Thursday 9 October 2014

Moonstruck

Looking around me, I do not see a state-of-the-art world.  That's to be expected when one is (for the moment) residing in and looking at the world from behind the eyeballs of the West.  But it's no better when I read the news and views from my tanah air  and all I can see is this.





I think it's time for a a little pick-me-up.

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It will be a full moon tonight on 8 October at 11.50am BST.  Also on this day the eclipse of the moon will be visible from countries around the Pacific Ocean including Malaysia.

Down here , this is all the moon I can get.  I think it's just as spectacular because I love the moon and moonlight in whatever shape and colour it comes.

Here are my feeble attempts at capturing the full moon, using my not-the-state-of-the-art camera (for dummies) from the vantage point of our not-the-state-of -the-art abode in a middling midland city.

Image 1.  The full moon playing hide-and-seek behind the clouds, taken from the front of our abode at 8.10pm.





Image 2.  Same place, same moon, a few minutes later - the moon  (like The Truth) is veiled from our eyes




Image 3. The moon has shifted,  clockwise to the rear of the house at 11.25pm.
The moon has always been a symbol of romance and childhood (and witchcraft and lunacy as well!).  I have often been described as loopy, loony and a right old wicked witch of the east.  But my love of the lure of the moon comes from schooldays, the beginning of a fascination which I picked up from Malay and English school textbooks.

In Malay: from my Primary School textbook Beneh Akal.



In English: from a poem by Mathias Barr (1831 - ?)

Moon, so round and yellow,
Looking from on high, 
How I love to see you,
Shining in the sky.

Oft and oft I wonder, 
When I see you there, 
How they get to light you,
Hanging in the air.

Where you go at morning,
When the night is past,
And the sun comes peeping,
O'er the hills at last.

Sometimes I will watch you,
Slyly overhead,
When you think I'm sleeping,
Snugly in my bed.


Nevertheless, I still hope to see 'Hey diddle, diddle's'  The cow jumped over the moon!

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Murni sungguh ciptaan Tuhan,
Bulan bintang lampu alam.
Andai kata bintang menyepi,
Bulan tidak berseri.
Malam menjadi sunyi.
Tidak berseri lagi.

We still have  the moon and the stars over Malaysia but there is very little light - it has been obscured by the heat of hypocrisy, greed, deceit and opportunism.

6 comments:

Pasquale said...

Love your blogsite with the songs and all. We were in London, England recently and was hoping to see you guys walking aroung the great city. We were there for 8 days went to a tavern called the Old Orchards near Harefield it was nice.

anak si-hamid said...

Thank you Pasquale,

Yes, I do enjoy picking out the apt songs, especially P. Ramlee's. No one does it better.

Why didn't you let us know of your visit to Blighty? We hate London, crowded and noisy and unhealthy.

Anyway, InsyaAllah we can meet up in KL when we 'balik kampung' from the 'kampung' here.

Tan Malaka said...

1. Pada abad kedua hijrah pasukan Islam dari utara Afrika berjaya menyeberangi terusan yang kini dipanggil Straits of Gibraltar dan menakluk Semenanjung Sepanyol (Iberia). Dibawah pimpinan Tariq, pasukan Islam dapat mengalahkan pasukan Sepanyol dan Portugis.

2. Selama 800 tahun Islam berkuasa di Semenanjung yang dikenali sebagai Al-Andalus oleh Arab.

3. Tetapi orang Islam di Al-Andalus berpecah selepas pemerintahan Abdul Rahman Ke-3. Ketua-ketua Wilayah bersikap bebas dan Al-Andalus berpecah kepada beberapa negeri kecil. Negeri-negari ini sering bermusuh sesama mereka dan berperang.

4. Dalam peperangan antara negeri-negeri Islam ini, ada yang meminta pertolongan orang Kristian Sepanyol yang memiliki tentera yang kuat. Pihak yang bersubahat dengan Sepanyol dapat menewaskan musuh Islam mereka. Tetapi pihak Sepanyol merebut pemerintahan wilayah yang ditawan. Negeri Islam yang mendapat pertolongan Sepanyol tidak dapat membuat apa-apa kerana mereka lemah.

5. Dengan cara membantu pemerintah-pemerintah wilayah Islam yang bermusuh sesama mereka, akhirnya Sepanyol dapat merampas balik seluruh Semenanjung.

6. Yang terakhir ialah Wilayah Granada. King Ferdinand dan Queen Isabella berjaya mengalahkan dan menakluk Granada. Dengan ini tamatlah sejarah Semenanjung Iberia sebagai Negara Islam.

7. Orang Islam dan Yahudi di Granada diberi tiga pilihan. Mereka boleh kembali ke Afrika Utara, atau memeluk agama Kristian Katholik atau mereka dibunuh.

8. Inilah hasil “tahaluf siyasi” orang Islam dengan orang yang lebih kuat dari mereka.

9. Apakah ada pelajaran yang boleh didapati dari sejarah Islam di Semenanjung Sepanyol.

Anonymous said...

Great photos ! Funny, but the ones behind the clouds are better looking !

We didnt get our red moon but we did get lots and lots and lots of grey haze.

mus

anak si-hamid said...

Terima Kasih Tan Malaka,

Apakah bedza-nya antara kerajaan dan masyarakat Islam dahulu dan sekarang - hanya memperalatkan ugama untuk mementingkan dan memperkayakan diri sendiri.

Ummah Islam - lebih lebih lagi Melayu di Malaysia - bukan seperti "lions led by donkeys" tetapi "donkeys led by donkeys". Serigala di-sekeliling tersenyum dan menepok tangan.

anak si-hamid said...

Dear Mus,

I agree with you, the moon behind the clouds is far more beautiful. I am certain you could have made much more fabulous photographs.

I hate to repeat this for it will make you grind your teeth - but I wish you were here - just to look at the moon and the clouds in the night sky- and take your photographs!!

Thank you.