Archive for
December 20th, 2006

   

Stories

Freedom of speech and music celebrations in the Moroccan Blogosphere

A small portrait of the translator Farah Kinani · 13:53 · Middle East & North Africa
lingua → zhs · zht

Many different subjects were in the spotlight last week, in the Moroccan blogosphere.

I'll start with Farid and his interesting numbers (Fr) about blogging in Morocco. Then comes Reda who found out, thanks to Shimon Peres, that there is a connection between laziness and Islam(Fr).

The European Union is a great success and a great failure. Why? Because the Europeans have become lazy – they don’t have children […] There is more old age, less youngsters. In Europe there is work, but no workers. In Africa it's the opposite. That is why they brought the Muslims, and Islam made its way into Europe.

Amine, a big fan of Tom and Jerry, like most of us, posts about the legendary cartoon-maker(Fr) Joseph Barbera who died Monday at 95.

A sour laugh?

the cover story that divided the Moroccan opinionNichane is under attack. The reason? A cover story published by the satirical magazine about the most popular jokes in Morocco. Well, it turned out that Moroccans like to laugh about Power, Sex, and Religion. Nothing really specific to Morocco since that's mostly what jokes are about all over the world. Some jokes were about God and the prophets (Ar), and for Khorafa's(Ar) visitors, that was worse than the Danish cartoons(Ar).
(more…)

8 comments  · read »

Brunei Marathon 2006

Maurina H · 09:23 · East Asia

Brunei Marathon 2006: A Wet Affair

Brunei Marathon
From SoulJah's Flickr Photos under CC attribution license

On Sunday, the 10th of December, 2006, some very excited Bruneians and non-Bruneians gathered in Bandar Seri Begawan, the sleepy capital city of Brunei Darussalam to participate in the Second Brunei Marathon. The route was expansive, the official website explained,

Starting from Jalan Sultan, next to Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddin, runners will speed out of town towards Jalan Tutong passing number of Brunei Landmarks, the Royal Regalia Building, the Edinburgh Bridge, the High Court Building and eventually passing by the Royal Palace, Istana Nurul Iman. The 1st ‘U-turn’ will be at 6 km point, going back to the Edinburgh Bridge, before turning towards Kiulap. Runners will than have to make a 2nd ‘U-turn’ at the 13 km point at Jalan Kiulap….

For those not familiar with Brunei, the route was cleverly been designed by the organizers so that it will pass by some of Brunei’s significant historic landmarks, such as the Taman Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddin, where the late His Majesty Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien had loudly proclaimed Brunei’s independence in the early 80s, the Royal Regalia Building, where predictably all the gold and glittery Regalia of the Royals is put on proud display for the public, and the Royal Palace, Istana “Nurul Iman”, Arabic for “Light of Faith”, the magnificent residence of His Royal Highness Sultan Haji Hassanal Bokiah the Sultan of Brunei.
Not surprising. Considering how the event was jointly organised by the Tourism Board of Brunei, and endorsed by the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports, they would naturally try to squeeze in as much Bruneian ‘beauty’ as possible.

And so, people started pouring in with their applications and those like Jewelle waited with bated breath as the Marathon neared. Some had practice runs, again not surprisingly, with the first prize being a big lump sum of BND$25, 000.

But one thing is for sure, the Marathon is a major event. Indeed, some of the national dignitaries dressed down from their black suits and air conditioned offices to take part in the run, some captured on camera by Emma the Good Egg who participated in the Fun Run.

Come Sunday, the weather greeted participants with rain. It was a soaking wet affair but Bruneians and non-Bruneians alike had ran the entire route. Some noted bloggers also took part, such as Nonnie King.

The shutterbugs came out specially to capture the emotions of the day with their expensive cameras, including Ahim Rani, who donated some to my own blog, Turquoise and Roses. However, the run had not been controversy-free.
(more…)

6 comments  · read »
Page 1 of 7