Pangea Ultima: Earth in 250 Million Years From Now?

Is this what will become of the Earth's surface? The surface of the Earth is broken up into several large plates that are slowly shifting. About 250 million years ago, the plates on which the present-day continents rest were positioned quite differently, so that all the landmasses were clustered together in one supercontinent now dubbed Pangea. About 250 million years from now, the plates are again projected to reposition themselves so that a single landmass dominates. The above simulation shows this giant landmass: Pangea Ultima. At that time, the Atlantic Ocean will be just a distant memory, and whatever beings inhabit Earth will be able to walk from North America to Africa. [Credit & Copyright: C. R. Scotese]

to those who are still not familiar with ftth

1. Fibre to The Home (FTTH) technology is the solution that will support growing demand for higher bandwidth applications leading to the eventual Digital Home experience. FTTH uses fibre optic cables and associated optical electronics to deliver multiple advanced broadband services. It allows extremely rapid transmission of voluminous data to both homes and offices enabling service providers to provide IP-based services, such as IPTV and High Speed Broadband (HSBB).

2. FTTH‘s immense capacity allows for the easy deployment of triple-play application services (voice, video and data). With such high-powered capability, users will discover the ease of use with having IPTV content, Video-on-Demand entertainment, gaming, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services and data applications delivered, all via the convenience of a single fibre-enabled broadband connection.

3. Among benefits of this future-proof FTTH technology to the end users is its bandwidth capacity, reliability, security and scalability delivered over a single fibre optic cable to all Internet Protocol (IP) based services simultaneously.

4. FTTH delivers high-speed broadband access service from 10Mbps up to maximum speed of 100Mbps to the home.
(source: somewhere on internet)

A bit on technical:
FTTH is a last mile technology that uses either EPON technology or Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology. EPON has a downstream rate and upstream rate of up to 1.25Gbps while GPON technology delivers a downstream of 2.488Gbps and optional upstream rate of 155Mbps, 622Mbps, 1.44Gbps and 2.488Gbps.

FTTH requires a platform infrastructure comprising of an Optical Line Terminal (OLT) for deployment at the exchange or Central Office (CO) and an Optical Network Unit (ONU) for deployment at the customer premise. FTTH represents a high-speed connectivity alternative to traditional copper wires. The GEPON technology is specifically cost-effective as it uses passive optical elements at customer’s premise as an alternative to conventional access equipment, reducing points of failure while simplifying the network architecture.

what actually happens in us?

what actually happens in america? probably the worst is yet to come...

1. SEC allowed leveraging to go from 12/1 to 40/1 which means that you could lend out a dollar 40 times, creating a mountain of debt.

2. Credit default swaps allowed you to buy insurance contracts and not be forced to keep much of the money as reserves which helped blow the housing bubble.

3. The federal reserve kept interest rates artificially low which got people to mal-invest because the lending rates were just as low as the rate of inflation so it was almost like free money.

4. Alan Greenspan and Bill Clinton Created CRA which allowed banks to loan money to people who wanted to purchase homes, which had no business owning one. Our government guaranteed that if these people defaulted, that the taxpayer would pay for the defaults, hence the bailouts. In so many words if they won, they privatized the profits, when they lost, they socialized the losses.

5. Because of the change of lending standards, and artificially low interest rates, housing prices went on the rise, and investors realized this and either bought property themselves as speculative buyers, or started building new houses.

6. People that already owned homes started noticing their equities jumping through the roof, refinanced their loans, and started using their homes as ATM machines and started taking on much more debt than they should have thinking that prices would keep getting higher and higher.

7. When the people who were only allowed to lend through CRA started defaulting, all these speculative buyers turned into speculative sellers, and no one could get out of the door fast enough. Many foreclosed and banks started becoming insolvent, and didnt have cash. Because of so many foreclosures, speculative sellers, and new homes built, the supply of houses was much higher than demand, and so prices dropped, and are still dropping considerably. Those people that had refinanced and spent all their equity money on material things are all now living in homes with negative equity.

8. This hit the commercial sector, and since many businesses rely on credit, they could not get that credit any more since many banks are either insolvent or afraid to loan because of bad economic conditions and so they defaulted as well.

9. Because many homeowners have been hit with this negative equity, etc. There is much lower demand for goods other than necessities. Since companies have lower demand for goods, they start laying off people. This in turn lowers demand more because of less people who have disposable incomes, and more companies have to lay off more people. You can see where this could be headed…..

Now to address the stimulus package, it is horrible because we are only going to get a few hundred dollars, but the bill for the stimulus package is over $6700 for every man, woman, and child, and also many of the programs in it are wasteful spending.
(Zenmeister, feb 22, 2009)

Dangers of Handphones

Previously it was thought that overuse of handphones would lead to overheating of the brain and maybe cause brain cancer. Many people and handphone makers sigh with relief when research reported the heating was too minor to have an effect and hundreds of cancer studies were inconclusive.A study - financed by the Swedish Council for Work Life Research, and published by the US government's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) - breaks new ground by looking at how low levels of microwaves cause proteins to leak across the blood-brain barrier.

Professor Leif Salford, who headed the research at Sweden's prestigious Lund University, says "the voluntary exposure of the brain to microwaves from hand-held mobile phones" is "the largest human biological experiment ever". And he is concerned that, as new wireless technology spreads, people may "drown in a sea of microwaves".Professor Salford and his team have spent 15 years investigating this different threat. Their previous studies proved radiation could open the blood-brain barrier, allowing a protein called albumin to pass into the brain. Their latest work goes a step further, by showing the process is linked to serious brain damage.

Professor Salford said the long-term effects were not proven, and that it was possible the neurons would repair themselves in time. But, he said, neurons that would normally not become "senile" until people reached their 60s may now do so when they were in their 30s. This could cause a "whole generation" of today's teenagers to go senile in the prime of their lives. The older handphone users have less to worry but for those starting very young especially those of primary schooling age, there may need to be a rethink whether they should be using these potential "senility" causing devices.
(Source: Internet)

Why Cell Phones Are Banned On Flights

Cell phones are banned for two official reasons:
1. Cell phones might interfere with the avionics (aviation electronics) of some airplanes.
2. Cell phones aloft might cause problems with cell tower systems on the ground.

Well, no, actually. The risk posed by cell phones to airplane equipment is unknown, and will remain unknown for as long as possible.

Both of these risks are easily tested, yet somehow neither the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) nor the Federal Communications Commission has been able to get a definitive answer in the past 20 years as to whether phone calls in flight cause these suspected problems. (The FAA is responsible for the flight safety portion of all this, and the FCC is responsible for the cell tower part.)

The government's secret is that it cultivates uncertainty about the effects of phones in airplanes as a way to maintain the existing ban without having to confront the expense and inconvenience to airlines and wireless carriers of allowing them.

The airlines fear "crowd control" problems if cell phones are allowed in flights. They believe cell phone calls might promote rude behavior and conflict between passengers, which flight attendants would have to deal with. The airlines also benefit in general from passengers remaining ignorant about what's happening on the ground during flights, including personal problems, terrorist attacks, plane crashes and other information that might upset passengers.

(Source: Computerworld , April 06, 2007)

Perjalanan Ku

Aku yang masih
Di perjalanan hidup ini
Begitu lama berlegar
Di persimpangan dunia

Menempuh jarak dan titian
Rimba dan lautan
Mencari sesuatu yang abadi

Aku yang masih
Di perhentian hidup ini
Begitu jauh menggembara
Ke serata dunia

Mengejar siang dan malam
Surut dan pasang
Mencari sesuatu kebebasan
Mencari sesuatu kedamaian

Di mana berakhirnya
Perjalananku ini
Esok dan lusa bukan miliku
Oh Tuhanku

Lindungilah hambamu
Yang hina ini
Aku setia hanya padamu
Oh Tuhanku
(Ramli Sarip 1999)

Aku Milikmu

Langkah kaki ku..
Makin longlai..
Kehausan di padang gersang..

Betapa nanti..
Aku rebah..
Burung gagak memagut tubuh..

Biar tanpa oleh ku..
Lembah lembah berair..
Bibir akan memecah..
Tangan juga berdarah..

Oh..... Ini baru cuaca dunia
Oh..... Akan lebih nanti di sana

Mati adalah pasti
Hidup insyaallah
(herman tino - 1985)

Berpecahnya Umat Islam Kepada 73 Puak

Pernah terbaca dari satu majalah yg dibeli dalam tahun 1992 dulu. Ringkasannya lebih kurang macam ni:

Sabda Rasulullah, " Akan berpecah umatku kpd 73 puak - 72 akan masuk neraka & hanya 1 masuk syurga" .

72 puak yang dimaksudkan ialah:
1. Syiah pecah kpd 22 puak
2. Khawarij 20 puak
3. Muktazilah 20 (termasuk Qadariah) puak
4. Murjiah 5 puak
5. Najariah 3 puak
6. Jabariah 1 puak
7. Musyabihah 1 puak
JUMLAH 72
Yang 1 lagi (yang akan masuk syurga) ialah yg berpegang kpd Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah.

Antara sebab2 72 puak itu dikatakan tidak benar:
1. Syiah – Terlalu taksub dgn Saidina Ali. Abu Bakar merampas hak Ali sbg khalifah pertama; yg extrem kata Jibrail sepatutnya bagi wahyu kpd Ali tapi tersalah bagi kpd Muhammad (iaitu Ali yg sepatutnya jadi Nabi yg akhir); yg paling extrem pula menyembah atau bertuhankan Ali.
2. Khawarij – Terlalu benci Ali sehingga mengkafirkannya, org yg berdosa besar hukumnya kafir; yg extrem kata syurga tidak ujud.
3. Muktazilah – Org yg berdosa besar itu mukmin tidak kafirpun tidak jadi tak boleh masuk neraka atau pun syurga; nikmat org syurga hanyalah nikmat rohani & bukan jasmani; ahli syurga tak boleh lihat Allah dgn mata kasar.
4. Murjiah – Org yg buat maksiat & mungkar kpd Allah tidak akan dpt bala jika dia beriman kpd Allah.
5. Qadariah – Qudrah (kekuatan) diberi oleh Allah tapi selepas kita mendapat qudrah itu, kita yg menentukan hidup kita & Allah tak ada kuasa lagi keatas kita (atau jika kita beriktikad, semua perbuatan baik buruk terbit adalah dari usaha kita sendiri & tidak terpaut dgn kuasa Allah lagi).
6. Jabariah – Kita tidak perlu berusaha & berikhtiar tapi hanya berserah kpd Allah semata-mata. Kita hanya perlu bergantung kpd qada & qadar yg telah ditetapkan Allah & tak payah usaha apa2. Contoh bila ditanya "Bila nak buat haji?", dia jawab "Belum sampai seru". Bila tanya "Pasai apa nak kawin 2?", dia jawab "Nak buat macam mana, dah ditakdirkan".

Kita tak sedar yg apa yg kita buat kadang2 boleh tergolong kpd fahaman2 yg salah ini terutamannya Qadariah dan Jabariah. Walau apapun, setiap satu dari 72 puak ini mengaku bahawa merekalah ahli sunnah wal jamaah dan yg lain2 tu salah. Semua yakin depa yg akan masuk "syurga".

Kenyataan

Detik-detik bebayang yang mengejar
Bagai nelayan di tangan jala tertebar
Menadah pasir karang nan kasar
Sebagai tanda karya bermula
Mengharungi hari muka

Begitu getirnya mencari kedamaian
Buat kehidupan penuh beriman
Bangkit dirimu di alam kenyataan
Menghambat senja sebelum malam
Yang belum pasti menjadi titi
Pencapaian penuh erti

Semalam telah berlalu
Menjadi tunggak penentu
Esok yang akan berlaku
Terserah pada akalmu
Punya usia juga tenaga
Mewarnai nubarimu
(Ramli Sarip - 1986)

Kau Yang Satu

Kaulah Yang Maha Esa
Kaulah Yang Maha Pengasih
Kaulah Yang Maha Penyayang
Tiada hidup tanpaMu

Kaulah Yang Maha Agung
Kaulah Yang Maha Mengetahui
Tuhan dunia akhirat
Tiada aku tanpaMu

Bilaku rasa pilu
Bilaku rasa resah
Bilaku kekosongan
Kau tempatku mengadu
Oh Tuhan yang satu
Engkaulah Tuhan yang satu

Segala puji-pujian
Ku tujukan padaMU..padaMU
Dan hidup dan matiku hanyalah
UntukMu..untukMu...untukMU
(Ramli Sarip - 1999)

Insan

Kita adalah insan
Menumpang atas dunia
Aku dengan caraku
Yang sederhana

Kita adalah hamba
Berbakti pada Yang Esa
Aku mencari sinar
Keredhaannya

Kita sama sahaja
Bezanya cuma amalan kita
(Yantzen - 1999)

Average Life

WORLD

Overall : 64.3 years
Men : 62.7 years
Women : 66.0 years
Diff. : 3.3 years

> Women still live longer than men

MALAYSIA

Overall : 72.5 years
Men : 71.5 years
Women : 76.2 years
Diff. : 4.7 years

> Malaysians live longer than world average
> Women still live longer than men

Men
Chinese : 73.6 years
Malay : 70.4 years
Indian : 67.4 years
Average : 71.5 years

Women
Chinese : 78.8 years
Indian : 75.4 years
Malay : 74.8 years
Average : 76.2 years

> Chinese live longer than both Malay and Indian

> Malay men live longer than Indian men while Indian women live equally longer with Malay women
(Source: Malaysian Statistics Dept & UN)

Fernandez On 'Top-Down' Culture in Asia

Tony Fernandez founded Air Asia, Asia's first low-cost carrier, in 2001 and expanded the company by setting up joint-venture airlines in Thailand and Indonesia. Mr. Fernandez, 42, graduated from the University of London in 1987 with a finance degree and in 1992 moved back to Malaysia, where he became managing director of Warner Music Malaysia, and later, vice-president of Warner'sSoutheast Asian operations. He quit in 2001 to start Air Asia.

He not only has strong ideas on the way airlines should be run, but also how Southeast Asia's top-down corporate culture should change.

WSJ: What was your first job and what did you learn from it?
TF: My first job was a waiter in London at the Cavendish Hotel. I was 17. I learned that working was hard and you had to be professional, even as a waiter. You had other colleagues. If my performance was poor, it let down the whole team. My first job was as an accountant at an auditor in London. It was mind-blowingly boring. I was a junior auditor and was photocopying and adding up rows of columns. The big lesson there: make sure you go into a job that you enjoy. Otherwise, you don't give any value to your employer, and you certainly don't add any value to your own mind.

WSJ: Who gave you the best business advice?
TF: It was probably Stephen Shrimpton (the former chief executive officer of Warner Music International) at Warner. I was a man in a rush. I was 28 when I became the managing director of WarnerMusic Malaysia, and I wanted to be the regional MD. I wanted to take over the world.

One night, Steve talked to me for three hours. He told me there's no need to rush and that it's about developing my own personality and making sure I'm ready for the next job. I see that now: no matter how bright someone is, there's nothing like experience. He slowed me down, and made me understand that you need to take time -- to understand the business better, to understand your people better.

WSJ: What's the one thing you wish every new hire knew?
TF: Humility -- and knowing what the real world is like. The new generation is coming in pretty soft. A lot of these young guys haven't lived through a recession. There are plenty of jobs out there and they think, "I can always walk into another job." The hunger and determination to do their best is sometimes not there.

WSJ: Is there a difference between the management culture in Asia and the West?
TF: The management culture here is very top-down. There's less creativity and fewer people who are willing to speak out. They're more implementers than doers. There's less freedom of speech, and that impacts the business world. Even when they know things are not right, they won't speak out. They just do what they're told to do.

WSJ: What's the biggest management challenge you face?
TF: To get people to think. At AirAsia, we want 4,000 brains working for us. My biggest challenge is to get people to talk, to express themselves, to get people to challenge me and say "Tony, you're talking rubbish." That's what I want, not people who say "Yes, sir." The senior management doesn't have all the answers. I want the guy on the ramp to have the confidence to tell me what's wrong.

WSJ: What are you doing to clear that hurdle?
TF: Go down to the floor. We have no offices. We dress down. When you wear a suit, you put distance between you and your staff. We're on a first-name basis. I go around the office, around the check-in desks, the planes constantly, talking to people. Fifty percent of my job is managing people in the company. You get people to open up to you by just asking them to do it, and then responding to them. You don't send a memo, or do some "speak up" incentive program. It's got to be from the heart.

WSJ: What was the most satisfying decision you've made as a manager?
TF: Once a month, I carry bags with the ramp boys, or I'm cabin crew, or at the check-in. I do this to get close to the operation. I also want to know my people. When I first started this, I met all these bright kids at the check-in or carrying bags. We were starting this cadet pilot program, and I said, "Let's open it up to anyone. Let some of these kids apply." They have the brains, but they just didn't have the money to get the education. Out of the first batch of 19 cadets, 11 came from within the company. Some of these boys got the highest marks ever in the flying academy. There was one kid who joined us to carry bags, and 18 months later he was a First Officer of a 737. Can you imagine what that does for the motivation in the company? Everyone talks about developing human capital, but we did it.
Interview by Cris Pristay, The Wall Street Journal

Weather Warfare

World renowned scientist Dr. Rosalie Bertell confirms that "US military scientists ... are working on weather systems as a potential weapon. The methods include the enhancing of storms and the diverting of vapor rivers in the Earth's atmosphere to produce targeted droughts or floods."

Already in the 1970s, former National Security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski had foreseen in his book "Between Two Ages" that "Technology will make available techniques for conducting secret warfare, of which only a bare minimum of the security forces need be appraised... techniques of weather modification could be employed to produce prolonged periods of drought or storm."

A former French military officer, Marc Filterman, refers to "weather war," indicating that the U.S. and the Soviet Union had already "mastered the know-how needed to unleash sudden climate changes (hurricanes, drought) in the early 1980s." These technologies make it "possible to trigger atmospheric disturbances by using Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) radar [waves]."

HIGH-FREQUENCY ACTIVE AURORAL RESEARCH PROGRAM (HAARP) The High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) based in Gokoma Alaska --jointly managed by the US Air Force and the US Navy-- is part of a new generation of sophisticated weaponry under the US Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Operated by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate, HAARP constitutes a system of powerful antennas capable of creating "controlled local modifications of the ionosphere".

Scientist Dr. Nicholas Begich describes HAARP as "A super-powerful radiowave-beaming technology that lifts areas of the ionosphere by focusing a beam and heating those areas. Electromagnetic waves then bounce back onto earth and penetrate everything -- living and dead."

Dr. Rosalie Bertell depicts HAARP as "A gigantic heater that can cause major disruption in the ionosphere, creating not just holes, but long incisions in the protective layer that keeps deadly radiation from bombarding the planet."

The Story of Grameen Bank

Grameen Bank (Rural Bank) was founded by Dr Muhammad Yunus, 66. He is winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for poverty alleviation in Bangladesh.

During the Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Dr Yunus uses the word "we" instead of I. He did not actually win the prize -- "we" did. His message was very much focused on empowerment and education.

The prize was received by a woman who is one of the 7 million Grameen Bank borrowers (they are also the owners).

Dr Yunus is not really an economist or social entrepreneur. He is a teacher.

He began the work that led to the Nobel acting as a teacher, a Professor of economics touched by the misery of forty-two people in the village next to the university. Their lives were being destroyed by money-lenders. And the sum required to pay off the leeches? A mere twenty-seven dollars! He paid off the money lenders, and after failing to convince the bank to lend money to the poor and put the leeches out of business, he started doing it himself, and thus the Bank and the global micro-credit movement was born.

But what sticks in the mind from his many moving tales of real people, in their thousands and millions, relieved from misery by what is essentially simple act of kindness.

He described their early attempts to loan money to women, and the resistance they faced from the women themselves. "Oh no no no," they would say, "I don't know anything." "And the more they protested and said they didn't know anything, the more we wanted them," says Dr Yunus.

He had emphasised the obvious, that money was entirely secondary to the central business of education in its classical sense, educare, drawing something wonderful out of the essential person.

300,000 call centre ladies now make good livings keeping people connected; 85,000 beggars are now part of a program that teaches them how to swap out retail sales; 13,000 children of the the seven million illiterate borrowers are now taking out higher education loans and going on to engineering, medical school, even PhD's.

Dr Yunus lives a very simple life in Dhaka, wearing clothes made of a simple cotton cloth that he designed to help poor textile workers.

notes: special loan for the poor includes:
1. very small amount given without any collateral
2. loans repayable in weekly instalments spread over a year
3. eligibility for a subsequent loan depends upon repayment of first loan
4. individual, self chosen, quick income generating activities which employ the skills that borrowers already posses
5. close supervision of credit by the group as well as the bank staff
6. stress on credit discipline and collective borrower responsibility or peer pressure
7. special safegaurds through compulsory and voluntary savings to minimise the risks that the poor confront
8. transparency in all bank transactions most of which take place at centre meetings.

China

What is driving world economic growth very fast? Asia, in particular China, India and Vietnam. They each have partly liberalised their economies after years of stagnation under central planning controls.

China has a population of 1.3 billion and a GDP growth of 9.9 per cent, Vietnam's population is 85 million and its GDP growth 8.4 per cent, India has 1.1 billion people and GDP growth of 7.6 per cent.

In 1984 China's economy was one-fourteenth the size of the US economy, and by 2005 was one-sixth the size of a much bigger American economy. The prediction is that by 2030 the Chinese economy will be larger than US economy.

China is now in the middle of a process of settling about 500 million people in new or expanded cities over a 20-year period. This, in effect, means that China is building two new London each year in either new, or expanded cities. This rate of development is unprecedented in world history, nothing previously even comes close. In 2005, China used 54 per cent of the world demand for cement!

It's an amazing experiment on a huge scale, which has never worked anywhere in the history of mankind. To have any hope of success China needs to keep growing its economy at more than 8 per cent a year for at least another 25 years while about 20 million people a year are switched to industrial/service jobs and away from peasant farming.

Currently China consumes 19 per cent of the current global grain harvest. Most projections estimate that demand will increase to at least 40 per cent of global grain harvest by 2031.

Khutbah Terakhir Rasulullah SAW

Diantara peristiwa terpenting semasa Haji Wada’ adalah khutbah terakhir yang disampaikan Rasulullah SAW di Arafah pada 9 Zulhijjah 10 Hijrah. Antara pesanannya dalam khutbah terakhir beliau ialah:
1. Kehormatan jiwa dan harta setiap Muslim mesti dijaga supaya tidak dicerobohi
2. Segala perbuatan manusia akan dipertanggungjawabkan dihadapan Allah SWT
3. Riba’ adalah haram
4. Musuh utama manusia adalah syaitan
5. Suami hendaklah melayan isterinya dengan baik
6. Zina amatlah dilarang
7. Semua rukun Islam mestilah dilaksanakan
8. Setiap orang Islam itu bersaudara
9. Umat Islam mesti berpegang teguh kepada Al-Quran dan Sunnah.

Abraham Lincoln's Famous Quotes

1. You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

2. To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.

3. The "Ten Points":
1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
3. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
4. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
5. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer.
6. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
7. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
8. You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
9. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.
10. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

4. The letter Lincoln wrote to his son's teacher:
My son will have to learn.
Teach him that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader. Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend.
Teach him that a dollar earned is of far more value than five found.
Teach him to learn to lose and also to enjoy winning, steer him away from envy.
Teach him the secret of quiet laughter.
Let him learn early that bullies are easiest to lick.
Teach him the wonder of books, teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat.
Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong.
Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough.
Give him the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the bandwagon.
Teach him to listen to all men; but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.
Teach him how to laugh when he is sad.
Teach him there is no shame in tears.
Teach him to scoff at cynics and to be beware of too much sweetness.
Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders, but never to put a price on his heart and soul.
Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he's right.
Treat him gently but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.
Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always to have sublime faith in humankind.
This is a big order, but see what we can do. He is such a fine little fellow my son!

Lincoln has been considered the greatest American president of them all.

Pergi Tak Kembali

Setiap insan pasti merasa, Saat perpisahan terakhir
Dunia yang fana akan ditinggalkan, Hanya amalan yang dibawa

Terdengar sayup surah dibaca, Sayunya alunan suara
Cemas di dada...lemah tak bermaya, Terbuka hijab di depan mata

Selamat tinggal pada semua, Berpisahlah kita selamanya
Kita tak sama nasib di sana, Baikkah atau sebaliknya

Amalan dan takwa jadi bekalan, Sejahtera bahagia pulang...ke sana

Sekujur badan berselimut putih, Rebah bersemadi sendiri
Mengharap kasih anak dan isteri, Apa mungkin pahala dikirim

Terbaring sempit seluas pusara, Soal-bicara terus bermula
Sesal dan insaf tak berguna lagi, Hancurlah jasad dimamah bumi

Berpisah sudah segalanya, Yang tinggal hanyalah kenangan
Diiring doa dan air mata, Yang pergi takkan kembali lagi
..rabbani

Fuel Savings Tips

1. Check tire pressure each month. Under inflated tires reduce fuel efficiency by 2% for every pound under inflated. Under inflation also causes premature tire wear.
2. Switch off all power consuming accessories before switching on the ignition so as to minimize battery load during the next start.
3. Drive slow and steady. Drive between 45-55 kph. The faster you drive, the more wind resistance the vehicle will face. If you speed above 60 kph, you will waste the petrol. Tests have shown that you can get up to 40% extra mileage at 45-55 kph as against 80 kph. (This will be frustrating to all our dear Malaysian drivers, but heck, isn’t this all about petrol saving tips? We shouldn’t all travel around at 55 kph, but if you reduce the speed by even a small amount the rewards are substantial.)
4. Accelerate gently, brake gradually and avoid stops when driving. Gunning engines, quickly accelerating, and abrupt stops all waste fuel. If you do find yourself in stop and go traffic, try to maintain a crawl; when approaching hills or steep slopes, accelerate before the hill. Accelerating once on the slope will consume much more gas.
5. Avoid driving fast in low gears. Driving at high speeds in the improper gear can reduce fuel efficiency by up to 40%.
6. Drive at the speed limit. Cars use about 20% more fuel driving at 110 kph than they do at 90 kph.
   Avoid using air conditioning whenever possible. Air conditioning reduces fuel economy by 10-20%.
7. Shut the windows. Shutting all car windows while driving will make the car more aerodynamic. This will improve fuel efficiency. An open window can increase fuel consumption by up to 20%.
8. Avoid rough roads. Driving on roads made of dirt or gravel can reduce fuel economy by up to 30%.
9. Don't let the car idle. Even on cold mornings, there's no need to let the car idle for more than 30 seconds. Newer cars are designed to be driven almost immediately and letting the car idle longer is a waste of gas. In addition, it's more efficient to turn off the car and turn it on again than to let it idle for more than 45 seconds while waiting.
10. When sitting at a set of traffic lights or in traffic for an extended length of time, put into neutral or park.
11. Get the engine tuned up. Tests on a large number of cars prove that you can save as much as 6% by tuning the car regularly. Also check the car's alignment since this can cause engine drag which will also increase gas waste. A poorly maintained engine can cut gas mileage by 10-20%.
    (Source: Various)

.. in the west, i see islam without muslims and

.. in the east, i see muslims without islam..
The great Islamic scholar of the 19th century, Muhammad Abdo wrote that when he visited the West he found Islam but no Muslims and upon his return to the Arab world he countenanced many Muslims but no Islam.

Khusyuk Dalam Solat

Rasulullah SAW bersabda,
"Berapa banyak orang yang mendirikan solat, tetapi yang di perolehi hanya penat dan letih, kerana mereka itu lalai dalam sembahyangnya".
"Aku selalu mengingati mati dalam sembahyang."
"Apabila kamu sembahyang anggaplah sembahyang ini sembahyang perpisahan".

Khusyuk ialah hati sentiasa hidup.
Untuk khusyuk dalam solat, perlu amalan berikut:
1. Jaga makan minum, pakaian, tempat tinggal dll supaya datang dari punca yang halal tanpa syubhah.
2. Fikiran tidak liar. Sebelum solat lintaskan kematian seakan-akan amat hampir dengan kita. Anggap setiap solat adalah solat kita yang terakhir.
3. Dirikan solat di awal waktu atau pertengahan waktu supaya tidak gopoh apabila masa hampir luput.
4. Baca dengan baik (khusnul qori'ah), berusaha untuk faham bacaan dalam solat termasuk ayat Al-Quran yang dibacakan itu terutama sekali Al Fatihah, gerakan dan maknanya (tafakhum).
5. Lakukan rukun-rukun solat secara tertib. Berusaha menyedari bahawa (khudunul qolbih) Allah memerhati sembahyang kita.
6. Ada rasa malu (haya') dan takut (khauf) terhadap kekuasaan Allah.
7. Berharap serta yakin Allah menerima solat dan amal kita.
8. Hati diajak hadir dalam solat iaitu kosongkan hati dari segala urusan yang boleh mengganggu dan yang tidak berkaitan dengan solat.
9. Membesarkan serta merasakan kehebatan Allah dalam solat.
10. Gunakan sejadah yang tidak terlalu banyak gambar yang boleh khayalkan pemikiran.
11. Dirikan solat secara berjemaah.
12. Ambil wuduk dengan sempurna.
13. Kurangkan pergerakan anggota seperti tangan dan kaki; mata ditumpukan kepada tempat sujud dan ketika tasahut lihat anak jari.
14. Azan dan iqamat terlebih dahulu walaupun mendirikan sembahyang bersendirian ataupun sekurang-kurangnya iqamat sahaja.
15. Baca surah An-Nas sebelum solat akan dapat membantu untuk kita khusyuk ketika solat nanti.

Khutbah Jumaat - Tanggungjawab Berat Seorang Pemimpin

22 Disember 2006
Semua manusia adalah pemimpin dan di akhirat kelak semua pemimpin ini akan ditanya, disoal, dibicarakan dalam melaksanakan amanah ini. Seseorang yang dipilih sebagai pemimpin hendaklah sedar bahawa kepimpinan adalah amanah daripada Allah. Jika dia berjaya menunaikan amanah ini dengan penuh tanggungjawab dan adil terhadap orang bawahannya, maka pemimpin ini, akan dapat naungan Allah diakhirat nanti. Sebaliknya sekiranya seorang pemimpin itu gagal menunaikan amanah ini dengan melakukan penyelewengan, kezaliman, penyalahgunaan kuasa, pecah amanah, rasuah dan sebagainya, maka takutlah dengan amaran Rasulullah iaitu manusia yang paling dasyat seksaannya di dalam neraka ialah pemimpin yang zalim.

Bagi menyelamatkan pemimpin-pemimpin yang memiliki kuasa di atas muka bumi ini, Allah tegaskan supaya mereka laksanakan tanggungjawab tersebut dengan sungguh2. Tanggungjawab bagi seseorang pemimpin itu hendaklah:
1. Memastikan ibadat solat menjadi keutamaan bagi dirinya dan seluruh rakyat;
2. Menguruskan zakat dan kewangan dengan jalan yang diredhai Allah;
3. Memastikan sumber pendapatan rakyat dan negara bersih daripada sebarang sumber yang diharamkan oleh Allah.
4. Menitikberatkan soal Amar Makruf dan Nahi Munkar, iaitu mendidik rakyat supaya sentiasa mematuhi perintah Allah dan meninggalkan larangannya; dan
5. Mengutamakan Al-Quran dan Sunnah sebagai rujukkan dalam menyelesaikan segala bentuk permasalahan.

Dalam menghuraikan perkara ini, Syeikh Mustafa Muhammad Attohhan didalam bukunya Syahsiatul Muslimul Muasiri menyenaraikan beberapa amanah yang perlu dipikul oleh para pemimpin, antaranya:
1. Menegakkan syariat Allah berpandukan apa yang telah diturunkan oleh Allah;
2. Menegakkan keadilan dikalangan manusia tanpa mengira warna, kulit dan bangsa;
3. Mengambil tahu tentang permasalahan rakyat;
4. Membangunkan negara dengan jaminan pendidikan dan kesihatan;
5. Membuka ruang perdagangan, perusahaan dan pertanian;
6. Menjamin hak asasi manusia dan hak persamaan mereka disisi undang-undang; dan
7. Menjamin kebebasan mengeluarkan pendapat dikalangan rakyat.

Apabila seseorang itu dilantik atau dipilih jadi pemimpin, maka itu sebenarnya bukanlah satu berita gembira baginya. Kepimpinan bukan satu kebanggaan, bukan satu kehebatan dan bukan pula satu perkara yang menyeronokkan tetapi kepimpinan adalah amanah Allah yang perlu dipikul dengan penuh tanggungjawab. Kepimpinan bermakna seseorang itu menerima bebanan besar dan akan dibicarakan oleh Allah di Padang Mahsyar kelak.

Justeru, apabila seseorang itu dilantik sebagai pemimpin, maka janganlah dia ambil kesempatan untuk mengaut keuntungan duniawi dengan menafikan hak orang lain. Manusia sering kali lupa daratan apabila berada dipuncak kejayaan. Mereka lebih suka mempamerkan kekayaan masing-masing melebihi daripada pendapatan yang diperolehi.

Mereka lupa bahawa Saidina Umar bin Al-Khatab, walaupun baginda hanya tinggal dalam rumah yang dibina daripada tanah liat dan hidup dengan penuh kezuhudan, namun namanya tercatat didalam sejarah sebagai seorang pemimpin yang berjaya menggerakkan kuasa dunia ketika itu. Beliau adalah seorang pemimpin yang sangat dikagumi oleh kawan dan digeruni oleh musuh tanpa perlu mempamerkan kemewahan hidup baginda.

Kehebatan seseorang pemimpin itu bukanlah terletak pada kemewahan, sebaliknya pada kebijaksanaannya dalam menjalankan amanah Allah.

Budaya hidup mewah ini akan menjadikan seseorang pemimpin itu terlajak dan bertindak mengambil hak orang lain demi untuk membina kemewahan mereka sendiri. Sesungguhnya mengambil hak orang lain itu adalah merupakan satu kezaliman yang perlu dihindari.

Allah memberi amaran supaya jangan mempergunakan kedudukan dalam apa jua jawatan sekalipun untuk mengaut keuntungan dan membina kekayaan melalui firmannya dalam surah al-baqarah ayat 188 yang bermaksud “Janganlah kamu makan atau mengambil harta orang-orang lain diantara kamu dengan jalan yang salah, dan janganlah kamu menghulurkan harta kamu dengan memberi rasuah kepada hakim-hakim kerana hendak memakan atau mengambil sebahagian dari harta manusia dengan berbuat dosa, pada hal kamu mengetahui salahnya".

Perlu disedari, perbuatan menzalimi orang lain amat bahaya kerana sesungguhnya doa orang yang dizalimi sangat dimakbulkan oleh Allah. Jika kita menzalimi seseorang , lantas orang itu menadah tangan memohon doa kepada Allah, maka dengan cepat Allah akan memakbulkannya. Sesungguhnya tidak ada satu hijab yang menghalang doa seseorang yang dizalimi itu daripada didengar dan diperkenankan oleh Allah.

Sabda Rasulullah, salah satu penyakit yang sangat bahaya dan mudah berjangkit kepada mereka yang bergelar pemimpin ialah penyakit rasuah. Orang yang memegang kuasa seringkali terdedah dengan amalan rasuah.

Islam menyuruh umatnya menghindarkan diri daripada rasuah dan apa-apa sahaja yang menjurus kearah rasuah. Rasullullah bersabda bahawa barang siapa yang memberi pertolongan dan sokongan pada saudaranya utk dapat sesuatu, lalu saudaranya itu berikannya balasan kerana pertolongan itu, maka telah datang kepadanya satu pintu yang besar diantara pintu-pintu riba.

Yang penting pemimpin, kena ada tanggungjawabnya terhadap apa yang dipimpinnya, kena memenuhi keperluan rakyat, jaga keselamatan mereka, bawa depa kearah kebaikan. Yang dipimpin juga mestilah mematuhi dan menghormati pemimpin dalam apa jua keadaan asalkan bersesuaian dengan agama. Pemimpin ibarat pelayan yang mesti melayan kehendak rakyatnya. Walaupun tak sama dari sudut pangkat, tapi mesti saling tunaikan tanggungjawab dan rasa sama-sama saling perlu memerlukan antara satu sama lain.

Financial Independence

The truth is, unless we're lucky enough to receive a sizeable inheritance, we'll need to navigate our own route to prosperity. And anyone, at any age, can develop the traits that increase wealth and decrease debt.

Part of our culture is, 'Fake it until you make it.' People rather borrow and keep borrowing to show their wealth. They buy liabilities and they make those payments forever. Debt holds people back.

By right, we should spend less than we make, live a modest lifestyle and don't live up to every raise. Some people have spent their prosperity for the next 10 years and they've done it on credit!

In summary, 95 percent of the people never achieve financial independence. For 65 percent of retirees, pension, EPF and other 'forced-saving' funds are their largest source of retirement income.

Wealth is relative, it doesn't necessarily mean millionaire. The goal to have is financial independence.

7 SIMPLE STEPS TO WEALTH
1. Develop a written financial plan
Saying we want to be wealthy isn't good enough. We need to come up with a workable plan and put it on paper.
2. Save, save, and more save
The end result of our financial plan should be systematic investment. Get in the habit of saving money. Build an emergency fund in a money market account so we don't have to raid the rest of our savings and investments when there's an unexpected major expense. Make it a point to save at least half of every pay raise.
3. Live below means
Don't be a walking billboard for overpriced designer clothes, shoes, sunglasses or jewelry. Don't allow our house or car payments to be budget-busters.
4. Lay off the credit
Try not putting anything on our cards that we can't pay off in two or three months. We need only one or two credit cards. If we have a fistful, pay them off and cancel them. Debt holds us back. It reduces cash flow for other things, including investing.
5. Make money work
It takes money to make money, but that doesn't mean we need a lot to invest. Open an account with a mutual fund company that has no-load funds and low expense ratios. Build a diverse portfolio and we can reasonably expect to earn 8 percent to 10 percent annually on our investments over the long haul.
6. Start own business
In the 1996 book The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy, the authors state that two-thirds of the millionaires are self-employed, with 75 percent of them entrepreneurs, and the remainder professionals such as doctors and accountants.
7. Get professional advice
If necessary, get a good financial planner. He/she can help us fill our portfolio with the right investments and dump the wrong ones. We don't need to relinquish control, but we do need to form a good working relationship with someone who has expertise in this complicated area.
(excerpt: bankrate.com)

In My Life

There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends i still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life i've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When i think of love as something new

Though i know i'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know i'll often stop and think about them
In my life i love you more
(In My Life by The Beatles fr Rubber Soul Album 1965 - Lyrics by John Lennon)

Greatest Band of All Time

The Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
The impact of the Beatles upon popular music is limitless; they revolutionized the music industry and touched the lives of all who heard them in deep and fundamental ways. Arriving in US on February 7, 1964, they literally stood the world of pop culture on its head. The Beatles' buoyant melodies, playful personalities and charisma have created a mass adulation coined as Beatlemania. Without exaggeration, they transfixed and transformed the world in music, fashion, lifestyle and popular culture in general.

Beatles’ first Number One single in the U.S. was I Want to Hold Your Hand. During the week of April 4, 1964, the Beatles set a record that is likely never to be broken when they occupied all top 5 positions on Billboard's Top Chart, with Can't Buy Me Love at Number One, followed by Twist and Shout, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, and Please Please Me. The Beatles had twelve songs on the Top-100 charts that week, a feat never matched before or since.

The Beatles can unassailably be regarded as the top group in rock and roll history. Yet their significance as a band extends beyond numbers to encompass their innovations in the recording studio. The Beatles' legacy as a concert attraction is distinguished primarily by the deafening screams of fans overcome by the group's very appearance.

For various reasons, ranging from safety concerns to frustration that no one could hear or was listening, the Beatles retired from touring after a San Francisco concert on August 29, 1966. Consequently, they began to indulge their creative energies in the studio, experimenting with sounds in ways no one had attempted before. The results included such musically expansive and lyrically sophisticated albums as Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver (1966).

They released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), an album that has almost universally been cited as the creative apotheosis of rock and roll, a watershed event in which rock became serious art without losing its sense of humor (or sense of the absurd).

The Beatles have amassed the greatest sales for any artist. All-time sales have been estimated by EMI at over one billion discs and tapes to-date. In 2001, they had been certified for album sales of 163.5 million in the US alone. The Beatles have numerous other world records, including most recorded song Yesterday had 1,600 versions recorded between 1965 and 1985.

Their compilation album 1 (released on 13 Nov 2000) sold13.5 million copies around the world in its first month, making it the fastest-selling album in music history. It's something unthinkable for a band that broke up in 1970.

Their latest album Love (released on 21 November 2006) has also topped album charts all over the world.

John Lennon was shot dead by a deranged fan in 1980 while George Harrison died in 2001 due to cancer.

Mobile Phone Virus

Nowadays, even basic mobile phones can send and receive text messages which makes them vulnerable to attack by worms and viruses. Advanced mobile phones capable of e-mail can be susceptible to viruses that can multiply by sending messages through a phone's address book. Of more important concern, a virus may allow unauthorized users to access a phone to find passwords or corporate data stored on the device. Moreover, they can be used to commandeer the phone to make calls or send messages at the owner's expense.

Unlike computers that are restricted to only a few widespread operating systems, mobile phones use a variety of systems that require separate programs to be designed in order to disable each one. While reducing overall compatibilty from an application design standpoint, this has the beneficial effect of making it harder to design a mass attack. However, the rise of cellular phone operating system programming platforms shared by many manufacturers such as Java, Microsoft operating systems, Linux, or Symbian OS, may in the future change this status quo.

Bluetooth is a wireless communication feature now found in many higher-end phones, and the virus Cabir hijacked this function, sending Bluetooth phones on a search-and-destroy mission to infect other Bluetooth phones.

In November 2004, several web sites began offering a specific piece of software promising ringtones and screensavers for certain phones. Those who downloaded the software found that it turned each icon on the phone's screen into a skull-and-crossbones and disabled their phones, so they could no longer send or receive text messages or access contact lists or calendars. The virus has since been dubbed Skulls by security experts.

In March 2005, the Commwarrior.A virus was identified to attempt to replicate itself through MMS to others on the phone's contact list. Like Cabir, Commwarrior. A also tries to communicate via Bluetooth wireless connections with other devices, which can eventually lead to draining the battery. Bluetooth telephones are also subject to bluejacking, which is the generally benign transmission of messages from anonymous Bluetooth users.

Outcasts

To the residents of Yarpur basti in the heart of Patna, there is nothing extraordinary in the friendship between Mohammed Jaleel and Ganesh Ram Bara. Both of them, in their mid-sixties, had worked together for many decades in the Patna Municipal Corporation as sanitation workers. They spent much of their lives in Yarpur, locally called dom basti or bhangi basti in a disparaging reference to the caste of the sanitation workers. Their work involved a variety of tasks, such as sweeping the roads, unclogging gutters, cleaning toilets, carrying filth and disposing of waste, aimed at keeping Bihar's capital city clean.

Because of the nature of their job both Jaleel and Bara faced the same kind of societal exclusion.

"No Brahmin or Rajput would come to my house or drink a glass of water from my hands. No Sayed or Mallik would go to Jaleel's house or have a glass of water from his hands," says Bara. "All our social gatherings are essentially among sanitation workers, both Hindu and Muslim."

Obviously, Jaleel and Bara have led strikingly similar lives. Their day-to-day social experiences too are similar. Yet, in the eyes of the government, Jaleel is more privileged than Bara. Throughout his service, Bara had enjoyed some benefits because the Hindu safai karmachari community was absorbed in the Scheduled Castes (S.C.) list.

Jaleel never got the same benefit because he is a Muslim. "We tried to enlist ourselves as beneficiaries of various government schemes, including education schemes, which our Hindu brethren enjoy, but we were rejected each time on the grounds that we were Muslims," said Jaleel's daughter, Najma Khatun.

But this is not the story of one Jaleel and his family. Dalit Muslims across Bihar and other parts of North India who belong to castes such as Jolaha, Nutt, Bakkho, Bhatiyara, Kunjra, Dhunia, Kalal, Dafali, Dhobi, Lalbegi, Gorkan, Meershikar, Cheek and Rangrez, have the same low social ranking and are deprived of the benefit others enjoy. In many parts of North India, many of these communities have separate mosques and bury their dead in separate graveyards.

According to Mohammed Usman Halal Khor, general secretary of the All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaj (AIPMM), a Bihar-based organisation of Dalits and Most Backward Caste (MBC) Muslims, the socially and educationally backward communities among Muslims "are not accepted or treated as equals by elite Muslim communities and even by sections of the clergy. They are subject to the same social discrimination faced by Dalit Hindus. Yet, Dalit Muslims are deemed ineligible for the government benefits given to Dalit Hindus."

Of the total Muslim youth in the 18 to 25 age group, a mere 8.1 per cent are in college (Hindus: 18.7 per cent; Christians: 20.5 per cent), 6.2 per cent alone are engaged in other studies (Hindus: 9.9; Christians 14.9); 30.5 per cent are employed (Hindus: 32.3; Christians 32.7) and 55.2 per cent are unemployed (Hindus: 39.1 per cent; Christians 31.9 per cent). Muslims have clicked `Pause' on education only to their disadvantage even in a progressive society that has nurtured their interests throughout history.

(excerpt: hinduonnet)

Halal Market

“...The world is going Halal. All over France, foods marked Halal are growing in numbers. Halal meats are offered in many French public establishments such as school cafeterias. Cabot's Vermont Cheddar Cheese and France-Echos Paté de Foie de Canard (duck liver paté) have gone Halal. IKEA at Anderlect near Brussels has Halal hot dogs. McDonald's in Detroit has introduced Halal Chicken McNuggets while McDonald's in Australia has Halal burgers.....” Galliawatch, Saturday, 2 December 2006

The total number of Muslims is huge, a little more than one fifth of the world's populaton. Current world Muslim population is estimated between 1.2 billion to 1.8 billion or 18 to 26 percent of the world population spreading over 150 countries. It is claimed that Muslim is the fastest growing population in the world at a rate of 2.9 percent a year as compared to world population growth of 2.3 percent a year. At this rate, Islam would surpass Christianity as the world's main religion by 2023. Between 2000 and 2006, the average growth rate of the Muslim population at 1.9% percent is also far higher than the world's population growth rate, which averaged 1.22 percent in the same period. It is also much faster than any other major religious group.

Muslim population in 2006 is estimated at 1,596.59 million.

No one really knows how big the global Halal market is. Estimates are usually based on the number of Muslims in the market. There are also a lot of non-Muslims eating Halal meat. Current estimates to the value of the global Halal food market range from US$150 billion to US$580 billion* a year. Total global Halal products is estimated at US$2.2 trillion (RM$7.98 trillion) and is projected to grow by 10 - 20 % annually.

* - Based on per capita expenditure on food by Muslims. (source: various)

Super Basmati Rice

Pakistan is considering a proposal from the Indian government to jointly register basmati rice produced by the two countries though some of its farmers accuse India of stealing their ‘Super basmati’ seeds.

The registration is meant to profit from the vast EU market that is currently in the process of conducting DNA tests in Pakistan before moving on to India and Nepal. India and Pakistan are the world's traditional producers of basmati rice, with Nepal recently joining them.

The EU has sent a team to conduct DNA tests of basmati rice in Pakistan, India and Nepal to determine the EU's policy on basmati imports from each of these South Asian countries.

Some Pakistani exporters alleged that India had stolen a seed variety developed in Pakistan called super basmati. They said growers in collaboration with local institutions developed the seed here, and this variety was in high demand in the world market.

However, they claimed, a few years ago two Sikh pilgrims visiting Pakistan took super basmati seeds with them and started cultivation in India. Eventually, Indian farmers developed a strong super basmati crop and started exporting it.

An rice exporter was quoted by The Daily Times as alleging that this was “a clear case of piracy and should be should be barred from using the name super basmati & be challenged in Indian courts”.

The EU team will decide on the comparative quality of the Pakistani and Indian basmati. If the DNA tests conducted by the EU team show Pakistan's basmati rice to be of equal or better quality to India's, the European market will remain open to Pakistani rice exports. However, if the tests fail to show the rice is of a distinct quality, the EU could impose an embargo on Pakistani basmati.

Pakistan's rice exporters say that since India has registered its basmati in the international market, Pakistan should do the same under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. They have also complained that the government was delaying framing a “Geographical Indication (GI) law”.

The official said that the government was preparing a GI law to register farm and traditional products specifically produced or manufactured in Pakistan.

Pakistan has set a $2 billion rice export target for this fiscal. Rice exporters surpassed last year's $1 billion export target by exporting $1.2 billion worth of rice.
(excerpt: indiatimes tuesday dec 05, 2006 02:47:57 am)

Time drags when you are in a hurry..

Doing Business In Japan..

Small and medium-sized companies looking to penetrate the Japanese market, especially the food industry, should take a hard look at the country's rules and regulations and use trading firms to make their initial foray.

Japan, one of Asia's most prized export markets, is also one of the toughest nuts to crack. Stringent rules and regulations take time and resources that some smaller firms simply cannot afford. It is tough to get through in the initial stage, but once there the returns are worth all the effort. The rules and regulations changed very often in Japan and therefore food exporters to the country needed to keep themselves abreast of the changes. The recent changes that have been implemented are things such as hazards either from new agricultural chemicals, new additives or from global supply sources.

Japan is a prosperous country that must import a large amount of food to feed its 128-million population. The average Japanese household is estimated to have more than RM360,000 in savings and a disposable income of about RM13,600 per month. This provides a huge opportunity as long as a supplier can gain the trust of Japanese consumers.

It is necessary to go through trading firms if you are to enter the Japanese market. Many firms continue to encounter obstacles when exporting to Japan, including heavy restrictions on the ways the food is cooked and processed imposed due to fears of contamination. There cannot be any kind of foreign body in any of the consignment, as even a single foreign body - be it flies, bees, additives or any other thing - would mean that the entire consignment would be rejected. Microorganism specifications comprised the bulk of violations.

Another way to penetrate the market is to get locals spreading news of the product through word of mouth.

Asean's importance is self-evident; it has a population of 570 million, is rich in resources and is conveniently located near Japan, China, India and many other important markets. Asean is poised to become a major hub of production, feeding Asian and global markets.

Product labelling is another key aspect, where exporters must disclose all relevant information on the packaging. These include any health risks, such as allergies the product may cause.
(excerpt: mckinsey, nov 02 2006)