce pasal nak pergi tgk Panda conservation centre, tapi tutup lak, so spend masa pagi tu kat tempat shopping belakang hotel ni, agak menarik gak, tapi aku tak amik gambar, mungkin esok pergi untuk snap a few pictures kalau sempat.
Tengahari balik hotel jap, pasal agen janji nak dtg amik e-box, haram sampai pkl 4 tak dtg2 pun, aku pun keluar lah, Pergi ke Tianfu square. Ada dua attraction kat sini actually, square tersebut sendiri, n Sichuan museum of science and technology.
Tianfu square dalam proses untuk pembinaan Metro Subway, so tempat ini akan jadi perhentian utama lah nanti. Tapi dataran ini sendiri di tengah2 bandar, di mana ia menjadi tumpuan warga kota untuk lepak2 n chill. Seberang dari dataran ini ada Patung gergasi presiden Mao, n belakang dia ada Muzium Science and technology, kebetulan pulak ada show human anatomy, show yg sama masa aku terlepas kat Las Vegas thn 2006. Ingat nak pergi tgk, tapi dah lewat sgt masa aku keluar dari hotel, mungkin esok kalau sempat.
Lepas gtu jalan lagi, ingat pergi ke suatu temple, rupa2nya ianya adalah sebuah masjid, yg agak cool n berbeza sedikit design nya, ramai gak muslim di area sini.
Sambung jalan lagi sampai jumpa satu taman yg agak besar n best jalan2, banyak section sebenarnya, tapi aku cuma keliling n tengok2 shj.
Balik tu singgah makan kat restoran muslim di bawah masjid yg aku jumpa gtu, agak cool gak makanan nya, walaupun direct english translation nya agak berserabut.
Lepas makan tu ingat nak ke Jinli Ancient Market, 4 km kami berjalan mencari tempat dgn direction dari warga yg tak faham bahasa inggeris, malangnya kami tak sampai.
The day was wrapped with a cup of coffee at Chengdu Your Coffee cafe.
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| Wednesday, 30-Jan-2008 17:05 |
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Sichuan Province, China
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Negeri Panda,
Balik malaysia nanti aku tulis caption dan cerita, enjoy lah gambar dulu....
3/2/2008
Pergi buat job kat Sichuan Province. Negeri panda, pasal beruang panda ade kat sini sahaja, daripada seluruh China.
Dua tempat yg aku pergi, Mishan City n Wutong County, duration 3 minggu, tempat agak kampung n tak banyak foreigner dtg.
Macam masa ke Shanghai dulu, English tak banyak sgt digunakan kat sini, sign language n sedikit bahasa cina banyak membantu...
Musim winter, memang sejuk....
Nanti ada gambar selain dari gambar kerja tambah lagi ok...
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| Sunday, 23-Sep-2007 13:23 |
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Batangas, Filipina
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Agak lama tak update page ini, lama tak kuar berjalan atau ada event istimewa yg best utk di kongsi, masa pun agak terhad sekarang. Currently aku kat Filipina, kerja.
Tapi bukan kerja lepak2 macam dulu lagi, skrg dah kerja kerah tenaga. Kat sini takde jalan kemana pun, aku tak sempat utk study dan plan ape yg nak di buat. Cuma updatelah beberpa keping gambar ok.
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| Monday, 28-May-2007 12:00 |
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Farewell Lunch Kami (Erwan, Chow, Zamri)
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aku dulu buat sales kat MOX, tggi ni invoice tau tak, kata chow
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sape yg amik pizza lebih tu?
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ini orang memang suka pergi kerja pakai tie kata yong & erwan
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Hari ini ada Makan Tengahari Perpisahan (Farewell Lunch) Dekat KLV. Kebetulan Erwan & Chow pun datang gak. So ikut giliran yg cabut, Erwan (Dis), Chow (Mac), Zamri (May)
Adalah gambar sikit2 yg aku snap utk kenangan.
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| Saturday, 28-Apr-2007 14:11 |
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Hangat Kembali Cinta Pertama
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solo putera, iso tggi ni, nak dapat lighting lebih
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cikgu edy tgh bagi briefing
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tempur putra
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Ini cinta pertama....
Penghasilan bakat peringkat akar umbi selama 2 hari yg lalu. Tapi, agaknya kamera "tunjuk&tangkap" sudah tidak sesuai. Kena naik taraf ke tahap yg lebih moden. Gambar tak seberapa, takde mood nak cerita sangat.
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| Friday, 23-Feb-2007 02:47 |
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Peristiwa Bukit Kepong - Malayan Alamo
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Wahai Jurnal,
57 tahun yang lalu, peristiwa ini berlaku.
Aku rasa rakyat Malaysia sekarang ini sudah terlupa akan persitiwa puluhan tahun dahulu. Permohonan Chin Peng utk kembali ke negara ini sepatutnya tidak wujud pun, aku tak faham kenapa ade peguam yg sanggup memfailkan permintaan pengganas seperti dia utk kembali. Ada org kata, dia sudah tua, patut di beri peluang pulang, sampah lah, org yg sudah tua tak perlu di pertanggungjawabkan dgn kesalahan semala muda? Jgn dihina perjuangan rakyat Malaysia, walau ape pun bangsa mereka dgn menerima kembali seseorang yg telah banyak melukakan negara ini.
Al-Fatihah.
The Siege of Bukit Kepong (Kepung): The Malayan Alamo
by A L (Paddy) Bacskai
Kampong Bukit Kepong Police Station, lay at the SW apex of a big bend in the Muar river at around the 65km mark and upstream from its mouth on the west coast of the State of Johore in Malaya. The village itself was small and isolated - consisting of about twenty shops and groups of accompanying houses - and by early 1950 the area had became a hive of CT activity. From the month of January onwards, there had been a noticeable increase in the tempo of contacts & incidents - both road and river ambushes amongst other - but the most disconcerting of all, was the discovery of blazed trail markings showing the way towards the town. The nearest township of note to BK was Lenga, about 10km to the south along a rough enemy controlled dirt road in a vehicle or a 2 ½ hour foot patrol, but apart from this, it was just a few other like kampongs scattered about. The station was commanded by OCPS Sgt Ray Dancey - an old Palestine hand and away at the time and a point not missed by the CT - and manned by a mixed platoon of 15 Malay Regular and Marine Police Constables under the stocky and redoubtable Sgt Jamil Mohd Shah. At the time this force was complimented by three Special Constables (SC) and four local Auxiliary Police (AP) as needed by the post to assist with the guarding and other duty. A force of 22 all told. Thirteen police wives and children were also lodged in the married quarters at the rear of the compound. Communications in and out of BK were poor - hence the marine police attachments and the station’s launch service down to Muar - and signals to and from its nearest neighbour Kampong Java at about a kilometre away, as with kampongs Gek & Tui further on, was by the use of gongs. Even the outpost’s name was ominously translated as 'Siege Hill’- but this was historically believed to have originated from it’s 186m namesake 5km to the east. Now in the early AM darkness of the 23rd of February 1950, the 200 strong 4th Independent Coy under the joint leadership of one of the few Malay CTs within the MRLA called Muhammad Indera AKA Mat Indra from Muar (the main leader was believed the tactical mastermind & Commissar Goh Peng Tun), well armed with a full compliment of infantry weapons, began its move in towards the BK compound (for layout see map). The CT’s aim was to teach the police post a comprehensive lesson and to use it as an example to others and Mat Indra - who wore a talisman around his neck and so believed bulletproof by some - was contemplating a quick and easy straight forward job. As February the 23rd 2000 was the 50th Anniversary of the Battle at Bukit Kepong - an epic by any standard at arms - the following is a reconstruction of the phases of the battle which followed:
Lay out Map of BK Station under siege by CT
0400hrs - after some difficulty in the darkness, the CT Coy deploys to complete the encirclement of BK. The group is accompanied by some of the wives and children and these are to act as medical staff and to carry away the CT KIA (mainly in gunny sacks provided). Half the force is deployed to the front and main parts of the compound (Group 1), with the other half in Pl group lots (Groups 2 & 3), deployed to the other three sides. At this point, there is only L/Cpl Jidin bin Omar and SC Abdul Kadir Jusoh within the Charge Room, and two APs in Samad Yatin & Osman Yahya on guard in the compound backed by SC Jaffar Hassan with a Sten. There is also every indication, that the latter had become aware of the CT’s movements,
L/Kpl. 7186 Jidin Omar
MM 8680 Jaafar Hassan
0430hrs - SC Jaffar challenges and fires on a CT who is seen to fall and the attack on the wire begins and builds up to the accompaniment of screaming and bugle blasts and although all forward sides are attacked simultaneously, the CTs mainly concentrate on the penetration of the front of the installation and where the post’s main strong-points are housed. They had expected to totally surprise the station - but are in turn! Caught completely by surprised by the volume and intensity of the return fire. This particularly from the two Bren Guns embedded underneath the Charge Room - it being a raised structure on posts - but also as from within the C/R itself as well as from the back and sides of the compound. Around this juncture, AP Osman is KIA and SC Jaffar is wounded, with the wives and children of the policemen fully noted assisting their menfolk with the defence of the base,
0450hrs - the initial CT assault is beaten back after a protracted exchange but at the loss of Sgt Jamil who had been manning one of the Brens under the C/R, and who is now seen slumped lifeless over one of the weapons. There were trapdoors in use for access down to the Bren guns. Command is now assumed by the junior NCOs like the youthful and diminutive Cpl Mohd Yassin and the much larger L/Cpl Jidin bin Omar (later fatally WIA)and combined casualties for both sides at this time, are placed at a dozen plus. The police wives and children left sheltering in the flimsy walled and also elevated married quarter building behind, make up a good portion of this. Also as such, at around this period. Four of the wives and five children manage to make their escape out of the compound,
Sjn. Jamil Mohd Shah-Ketua Polis Balai Bukit Kepong
Kpl. 7068 Mohd Yassin Hj. Abdul Wahab
0500hrs - Auxiliary Police and small groups of citizen volunteers are mobilised around Kampong Java under the headman Penghulu Ali bin Mustaffa, and these react to the attack by going to BK’s aid. They’re expected by the CT rearguard however and in turn ambushed and held engaged in skirmishes and suffering casualties. About this time the defenders main firepower in the two Bren guns back at the station, are knocked out,
0530hrs - the CTs continue a number of assaults on the wire and lighting and which provides them with a small breach at the front side and with which they attempts an envelopment of the C/R but are still held and beaten back from within and from the interlocking fire from the married quarters. Some of the weapons are at this point wielded by the wives remaining. Mat Indra is reported frantic at the lack of progress after an hour and wary of the approaching daylight, calls for an all out bayonet charge at 0600. Both the compound and CT casualties had mounted and are being treated in situ by the wives and children as before. The CT casualties had been retrieved under fire, and it was noted how the police would not fire at the women and children so involved.
0600hrs - visibility is now better and the CTs hit the wire again in a frantic mass as ordered, but are again surprisingly beaten back with the exception of some further gains at the SW rear and left hand side by the married quarters. Mat Indra now calls for a pause to reconsider his options. During this period and as it had been throughout the engagement, loud hailers and personal voice addresses had been used on the defenders in an attempt to get them to surrender. But to no avail - in spite of the fact that they had suffered badly - and just as the many alternate offers of ‘safe conduct’ out of the area had been treated with defiance and derision,
0700hrs - the frontal targets are now isolated by the CTs and all efforts concentrated in the vicinity of the previous gains around the rear and SW side and this providing them with an instant result. One of the police wives captured in this thrust, Miriam Ibrahim the wife of Constable Mohamad Jaafar, told her captors that only an other woman and her young child were left alive in the married quarters. The CTs force Miriam to appeal to the men to surrender but this is duly ignored. About this time, Fatimah Yaaba and her son Hassan are also taken, also asked to appeal to the men, and on refusal Fatimah is executed. Her husband Constable Abu Bakar Daud the base’s MP launch driver down at his duty station on the Muar river - perhaps aware of the personal tragedy which had just taken place - elects to fight to the death in a skirmish with the CT sent to capture and sink his launch. In the final outcome he is shot through the chest & arm. There are indicators that some others were either sent or also went to assist him with getting away for help. But this group is also assumed engaged by the CTs. And although its also believed that the MP Constable could have saved himself if he chose by starting his motors and casting off, he never ever did. At this point, the CTs consolidate their hold on the rear of the complex through the torching of both the launch (which sank) and the married quarters - with the reported wife Saadiah and daughter Simah still alive inside and refusing to come out - and throwing the executed woman’s body into the flames as well. Also about this time, the villagers of Durian Chondong a riverine kampong to the west, dispatched a boat down to Lenga to inform the police of the attack,
MM 7493 Mohamad Jaafar
MM Abu Bakar Daud
0800hrs - full daylight and with the rear of the compound ablaze, the CTs execute a determined grenade ‘pincer’ attack against the C/R and are finally successful. Setting it ablaze as well. Then picking off both male and female survivors attempting to get out with rifle shots - some seen with their clothing fully on fire at this point - and capturing Hassan bin Abu Bakar the young son of badly wounded MP Constable Abu Bakar in the process. Hassan was caught in the vicinity of the silenced Bren guns, with some believing that he was the last person seen standing or perhaps even attempting to fire, one of the weapon at this duty station. Perhaps he was just too shocked to leave his comatose father nearby or his dead mother Fatimah’s funeral pyre. But either way! The brave lad was thrown live into the raging flames of the C/R along with all the dead and wounded police defenders including Sgt Jamil. Also about this time, news of the attack is relayed to Police District HQ at Pagoh, and a relief force of Jungle Squad and Seaforth Highlanders is prepared for a forced march to BK,
0930hrs - Mat Indra finally declares the objective taken - five hours after the commencement of what had been considered a simple action - and stating that they the MRLA ‘had dealt a glorious blow against the Imperialists and for the Liberation of the Oppressed People’ (he would later be KIA in an ambush)- infact Mat Indra was captured and later hanged in Perak Priosn, Taiping if i am not mistaken. Also around this time, a boatful of villagers from Durian Chondong and coming to investigate and to assist, are also engaged by the CT force as they pull out,
0940hrs - a spotter aircraft also sent out to investigate, calls back to base that there is nothing but a charred ruin - ‘with no signs of life in evidence’
1030hrs - the exhausted relief force from Pagoh led by OC JJ Raj Jr, finally arives to take charge and is greeted by scenes of massive devastation. But the refurbishment of the BK station area, at times a slow refurbishment, does now begin,
12 Regular Police, two Special Constables, all of the four Auxiliary Police and four dependants, a total of 22, fought to the death at the Battle of Bukit Kepong. AP Constable Ali Akop bin Ahmad, who had earlier been cited for a Colonial Police Medal for Gallantry for a previous action, and once out of rounds, was last seen charging the barbed wire with his parang as example. A further four constables were found severely wounded within the compound. Of these survivors, as apart from the women and children who had managed to slip out much earlier, only PC Yusof Rono and well in his seventies now, is still alive today. A further two APs were also KIA and a number of locals WIA during the relief actions as mentioned. The CTs would only ever admit to around 10 casualties, but a quadruple of this would be very much closer to the mark. From the outset, the garrison had been outnumbered ten to one yet it never slackened in its resolve to do its duty. Even after the death of Sgt Jamil, and who is credited with the setting of the tone of the resistance, no one nor at anytime, appeared to consider the numerous offers of surrender or ‘safe conduct’ held out to them by the CT. Bukit Kepong was also the first real indicator for the MRLA, that the affable layback Malay, might just not be the easy mark that had been estimated. And that they would clearly constitute an additional factor in their the MCP’s, over simplistic overview of Red independence and rule in Malaya. It was also noted how quickly the humble kampong Malays, reverted to the fatalistic strength of their Muslim faith when cornered. In the final analysis, the words of an SEP who was one of the attacking force expresses it all - ‘I admired them at the time, and admire them to this very day’.
Tapak Balai Polis Yg Tggl Selepas Serangan
Gambar Kenangan Anggota Polis Bukit Kepong
Anggota Polis/Keluarga Yg Dibakar Hidup2 atau Dibakar Setelah Mati
Gambar di petik dari Laman web Polis Malaysia
Artikel Di Petik Dari Laman Web Western Australia Veteran
Ade sedikit permbetulan yg dibuat berdasarkan maklumat sejarah terbaru di dalam pengetahuan aku.
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| Wednesday, 21-Feb-2007 03:58 |
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Kenduri Kahwin Lagi - Ulu Cheka
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Wahai Jurnal,
Aha, waktu cuti panjang, di mana semua org galak nak buat kenduri kahwin, aku tak kenal pengantin ini secara peribadi, jadi entry kali ini akan ada konsep perbincangan yg sedikit berbeza. Dimana konsepnya adalah, event2 dan suasana di hari kenduri. Kalau2 anda dari bandar, amat payah sekarang untuk mendapat kenduri yg mempunya level yg sama seperti di kampung2. Inilah laporan saya.
Masjid Kampung Tok Sega, Raub Pahang, shot di ambil sewaktu tgh baring, tggu mak n diyanah siap solat, layan gak, nyaris lena gua.
Persada pelamin di hadapan rumah, jarang nak jumpa org bersanding dah sekarang ni.
Pangkin kat belakang adik sepupu aku ini adalah tempat basuh pinggan, di buat dari batang pinang dan 2 katil bujang yg tidak terpakai lagi.
Bangsal tempat memasak, kerbu dan lembu dah siap di masak malam sebelumnya, siang tu aku cuma tlg2 memasak ayam goreng, boleh lah, balik kg 2/3 thn sekali tunjuk muka, perhatikan atap di bangsal tak di paku, senang nak alih zink kalau hujan, masih menggunakan kayu api utk memasak, tgk tempat gak, kadang2 dapur gas dah mengambil alih peranan.
Inilah tempat di mana mak2, makcik2, wan2 nak kenal anak si anu dan si anu, tempat semua org perempuan yg veteran berkumpul sambil siapkan hidangan2. Awas tempat paling hangat di kampung untuk episod cari menantu,  yeahhh.....
Shot istimewa yg di ambil dari sisi bawah bahagian tepi, menonjolkan alat muzik tradisional melayu Gong berlatar kan pokok yg ditumbuhi pohon parasit (tak ingat nama lah tapi, somebody help me, ada ayam something like that), kat kampung ni dorang tak main instrument kompang. Dia org panggil team muzik lain.
Inilah alatan muzik yg di mainkan, gendang setawok n gong berselangkan iringan bass dari kugiran org asli kat tepi sebelah kanan, saje je tak ambik. Stylo gak lah. Kebiasaannya kat area sini, malam tadinye, masa memasak dari jam 10 malam sampai ke pagi (dalam pkl 2/3 pagi cam tu kot, aku tak pernah stay sampai habis) akan ada kugiran main muzik live, n biasanya kugiran ini adalah kugiran org asli lah. Ok gak lah, scene yg berbeza di bandar, kat bandar sekarang ni banyak pakai jockey.
Inilah sekolah rendah di kampung aku. Mengabadikan nama seorang pawang diraja yg berasal dari ulu cheka, Tok Pawang Nong dikatakan bersepupu dgn moyang sebelah nenek perempuan aku dari pahang. Banyak kisah lisan yg disampaikan dari mulut ke mulut, tapi aku pun tidak berapa kenal dan tahu akan dia. Anda kenalkah tokoh tempatan di kawasan anda?
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| Thursday, 15-Feb-2007 12:19 |
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Free Style
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Wahai Jurnal,
(as per the moment m typing this message, m listening to Ali Mamak, Joget Dimanalah Jodoh, pernah dengar?)
Aku takde ape nak update, tapi kurang manis lak kalau tak update ape ape,maklumlah, ade pengunjung2 yg datang, nak tgk ade ke benda2 terbaru yg ada, tapi akhirnya tak ada. Tak bagus untuk bisnes.
Hari tu aku bersiar2 ke Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Jalan TAR, dgn mak aku, adoi letih jalan, dia nak cari tudung, layan je lah, lalu kat kedai tudung, nampak macam suasana yg best aku pun snap lah seround, satu shj, kalau kat kompleks membeli belah bertaraf dunia di kuala lumpur ni mesti aku dh di target oleh House Detective kot. Anyway ini lah hasilnye.
Kalau pakai D-SLR boleh dapat hasil yg lebih agung kot, tapi takpelah, sumber terhad, tetapi nafsu melimpah ruah, warna nya ada macam2, sebaris di arked ini, begitu banyak kedai menjual tudung dan kain yg belum berjahit, setapak melangkah keluar ke jalan belakang campbell, ratusan andai bukan ribuan gerai2 kecil yg kadang2 menjual produk yg generik, it struck me wonder why that this small business still can be around, and how to compete with the existing business, be it the gerai sebelah, atau kedai di dalam bangunan yg bergedung. Atau adakah bisnes ini hanya satu pintu rezeki pencarian yg menjadi asas memulakan perniagaan, Atau cuma menjadi penyambung hidup seharian yg belum tentu mewujudkan kekayaan seprati yg disebut oleh Tan Sri P Ramlee (Ladang Ladang, Estate Estate, Kilang Kilang, Factory Factory) Bunyi macam kekayaan yg banyak kan, tapi cuma repeatition dalam bahasa yg berbeza.
Melangkah keluar, nampak Maju Tower di kejauhan, kompleks yg agak sunyi, pasal takde wayang kot, tak ramai pun remaja gothiks, langsuir, puaka, rempit yg lepak di situ
Teringin lak nak ke Chow Kit, nak cari baju bundle, lama tak beli baju bundle, baju tshirt pun dah kurang, yg ade pun banyak yg dah koyak, dulu masa takde kereta naik bas number 14 sggp, jalan kaki lagi, panas2 pun boleh, sekarang haram, ade kereta pun maleh nak pergi. Dulu tiap2 kali balik KL mesti pergi, utk stok semester. Gua sengkek dulu beb.
Anda bayar tol?
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| Sunday, 28-Jan-2007 15:37 |
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Berlian Berdarah Blood Diamond
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Wahai Jurnal,
Kalau kau bernyawa & berjiwa, pergi lah menonton filem ini.
Blood Diamond
Director: Edward Zwick
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly
Rated: R16
Screening: Now
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As African diamond smuggler Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) says, "In America, it's bling-bling. But out here it's bling-bang."
And he's not kidding. Set in the late 1990s, this film certainly leaves no doubt as to where the blood in "blood diamond" comes from – and it's not because of its pretty pink hue. There are few punches pulled when it comes to showing war atrocities in this hard-hitting actioner with a message.
Blood Diamond opens with an innocent Sierra Leone fisherman, Solomon Vandy (a brilliant Djimon Hounsou), who has his world destroyed by the arrival of civil war in his village, in the form of sadistic, limb-chopping rebels from the RUF (Revolutionary United Front). Solomon manages to rescue his family but is himself enslaved and forced to work in a diamond mine.
There he makes the life-changing discovery of a priceless pink gemstone, possibly 100 carats, which brings him to the attention of the callous smuggler Danny, as well as an unpleasant RUF leader and, indirectly, a syndicate of foreign businessmen. Meanwhile, Solomon's beloved son, Dia, falls prey to the RUF and is trained as a child soldier.
From what we learn of Solomon's saviour, Danny, he's certainly no angel. Brutally orphaned in what was Rhodesia, raised in South Africa, a teenage soldier in Angola (handily explaining DiCaprio's wandering accent), and a former mercenary, Danny knows that "that diamond is my ticket out of this God-forsaken continent".
Danny meets and uses a crisis-junkie foreign correspondent, Maddy (Jennifer Connelly), to advance his desperate search for the diamond, and hands her a story on dirty diamond dealing along the way.
It can't be easy to distill an entire war and several current-affairs issues – predatory journalists, child soldiers, slave labour, international indifference, racism, war-mongering, man's inhumanity, etc. – into a fast-paced 143-minute action film. But Ed Zwick seems to have captured the essence, the fear and the dirt-cheapness of life in the conflict zones of Africa in the 1990s, while keeping the audience guessing over whether an immoral, self-centred mercenary will grow a heart.
Zwick has a nice eye for irony, too, with one beleaguered African villager commenting: "Let's hope they don't discover oil here or we'll have real problems".
A few too many shimmering sunsets and a cursory dash of romance may distract a little, but the story remains stirring, if a little exhausting. All that violence can become numbing. And as usual, our attractive leads manage to make it through several battle-zones with only a few decorative scratches on their million-dollar faces.
Along the way we're told that the United States, with its insatiable love of bling, is responsible for two-thirds of the world's diamond purchases, making it easy to see why this award-nominated film has rattled the cage of the diamond industry.
A mix of Hotel Rwanda and Lord of War, it is not easy to watch but it has some brilliant performances. Dipetik Dari stuff.co.nz By MARGARET AGNEW - The Press | Wednesday, 24 January 2007
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jgn marah aaa...apa khabar zam?
