--Eid ul-Fitr 2010--

Eid ul-Fitr (Arabic: عيد الفطر ‘Īdu l-Fiṭr‎), often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting (sawm). Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fiṭr means "break-fasting"; and so the holiday symbolizes the celebration of break-fasting after completing the fasting of the entire month of Ramadan (calendar month). The first day of Eid, therefore, is the first day of the month Shawwal that comes after Ramadan.
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Eid-ul-Fitr Salat (Namaz in Urdu/Persian) is a Wajib (strongly recommended, just short of obligatory) or mandoob depending on which juristic opinion is followed salat of two raka'ah (units) which is generally offered in an open field called Eidgah. This salat should be performed with Jama’at with extra six Takbirs, three of them in the beginning of the first raka'ah and three of them just before ruku' in the second raka'ah. Eid ul-Fitr is sometimes also known as the "Smaller Eid" (Arabic: العيد الصغير al-‘īdu ṣ-ṣaghīr‎) as compared to the Eid al-Adha that lasts four days following the Hajj and is casually referred to as the "Greater Eid" (Arabic: العيد الكبير al-‘īdu l-kabīr‎).
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Muslims are commanded by the Qur'an to complete their fast on the last day of Ramadan and then recite the Takbir all throughout the period of Eid.

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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hari_Raya_Aidilfitri

--53th Years Old...............--

Malaysia is a country in South East Asia (near Indonesia) whose strategic sea-lane position brought trade and foreign influences that fundamentally influenced its history. Hindu India, the Islamic Middle East and Christian Europe to its west, and China and Japan with one of successive phases of outside influence, followed by the mid-twentieth century establishment of independence from foreign colonial powers. Hindu and Buddhist cultures imported from India dominated early Malaysian history. They reached their peak in the Sumatran-based Srivijaya civilization, whose influence extended through Sumatra, Java, the Malay Peninsula and much of Borneo from the 7th to the 14th centuries.

Although Muslims had passed through Malaysia as early as the tenth century, it was not until the 14th and 15th centuries that Islam first established itself on the Malayan Peninsular. The adoption of Islam by the fifteenth century saw the rise of number sultanates, the most prominent of which was the Melaka (Malacca). Islamic culture has had a profound influence on the Malay people, but has also been influenced by them. The Portuguese were the first European colonial powers to establish themselves in Malaysia, capturing Malacca in 1511, followed by the Dutch. However, it was the British, who after initially establishing bases at Jesselton, Kuching, Penang and Singapore, ultimately secured their hegemony across the territory that is now Malaysia. The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 defined the boundaries between British Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies (which became Indonesia). A fourth phase of foreign influence was immigration of Chinese and Indian workers to meet the needs of the colonial economy created by the British in the Malay Peninsula and Borneo.

Japanese invasion during World War II ended British domination in Malaysia. The subsequent occupation from 1942 to 1945 unleashed nationalism in Malaya and Borneo. In the Peninsula, the Malayan Communist Party took up arms against the British. A tough military response was needed to end the insurgency and bring about the establishment of an independent, multi-racial Federation of Malaya in 1957. On 31 August 1963, the British territories in North Borneo and Singapore were granted independence and formed Malaysia with the Peninsular states on 16 September 1963. Approximately two years later, Singapore was expelled from the Federation. A confrontation with Indonesia occurred in the early-1960s. Race riots in 1969 led to the imposition of emergency rule, and a curtailment of political life and civil liberties which has never been fully reversed. Since 1970 the "National Front coalition" headed by United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) has governed Malaysia. Economic growth dramatically increased living standards by the 1990s. This growing prosperity helped minimise political discontent.^{[citation needed]} Successive UMNO-dominated governments have promoted the use of the Malay language and carried out systematic positive discrimination and moderate apartheid in favour of Muslims, measures which cause great resentment.

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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Malaysia
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hari_Merdeka

--World's Greatest DAD Ever - Team Hoyt--

Team Hoyt is a father (Dick Hoyt, born June 1, 1940) and son (Rick Hoyt, born January 10, 1962) team from Holland, Massachusetts who have competed together in various athletic endeavors, including marathons and triathlons. Rick has cerebral palsy and during competition Dick pulls Rick in a special boat as they swim, carries him in a special seat in the front of a bicycle, and pushes him in a special wheelchair as they run.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Hoyt
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~http://www.teamhoyt.com/

--Nick Vujicic--

Nicholas James Vujicic (born 4 December 1982) is a preacher, a motivational speaker and the Director of Life Without Limbs. Born without limbs due to the rare Tetra-amelia disorder, Vujicic had to live a life of difficulties and hardships throughout his childhood. However, he managed to get over these hardships and, at seventeen, started his own non-profit organization Life Without Limbs. After school, Vujicic attended college and graduated with a double major. From this point on, he began his travels as a motivational speaker and his life attracted more and more mass media coverage. At the present, he regularly gives speeches on subjects such as disability, hope, and finding meaning in life.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Vujicic

--Hong Kong issues 'black alert' after deadly Manila hostage crisis--

Hong Kong

Eight Chinese tourists were killed Monday after a hostage crisis in the Philippines came to a violent end. The incident is likely to heap pressure on new president Benigno Aquino, who must confront the diplomatic fallout with his giant neighbor while seeking to reassure tourists that his impoverished nation of 92 million is safe to visit.

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Philippine security forces stormed a tourist bus in the capital, Manila, at around 8.30 p.m. local time after an 11-hour standoff with a man armed with a M-16 rifle who had boarded the bus, taking hostage 22 tourists from Hong Kong and three Filipinos.

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The gunman – a police officer protesting his firing in 2008 – became agitated as night fell and specialist SWAT units encircled the bus. He began shooting hostages, and millions of TV viewers worldwide, including many in China and Hong Kong, watched in horror in bars and restaurants as security forces stormed the bus.

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~http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0823/Hong-Kong-issues-black-alert-after-deadly-Manila-hostage-crisis
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~http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9HQH5Q80&show_article=1

--Hungry Ghost Festival 2010--

The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh lunar month (14th in southern China).
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In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in Spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in Autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
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On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mache form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals (often vegetarian meals) would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the former only includes older generations. Other festivities may include, buying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Festival
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~http://www.essortment.com/all/hungryghostfes_rjkb.htm
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~http://www.chinavoc.com/festivals/ghost.htm
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~http://www.chinese-culture.net/html/hungry_ghost_festival.html

--Elvis Presley Tribute - Nearer My God To Thee--

Elvis Aaron Presleya (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".

Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family at the age of 13. He began his career there in 1954 when Sun Records owner Sam Phillips, eager to bring the sound of African American music to a wider audience, saw in Presley the means to realize his ambition. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was one of the originators of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country and rhythm and blues. RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage the singer for over two decades. Presley's first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel", released in January 1956, was a number one hit. He became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll with a series of network television appearances and chart-topping records. His energized interpretations of songs, many from African American sources, and his uninhibited performance style made him enormously popular—and controversial. In November 1956, he made his film debut in Love Me Tender.

Conscripted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He staged few concerts, however, and, guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood movies and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. In 1968, after seven years away from the stage, he returned to live performance in a celebrated comeback television special that led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of profitable tours. In 1973, Presley staged the first concert broadcast globally via satellite, Aloha from Hawaii, seen by approximately 1.5 billion viewers. Prescription drug abuse severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at the age of 42.

Presley is regarded as one of the most important figures of 20th-century popular culture. He had a versatile voice and unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including country, pop ballads, gospel, and blues. He is the best-selling solo artist in the history of popular music. Nominated for 14 competitive Grammys, he won three, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36. He has been inducted into four music halls of fame.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley
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~http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFZzI3MOVGg