KUANTAN MINI ZOO ... part 2

 Salam and good day,

more pics from Teruntum Zoo, aka Kuantan Mini Zoo.

walking the dinosaurs

hello Bambi

hello Kong

Blast from the past - Walk The Dinosaur (Was (Not Was) courtesy of youtube

more to come ... 

THE HYBRID THEORY ... Kuantan Mini Zoo

 Salam and good day

Visited our upgraded Mini Zoo yesterday with my grandson. Pleasantly surprised,I must say.

Apparently, it's the first hybrid zoo in Malaysia. Hybrid in that it combines both live animals and replicas of pre historic predators. Worth a visit. I'm just going to post pictures of the Mini Zoo... in mini packages. 

entrance

in Middle Earth now ... The Hobbit house

close encounter of the third kind

blast from the past

more pics in the next instalment of The Hybrid Zoo.

DARI BINTANG KE BINTANG ... Tongkat Warrant

Salam and good day. 

In the midst of all the excitement in trying to catch a glimpse of comet C2017 K2, I will  share with you one of my favourite poems, written by the late Usman Awang aka Tongkat Warrant. Not  a comet, but stellar all the same..

Tongkat Warrant image from google 

Dari Bintang Ke Bintang

Ketika mata saling menyapa senyum berbunga 
Tasik hati mu mencecah jiwaku mesra
Betapa debar dada kurnia alam kasih bertakhta
Kau datang tanpa suara, menjamahku tanpa sabda

Subur laksana ladang petani di lereng gunung
Ranum menguntum dalam wujud rasa maha agung
Mata yang memberi hati ini penuh menanti
Kureguk kasih menghadapi hidup seluruh berani

Kini kulihat kepalamu tersandar di jinjang pelamin
Rambutmu tersanggul terandam mengilau di cahaya lilin
Gemersik kainmu membisikkan bahagia malam pengantin
Melimpah tumpah bahagia dalam tawa teman keliling

Ketika malam kulihat matamu pada bintang
Senyummu melambai di gemilang sinar bulan
Dari bintang ke bintang kunantikan lagumu
Hanya kerdipan dalam bisu suara hatiku bimbang

Jika aku berdiri di muka jendela hati terluka
Bulan sedang mengintai di balik awan kusapa
Angin yang datang dari pelaminmu kutanya
Ia bisa mengabarkan saat adinda sedang bahagia

Lari gadis menyembah ke tanah
diiringi sendu menggoncang bahu
tenang pahlawan dipeluk bumi senyum terakhir tenang tersembunyi. 

Al-Fatihah untuk Allahyarham.

the patung says ... QUALITATIVELY SUPERIOR ARE THEY?

 These are not the refugees we are used to... These people are Europeans. These people are intelligent, they are educated people... This is not the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have been even terrorists ...

Bulgarian Prime Minister, Kirril Petkov

These are prosperous, middle class people. These are not obviously refugees trying to get away from areas in the Middle East ... in North Africa. They look like any European family that you would live next door to ... 

Al Jazeera English, Television presenter

This isn't a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilised, relatively European - I have to choose those words carefully too - city where you wouldn't expect that, or hope it's going to happen.

Charlie D'Agata, CBS News senior correspondent

[Ukranian refugees] are prosperous, middle class people. These are obviously not refugees trying to get away from areas in the Middle East that are still in a big state of war.These are not people trying to get away from areas in North Africa. They look like any European family that you would live next door to.

Peter Dobbie, Al Jazeera English, anchor

Some European commentators on Western Media have described Ukrainian refugees as being 'civilised', 'middle-class' and 'prosperous' and different from those from 'third world nations'.

the conversation.com

and if that's not enough, 

The New York Times reported that non-white people fleeing Ukraine were being blocked from leaving, in favour of white Ukrainians.

Wow. The blatant doubIe standard and racism makes me sick. 

I don't mean to be negative, but 

WTF!!!!!!!!!!

I feel for refugees from Asia and Africa, I really do.

This makes it very difficult for me to feel any sympathy for Ukrainians.

 

REFERENCES:

https://theconversation.com/ukrainian-refugees-are-welcomed-with-open-arms-not-so-with-people-fleeing-other-war-torn-countries-178491

https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/europe-welcomes-ukrainian-refugees-others-less-so/

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/why-are-some-refugees-more-welcome-than-others/

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2022/03/17/europe-throws-open-its-doors-for-ukrainians-for-afghans-and-other-refugees-its-detention-and-even-beatings.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/14/world/europe/ukraine-refugees-poland-belarus.html

 

 

 

PLANTS MAKE ME HAPPY ... update 4 minit

photo from Pinterest

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR .... this is the only life for me ....

 Happy New Year all.

Stay safe. Stay strong. Believe in yourself and keep passing the open windows.

video from youtube

THE MONSOON ARRIVES ... too much of a good thing

 Salam and good day I wish you on this cold and wet morning.

The monsoon is here... as expected. Cold, wet, windy ... the whole bloody lot. Mother nature is always reliable. It's pouring cats and dogs this morning. well, actually, it's been pouring since yesterday, and has gotten even worse today. Cats and dogs yesterday, cows and pigs today... LOL 

As usual, I have tons of assessments to mark, but I just could not get myself to look at them yet. Instead, I went out, looked at the rain, shot a video and updated my blog. It's either that or watching Queen music videos. Well, f it makes you happy luv, do it. Anyway, I feel so much better now. I'm actually feeling quite motivated to work. 

The last I heard, several areas have flooded and some roads are closed. Don't know how long this will last. I hope the best for all the flood victims and I also hope my flowers in my small yard will not die from too much rain. You know what they say... too much of a good thing ... 

Queen - Too Much Love Will Kill You

THE BOOK OF LIFE ... chapter 55

 Salam and good day. 

55 today. Thank you Allah.

What can I say. It's been a long weary year. Covid is still lingering in the air and things are only halfway back to normal. Not sure whether we will be able to get back to pre-covid normal. A lot of people are taking the current situation as the new normal. 

Well, new or old, I can't wait to retire... on this day next year, I will be free... for now... let's hope for a miracle...

photo from Pinterest

Queen - The Miracle

 courtesy of youtube

IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS ... there is peace and serenity

 Salam and good day,

Here I am again, ready to begin another semester. Seems like just yesterday I finished teaching the third semester. 

This semester, instead of online teaching, (which I have sort of gotten used to by now), the university wants us to do hybrid lesson. Hybrid, meaning, a combination of online and face to face lesson., ie: 50% of each. Sounds simple enough. Well, it is anything but simple. 

The 50% face to face and online only applies to students' learning time, 

For the lecturers, its actually 100% face to face, but in the face to face class, only 50% of the students will be physically present and the remaining will have it as an online lesson. That's one scenario. I know. It's complicated.

Anyway, the hybrid lesson consists of six different scenarios based to the actual number of students who are physically on campus and those who are not. Therefore, if I have six sections to teach, and unluckily, have six different scenarios, well... chaos would be an understatement. I'm literally heading into a storm. 

The bright side is this coming semester would be my second last before I'm off to my retirement. Sooo looking forward to it. I'm  just too old for this mode of teaching.

Speaking of storm, it's October now, and we can expect a visit from our dear friend, the North East monsoon in a few weeks. Yes, Mr Monsoon will come with abundance of rain, leaving a trail of destruction in its path. That gives me an idea for a November poem. Hopefully, I will have the time to think about it, you know, with all the chaos.

But, for now, I need something soothing... here it is...

Despite, the title, My Melancholy Blues, This song is not at all depressing. It is the most peaceful and serene song ever.

related post : death-on-two-legs-dedicated-to.

I'M HANGING ONTO THE CLOUDS .... by my fingertips

 

 I'm hanging onto the clouds 

by my fingertips

  I curse the wind

 I curse the sea

I curse the moonlight

wishing they would stop mocking 

and just let me be

                              I'm hanging onto the clouds

by my fingertips

way beneath I could see

a sea of smiling faces

thousands of helping hands 

beckoning me

to come down

                              Still I hung onto the clouds

by the very end of my fingertips

and

When my strength grudgingly hands me over 

 to the grasping arms of gravity

and  the earth gets to lay its hands on me

dare they be my safety net

                                          or

would they

with a smile plastered on their faces

mutter...poor thing

and go on to talk about politics

so

I shall keep hanging onto the clouds 

by the strength of my fingertips....