Thank you Nana for your comment and advice. I reflected on what you said and I decided that clarifying was the best way to handle the situation. Knowing how emotional I am, I told my parents about what happened so that I could also recieve advice from them. My father then sent an SMS for clarification and in reply, more allegations were made against me.
I did certain things with good intentions and for the convenience of everyone. Unfortunately, situations can be perceived differently and when you want to believe in something, there's always a way to find so called evidence to support your allegations.
However, I did not give up. This is my reputation at stake and I sent an SMS apologizing for any mistakes that I have made against her and also saying that I did not want a friendship ruined over one allegation that turned into multiple allegations.

I did not receive a reply. I think I have done my part and my conscience is clear. I admitted to my mistake but I will not take slander without trying to clear up the situation. Think what you want of me, I have no obligation to proof my innocence.
Allah is my witness. The two malaikats on my left and right are my witnessess.

I think my Eid has been ruined enough and I'm going to spend the rest of my time with my family and trying to catch up on lectures that I missed.

Allah is Most Forgiving and Most Merciful. I have faith in Him.


- iPhone blogging

I just reached home after spending 5 miserable days in a hospital. I refused to continue my treatment at home because I'd have to go home with a cannula in me. The doctors had an awful time trying to put a cannula in me and it was painful for me. They had to put a new one in almost everyday because it'd not stay in the right position. So when the nurse took it out this morning for what I thought was the final time, I was extrmely happy. But when she came back n explained I had to have another one I refused.
The registrar came and had a chat with me and I told him my concerns abt having the cannula and he said he didn't have to listen to my excuses. I was quite pissed off at that because I had genuine concerns. I have an exam on Friday and the cannula restricted the movements of my arms.
And each time I cried out in pain, the doctors will say Oh you should know better than that.
All of them were biased against me because some idiot put in the fact that I'm a medical student in my file.
And like my diagnosis is still unknown. First it's viral, then bacterial, then viral and bacterial, then autoimmune. Nobody could give me an answer but they insisited try were right despite negative tests. So what's the point of a test if you're not going to believe the results even after u repeat the tests? And ur giving me antivirals and antibiotics for an unknown condition. How do I know I've not been getting better on my own ( with Allah's will of course ) and not because of the medication???

But the nurses were really nice and lovely and were my advocates and refused entry to Any medical students and made my file invisible on the computers so that nosy medical students wouldn't read my notes.
So I'm much better now Alhamdlellah and hoping that I made the right decision in refusing treatment inshaAllah. I may be going home to my family for eid after this health scare because there's nothin like home and family that can make you feel better.

- iPhone blogging

Turning to Allah

I am going to see the doctor again today. The pain is unbearable. I feel miserable because all I can do is lie in bed, and even that hurts. The glands in my neck are so swollen that I've only drank some water and Ribena for the nausea. I don't want to complicate things by being dehydrated but I don't feel hungry, which is weird. I've had a small piece of bread with some meat and some biscuits since tuesday afternoon.
A friend said why am I asking people to make dua for me when I should be making them myself. I was also told I'm not Muslim for the way I was acting, crying non stop.
I have been making dua and I pray that Allah swt grants them but sometimes I just feel sad. Of course I know that Allah is Almighty and in the blink of an eye, He can change the entire universe.
I am not losing faith in Him. But it is possible to feel so alone when Im really not alone. Reading the comments left by my dear readers gives me comfort that I could not get from crying all day and all night. It gave me strength to not give up and to keep hoping.
A doctor is never always right.

- iPhone blogging

Differential diagnosis

I have been feeling very unwell the past few days and I finally managed to get an appointment to see the doctor.
I was diagnosed with a disease and I am feeling extremely upset at the diagnosis as well as depressed at the prognosis. I will not die of the disease but my life will be defined by the it.
I am unsure about what my plans are as I am still hoping that all the tests will come back negative.
Please make dua for me, so that I get better and that the doctor made a mistake by diagnosing me before the test results are back.


- iPhone blogging

Is seafood halal?

I haven't done any reading about this topic yet but I have been told by someone that seafood is not halal. He thinks only fish and prawns are okay for us. Seafood like oysters, mussels, calamari etc are not okay because he says they don't have bones.

Is anyone able to clear up this matter about what can and cannot be eaten?


- iPhone blogging

Re: Ramadan feasts

My phone isn't allowing me to post comments so I'm taking the easy way out and replying comments in a new post.

@ ellen557: Wa alaykum assalam sister. That is way too much pizza! :) did u buy them or make them? I hope you're not feeling too lonely without your husband. If we were in the same city, I will be your Iftar buddy. It is nice that many people say Salam especially in Ramadan. it always makes me feel less alone. Where I come from people don't usually say Salam to each other so it's really nice that I get to experience this in a western country.

@Splendid: Wa alaykum assalam and thank you for finding my thoughts cute lol. Glad that you are enjoying home cooked meals :) it really isn't that bad eating the same food a few days at a time, especially since I am hungry. Eating out is always another option, but like Ellen, I am also sick of pizza and kebabs.

@ Adib: Assalam alaykum. Moms are amazing aren't they? I only wish I can be like my mom. I don't know how they always give and hardly ever take, never asking for anything in return. Hope you've been helping your mom cook!
Have you been reading the twilight series? I don't want to scare anyone off by snarling at them! Haha

@ Saafir: Wa alaykum assalam. Actually your Suggestion is the best answer. I recently noticed that two of my friends had the prayer time schedule and the Maghrib times were 10 mins apart! Both of them follow the schedule to a T, although I find that the earlier one occurs when the sun is still up and it's still too bright. The safest bet is of course always to wait for sunset instead of relying totally on a schedule. All it takes is a little peek out the window. You do sound suspicious, but not to worry the guys weren't trying anything funny. They were truly hungry and wanted to know when it was ok to eat.

@ Anonymous: Wa alaykum assalam. I am not really clear on what you're actually asking. But since you placed "great" in quotation marks and you left the comment anonymously, I can only assume it's because you think I am not that great after all. I don't fault you, in fact I totally agree with you. I am not great or perfect but I am always reminding myself to be better. You may have mistaken my cynical/sarcastic tone as me being condescending toward others. Not everything I say is right but I am not forcing anyone to agree with me. If I have misinterpreted your question, I'm sorry.
- iPhone blogging

Ramadan feasts

So, have you been cooking all day and eating all night?

As students living without awesome moms to cook iftar, we usually cook a larger amount of one dish and eat the same dish for a few days in a row. Since I've been at a sleepover the past 4 days, I only rediscovered my food in the fridge this evening. I had old leftovers for iftar and it made me a little sick. The food wasn't bad, I guess it's just not fun to break your fast with old leftovers.

I am currently indulging in a mug of apple juice and an omelette.

I would fly back home just to have a meal cooked by mom.

Also, being out and about as a hijabi in Ramadan makes you a natural target for "Excuse me sister, what time is Maghrib?" by hungry uni boys who just collected their kebabs from the shop and are counting down the minutes til they can sip some lemonade, smoke half a pack of cigarettes and finish their kebabs.

Conforming

Two nights ago,someone mentioned that I'd score better marks if I started conforming. He was making reference to my attire of abaya during physical examinations of patients. Gee, I didn't realise that a free flowing long dress restricted my ability to examine a patient competently. So maybe I'd start scoring 80/80 instead of the crappy 68-78 range that I've been achieving if I switched to a smart dress shirt and black pants?
Or maybe he was referring to my hijab like my old tutor who basically said I'd fail if I didt remove it while listening to patients' heart sounds? But he couldn't possibly have been talking about hijab! He's Muslim, for goodness sake.

Oh and another brother asked me why I'm always wearing the same black abaya. If you looked close enough, you'd realise they're different but I don't want you looking close enough. If you think I wear the same abaya five times a week, that's fine by me. Also, black is a personal choice because color makes me look fat.

Phew sarcasm limit reached for this week.

- iPhone blogging

Out of touch

I just cooked some rice without rinsing the grains first and everyone who has ever cooked rice knows that you just cannot skip that step.
I am preoccupied with too many other things to focus my mind on the thing that I am currently doing.
There's the research project outline due next week, I need to call my GP and schedule my visits, notes to be printed, a birthday card to make, I have to think of something savoury to bring for tutorial next week etc
Anyways, Ramadhan is coming. Finally, something to look forward to.

Hope everyone will be able to make the most out of this month and come out of it feeling like a better muslim and gunning for your next Ramadhan.

troubled times

so recently my life has been plagued with several bad episodes but nevertheless, i pulled through just to be knocked down again this morning.
this time, it involves Uni. we have this huge research project coming up that carries into 4th year and at the start of the year, I was asked by 2 of my classmates (let's call them A and H) to be part of their group. I agreed.
unfortunately, the 2 of them were under the impression that we were supposed to be working in groups of 4 so recently, they asked a buddy of theirs (IM) to join the group.

this morning, the research project coordinator mentioned that only groups of 3 were allowed and pair work would only be granted for the 'leftover' students who were groupless.

perhaps IM didn't know that I was part of the group but he took that opportunity to reaffirm his group membership by telling H that he, H and A were going to work together. H agreed and I'm like WHOA. Are you guys actually ditching me when I'm seated right here in between the 2 of you??

H felt a little bad but what could he do? He mentioned that ok, we'll kick IM out and take you in but I said no because that won't solve the problem. Someone will still be groupless and even though I'm upset, it's not really IM's fault because H should have mentioned that I was part of the original 3.

So ok, I was feeling a little down and I had hurriedly sent SMSes to everyone I knew in the lecture hall asking if anyone needed a 3rd member. Unfortunately, everyone already filled their 3 spots.
I know that the project coordinator will help to pair me up with someone but I would have liked to work with my friends...

What made me feel worse though was when IM mentioned that he was going to have a piece of brownie at H's house. He then said to me that I should have given H and A brownies so that they would have chosen me instead. I'm like EXCUSE ME?! I baked those brownies and I gave it to them!!

I know this sounds petty and really childish but come on, you took my spot away from me and then you say something like that....anyone would have felt upset. Anyway, if I have to give someone brownies just to make them take me in then I think I can find better friends elsewhere.

I am not enjoying Uni at all right now.

I need a friend...like you wouldn't believe.

Abaya

I've been wearing the abaya on a daily basis for close to a year now. I wear it to Uni, I've worn it on shopping trips, when I watched movies, walked on the sand at the beach, cultured bacteria in the lab, examined 4 different patients in less than 8 minutes each, I've worn the abaya to the market, I've even worn it to sleep when I was too tired to change. I went to work wearing the abaya, been on a fishing boat in an abaya and climbed to the top of a steep hill at Rockingham in an abaya.
My point is that the abaya has not restricted my daily activities in any way. I wear it because it is comfortable. It is worn loose and therefore provides modest coverage. That being said, the abaya is elegant and available in different colors and designs. Modest doesn't mean dull.

This past month has been difficult for me with people telling me to quit wearing the abaya. They tell me I am young so I should be wearing dresses or jeans. Apparently the abaya makes me look old, dull and fat. They think I am insecure about my body and this is why I hide it in the abaya. Some say that abaya is meant only for Arabs.

I never knew so many people could be so wrong about one thing.

I wear the abaya because firstly it is clothing that I feel best covers what needs to be covered (when worn appropriately) on a Muslim woman's body. Secondly it is extremely comfortable. Thirdly, most of my abaya are made from material that does not need ironing and for a busy university student, this is a dream come true.

These are my reasons for wearing the abaya. I know that I can also wear jeans and long tops but I choose not to.

So let them say what they want to. Their words hurt but I know what I want and I have every right to choose what I think is best for myself. After all, it is just a piece of garment and sometimes I wonder if these people have nothing else to fret about.

Wearing the abaya makes me feel happy and it sucks that people who supposedly care about me are trying to take this happiness from me.

- iPhone blogging

I'm back with my family right now.
Exams were terribly difficult and the wait for my results is getting pretty stressful.
other than that, nothing eventful has happened to me.

That time of year again

Dad's here and despite the fact that I spent hours tidying my room, the first statement he made when he entered the room was... "WHY IS IT SO MESSY?!"
My heart is crushed :(

Australia wants to ban the burka. So few women wear them anyways and to focus so much time/energy on this 'security' topic seems like a total waste. Focus on other more important things like, the economy.

A christian politician was asked whether he wanted the burka banned to protect the women or just because he didn't like the look of the burka. He said he wanted it banned for both reasons but who are you trying to kid, mister? Have you ever spoken to a muslim woman wearing hijab/niqab/burka?

And, in case you haven't already heard, DELETE FACEBOOK!!! -way ahead of all of you :)

Wouldn't you love some right about now?

Random? But here I am wearing my favourite pair of socks to kindergarten.

The Burka- A Security Threat?

I was watching a weekend morning talk show and they were discussing if Australia might follow suit in banning the Burka. The main reasons were that the women were being opressed and that the burka posed a significant security threat.

There was a lady on the panel who seriously believed that burkas were a threat to national security because "you don't know what they could be hiding in there!" She went on to say that she has never seen a woman being truly happy while wearing the garment, since they have been forced by men to cover their faces. Young girls were also brainwashed into thinking that they have to cover up their faces and body.

1) So, that's why they scan my hijab at the airport! They're afraid that the round object at the back of my head could be something else (B-O-M-B) besides my hair tied up in a bun! But then again, I've seen girls with bun-less hijab heads also get scanned so maybe we have wires running under our hijab?

2) You've never seen a woman wearing burka happy because you can't see her smiling duh!

3) What about girls being brainwashed into thinking that showing off their bodies was the only way to be popular or socially accepted? There are not only half naked girls on TV anymore, they're COMPLETELY naked.

And Pauline Hanson doesn't want to sell her house to a muslim. *shocker!! lol, why would any muslim want to enrich her with a few million dollars anyways? I say, rich muslims everywhere, don't waste your money.

I have two exams tomorrow, one at 12 and the other at 2.

I. AM. NERVOUS.

I'll take my 2B pencil + eraser, answer the questions that I'm sure of, then the questions that I think I know the answers to and then, I'm going to WING IT!

Hoarder

I have a really bad habit of keeping things I don't really need or use. For example, if someone gives me a present or mails me a card, I'll keep the gift wrapping or envelope. I only clear my SMS inbox when there is absolutely no more space and hey, with the 16Gb iPhone, there's plenty of space. I keep bouquets until they absolutely start to rot and stink.
I just get too emotionally attached to little things, as if throwing the stuff away would mean that I stopped appreciating the person or the gift.
Anyways, I was feeling restless after reading my notes for 5 minutes and I decided to open my SMS inbox aaaaand, I accidentally deleted ALL of my SMSes.

Imagine the pain I am going through.

Women

Women are women's harshest critics and why is that??!!
Ever walked into a room during a family gathering and got told that you looked like you had put on weight? Or have you over heard someone gossiping about the possible reasons as to why your sister broke off her engagement? Guess who said that? Your aunt, of course! Or your mother's cousin's wife's daughter.

I'm not saying all women are nasty, I'm saying that women need to give a little space to each other and how about a little support? A simple praise, compliment or words of encouragement can go a long way in maintaining rapport and strengthening a relationship.

So, next time you see your friend after a long time, take your focus away from her expanded waistline, and instead, compliment her on her gorgeous navy blue hijab (because really, in your head, you were already thinking how much nicer it would look on you).

waiting for Fajr

I pray like clockwork and IslamicFinder's Athan keeps me on schedule. The mind remembers surahs, the eyes focus on the prayer mat- at times though, they wander as if looking for an answer to a question that has already been answered, the lips silently read the surahs, hands are folded- right over left and the feet are planted firmly on the ground.

But, going through the motions doesn't mean anything if the intention is not right.

Why do YOU pray?

ps.I was asked this question recently and I found it a little hard to summarize effectively. Well, I guess I only had one point, which was praying is obeying the commands of Allah swt, and then I got distracted and went slightly off topic.

Things lecturers do that annoy me

They put up a color intensive slide that is of no importance to understanding the topic.
I once had a lecturer who used to put up slides of pictures of his face superimposed onto muscular bodies.
No sir,I don't have the time to edit those slides out. -_-

Waiting for FIRO

I just found out that the man I've been waiting for, holding out hope for, got engaged a few months back and didn't tell me even though he knew very well that I was still hopeful.
Needless to say, I am not a happy person right now.

When I read about it, I just cried. I am still upset and I wish I had been mature enough to wish him well and congratulate him on the engagement. Anyways, it has happened and I've finally found out. I've cried and now the intial shock is gone. End of story.

Allah knows best.

Living Solo

For the sake of bilateral relations, this post has been deleted.

Reverse Dawah

Brothers telling sisters who have just started wearing hijab, and doing their best at covering up; wearing summer dresses with a cardigan and jeans - "You looked better without hijab"

Good one, boys!

Weekend Review

I spent the long weekend doing absolutely nothing related to Uni. I caught Blind side and 3 Idiots and read House Rules by Jodi Picoult.
Blind Side was fantastic and I really enjoyed Sandra Bullock's character, right down to her accent. Having previously read about Bullock's involvement in the movie, I was pleased with the way her character had been introduced into the movie smoothly.
3 Idiots was an absolutely touching movie and the excellent subtitles ensured that nothing was lost on the mainly non-Hindi speaking audience. Even when it rained, people just got up and stood for the remainder of the movie. Nobody wanted to miss anything. I had initial doubts as to whether I would enjoy the movie but five minutes into the movie, I knew I would want to watch it a second time. Where can I find a DVD with awesome English subtitles?
House Rules was disappointing because I figured out the ending of the book before I had even read half of it. Picoult's books are getting very predictable and somehow, reaching the last quarter of the book, it seemed like she was trying to squeeze the story into a set number of pages. I don't think I will be reading this book again.

Okay, now back to nematodes, cestodes and trematodes. Go, WORMS!

She is Islam, and I am in love.

Have you heard him yet?

He's absolutely riveting. No music.

The death of fast food chicken burgers

brother @ kebab shop: Sister, I would like to give you some advice...

me: *freaking out, what did I do wrong??!!

brother @ kebab shop: I want to tell you that your chicken burger,..I'm not sure if it's halal.

me: huh?!

brother @ kebab shop: It is not 100%, I am not sure. When we buy, we check the halal certificate and the man said it is halal but I am just not sure.

me: Ohh..really? Okay, I don't want it then. *pushes burger back to him.

brother @ kebab shop: No no, In shaa Allah for today it is halal. I also eat it. Just I wanted to advice you, because it's You..sister. Next time, try to order something different.

me: erm, okay!

Walking to Uni was like walking through a jungle. The underpass was flooded so I took a risk and ran across the highway. I held my abaya up by about an inch so that the branches won't tear a hole in my abaya, oblivious to the fact that anyone would even care that I was wearing jeans inside.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone jumped next to me and said, "Does Nadia wear jeans?!"

lol, there are a lot of misconceptions about hijab, abayas and what muslim women can and cannot wear. For example, I'm pretty sure she thinks I wear the hijab to sleep & shower. It must totally blow her mind that I actually don't wear the hijab 24/7.

Anyways, everyone in tutorial was complaining about cars and windows and leaks when my tutor piped up with "Perth is not prepared for any disaster. We will not survive a terrorist attack", causing some people to look my way. Great, just wonderful.

You know what though? Sometimes I feel like I've been stereotyped so many times that I actually victimize myself? Like maybe those people weren't looking at me in an accusatory way but I just felt it because it is what I have come to expect. I feel discriminated, even when in actuality, it may not have been the case.


Have you ever felt that way?

Hail Storm

my once clean abayas and other clothes that now I will have to wash like multiple times just to get the dirt out :( and there are splinters everywhere. definitely have to throw away some clothes.
ICE and our broken screen door

broken lights and ice.

heard there's another storm on it's way? i hope tomorrow the weather will be much better because I am not walking to Uni in a hail storm, in shaa Allah

I feel so depressed over damaged clothes, imagine those who got hurt physically and damaged their homes badly. :(

the awesomeness that is my hot pink vaio

I really wanted a macbook but then I saw this gorgeous babe and I fell in love with her :D

Hello Internet

We got the internet up :)

I spent two hours listening to how every single type of meat I've ever eaten could be filled with awful worms + eggs that will mature and multiply in my intestinal crypts. I've actually seen a worm exit someone's body through an orifice. It was mighty gross.

Then, I ignored the rumblings of my empty stomach and decided HEY, I could go vegetarian!

But, I found out that cattle get worms because they eat from contaminated pastures.

So everything can be contaminated. I am definitely over cooking everything from now.

Assalam alaykum

It's been awhile. Anyways, I'm using a nifty little gadget that gives me mobile broadband until the internet in my house is connected. Lol I survived 3 weeks with little to no internet access.
University has been a little unexpected. It's tougher and more busy. I haven't cooked anything since I came back to Australia, with the exception of egg but that hardly counts as cooking, no?
My parents are happy about it because they think Imma lose some weight but I left out the part about eating out and snacking on junk.
I have a respiratory OSCE tomorrow and I hope my patient is healthy haha. I don't want to pull the short straw and actually get a sick patient for my first ever OSCE because I'm afraid I won't detect all the signs since I'm new at this. My exam is from 0800 to 0808, yup 8 minutes of fast furious action.
Okay, I gotta go get ready to stain some bacteria we cultured on Tuesday. I hope we don't find E.coli on the finger pad samples because that would be mighty gross. You know what's good about being a girl in hijab? You get away with telling your lab partner that doing a nose swab really isn't good for the image LOL

@ Singapore Zoo

The elephant show was the best therefore there aren't any pictures of that because I was too busy enjoying it. The day was pretty fun except for one unfortunate incident where a muslim lady thought it was appropriate to keep shoving her daughters forward, intruding into my personal space, stepping on my toes and then once they pushed past me, they nicely tapped the shoulder of a non muslim woman infront and said 'excuse me'.
I moved the first time around to let her younger daughter through even though she was about 10, and was as tall as me. Then when her taller teenage daughter started shoving me I was not going to move until she asked me to. It's pathetic that children don't say things like 'excuse me' or 'please' anymore because their parents are to busy shoving them forward to teach them manners.
So it's really more of a manners thing but what got me really pissed was that they treated another muslim like crap.

Theme Parks

a few of the crazy rides
that's us, at the bottom of the tower after the crazy drop

gorgeous goldfish, and there were different varieties, some looked really creepy.

Ocean Park was AWESOME like crazy wild rides but the day we went, it was too windy so they closed the cable car rides, the hot air balloon and the biggest roller coaster. But we took all the other rides. At the end of the day, we were wet, cold and shivering, tired from all the walking but extremely pleased.




Hong Kong Disneyland was fun but the queues were not. Parents came up with the brilliant strategy of letting their kids push through the crowds and then they got to cut the line because their kids were at the front of the queue. I didn't mind at first but after awhile it got really annoying.

Hong Kong in pictures and a few words.

@ Hong Kong International Airport

@ Indian restaurant near Islamic Centre. Chicken biryani.

@ Islamic centre. It was a Sunday, and full of Indonesian domestic workers. Tip: make sure you have wudhu beforehand because queuing for the washroom will take you ages.

One of the stops during our half day city tour. Tour guide tried to convince us there was nothing wrong with touching the God of Fortune statue for some luck as well as walking on a bridge that extended your life by 3 years each time you crossed it. My brothers and I just went around taking pictures of the scenery.

@ Hotel Lobby. Room was clean but a little tight. Housekeeping was amazing :)

@ brothers' room. no idea why they took a picture AFTER they messed things up..sheesh, boys :D

@ ferry terminal. Christmas lights were still up, amazing view but this picture doesn't do it any justice.

@ entrance of shopping mall, be prepared to walk alot in malls. they are HUGE.

@ pedestrian crossing, too many people.

nobody says 'excuse me' so be prepared to push or be pushed :b

@ another shopping mall.

ok, to be continued tmr because i am sleepy :)

Playing host to two arab men

Recently, my brother played host to 2 arab men. They had thought that Singapore was a muslim state. Unfortunately, we're secular!
Things were definitely unpleasant when my father decided to treat both of them to dinner in a fancy restaurant. One of them refused to eat because he doubted that the food was halal. Despite showing him the HUGE Halal certificate, he did not want to eat. My father called the manager of the restaurant to explain to the man that the ingredients as well as the preparations for the meal are all halal certified.
He still didn't eat.
I feel pretty insulted that he would think that my father would bring him to a restaurant that was not halal and then to make things worse, lie to him and paste a false halal certificate on the wall.

We might not be living in a muslim majority country, but we are muslims just the same.

When Race,Religion and Language Collide

Malaysia - A recent court ruling allowed a Catholic newspaper (by Malaysia's Roman Catholic Church) to use the term 'Allah' in its Malay Language edition, overturning a three year government ban on non-Muslims using the term 'Allah' in prayers and religious literature. The ruling ignited a series of arson attacks on churches. The government is appealing the verdict, citing that making the term 'Allah' synonymous with the term 'God' will lead to confusion among Muslims and may cause them to convert to Christianity.

Religious tension caused several government leaders to condemn the attacks as un-Islamic. Church leaders have also stepped up to deliver statements of forgiveness for the arsonists as well as to state that the attacks were done by extremists and do not represent the majority of Muslims in the nation.

(This is starting to read like a newspaper article.)

Firstly, I don't see why the Malay language edition of the newspaper HAS to use the term 'Allah'. When I write in Malay, I use other terms such as 'Tuhan' to represent God. The paper argues that many Arab Christians use the term 'Allah' but isn't Allah an Arabic word? So, wouldn't Arab Christians speak in their native tongue? Or am I wrong to assume that anyone would choose to use a term that they are most comfortable with? Arab Christians speak Arabic and use the term 'Allah'. Malaysian Christians speak Malay and use the term 'Tuhan'. Or not. Is it really that big a deal or am I being ignorant if I say that it's just a word and people should just live without fighting over it? I think I will research on this.

Secondly, I don't like the way the media has been sensationalising the situation in Malaysia. The Church leaders have been shown delivering messages of peace and tolerance to church goers while Muslim leaders have been shown shouting into loudhailers, protesting the ruling and proclaiming the court verdict as an attack against Islam. I am pretty sure that there's a Christian somewhere in Malaysia itching to burn down a mosque, just like there is a Muslim somewhere in Malaysia shaking his head in disgust at the arson attacks. News headlines read 'Another Church Attacked' with pictures of a badly damaged church. However, a few of the churches were hardly damaged and service continued. The same file picture was being used again and again even though it was a different church. Terrible representation.

What do all of you think? Should Malaysians live and let live? Or should they continue to protest until the court ruling is overturned?

* I do not condone any acts of violence nor do I tolerate insults to Islam.

Hong Kong

Assalam alaykum everyone.

2010 started with a divorce, deaths and now a trip to Hong Kong. I'll be taking lots of pictures and maybe if I get a nice one, I might post it up here when I return from my trip.

Roller coaster rides in an abaya is okay, right? :D