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This blogspot is a medium to share my thoughts and adventures apart from promoting my books. Below are the books which have been written or authored and published by myself.


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Mencari Diri dan Erti".

ISBN 983-42031-0-1, Jun 2006


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Membela Syiar yang Asal"

ISBN 983-42031-1-x, May 2007


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?"

ISBN 978-983-42031-2-2, November 2007


It is interesting to note that while these books were written in Malay it has gained enough attention to merit being part of the collections of the American Library of Congress and National Library of Australia. Look here and here.


While the first three books were published by my own company, the fourth titled "Rumah Azan" was published in April 2009 by a company called Karnadya with the help of the Malaysian national literary body Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. It features beautiful pictures along with stories behind selected mosques which could be related to the history of Islam and the Malays alongside the formation of the Malaysian nation. Look at the article A collaboration of old collegemates - the book "Rumah Azan".


My fifth book "Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and Malay Sultanates", an English translation and adaptation of the Malay book "Ahlul Bait (Keluarga) Rasulullah SAW dan Kesultanan Melayu" authored by Hj Muzaffar Mohamad and Tun Suzana Othman was published early 2010. Look here... My 5th book is out! Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and the Malay Sultanates... . For more information check out my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU.



Like my fourth book "Rumah Azan", the sixth book "Kereta Api Menuju Destinasi" is also a coffee-table book which is published by the company Karnadya with the cooperation of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the main Malay literary body in Malaysia). Coming out January 2011 it features pictures and stories on the adventure travelling by train to all of Peninsular Malaysia along with the interesting places which could be reached this way.


My seventh book "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" in turn is a coffee-table book which is written, editted, designed and has pictures taken by me. Coming out of the factory October 2011, this book which combines family history with history of places such as Singapura, Johor, Batu Pahat, Muar and in fact the history of the island of Java and England has been reviewed with me interviewed live in the program Selamat Pagi Malaysia at RTM1. Look at the article Siaran langsung ulasan buku "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" dan temu ramah di Selamat Pagi Malaysia. Some selected contents have been featured in Sneak peek "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah".


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The "Berpetualang ke Aceh" series of novels could be obtained in e-book form. Enter http://www.e-sentral.com/, click general novel and go to page 4. You can also type the word "Aceh" at the search box. Or click straight Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3.


Friday, January 22, 2010

My 5th book is out! Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and the Malay Sultanates...



Feast your eyes guys. My 5th book is already out! There you go, 444 pages with more than 150,000 words on matters pertaining to the Ahlul Bait, family of Prophet Muhammad SAW and the Malay Sultanates. It is practically and encyclopaedia on its own!

OK. The original Malay version might have been authored by someone else and I was just the translator. But hey... such great books like the Mathnawi is better known due to its translator R.A. Nicholson and so is the case for Conference of the Birds by Edward Fitzgerald when the actual Middle-Eastern texts were written by Fariduddin Attar and Jalaluddin Rumi respectively centuries ago. It is the translation that managed to garner such a large worldwide audience when the original local language version could only be appreciated by a certain limited segment.

Anyway, I've worked my heart out for six months to get the translation done for this version. So it is not out of place to say this is my 5th book after having produced the Malay trilogy of novels "Berpetualang ke Aceh" followed by the coffee-table book "Rumah Azan". Below is the synopis as laid out on the back-leaf. Get it at the nearest bookstores soon! :]

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The Ahlul Bait of Rasulullah SAW are descendants of Prophet Muhammad SAW. Propagated through the marriage of his daughter Saiyiditina Fatimah RA to his cousin Saiyidina Ali Karamalluwajha, the bloodline flourished and continue to be instrumental in the well-being of the Muslims until today 1,400 years after the prophet’s death, carrying his role of supporting, protecting and defending the sanctity of the religion of Islam.

The Malay Sultanates are among the few monarchies in the world still existing until today having hereditary roots which started no less than 600 years ago with the advent of the glorious kingdom of Melaka whose port is said to rival Venice in Europe, the biggest and most progressive Western city of that time.

While most rulers institution have crumbled down due to modernisation which has created republics and such, a number of Malay Sultanates still continue to function as the symbol of strength for its people despite its authority having largely been clipped due to the concept of constitutional monarchy along with parliamentary democrary introduced by the British during its colonial days.

What is more striking is the fact that there are 9 Malay Sultanates still functioning with full royal regalia in Peninsular Malaysia. Its land-mass is just 600 square kilometres bigger than the size of England but yet it has 9 kings compared to the latter’s one queen making it the highest concentration of monarchies in one area compared to anywhere else in the world!

In a world where Western-invented democrary rules with its leaders the politicians chosen by the masses, the existence of heriditary rulers is like an oxymoron. In fact with 9 kings still existing in such a small area, it is actually a big slap to certain parties who are bent on dominating the world as destroying all hereditary rule is a big step in their plans as detailed in Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

While these parties were very instrumental in destroying all other monarchies, it still fails to dislodge the kings in Malaysia. Why? Is it because of their special relationship with the Ahlul Bait?

The book “Ahlul Bait and the Malay Sultanates” tries to answer these questions as it follows the importance of the Ahlul Bait of Rasulullah SAW as inheritors of the Prophetic family (Prophet Adam AS down to Noah AS on to Abraham AS, Ishmael and so on) and how political intrigues and circumstances in the Middle East have made a number of them migrated east to the Malay world.

It this from here that a strong meaningful relationship was cemented with the rulers, the continued existence of the Ahlul Bait and the Malay Sultanates implying a huge responsibility they will shoulder towards the end of times.


Thursday, January 21, 2010

The immensely wide Johor river - Views from Teluk Sengat...

Continued from The immensely wide Johor river - views from the jetty at Johor Lama...


Some 3 km closer to the estuary of the Johor river lies the small sleepy town of Teluk Sengat...


Its position besides the river offers similar views to what has been shown before in previous articles...

So let me just show one more picture only, one that did now show as much water. From here you could get a rather good view of the bridge in progress with the naked eye, without the need to zoom in by camera. That's all! :]




The immensely wide Johor river - Views from the jetty at Johor Lama...

Continued from The immensely wide Johor river - Views from Kampung Johor Lama... ...


Further inland some 1km lies this jetty...


Even from the sides one could see it offers a superb view of the Johor river...

A look to the north shows the river still stays wide. But watch closely and you'd notice a part where it starts to taper. For the record after 20 km inland the Johor river closes down to about 1 km wide. Go inland just 4 km further and you'll find the river tapering down to just a meagre 80 metres in breadth. And it stays more or less that way as it curves in and out to the north towards the town of Kota Tinggi, some 30 km by road from Johor Lama...


Let's have a better look from the jetty...








You see, even from the furthest end, it is still quite a distance to the other side...





A look towards the estuary...






One towards the nearest riverside...







Time to head back to land...








The river's sandy banks make it ideal to stroll around in the water I guess. For the record this is the 434th article in this blogspot :]

The immensely wide Johor river - Views from Kampung Johor Lama...

From Tanjung Pengelih we moved on to Kampung (village of) Johor Lama...


The village stood on what was once a seat of the Johor-Riau Empire which was started 500 years ago.

It overlooks the immensely wide Johor river. Johor Lama is about about 14 km away from the Johor river mouth but the river still stays wide here with an average breadth of about 2.5 km!


A check with Google Earth shows the river is about 4 km wide at its mouth. It is still nearly 2 km wide 20 km inland making it the widest river in Peninsular Malaysia!



Here's a view towards the river mouth...




A close-up picture shows a bridge being built across. It is part of new highway which currently reaches up to Pasir Gudang, the port town east of the city Johor Baru. Once the bridge is completed it should cut the distance from Johor Bahru to the beach resort of Desaru by 30 km or more. As it is part of a highway much smoother than the normal trunk road, driving time could in turn be cut an hour, maybe even more!