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Volume 1: Issue 1

Knowledge Talks, Wisdom Listens!

Jimi Hendrix
Table of Contents
Editorial......................................................................................................................................................3
Title goes here.......................................................................................................................................4
From the Tale Tellers!................................................................................................................................5
Silence...................................................................................................................................................6
Pride in Yourself....................................................................................................................................8
TidBytes.....................................................................................................................................................9
Online Spreadsheets............................................................................................................................10
Autoscaling (Axis2) Web Services on Amazon EC2..........................................................................11
Living Analog in a Digital World!.......................................................................................................12
Do you believe in the stars?................................................................................................................13
From the Kitchen ....................................................................................................................................14
Family Matters.........................................................................................................................................15
18+ ways to entertain your toddler without TV and videos...........................................................16
Journeys and Destinations........................................................................................................................18
People and Places..................................................................................................................18
Monster malls, high end fashion and mouth watering food – Malaysia.............................................19
Sri Lanka – Everything in one!...........................................................................................................22
From the Funny Bone!.............................................................................................................................25
Money Minds...........................................................................................................................................27
Islamic Finance – the Principles..........................................................................................................28
Quick Quotes............................................................................................................................................31
The kindest word in all the world is the unkind word, unsaid........................................................31
Editorial

Well, what can I say? Its been a roller coaster journey and finally it is out! Another dream has made its
way to reality and as the founder of this work of the wonderful minds, I am immensely grateful to the
wonderful minds behind this effort supporting it, giving their utmost and living up to the expectations
of screaming deadlines, tight budgets and a rather fussy editor.
The launch of our first issue of the Wiselet magazine is indeed an anxiously awaited event by many in
Sri lanka and around the globe. The essence of this magazine is to bring humanity together in the quest
for peace and the sharing of views and wisdom in an innovative and mind boggling fashion. The theme
of which would open out to a global audience of readers in need of concise and quick information in a
fast paced world. Apart from regular featured articles on family life, news, finance and technology
there will be special room made for columns for ladies and children. Humour, puzzles, quotes and tips
add spice to add to the fun.
A wholehearted thank you to all our passionate writers who have joined hands in merging minds
around the world to arouse the interest of our readers. You have created words from thoughts and on
these words let many ponder!

My hopes are that WISELET will reach millions of people across the seas spreading oceans of
knowledge and wisdom, bringing minds together and creating a better tomorrow for the generation
3000! Like someone once said “If you are going to dream you might as well dream big”!

Aashika Sulaiman
Editor and Manager for the WISELET
Title goes here
Shabnam Ikram Muzammil
Singapore

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others. ~Buddha

From the Tale Tellers!
Silence
A Short story by Shamma Mohammed
Maya bowed gracefully, waiting for the curtains to open up. The crowd waited for her and she knew
they would not be disappointed. She wasn’t going to disappoint them, not today...

The curtains opened and Maya rose from her bow, her arms and legs graceful and long as she stretched
on her toes. She stretched once again, pivoted and sighed with relief. That had taken a lot of practice
and it had paid well. The music was enchanting, filling, echoing throughout the auditorium and Maya’s
movements did it justice. It was breathtaking; the way she moved. She could flit through the stage on
light feet like a butterfly and she could imitate the heavy waves of the ocean. She could throw herself in
to the air and fall in a heap and pick herself up once more as lightly as ever. The crowd cheered and
clapped but Maya heard nothing. She did not even see the wonderment in their faces. Her world was a
garden and she was merely a bird trying to feel the rush of the air brush softly against her as she moved
to the rhythm...

She felt her teacher’s eyes upon her as she filled the form to take part in the school’s annual talent
show. She knew that her teacher was as skeptical as could be about what she could do but
then...everyone was, in a way. She did feel less confident but it never hindered her. She knew what she
could do and though it pained her to see that people found difficulty believing her. Maya believed that
she danced for two reasons: to make herself and her mother happy and to prove to the world that she
could dance...

Maya swirled in one fluid motion, her body so aligned and in position for the move that people from
the audience stared wide eyed with admiration. Her every movement was so graceful and yet carried
out with a lot of power. It was wonderful to behold; this young creature dancing to the hauntingly
beautiful music it was something strange; almost ethereal...

It was late evening when Maya walked out of the ballet studio. People hurried to their homes after
work. Some were talking to each other and some had their head phones on; listening to music till they
reached home. She wondered what it was, the music that people listened to, and the music that people
sang to, the music that people danced to. It was surely something really magical...

As she executed a perfect leap like a deer crossing a stream, Maya only knew of the silence which
surrounded her. That was all she could hear and feel: silence.

Silence; everything was always silent. There was a tensed air about the silence she felt right now. She
knew her mother was behind her. Maya could almost feel the disappointment that must be written all
over her mother’s face. She had fallen again while trying to do a perfect pivot and she could not fail
again. She simply couldn’t fall this time. She wouldn’t. Maya stood up, her limbs ached badly but she
did not want to give up.

A cool hand touched her shoulders as she turned around ‘go and rest’ her mother signed, ‘you need it’.
Maya hung her head as she made her way to door. If only she could try the move once more...

She made her final move and sunk in to a low, graceful bow. The crowd leapt to their feet in applause
but she heard nothing. Maya stood up and looked at the crowd below her, she did not see her teachers
wide eyed with shock and wonder, nor did she see her classmates clapping and cheering her on. All she
could see was her mother and the tears of joy that was streaming down her face. The auditorium had
never echoed with so much applause and cheering ever before but all Maya heard was silence; a
triumphant silence.

Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak. Sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go. ~Author
Unknown
 Pride in Yourself

There is a world out there

where innocence is not spared.

There is a time that comes

when life tells you beware.

There is a step you take

that's neither here nor there.

There is a season that starts

that seems to have no end.

There is a track you choose

that has only one bend.

Take care to choose wisely

as consequences only you must bear.

And be proud of your choices

as they make you who you are

Madiha Naeem
TidBytes
Choicy morsels from the tech world
Online Spreadsheets
Reminds me of the session I conducted on Dynamic Web Applications, where I gave a view of the web
in the future. The need for us to store data in other than our local drives is more than just a little
daunting.

“The liberation from PC Software!”

Why would you want to buy productivity software when you can work on similar applications online
for free, AND you don't have to worry (BIG assumption) of losing data. Soon gone will be the days
where you will have to install applications in your machine. With the increase in bandwidth, the servers
can handle all your processing. All you have to do is enter data.

Have we come full circle?

There was a time when people used the server to do all there work via a terminal. Then there was the
revolution of the PC. Now we are going back to the days of terminals and servers.

So what will your "workstations" have? The only thing that you need is a web browser. The need of any
software to be installed in your local machine is eliminated. Operating Systems can get thrown out of
the window too! Just boot your machine into the browser.

So what is the use of all the workstations' processing? Well we can donate it for "distributed
processing" tasks. We will need to develop algorithms where problems can be broken into packets of
independent work, and then put together to complete the BIG problem.

Since "workstations" will only become a gateway for entering data, there will be more emphasis on
developing it to become more efficient in this task. The input output devices will improve. Voice
recognition will be common. Other forms of input will include emotion recognition, thought
recognition and movement recognition. Voice output, graphical multimedia "forms" will be available to
deliver output in a more efficient manner. This will open up avenues for more people to use computers.
Think of the illiterate and people with special needs. Wow their opportunities will be numerous!

There will be great strides made in multi-media, for sophisticated interaction between the hardware and
liveware. There will be a demand for UI Engineers and Multimedia specialists. Ironically, the more
sophisticated the computer becomes, the more "human" related disciplines get involved in it's progress.
This, for an area of science which was known to be dissociated with the human or the humane aspect.

When will we be able to just see the screen in our "minds" that is projected into our eyes, without it
being projected into a source for our eyes to see. The visual output will connect directly with the nerves
connecting the part of the brain which handles visual processing from signals received from the retina.

Brumoon Ahamat
Connecticut, USA
October 2006
Autoscaling (Axis2) Web Services on Amazon EC2
Fault tolerance, high availability, & scalability are essential prerequisites for any enterprise application
deployment. One of the major concerns of enterprise application architects is avoiding single points of
failure. There is a high cost associated with achieving high availability & scalability. We will look at an
economical approach towards automatically scaling Web service applications while maintaining the
availability & scalability guarantees at an optimum economical cost. This approach, involving the
Amazon EC2 cloud computing infrastructure, makes it unnecessary to invest in safety-net capacity &
unnecessary redundancy.
The Web service application developer should only need to write the application once, and simply
deploy it on the cloud. The scalability & availability guarantees should be provided automatically by
the underlying infrastructure.
Autoscaling refers to the behavior where the system scales up when the load increases & scales down
when the load decreases. Auto-healing refers to an approach where a specified minimum deployment
configuration is maintained even in the event of failures. Such an approach is essential for cloud
deployments such as Amazon EC2 where the charge is based on the actual computing power
consumed. Ideally, from the clients' point of view, in an autoscaling system, the response time should
be constant and the overall throughput of the system should increase.
We will describe in detail an economical approach towards building auto-scaling Apache Axis2 Web
services on Amazon EC2. In the course of this thesis, we will introduce well-known address (WKA)
based membership discovery for clustering deployments where multicast-based membership discovery
is an impossibility.
We will also introduce an approach towards dynamic load balancing, where the load balancer itself
uses group communication & group membership mechanisms to discover the domains across which the
load is distributed. In a traditional setup, a single load balancer fronts a group of application nodes. In
such a scenario, the load balancer can be a single point of failure. Traditionally, techniques such as
Linux HA have been used to overcome this. However, such traditional schemes have quite a bit of
overhead and also require the backup system to be in close proximity to the primary system. In case of
catastrophic situations, this approach can result in complete failure of the system. We will introduce an
auto-healing scheme in case of load balancer failure using Amazon Elastic IP addresses & a load
balancer group, which can overcome these shortcomings.

M Afkham Azeez
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Living Analog in a Digital World!

Harendra Alwis
Australia

Even if you are on the right track, you'll still get run over if you just sit there.
Will Rogers
Do you believe in the stars?
If you are a science-driven classicist or even a romantic, you probably haven’t really opened your mind
up to the possibilities of astrology. Usually dismissed as a stereotypical characterisation of an
individual born within a certain time period, rarely do we harness its power to guide, judge and seduce
as effectively as we could and would like to.
We live in a holistic universe where every mote of matter and antimatter is interrelated. By being born
at a certain time and place, the universe etches in us a certain set of qualities and characteristics that run
deep; deep into our very consciousness. Creating our very being. For the homosapiens, at least. Maybe
for the other less conscious creatures as well, but they are more existential and we don’t know a whole
lot about them yet.
Over the decades, astrology has amassed a whole heap of negative connotations due to its involvement
in various traditions, religions and belief systems. Even the scientific community regard astrology as a
pseudoscience. To add more complexity to the mix, there’s Chinese astrology, Hindu (Vedic) astrology
and the popular Western astrology. Each type having a different potency on its believers and followers.
Astrology has turned into a convoluted superstitious mumbo-jumbo where one has to bore deep down
to the core not much unlike the various religious sects out there.
Science hasn’t progressed enough to explain how the stars conspire and manipulate our energy to
reflect our everyday personalities. The positions and distances of the planets at a given moment in time
and space carves out our consciousness and hence persona from the moment of birth. All this from a
snapshot of unfathomable cosmic momentum. Now, it is highly uncertain as to at what given point in
time and space, is the most applicable snapshot-map to a being being born. The first glimpse of flesh,
the head? This is inarguably immeasurable at present.
Astrology is not religion or a curriculum for life but could be veritably used to guide oneself’s everday
interactions with random people, loved people, disliked people. Also one’s own actions can be reflected
upon using the attributes purported by the twelve symbols of the zodiac. And most appealing of all,
when applied in the context of matchmaking, it’s just plain enjoyable to dabble in numerology, tarot
cards, rising moons and finger lengths. For when you find your soulmate, the one, the non-star-crossed
compatibility, you know it must be true love.

-Premesh
London, UK
From the Kitchen
Tiramisu
An italian desert relished by both the young and old!

Ingredients

7 Egg yolks
1 cup sugar
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
24 Ounces Mascarpone Cheese
1 cup Heavy whipping cream - whipped
Chocolate shavings
Ladyfinger biscuits
1 1/2 table spoon Gelatine
2-3 cups Regular coffee

Method

1. Beat together egg yolks and 1-cup sugar until it turns to consistency of ribbons.
2. Add Mascarpone cheese to the egg yolk mixture and beat until incorporated.
3. Add the egg whites to a seperate dry bowl and beat until a soft peak (Tips- make sure the bowl
is dry, before you beat add a pinch of salt to the egg whites)
4. Add geletine to a small container with little water then keep the container on top of a hot water
container which is larger than the first. (Double boiling)
5. Once geletine is dissolved, add the geletine to the egg white mixture and beat until a soft peak.
6. Whip the heavy cream untill frothy- best results can be achieved by keeping the bowl on top of
some Ice cubes while beating.
7. Gently fold in the egg white mixture and the whip cream mixture to the cheese mixture.
8. Pour about 2-3 cups of coffee in a bowl
9. Soak One lady finger biscuit at a time in the coffee and arrange one layer of soaked biscuits on
the dish you would like to make the dessert.
10. Spread half of the mousse prepared earlier on top the biscuit layer.
11. Do another layer of biscuits soaked in coffee
12. Then spread the remaining mousse mixture on top.
13. Spread chocolate shavings on top
14. For best results refrigerate over night before serving.

Faizoon Jabir
Minnesota, USA
Health and Healing
Family Matters
18+ ways to entertain your toddler without TV and videos

Washable Crayons and Paper make a good way of promoting writing skills in the little one. They can
do it independently and will enjoy hours of fun. Give them a slate or a small white board if they tend to
get bored with the same old things every other day!

Magnetic Alphabets on the Fridge Door: promote recognition of the letters and colours. Keep talking
to them to find various letters in the pile and to make simple words on the fridge. A good entertainment
source for your toddler while you cook

Water in a pool: In summer of course, they would absolutely love this but never leave them
unattended and always check for temperature and water depth so that falling in it wont hurt them.

Snack time: leave them alone with their safe to eat snacks and make sure they are seated safe and
hungry enough for a snack and some juice or milk. They would develop the skill to eat independently
and this is something which will help you a lot during meal times if they are still not self feeders. Do
not encourage eating while running around or playing. Teach them to respect their food at an early age.
Be close enough to see or hear any choking hazards if any.
They could also count their snacks before they eat it - another math lesson

Stickers: Some kids love pasting stickers on books and rough paper. You could make a story out of it
and the messes are not hard to clean up.

Songs and dancing: They would absolutely love singing and dancing with you to rhymes and easy to
pick up baby songs

Finger play and poems: Children love rhymes that have actions in them and they love it even more
when you do it with them. A good entertainment method in the vehicle when you are on the go or even
while shopping if they sit in a boring shopping cart.

Puppet shows out of soft toys: if you change your voice and speak like the animals along with the
sounds they make they will eventually pick up all the names of the animals and make their sounds. If
they hardly meet kids and people they befriend stuffed animals fast. If your child wants to take a
stuffed animal to bed at night be careful that he or she does not have it too close or that you remove it
when they fall asleep.

Bath time: Leave them under a running shower with bath toys. Do not leave them alone. It could also
be good training to wash by themselves.

Card board boxes: you can use them as a stage to get our toddler to perform on. They would also like
to get in and hide there but if this the case make sure the box has some holes in case he/she decides to
close it up for too long.

Creaming themselves: Toddlers would love it if you give them a dab of lotion in their hands and ask
them to rub it on themselves instead of you doing it. Name their body parts as they do it and before
long they would be able to name all parts from head to toe!
The good old story time: Children love colourful books. Tell them stories. Point to the pictures and
ask them simple questions like ”What Color is his shirt” or “What is the teddy bear eating?” Before bed
is a good time for books and prayers. They learn when you read to them but also discuss the book and
pictures with them!

Make use of the Library: Make a habit of taking your little one to library. They learn that reading is
an important part and will be interested by different books you bring home.

Parks and play areas: Children lobe a walk or run in the park. Swings and slides can keep them
exercising and having for fun quite a good time. You could also get some time for yourself for a quiet
picnic, some fresh air, a book or even some quick browsing. The fresh and air and sunlight is good for
them and you too.

Puzzles: These can be home made too. The wooden puzzles with animals and shapes that you can
make or buy are a great source of entertainment for kids of many ages.

Toys: there are lots of fancy toys out there but not all of them are great to have around. From
experience I find that toddlers like toys that give some kind of response. Blocks work well too. I got
my little one a medical kit to help make the doctors visits easier for her and it was a great idea. They
may like soft and cuddly things more than dolls. Cars and trains in small numbers and preferably with
letters and colors can be fun for them. As a policy I try to avoid disney characters and cartoons which
are just commercial tricks to get your kids attached to keep profits in their pockets. A rocker or
something to ride on will be one of the favorites around the home of storage is not a problem. Make
sure to keep toys disinfected and clean specially of they are shared.

Kites, fans and spin wheels: Simple and home made toys are good enough to impress them too.

Enjoy cuddling your little one: They love cuddles and kiss them. 10 on each cheek and counting loudly
gives them love and lesson on math. Try it and they would love it.

Talk to them: Finally engage in serious conversations and develop their speaking skills. Use words
and not bzby language so they pick up fast. When giving them a drink say “Delicious Juice” and when
changing them say: “Your clothes are dirty and you need fresh ones”. Also ask them to do little chores
“can you bring me the phone please?” or “close the door for mummy please”

Enjoy your little one and spend as much time as you can with them... they would be grown ups before
you know it and no matter how much you want to, you wont have a chance to do the things you could
have done with them.

There are many more entertainment tools that you could add to this list and I would love to hear them
too! Happy toddling!

F Aashika Sulaiman

You will always be your child's favorite toy. ~Vicki Lansky, Trouble-Free Travel with Children, 1991
Journeys and Destinations

People and Places

“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an
equal distance into the world within.” – Lillian Smith
Monster malls, high end fashion and mouth watering food
The Glitz and Glam of Malaysia and Singapore

You’ve probably heard so many of your friends raving about their visits to Malaysia or Singapore,
many Sri Lankans have started enjoying holidaying in Malaysia, of course they should, with the super
rates going around lately.

Let me show Malaysia and Singapore to you, up close and personal! Enjoy …

As you walk along the road, in a mall, restaurant or even at the super market you will find these
impeccably dressed ‘fashionistas’. These aren’t any ramp models or fine celebrities, their just the local
Malaysians. There is no other way I can introduce you to Malaysia besides this.
No matter where you turn you are bound to find someone wearing a jaw dropping gorgeous pair of
shoes, an exclusive top or most often se them carrying a heavenly gorgeous designer hand bag. Kuala
Lumpur (KL), Malaysia’s fashion capital, is brimming with the hottest trends, the best of events and the
best of sales.

My recent trip to Malaysia left me wanting for more and as always I was simply awestruck by it all.
Malaysia’s people, places, roads, malls, buses and its systematic and organized government body has
helped keep the country so well developed and up to date. I had no problems getting about form one
place to the other thanks to the convenient mono rails and the excellent bus system.

I visited Malaysia during the month of Ramazan and was lucky to witness the Muslim country enjoy
this sacred month with so much enthusiasm and hype. Mosques are packed with men and women at the
time of break fast.

Groups of girls covered neatly with head scarves will be found sitting quietly in a restaurant at the time
of break fast.

Fashion and Shopping

Warning: dress your best! A country where fashion is given the utmost priority and
Exhilarating and potentially exhausting, a feeling we usually dread but not when it comes to a shopping
marathon, this is exactly how it is in Malaysia’s fashion capital, Kuala Lumpur (KL). From haute
couture and high-gloss brands to flea markets and home grown fashion, Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian
capital, has it all. 4 July till 31 August is the official Mega Sale Carnival period when shoppers get high
on lower than low prices, almost 70 percent off in some cases.

Malaysian fashion is always changing and Malaysians make sure they follow it.
No matter what they wear they make sure that their outfit is well coordinated or well accessorized. If
they are in a simple T-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans, observe closely they will either be carrying a
really cool handbag or will be wearing one of the latest VINCCI shoes. So do take heed to my warning
and dress your best while your there.

Malaysians have this really great knack of doing up there in all different ways possible. Ok I admit I
observe a little too much, but you will too, it’s hard to miss, especially you girls! All of them hav super
straight hair with very funky hair cuts and to top it all they have their hair highlighted in various shades
(It doesn’t look all that clownish on them) I wouldn’t dare to try it on me.

Suria KLCC shopping complex

One and a half million square feet of pure shopping! It would undoubtedly tempt any tourist in
Malaysia to visit the Suria KLCC shopping complex which is located at the base of the Petronas
Towers in the Kuala Lumpur City Centre. The gigantic shopping mall sprawls over 6 floors notable
tenants such as Louis Vuitton, Isetan, Parkson Grand, Signatures Food Court and Marks and Spencer.
You even have a branch of Harrods there with its wonderful chocolates and cookies and jars of
different goodies and also their own line of hand bags and clothes. The shopping mall has now become
the epicenter of fashion in Kuala Lumpur because of the presence of these world renowned fashion
brands.
The shopping mall is arguably the most glamorous that can be found in Malaysia and just because of
it's location, it is a state of the art modern complex that exudes the cool, clean lines of modern
architecture. The whole complex is illuminated with bright lighting and also has some famous
Japaneese department stores known as Isetan and Kinokuniya.
A striking feature of the mall is its 50 acre tropical green oasis. A feature of the KLCC Park is it's lake
symphony that comprises of two water fountains it is programmed to provide 150 magical dramatic
animations.

Bukit Bintang

Friendly and chirpy the youngsters always seem to be so full of life. In fact it is because of them that
the city always seems to be so alive.
KL is also well known for its happening night life, with the best of bars and good music, the town is a
pretty active party animal. Many international students and foreigners are found enjoying the KL city. if
you want to witness the colourful buzzing isde of KL take a walk down Bukit Bintang (a.k.a Bintang
Walk) you will be hit by a sudden wave of energy and suddenly no matter how tired you maybe you are
ready to walk that stretch.

You will soon be tugged and pulled by one of the many reflexology parlors on the street. They try their
very best to convince you to soak your feet in a pretty creepy tank with lots and lots of fish in it
(apparently it’s really good), but well if you are fussy person like me maybe you wont try it, but the rest
of you, I guess it’s worth a shot. However if Fish Spa is not your thing, do what I did; get an excellent
foot reflexology done. No murky water and no scaly fish crawling around. Just expert finger tips
working hard on your feet. Then comes a point where you have no idea what is happening because you
are so engrossed in your far off world of peace. They give you a good foot massage and for me the guy
could actually tell what kind of a character I had just by getting my feet in his hands. Surprising, I
know! Well, but he was right about me being an impatient person. Well anyway, yes, all good things
come to an end and you realize this when you get a pretty painful knuckle scrubs on your feet and
that… marks the end of the hour long solace.

Along the stretch of Bintang Walk you will find a coupe of five star hotels, amazingly constructed high
end malls like ‘The Pavillion’ where you will find some of the worlds biggest names and brands. Louis
Vitton, COACH, GUCCI, PRADA ad the list goes on. There is also Bukit Bintang Plaza (BB Plaza)
where I found myself gazing at the most gorgeous things for the best of prices. BB plaza is a massive
mall with each floor having four different sections. You will never be able to locate a shop that you
have been to previously. I kept getting lost half the time and I would just give up and wander into any
shop I passed, only to find that this shop looked much better than the one I was looking for.
There is never a dull day if you come to KL, you are bound to meet the most interesting people and get
some really incredible shopping done and best of all have a great deal of memories to take home.

SINGAPORE

As proper as proper could get. Singapore as everyone knows tries its best to be perfect. From the time I
set foot out of the Singapore airport and during my entire one week trip there I found nothing improper.
I was literally looking for things that were out of place, just to point at it and go “HA! There You Go!”
but I failed at it. Even the people are so proper. Their posture is so perfect their skin is so flawless and
they even walk in a line. Sometimes it goes beyond belief. They do it so religiously, for us sri Lankans
it can get a little annoying when there is an extremely long queue in Mc Donalds just because the guy
in front is neatly setting his tray of food. No one even tries to move on to the next counter. I guess it is
just this unspoken rule where you just follow whatever people do and try not to look out of place. But
people don’t rave about Singapore for nothing, it is worth of praise and much more. It is definitely not
easy keeping the country so spotlessly clean and make sure it is on par with the rest of the developed
countries in the world. Singapore, similar to Malaysia gives a lot of importance to fashion. The women
are oozing with confidence, style and oomph. Carefully walking with in their high heels swishing their
perfectly styled hair and pursing their brightly painted lips, Singaporean women are all about classic
beauty.
Singapore is a small place but is big in attitude. My short trip limited me to visit just some of the great
places I had heard about. A visit to Clark Quay really impressed me. It seemed to me like I was in a
little town that had the best of restaurants and bars with the lake to add to the beauty. The river cruise
starts from here, on this one hour cruise you will be able to view the central of Singapore. You will pass
through The Esplanade, the symbolic Merlion, The Fullerton Hotel and all the major Multi National
Companies too. it’s best id you take the cruise at night just to see the gorgeous lights from the bridge
and steps dancing on the lake. After your cruise you can enjoy a sumptuous meal at any of the
restaurants. There are a variety of cuisines you can choose from and enjoy.
Singapore is a bit highly priced when compared to Malaysia. So in case you are visiting Malaysia and
Singapore try to keep all the shopping for Malaysia. However, Singapore is all about the best so they
serve the best too. Every item sold is of good quality, unless you try shopping at the night market.
Singapore is one such place where one could indulge in the best of everything and have no complains.

MUST-DO’s IN MALAYSIA OR SINGAPORE

- Go for a good foot massage
- Have a really good hair cut (they are great at it)
- Visit the night markets
- Try out the local food
- Venture out on your own
- Make friends
- Shop till you drop ( you get the best of bargains )
- Walk into every designer store you see, you are bound to be in awe
- Visit the Golden Triangle in Malaysia
- Visit Clark Quay in Singapore

Monster malls, high end fashion and mouth watering cuisines is what sums up Malaysia and Singapore.
So if you are thinking of taking a trip to Malaysia and Singapore, don’t think twice. Go ahead and
make the best of it. You won’t be disappointed. The food is great. The people are fun, the city is happy
and the shopping is heavenly.
Nabiha Ariff
Malaysia
Sri Lanka – Everything in one!
Sri Lanka is a little island in the Indian Ocean, just by the south of India. Cricket, spicy curries, sunny
beaches all year through and the taste of tea are some of the things that come to mind when thinking of
our beloved homeland. They call it the 'paradise island', they call it 'the pearl of the Indian ocean', they
call it 'a land like no other'; To me Sri Lanka will always be my home and home is where the heart is.

Known by many different beautiful names and loved by its children, our little mother island has had its
share of trouble. The 25 year old war has finally ended and we are at last able to see calmer seas. We
Sri lankans make our cultural values a priority. As small as the land is, just like the variety of
vegetation it produces, it also has many different races and religions. It is amazing that in such a small
mass of land, you would find people speaking up to five different languages and probably more than 15
races of people including the native Sri Lankans who are known as the wadhdhas. Our history is rich
with kings who built palaces out of large rocks and goes further beyond what is recorded.

In the 16th century, parts of Sri Lanka were colonized by Portugal and the Netherlands. Many
Portuguese words have made their way into the Sinhala vocabulary which is one one the three main
national languages. In 1815 we were taken over by the Great Britain who continued to rule us for over
a century. Sri Lanka became an independent nation on February, 4th 1948.

We left Sri Lanka in the fall of 2007. The few years out of Sri Lanka has been the hardest for me in my
entire life. With no family and very few friends, my husband and I see our little infant daughter bloom
into a flower that is the sun in our universe. We learned many things about this great nation. The kind
people, the cheerful “hello”s that put a smile on our faces are some the essence that kept us going and
somewhere in our hearts the United States of America became our home too!

When we go back to our motherland, I am sure to miss America very much. Sometimes my husband
and I think how we ever lived without bagels, highways, air conditioners and kitchen towels but well,
we did and we can go back to a simpler and a may be even a slightly less comfortable life if we need to.
The fact is we are happy that we had the best of both sides of the world. We have literally driven on
both sides of the road and both sides of the car.

<Images go here> pics by Nuzreth Jalaldeen

The war is over and the children are out playing again. Soon my mum will be inviting guests home for
her delicious meals served on large plates called sahans. My dad will be happy to plant papaya trees in
his childhood hometown. My daughter for the first time will be able to run like the earth has no end.
She will get her first leech bite and I can't wait for some quiet scrabble and a nap on the hammock
overseeing the valleys and the birds. Chatting with my cousins, cuddling our pets - Ah the memories to
relive! We will be making trips every other month to either the hill capital and cool mountains or the
Galle beaches and the lovely rivers and waterfalls. So much natural beauty – a blessing indeed.

As we get closer to the day that we will be packing up our suit cases and heading back home my heart
fills with joy for I would be able to work again. My mother will be thrilled to spend all day with her
grand daughter. At the same time a part of me will always be here.... my first days of learning to cook...
the joys of having a baby..... a home that we made together for the first time on our own... our friends
and neighbors who extended a helping hand when the silence rushed in like a storm... the United States
will be like a second home to us always. I hope some day that I could do enough to make Sri Lanka
proud of me as I am of it today!

Aashika Sulaiman
Connecticut, USA
The Human Value System
How equipped are you to be who you want to be?

“I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.”- Oprah Winfrey.

As human beings what do we dwell on? A better job, good education, nice money maybe? Inevitably,
those are the little things in life that we dwell on, sometimes, even neglecting the wider picture, as a
person; one must dwell on becoming a better human being. There is little value in the good job,
education or money if it cannot better you as an individual in your right.

The path to bettering yourself as an individual entails in building up a value system for your self, in
simple words; it only means you must take a sheet of paper and pen in your ambitious expectations and
the strategy you seek to adopt to achieve them.

This strategy forms your value system; a value system typically includes your social values, religious
beliefs, the culture of your ethnicity, your motives, traits and most importantly your attitude. It may
seem obvious that we have traditionally been embodying such values in reaching our ambitions; but
many a time we tend to neglect the value system as a whole, once our self esteem shows up with the
achievement of our ambitions. Many of us have become equally bemused with maximizing the
potential for wealth creation or adding a million abbreviations behind our name that we have given less
or virtually no thought to what within us contributes to achieving the above. Change comes from within
and to this end; the value system must be developed by ones own self.

In this article, we apply the concept of the ‘Psychological Iceberg theory’ developed by Sigmund
Freud, founder of Psychoanalysis to harp on the vitality of bettering our inner selves.

Freud demonstrates the human mind is the similitude of an iceberg, only a small proportion (i.e. the
conscious mind) of it is visible, metaphorically put as above the water; while the lion’s share (i.e. the
preconscious and the unconscious mind) lies beneath the water. He demonstrates that there are the
latter levels of consciousness contribute an enormous share of one’s feelings and emotions while the
average human is aware only of what lies in his/her conscious mind.

The better your ability to reach into your pre-conscious and unconscious mind; the better your chances
are of discovering your true potential. These hidden attributes effectively contribute to the making of
ones value system which in essence has the bearing of making the human himself.

Regardless of your role in your family or society, build up your value system; reach in to your inner
self, identify who you are, where you are and formulate your own strategy for success. Success as they
say, is not a destination it is only the path. In this path, if one does fail to build or rather fine tune
his/her value system, he/she may succeed in his reaching his ambition but not as described earlier, in
becoming a better human. There is but little we can learn from another’s success stories, at the end of
the day you become what you dwell on.

Sarah Afker
Sri Lanka
From the Funny Bone!

I don't get it

My husband and I enjoy reading together the jokes in some monthly magazines we subscribe to. Since
he is a faster reader, I was following along quickly only to find an abrupt ending of an anecdote which
he was laughing away to. I said to him confused ”I don't get it”

He laughed and replied “That's because it continues on the next page!”

A.S

Back in the days when IT was still to be the future

A new colleague at work once asked me how to move a table down. I told her to call the person in
charge of moving furniture and that it would be arranged shortly.
After a moment’s silence she replies “What I meant was how you do it in Ms. Excel”

A.S

Euthanaisa...
Last night my wife and I were sitting in the living room, talking about life... In-between, we talked
about the idea of living or dying.
I said to her:'Dear, never let me live in a vegetative state, totally dependent on machines and liquids
from a bottle. If you see me in that state I want you to disconnect all the contraptions that are keeping
me alive, I'd much rather die'.
Then my wife got up from the sofa with this real look of admiration towards me...and proceeded to
disconnect the TV, the Cable, the Dish, the DVD, the Computer, the Cell Phone, the iPod and the Xbox
....I ALMOST DIED!!!
Ha Ha Ha!

Udurawana went for an exam and had studied only one essay 'friend', but in the exam the essay which
came was not 'friend' but 'father' .He replaced the word 'friend' with the word 'father' in the essay and it
read: “I am a very fatherly person, I have lots of fathers. Some of my fathers are male and some are
female. My true father is my neighbour.

The doctor told Udurawana to run eight kilometres a day for 300 days TO LOSE WEIGHT.. After 300
days, Udurawana called the doctor to report he had lost the weight, but he had a problem; "I'm 2400
kms away from home."

Having lost his donkey Udurawana, got down to his knees and started thanking God. A passerby saw
him and asked, "Your donkey is missing; why are you thanking God?" The Udurawana replied "I am
thanking him for that I wasn't riding the donkey at that time, otherwise I would have been missing too."

Udurawana and a friend Amaris went to Colombo. They managed to get into a double-decker bus.
Amaris somehow managed to find a seat downstairs ,But unfortunately Udurawana got pushed to the
top. After a while when the rush was over, Amaris went upstairs to see his friend Udurawana. He found
Udurawana in a bad condition clutching the seats in front with both hands and saying his prayers,
scared to death.He asks,"Oi Udurawana! What the heck's goin' on? Why are you so scared?... I was
really enjoying my ride down there? Udurawana mumbles "Yeah, but you've got a driver."

Why did 18 Udurawanas go to a movie?

Because below 18 was not allowed.

Udurawana is a Sri Lankan comedy hero believed to have been around in the 19th century and still
remembered for his funny ways
Money Minds

The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket. ~Frank
Hubbard
Islamic Finance – the Principles
Many a times in the recent past, we hear the world around us buzzing some key Arabic terms such as
Musharakah, Murabaha, Ijarah and so on. The terms which may sound unfamiliar to the layman are the
terms which refer to certain financial instruments that evolved from the economics of the religion of
Islam, as a result of which, this economic system is commonly referred to as ‘Islamic Finance’.

In some countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, France etc it depicts a
subset of the Banking and Financial system. In certain others like Malaysia & Bahrain; it
runs parallel with the traditional Banking and Financial system, whilst in a country like Sudan it is the
core system of the economy.

Modern Islamic Finance has evolved through four decades of unstinted success, with its inception
being in Egypt, back in 1963 with the Mit Ghamr Savings Project which was based on the principles of
profit sharing. Time through time however, the principles of Islamic Finance have been one and the
same and have been at the heart of the policy making of the nations that chose to embody it with the
conventional Banking and Financial system.

Islamic Finance or alternatively known as ‘Sha’riah based finance’ is sourced from Islam’s Holy
Book,the Quran, the Sunnah (reported actions, sayings and tacit approval) of Prophet Muhammad
(Sal) and the Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence); in particular Fiqh Al Muamalaat which is interpreted to
mean the jurisprudence of financial transactions. The Quran, Sunnah and the Fiqh collectively form the
basis for Sha’riah (Islamic Law).

As in any act of a Muslim’s life, he/she is to live within the framework of Sha’riah. Economic
transactions therefore are no exception and as being within the outline of Sha’riah; a Muslim is to
abstain from transactions that have any, or at worst, most of the following attributes:
• Riba (Usury) – In simple terms, usury is closely interpreted to mean interest, or the concept of
making money on money; doubled or multiplied.
• Maisir (Speculation) - an event that creates the possibility of undue loss to one party
• Gharar (Uncertainty) - an event where there is uncertainty spanning from the fundamental
terms of the contract to its very performance.

While abstaining oneself from the above attributes one is also prohibited from investing in industries
that could have an adverse effect on the society (examples include industries that deal in pork, alcohol,
tobacco, gambling, pornography etc) and is further prohibited from enriching unjustly.

In a Sha’riah compliance transaction therefore; no instrument can bear resemblance of embodying any
of the above prohibitions. An investor cannot expect guaranteed returns from his investment and unlike
in the conventional finance system, he/she must take part in the wealth creation. Participating in the
creation of wealth underlines that one must share the risks, benefit from the gains or suffer from the
losses, an act which is in essence one that he may not have to have embarked on by investing in a
conventional finance transaction. Returns can therefore never be guaranteed in a Sha’riah compliant
transaction and all such transaction has must have an underlying asset.

The economic systems based on the principles of Sha’riah compliance have been widely successful in
both Muslim and Non Muslim countries as being both just and equitable. The growth of the industry
averages between 15 to 20 percent per annum and the asset base of the industry approximates close to
USD 4 Trillion.

Among the numerous proponents of Islamic Finance are the Vatican which made a press release in its
official newspaper, Osservatore Romano last year which read as follows; “The ethical principles on
which Islamic finance is based may bring banks closer to their clients and to the true spirit which
should mark every financial service,”.

Fathima Sarah Afker

Sri Lanka
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The biggest problem in the world
Could have been solved when it was small.
~Witter Bynner, The Way of Life According to Laotzu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What's your opinion?

Family
Making time for family has become harder because making ends meet has become harder. Is that an
agreeable statement? Before you answer you might want to consider that life has only become easier
and faster in the modern world. Why then is every in mad rush? Is to make enough or to make more?

Technology
Is open office better or worse than Microsoft Word? Why?

Gender wars
Apples and Oranges: Do you agree that men and women are different but equal to each other?

Humanity
Do you believe that every being is born sinless? Yes or No and why?

Think about it!

Quick Quotes

"We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world." -- Helen KellerThe

The best labor saving device of today is tomorrow.

People who have nothing are sometimes right at the top because people who have everything lack the
willingness to move forward!
"The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from
motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow
into our souls."
Elizabeth Cady Stanton

The kindest word in all the world is the unkind word, unsaid.
Author Unknown

"The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you."
John E. Southard

Most things in life get wasted after using them for a while; however time does not get wasted at all
after a proper use of it, rather it only gets wasted when one does not make a proper use of it.
Ahsen Sulaiman
"If you can't be thankful for what you receive, be thankful for what you escape."
Author Unknown
Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them

Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.

John Lennon
Happiness and sadness do not last a lifetime; it is what we wish to keep with us that stays, though it
may occasionally take a holiday or two.
Ahsen Sulaiman

Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you. ~Robert Fulghum

"Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can
choose to live in joy." -- Joseph Campbell
Sneak Peaks on Issue 2
Marriage Anyone?

Cures recommended by the prophet

A Poem to a dear Niece from a dear uncle

The world of spice

Contributors
Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are the natural enemies of the
writer. The writer must be alone, uninterrupted, and slightly savage if he is to sustain and
complete an undertaking.
Jessamyn West

Aashika sulaiman
A passionate writer, thinker and entrepreneur

Afkham Azeez
Member, Project Management Committee (PMC) & a committer of the Apache Sotware Foundation;
presently a Software Architect and Product Manager of WSO2 Web Services Application Server. His
areas of interest include distributed computing, SOA, Highly Available & Highly Scalable applications,
J2EE technologies and cloud computing. He is also a petrolhead and motor car specialist since the
age of 6

Brumoon Ahamat
Managing beyond projects!

Faizoon Jaabir
An ERP business analyst living in Minnesota, USA. Cooking has been her hobby since teenage

Harendra Alwis
A word master with a knack for humor humanity, spirituality and society – Australia

Hilmi Sulaiman
A CEO, father and critical thinker out of the box – Colombo, Sri Lanka

Madiha Naeem
Home maker mum who has been writing since childhood residing in London, United Kingdom.
She has had several UK publishes.

Nabiha Ariff
A Freelance journalist residing and working in Malaysia

Naomi Abeysekara
A full time language lecturer at a leading higher education institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Premesh T
Webmaster cum technical and pleasure writer residing in the UK
Sara Afker
A freelance writer and a CIMA passed Finalist currently working as an Analyst

Shabnam Ikram Muzammil

A sought after writer and enthusiastic mum residing in Singapore
Shamma Mohammed
A teacher to students with disabilities and part time story writer residing in Maldives

Sabina Ariff

Sharon A
An HR Manager

Yusuf Isam

Talal A Hibatullah
Austrailia

Nuzreth Jalaldeen
Sri Lanka
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Success is not fame or money or the power to bewitch. It is to have created something valuable from your own
individuality and skill - a garden, an embroidery, a painting, a cake, a life.
Charlotte Gray
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