Kisahku menjadi BADAR

Hmmm…
Nak cerita apa ya? Kalau cerita tentang cita-cita, mungkin bosan kot. Jadi, apa kata kalau saya ceritakan tentang jawatan saya. Ok tak? Jadi, jangan peliklah kalau saya ‘update’ blog ni guna Bahasa Malaysia ye. Ok, the story begins...

Saya pegang jawatan sebagai BADAR kat sekolah. Sekolah mana? Adalah satu sekolah kat Kajang tu.

Ermm.. BADAR tu apa? Apa? Korang tak tau apa maksud BADAR ke? Mesti korang semua tau, kan. Kalau korang jawab perang Badar, jawapan korang betul. Kalau korang jawab batu Badar pun betul. Apa kebenda batu Badar tu? Ada ke? Anda boleh 'search' kat google. Tapi, bukan itu yang saya nak ceritakan, sebaliknya saya nak ceritakan tentang Badan Dakwah dan Rohani atau lebih dikenali sebagai BADAR.

Pada mulanya, saya tak nak jadi BADAR. Kalau boleh tak nak pun pegang apa-apa jawatan sebagai badan kepimpinan. Sebab apa? Kerana kat Akhirat kelak, kita akan disoal tentang orang yang berada di bawah pimpinan kita. Tapi, akhirnya saya tukar fikiran setelah dipujuk untuk sertai BADAR. Huh! Korang fikir saya jadi BADAR sebab kena pujuk ke? Tak lah. Nak tau ke apa sebabnya? Oklah, salah satu sebabnya ialah BADAR dapat memudahkan saya untuk melakukan kerja dakwah.

Mesti dalam kalangan korang ada yang berkata, “Ya ke kau berdakwah? Aku tak nampak pun.” Hey, please ya. Please jangan anggap berdakwah tu hanya dengan cara bercakap, ok. Berdakwah boleh juga melalui perbuatan. Boleh juga melalui tauladan. Jadi, jangan mengata orang lain sebelum kita tengok diri kita dulu, ok. Semut kat seberang nampak, gajah yang kat depan mata tak nampak.Tapi, rasa-rasanya mesti ada antara kalian yang fikir bahawa adakah saya ni menunjukkan teladan yang baik? Entahlah. Saya pun tak tau. Saya ni bukannya suka nak pura-pura baik depan orang ramai pun. Saya lebih suka kalau saya buat baik tapi orang lain tak tahu. 

Ok, sambung cerita. Pada mulanya saya hanya ahli biasa saja dan saya termasuk dalam lujnah ibadah. What the? ‘lujnah ibadah’? Muhammad Nasrul Azim – also a newby - pula menjadi ketua lujnah Ibadah. Baguslah tu. Tanpa berbekalkan apa-apa pengetahuan tentang BADAR punya kerja, saya - (apa pulak saya, ‘kami’ lah) , ok fine – Tanpa berbekalkan apa-apa pengetahuan tentang BADAR punya kerja, KAMI - (dah puas hati ke belum?) – KAMI mengadakan perbincangan. Wow, tak sangka saya akan berbicara dengan cara yang agak ‘serius’ (mungkin). Tak nak cerita pasal tu sebenarnya. Ada cerita lain lagi, jangan risau.

Setelah beberapa hari dan minggu juga bulan,            

Pada suatu hari, si Nasrul Azim ni pun bagitau lah kat saya yang dia tak mampu nak pegang jawatan sebagai ketua. Dia kata dia tak buat kerja pun. Ya ke? Nak disingkatkan cerita, pada satu malam pula, Amirul Hafizi, ketua BADAR (Opss silap! CALON ketua BADAR), Hafizi tiba-tiba bagitau kat saya yang saya akan menjadi ketua lujnah Ibadah atas faktor yang telah diceritakan tadi. Wow, saya terkejut. Ok, tak sangka yang Nasrul Azim betul-betul maksudkannya dan kini saya yang menjadi ketua dia. Haishh.. Eloklah tu, daripada ada dua ketua (Hafizi dan Nasrul) kepada sorang je ketua (Hafizi).

Kalau nak difikirkan semula, kerja apa yang telah saya lakukan? Hmmm… Entahlah. Macam takde apa-apa je. Moleklah tu, mula-mula Nasrul kata dia tak nak jadi ketua sebab dia rasa tak buat kerja, dan kini saya pulak kata yang saya tak tahu kerja apa yang saya dah buat.
Pasrah dan berserah sajalah.

Diharapkan sesiapa yang baca ni, janganlah tiru gaya bahasa ni dalam karangan (kecuali karangan cerita), dan tak payahlah nak sebar-sebar sangat cerita ni pada kawan korang. Kalau korang sebar pun, bajet kesah pulak. ß Ceh, ayat agak gangster. Gangster? Entahlah. Don’t care.  Kalau ada salah ‘spelling’ , tolonglah betulkan ye. Maaflah ye kalau ada sesiapa yang terasa atau sakit hati dengan pos ni. 

Salam kasih sayang dan selamat bergembira semua.

Feeling Guilty and Sad

Falling in Love: Allowed in Islam?

We  cannot say love is 'halal' or 'haram' because it is a feeling. Maybe it is not under control. We can judge what is under control. But people who fall in love are in many episodes away from the cleansed and pure atmosphere.

Marriages that are usually good and lasting marriages are those that start at the least affection. That affection grows after marriage and maybe it will grow until the couples continue their companionship at the Jannah.

If we have any affection towards a person, we should ask ourself: Why do we like that person? If we have good Islamic, reasonable justification, then we need not to tell that person of what we feel. However, we can make a serious plan to make him/her ask for your hand. If you want to know the meaning of fitna, a great part of it is what people nowadays call love or romance.

Islam does not allow any illicit relationship between a man and a woman. Allah has established marriage as the legitimate means for satisfying sexual desire, and through marriage a man and woman form a family based on the laws of Allah, and their children are legitimate. In Islam, there is no such thing as a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship. We are either married or we are not. To have a boyfriend or girlfriend, no matter the level of interaction and involvement, is completely 'haram'!

A person may hear that a woman is of good character and virtuous and knowledgeable, so he may want to marry her. Or a woman may hear that a man is of good character and virtuous and knowledgeable and religiously committed, so she may want to marry him. But contact between the two who admire one another in ways that are not Islamically acceptable is the problem, which leads to disastrous consequences. In this case it is not permissible for the man to get in touch with the woman or for the woman to get in touch with the man, and say that he wants to marry her. Rather he should tell her wali (guardian) that he wants to marry her, or she should tell her wali that she wants to marry him, as ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did when he offered his daughter Hafsah in marriage to Abu Bakar and ‘Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them both). But if the woman contacts the man directly or if the man contacts woman directly, this is may leads to fitnah (temptation).

Oh! Before I end up my post, here is one of the permissible ways to get the one whom we love:

Contact the 'wali' or the guardian of the person whom we desire to marry. 

Gulp and Gasp synopsis

At a glance:

This drama is about a greedy villain Lord Septic whose quest to conquer more wealth is assisted by his brainless side-kick Crouch whose main duty includes grovelling.They meet a maiden named Rose selling flowers and Crouch is asked to force the girl off the platform of the railway station. A handsome and brave hero named Percy rescues Rose the damsel in distress and in doing stumble upon his fortune that has been left for him by his late mother Lady Gatsby at the very same station.

Love Is ...

Love is the greatest feeling,
Love is like a play,
Love is what I feel for you,
Each and every day,
Love is like a smile,
Love is like a song,
Love is a great emotion,
That keeps us going strong,
I love you with my heart,
My body and my soul,
I love the way I keep loving,
Like a love I can't control,
So remember when your eyes meet mine,
I love you with all my heart,
And I have poured my entire soul into you,
Right from the very start.

Note: Do not hold hands or even touch a bit (with the opposite gender) before marriage.

I am not a girl okay!!!

What?

Need to act as Rose, the female character in the drama Gulp and Gasp.

Well, it is not surprising at all that I’d been chosen to play as a young lady for the drama.

Most of the pupils in the school thought that I am a metroman and effeminate.

Actually, if they know me well, they will say that I am a bad boy and ‘kerek’.à Try ask Izzudin Hilmi's opinion about me.

          Well, anyway, I need to please with the decision that had been made by my classmates. Please give guidance to me ‘cause I’m still new in acting field.

For your information, gay had been categorized into two:

1. Top

This type of man usually have a mascular body and play  as men in the gay world.

2. Bottom

This type of man will play and act as girl in the activity (often called ‘mak nyah ’ ). This type of man usually have soft skin, dressed like a girl and using lipstick.

P/S: Please don’t  think that I’m a gay because I act as a young lady and please don't make any other nickname for me.

Not a KB anymore.

Hafizuddin, our ex-KB ('Ketua' Batch) had move to Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah (KISAS). So, we (form 4 students) do not have leader for about a month.

Then, one beautiful morning, our school general head student (Ketua Umum), Faiz Azrai (also known as Gek) called all the MPP (Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar) - which includes the MT (Majlis Tertinggi), leaders of  PRS , batch form, Briged Bestari and many more -  to see him and discuss about the course of Miss Rohani retirement day. Then, because nobody take concerned about it, so I went to see him as a representative of my form 4 batch. (Actually, there are a event before that day where I was being appointed as a new leader but I don't remember about it very well) .

So, begin from that day, I am the head of form 4 batch.

But, it does not last long until one day, that is today.

Hafizi, MY assistant leader, want to discuss about having a new leader with everyone's votes - eventhough many of us had returned home. It is not disheartening to me for them to select a more caliber leader than me and that guy is Azwar Abdullah. The assistant leader is still the same guy start from us form 1 until form 4, that is Hafizi Ruslan, my ex-assistant.

What is disheartening is that there are still a few said to me, "Don't be sad".

Hey, do you think I really want that position? You don't even know how hard to be a leader is. While all of you are sleepimg, I need to woke up to settle some of the school's event. While all of you reading do revision for the examination, I still need to think on what performance should we (form 4) done on the Teacher's Day - So don't ask me why I didn't get high marks for this Mid Year Test Examination. But, when we ready to do our performance, the time envy and jealous with us, so our performance had to be cancelled. Arrrgh....

Being a leader can be so tense if you observed carefully – That’s why I look tense very often lately.

……………………………………………………………………..

Fuhhhhhhhh... Now, I feel like my shoulder feel more lighter because all of the responsibilities have been taken by another person that is better than me. I also can calm and relaxed a bit now . 

Anyways, I'm happy that I can serve for my batch form eventhought it is only in a short time. Please don't said anything about my leadership if you don't ever heve the experience as a leader.

Study! Steady! Ready!

Exam?

Exam = Study

Many students often think to study when the examination draws near.

Why not study or revise all the subjects every day or at least one week before the exam?

Actually, when we study at last minute, we will get tense very easily.

So, quit dreaming and prepare yourself well in order to face the examination.

Be happy, don’t be moody.

Oral! Oral! Ok!

One day before the oral test begin.
What? Oral? Oh no! I didn’t prepared well to face it. 
What should I do? What should I do?

The night after the first day for oral.
What a relieved that my name was not being called by teacher. I think I’m lucky because my name begin with the alphabet M, before L and after O.

One day after one week the oral test began.
What a disaster that my name is still not being called by the teacher eventhough it is already one week. Its worsen when it is deferred until the Mid Year Test done.

Can I face it? Can I assume it? Can I continue? Only Allah knows.
Oh whatever? I actually didn’t very care about it as long as I can remember the text well.

QWERTYUIOP-Characters and Characteristics

LUCY BECK

A young seventeen year old lady who got a job as a secretary at Ross and Banister’s

Characteristics:

She is a young, shy, a low achiever, not competent and highly qualified and insecure graduate of secretarial studies.

Textual evidence:

Lucy Beck was young and small and mouse-coloured, easily overlooked.

She had a lonely ‘O’ level and a typing speed that would make a tortoise laugh.

Characteristics:

She has a very low self esteem, inferior complex, no confidence and pessimistic

Textual evidence:

She is wondering who will employ her as she is aware of her inadequacies.

Lucy assumes that there are more qualified and brighter people than her who are qualified for the job vacancy.

Characteristics:

She became ambitious, determined and optimistic to change her life style.

Textual evidence:

Lucy is tired of being poor and she is fed up with macaroni cheese and baked beans. She is also sick of wearing second-hand clothes. She gathered her strength and determined to get a job to get out of poverty.

Characteristics:

Lucy becomes enthusiastic and a quick learner when she got a job. She also became courageous when she has to face the conflict with the spirit of Miss Broom.

Textual evidence:

Lucy got a job at Ross and Bannister’, a small firm with a factory just outside the town. She is so excited so came to her work place on Monday morning, at ten to nine and waited as the door to the office is closed. She faces problems when each time she types, the word ‘QWERTYUIOP” appears on the paper. When she finds that it was the ghost of Miss Broom, she became courageous and keep typing and liquid the unwanted words and reached the end of the letter by triumph.

Characteristics:

Lucy became sympathetic, caring, insightful and understanding after knowing Miss Broome’s history. She took the initiative to look for an amicable solution.

Textual evidence:

Lucy is shocked when she heard the news about Miss Broome from Harry Darke. She was forced to stop working after she had been working for forty three years. Lucy sympathizes Miss Broome

and tells her that Mr Bannister is only acting out of concern as he was worried of her health. Lucy managed to convince Miss Broome that the late Mr Bannister needs her help in the after life.

GHOST OF MS.BROOME

The spirit of Ms Broome who haunts the office where she once worked as she is so attached to her job.

Characteristics:

Loyal, dedicated and took her job seriously at Ross and Bannister’s.

Textual evidence:

Ms Broome had worked for forty three years :girl, woman, old misery. She is unwilling to let go of her position and continues to defend her post, even after her demise.

Characteristics:

Lonely as she had no family and friends.

Textual evidence:

The office was her home; the job was all she lived for as she did not have any family of her own. She had no place worth to go and she insists to stay on.

Characteristics:

She is persistence, vengeful and also possessive over her secretarial job at Ross and Bannister’s.

Textual evidence:

Miss Broome dies but she does not want to leave her job and insist to stay on. She types nasty messages to new secretaries to instill fear. The typewriter rocked as if with laughter, its keys clicking like badly fitting false teeth. She creates havoc with intention to scare those who will replace her place at the office.

Characteristics:

Finally she is convinced that she should leave as her help is needed.

Textual evidence:

Miss Broom leaves the office permanently after Lucy managed to convince her that Mr Bannister needs her help in the afterlife. The typewriter became silent, sunlight glittered on its keys making them looked wet.

HARRY DARKE

Ross and Bannister’s handyman. He is an old man who has been working with the company for years.Characteristics:

Helpful and concern

Textual evidence:

He does all the odd jobs in the office and helps out new employees. He is helpful in giving useful information to Lucy regarding the spirit of Miss Broome and shows concern to her. He even told Lucy not to be like a frightened mouse, and not to worry.

Characteristics:

A loyal worker at Ross and Bannister’s.

Textual evidence:

He has been working for thirty years with Ross and Bannister’s, retired with a silver watch but still can’t keep away from his job.

Characteristics:

Encouraging and supportive to his colleague

Textual evidence:

He praises Lucy for her braveness and determination to keep on her job even after she has confronted the spirit of Miss Broome. He said that Lucy is no longer the timid mouse and she is a right little lion. Then he gives her chocolate biscuits with her tea as a credit and encouragement.

Internet-Pros and Cons

            In the age of  the technological development, nobody who moves with the times can imagine existing without the Internet. However, its popularity makes us bear in mind all its side effects. Many argue that the Internet is a treasury of information while the others find it as a source of misleading information and danger. So, is the Internet a force for good or a force for evil?

The biggest benefit offered by the Internet is information. It functions as a valuable resource of information. There is huge amount of information available for just every subject known to man ranging from government law and services, trade fairs and conferences, market information, new ideas and technical support. We can find any type of information on any subject with the help of the search engines like Yahoo and Google. All the information that we need is just  at our fingertips. We can save costs and our precious time from having to go to the library.

Futhermore, the primary goal of the Internet is communication. It has done extremely well in this field, however the development process is still going on to make it more dependable and quick. By sending an e-mail, we can contact a person who is physically present thousand miles away within the fraction of a second’s time. The Internet gives the opportunity to get in touch with new people from all over the world and keep in touch with the loved ones.

In addition, Internet also functions as a medium of entertainment. A wide variety of entertainment including video games, music, movies, chat room, news and others can be accessed through the Internet. So, we can entertained ourselves with it.

However the Internet cannot be always shown in favourable light. First and foremost, the Internet is incredibly addictive - surfers are often not able to bear without checking their mail hundreds of times per day. Moreover, unlimited possibilities of communication with surfers cause losing an active social life in the real world. This can lead to a non-healthy lifestyle.

In spite of it, Internet can give the computer virus threat. Virus is a program that interrupts the usual operation of a personal computer system. Computers linked to the Internet have high probability of virus attacks and as a result of this, our hard disk can crash and giving us a lot of trouble.

Lastly, Internet have many inappropriate information as even pornography await under-age users at every turn.  Pornography is definitely harmful for the children. There are numerous pornographic sites available over the Internet and watching any of those can have very bad influence on the mental health of children.

To sum up, there are many advantages and disadvantages of the Internet. Some people say the Internet has ruined our lives but in my opinion it transformed the world for the better. Although the Internet may be dangerous, it is a great invention and a window to the world.

Fire and Rescue Cadet Marching

            Wow! What an amazing experience. It had been three years, since the last time I joined school march for uniform unit and the last one that I joined is the Scout in my primary school.

            I didn’t expect that I can perform a bit well in marching on the day of Mahrajan Kawad Kaki was held-29 April 2012 . I joined Fire and Rescue Cadet in marching on that day because I feel pity for them because they didn’t have enough file. In other words, I am like a hero that appear in the last minute in this story.

            Eventhough we got the second place for the under government category, we still can have the smiley face on our lineaments. At first, for the static and dynamic part, we have no problem in doing so (I think so) .When it comes to the formation part,  Subhana-Allah, only Allah knows. For the first and second formation, it is still okay, but it is like the first sign of bad omen when its’ come to the third and fourth (last) formation. Our stamp start to become disordered and I forgot to say ‘KADET’ for the voice formation (last formation).

            Oh, before I forgot. Thanks to Muqri for lending me your Fire and Rescue Cadet uniform (actually just the trouser) . I also want to say thanks as my appreciation to those who had gave guidance and make me feel passion to march this year.

What a happy hour! 

                          Some of the Fire and Rescue Cadet Marcher

QWERTYUIOP synopsis

This synopsis is based on a glance:

The story revolves around the life of Lucy Beck, a young secretary whose problems start when her predecessor Miss Broome refuses to let go of her position. Lucy's troubles become more complicated as Miss Broome is already dead but manages to cause her difficulties in the one task that she has been trained in and that is typing letters. At first Lucy is about to give up her position as she can't possibly fight a ghost. However she soon realizes that all problems could be resolved with a little compassion.

Smoking Jeopardise Life

            Smoking is quite popular habit among society these days. Smokers not only can be found among adults but also teenagers. It is disheartening to see how teenagers end up being involved in such unhealthy activity.

            Almost nine out of ten tobacco users start smoking before they are eighteen years old. People rarely start to smoke once they are adults. But if smoking is bad, then why do teenagers start doing it?

            Actually, there are no physical reasons to start smoking. People do not need tobacco like they need food, water, sleep and exercise. Most people say they start because of social reasons. One of the reasons why teenagers smoke is to try to look older or mature. Some may think that smoking or chewing tobacco makes them more cool or good-looking like a movie star.

            There may be many other reasons to explain why teenagers done all these. Perhaps they have been neglected by their parents. Perhaps it is peer pressure or even temptation and want to try something new.

            Smokers can easily be identified. They smell like nicotine and stale smoke. They also have bad breath and yellowish stain on their fingers and teeth. Face wrinkles will also appear at an early age and looks fatigue.

            However, there are many other effects which are far more hazardous such as cancer. Smokers are at a high risk of developing cancer than non-smokers. Smokers often develop cancers of the throat, mouth and lungs. Furthermore, nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarettes increase heart rate which means that it will raises the risk of high blood pressure and ultimately leads to heart attacks.

            Teenagers are blessed with the chance to having a brighter future. Whatever the reason may be, it cannot justify why teenagers should choose such unhealthy activity. To those who are smoking, please stop it. Reduce cigarettes consumption slowly and set a date to quit. It is better to use the radical way because the earlier we quit from smoking, more life can be saved. As the saying goes, prevent is better than cure. It is up to us either to lead a healthy life or the opposite.

School Youth Cadet Corps Camp

     
     Last Tuesday, I had the chance to go for the School Youth Cadet Corps camp (Kadet Remaja Sekolah). This camp was held from 20 until 23 March 2012 (4 days). This camp is at the district level. The participants are all from the Hulu Langat district's schools. As for my school, eight pupils were sent to participate in this camp.

     On the first day, I feel very bored because there is no interesting activities. On the second day, I started to feel that this camping is interesting because 'the game was just started'. When I was there, I feel very guilty and sad. Many of the muslims did not follow the syariah well. However, I had been friend with some participants and one of them is Amir from SMK Pandan Indah. I am very attracted to him because his morals is good, he also follow the syariah well and most importantly, he is handsome.
     On Friday, the camping closing ceremony was held in the morning. Eventhough, only girl's student from our school that won one of the competitions, I feel happy because we had brought honor to our school. I also delighted that I had been promoted to lance corporal. Now, I will be called as Lance Corporal KRS , Muhammad Zakwan bin Aziz. Ha ha!

About Myself

Assalamualaikum and hello!
I think I want to introduce myself today. My real name is Muhammad Zakwan bin Aziz. I usually use pseudonym. For instance, I use Zakari Wa'ie as my name in this blog. So, sorry to those who had been deceived. I live in Ampang with my parents and brothers. I am the fourth son of the family. I don't have any sisters, so don't ask me about it. My hobby is playing games. Now, I am 16 years old and I am studying at SMKA Maahad Hamidiah. Eventhough I got 9A in PMR, I take accounting because I don't very interested in science subject. I think that's all for self introduction. Thank you. 

Jogging

There are a lot of different forms of physical activities that allow us to improve our health and fitness, but jogging is probably one of the most simple, yet most beneficial. Jogging can improve a lot of different areas of our health and well being, general fitness or other health issues.

Jogging can be of different forms. It can be running in the streets, forests, beaches, treadmill and etc. I think that jogging benefits can make life better and more fun. Like someone said that jogging is good for our body and our legs, but it also is good for the ground, the earth, because it makes it feel needed.

There are a lot of benefits that we will get when we jog. For instance, jogging makes our cardiovascular fitness better, it makes us sleep better, it can prevent cancer, it can decrease body fat and it also can help to keep us young.

7 Wonders of the World

In 2001 an initiative was started by the Swiss corporation New7Wonders Foundation to choose the New Seven Wonders of the World  from a selection of 200 existing monuments for profit. 21 finalists were announced January 1, 2006. Egypt was not happy with the fact that their ancient landmark, Great Pyramid of Giza would have to compete with the likes of the Statue of Liberty, the Sydney Opera House, and other landmarks; and called the project absurd. To solve this, Giza was named an honorary candidate without the need for competition. The results were announced on July 7, 2007. 


Honorary Mention 

Great Pyramid of Giza

It is the oldest and largest of the three huge pyramids in Giza Necropolis, Egypt. It is the only surviving Seven Wonders of Ancient World. It is believed to be built at around 2560 BC in a 14 to 20-years period as the tomb for 4th Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu. Initially at 146.5 m tall, it is now 138.8 m tall due to erosion. It was the tallest man made structure on Earth for over 3800 years, the longest period of time ever held for such a record.

Anyway, the list below is from the New7Wonders: 

1. Chichen Itza

It is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization in Yucatan Peninsula (present day Mexico). The site contains fine stone buildings connected by dense networks of formerly paved roads. The buildings are grouped in a series of architectonic sets. One of the famous buildings on the site is the Monument of El Castillo. Chichen Itza was a major focal point in northern Maya lowlands from Late Classic (600 AD)  till Early Postclassic period.

2. Statue of Christ, The Redeemer

It is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, considered as the second largest Art Deco statue in the world. It is 39.6 m tall including the 9.5 m pedestal. It is on the peak of 700 m – Corcovado Mountain overlooking the city with perfect natural setting. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone and was constructed between 1922 and 1931. It is a standing figure with open arms in the shape of the Christian cross with the pedestal symbolizing the world. It is also a symbol of peace.

3. Colosseum

It is a huge elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. It can hold up to 80 000 people at a time and is the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering, constructed between 72 AD and 80 AD. The open-air colosseum is for many events such as gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as animal hunts, dramas and even executions. It is 189 m long, 156 m wide and 48 m tall with base area of 24 000 metres square.

4. Great Wall of China

It is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China built for protection from invasions by various nomadic groups. Several walls have been built since 5th century BC, and the most famous being built by China’s first emperor, Qin Shih Huang Ti from 220 to 206 BC, and majority of the walls are built in Ming Dynasty later. The wall stretches over 8851 km (6259 km of actual wall, 359 km of trenches and 2232 km of natural defensive barriers).

5. Machu Picchu

It is a pre-Columbian 15th century Inca site located 2430 m above sea level, above Urubamba Valley in Peru. It is believed to be built as an estate for the Inca Emperor, Pachacuti (1438 – 1472) and is often referred to as the Lost City of Incas. It is built in classical Inca style, with polished dry stone walls and its three primary buildings are Intihuatana, Temple of the Sun and Room of the Three Windows which are all located at the Sacred District of Machu Picchu.

6. Petra

It is a historical and archaeological city in Jordan, known for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan. It lies on the slope of Mount Hor. The city is often visited by flash floods and droughts, and hence efficient stormwater and water storage systems were created like dams, cisterns and conduits to enable the city to prosper.

7. Taj Mahal

It is a huge mausoleum located in Agra, India built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is widely considered as one of the most beautiful buildings on Earth and stands as a symbol of eternal love. It is the finest example of Mughal architecture, a mixture of Persian, Islamic and Indian architectural styles. The white domed marble mausoleum is designed by many architects with Lahauri as the principal designer.