A Day Spent at the Penang State Art Gallery.

First time i saw the man playing the Gambus string Instrument it did not dawn on me that he was a Face Book friend of mine and i asked to be his friend simply because i felt that he had what it takes to be a special kind of Artist.  

I alked away after the irst encounter but returned later after having visited the other Workshops being given at the Penang State Art Gallery. And upon my return i stood listening to him play with the kids making music and i noitce a bamboo flute sitting on the table in front of me and decided to join in. It was a blast and i felt twenty years younger and my olf self returned fo a moment through the sound that i was making to his Gambus. 

Meeting with my Face Book friend Kamal Sabran for the first time and what a man!

Sometimes you are brought back to yourself in a more pleasant manner of connections and in that moment you send your heart out inot the world through the music you make. There is no greater art expression than this where you are ble to share your being in the here and now with a handful of people and touched life itself.(within and without).

This young lady who calls 'Cucu Tok Wan of Face Book is another person who i knew when she was doing her practical at MGTF. We could use a few more like her to make this world a more lively place!

El Laila (sp?) she calls herself used to be a staff member at MGTF and another creative as well as energetic individual who is never lack for something to do. MGTF lost a good employee when they let her go.

An art instructor from the Philippines giving art lessons to children.

An instructor from Taiwan who brought wih him stamping blocks which were for printing 'Paper Money' used for the funeral . As i had mentioned earlier in my previous blog, written yesterday sbout how the Chinese have the most expensive funeral rites where they burn money, well today i stumbled upon this gentleman and his printing blocks all the way from Taiwan . Coincidence?

These blocks are carved from wood and the characters on them depicts something like advertisements for banks and actually not bank notes or dollar bills.

Artist from Singapore giving his art lesson to young adults.. He seems to have an air about him which turns me off but that may just be my feeling about Singaporeans for now.

Staf members of the MGTF and the Penang State Art gallery having fun with plastice bottles trying to turn them into art works.

The instructor from Hong Kong and what a lovely lady! I told her that i would visit her in return and give an art class there.

All in all it was not a bad idea to have gotten out of the house this morning. learned a few things and made a few new friends.

What happens after the Fat lady sings?

There are so many versions of death if one takes closer look at how humanity throughout the ages all over the world deals with the finality of the individual human existence. Each tribe and ever race and nationality, every religious group and faith, believers and non believers alike ahs their ways of accepting death and the question of what happens after. This is off course if one is inclined to take the time and trouble to read, seek out and understand the whole matter concerning with this subject, a subject that we all will one day face without a slightest doubt; for we all who live will die. However it is also without the slightest doubt that most of us choose to live in denial of this subject, putting it off to be resolved by others who we hold to be the ones who would have all the answers and are right because of their status as such. Religions has the answers for those of us who has faith in one form of religious institution or another and for those who live still beyond the edges of the modern day society, in the forests and far into the heart of the grasslands away from the influence of any for of believe other than that which manifest itself through the spiritual evolution of tribe will no doubt have ways and means of handling the death issues. How to bury the dead or where or what happens to the soul after death if there is a soul, will be answered by the wisdom of the elders through inherent cultural evolution as the tribe moves into its own religious development where rituals and ceremonies comes into existence.
Man has had to deal with the issues related with death since the first man died, a believer would say since Adam and the non believer would say since the caveman had to drag the smelly corpse of his mate and throw it over the ledge out of sight and smell perhaps the first belief that the body is returned to nature, perhaps to be eaten by wolves and carrion eaters such as vultures.Today a coffin can cost to the tune of a few thousand dollars and the plot of earth where one's body will be laid to rest will cost another small fortune as even death has become an expensive affair or a lucrative affair for those who manage the funeral business. Such is the world we live in as it evolves on its own exist, everything from birth to death or cradle to grave and in between cost money in one form of another and very few indeed can match the Chinese in their funeral rituals where 'Paper money is burned or strewn along the funeral route to the cemetery to accompany the dead along with paper constructions of cars and houses, and mourners are employed to wail along with the rest of the family to assure the dead that he or she was missed already.

Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday observed throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico where the day is a bank holiday. The celebration takes place on October 31, November 1 and November 2, in connection with the triduum of Hallowtide: All Hallows' Eve, Hallowmas, and All Souls' Day.^[1][2]Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars called ofrendas, honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased.

Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddessMictecacihuatl. The holiday has spread throughout the world. In Brazil Dia de Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain there are festivals and parades and, at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.

Wikipaedia 

"The Toraja live in the mountainous southern region of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Most are now Christian. However, elements of the traditional religion,aluk to dolo ('the law of the ancestors'), are still followed, especially in rural areas.

- See more at: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Burial-Toraja-Sulawesi#sthash.3eAmwikJ.dpuf

There is a belief in Toraja that when you die you won't be separated directly from the family - you are expected to bring them good luck and so the family must respect you. When we think of our ancestors, we respect them as individuals, rather than as a group.

When a small baby dies, one who hasn't grown teeth yet, they used to be buried in a tree. It had to be a living tree, so that as the tree grew it continued the baby's life. Nicolaus Pasassung, 41, Linguist. Sa'dan, Rantepao, Toraja.

Ancestor spirits can be harmful or protective depending on how they died. People who have died an unnatural death, such as through suicide, accidents or in childbirth, will not go easily to puya, the land of the dead. Ancestors must be treated with appropriate esteem or they will become unhappy, impoverished spirits.

The most important ceremony in a person's life cycle is the funeral. For this reason, there is often a lengthy interval between a person's death and their burial. Time is needed to ensure that all family members can attend and to save money to buy buffalo. In some cases, the deceased may be kept in the house for years, injected with formalin and placed in a temporary wooden coffin. In the past, the body would be laid on a mat in a special room, with bamboo pipes under the floor to catch and divert body fluids.

Death is a gradual process rather than an abrupt event. The deceased is referred to as to mamma (sleeping person) or to masaki (sick person) until the commencement of funeral rites when they are called to membali puang (person who has become one of the gods) or to mate (dead person).

- See more at: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Burial-Toraja-Sulawesi#sthash.3eAmwikJ.dpuf

The more you dig around the more you will discover all kinds of burial grounds and rituals suggesting of how important death is in a human society and how man since beginingless time has honored the dead out of Love respect and mostly fear. The grave yard is the last place one would want to spend the evening at with one's loved ones and the when walking pass by one most societies has adopted ways and means of making sure that the spirits of the dead know we pass by in peace as the Muslim is taught to give the Salam. and the Hindu would place his palms together and say Namaste  or as most Christians would make the sign of the cross over their chest, yes and the native Americans in the old days would never be caught crossing a burial ground on their horses or on foot. Where the dead RIP or rest in peace in the final journey on this earth let no living desecrate with impunity.
Have you thought much about how or when or where you would end your days and what will become of you when it is all over?

  

Am Still Trying to understand Death.

Last night or very early the morning about one my cousins and i were at the home of a childhood friend who had just passed away, he was about 82. In his younger days he was quite well known for being "The captain" or the Pilot, a man well dressed always in the Naval type uniform and an impeccable manners of a gentleman. One of my cousins, the one whom i called "The Pilot of Lumut" in onr of my previous blog entry was his protege and had become a Pilot himself thanks to this man. We call him Mamu Sahak and when i looked down into his deceased face i felt the suffering of man when he finally arrives at the time when he meets his end, all shriveled up and lost half of what he actually was in size. That too would be me one day and not to far into the future. Where has the dignity and pride this man once was gone to and is this all that is left in him for all that he had achieved in his lifelong career? Then as i sat and contemplate over his home and those who walk in and out, perhaps his children and theirs, I came to slowly realize that he has left behind his own legacy, his own lineage both in the spiritual as well as the material sense. His physical body may have shriveled and will decay and decompose in time but his presence will be felt by those he has left behind long after he is gone.
This morning as i was eating my breakfast my cousin again asked me if i would like to go the another funeral and this time somewhere close by in the village and i agreed to follow. The deceased although i did not know personally was not a well to do individual at least in comparison to the late Captain who ies in wake at his home still as both these individuals will be buried according to Muslim practice after the Friday prayers. Their remains will be prayed over by the Friday prayer congregation before they were delivered to the cemetery. So in essence they were fortunate to have died on this day as there would automatically be more people praying for them at their funeral. Off course it raises questions in my mind if there would be as many people or any t all attending to my funeral and so forth and what it entails when it comes living and death and the relationship one has with others around you. Not that it matters off course to you who is already dead but still, who would take the trouble to make sure that you are properly buried with dignity and hopefully some ceremony
.Death, 'The Unknown Country, the land from which no man has return," as Shakespeare calls it;Humanity's oldest question and greatest mystery.

"For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? 
      And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? 
      Only when you drink form the river of silence shall you indeed sing. 
      And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. 
      And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance."
The Prophet -Khalil Gilbran.

As i sat and listened to the Dalai Lama's lectures on Shantideva's- The Bodhisatva's Vows, about an hour ago His Excellency was on the subject of Death and Transmigration and the affects of Karma towards one's spiritual evolution, my mind still is trying to find the road towards coming to an understanding of how can both the Islamic and the Buddhist views on death can be made to merge in their difference, to help complement one with the other and this has always been one of my ongoing quest in my spiritual studies.  
"Oh nobly born,this now is the hour of death, listen with full attention, thou will experience three Bardos, recognize them, be not afraid,.." from the Tibetan Book of the Dead said to have been written by Padmasambava, the Lotus Born. sometime in 800 A,D, in the Gampodar Mountains, tibet. "For Tibetans death is inevitable, but it is not the end. Death and rebirth is an archetypal process, Archetype is a core primordial image that is shared by all of humanity...Death does not mean non-existent..it is a kind of opportunity for Liberation, it is an expansion of consciousness."
From You Tube:Secret Tibetan Book of the dead.

"It was a Book of Magic, it is a collection of Spells, the chief purpose of which is to enable life after death and immortality to the deceased." "It is the Book of the dead because it tells us what the dead will face in the afterlife,. that is why we call it the book of the dead. It is very important because this is the quest for immortality."
The Egyptian Book of the Dead. from You Tube.

In Hinduism the concept of life extends beyond the two polarities of physical birth and death and much consideration given to the latter. That while the physical body experiences a limited span of life, the underlying principle of life, the atman or supreme spirit, is eternal, and therefore is not subjected to the same laws which govern the perishability of the physiological body. The atman is beyond suffering; it cannot be subjected to the vicissitudes of pleasures and pains. It is pure consciousness or the intelligent principle which operates in each of us. However, when this embodied atman begins to identify with emotions, desires and becomes the enjoyer and experiencer, its witness, non-afflicted nature becomes vitiated and the atman, now called a jeeva or drashta begins to identify with body, senses and mind.

Hindu Concept of Death

April  2006

Prof. Subhas R.Tiwari

The Hindu University of America

"The rituals and ceremonies at the time of death are observed to seek relief from pain and suffering, in addition to ease spiritual afflictions, while the post death observances are conducted to ensure the smooth passage of the jeeva-atman. They are also intended to support, comfort, and relieve the suffering experienced by the dying person, and to support a clear state of mind with minimal interference from memories, pains, etc. They  also benefit families and friends, especially since one of the afflictions which beset humans in life is bhaya, fear of dying. To some extent, the rituals are also intended to honor the deceased person as well as the family and community. This would recognize our interconnectedness in life as well as in death."

"In the history of Christianity, death has been defined generally as the separation of the immortal soul from the mortal body. This belief in the survival of the soul at the death of the body has been expressed in various ways and given rise to such corollary doctrines as prayer for the dead, indulgences, purgatory, intercession of the saints, the eternal torment of hell, etc. Since the time of Augustine (A. D. 354-430), Christians have been taught that between death and resurrection—a period known as "the intermediate state"—the souls of the dead either enjoy the beatitude of Paradise or suffer the affliction of Purgatory or Hell. The disembodied condition of the soul is supposed to continue until the resurrection of the body which will bring completion to the salvation of the saints and to the damnation of the wicked."

"The Westminster Confession (1646), regarded as the definitive statement of Presbyterian beliefs in the English-speaking world, states: "The body of men after death return to dust, and see corruption; but their souls (which neither die nor sleep) having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received unto the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies: and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day."5 The confession continues declaring as unbiblical the belief in purgatory."

THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF DEATH

Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Andrews University

How Do Muslims View Death?

Muslims believe that the present life is a trial in preparation for the next realm of existence. When a Muslim dies, he or she is washed and wrapped in a clean, white cloth (usually by a family member) and buried after a special prayer, preferably the same day. Muslims consider this a final service that they can do for their relatives and an opportunity to remember that their own existence here on earth is brief.

 The explanation that the Quran gives about the necessity of life after death is what the moral consciousness of man demands. Actually, if there is no life after death, the very belief in God becomes meaningless or even if one believes in God, it would be n unjust and indifferent God, having once created man and now not being concerned with his fate.

By World Assembly of Muslim Youth¹

Death is not pure annihilation, but rather both the living and dead are aware, but there is a difference that can't be compared. Death is merely movement from one world to another. It can be described as a journey through a wormhole to a separate dimension of existence.

By Huma Ahmed

Islamic Information .Net.

“God causes you to live, then causes you to die; then He will assemble you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt,” but most of the people do not know.  (Quran, 45:24-26)

[For such is the state of the disbelievers], until, when death comes to one of them, he says, “My Lord, send me back that I might do righteousness in that which I left behind (i.e. in that which I neglected).” No! It is only a word he is saying; and behind them is a barrier until the Day they are resurrected. So when the Horn is blown, no relationship will there be among them that Day, nor will they ask about one another. And those whose scales are heavy [with good deeds] - it is they who are the successful. But those whose scales are light - those are the ones who have lost their souls, [being] in Hell, abiding eternally. The Fire will sear their faces, and they therein will have taut smiles (i.e. their lips having been contracted by scorching until the teeth are exposed).  (Quran, 23:99-104)

Death

In Judaism, death is not a tragedy, even when it occurs early in life or through unfortunate circumstances. Death is a natural process. Our deaths, like our lives, have meaning and are all part of G-d's plan. In addition, we have a firm belief in an afterlife, a world to come, where those who have lived a worthy life will be rewarded.

Mourning practices in Judaism are extensive, but they are not an expression of fear or distaste for death. Jewish practices relating to death and mourning have two purposes: to show respect for the dead (kavod ha-met), and to comfort the living (nihum avelim), who will miss the deceased.

Care for the Dead

After a person dies, the eyes are closed, the body is laid on the floor and covered, and candles are lit next to the body. The body is never left alone until after burial, as a sign of respect. The people who sit with the dead body are called shomerim, from the root Shin-Mem-Reish, meaning "guards" or "keepers".

Respect for the dead body is a matter of paramount importance. For example, the shomerim may not eat, drink, or perform a commandment in the presence of the dead. To do so would be considered mocking the dead, because the dead can no longer do these things.

Most communities have an organization to care for the dead, known as the chevra kaddisha (the holy society). These people are volunteers. Their work is considered extremely meritorious, because they are performing a service for someone who can never repay them.

Autopsies in general are discouraged as desecration of the body. They are permitted, however, where it may save a life or where local law requires it. When autopsies must be performed, they should be minimally intrusive.

The presence of a dead body is considered a source of ritual impurity. For this reason, a kohein may not be in the presence of a corpse. People who have been in the presence of a body wash their hands before entering a home. This is done to symbolically remove spiritual impurity, not physical uncleanness: it applies regardless of whether you have physically touched the body.

In preparation for the burial, the body is thoroughly cleaned and wrapped in a simple, plain linen shroud. The Sages decreed that both the dress of the body and the coffin should be simple, so that a poor person would not receive less honor in death than a rich person. The body is wrapped in a tallit with its tzitzit rendered invalid. The body is not embalmed, and no organs or fluids may be removed. According to some sources, organ donation is permitted, because the subsequent burial of the donee will satisfy the requirement of burying the entire body.

The body must not be cremated. It must be buried in the earth. Coffins are not required, but if they are used, they must have holes drilled in them so the body comes in contact with the earth.

The body is never displayed at funerals; open casket ceremonies are forbidden by Jewish law. According to Jewish law, exposing a body is considered disrespectful, because it allows not only friends, but also enemies to view the dead, mocking their helpless state.

Welcome to Judaism 101!

One of the fundamental beliefs of Judaism is that life does not begin with birth, nor does it end with death. This is articulated in the verse inKohelet (Ecclesiastes), “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to G‑d, who gave it.”1- Chabad.org.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe would often point out that a basic law of physics (known as the First Law of Thermodynamics) is that no energy is ever “lost” or destroyed; it only assumes another form. If such is the case with physical energy, how much more so a spiritual entity such as the soul, whose existence is not limited by time, space, or any of the other delineators of the physical state. Certainly, the spiritual energy that in the human being is the source of sight and hearing, emotion and intellect, will and consciousness does not cease to exist merely because the physical body has ceased to function; rather, it passes from one form of existence (physical life as expressed and acted via the body) to a higher, exclusively spiritual form of existence.

 To be Contd.

Art pieces I am working on.- "Reclaimation"

When this very building that i am presently working form was first constructed a couple of years back, I salvaged some artworks and photos that were left in the rubles of the old building. The old  building was sued as offices by a few lecturers but mostly were left abandoned. hence when they tore down the building allot of art materials were thrown out by the constructors and these some of them.

I assume they must have belonged to former students as was part of their assignments in Black and White photography. and they could have even belonged to my late friend Ismail Hashim's students as he was one of those teaching photography back then. These photos has no names most of them and most were waterlogged from the rain.  

I kept most that were salvageable and it has been almost three years now and i finally decided to do something with them, I add colors to the Black and White and as i started painting they kept reminding me of my friend Ismail Hashim and how he was also in the process of adding colors to his Black and Whites before he died.

Most non artist i showed these pieces to found it hard o distinguish that they were originally B&W Pictures and so I deciede to leave some parts of the pictures as they were.

I used water colors mostly and where i deemed necessary i applied acrylic colors to get the opaque quality that is not attainable with ordinary water color.

The subject matters were not mineas they must have been the student's chosen subjects for their projects and it is sad that i came upon these photos a little too late to save them as most were destroyed by the rain when the building was torn down. Otherwise it would have been interesting to be able to create these works in a series as the owner had
intended them to be.

These pictures of a Malay lady dehusking or removing the coconut husk fo example is precious but I could only save these few.

My camera did not do justice taking these pictures for the lighting was poor but suffice to say that I am quite contented to be able to save these pictures and perhaps promote them further as pieces of art that is today admired by many i have shared them with. 

I am still working on a few more and have been asked to exhibit them when i am done. 

Henceforth They Live Happily Ever After.-The Wedding prt.7

“Marriage: Love is the reason. Lifelong friendship is the gift. Kindness is the cause. Til’ death do us part is the length.”

-Fawn Weaver

“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.”

-Mignon McLaughlin

“The greatest marriages are built on teamwork. A mutual respect, a healthy dose of admiration, and a never-ending portion of love and grace.”

-Fawn Weaver

“Being in a long marriage is a little bit like that nice cup of coffee every morning – I might have it every day, but I still enjoy it.”

-Stephen Gaines

“Show me a man who is smiling from ear-to-ear and living a beautiful life, and I’ll show you a man who is grateful for what he has and utterly in love with his wife.”

-Fawn Weaver

Hence my gift to the Newly Wed these entries in my blog for whatever it is worth. The quotes were from the Positive Marriage Quotes -Happy Wives Club.

We can only see ourselves through others.

Man is a social animal, depending upon each other for their existence and survival and in caring for others we benefit for ourselves in well being. The opposite is true when man becomes self centered and could not care less the well being of others, living a life of self service and self importance we loose our sense of connected- ness to the rest of humanity and often we become a lonely person. A self centered attitude often leads to distance from others and also leads on to suspicions and lack of trust and faith in others. In harboring lack of faith and compassion in others will often leads one on to lack of physical and mental stability which further on leads to poor physical health. Hence to acquire good mental as well as physical health one should develop greater sense of compassion and loving kindness towards others regardless of what one's faith or belief is as one is a social animal. Hence paying more attention to our inner values is crucial for our own well being. It is my life's practice that i pay greater attention to my inner values as I plunge deeper into my practice of self awareness and discoveries.
By sharing the experience i had at the wedding of my niece in Shah Alam a week ago my intention was not just to share what a Malay wedding is all about but also to show in some small way as to how and why it is important that I put my practice to action. It is my way as i move along to share what it is that i have been trying to do with this life of mine that i have been practicing like an experiment based on the teachings of great Minds like that of the Buddha and the Prophets and the philosophers and the wise man in the coffee shops and that is to basically give Loving kindness and compassion towards those in need and share one's life with all that one have the opportunity to meet. This is my meditation in action, it is recorded like it is in this manner of a blog with pictures and so forth to help bring greater understanding towards what is being shared at all levels. Albeit you are a Muslim or a Christian, a Buddhist or a Taoist, it is at the deepest level of all the teachings it is essentially one and that is to Love with Compassion for all creations no matter how lowly or divine in nature.
It is not my purpose to show off how grand a wedding i had been invited to for within this blog itself there has been many weddings i have written on and not all were as lavishly held but all were equally enjoyed. There was no difference in how i enjoyed the 'Hut at the end of the World' in Lintang to my cousin's lavish home in Shah Alam, in both I had great pleasure and pains depending on the circumstances and my physical as well as mental well being. The physical discomforts were mine personally to bear as I get older and the mental discomfort often is due to my ignorance still inherent in my mental state. However I try my best to manifest my divine nature where I am pleasing and open, transparent and pleasing to be with making others happy in themselves. I become their mirror of Loving Kindness. Children and adults alike will look at me and feel loved and respected, safe and comfortable as what i see in them. This too is the way I see God and as God would see me, we are inter-dependent and co-existent.
Whether it is going to a wedding or attending a funeral or praying at the mosque or the church I am manifesting my divine being for the benefit of others especially those of children and their mothers for these are the ones most in need of Love and Compassion as much as i need them in myself. Self realization can only be achieve through the Right Understanding of Dependent Origination of all beings in this Universe as is taught in the Buddhist text of Shantideva's on the "Ways of the Bodhisatva." It is in this respect of inner development that i try to develop my moral ethics which in the past has been quite lax and sometimes going against the accepted norm by society. My years of striving to become somewhat more discipline in my approach towards life itself has been through the right understanding of the very nature of Right Mindfulness. Although every so often I still regress and slide back into being ignorant or lapse in my mindfulness practice, I have been trying my best to get up and sit upon my way seeking mind and meditate upon achieving Clarity of Consciousness.
The transformation of the my mind has always been my priority ever since I embarked upon this journey of self discover or, understanding or transformation as whatever one calls it by and this process of transformation has come only through years of learning and developing from knowledge to practice of the various world teachings such as Buddhism and Islam, Christianity and Taoism among others and also through great teachers an great thinkers and scientists. poets, artists and philosophers, I became an eclectic in my approach absorbing the best of all possibilities there is in my path and discarding what is irrelevant to my own well being and development. it is no doubt in my mind that i aspire towards Enlightenment or Liberation just as the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni had done, and it is also my personal understanding and practice that in attaining to this level of consciousness will I be able to come to appreciate my Lord or God or as a Muslim, Allah subhana Huwata'ala. Until then i believe I am merely groping in the dark blindly following the dictates of others and those of The Books of which i find not so easily understood and in some cases are corrupted over time.
In my pursuit of my spiritual practices I do not refute nor do i deny the belief or faith of others and i hold great respect for all religions of the world as to me religions are a necessity to mankind for without religions man would have a long time ago obliterated his existence through chaos and ignorance. Without a faith in a higher being or order man becomes egotistical answering to himself alone for all that he does right or otherwise. It is only through some form of discipline or worship that man can find a refuge from his egotistical tendencies, from his Three Illnesses of Greed, Hate and Ignorance.It is through some sense of servitude that man can turn his egotistical nature into a Compassionate and Loving Being.
On my Birthday one of my grandnieces wrote in the Face Book, It is because you always open the door to your home and let others in and also that you open your heart to others that they love you, Happy Birthday my Grand Uncle. A line from a short verse in the Quran reads, " La kum di nukum wali adin." roughly meant, You have your ways I have mine;
"For you is your religion, and for me is my religion."
From-Sahih International.

The Main Event -The Wedding part 5

The big event took place at the headquarters of the Selangor Police Department Hall. The wedding reception that was to be  remembered for a long time in the family history of both the bride and bridegroom's families. This hall was later in the evening to be filled up with dignitaries and and the who is who if the area. 

The smaller reception held at the house the day earlier was more cozy and intimate. It had class no doubt and standing up front are the two brothers of the bride.

It was time for the most imortant event of all weddings...Food!

Eat all you can and then some.

A snapshot with my niece, the bride

With my former boss who turned out tobe one of the bridegroom's uncle, small world.

A piture with my cousin in law, I call him Brother Ray.

One of my niece.

The catering guys and the bald headed character is also my nephew.

All the varieties of dishes to savor from.

She came with the gang from Penang as part of the catering crew.

Group photo with olf time friends, many have not seen for over forty years.

My twin brother and I with two ladies we grew up with at one time in Penang.

Getting down to Business.-The Angkat Nikah -Wedding pt.4.

The groom and his entourage arrives with their gifts for the bride. led by the young adults, everyone dressed to kill for the occasion in costumes they will never be caught going to the mall or the movies in. But traditions! Tradition has to be kept alive and it is and for the sake of culture and tradition every now and then one has to bow down to playing one's role in the family if not the society. 

The ladies follow sooth looking their best no less , this is their show!

And the patriarchs surveys the layouts to ensure that all is according to protocol .

Everyone settled! let the show begin!

Laying out the ground rules, the dos and don'ts, the black and white the cost and affects. Now before the 'Khadi' you say it once and loud and clear, that you have understood and accepted the deal.

Now all you have to do i sign on the dotted lines and she is your rightful wife!

And yes, you may kiss the bride!