26th Reserve Officer Training Unit (ROTU) Sovereign Parade at UiTM tommorow!

(The picture above are the Commisioning Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst)

(The picture shown above are the Best Officer Cadets from each university & was taken during the 24th Edition of the Sovereign Parade in 2005)

On the 18th of JUNE 2007. Army, Navy, & Air Force Officer Cadets from various Public Institute of Higher Learning in Malaysia aka PALAPES/ROTU who have underwent a rigourous military training for 3 years will have themselves 'graduate' and recieve the scroll from the 13th Yang Dipertuan Agong Al-Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin ibni Almarhum Al-Sultan Mahmud (YDPA) tommorow. The parade will be held at at UiTM's (University Technology of MARA) and is expect to be witnesses by many family and current active in service or retired militarymen. This is the 2nd time UiTM host the sovereign parade since last 2 years which was headed by the 12th YDPA i.e. Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail who was a graduate from the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst which is the place to groom future leaders in not just military but other fields too.

Being in the 8th Intake of the UiTM Naval Reserve Officer Training Unit, my batch will graduate their training and will be promoted as being the 2nd Leftenant in the Reserve Navy. However, being a law student I have to drop my military training after 1 year to pursue in my studies of reading the law in the university as it takes too much time training as compared to my studies. I missed so much of the military life i had during my earlier years in the unversity. So tommorow I will not be promoted as a 2nd Leftenant in the reserved military service. However, i'm still proud of my friends who manage to finish it. Congratulations mate!

Being the sole law student in the university to enter the reserve navy is hard enough when u had no friends (within the law faculty) who had the same interest in the military. Often my friends at the faculty asked me, "Why do u want to enter the military? The strict training is hard for u as being a law student u know? How many hours do u think you'll spend a day studying than marching in the field and all those phisical training?" These questions and phrases that are often spoken from my law student friends who would rather have a relax life at the hostel.

I don't know why I love the military. Most probably because of passion...and most probably because it is in the blood of my paternal family to enter the service that is considered by many to be the 1/3 of the noble occupation and oldest in the world! The other 2 are Doctors & Teachers. U see, my grandfather Captain Adnan Seth served the army his whole life. His passion in serving the country by joining the military makes him quit his studies at SRP level and join the army as a Private. He rose to the ranks and had training in England and finally retired with the rank of Captain. Due to this the YDPA conferred him the award medal of AMN (Ahli Mangku Negara) which is the 5th Class Order of the of the nation's recognition on the person.

Next is my granduncle i.e. my grandfather's younger brother General Ghazali Seth who after completed his Form 6 at the English College at Johor went to follow his brother to serve the military. He wanted to join as a Cadet Officer but accidently registered himself as a Recruit. Eventhough he was a bit disappointed, he went to raining without regret. It was said at that time the training to be an Officer Cadet are only available in England. After 2 years serving as a Non-Commission Officer (NCO). His superior recognize his dedication and gave him a shot to be an Officer Cadet & have him train at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a 2nd Leftenant in England by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth of United Kingdom. He came back to Malaysia and serve the Royal Malayan Army and end his brilliant career as a 4-Star General as the 7th the Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces.

My grandfather & my granduncle weren't the only brothers who had entered the army. My distant relatives, the Leftenant General Jaafar Onn and his brother Captain Tun Hussein Onn had their stint in the army. Though Hussein Onn who was commissioned at India Military Academy at Dehra-Dun and retired early with the rank as a Captain, he went to join his father into politics and ended his magnificent career as the 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Then came my uncle Arazi Adnan Seth who entered the military after completed his secondary education also join the army. Currently held as the rank of Major, he had serve the army at many division in his career. The Ministry of Defence once sent him to the United States Pentagon to learn more about the American Army. Following his father's footsteps, it is expected that he will end his career and retired as an armymen.

The last of the editions...Me. I love the military so much that i wish i had a chance to enter the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst or the Brittania Naval College at Dartmouth. However, since i'd entered UiTM as a law student and wishes to experience some of the military life, i join the Reserve Navy. I think i like the Navy better than Army because they like to keep things clean. They went to the sea to see the world and protect the nationals territorial waters while the Army guarded the ruler's territory in the jungle. As an experienced swimmer, i found the Navy better suits me than the Army. Anyhow, either Army or Navy. They both served the Malaysians and its ruler in an honourable manner.

So u see, when my colleagues at the law faculty asked me why i wanted to join the military eventhough they are paid lesser than the other civil servants. I told them that they're in my blood. The warrior's heart that pumps the honourable blood in my veins explains a lot. So even when i will not be commission as a 2nd Leftenant before the YDPA, I'll still held my head high and celebrate with my friends their commissioning tommorow. Maybe its not my rezeki to join the military now. Maybe 1 day when I had my chance again, i'll try to complete what i left behind.

A famous english proverb once told...

"When God said YES, he will grant u your wish.

When God said NO, he will grant u something better.

When God said WAIT, he will grant u the best! In his own time..."

JRR TOLKIEN - THE CHIDREN OF HURIN

The stories of the Elves, Men and the Evil beings of the Middle Earth are all now set in the JRR Tolkien's latest book called the 'Children of Hurin'. The book was edited by his 3rd child Christopher Tolkien due to the incomplete work left behind by his father.

I'd just bought this book from a book fare exhibition in KLCC for the price of RM59.90 where it was retailed at RM79.90. A good price offered for a good book from a great author! This story is the continous unaccounted epidoes in The Silmarillion, The Unfinished Tales, & The History of Middle Earth (12 episodes).

As a fan of the story of The Hobbits + The Lord Of The Rings (FOTR/TTT/ROTK) i find this book interesting to enchance my knowledge on the story made assimilated to the story from his (JRR Tolkien) experience during the World War 1. After reading his 2 earliest work, i just can't take my eyes of the story of the elves, the numenoreans etc. Thus making me more LOTR hype! Everytime i went for an outing, if i find anything from JRR Tolkien's work or any merchandise relating to it. I'd try to buy it to satisfy my hunger & interest in the story. Heck, there goes my pocket money. Hehe.

If there's one thing that i'd a very high respect for Professor JRR Tolkien is because he was a Professor at the University of Oxford. The place where they breed respectable intellect in numerous field. Thankfully this site survived the German bombing therefore can be accounted at one of the best city to be at!

N'way, i'm going to spend my good time reading it now. For those who haven't got their copy on this, get it only if u're interested in the JRR Tolkien's previous work.

My precious Notebook!

Behold! My new life-support machine!
Good processor + smashing graphic card = Priceless!

COMPAQ PRESARIO V3250AU

Specifications:

Processor, operating system and memory
Processor type
AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Dual Core Mobile Technology TL-50
• 1.6 GHz, 256KB+256KB L2 Cache

Operating system installed
FreeDOS

Standard memory
512 MB (I invested RM210 for 2GB RAM)

Memory type
DDR2 667 MHz

Memory layout
(1 x 512 MB) (Changed to 2 x 1 GB)

Maximum memory
Supports up to 2 GB DDR2 memory

Internal drives
Internal hard disk drive
80 GB

Hard disk drive speed
5400 rpm

Optical drive type
DVD/CD-RW combo

System features
Memory card device
5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for xD, Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro

Modem
High speed 56K modem

Network interface
Integrated 10/100 LAN

Wireless technologies
802.11 b/g WLAN

External I/O ports
1 VGA, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 IEEE-1394, 1 RJ-11, 1 RJ -45, S-video out, 1 Headphone, 1 microphone-jack, 1 Expansion port for xb3000 expansion base, AC Adapter, Kensington lock, 2 Omni-directional microphones

Video capture interface
IEEE 1394 Interface

Expansion slots
(1) Express54/Card Slot (supports both 34 and 54 form factors)

Display size
14.1" WXGA High Definition BrightView Widescreen Display

Display resolution
1280 x 800

Video adapter
NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 6150

Speakers and microphone
Altec Lansing® speakers, Dual omni-directional microphones

Pointing device
Touch Pad with scrollzone

Power supply type
65 W AC Adapter

Dimensions / weight / warranty
Weight
2.46kg (5.41lbs)

Dimensions (W x D x H)
23.7 cm (W) x 33.4 cm (L) x 2.6 cm - 3.9 cm (H)

RESERVED RETAIL PRICE: RM2299
TOTAL AFTER UPGRADE: RM2500

16 May - Happy Teachers Day!

16th May is a day that is known to some people as the Teachers Day. Back then when i was at school, the concept of giving gifts to teachers as a token of appreciation was commonly done. I remember having fun attending school to meet my friends & teachers everyday but the things i hate most is when what they teach does not come into our mind. Different teachers teach different formula...usually...tuition teachers are the best as they give full concentration to us and improve our weaknesses in certain topics.

The sad story about Malaysian education is that, we're too exam-oriented based. I think this is practicable in certain subjects of arts including history and language...but what about science subjects? (Maths excluded)I enjoy subjects like Living Skills (Kemahiran Hidup), where we can learn through experience. However, i see this only being done for those who are taking International Bac as a preparation for studying overseas.

Back then during primary & secondary school years...mothers oftenly compared result of their children with the neighbours, closed families children etc. To some elders, it is to shows that whose bloodlines are better. I often hate those people who likes to make comparisons & proud big time if their children often outstanding the others. I believe that children are unique in a different ways. Some may be good in Arts subjects while the others might score better in Science subjects. Suprisingly some parents would like to compare their children in the Tertiary Education despite enrolling in different courses! Oh dear...cant they realize that at Tertiary Education level each courses difficulties are different to one another? But whatever it is...that's what makes us unique! We're not some clone troopers or something!

Today, i wished some of my lecturers a Happy Teachers day...hey, they're in a way a teachers too right? I've also bought some greeting card but unable to send to them today due to unforseen circumstances. Maybe i'll send it next Monday instead! Here are some of my lecturer's i'd like to wish a Happy Teachers Day online though i wonder if they're going to read this...oh well here it goes....

*Not in favouritism order but randomly typed.

Current Teacher

Dr. Musrifah Sapardi - Dean of Law Faculty

Prof. Rahmat Mohd - International Law lecturer + Deputy Vice Chancellor

Pn. Rasyikah - International law tutor

Pn. Hamsiah Omar - Law of Association lecturer/tutor

Pn. Che Meriam Abdullah - Jurisprudence lecturer/tutor

Pn. Noraini Mohd Shah - Islamic Family law lecturer/tutor

Pn. Rohani Sahak - Land Law 1 tutor

En. Rizal Abidin - Equity & Trust tutor

Former Teacher

Tn. Lee Chong Fook - Criminal Law 1 lecturer

Prof. Halim - Criminal Law 2 lecturer/tutor

Pn. Sue Valquis - Malaysian Legal System 2 lecturer/tutor

Pn. Syarifah Saedah - Malaysian Legal System 1 lecturer/tutor

Pn. Noraziah Jabar - Torts lecturer/tutor

Pn. Farizah - Torts tutor/lecturer

En. Harris - Torts tutor + Mentor during my BLS years!

Dr. Irwin Ooi - Maritime Moot lecturer + guide

Dr. Lim Heng Gee - Intellectual Property lecturer/tutor

& other whom i've not intentionally forgot to mentioned.

YOU'RE THE CANDLE IN THE WIND!

HAPPY TEACHERS DAY!

The Weekend That Change My Life!

As of 12th & 13th May 2007, i've received & done a great thing to myslef though in the eyes of some people that it's nothing to talk about.

12th May - Got myslef a new laptop from Compaq V3000 with AMD Turion 64 X2 with graphics by nVIDIA GeForce which is considered as the best high end processor and performance exist in this time. I didn't ask for this but my father brought it to replace my laptop which will be given to my sis to be used for her studies at the university when the session started. Woohoo! Lucky me!

13th May - I'd registered myself as a valid voter at a booth near a Subang Jaya shopping complex held by the Malaysian Election Commission @ Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR). It is fancy how the SPR work these days to get every people within a residency to be registered & to vote when the time comes. Oh well, since Pak Lah has signalled the public that the Federal Election will be held if we reached 1,300 CI (Composite Index) at the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange...there's a lot to be done by department and ministries at various levels. Romours had it that the 'jentera-jentera' election is on a standby, waiting for Pak Lah's announcement. Hahaha...a 2nd term for Pak Lah begins...

I understand that this same day but on the year 1969 was the famous racial riot issue emerged in some parts of Malaysia due to the lack of understanding among Malaysian citizens. It was this historic moments too that Tun Dr Ismail was called back to politics to help settle the issue that is out of hand by the cabinet ministers at that time headed by Tun Abdul Razak. Yep, Tun Dr Ismail in the sense of obligation towards the king & country help Tun Razak in dealing with the menace and won the heart of the people of Malaysians back then.

Anyway, i had a great weekend overall & looking forward to fill my weekdays before my Intersession studies begins on the 21st May!

Finding Myself In The History Of The Universe

Often i wonder about the age of time...since the arriving of Adam & Hawa (Adam & Eve) upon the face of the Earth to the day we are now. How many years have that been? How we are linked to every person next to us. Whether it is our family...neighbour...or the unknown stranger that we passed by without speaking a word when we walk at the night market.

One fine day when i manage to find myself some time to open the family album, i came across the pictures of some people whom i've never met since the day i was born. Those were the pictures of my great grandparents. Capture in the frame of time...immortalized to a piece of paper to be viewed and remembered by those who were closed to them...and to be kept in the history of of the faculty of the mind of their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and generations after them.

Then i realize that humans like us have a limited lifespan with regards to many things that is yet to explored in this world. The important of learning and to save a record of daily achievement that we have done so that when we looked back to the history of time...we are satisfied to what have we achieved that makes us what we are now.

As far as the history of my life and my bloodlines are concerned...almost every one of us has left their name remembered in the history of time. Too bad that we dont have a last name to support our evidence but this can only be remedied from the pictures taken and the DNA which is a valid identification of our existance.

Since young, my parents often brought me to meet my grandparents, granduncles & grandaunties, and generations after them. According to my dad, we must meet them as they were what were are like now in relation to our relationship of siblings and the main family. Not meeting them is a selfish manner one can show to them and it is not what we should do in respect of the elders in the members of the family.

As the day come to pass, each of us are getting more busier, every one of us got things to do with their time. Uncles and aunties are busy with their working careers and began to live at some place which is near to their workplace. Cousins pursuing their education at the tertiary education. Their younger siblings heading to school etc. So the only time that we can meet and have a good chat is only during the festive month of Hari Raya aka Aidilfitri which falls on the month of Syawal according to the Islamic calendar ie the month after we make an effort of fasting for a month during Ramadhan ie the holiest month of the Islamic calendar.

Last Raya, i manage to talk to my granduncle about my project to make a family tree. The reason of why i'm doing this is not only to get to know my relatives better but to keep as a record for the generations after me so that they will remember where they had come from. Tok Uteh were delighted to hear such thing and looking forward in supporting me with the project. Thus begin a journey and a mission for myself to make a long list of scroll which contain the family tree of my bloodlines.

Some might not bothered with the project but i see it a great respect and an obligation towards my family so that they will not forget what history had written or bear witness of our achievement in life.

Thus begin project "Bloodlines: Their Name & History That They Left Behind"