Sejarah

"Keagungan sesuatu bangsa itu ditentukan oleh kepentingan yang diberikan kepada sejarah. Sejarah merupakan suatu khazanah yang amat bernilai. Sejarah adalah gedung pengalaman. Bangsa yang agung adalah bangsa yang menempuh sejarah dan yang mahu mempelajari dari sejarah. Sesuatu bangsa yang tidak mempelajari daripada sejarah akan terus melakukan kesalahan berkali-kali yang akan berakhir dengan keruntuhan bangsa itu. Daripada sejarah kita menghargai kehormatan diri kita." - Tun Mahathir Mohamad

Lombok

Penerbangan ke Lombok mengambil masa 3 jam 5 minit dari Kuala Lumpur. 'Long overshadowed by its superstar neighbour across the Lombok Strait there's a steady hum about Lombok that catches the ear of travellers looking for something different from Bali.' - Lonely Planet

Kedai Pak Sudirman Antiques yang terletak di Senggigi ini seakan-akan muzium. Tuan kedai sangat peramah dan mudah berbicara tentang antik walaupun saya banyak bertanya. 

Oddities

This humanlike skull belongs to the crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), also known as the long-tailed macaque. Crab-eating macaques typically do not consume crabs; rather, they are opportunistic omnivores, eating a variety of animals and plants.

Coconut-eating human

Kwong Yuan Loong

My friend and I made a trip to the Bidor parang blacksmith late last year (29 December 2014). Claimed to be one of the best parang makers in Malaysia with 80 years of experience, Kwong Yuan Loong parangs are famous for their hardiness along with their ability to keep a sharp edge.

The unreliable Garmin failed to comply so a kind local brother drew us this map.

Process of making a Bidor parang, 100% Malaysian.

Square 1 Cent Coin

Pari masak assam brunch at 10:32 AM.

1 cent coin found on 17 January 2015. Back in the days, could it have paid a plate of rice or more.

The British Government in the Straits Settlements: Bronze coins issued during the reign of King George V (1910-1936)

1 Cent

Coins of the Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya (1939-1952)

1 Cent

Coins issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency Malaya and British Borneo (1953-1961)

The obverse of the coins bore the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The first issues in 1953 were 5 and 10 cents coins, followed by 20 and 50 cents coins in 1954, and a 1 cent square bronze coin in 1956.

Princess Elizabeth is called "Lilibet" by close family, a nickname she got because she couldn't pronounce her own name. Her father, King George VI, used to say, "Lilibet is my pride. Margaret is my joy."

Alhamdulillah, Ramadan is here!

Saya mohon maaf atas segala kelemahan, kekurangan, kesilapan dan kekhilafan antara kita. Semoga Allah mempermudahkan ibadat puasa kita tahun ini, InsyaAllah dengan izin-Nya. Selamat menyambut kedatangan Ramadan Al-Mubarak!

the Terrible

"The king of Portugal has often commanded me to go to the Straits, because... this was the best place to intercept the trade which the Moslems... carry on in these parts. So it was to do Our Lord’s service that we were brought here; by taking Malacca, we would close the Straits so that never again would the Moslems be able to bring their spices by this route... I am very sure that, if this Malacca trade is taken out of their hands, Cairo and Mecca will be completely lost." – The Commentaries of the Great Afonso de Albuquerque

Chedet's views on Coca-Cola

BOYCOTT (15 Jan 2009)

1. I would like to have the Malaysian Armed Forces attack the United States and Israel.

2. But I don’t think the Government and the MAF would agree with me.

3. So what do we do?

4. We could blockade the United States and deny it food and medicine.

5. The blockade would have to go on for a hundred years. A lot of innocent people would die. But as Madeleine Albright said when asked whether killing 500,000 Iraqi babies was worth it, she said it was difficult but it was worth it. So Malaysians should not mind killing a few million Americans including babies because although it will be difficult it would be worth it.

8. But on the other hand we need to drink Coca-Cola, use the Internet, fly Boeing jets, see Rambo movies etc etc. Can we sacrifice all these simply because babies are being decapitated by Israeli soldiers using highly sophisticated and costly weapons donated by the kind Americans? Of course we cannot.

9. What we can do is totally worthless. We can boycott US products.

10. But can we? Well not completely. Maybe partially. Like not drinking Coca-Cola, or not seeing the latest blockbuster.

11. It is not going to stop the United States from remaining the most powerful nation and continuing to kill people directly or indirectly.

12. But if 10 per cent of the people in the world who drink Coca-Cola stop drinking it there would be some impact. If Malaysians drink, say 50 per cent less Coca-Cola (because their lives depend on it) there would be some impact also. If nothing else it will demonstrate our displeasure with the Americans.

13. But what about the Malaysians working in factories producing coke? I don’t believe they produce only Coca-Cola. They produce other drinks as well. If people switch from Coca-Cola to another drink produced by the same company, then the company will have to produce more of this alternative drink and there would be no need to close down and sack the workers.

14. The idea is to do what we can to show displeasure at what the US is doing. We will not bring the US economy crashing down. It will continue to prosper. But the US and Americans must know how much the world dislike or even hate them.

Source: http://chedet.cc/?p=218

SI HUP DISTILLERY Co. (1950)

Saturday 3 January 2015. Abandon?

Muzium Negara sebelum Ramadan

Petang tadi saya melawat Muzium Negara, ini yang sempat direkod menggunakan kamera telefon. Meriam Lela adalah sejenis senjata yang digunakan di Alam Melayu. Kebanyakannya dihasilkan di Brunei, Johor Lama, Terengganu dan Pahang. Bermotifkan pucuk rebung, ia diperbuat daripada tembaga dengan saiz yang sederhana supaya mudah diangkat atau dibawa. Saya ada menyimpan meriam yang serupa di Sarawak. Good reading: http://www.acant.org.au/Articles/MalayCannons.html

Panel pintu berayat ini diperbuat daripada kayu jati, diukir indah dengan motif bunga-bunga renik, berwarna keemasan. Pada bahagian atas dan tengahnya diukir dengan kaligrafi Arab dari ayat-ayat suci Al-Quran. Anggaran usia sekitar 150 hingga 200 tahun.

Celepa emas (tobacco box) berbentuk bintang pecah sepuluh seperti sekuntum bunga. Permukaannya ditatah dengan permata jernih dan butiran manik-manik emas. Pernah dimiliki oleh Kerabat Diraja Sultan Zainal Abidin I Terengganu (1725-1733).

The Battle of Cape Rachado

Exhibit quality varies, but overall this museum offers a rich look at Malaysian history. The best exhibits are Early History, with artefacts from neolithic and Bronze Age cultures; and The Malay Kingdoms, which highlights the rise of Islamic kingdoms in the Malay Archipelago.