Quest for Peace

The very first moment I enter my office building every morning, I'll walk straight to the lobby to grab a copy of The Sun newspaper. Eventhough I don't read every single pages and articles, I'll make sure that I read through the important news before my breakfast. And today morning, I came across an interesting article in it. It is actually an exclusive interview with an author who writes on Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism.

Karen Armstrong, the former chatolic nun, most famous for her book A History of God was interviewed by The Sun during her visit to Malaysia as a speaker for Wisma Putra conference and youth dialogue earlier this month. She has advanced the theory that fundamentalist religion is a response to and product of modern culture. To neo-conservatives, she’s an “apologist for Muslims”. But to some Muslims, she’s unqualified to speak about Islam because she’s not Muslim. Malaysia, on its part, has banned three of her books, leaving us no space to read her in-depth study on religions.

According to her, all the major religions in the world liberating messages of peace, justice and compassionin their own distinct way. Karen Armstrong has shared her view on religious freedom and she highlights that people shall not be forced against their will.

Perhaps you would like read the interview with Karen Amstrong - Quest for Peace published in The Sun.

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The New 7 Wonders


The commonly known Seven Ancient Wonders of the World were all man-made monuments, selected by Philon of Byzantium in 200 B.C. Today, only the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt remain. His selection of wonders was essentially a travel guide for fellow Athenians, and the stunning sites were all located around the Mediterranean basin, the then-known world.
The monuments he chose, to be remembered in perpetuity, were:

The Lighthouse of Alexandria
The Temple of Artemis
The Statue of Zeus
The Colossus of Rhodes
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
The Pyramids of Egypt
All had been built between 2,500 B.C. and 200 B.C.

Now, just as Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games in 1896 with his modern version of the competition, New7Wonders founder Bernard Weber is seeking to revive the concept of the 7 Wonders of the World with this ambitious global campaign, the New 7 Wonders of the World. The key difference is that, this time around, they will not be chosen by one man, but rather by millions of people all over the world.

One question most people would probably ask is, why are there seven wonders of the world and not eight or 13? "Seven is a very practical number because it seems to be exactly the number of things the average person can remember, challenging the brain. "While eight is too many, seven is the ideal number. If we achieve the goal of creating seven symbols of unity, we would be able to create a global memory because everybody on the globe will remember the seven wonders of the world," says Weber.The new wonders that are selected will be the people’s choices, and they will be drawn from the earliest time that humankind walked upon the earth up through the year 2000. It is, therefore, possible that the only survivor of the original 7 Wonders of the World, the Pyramids at Giza, could be chosen for a second time, taking them well into a third millenium of fame!

The "New7Wonders Foundation" calls on all citizens of the world to support it. At the end of 2005, the N7W panel chose 21 candidates from the top 77 nominees that had earned the most votes, and these 21 are now in the final stage of the competition. I wonder how many of us here aware that the Petronas Twin Towers was included in the list of the 77 nominees. It is something to be proud of for all of us even though it was not shortlisted as one of the top 21.


The final round of voting for the New 7 Wondersi still on. The most awaited moment is just around the corner. It is now less than 12 days remaining for anyone of to cast your vote and be part of the history yet to be written on July 7. Yes, The N7W website offers you the opportunity to participate in the first-ever global vote to elect the New 7 Wonders of the World. This vote will culminate with a live, worldwide, telecast on July 7, 2007 - 07.07.07 to announce the New 7 Wonders of the World. The dream of the N7W initiators will become a reality as the globe joins together to celebrate the New 7 Wonders of the World, as chosen by the world's population using modern communications technology. This website offers you the opportunity to participate in the first-ever global vote to elect the New 7 Wonders of the World. This vote will culminate with a live, worldwide, telecast on July 7, 2007 - 07.07.07 to announce the New 7 Wonders of the World.


Which monument or place is gonna be in the list of the new 7 wonders of the world? Can Taj Mahal climb up the ladders from the 20th position? Is it possible for The Eiffel Tower take a step further to stand tall in the nearest future? How long more do we have to wait for the suspense to end? It is just 11 days and 16 hours and the clock is ticking! The New 7 Wonders of the World will be announced during the Official Declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 07.07.07.

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Vaji Vaji Sivaji

Somehow, manage to catch the show last weekend, within the first 48 hours after the release of Sivaji:The Boss. I was in Midvalley on Saturday noon, buying some stuff for myself and wanted to try my luck grabbing a ticket for Sivaji. I was lucky enough to get one of the last three remaining tickets for the 4pm show at GSC Midvalley.

I entered the cinema 15 minutes earlier just to catch some latest trailers before the show of most awaited Tamil movie of the year. When the movie started, instead of the words "Sivaji The Boss" I noticed something else on the screen.. It was "Sultan The Warrior". Shocked for a moment, I rechecked my ticket to make sure that I am at the right cinema. Then, I realized that it was the first look of the full-length animation movie called “Sultan The Warrior” which feature Rajni as Sultan. The Oscar Studio owned by Soundarya Rajinikanth along with Pooja Shetty, AD Labs is about to release the animation very soon. The intro for it was terrific and some of the crowd went crazy by looking at it! It was a big surprise for all of them there! ARR does the music for this 3D Animation movie and the music should hit the store very soon.

All right, back to Sivaji The Mottai Boss! Personally I feel the movie was superb. Shankar did a good job on video clips. The scenes and location and as usual the graphics was great enough. It was a very normal introduction scene for Rajni in the movie instead of the usual hu-hah intro with songs where they always show his legs and hands first before the face. ;p The song Ballelakka sung by SPB, Reihanna and benny wasthe first song with Nayanthara, making a guest appearance. It also features guest appearances from members of the technical crew including the director, Shankar and the cinematographer, Anand. The other songs and video clips were superbly done as well. The settings for the songs were carefully chosen to amaze people and ARR did a fantastic job when it comes to music. The graphics work in the Athiradi song was equally good to any other Hollywood movies out there. I was bit impressed with the first fighting scene where the fight will takes place in a shop that sells musical instruments and Rajini will be using the instruments around him to fight the enemies. It was more like a musical fight and ARR did an amazing job for that scene.

Ok..now to the story, Rajni is an America return NRI who wants to spend all his money on charity in India by building hospitals and universities to give free medical treatment and education to the poor. But he faces problem from the villain, Suman as Adhi where Adhi tries to stop him. At last Rajni lost everything and has nothing left in life. He starts back his mission with 1 rupee and finally made all his dreams come true. Rajini as Sivaji in the movie has portrayed his acting talents very well. There were also dialogues from his previous movies being used from time to time in between the scenes. Vivek as Rajni’s uncle, Arivu is in great form. His smart jokes, idioms, will make anyone break into a chuckle spontaneously. The whole movie was full of fun and comedy. The part where Rajni and Vivek crack jokes whenever they suppose to behave serious deserves a big round of applause. Well, putting it briefly and to the point, Shriya is simply stunning and gorgeous in Sivaji! Her acting was very well with good facial expression even though the way she talks looks a bit fake in some of the scenes. In overall, Sivaji is a movie with good mixture of comedy, action and fun that is worth watching twice.

Sivaji The Boss is the first tamil movie ever to be featured in UK top 10 box office. The film also re-wrote several Indian box-office records prior to release. It is the costliest production to date; costing about 80 crore rupees (US$ 15 million / RM 51 million) excluding Rajni's salary of 16 crores. The record for the costliest Indian production was previously held by the 2002 Bollywood film, Devdas which cost 52 crore rupees. Rajinikanth became the highest paid actor in India, receiving 16 crore rupees for his role in the movie

P/S : jom second show..this weekend!

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A short break

Hi people..


I haven’t posted anything for the past few days. Kinda busy with lots of projects and work to handle and quite a number of problems to face as well. It was a busy and dull week and it might take me at least a few more days to gather back my lost momentum and to place everything back on track. Suppose to go to Global Indian Festival 07 held in Midvalley last weekend, but couldn't make it! Anyway, managed to attend Student Leadership Convention 2007 in UM. It was a five days event with lots of beneficial and great agendas. I was able to be there for the last two days of the convention. I will update you guys on that very soon! Till then.. here's something for you to ponder.

Everything in this world can be seen as you wish to,
Good or Bad; Simple or Complicated; Easy or Difficult,
Its not how things are; its about how you look at them,
...and how you look up to them is all up to you.

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ஒரு வார காதல்

வெகு நாட்களுக்கு பிறகு, என் விரல்கள் சிந்திய சில கவிதை வரித்துளிகள்..


ஞாயிறு அறிமுகமாகி,
திங்களன்று இதயம் பரிமாறி,
செவ்வாயில் முத்தமிட்டு,
புதன் முழுவதும் காதல் கொஞ்சி,
வியாழன் இரவு
வேறொருவனுடன்
மறைந்துவிட்டாள்..

வெள்ளி வானம்
விடியும்வரை
அழுது புலம்பி,
மறுநாள் இரவுதான் புரிந்தது..
வந்து சென்ற(அ)வள்
சனி என்று!

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Pak Lah getting married

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has announced he will marry Jeanne Abdullah, 53, in a private ceremony in Seri Perdana on Saturday, June 9.

Picture courtesy of Screenshots

Jeanne was born in Kuala Lumpur on July 29, 1953, and is the eldest of four children, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. She was educated at Sekolah Menengah Assunta, Petaling Jaya, and has had wide experience in management roles with several leading hotels in Malaysia, including the KL Hilton and Pan Pacific Hotel.


The Official Announcement.. Click here

Best Wishes and Selamat Pengantin Baru to Pak Lah !

Related Links : Bernama , TheStar , MalaysiaKini

Updated : TheStar: Samy Pens Poem for PM , TheStar: Congrats all round for PM

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Tribute to Loga

RTM 1 will be airing the three-part special programme in memory of Loganathan at 8.45pm Wednesday. The program will be aired for 45 minutes on the same slot over the next three wekks starting tonight.

Those wishing to pay homage to Loganathan Arumugam of the Alleycats who passed away on Monday can do so by sending an SMS message during this special tribute programme, Loga Dalam Kenangan (Loga in Memory).

According to Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin, the tribute was not only to recognise Loga's contribution to the nation and the music industry but also to give people an opportunity air their feelings of sadness over his death.

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Andainya aku pergi dulu... :(

We may not able to hear the Alleycats' trademark, "trimme k'sssayyyyyy!" anymore! It it really sad and shocking news to all Malaysians that Loganathan Arumugam of the Alleycats passed away at 10.50am today at the Mount Miriam Hospital, Pulau Pinang. He was 54. Loga, as he was fondly called, was admitted to the hospital on Saturday. He was diagnosed with lung cancer eight months ago. “He had been having a very bad cough for a year,” said his elder brother David, 57, also of Alleycats fame. Loga was married, with a 23-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter.

He provided vocals and played the flute for the band. The Alleycats, formed at Penang in 1969, had recorded 29 albums. The group started by playing in clubs around the country before signing a recording deal with PolyGram Records in 1978. The Alleycats have 29 albums to their credit. They are one of Malaysia's favourite bands with evergreen hits like Sampaikan Salam, Andainya Aku Pergi Dulu Sebelum Mu and Sekuntum Mawar Merah. Loga's brother and Alleycats' frontman David Arumugam, 57, said the band would fulfil Loga’s last wish of recording a full orchestral album, and a Tamil album for the band's Indian fans. He further added that the albums would be dedicated to Loga.


Loga, trimme k'sssayyyyyy for everything! U'll be missed. Here is the clip of Loga and his brother with fellow malaysians, singing the song, andainya aku pergi dulu sebelum mu.. My heartfelt condolences to his family. Let's pray for his soul to rest in peace!

Related Updates & Obituaries :

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