"Wake Me Up When September Ends"

Summer has come and passed

the innocent can never last

wake me up when September ends

like my father's come to pass

seven years has gone so fast

wake me up when September ends

here comes the rain again falling from the stars

drenched in my pain again

becoming who we are

as my memory rests

but never forgets what I lost

wake me up when September ends

Summer has come and passed

the innocent can never last

wake me up when September ends

ring out the bells again

like we did when spring began

wake me up when September ends

here comes the rain again falling from the stars

drenched in my pain again

becoming who we are

as my memory rests

but never forgets what I lost

wake me up when September ends

Summer has come and passed

the innocent can never last

wake me up when September ends

like my father's come to pass

twenty years has gone so fast

wake me up when September ends

wake me up when September ends

 wake me up when September ends

Raja Petra vows to die in silence if re-arrested

Rebel blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin has vowed to die in silence as a sign of protest if he is re-arrested on what many believe are politically motivated grounds. His pledge came as a court was due to rule whether he is to return to prison under Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA),

Raja Petra, who has risen to prominence as a pro-opposition blogger, was arrested on 12 September after accusations lodged by several religious groups who claim that he offended Islam in an article published on 8 August.

He was released on 7 November last year but the government has appealed the court decision and a verdict is expected on Tuesday (today –ed.).

“I shall no longer open my mouth or utter one word during my detention. I shall maintain the silence of a mute person. I shall not sign any documents of the so many documents that they make you sign when under detention," he said.

"My signature is not going to be placed on a single shred of paper,” he wrote in his blog, ‘Malaysia Today’ acknowledging that the move could have dire consequences.

”I shall refuse all medical treatment and visits to the hospital. I shall refuse to accept any food and water supplied by the authorities.

"I shall refuse to leave my cell or to meet any of the prison authorities. In short, I shall shut myself out from the world and keep to my own world of my eight feet square cell.

“This action will mean I shall survive at the most seven to eight days,” he added.

Raja Petra blamed deputy prime minister Najib Razak for his arrest and for what he calls his political persecution.

Najib has been among Raja Petra’s main targets in his blog.

In his most controversial article “Let’s Send Altantuya’s Murderers to Hell”, published on 25 April, Raja Petra said that Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, were involved in the killing of Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Translator and former model, the Mongolia-born Shaariibuu, 28, was shot twice in the head, and her body was blown up with explosives, in a jungle outside Kuala Lumpur in October, 2006.

“I am totally sure that Najib (Razak) is involved. And at the very least, he should be investigated,” Raja Petra told Adnkronos International (AKI).

““I am aware that I have raised the stakes with this article and I am prepared to go all the way,” he added.

Najib has denied any involvement in the case and has sworn at a mosque that he never met Shaariibuu. He has also denied any involvement in the arrest of Raja Petra.

The ISA was inherited by Malaysia after it gained independence from Britain in 1957. In essence, it allows for the arrest of any person without the need for trial in certain circumstances. – AKI via DSAI

George Clooney smitten by Fatima Bhutto

Hollywood's most eligible bachelor may be about to be taken off the market - by a member of Pakistan's greatest political dynasty.

George Clooney is known for dating cocktail waitresses, actresses and models - and is famous for betting on his own bachelorhood.

Fatima Bhutto is the niece of slain Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto - a 'brainy foreign beauty' 21 years younger than the actor, who is 47.

Fatima Bhutto is a poet and journalist who lives with her brother and stepmother in Karachi. – DM pix

But an American report that, despite the odds, the pair are embroiled in a secret affair, has thrown all of Pakistan into a frenzy.

The National Enquirer claimed Clooney is smitten by the 26-year-old Bhutto, an outspoken poet and journalist who lives with her brother and step-mother in a Karachi suburb.

'George has courted her by phone and email, and arranged to meet her abroad when their schedules allowed,' a friend of the actor's told the Enquirer.

'Now he wants her to spend time with him in Hollywood.

'He's still out there with his usual assortment of eye candy hanging from his arm.

But George insists those days could be coming to an end if Fatima wants to take their relationship to the next level.'

But the eye candy and the long distance may not be the biggest stumbling block that Clooney faces in his quest to get the girl.

Fatima Bhutto was also said to believe their age differences made any relationship 'impractical'.

She was educated at New York's prestigious Columbia University and well aware of Clooney's heart throb status before they met, the newspaper reported.

'But she didn't take his advances seriously because she thought their age difference would make a serious relationship impractical,' it claimed.

However Clooney's profound interest in world affairs - which has often carried him into the political realm - may provide him and Bhutto with some common ground.

Fatima is reported to be contesting her late aunt's former seat in the Larkana constituency in the next elections.

She is also a prominent intellectual who has published a book of poetry, The Whispers of the Desert, and a memoir of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.

And her journalist background - she often writes newspaper columns criticizing Pakistan's government - will strike a chord with Clooney, whose father Nick Clooney is a famous newspaper reporter and politician in the United States. – DM via NST

‘Anu Dalam Botol’: She is courting trouble

Writer-producer Raja Azmi Raja Sulaiman (pix) is going to produce a film on a subject so taboo that it may well be banned by the National Censorship Board.

Yet, the feisty director said she would fight tooth and nail to get Anu Dalam Botol made and released.

(Anu is colloquial Malay for the male genital.)

"The film will be based on a true story of a friend," said Raja Azmi.
"I want to get it made because I don't want others to suffer like him."

The film tells the story of a homosexual who decides to cut off his private part to show his love for his lover. The private part was kept in a bottle.

Unfortunately, his lover wants him as a man, not a woman, and they break up. When the unlucky man later falls in love with a woman, he regrets losing his manhood.

"My message is simple -- don't do stupid things for love."

The project, scheduled to roll in April, is considered too "hot" to handle by two actors who were offered the part - Anuar Zain and Aaron Aziz. They declined the offer.

Anuar declined because he was not ready to act again after Bintang Hati in 2004, which was a box office failure.

Aaron turned it down upon advice by a men's skin care product company, for which he is the spokesperson.

"The actors I've short-listed for the two leading roles will come for a closed-door casting session on Feb 24.

"I'm confident of finding my two same-sex lovers."

Raja Azmi said the film would feature several intimate scenes, including kissing.

Among the actors on her short-list are Jehan Miskin, Ashraf Muslim, Awal Ashari (pix), Remy Ishak and Iqram Dinzly.

But will the film get past the National Censorship Board, which banned Hollywood's Brokeback Mountain, an award-winning film about two gay cowboys because it was deemed unsuitable for Malaysian audiences?

The board also banned Bukak Api, an independent film directed by Osman Ali about a group of transvestites, made in 2000.

"I don't want to worry about censorship now. I want to make the film and tell the story," said Raja Azmi. – NST