31 Years On

Thirty-one years have passed since the Srebrenica Genocide, where more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were systematically murdered simply because of their faith.

For many people, Srebrenica is a chapter in a history book.

For me, it has faces.

During my years at IIUM in the 1990s, I had the privilege of studying, playing basketball and sharing countless conversations with Bosnian students. They prayed, studied for exams, played sports and dreamed of better days, even as their hearts remained with families caught in the horrors of war back home.

I still remember seeing some of them clutching shortwave radios, desperately searching for news from Bosnia, hoping to hear that their loved ones were safe.

Those memories have never left me.

As we commemorate the victims of Srebrenica today, let us honour not only those whose lives were cruelly taken, but also the resilience of those who survived and rebuilt their lives.

May Allah grant the martyrs of Srebrenica the highest ranks in Jannah, bring comfort to their families, and establish justice for every innocent soul who suffered.

"And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision." (Surah Ali 'Imran, 3:169)

My Stadium Merdeka Memories

 

I never expected a simple Sunday morning visit to Stadium Merdeka to hit me right in the feels. But the moment I walked through the corridor and emerged onto the stands, it was as though four decades of memories came rushing back all at once.

The stadium was closed in 2016 and reopened in August 2024 after an extensive restoration that brought it remarkably close to how it looked when Malaysia’s independence was declared here in 1957. The second tier was removed, thousands of seats disappeared, and many original design features were painstakingly brought back. Walking around the place genuinely felt like travelling back in time.

My first visit was in 1986 when my late father and I squeezed into a packed van from JB to KL to watch the Malaysia Cup final. It was also my first time seeing Tugu Negara and Pertama Complex. Johor, the defending champions, were hammered 6-1 by Selangor. We got booed by the home crowd, I was absolutely gutted, and I honestly don't remember much of the journey home.

When I entered university in 1989, I became good friends with a bunch of Selangor boys. From then on, I regularly tagged along with them to Stadium Merdeka for league and Malaysia Cup matches. It was with this same gang that I watched Gary Lineker score four goals as England beat Malaysia 4-2. I can still picture so many moments from that evening.

I also stood in these very stands countless times, proudly singing Negaraku with thousands of fellow Malaysians before international matches.

Then came what is still, for me, the greatest Malaysia Cup final ever.

Johor versus Selangor. 1991.

I went alone, wearing a bootleg Johor jersey and hoping for the best. It poured before kickoff, leaving the pitch completely waterlogged. Selangor scored first and my heart sank.

Then Michael Urukalo showed exactly why he was such a brilliant coach. Johor cleverly played the drier parts of the pitch, seized the momentum, and our Croatian striker Ervin Boban did the rest. A hat-trick. At Stadium Merdeka. I screamed, hugged complete strangers and celebrated like there was no tomorrow. Soaked to the bone and somehow shirtless by the end of it, I happily took the minibus back to campus. To this day, it's still the greatest Malaysia Cup final I've ever witnessed.

Stadium Merdeka also hosted some incredible concerts over the years. The last one I attended was Bon Jovi in 2015, just months before the stadium closed for restoration.

Standing there again on Sunday, I found myself showing my wife exactly where I used to sit for some of those unforgettable matches. Everything around the stadium has changed, but for a little while, I felt frozen in time.

And yes... I almost broke into Negaraku.

"We Need More Parks!" -- Your Head Lah!

It’s one of the most tiresome arguments online that pops up every other day:

“We need more parks! We need more parks!”

Ughhh, seriously lah. Do these people actually go out, or just melalak on social media from the comfort of their rooms?

If you know me, you’d know I’m THAT guy who runs at parks. Ahem. More than 15 years ago, I even started a community running project called Larian 40 Taman 100 Kilometer, which took me to parks all around the country. Read all about it HERE

So, “we need more parks”? Allow me to share my own experience.

Within just 10 minutes from home (Bandar Kinrara), I already have at least FIVE major parks and running spots to choose from — Taman Rekreasi Bukit Jalil, Taman Subang Ria, Taman Bandaran Kelana Jaya, Taman Wawasan and Bukit Komanwel/Stadium Bukit Jalil. And look at how glorious they are:

 

Add another 5 minutes and there’s Taman Jaya in PJ too.

On weekends, if I’m willing to drive 20–25 minutes, the options become even more mind-boggling — KLCC Park, Taman Tasik Titiwangsa, Taman Dusun Bandar and Taman Botani Perdana.

But wait, there’s more!

Taman Tasik Danau Kota, Taman Tasik Ampang Hilir, Taman Rekreasi Sungai Chua and Taman Tasik Shah Alam are all within half an hour from our home too.

And this is just MY experience. There are still plenty more taman out there to enjoy and explore, from Putrajaya to Kepong to Taman Tun. And needless to say, there are also incredible parks outside of the Klang Valley, like these awesome gems:

Taman Ujana Nilai Impian

Tasik Biru Kundang

Taman Rekreasi Perigi Tujuh, Serendah

Taman Tasik Milenium, Kuala Kubu Bharu

So yeah — maybe stop whining and start going out more lah.

We already HAVE an amazing lineup of parks waiting for your precious presence.

Farewell To The King!

 

No goals or assists, just who Mo Salah really is...

Up The Villa!

 

 

Thirty years without a trophy, and 44 years since that historic European Cup triumph, Aston Villa have finally ended the wait -- with Unai Emery’s men overpowering Freiburg of Germany 3-0 in the Europa League final. Woohoo!

For a team that started the season with a string of losses and dreadful performances, lifting a European trophy and securing a place in next season’s Champions League makes this an unexpectedly wonderful campaign. And they’ve done it all despite those ridiculous financial restrictions too!

The best part? I genuinely believe the best is yet to come. Unai has shaped this side into a team that plays beautiful football, yet still has the grit and heart to grind out victories when things are not going their way. And importantly, the core of the squad remains. McGinn, Rogers, Konsa and the rest simply must be kept. Add a few smart new additions, and the Villans could genuinely challenge for even more honours from here on.

But for now, there’s nothing quite like enjoying that winning feeling!

Morning Walk, Mandatory Stop

Brisk walking at Taman Wawasan also means stopping to browse through some books. Yes, books!

Right in the middle of the park sits a quiet little outdoor library -- actually five of them -- filled with books you can just pick up and read.

Behind it all is Lee Kim Siew, a 90-year-old retired headmaster who still tends to these shelves every morning. What used to be a neglected space is now a peaceful corner for readers, built purely from love for books.

Same School, Two Generations -- STAR (2), JB

My late parents were meticulous document keepers. They never threw important papers away. Birth certificates, vaccination cards, letters, forms -- everything carefully folded into old envelopes and tucked safely into files.

Today, those files feel less like paperwork and more like a time capsule.

Inside are both of their original birth certificates from 1940, my father’s vaccination certificate from the same era, and my mother’s conversion certificate -- fragile, yellowed, edges soft with age. Whenever I share them online, people are always surprised that documents this old still exist. But to me, they’re more than records. They’re proof of lives lived long before I came along.

And then there’s this one -- my father’s School Leaving Certificate from 1955.

Typed out on a typewriter. Slightly crooked lines. Faded ink. The paper creased from being folded and refolded for decades. His name, Abdul Jalil b. Suleiman, neatly stamped into history. Attendance: 190 out of 193 days. Games: Football and Basketball. Conduct: Good. And a remark from the headmaster that stopped me in my tracks: “Reliable, honest boy, will do well in life.”

Reading that, I don’t just see my father. I see a skinny 15-year-old schoolboy in shorts and canvas shoes, probably running across the padang with his friends, not knowing what the future would hold. Not knowing he would one day become my dad.

He left Temenggong Abdul Rahman School in 1955. Twenty-three years later, I walked through the very same gates as a Darjah 1 student. Same school. Same grounds. Two generations, connected by one old piece of paper.

Funny how something so simple can carry so much love.

Thank You Mo Salah, Goodbye Liverpool

Woke up this morning to the news I think many of us knew was coming -- Mohamed Salah will be leaving Liverpool FC at the end of the 2025/26 season.

And yet... I didn’t feel shocked. Maybe because part of me had already said goodbye months ago, expecting it to happen during the January window.

What I did feel, though, was something heavier -- a quiet disappointment that’s been building all season. It’s hard to understand how a player who just helped deliver another Premier League title, while still producing extraordinary numbers, could be treated the way he has.

What makes it even harder to accept is the level of vitriol that’s been directed at him this season. Yes, by his own incredibly high standards, it may not have been his best year -- but to see Salah subjected to constant criticism, name-calling, and disrespect over a relatively below-par run is deeply unfair. This is a player who has carried the club for years, who has delivered time and again when it mattered most. To reduce all of that to a few difficult months feels not just harsh, but completely devoid of perspective and gratitude.

If anything, this past year has slowly changed how I see the club. I never imagined I’d feel this disconnected from something I’ve supported all my life. But watching how Salah has been handled -- by both the club and sections of the fanbase -- made that distance grow, week by week.

Eight incredible seasons. Relentless consistency. Total commitment. And yet, it somehow led to this.

It makes you question things. Is this really what supporting this club has become? Because even through the long, painful decades without a league title, I don’t remember a player being treated like this.

So yes, there’s sadness -- but also, strangely, a sense of closure. Salah leaving feels like the final chapter, not just for him, but for my own journey with the club.

That said, the memories will always stay. From the early days of following the team, to standing at Anfield, to witnessing that unforgettable Champions League trophy parade in 2019 --- those moments are part of me.

I’ll still go back to the classics. Watching Kenny Dalglish, Steven Gerrard, Ian Rush, and of course Salah, doing what they did best. I’ll revisit the stories, the matches, the history I’ve held onto for so long.

But that’s what it will be now -- history.

As for Salah... thank you. For the goals, the magic, the consistency, and the humility. A true legend of the game and an even better human being.

I genuinely believe we won’t see another like you -- not just in what you did on the pitch, but in who you were off it.

In Memoriam: Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas (1931–2026)

Renowned scholar and thinker of contemporary Islamic civilization, Prof. Diraja Tan Sri Dr. Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas, passed away on 8 March 2026 at the age of 95. A towering figure in Islamic philosophy, thought, and Malay civilization, his passing is a profound loss to the world of knowledge.

Born in 1931, he began his formative studies at the English College in 1946, and went on to become one of the most influential Islamic scholars of the modern era. His contributions include advancing the concept of the Islamization of knowledge, pioneering educational reform for Muslim communities, and producing seminal works on tasawuf, metaphysics, cosmology, philosophy, and Malay language and literature.

Among his most significant achievements is the theory of the Islamization of the Malay World, detailing the spread and influence of Islam throughout the Malay-Indonesian region. His ideas continue to shape scholarship on civilization, education, and Islamic thought, and his legacy will inspire generations to come.

His passing has drawn tributes from across the world. Yusuf Islam described Syed Naquib as a major inspiration behind the development of Islamic education initiatives, noting that his ideas on the Islamization of knowledge influenced the founding of the Islamia School in 1983 and shaped curriculum discussions following the 1977 World Conference on Muslim Education in Makkah.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim paid tribute to him as one of the greatest intellectual figures of the modern Muslim world, whose seminal works -- including Islam and Secularism and Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam -- challenged the secularisation of knowledge and laid the philosophical foundations for an Islamic worldview.

The intellectual legacy of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas will continue to influence discussions on civilisation, philosophy and Islamic education for generations to come. May his immense contributions to knowledge and thought always be remembered.

Hampstead, Keats, and Good Donuts

A couple of years ago today, after a long walk across Hampstead Heath, I stumbled upon a quiet literary gem -- Keats House.

It was one of those perfect London days: clear skies, crisp air, and the kind of slow wandering that leads to unexpected discoveries. I peeked inside the house and even picked up a book, but decided to skip the entrance fee and simply enjoy the moment from the outside.

For those who may not know, Keats House was once home to John Keats, one of England’s great Romantic poets. He lived there in the early 1800s and wrote some of his most famous works during that time, including parts of Ode to a Nightingale. Standing there, it’s easy to imagine the young poet walking the nearby heath, drawing inspiration from the same landscape.

The day ended on a perfect note — delectable donuts at a vegan café nearby, followed by a browse through the always-wonderful Daunt Books.

Sometimes the best travel memories aren’t the big attractions, but the little discoveries in between.