It was snowing last sunday. The video here which I have uploaded today to YouTube shows what it was like in the morning of 23rd March 2008, in the back garden of our house. The snow did not fall heavily. It was such a lovely sight but not slushy and enough snow on the ground to warrant a snow-man. A beautiful change of scenery from the bedroom windows.
Thursday 27 March 2008
Friday 21 March 2008
Shariah compliance
Remember all the hullabaloo over remarks made by Archbishop Rowan Williams last February with regards to Shariaah law? He was merely saying that Muslims should be able to choose whether to have matters such as marital disputes dealt with under shariah law or the British legal system. He also said that giving shariah official status in the UK would help maintain social cohesion because some Muslims do not relate to the British legal system. His statements caused an uproar in the press in UK.
Well, Shariah implementation has already taken place in the banking sector here. Anyone can open a
shariah approved account in Lloyds TSB,not just moslem. Lloyds is one of the high street banks in UK. They have the facility where one could issue a directive to Lloyds to have all one's direct debit & standing order transactions, from other banks transferred to the islamic account.
Meanwhile, If you know anyone who will be coming to uk to study, please advice them to open HSBC islamic Amanah account back home in Malaysia. A standing order to transfer some amount of money every month from one's salary could be done so that one could use any HSBC teller machines in UK to withdraw when necessary, esp when running out of scholarship money (as back up) or whenever feels like wanting to go for a shopping spree (easter holiday now wink! wink!...emm nak jalan ke mana ya)
This is very convenient since HSBC is all over UK, in fact all over the world. You would normally be charged RM 5, plus currency exchange rate for each transaction(urusniaga) when withdrawing some money via HSBC ATM teller machines here in UK, from your account back home.
One interesting fact about HSBC is it offers islamic mortgage. See here for the news.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3035292.stm
Well, Shariah implementation has already taken place in the banking sector here. Anyone can open a
shariah approved account in Lloyds TSB,not just moslem. Lloyds is one of the high street banks in UK. They have the facility where one could issue a directive to Lloyds to have all one's direct debit & standing order transactions, from other banks transferred to the islamic account.Meanwhile, If you know anyone who will be coming to uk to study, please advice them to open HSBC islamic Amanah account back home in Malaysia. A standing order to transfer some amount of money every month from one's salary could be done so that one could use any HSBC teller machines in UK to withdraw when necessary, esp when running out of scholarship money (as back up) or whenever feels like wanting to go for a shopping spree (easter holiday now wink! wink!...emm nak jalan ke mana ya)
This is very convenient since HSBC is all over UK, in fact all over the world. You would normally be charged RM 5, plus currency exchange rate for each transaction(urusniaga) when withdrawing some money via HSBC ATM teller machines here in UK, from your account back home.
One interesting fact about HSBC is it offers islamic mortgage. See here for the news.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3035292.stm
Thursday 20 March 2008
In retrospect - commuting
I can still remember this time last year how i was tied up with teaching and all. At the time my son had just finished his SPM and was awaiting his SPM result. He was a fourth and fifth former in Sekolah Menengah Sains Alam Shah in Bandar Tun Razak back in 2005 & 2006 respectively. Driving to work in Klang valley can be very distressing. Commuting from home in usj subang jaya to gombak was hectic & dreadful. It involved taking Kesas Highway to get to work driving past puchong, bukit jalil on Kesas Highway and then, MRR2 (Middle Ring Road 2) drivng past Bandar Tasik Selatan, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, Pandan Indah, Ampang, Ulu Klang and Gombak. Mind you that traffic in that Pandan Indah stretch of MRR2 would get worsened by every minute of the day particularly during rush hours. It could make anyone suffers from bouts of insanity.
And just before reaching my usual destination in Sg. Pusu Gombak I had to drive past Taman Melawati, Wangsa Melawati, Taman Melati before taking the flyover at the Gombak interchange (or intersection as brits would say). In retrospect, i could see that more time wasting on the road could be mitigated by moving to a new home closer to work. Yup will do that once I’m back home in 3 or 4 years’ time....ohhh shoot! still a long time to go but on second thought, I kind of like it here. Going to uni is about 5 to 10 minutes’ drive. Heading back to dept lab etc after dinner at home, is just a breeze.
A tribute to a friend who lives in wangsa melawati, I present ‘Against all odds’ to you, blogosphere friends & passers-by. Just for your listening pleasure.
***My all time favourite karaoke song***
And just before reaching my usual destination in Sg. Pusu Gombak I had to drive past Taman Melawati, Wangsa Melawati, Taman Melati before taking the flyover at the Gombak interchange (or intersection as brits would say). In retrospect, i could see that more time wasting on the road could be mitigated by moving to a new home closer to work. Yup will do that once I’m back home in 3 or 4 years’ time....ohhh shoot! still a long time to go but on second thought, I kind of like it here. Going to uni is about 5 to 10 minutes’ drive. Heading back to dept lab etc after dinner at home, is just a breeze.
A tribute to a friend who lives in wangsa melawati, I present ‘Against all odds’ to you, blogosphere friends & passers-by. Just for your listening pleasure.
***My all time favourite karaoke song***
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