day I

well, after 12 hours of skilled persuasion, i've got the highly-anticipated permission to go by the 'High council' (ahem2) :D. i packed by backpack, bought some mentos, took a bus at 4pm, and reached pudu no later than 6.30 pm. all was well, alhamdulillah. but the bangladeshi guy beside me on the bus was really annoying though. he was big, i tried to keep one-inch of a distance from him, and i nearly crammed myself!

i'm telling you, it was a spontaneous trip. like reeeeeally.

so around 9.30 pm, me and my cousin (Ms. B) were out for dinner at desa pandan.yummy kuetiaw. the next day, i got up early, pierced through the hectic morning traffic of kuala lumpur, and reached crowne plaza by barely 15 minutes to 9 am. i was slightly panicked though, i scheduled myself of arriving around 30 minutes earlier. tapi tu la, manusia cuma merancang, Allah yang tentukan, hm?

anyway, upon arrival at the registration counter, my heart drop a beat (ahh.melodramatic) :D people in suits, I mean, obviously.. none of my age. my eye scanned the crowd in front of me searching for familiar young faces but none. haha, great!

so i mustered all my courage and entered oak-panelled door leading to a stunning function hall, barely filled with people. once again, no familiar face.

a couple of early twenties seated at the very back, and an elderly european woman at a few pace from the place i stood. well, someone brushed my side and i looked around, ohh.marina mahathir. i got here because of here (monologue :D). so i picked a seat at two rows from the very front. on my left me were a few guys at their mid twenties with baju batik, black suits, african traditional attire, and on my left was an arab couple. the wife was very nice. seated in front of me was, again, marina mahathir.

well, the first speaker was Dato' Dr. Yaacob Hussain Merican - Trustee / Secretary General of Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise War (KLFCW), the organiser for the event.

second speaker, to give his special address was tun dr mahathir himself - full of composure, warmth and wisdom. i cant take my eyes off him :D. as the founder and chairman of KLCFW, he made his point that day, clear and precise, that someone can do something, even a little, to prove that war brings nothing but pain and horror. view his speech here. through a regular 17-year-old girl's eyes, i felt a swelling pride of being a malaysian just by listening to his speech that day. [:

then, the forum started with its three panels -

1. Cynthia McKinney, US Presidential Candidate and Former Congresswoman
- CHALLENGING ISRAELS’S BLOCKADE

2. Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
- THE HIDDEN AGENDA BEHIND THE GAZA GENOCIDE

3. Matthias Chang
- THE UNYIELDING SPIRIT OF PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE

ohh. and btw, there's this one media presentation that morning. what struck me really really hard was, a video footage featuring an interview with a few israeli - a woman asked abt her opinion on the attack of gaza by their own military power..
"We should wipe them all!"

a man asked on the killing of palestinian children..
"we kill their children to protect ours."

WELL I THINK, THEIR CHILDREN'S LIVES ARE WORTH PROTECTING AS MUCH AS YOURS.

hmm. and a poem by palestinian girl made the guy beside me weep in silence.- here.

well, all in all, quite a forum.