Indeed it's a blessed Ramadhan.

Ramadhan never fails to make me feel at peace, and Ramadhan this time gives me lotsa reasons to be happy about.

1) The release of 5 ISA detainees.

I managed to talk to Kak Laila just now, and the first thing she said to me "Fadiah, akak kat sabah ni, mahal kena charge bill fadiah nanti, baca blog akak, akak teringat kat korang semua!"...she sounded extremely happy. She told me she has been getting calls and smses from all over the world since yesterday.

Alhamdulillah. I couldn't be happier for her. I guess this is the biggest gift God has ever sent to me in this month of Ramadhan, the indescribable good feeling. The first thing that popped up in my head the moment I heard about the release was "Suhaib must be so happy, he will spend his raya with his dad!".

I still remember crying over one blog post by Kak Laila about one year ago, it was about a letter sent by the husband, Mat Sah to their son, Suhaib, apologizing to Suhaib for not being able to be there for him.

Thank you God.

2) SUHAKAM public inquiry

Commenting on the decision handed down by the Commissioners on the SUHAKAM public inquiry into the arrest and detention of 5 legal aid lawyers on the issue whether SUHAKAM has the power to compel the police to record their statements, our counsel Mr Puravalen said to us "see, all of you have contributed to the development of jurisprudence in this country, and this happens in the month of Ramadhan".

Syuhaini and I just looked at him and the same thing crossed our minds ("kami budak baru belajar, banyak lagi kena belajar, dan sangat gembira diberi peluang untuk terus belajar!")

And my favorite quote of the day was "the issue of procedure has turned into substantive right"- Mr Puravalen.

3) My darling angels-Afwa Adeena Farha and kakak.

I will be celebrating my raya with kakak, abang azlee and my darling niece in Wolverhampton, together with a bunch of good friends of mine.

Selamat hari raya aidil fitri to every one. Maaf segala salah dan silap.

The rape of young Penan girls and women in Sarawak.

I saw today's The Star newspaper report on the rape of the young Penan girls and women and I realized that one year ago, Stef actually asked me whether I would want to join the task force, go to Sarawak and conduct the fact finding mission on this issue.

due to some work commitment I didn't join the task force.

Today, when I saw the front page report, Stef pointed out one vital point. "The report does not come out just like that, people pushed really hard for it, people can make change happen". I couldn't agree more with it.Yes, it didn't happen overnight.

The change that the report would bring about equals to saving the lives and dignity of the Penan girls and women. What actually happened can no longer be swept under the carpet. It has been ages that the Penans had to live in fear. Countless efforts had been taken to get help even though most of the times they fell on deaf ears. God willing, their efforts to get their voices heard reached the ears of some concerned citizens.

I asked Stef what actually happened in the beginning.

Some NGO people from Sarawak came to Kuala Lumpur with three Penan women to meet with some NGOs and the Legal Aid Centre. They then went to Bukit Aman Police Station to lodge the police report. A press conference was held to let every one know how serious the situation was. Relentless demands were made for the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to take action on this particular matter since the Police simply dismiss this issue as mere allegations.

No one gave up and they kept on pushing for this issue to be acted on. No one gave up even though similar efforts that were done before fell on deaf ears.

They kept on lobbying the relevant authorities to take actions and do something to stop the ruthless barbaric act committed on the Penans. When the tension was rising, still, no one was giving up.

The Ministry finally agreed to set up the task force to conduct a fact finding mission on this issue.

After a long wait, the report came out today. Their voices are finally heard.

Change. it's a big word.

At the end of the day, change is evidently possible. All that it takes is a little reflection on the philosophy of life. Do we live our life thinking about nothing but ourselves, or we try to do even a littlest thing for others for the sake of saving and defending human civilization.

The choice is always ours.

The French Revolution and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

I had a chat with Stef as I dropped by LAC after court to sign some letters. I always love to talk to her as she would tell me stories, lots of them, from the newly formed government in Nicaragua, the first book she read, it was about Steve Biko, an anti-apartheid activist who was killed in police custody, the history of Malayisa, South Africa, India,China, to the French Revolution. It’s good to listen to all these stories and relate them to our current situation.

some people might say "why so serious?"..no lah, as at the end of our conversation, I actually asked Stef to google Takeshi Kaneshiro and Louis Khoo. Why? I guess it all started with this statement “ I think you are lucky to have found someone who actually shares the same passion as yours”. Someone who believes in the cause. Someone who has a dream, a dream for others.

The conversation went on to an interesting point, or rather an interesting exercise : listing out the names that would fit the description. The conclusion : those names belong to people who were born in 1940s or even way earlier than that or people who have passed away.

see, the range of things we talk about...it's fun actually:P

So what do Takeshi Kaneshiro and Louis Khoo have to do with all this?

ahh before I forget, there's a rumour flying around saying that I'm leaving the place where I am now. No, I'm not going anywhere for the time being, I'm still here.