BATTLE OF WATERLOO TO LANGKAWI BOOK VILLAGE

FROM THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO TO LANGKAWI BOOK VILLAGE



Assalaamu'alaikum Warahmatullaahi Wabarakaatuh


INTRODUCTION TO THE LANGKAWI BOOK VILLAGE

TANGGA MAHSURI SERIBU KENANGAN

This is one of the many articles that have been written on the Langkawi Book Village in this blog and the local media from time to time. Although the activity in this scenic location, with its meandering stream flowing down a waterfall, surrounded by virgin fauna and flora, along a man-built cement steps, Tangga Mahsuri Seribu Kenangan (The Mahsuri Steps of a Thousand Memories) up the hill called Gunung Raya (Great  Mountain) which is the tallest peak in the legendary group of islands of Langkawi, the book village in Langkawi is still registered among the ? book villages and towns in the northern hemisphere particularly Europe and the United States and Western Europe. Besides the Korean Book Village which was recently admitted and the earlier formed specialized book town for children in ? Jalan the Malaysian Book Village is the only one in Asia and the Muslim World. The recent inclusion of the ? Book Town was made during the Conference of Book Villages and Towns held in Langkawi in ??? It was with strong recommendation from Malaysia who was the host member.

TUN DR. MAHATHIR LAUNCHED THE LANGKAWI BOOK VILLAGE

Besides being inactive after a grand launching by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir in _____________ and during the writer's term as the Chief Minister of the State of Kedah in which state the district of Langkawi is situated, the Langkawi Book Village remains on the register of members as the Founder of the First Book Village in the World in the town of Hay-on-Wye still remembers that the writer was the first to suggest the formation of a Book Village of Book Town Foundation when there were only two known book villages at the time the other one being in the town of Redu in Belgium. The Redu book Village was founded by Noel Ansolet who discovered and was inspired by the Hay-on-Wye Book Village when he transited on his way to Scotland to visit his laws after a military tour of the soldiers of the Second World War.   

ROPES FOR CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

When I first visited Hay-on-Wye it was not the books which was my focus, although book collecting and reading is my hobby, but to meet the man who weaved the ropes for capital punishment as Malaysian prison than had 36 inmates convicted with death sentences but had insufficient ropes to fulfill the task. It so happened that the appointment was in Hay-on-Wye.

HISTORY

Among the most number of books I read are those on Islam, leadership, organization, power, economics and finance, philosophy, biographies and history. Besides the many books written on our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. and the 30 years rule of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, I was also attracted to Napoleon Bonaparte and his defeat in the Battle of Waterloo. 

NAPOPEON BONAPARTE

THE COLOUR OF INEQUALITY

The Colour of Inequality: Ethnicity, Class, Income and Wealth in Malaysia

Buku ini telah diperkenalkan oleh seorang tokoh bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam yang turut memainkan peranan yang terpenting dalam penggubalan DASAR EKONOMI BARU. Sedikit maklumat mengenai beliau adalah seperti berikut:

CUIT DI UTUSAN MALAYSIA - ULASAN BUKU

Di  bawah ini saya turunkan satu ulasan oleh Dato' Zaini Hassan di  ruang CUIT yang memperkenalkan buku karangan Dr. Muhammed Abdul Khalid  yang  pernah saya temui di waktu beliau sedang menyiapkan  tesisnya yang kini diterbitkan dengan tajuk THE COLOUR OF INEQUALITY.  Ulusan lanjut mengenai buku ini  akan saya turunkan dalam masukan blog berikutnya. Selamat membaca.




Dr.  Muhammed dan The Colour of Inequality

Oleh Zaini Hassan

Utusan Malaysia, Kolom Rencana, 8 Oktober 2014

SAYA mengenali Dr. Muhammed Abdul Khalid semasa beliau menjadi penyelidik di ISIS beberapa tahun lalu.

Beliau juga adalah pengikut setia kolum ini. Dan saya turut mendapat banyak input daripada beliau dalam hal-hal berkaitan sosial, ekonomi dan politik.

Baru-baru ini, beliau telah menerbitkan sebuah buku, yang antara rakan-rakannya ternanti-nantikan. Saya diminta beliau mengulas bukunya.

PERDANA MENTERI YANG INOVATIF

Published on Oct 03, 2014, MYPAPER, SINGAPORE

Modi evokes Gandhi's 'Clean India' dream

NEW DELHI

YOU could say it's a case of a new broom sweeps clean.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wielded a broom in a New Delhi slum yesterday as he pledged to sweep away the country's reputation for poor public hygiene and rudimentary sanitation.

Hours after flying home from Washington, the energetic Premier rolled up his sleeves and picked up the broom to launch a "Clean India" campaign on a public holiday celebrating independence icon Mahatma Gandhi's life.

"Gandhi gave us the slogan 'Quit India' and people came together to win our country's freedom (from British colonial rule)... but his other dream of 'Clean India' is still incomplete," Mr Modi said in a televised address.

The 64-year-old, who came to power in May, has made public health one of the main priorities of his new administration.

In his independence-day address to the nation on Aug 15, Mr Modi spoke of how he was bothered by the pervasive filth around him.

"After so many years of independence, do we still want to live in filthiness? Can't we resolve this much?" he asked.

So far, he has promised to ensure all schools have separate toilets for boys and girls, and provide every home with a toilet over the next five years.

A new report by the United Nation's children's fund, Unicef, estimates that almost 594 million - or nearly 50 per cent of India's population - defecate in the open, massively increasing the risk of disease in densely populated areas.

Some 300 million women and girls are forced to squat outside, normally under the cover of darkness, exposed not only to the risks of disease and bacterial infection, but also harassment and assault by men.

The issue was thrown into the spotlight in late May when two girls, aged 12 and 14, were allegedly attacked as they went into the fields to relieve themselves. Police are investigating if they were gang-raped before being lynched.

Mr Modi said that the responsibility for public cleanliness did not rest solely with sanitation workers, but also required a mindset change in a country which recently celebrated a successful space mission to Mars.

"It ('Clean India') can be achieved, it can happen. If we can reach Mars, then why can't we clean our neighbourhoods?" he added.

As part of the campaign's launch, ministers and an estimated four million civil servants and schoolchildren took part in a mass clean-up of government buildings, many of which stank of stale urine and were littered with rubbish.

AFP, BBC

DI MINANGKABAU - (3) ISWANDI MENGHIDUPKAN LAGI SONGKET CANDUANG

ISWANDI MENGHIDUPKAN LAGI SONGKET CANDUANG

Oleh: Nina Chairani

Harian Republika, Kolom Jelajah, Edisi Ahad, 10 Agustus 2014, halaman 5.

Sentra songket minang tak Cuma dari Pandai Sikek, Nagari Canduang pun pernah memilikinya. Namun, siapa yang tahu?

Songket canduang tak pernah ada yang membicarakannya. Suatu hari Iswandi (38 tahun) mendengar ada orang yang menyebut soal songket canduang. Wujud songket itu masih misterius. Tak pernah ada kegiatan tenun-menenun di nagari dalam Kabupaten Agam, Sumatra Barat itu.

DI MINANGKABAU - (2) MENGENAL ORANG CANDUANG

MENGENAL ORANG CANDUANG

Oleh: Nina Chairani

Harian Republika, Kolom Jelajah, Edisi Ahad, 20 Juli 2014, halaman 8.

Orang-orang Canduang terkenal terampil. Namun, belakangan banyak keterampilan khas Canduang mulai menghilang.

Ke mana pun kaki melangkah, keindahan Gunung Marapi di depan mata. Pemandangan itulah yang terlihat bila kita menjelajah kampung-kampung di Nagari Canduang Koto Laweh atau Koto Marapak di Nagari Lambah.

Nagari Canduang tak hanya terkenal karena lumbungnya para ulama. Canduang terkenal akan penduduknya yang rajin.  Teman saya, Arina, bercerita, untuk menggarap kebunnya dari tanah bersemak seluas 500 meter persegi, ia menggunakan 11 orang.

DI MINANGKABAU - (1) SEBUAH NEGERI PARA ULAMA

Assalamu'alaikum Warahmatullaahi Wabarakaatuh.


Telah diketahui umum bahawa ayah mertua penulis berasal dari Aceh. Yang kurang diketahui ialah ibu mertuaku berasal dari Miangkabau. Lebih jelas dari Canduang, tempat berasalnya ramai ulamat di Sumatera. Di bawah ini ialah karawan Nina Chairani yang diturunkan untuk memperkenalkan 'Sebuah Negeri Para Ulama.'


SEBUAH NEGERI PARA ULAMA

Oleh: Nina Chairani

Harian Republika, Kolom Jelajah, Edisi Ahad, 20 Juli 2014, halaman 7.

Kawasan Canduang dan Koto Merapak tempat lahirnya para ulama sejak era Paderi. Mereka berkembang dari jaringan surau antardaerah.

Seorang kawan berkomentar sebelum keberangkatan saya ke Koto Merapak, Sumatra Barat. “Kamu sedang ke tempat para ulama tuh, kawasan itu basis gerakan Islam sejak dulu,” katanya seraya mendengarkan rencana perjalanan saya.

Sebuah informasi menarik, selain keindahan alam dan budaya yang ingin kami gali dan telusuri. Adalah teman sekampus saya yang mengajak dan memperkenalkan saya ke kawasan ini. Daerah yang sehari-harinya bertatap wajah dengan keindahan Gunung Marapi.