Sabah 4.0

Salam w.b.t.

I'm currently in Sabah, spending few days of my summer break with my family. There are much works to do during this holiday, the responsibility is bigger, and it always feels good to take a break and spend time with my beloved family.

We went to several interesting places. I love Borneo in term of their tourist attractions. They are more interesting, not typical and much more significant compared to the places in Peninsular Malaysia. For me, in Peninsular, the attractions are all typical. There are beach, islands, theme park and some highlands. But in borneo the beach are several times more beautiful, the air is fresher, the water is crystal clear, the highlands are still well-preserved, the places are more beautiful and the experience are great!

Previously, I've been to the tip of Borneo, the most northern part of the Borneo island. Subhanallah. It was really an amazing experience to see the two seas at the northern part of Borneo meet up. You could actually see a line separating both seas. And the view was of course really beautiful.

He has let free the two seas meeting to gather. There is a barrier between them. They do not transgress - Quran - 55: 19-20

the tip of Borneo

But this year I visited different places and of course with really amazing experience. We went to the places around Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in the Southeast Asia, the Sabah Tea, a canopy walk in the Kinabalu Park, Poring Hot Spring, Sabah Dairy Place, and many others.

Those are all first time experiences, as I've never been to similar places before, and they are all unique and different with places that I've visited in other parts of Malaysia or Europe. I love all the experiences especially in Ranau and Kundasang.

Here are some of the pictures we took. For more pictures, as usual you could check out my Picasa Web Album.

with my niece

Alya Mahdiya and Afiq Aliyuddin

Canopy walk at the Kinabalu Park

Anyway, of course the most interesting part is to be with my family, after almost a year leaving them, including my my nieces and nephew. They've grown up a lot since I last met them last year. Alya Mahdiya now can talk very fluently. Afiq Aliyuddin is now more active than before, and the 11-month-old Asma' Iffah can now stand up, but still couldn't walk yet.

some of my family members, including the new-comer Asma' Iffah

I actually plan to write down my experience in different perspective but probably next time, insyaAllah. Anyways, InsyaAllah, I'll use all those experiences in my future life, in da'wah for the sake of this deen.

Energy charged. Now it's time to continue working.

Mohd Noor bin Ismail,

Kota Kinabalu

Back Home..

Salam w.b.t.

It has been a while.. I mean it's been long enough for me to be able to order nasi lemak-teh tarik or roti canai-kopi O at kedai kopi next to the street, while watching news or football updates and reading the newspaper. Well, indeed it has been one-long, hectic year since I left this country.

But guess what.. I'm now back home in Malaysia after a year full of challenges living abroad. Yeah, it has been a long year and many things happened throughout this challenging year. I've done 8 major exams, I moved to a new house, I bought many new things, travelled to some interesting places and many others. I remember a verse in quran, which describes how fast the mankind would feel in hereafter when they recall back how long they've been living in this world.

112. " He will say: 'How many years did you tarry in the earth?'"

113. " They will say: 'We tarried but a day or part of a day; but ask those who keep account'."

114. " He will say: 'You tarried but a little if you had only known'."

That's just a short reminder for me and you guys. Anyways, alhamdulillah. I'm back home now and it always feels good to be in your own place as compared to living in oversea, no matter how develop the country is.

Today is the 5th day for me in Malaysia, but only the 2nd day in my house in Perak. And for these 5 days, my body can't stop sweating. seriously. I hope I could adapt as soon as possible. InsyaAllah, I'll be here in about 2-and-a-half month, and you guys can contact me through my email muhammadnoor.ismail@gmail.com or through my phone number 013-4046316. I would prefer to be contacted by email or sms rather than through skype or yahoo messenger or google talk.

Well, let's talk something about my place here. You guys must have heard about the reality show Imam Muda shown in Astro. I must confess that I've never seen any episode in the first season, but for the first time, 3 days ago, I watched the final episode for season 2 in Youtube. And guess what.. the winner of the reality show is someone from my place!! He's a friend of mine, one year older than me, and I could still remember we always represent our Primary school during Musabaqah competition every year. He had a very nice voice and always represented our school in nasyid and tilawah, while I always represented our school in hafazan. I just can't believe that he actually won the competition, but he really deserve it. My mom told me that few weeks ago, the Imam Muda crew came to our place and there was a big ceremony here. Well, these things happen when I'm not here, but I hope that the young generation in my place will be inspired by this achievement.

And talking something more 'nationally', I'm sure that the Malaysians are all aware about the BERSIH demonstration scheduled to take place on the 9th of July. Well, I'm not going to justify who is correct and who isn't. But, I like to watch and read the debate between different parties regarding this issue. The politician has different point of view, so does the Islamic scholars. I like to read and listen to their arguements, and I must admit that I'm still unsure which one to support in this case. For me, the pro-BERSIH supporters have some points. What's wrong to fight for the fairness and justice. The intention seems to be noble but I'm still unsure about the implementation. Is it really necessary to make a demonstration to handle a memorandum? And is it permissible to carry out a demonstration according to the religion? I've read and listened to many talks and I'm still unsure about my stand in this issue. But, I just hope that those people who fight for justice and talk about democracy, would also stand up when it comes to basic issues like congregational prayer. Sometimes we talk about 'big things' and ignore basic things. Here is an interesting forum during the Liqa Sanawi AFN recently.

I feel like there are lots more to write, but it's now 1am and I feel really sleepy right now. Plus I need to wake up early tomorrow. But last but not least, I would like to congratulate my former school, SERATAS orchestra team, who won the annual SBP Wind Orchestra Competition recently. Our team managed to be in final round when I was in school, but we just didn't manage to win the title. Well, watching the performance reminds me about our orchestra training last time. People might see it as an art, but for me, it's more about discipline. Anyways, congrats lads. Here's one of the song played by the team.