The Legendary Langkawi Island

The legendary island, Langkawi Island or also known as the Isle of Legends. 

Why is it labelled as the legendary island? Let's look into some of the history and the legends of Langkawi Island. ^.^

1) Mahsuri

Mahsuri was the daughter of a Malay couple who moved from their native Phuket to the island of Langkawi in search of a better life. She was the most beautiful in all of Langkawi and married the warrior named Wan Darus. As was required of him, her husband had to go to war, leaving Mahsuri behind to fend for herself. It was during this time that Mahsuri befriended a young man named Deraman. The village chief's wife was jealous of Mahsuri's beauty. She spread a rumour that Mahsuri was unfaithful and was having an affair with Deraman in the absence of Wan Darus. Eventually the rumours grew strong enough that the villagers openly accused her of adultery. Mahsuri pleaded her innocence, but no one believed her. Mahsuri was to be tied to a tree (or pole) and stabbed to death but it didn't work. After every execution attempt failed, Mahsuri told them to kill her with her family's kris. When she was stabbed, white blood flowed from the wound, signifying her innocence. Some birds flew above her to cover her body. With her dying breath, Mahsuri cursed Langkawi to have seven generations of bad luck. The kingdom was soon taken over by Siam. The villagers at Padang Mat Sirat burned their own paddy fields rather than let them fall into the hands of the Siamese. Many locals of Langkawi believe the legend to be true, citing the decades of failed crops that followed Mahsuri's death. Langkawi was also attacked by Siam numerous times, the last invasion taking place in 1821. The field which was torched by the farmers is still known as Beras Terbakar or "burnt rice". It is only at the end of the 20th century, after the seven generations have supposedly come to pass, that Langkawi began to prosper as a tourist destination.

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2) The story of Telani and Telanai

The story of Telani and Telanai can be regarded as a myth or a folktale in Langkawi. Telani and Telanai tells about a love story that was shared by a castle maid named Telani with her lover, Telanai, who is a warrior. One after another disasters happened to their land, and the King (Sultan) blamed the relationship of Telani and Telanai are the reason to why the disasters are happening. Hence, the King instructed that Telani has to be outcasted to some unknown island named the Dayang Bunting Island and Telani gave birth to a baby boy there.  Not long after that, Telanai sailed and headed to that island as he deeply misses his wife, Telani and also their son. During his sail, suddenly the lightning struck non-stopingly accompanied by the thunder. Telani's son who was sleeping by the lake, woke up being terrified and fell down the lake. After the fog has disappeared, Telanai has turned into an island that is now known as the Tajai Island, while Telani turned into a big stone at the place where she was crying. According to the story, a white crocodile has been spotted frequently swimming between the Tajai Island and the big stone. It is said that the white crocodile is actually the couple's son that appeared in the form of a white crocodile.

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3) Telaga Tujuh (The Seven Wells)

It is believed that there were seven princesses that came from paradise and they often bathe there. They really love the coldness of the water. There was a prince that lived nearby it and tried to win the heart of one of the princesses, but failed. It is also believed that the water that came from these wells contains medical qualities. 

The Importance of Martial Arts among Undergraduates.

Not many people are aware of how important martial arts are for undergraduate students. Now, let me point out some of the main benefits and importance of martial arts for the students.

1) Physical Fitness

- Kung fu started as a way for studious monks to get physically fit. So, by practicing martial arts, students will be able to obtain their physical fitness.

2) Cardio, Strength, Balance

- Martial arts, taken as pure exercise, develops cardiovascular fitness as well as muscular strength. Martial artists also enjoy a heightened sense of balance, as well as learning specific skills to avoid injury. Regardless of which martial art your child studies, moving the body in martial arts techniques is great exercise. Regular training causes incremental improvements in fitness.

3) Learning Abilities

- Martial arts training doesn't just improve physical attributes. One of the more renowned benefits of martial arts training is the mental workout. Focus...is Key. Learning martial arts is learning made fun.

4) Discipline

- The regimented nature of martial arts instruction fosters a deep sense of self-discipline in students. One can't become a legitimate black belt overnight, and so students learn that their worthy goals will require patience, hard work, and dedicated study over several years. The message is that if it's worth anything, it's worth working hard for.

5) Camaraderie

- Martial arts students feel a strong sense of camaraderie with their fellow students. This feeling of fellowship is based primarily on shared experiences and surpassing of challenges, but is also based in tradition.

6) Self-Esteem

- Self-esteem is largely based on a student's self-worth; if students feel capable, able, and confident, then they enjoy a healthy self-esteem. Martial arts training builds self-esteem by providing small challenges that build incremental successes. Students learn that they can overcome the challenges as they improve in their training.

7) Respect

- One thing newcomers to the martial arts notice immediately when visiting a school for the first time is the numerous expressions of respect. "There's all that bowing," they might remark. Showing respect is intrinsic to the martial arts, and is a core facet of the cultures from which many martial arts originate. Students show respect to each other, their instructor, and even to their school upon joining each class session. Regardless of the ritual, almost all martial arts teach students to value age, rank, expertise, and experience. This respect for instructors and senior students can often carry over to classes in regular schools as well.

8) Calming and Stress Reduction

- The martial arts are very calming--a trait that may seem contradictory to those who just see the martial arts as violence. Most senior martial artists are the coolest, calmest characters around.

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GIRLS

While the reasons for studying martial arts apply to all, there's special reasons why girls should learn martial arts. We need to think and believe that "If boys can do, why can't girls do martial arts too?". Martial arts techniques are often easier for girls to learn than boys as a girl's natural flexibility is an advantage over boys the same age.

Learning martial arts are very important to girls students as we are often labelled as weak, hence, we are always targeted by the bad people. We need a particular focus on self-defense. Techniques and awareness learned through martial arts training can help us avoid assaults before they occur and defend ourselves if an assault takes place. With the seemingly prevalence of abductions in modern times, it makes sense for girls to learn at least basic self-defense and rape prevention techniques.

Superstitions in Malaysia

Malaysia’s Local Superstitions    

Malaysia is a multi-cultured country, and each culture has it’s own superstitions beliefs.

Since I’m a Malay, I will try to elaborate more on Malay’s superstitions beliefs from the ones that I heard and is aware of to the ones that I found on the Internet.

Malaysia’s Local Superstitions Beliefs, also known as Malay’s Superstitions Beliefs:

               

1) Don’t sit or step on a book. If you do so, you will become stupid.

- The reason is actually because it's a reading material, so, as a form of respect, the least we can do is not to step or sit on it.

2) Do not open an umbrella inside the house as it will bring bad luck.
- Actually the reason is that if you do so, you might poke someone or if the umbrella is wet, water will drip inside the house.

3) During Maghrib, Muslims kids are not allowed to play outside or they will be kidnapped by a ghost.
- The truth is that the kids need to be back home early, have their bath and pray on time.

4) Do not walk under the ladder or bad luck will befall you
- The truth is that if you walk under the ladder chances are people on top may drop something and fall on you, or worst, the ladder might fall on you.

5) If you cut your fingernails at night, your life span will be shortened.
- It is actually for safety reasons, because during night its dark so the possibilities of cutting or injuring your fingers are high.

6) If you peak on a girl during her shower, you will get an eye infection.
- It’s just to scare people so that they don’t go peeking at someone else during their shower.

7) If you drink water that contains ants in it, you will be forgetful.
- Why would you even do that haha

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Malaysian’s Chinese Superstitions Beliefs:

- Car number plates containing the number 8 (examples would be 8888, 888, 88, 8, 168, 668) are a sign of good fortune (the Cantonese pronunciation for 8 is "baat" which sounds similar to "fatt" which means prosperity; whereas 8 is pronounced as "ba" in Mandarin, which sounds similar to "fa" which means to prosper.)

- The number 4 is often avoided. (Some buildings in Malaysia replaced "4th Floor" to 3A, and house address 44 and 4 to 43A and 3A.) The number "4" itself has a similar tone to the Chinese character for "death". This is very different than any other culture, in Malaysian Chinese culture the unlucky number is 14, because in Cantonese it sounds like “must/will die.”

- Red and yellow are the color of good fortune accepted by all, while black is a color of bad luck.

- Giving a clock as a gift is considered bad luck or curse. Traditional superstitions regard this as counting the seconds to the recipient's death. Another common interpretation of this is that the phrase "to give a clock" is a homophone of a phrase for "terminating" or "attending a funeral".

- Sharing a pear with friends or loved ones can be a mistake as it is a homophone of "separate", both pronounced "fēnlí" in Mandarin. Sharing with distant friends is okay.

- To protect your unborn baby from evil spirits, pregnant women are advised to place a knife under their bed.

- Pregnant women should not cut anything on the bed. Spiritually, it signifies cutting your unborn baby's umbilical cord.

- Using glue is believed to bring about difficult labor.

- It is important to have the house completely clean before New Year's Day for good luck in the coming year. However, never clean on New Year's Day, as it signifies sweeping all of your good luck out of the house.

- It is best to wear red coming into the new year, as it is considered to be the color that brings the most luck.

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Malaysian’s Indians Superstitions Beliefs:

- After moving into a new home, they will patch cow dungs on the wall of their entrance to prevent evil spirits from coming in.

- Seeing an elephant when one is leaving for a journey is considered lucky. This is because an elephant represents Lord Ganesha, the Indian God who is the harbinger of good luck and removes obstacles.

- Seeing a peacock on a journey is also considered lucky, but hearing its shrill sound is bad.

- Indians feel happy if a sparrow builds a nest in a new house because it signals good fortune.

- A dog howling near a sick man's chamber predicts his death.

- Even the daily life of Indians is governed by beliefs and superstitions. For example, Monday is not an auspicious day for shaving and Thursday is a bad day for washing one's hair.

- One of the common things not to do in public is for couples to hold hands. Now if you are married then it will be okay, but if you are just dating, holding hands in public whether or not it is among the Indian community is sometimes deemed inappropriate. This is due to an old tradition where it is not allowed in the society so there is always a fear of ‘what if people see us?’. Since holding hands are deemed inappropriate, then kissing and hugging are totally out of the question.

- For Indian girls, they are not encouraged to wear short skirts or short pants in public. This is very common in fact among all culture but it is regarded to be quite a serious taboo among the more traditional families because such fashion tends to promote promiscuity. 

The infos above were taken from various sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

The Importance of Performing Prayers

The Importance of Performing Prayers

Performing prayer is one of the five fundamental requirements that a Muslim is obligated to perform. It is also given the highest priority in the Holy Quran. Below are some of the importance of performing prayers.

Firstly, by performing prayers, it trains us to be discipline in order to perform the five prayers, which are Subh, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isya’. We need to perform each of the prayer in the given time, for example for Subh, we can perform it from 06:09AM until before Syuruk time arrives which is on 07:29AM. Hence, we need to be punctual and always be alert of the prayers time as it changes every few days.

Secondly, performing prayers is intended to focus the mind on God, as it is a personal communication with God, expressing our gratitude and worship as His slave. As stated in the Hadith which carries the meaning ‘(Performing prayers) restrains one  from shameful and evil deeds’. Because when we perform prayers, it tightens and lead us closer with our Creator, Allah Taala, hence Allah will protect us from doing any indecency.

Besides that, performing prayers is really important as it is the second pillar of Islam. Furthermore, we also need to be in Toma’ninah state as when we are performing our prayer, we need to empty our head and forget everything about this short journey called life that will lead us to our destination, the afterlife, and concentrate on worshiping Allah Taala.

Last but not least, by performing prayers, we will receive many benefits in our health and physical wise. To list a few of the physical benefits of performing prayers, it will increase the flow of blood towards torso, increases fresh supply of blood to our brain, it also provides a form of relaxation to our entire body which releases tension, and the body movements during performing prayers are an excellent source of exercise for our health as well.

In conclusion, performing prayers are important for our body, iman, and many more. We gain countless benefits by performing prayers in various aspects. Indeed, there is cure in prayers that we perform.

Blogging. It's like a love and hate relationship

 

Assalamualaikum wrth~

Blogging.. Can I call it a love and hate relationship? There's a few things that I love about blogging and vice versa.

First of all, let's start with the positive part which is the 10 things that I love about blogging:

1) My skills in english language can be improved.

2) It can improve my writing skills.

3) By blogging, it can helps me to express my feelings and let my feelings known. (Depends on the topic that i'm blogging about)

4) Through blogging, we can meet new friends like our fellow bloggers and also our blog visitors.

5) Blogging can make/change the way we look into things in a rather wider prospective.

6) It can be an eye-opener.

7) We can learn tons of new things.

8) It's fun that I can customize my own blog as how I want it to be presented like.

9) I like looking at my blog because it's pink and I love pink, hence, I love my blog *0* haha

10) There are times when blogging is fun and I actually look forward to post on my blog. ^.^

And now, the 10 things that I don't like about blogging:

1) It's invading my privacy. Because this is like my personal blog, I don't feel comfortable to post about my personal life knowing that absolutely anyone can access my blog and read it's content.

2) I prefer tweeting rather to blog.

3) Because I'm lazy... Haha since blog posts are rather long, and because I'm a not-so-diligent type of person ^_T haha

4) Usually I don't know what I need to say/write in the blog post..... haha Let's just say I always run out of ideas?

5) We can't really control or choose the people that read our blog.

6) High possibility/tendency in receiving lots of spam types of comments.

7) Blogging makes me realize that my English skills are not so good. T^T (Looking back at the posts that I blogged about, the way I write in those posts really seems like some high school student is writing them instead of a bachelor level student OTL )

8) I just don't like blogging.

9) Just by looking at this posting a post page makes my head goes into a blurr state.

10) I'm just terribly lazy ^_^)v

Wassalam~