CHILDREN'S CORNER

Far, far away, in a little town called Madura in Indonesia, there lived a Sultan whose palace is now open for people to see. The drawing room, dining room, and the bedroom of the Sultan have the best soft pillows, silverware. Expensive cutlery adorn the showcases inside the palace. Tourists visiting the palace are amazed by its glittering mirrors and soft carpets. The Sultan used to entertain his guests with lavish dinners.

In a corner are two cages - absolutely filthy and dirty, with poky, dried grass strewn all around. This is the so-called home of Drassy and Kevin. Drassy is a beautiful horned deer, while Kevin is a colorful bird, as big as an emu, with a beautiful red beak and purple crown. Kevin looks a wee-bit naughty, while Drassy looks the silent, gentle type. These two innocent creatures are descendants of the Sultan's pets who were also cruelly imprisoned by him. Kevin and Drassy are now owned by the Bhupati or Governor of Madura, who has imprisoned them, not caring two hoots about providing them with water and food and a soft bed to rest on. Six of Drassy's siblings died of hunger 'under the so-called care” of the Bhupati.

There is no food or water bowl for Kevin and Drassy, except a broken jug for Kevin which is empty. Poor Kevin keeps pecking at it. The palace attendant who is supposed to feed them dodges his responsibility but no one seems to care. The Bhupati is too busy whizzing around in his air-conditioned car, least bothered about Kevin and Drassy.

Tourists do not care to find out why on earth, Kevin and Drassy should be caged. No one seems to have asked why they can't walk around freely. Who gave the Bhupati the right to imprison these animals?

Why do humans imprison animals in cages for their own pleasure.

If you meet Kevin and Drassy, your heart will go out to them. Tears might well up in your eyes, as happened with me. Their cute lovely eyes are sad and they want to say that they want to be free, to run around, to eat fresh green grass and fruits.

Whistle's fate is no better. He is a beautiful black mynah, purple-chested with a yellow beak. In a little town called Solo in Indonesia, Whistle lives in solitary confinement in a home-stay. Many different types of birds live in prison-like cages not just in Solo but all over Indonesia. Whistle has been taught to say “ hello” and can sing a tune which he keeps repeating all through the day. Every visitor who comes in is delighted to hear Whistle sing while he twists his head left and right. That is his way to welcome them.

Look deeply into Whistle's eyes. They are sad. He wants to freely fly across the lovely blue clouds, to peck at the grass and eat fresh food. “Caged birds are supposed to bring good luck to the house”, say the Indonesians. So in most houses, you can spot little birds in tiny cages. Strange, isn't it? How cruel we humans are!

What pleasure do humans get by caging and ill-treating birds and animals? It is not just Indonesia, but elsewhere, too, that humans exploit birds and animals by confining them in unnatural environments to please themselves.

Only God knows when Kevin, Drassy and Whistle will be freed and when they can get to see the clear blue sky and fresh green grass. As I waved out goodbye to them, I saw tear-drops like pearls flowing from Drassy's beautiful eyes. He was saying… free me, free me. Wish I had the keys to the cage!

The world's tallest tower will be opening soon in January 2010. Some of the silent features of Burj Dubai building;

Burj Dubai will stand at 818 meter tall, with 160 floors, 54 of the fastest elevators on the planet.
More than half the 14,000 workers on site are Inidans. In January 2004 the construction was started, Emaar, its promoter; conceived and developed the spiky, syringe-shaped 1.1 billion-dollar Burj. At 2,625 feet,it is taller than KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota (2,063 feet), till now the world's tallest man-made structure. It is more than twice as tall as the once seemingly mighty Empire State building and it will have the world's tallest performing fountain. It has room of 35,000 people in its 800 apratments.

The world's biggest and most expensive cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, was handed over to the Royal Caribbean Cruise line in the Finnesh port of Turku by the ship builders in October. The vessel, worth Eru 900 million ($1.3 billion), can accommodate up to 6,360 passengers and 2,160 crew members and features a variety of traditional and new activities including swimming pools, pool surfing and a zip line above the boardwalk. Oasis of the Seas is 16 decks high, or 65 meters (213 feet) above water level, and measures 360 metres (1,180 feet) long and 47 metres (154 feet) wide. For families accompaning children they have wider selection of activities, including 21 swimming pools, an aqua park, a carousel and a science lab.

It is only divinely possible

Shown in this picture are waters from two rivers that flow in southern part of South Africa near Cape Town. These rivers flow together but the fact that their waters never mix came to be known only around the start of 20th century. Water of one river tastes sweet while the one from the other tastes bitter. Even when they go into the sea, the water retains the same character. The Quran described this fact 1400 years ago stating that Allah, Subhanahu Taala makes it possible for the waters to remain unmixed.

DO YOU KNOW?

Just look at the facts:
The brain contains 74% water, blood contains 83% water, lean muscle has 75% and bone has 22% water. Experts agree that water is one of the most powerful forms of treatment. Drink enough water?

Once upon a time a bunch of tiny frogs who arrange a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around to the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.

Honestly, no one in the crow really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as: “Oh, way too difficult! They will never make it to the top”, or “Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!”

The tiny frogs began collapsing one by one. Except for those who, in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher. The crowd continued to yell, “It is too difficult! No one will make it.”
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up. But one continued higher and higher. This one would not give up.

At the end, everyone else had given up climbing the tower except for the one tiny frog who after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!

Then all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one little frog manage to do it? A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal.
It turned out….. . The winner was Deaf!!

Allah has many names, but there are ninety-nine Names, or Attributes, that are commonly known. On the palms of every person's hand are the numbers 81 and 18 in Arabic ciphers, and they add up to 99. Allah has placed a note for us-if you like, a reminder- that His Names are engraved, etched, in the palms of our hands. So that when we greet someone, or begin work, or embrace someone, or even if we think of hitting someone, if in that moment we know, if we can be aware that the Names of Allah are engraved on our hands, perhaps we would act differently.

* A cheetah can run 76 kilometres per hour (46 miles per hour) - that's really fast! The fastest human beings run only about 30 kilometres per hour (18 miles per hour).

* Aa cheetah does not roar like a lion - it purrs like a cat (meow).

* A Zipper joins two pieces of material together. A zipper is used everywhere, on clothing, pencil cases, boots and suitcases, wallets, and a zillion other things. Everyone thinks it was Whitcomb Judson who invented the zipper but it was really Elias Howe. Elias was so busy inventing the sewing machine that he didn't get around to selling his zipper invention which he called a "clothing closure".

There are more than 50 different kinds of kangaroos. Kangaroos are native of Australia. A group of kangaroos is called a mob. Young kangaroos are called joeys.

D No two zebras have stripes that are exactly alike. Zebra's enemies include hyenas, wild dogs, and lions. Male zebras are called stallions. Zebras usually travel in herds.

The fear of animals is called zoophobia, and the fear of numbers is called arithmophobia !!
There are over 900 different types of bats and they can all fly. The Vampire bat has less teeth than the other bats because it doesn't chew its food. It lives on the blood of mammals. Bats do not need to see when they fly; they use sound to help them figure out where they are going. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.