Happy Eid Mubarak!

Happy Eid Mubarak! :)

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Today is Friday, September 10, 2010, the day which is actually a blessed festival of Eid ul-Fitr for Muslim all around the world. Firstly, I want to wish all my Muslim friends here “Happy Eid Mubarak”. May God always bless you in this holy and auspicious day, and may it be a new beginning for better life. I wish you all health, success, and happiness as well. Even though I am not a Muslim, I still want to appreciate it. This festival is celebrated after 40 days of fasting has been implemented. In this festival, Muslim usually exchanges greeting like “Eid Mubarak” toward one another after performing the Eid prayer. They realized all the mistakes and sins they had done and then they request for forgiveness each other. Practically the sins they have made was cleansed as the result of implementation of fasting. They also visit their family in order to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr day. This is one type of a tradition that sometimes has to be done among them. In my country, all the Muslim who works in the capital city usually come back to their hometown to gather together with their family. So it really affects the traffic flow because it become so crowd and so many accidents happen in this time. However the government has repaired the damage road, still kilometers of traffic jam happen every year. Beside that, in the form of government concern to the Muslim employees, they mandated a rule to give a salary bonus. Yea, I don’t really understand the Eid ul-Fitr tradition in Malaysia but I am pretty sure that it is not really different with Indonesian tradition such as greet each other, forgiveness request, and come back to hometown. I see that most of the offices and banks are closed same as what happening in Indonesia. Last night on my way back home, I got stuck in the road then I realized that it was a takbir night where the sounds of muezzin chanting in the mosques. Yesterday night, I also saw so many oil lamps lit up outside the houses. Oh yea, I just remember I got one bunch of glutinous rice cake from my Muslim neighbor. In my place, they called the cake as “ketupat” or “lemang”.

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They wrap the glutinous rice cake with the coconut leaf. Glutinous rice cake is one kind of traditional and special dishes in this festival. The last thing that grabs my attention about this festival is the traditional clothes. Most of the men and women are wearing that outfit. For men, they call the clothes as “baju koko” or “baju melayu” in Malay language. Baju koko is a collarless shirt with long or even short sleeve. It usually has embroidered design and added with a kilt sarong. Men have to wear a “peci” (traditional headwear). In this modern period, men can also wear western businessman suits as an alternative option. Beside that, the traditional clothes for women is familiar as “baju kebaya” in Indonesian or “baju kurung” in Malay language. It is a combination of loose-fitting blouse with brocade or broidered, long skirt that usually batik, and hijab. There are many things are interesting about Eid Mubarak and it must be maintained well. So, once more I wish you “Happy Eid Mubarak”.

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Colors of Malaysia (Part II)

Here it is the Colorful Malaysia part two!! Here, I want to write again about Malaysia, the country where I gain knowledge. This is to continue of the unfinished part one. If in part one I wrote about the nation flag and races, here in the part two, I want to write about the tourism and the food. Malaysia is a developing country which also famous in its tourism. So many places can be visited here, such as Genting High Land, Petronas Twin Tower, Langkawi Island, Redang Islang, Bukit Bintang Walk, Malacca, and Sunway Lagoon. Genting High Land is the entertainment place, which located in the top of the mountain. The weather there is really cold and foggy. There are so many hotels in Genting but I wonder if it is always full in the weekend and in the holiday time. Genting is a really well known place to play gamble. So many Chinese who play gamble everyday. In Genting, there is also a big shopping mall and theme park, which is provided for children.

This is Genting Highland looked like!

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Beside that, Petronas Twin Tower and Bukit Bintang Walk is a shopping area. Here the tourists can find anything even the traditional food. I really suggest for every shopaholics to visit them. Oh yea, there is one area called China Town in Petaling Street. China Town is always popular all over the world remember that so many Chinese people spread in Malaysia.

China Town!

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While Langkawi and Redang island are the nature and beautiful panoramic beaches. The tourists can try water sport, spa treatment, and enjoying the nature as well. Then about Malacca, it was actually the first place where the white people come to Malaysia. Malacca used to be a center of spice trade when the colonial time. Nowadays, it is very rich of cultures, heritage, and diversity. There are so many ancient buildings in Malacca that built long time back and now become a tourist attraction. The last one is Sunway Lagoon, it is located in Subang Jaya area. This place provides entertainment and pleasure for tourists. There are some hotels there and one big shopping mall. There is also a theme park like in the Genting and so many clubs for clubbers. Tourism area has major contribution in making Malaysia more colorful. It attracts the tourists to come and enjoy Malaysia with its uniqueness.

Redang Sunrise

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Then go on to the food part. I seriously really like to eat nasi lemak, Malaysian traditional food. It usually served with fried chicken and chili sauce. It is damn nice and every tourists got to try it!! There are three major races in Malaysia, which are Malays, Chinese, and Indians. Those races are really influencing the type of the food in Malaysia. The elements of how they are cooking are blended together. That is what makes Malaysia is so unique and exquisite. The most common cuisine in Malaysia is about rice and noodle and sometimes in spicy taste. The most famous local fruit here is durian, which has a very pungent aroma.

Nasi Lemak!! hungry ~

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Beside all of that, Malaysian food considered as high fat content and it will risk the health. So because of that, most of Malaysian will cook at home only. Oh yea, Malaysia’s diversity also can be seen from some prohibitions in food. Muslims are not allowed to eat pork, which is really popular and loved by Chinese. Then Hindus cannot eat beef, some Buddhists are vegetarian, and Muslims cannot drink alcohol. So in the nutshell, Malaysia is really diverse.

Colors of Malaysia (Part I)

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Afternoon every one, I have just woke up from my sleep :) . To be honest, I am on my holiday right now. I come back to my country for a week. Yesterday I was leaving Malaysia at 6 in the morning. Yea talking about Malaysia, I like Malaysia so much. It is just so rich, various and interesting. I can see it from the pattern and the color of the nation flag and the people. I was so curious with the meaning inside the Malaysian flag so I decided to find this out and this is my research so far. The flag of Malaysia has three basic colors, which are blue, red, and white. The blue color represents vigilance, truth and loyalty, perseverance and justice. Beside that, blue color also represents the symbol of unity of Malaysia people. Blue color itself was adopted from British Union Jack and it represents the link between Malaysia and British as well. Then the red color represents hardiness, strength, bravery and valor. Last but not least, white represents the peace and honesty. Inside the blue square of the flag, there is a crescent and star imagery, it actually represents Islam religion. Then it is in the yellow color, which is a traditional royal color.

Beside all of that, there is one part that really grabs my attention. This part is the fourteen horizontal stripes of red and white. It is started with the red line on the top and continued by white line run down the flag. The fourteen stripes represent the equal status in the federation of the state and federal government of the thirteen member states of the Malaysian federation and the Federal District of Kuala Lumpur. As long as I know this flag is named as “Jalur Gemilang”, in English is “Glorious Stripes”. It was named by Prime Minister Tun Mahatir bin Mohammad. What a fabulous name! Continue to talk about the race, there are three major races in Malaysia which I am pretty sure everyone knows about it already. Those three major races are Malays, Chinese, and Indians. Firstly is about Malays. Malays are the largest population in Malaysia compared to Chinese and India. Mostly, all of them are Muslims and work as farmers and fishermen. They speak the national language, which is Bahasa Malaysia and it is really similar to Indonesian language. In my point of view, Malays are physically looked like Indonesian people. It can be seen from the color of the skin, their faces, and their eyes. This is the example picture of malays.

This's my friends. The black T-shirt named Malik and the girl named Amalina!

(Sorry I made this picture as an example :D )

Then the second one is Chinese. Chinese is the second largest population where nowadays become the power of the economy in Malaysia. Chinese was actually come to Malaysia in the 15^th century and mostly from Fujian and Guangdong. They have some dialects such as Hokkien and Cantonese. They also have some traditional culture such as Lion dance, Dragon dance, and Ang Pow. Recently, Chinese are English educated. They can speak English with their Chinese dialects in between. Most of them are well educated and involved in the business sector of Malaysia. And this is the example of Chinese.

Khan Yean Thoong

(Sorry I made this picture as an example :D)

The last one is Indians, they were originally from southern India and mostly speak Tamil. Their religion is Hinduism. They involved in the business sector of Malaysia, such as in restaurant that well known as “mamak stall”. Their traditions are really tied with the religion, for example during Deepavali (their Hindu festival) they will perform some rites and visit temples. I have seen a very big Indian temple in Batu Caves on my way to Genting High Land.

This is my friend in my previous college.

This is all about the Colorful Malaysia part one ;)

College Life!

It's Me!

* If you don't know my face x)

Hey! It is already 6.06 PM and I have just finished taken a bath. Actually, I have been in Malaysia for one year. I used to study in one private Information Technology university, which is located in Bukit Jalil. It’s name is APIIT/UCTI. I did my foundation there for a year but then I found myself not suitable to study business, even IT. So, I decided to move to Taylor University and study Mass Communication and HERE I AM! J My life here is much more interesting. Start from a great orientation, great friend, and now great classes. I had a good time in the orientation, such as in the city tour and in the party. I have never had this kind of orientation before. Even in my previous college, the orientation was just so boring. Here, it was really fun and nice. I really like it!! Oh yea, Taylor’s building is just so big, I got to get used to it. I tried to remember all the classrooms and all the divisions, haha, so I will never get lost here. It will really ashamed me if I get lost.

Check this out! This my new university look like !

This's the canteen

Beside that, I met so many new friends here, they are so mixed. First time I was shock because at Malaysia there are a lot of people come from different country and different race. As I know, there’re three main race in Malaysia; Chinese, Indian and local or people usually call them Malay. Then many of them come from Kazakhstan, China, United Kingdom, Africa, Singapore, Uzbekistan, and Indonesia as well. I knew so many friends from Medan and Jakarta here. It was actually made me feel home, haha… Anyways, people that I meet from different country have their own different to recognize them. Haha…for example, Chinese people have a bit yellow skin and slanting eyes and the size of their body a bit shot. Different from Indian people and another people. By this I mean that every race have their own characteristic/ specific things with them so it’s look different from each other. J

We All Different but We All still Can Smile !

In class, everything can happen. Stupid things... Maybe when friends in good mood or boring. And as students this always happen......

Yea!! Sleepy!! Do Assignment till the end of night. ! hahaha :p (Sorry dude, I post your picture for example! )

I did not really surprised with this mixed race because I have seen most of them in my previous college. Until today, I find that they all are good friend. May be sometimes there is a little misunderstanding among us, it is just because of different culture, behavior, and language. We just have to understand each other and communicate well. Then yea, for the language that mostly using English for communication, I am still trying to familiarize myself with it. I am still making a lot of mistakes because I used to speak in my native language. L Hmm, but all is okay as long as we want to learn. For the classes those are going on, I think that so far is good. I still can understand every chapter that the lecture taught me, just nowadays so many assignments to do. I wonder why it happens so even though I have just started my study here. Sometimes I have to go to bed very late just because I have to finish my assignments. Then the next day I just feel sleepy inside the class, lol! Oh yea, sometimes I also find that the assignment is a little bit hard. I have tried hard to do it but when I get stuck in the situation, I prefer to ask my friend to explain me. I wish that I could do all the assignments well. Wish me luck, God. and Enjoy College Life Friends!!!

Begin!

Today is my first day that i made blog. I know how to made a blog from Matthew Tong.

He's my friend in my class in APIIT/UCTI, Malaysia. He's very kind guy and he like to kidding.
Today, I start my new life. I must change everythings bad in me! x)