كفاية

في فترة ما قبل الثورة وصلت لمرحلة إن الأخبار كلها زي بعضها، وبطلت أقرأ جرايد. كنت بس ببص في الجرنال كنوع من الروتين، وأقف عند مقالة أو اتنين للرأي وبس. أثناء وبعد الثورة بقيت حاسة إني لازم أتابع وأعرف اللي بيحصل حواليا، بس دلوقت اتخنأت من الجرايد. 

كنا زمان أساسي عندنا نجيب الأهرام (عشان الإعلانات والوفيات) والمصري اليوم. أظن يمكن وقت الثورة بابا قرر يقاطع الأهرام، ومن ساعتها واحنا بنجيب المصري اليوم بس، وأحيانًا التحرير. بس حتى وأنا ببص على مواقع الأخبار المصرية حاسة إن كلها زي بعضها، كلها تحريض يمين شمال. يا ناس الرحمة حلوة، احنا هنبني مع بعض إزاي إذا كنا بنشحن بعض على بعض؟ إذا كنا مش طايقين بعض هنسمع كلام بعض أو حتى هنسمّع صوتنا للي قصادنا إزاي؟ 

من كام يوم شوفت موضوع الملحق الانجليزي بتاع المصري اليوم والرقابة الداخلية وموقف فريق عمل ال"ايجبت اندبندنت"، ومتفائلة بيهم. رد المصري اليوم العربي والكلمتين بتوع المقالة تدخل خارجي وتحريض و"إلخ إلخ إلخ"، والكاتب مش عارفة ماله استفزوني. هو إن شاء الله اللي انتوا بتعملوه في النسخة العربي ده مش تحريض ولا تهييج؟ اقرأ الخبر... شوف مش عارفة مين بيعمل ايه. وقد يكون الخبر في حد ذاته مش ببشاعة العنوان، لكن العنوان لازم يعمل فرقعة. لا، أصل دي كتابة صحفية، هي كده، مش مقصود حاجة.

النهاردة جبت آخري لما شفت خبر (أنا قريت الخبر مطبوع، مختلف شوية) في المصري اليوم عن السي دي اللي اتحصلوا عليه اللي بيثبت إن نشطاء خدوا فلوس من برة. احنا حاولنا نكلم الناس نستوضح منهم بس موبايلاتهم مقفولة، وبما إن دي لسه تحقيقات جارية فهننشر الأحرف الأولى من أسمائهم بس. والاقتباسات اللي محطوطة من نوع فلان بيكلم علان عل الشات وبيقوله إنت خدت فلوس من مش عارف فين؟ آه، هو أنا قدمت، بس رجعت ندمت عشان مبقاش بايع نفسي وإلخ. ومش عارفة مين تاني بيسأل علان العلاني عن إن فريدوم هاوس بيمولها واحد صهيوني ومش عارفة ايه.

طيب الكلام ده ليه بقية؟ يعني في سلسلة هتتنشر حولين موضوع التمويل ده؟ مش باين من البتاع المنشور النهاردة. طب في أي كلام عن الفلوس اللي زي ما عنوان كان بيقول إن فرد خد 14 ألف دولار من مبادرة الشرق الأوسط اتصرفت إزاي. هو في ما يمنع إن منظمات المجتمع المدني أو حتى الأفراد ياخدوا فلوس من برة، هو في فلوس جوة وأنا مش واخدة بالي؟ ثم ايه اللي يعيب إن حد يتمول من أي جهة طالما إن يبقى في مراقبة على التمويل ده بيروح فين وبيتعمل فيه ايه؟

وسبحانك يا ربي التحقيقات دي و"الرقابة" بتطلع على ناس وناس. الاتقان والذمة والضمير بيظهروا في أوقات، وأوقات ولا الهوا. أنا ميهمنيش أفراد وماعنديش اللي أحكم بيه على حد، وميخصنيش أحكم على حد أصلاً. لو فيه تحقيقات فعلاً نزيهة ومستقلة، معنديش مشكلة، لكن التحقيقات ال"selective" دي متعجبنيش. يا كله يتحاسب يا تبطلوا تلعبوا بينا.

أنا باشتغل في منظمة أهلية (غير حكومية وغير هادفة للربح)، والحمد لله إن مجالها في الصحة وليها تواجد في المجتمع، فيبقى في داعي إن بعض الشركات تدينا تبرعات نشتغل بيها (يعني آه هيعملوا خير بس هيستفيدوا من حبة دعاية برضه). والتبرعات دي نفسها مش كافية، بنحتاج برضه منح وغالبًا بتبقى من منظمات دولية. عمركوا سمعتوا عن منظمة مصرية معاها فلوس تطلع منح؟

طب منظمات حقوق الإنسان مثلاً تجيب فلوس منين؟ الشركات عندنا ما شاء الله ربنا يزيد ويبارك عندها فائض هائل من الأرباح إنها تتبرع وأنا مش واخدة بالي؟ وفي ظل النظام (اللي مش سابق)؟ آه، إحنا حقوق الإنسان عندنا مفيش أحسن منها، المنظمات دي بتتدلع وتمسك في الهايفة؟

يعني ألوم علينا لما منشغلش مخنا؟ ولا ألوم على اللي علمنا إزاي نستعمله (أو منستعملوش)؟ والإعلام دوره ايه في كل ده؟ هو المفروض ينور وللا يضلم عقولنا؟ هي مش ناقصاكوا، في ناس كتير بيضلموها علينا من غير ماتتعبوا نفسكوا.

الثورة لسا مانتصرتش ولسه ماخلصتش، يمكن متكونش بدأت أصلاً (كل واحد ووجهة نظره)، لكن كفاية عك، وكفاية ضلمة. واللي مش عايز يولع النور، يسيب الفيشة في حالها.

Hold your siege - حاصر حصارك

It's been a long time since I last posted here. It's a combination of not having time or not feeling like writing / translating anything. I hope to get back on track, so will post the translation for one of Hamza Namira's songs.

حاصر حصارك ... انتصارك بكرة جاي

Hold your siege… your victory tomorrow will come

أكيد نهارك يملا قلب الضلمة ضي

Certainly your day will fill the heart of darkness with light

حاصر حصارك ... واصل مسيرك

Hold your siege … keep going

وارسم بقلبك ... خطوط مصيرك

And draw with your heart … the (out)lines of your destiny

اهزم سكوتنا ... واتحدى موتنا

Defeat our silence … and challenge our death

يصبح السجان أسيرك

The jailor then becomes your captive

انتصارك بكرة جي

Your victory tomorrow will come

أكيد نهارك يملى قلب الضلمة ضي

Certainly your day will fill the heart of darkness with light

حاصر خضوعنا ... حاصر دموعنا

Besiege our submission … besiege our tears

والذل فينا ... لما ركعنا

And the humiliation within us … when we knelt

اكشف طريقنا ... ومين صديقنا

Reveal our way … and who is our friend

وإزاي بكل سهولة بعنا

And how so easily we sold out

انتصارك بكرة جاي

Your victory tomorrow will come

طول ما انت فيك النبض حي

As long as you have a living beat in you

انتصارك بكرة جاي

Your victory tomorrow will come

Book Review: Speak Malay!

Speak Malay!: Course in Simple Malay for English-speaking Malaysians by Edward S. King

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I did some research before I bought this book, but maybe not enough research. I chose it mainly because it had a sequel and I thought that would be a good choice to further my Malay.

The book grew out of a series of radio programs meant for English speakers to learn Malay, so it was a bit odd that the book doesn't have accompanying audio. This, however, isn't important to me, as there are plenty of online audio resources.

The lessons are spread out over a period of 12 weeks, with each week containing 5 lessons + a revision lesson. The lessons are divided into 3 sections. The first has sentences to teach certain patterns. Sometimes these sentences form a dialogue in later lessons. The second section has the vocabulary from the previous section (usually limited to vocabulary mentioned in sentences). The third section contains grammar explanation.

The grammar section often refers to the first section of the lesson for examples rather than give more examples. In some cases, the explanation is shortened and the reader is asked to reread the examples in the first section to get the hang of it. I found this a bit disappointing.

The revision lessons include exercises which are mostly translate to/from Malay, make sentences. The few times there is a reading exercise, it's followed by translate into English rather than comprehension questions.

The book has key answers to the exercises, as well as Malay-English & English-Malay vocabulary lists. Words that show up in the grammar section have the grammar point number next to them, but given the format of the book, I found it a bit difficult to actually find them.

My opinion is mostly based on my experience with Minna no Nihongo books, but overall I would say it's a decent book to start learning Malay with.

Heading for Tahrir July 8th

(Disclaimer: I haven't been following the news very closely lately, so I may be misunderstanding something/s. But to me, when all put together, it's just plain fishy, and it stinks.)

July 8th
The Revolution First
We want purification for real, a trial for real, a government for real

Originally, July 8th was going to be for supporting the "Constitution first" movement (as opposed to elections first and then the new constitution). Some saw the call as going against the result of the referendum. However, others saw that as untrue given that the referendum turned out to be a big fat joke. We were asked to say yes or no to 9 articles (or was it 11, forgot, but doesn't matter). Well, after the result came out SCAF (the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces) came out with a constitutional declaration with 63 articles (!).

February 11, 2011 Mubarak stepped down. The regime, however, has yet to be overthrown. With recent events I caught myself thinking that SCAF is worse than Mubarak. Oooops, sorry, he's a great example to follow, that's just it, especially when a lot of his cronies are still in power. So, he still gets the credit for what's happening in Egypt.

Since February 11th what has changed? At first there were calls for patience (as in stop protesting in Tahrir), that change can't happen over night. But the way things are going, waiting will no longer be called patience, but stupidity.

Has the former president been put on trial? Not yet, last I heard they said it'll be in August. o_O Have the big shots from the regime (those of them who have been arrested of course) been put on trial? Hmmm, sort of, but with postponements, not having all charges pressed against them, and recently some of them being cleared of some charges. Have the officers who ordered and/or shot protesters been at least suspended (so they hopefully can't intimidate victims' families or witnesses)? No. Has anyone been put on trial for protesters' deaths? Only a few, but postponement after postponement. (Note these are all civilian trials.)

On the other hand, civilian protesters are being handed over to military police and facing military courts. Police are as brutal as ever (there are decent police out there, but unfortunately, the bad ones overshadow them). Just last week, some of the martyrs' families were beaten up by thugs and then when the police showed up, they arrested, beat up and sent some martyrs' family members to military detention in wait for military trials.

Then there's the government to think about. The vice prime minister had handed in his resignation, the prime minister accepted it, SCAF however didn't. And there's talk that the prime minister would like to get rid of at least 6 or 7 ministers (who were part of the old regime), but SCAF won't let him. And the minister of interior says he's satisfied with the police's performance. It's either he really doesn't know what they're doing, or he really is satisfied, either way he should be changed.

When the prime minister first came, he came to Tahrir to talk to us. He said if he can't do anything, he'll come to Tahrir and tell us. Well, he hasn't come and he hasn't said anything about what's going on.

Some people blame the revolution for the current situation, but come on, the country was in pretty bad shape under Mubarak. You can't possibly think that all these problem mushroomed just because of the revolution (or because our dear father isn't here :S). Not to mention that people who were benefiting from the old regime have everything to lose if the revolution succeeds.

Some people say it's not worth going to Tahrir square anymore, it hasn't been the same since Mubarak stepped down. They mean the type of people there, the atmosphere and such. I felt that as well the last few times I went there, but I'm not there for the people who are there. I'm one upset citizen and want to voice my opinion. So here I come Tahrir square, ohisashiburi desu ne!

My Home - عنواني

Something is coming up, so insyAllah I'll have more time on my hands to work on language learning projects. For now, this is a song that was recently released by Zap Tharwat, Sodfa Band, Kazaz & Mohamed Sweid. Songs can sure be tricky when translating, I'm sticking to the Arabic as close as I can for language learning purposes.

The song has English translation in it, but it's either I can't see them all, or some parts are missing. I copied one line from their version because I'm thinking maybe it carries their intention for the meaning. As always, comments & questions are most welcome. ^_^

عنواني

 My Home

قالوا لي في صغري في صِبايا

They told me in my childhood, my youth

فداها شهيد هي الغاية

A martyr’s death is a goal

يا قدس يا ريت تسامحيني

O Jerusalem, please forgive me

ده ظلم سنين عمى عيني

It’s the injustice of so many years that blinded my eyes

وعمي قلبي عن الواقع

And blinded my heart from the reality

وخلّاني أكون بايع

And made me sell (the cause)

نسيت والعمر نسّاني

I forgot and life made me forget

نسيت وضعفي بكّاني

I forgot and my weakness made me cry

وييجي في حلمي يهمسلي

And it comes to me in my dream, whispering to me

مايفزعني، لكن كلامه يوجعني

It doesn’t frighten me, but its words hurt

أموت أنا فدى بلادي

I’ll die for my land

لكن الأصل بينادي

But the origin calls

(In the video it says: But the true source is calling for those willing to keep living)

ده عدّى العمر مش باقي أنا في عمري كتير باقي

Time has passed with not much left, but there’s a lot left of my life (time)

بصوت عالي ومن تاني فلسطين دي عنواني

In a loud voice, once again, Palestine is my home

شايف صلاح الجيل واقف على بابك

I see the righteousness of the generation standing at your door

حاشد جيوش ثوار واقفين على عتابك

Gathering armies of rebels standing at your door step

بيحطموا الأسوار آلاف من الثوار

Thousands of revolutionaries breaking the barriers

خلونا ناخد حقنا خلاص بقينا أحرار

Let us take our right, for at last, we’re free

دخلوا على الأقصى وصلوا ركعتيين

They entered Al-Aqsa and prayed two rak`ahs (prayed a prayer)

مشهد من القصة هنشوفه يوم بالعين

A scene from the story we will see one day with our own eyes

أنا لسة فاكر من سنة واحنا هنا واقفين

I can still remember a year ago when we were standing here

في جيشك واقف أنا جنبي صلاح الدين

Among your army I stood along Salahudin (Saladin)

حالة من عشق لترابك

A state of deep love for your soil

حالفين لهناخد بـتارك

We swear to avenge you

حلفنا منسيبك هنا

We swore we wouldn’t leave you here

I dream ♪

Need to look more at the bright side. The revolution helped us get over our fears, let them not come back and take over our lives. This song is inspired by Egy2020, sung by ZAP Tharwat, Hany Adel (Voice of Freedom) & Cairokee. Naturally it's in Egyptian Arabic. ^_^

مبروك ولادة الجيل

Congratulations the birth of the generation

مبروك بقى اسمي

Congratulations has become my name

مبروك علينا النيل

Congratulations the Nile

يروي شروخ جسمي

Watering the cracks in my body

مبروك أنا فرحان

Congratulations I’m happy

متلخبط أتكلم

I’m confused to talk

بالريشة والألوان

With the brush and colors

للظرف أنا مزين

I decorated the envelope

كاتب لبكرة جواب

I’m writing a letter to tomorrow

وباعته لعنواني

And sending it to my address

واصف في بكرة حاجات

I’m describing things in tomorrow

أتمنى تلقاني

That I hope will find me

واصف شجاعة جيل

I’m describing the bravery of a generation

واصف غنى ومواويل

Describing singing and folk songs

واصف محبة تساع

Describing love that is enough

من الخلق بالملايين

For millions of people

واصف فانوس مكسور من عركة امبارح

Describing a broken lamp from yesterday’s fight

واصف ولد بيثور ع الظلم مش سامح

Describing a boy who revolts against injustice and doesn’t allow it

واصف ودمعي يزيد لما أفتكر أكتر

Describing and my tears increase the more I remember

واصف وفرجه قريب بس احنا نتغير

Describing and His relief is near if we’d just change

بحلم كتير أجري وأطير

I dream a lot of running and flying

في سما واسعة كلها خير

In a vast sky full of good

معايا ناسي وأحبابي

With me are my people and loved ones

وأنسى عذابي

And I forget my suffering

مبروك وبتمنى

Congratulations and I’m wishing

كاتب كتير جوابات

Writing a lot of letters

مبروك وحاستنى

Congratulations and I’ll wait

ده العمر لسه ما فات

Life isn’t over yet

أتمنى أشوف في بلادي

I wish to see in my country

العدل شيء عادي

Justice is the norm

وأتمنى أشوف الحاضر

I wish to see the present

يمحي أسى الماضي

Erase the sorrow of the past

أتمنى أشوف الطالب

I wish to see the student

حاضن لكراسه

Hugging his notebook

وأتمنى أشوف الظابط

I wish to see the (police) officer

رافع لفوق راسه

Holding his head high

أتمنى أشوف عالم

I wish to see a scientist

وأتمنى أشوف فلاح

And wish to see a farmer

أتمنى أشوف الراجل

I wish to see the man

في العيشة بقى مرتاح

Become comfortable in life

ده الصبح هو حياته

Morning is his life

راح تحلم ايه تاني؟

What else would you dream of?
راح تحلم ايه تاني؟

What else would you dream of?

راح تحلم ايه تاني؟

What else would you dream of?

بحلم كتير أجري وأطير

I dream a lot of running and flying

في سما واسعة كلها خير

In a vast sky full of good

معايا ناسي وأحبابي

With me are my people and loved ones

وأنسى عذابي

And I forget my suffering

احلم وقوم حقك

Dream and rise.. it’s your right

أحلم وأنا مصدق

I dream while believing

أحلم وقبل ما أحلم

I dream and before dreaming

الحلم يتحقق

The dream comes true

احلم وقول

Dream and say

اللي جواك

What’s inside you

بحلم كتير أجري وأطير

I dream a lot of running and flying

في سما واسعة كلها خير

In a vast sky full of good

معايا ناسي وأحبابي

With me are my people and loved ones

وأنسى عذابي

And I forget my suffering

I dream of being freeeeeee!!