Anonymity

We've had a string of anonymous contributions lately.

It's sort of ironic because at the very beginning, I wanted all of our donations to come from silent, mysterious, rich, dying, old men in far-off lands who were sympathetic to our cause.

Now it's driving me crazy.

Mostly because we KNOW you're not dying, old men in far-off lands.

Of course, that's no reason not to be thankful. And thankful we are.



Thank you for your support but please note that that souvenir deal we have is only applicable if we know who you are! So if you want that super-duper-cool key chain from Morocco, you gotta let us know!

Stay charitable. (But let us know if you do.)

Doing it for charity

Yep, that's what we're doing. Doing it for charity.

The Star in Malaysia published a write-up of our fundraising efforts in their Education section today. Please view the heavily edited article here.

Do it.

The Pelita Affair

Hello people! Warwick Malaysia Night is back and we are proud to present to you:

The Pelita Affair.

It is a night of colour, drama, music and delicious food! It is a night where we showcase our diverse culture with acting, singing, dancing and our infamous Dikir Barat. Our Dikir Barat has been touted the best in the UK amongst all the Malaysian Societies in the UK and is well worth watching! If you don't believe us, come along to watch us perform at our taster session at the Piazza on Wednesday, 31st of January, Week 4 and experience it for yourself!

Malaysia Night will take place on Saturday 3^rd of February 2007 at the Butterworth Hall, with the show commencing at 7:30pm. There are also dinner tickets available for those who want to sample authentic Malaysian cuisine. The dinner consists of 3 mains and a dessert and promises to be very scrumptious and spicy Malaysian food! So get them while you can! Tickets are priced as follows

Dinner & Show: £15 [only 300 available]
Show Only: £9

To book tickets for you and your friends, simply e-mail warwickmsa@gmail.com. Easy as 1,2,3! Hope to see you on the night!

And what's MORE interesting is that; wani, faeez and lutfi will be your emcees for the night! Knowing us, we'll be entertaining you and possibly make you laugh till you cry! heeheehee. SO get your tickets NOW and make sure you get as many friends as you can to come and see us warwick-ians in action! Looking forward to see you guys there! OH! Before i forget, please please bring a lot of extra cash along :) we'll be collecting more donations for the children in Africa. Alhamdulillah we've reached our initial target of 2000pounds but it'll be AMAZING if we can get another 1000.

Final words, STAY CHARITABLE!

Color Me Astounded

Wow.

Will the benevolent Mr/Mrs/Miss/Dr/Tun/Dato'/Datin/His Royal Highness 'lalalala lalalala' please step forward?

We promise we won't tell anyone. But we need to know!

It's driving us insane. And we're losing sleep. And I'm not eating right. And we need to know!

Tidur tak lena. Makan tak kenyang. Mandi tak basah. So we need to know!

Please let us know.

And let us know whose 'cute little faces' you want us to take pictures of.

p/s: Thank you very much.

Picture Session

We had a picture session yesterday for publicity purposes. And I present to you the best shots! At least in my opinion. The others may beg to differ.

Thanks to Melvin for being our on-hand photographer. Be amazed at our 'act-natural' poses!

Have fun making up your own captions!

Milestones

milestone (mīl'stōn') noun [C] (UK ALSO milepost)
1 a stone or post at the side of the road on which is marked the distance to various places, especially to the nearest large town

2 an important event in the development or history of something or in someone's life

I like milestones. Especially during those long, boring balik kampung journeys, where the road was seemingly endless and the only reprieve you got was the numbers by the side of the road going down one by one.

And today, we've reached a milestone in our fundraising.

1500

75%

It's funny how there was a time I was worried we wouldn't even reach the minimum. And now look at that.

This post was supposed to be more meaningful and heart-wrenching. But let's just keep it happy.

Look! You've made us happy!


You know I'm happy when I'm willing to put up a picture of myself looking stupid.

Thank you for making us happy.

And here's to more milestones along the road.

Stay Charitable!

Time

Surah 103
Al-'Asr (Time)

Bismillaah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Wal 'Asr
Innal insaana lafee khusr
Illal ladhenna aamannu
Wa 'amilus saalihaati wa tawaasau bilhaqq
Wa tawaasau bis sabr

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Time is witness that, surely, mankind suffers loss,
except for those of faith,
Who do good, and become a model of truthful living,
and together practice patience and constancy.

Translated by Kabir Helminski

Where are we going?

"Where are we going?"
"I don't know. I thought you knew."
"No, I don't know. Maybe he knows."
"No. He definitely doesn't know."
PAUSE
"Maybe no-one knows."
PAUSE
"Oh well. I hope it's nice when we get there."

- Edward Monkton

"Where are we going?"
"Morocco, man. We're going to Morocco."
"How are we getting there?"
"We're hitching!"
"That's crazy! What if no one picks us up?"
"Don't be ridiculous. That's impossible."
PAUSE
"How can you be so sure?"
"I'll just flash them my pearly whites. You'd be crazy not to pick ME up."
PAUSE
"Woooowww! Jom ambik gambar!"

Wani, Faeez and Lutfi would like to wish everyone...

Merry Christmas.

Selamat Hari Raya Haji.

and a Happy New Year.

God bless and stay charitable.

I cleaned the groud floor!

I cleaned the ground floor of the house! I have not succeeded in keeping my mouth shut for a whole day YET... will try again soon! =]

from right: dira, sheryl, (yung hui), soraya (guest from bristol), me beneath soraya with the sad face, marisa, fazura, and yazmin (guest from london)

Picture taken during XRV after the auction where I was bought by my housemates for 40pounds. Thanks girls. You rock my world!

Happy Holidays!!!

We recently finished our first term at Warwick and fundraising-wise it has been pretty amazing to say the least. As already mentioned, we've reached the minimum fundraising target of £300 each necessary for us to hitch. But we're still pretty intent on reaching our personal group target of £2,000 so we'll still be doing more fundraising activities before we hitch in March.

Got this from a recent e-mail from Sam and Becca, the Hitch Reps for Warwick:

Last, but by no means least, we have awarded our Christmas fundraising prize to Syazwani, Lutfi, and Faeez who have raised an incredible £ 1,044 over this term, which is absolutely fantastic! An example to us all, showing how possible fundraising is if you have the motivation. Well done to them, they have won a copy of the Rough Guides to Morocco and Prague, as well as maps of France and Spain to help them along their way, and a compass! This will all be awarded next term.

Actually as of today we've raised £1,217.69, and i have to say that we could not have done it without YOUR generous contribution! Thanks for believing in the cause, and stay charitable!

Thé à la menthe

Our charity event at this year's XRV in Warwick was a mixed success. Mixed because we managed to raise almost 325 pounds (woot woot) and incidentally ensuring that all 3 of us can participate in the hitch now that we've raised the bare minimum. Mixed because the price we'll have to pay may very well shake the foundations of this world as we know it. No, we haven't sold any organs off.

It's actually worse than that.

But it's for the kids. It's for the kids. Thank you to everyone who was generous with their money. It's for the kids!

Anyway, to tide the time over before we humiliate ourselves in public, I present to you Thé à la menthe by Nikkfurie of La Caution, a French rap duo from Morocco.



Not that I normally get off to this kind of music, but that beat is sick! If it sounds familiar to you in any way, that's because the song was used in the infamous laser dance scene in that movie we call Ocean's 12.



In doing my part to enlighten the rest of society, thé à la menthe means (I hope) mint tea in French. The most popular drink in Morocco, according to Wikipedia is green tea with mint. And umm...

Traditionally, making good mint tea in Morocco is considered an art form and the drinking of it with friends and family members is one of the important rituals of the day. The technique of pouring the tea is as crucial as the quality of the tea. The tea is accompanied with hard sugar cones or lumps.

Moroccan tea pots have long, curved pouring spouts and this allow the tea to be poured even into tiny glasses from a height. To acquire the optimum taste, glasses are filled in two stages.

Enjoy and stay charitable!

Freedom

My major problem with the world is a problem of scarcity in the midst of plenty ... of people starving while there are unused resources ... people having skills which are not being used.

Milton Friedman

It's all relative!

Alhamdulillah, we have so far raised quite a lot of money, and on track to reach our target. Our next fundraising event will be at XRV on Sunday 19th November (which Faeez will elaborate on later). Hopefully, by then we will have raised the minimum amount required for us to hitch to Morocco!

I didn't expect to raise this much so soon (thank you so much!), but I'm glad that we have and I hope it doesn't stop there.

In the mean time, it's good to get some perspective.

Every year we gaze enviously at the lists of the richest people in world. Wondering what it would be like to have that sort of cash. But where would you sit on one of those lists? Here's your chance to find out.

www.globalrichlist.com

Stay charitable and God bless

Krispy Kreme Donut Donations

Hello Warwick MSA!

We have an interesting, fun and charitable proposition for you and you.

In the spirit of Deepavali, Hari Raya and Christmas (also known as XRV!), we will be providing Krispy Kreme dedications for you to send out to your friends, loved ones, crushes, strangers and even yourself if you so please!

Imagine the bliss on that lucky person's face when he or she receives a bundle of joy (and yummy cholesterol!) complete with a personalized message, just from YOU!

Proceeds from this little endeavor of ours will of course go to Link Community Development.

This is how it will work:
A) You write to us stating how many Krispy Kreme dedications you want to send out (it can be anyone!) with your optional personalized message.
B) We buy the Krispy Kreme and attach your message.
C) Your friend gets your dedication on Sunday during XRV, guaranteed!

See? Easy peasy.

Each donut dedication will cost a reasonable price of 70p. Remember, it's for the kids! Send all requests to faeezmali@gmail.com. Be creative, be coy, be anonymous. Don't worry! We won't tell! Just be sure to get your requests in by this Saturday!

Additionally, we will also be auctioning ourselves off during XRV. Wani will commit to the most impossible of tasks by pledging to keep quiet and not say a word for a WHOLE day. Gasp! Lutfi and Faeez have something special in store for you as well. But we can’t tell you just yet. Be there to find out! :)

Till then, stay charitable!

Your Sponsorship At Work

Taken from a Link Community Development leaflet:

Rosina walks three miles to a roofless school each day. She sits on the floor to study. Some of her 84 classmates are lucky and use a stone for a desk. The teacher is under-trained and has only five text books to share amongst the class.

Link can't make Rosina's walk to school any shorter but we can make it more worthwile. Here's how your money can help:

• ₤10 can pay for a desk for Rosina
• ₤20 can pay for literacy training for two teachers. Literacy will provide Rosina with an essential skill and a better chance of a job when she leaves school.
• ₤50 can pay for five of the teachers in Rosina's school to attend an HIV/AIDS training session. Education remains one of the most powerful weapons society has against a disease which has orphaned nearly two million children in Ghana, Uganda and South Africa.
• ₤100 can give 10 community members fundraising training. These skills will enable the community to support the school's development far into the future.

Thank you for giving children a chance.

A picture to remember!

us with the three generous ministers!

:)

Nottingham Games 2006 Charity Drive

We're happy to announce that our fundraising efforts at the Nottingham Malaysian Games today were a great success!

It was some hard work but we managed to collect a grand total of ₤104.65 from everyone who came. There were lots and lots of 1p's and 2p's but that doesn't matter since every pence counts! I have to admit however, my eyes lit up everytime I saw someone slip a golden pounder into the umm.. tin. And there were many of those as well!

Thank you to everybody who contributed! Thanks also to Jynn for benevolently donating 35p to make the figure a nice round number of ₤105.00!

And another round of thanks to those who have already donated through our Justgiving site. Pictures of all online donors in various questionable poses will follow shortly!

Till then, stay charitable!

Faeez

Hello, world.

My name is Faeez and I currently have trouble crossing roads. I also have a bad sense of direction, can't read maps for shitters and tend to get lost a lot. You may be wondering why I signed up to hitch-hike to Morocco, then.

I guess I make up for all that lost sense of direction in my sense of humor. Which is limitless. Ho ho.

Okay, not working.

I'm also known by my friends to be brutally honest and quite frank. And I'll be frank with you right now. I understand you're cynical about this. Heck, I would be, too. So from one cynic to another, let's get some facts straight.

You're not funding our trip. We can do that just fine by ourselves. That's the point. And therein lies the beauty of it.

What you are funding is the education (and ultimately, the hopes and dreams) of underprivileged children. Children who probably wish they could be you sitting in front of a screen reading blogs and stuff.

The way I see it, sharing your love is wonder-dee-dandy.

Sharing your money is even better.

With love, that is.

Lutfi

"The boy's name was Santiago."

Fact: I'm from Brunei

Fact: I have kind and generous friends, who are intelligent, goodlooking and all-round awesome. (especially yulia, azurin, kathrina and mardhiana - in no particular order of course) Thank you so much! Thanks also to everyone else who have kindly donated their hard-earned money.

Fact: I love travelling.

Fact: Before I join Wani and Faeez collecting donations at Notts Games tomorrow, I will be playing five-a-side football for Warwick. It'll be my sixth football tournament in Notts (previously 2 Malaysian, 2 Bruneian and 1 Singaporean) since 2004.

Fact: I do not have a quarter-life crisis.

Fact: If we do well in the tournament, then the less time i have helping faeez and wani out. If we don't , then the more time i'll have.

Fact: Basic education is a right.

Fact: More facts will follow

Alms! Alms For The Children!

As Wani mentioned, we'll be at the Nottingham Malaysian Games tomorrow for a charity drive. So if you see people wearing really nice green t-shirts carrying around those charity tins(?) in the picture, please give generously!