Doc Ahmad Hajiri

By Ahmad Musahari asmusahari@gmail.com Following my post on “The hidden beauty of Sulu”, a number of friends have appreciated the great scenes Sulu has. (That was my goal, from the beginning!) And I am happy for that. I became happier when some ‘new’ friends had emailed me asking information on how to reach the island and some had thought of the intention of paying my little homeland a visit. They want to witness those fascinating scenes with their own eyes! And then comes their inevitable curiosity about the “safety” of going to Sulu. ‘IS IT STILL SAFE TO VISIT YOUR PLACE?’, ‘SHOULD I WEAR TANDUNG/TURUNGS?’, ‘DO TAUSUGS UNDERSTAND ENGLISH?’, and an endless list of questions. So I end up doing this list of helpful and friendly TIPS FOR FIRST-TIME TOURISTS to SULU ISLANDS. I hope this would help the people out there and let a ‘new light’ penetrate their minds. Indeed Sulu is more peaceful that what the NEWS say. See you in SULU! WHAT TO BRING: The Basics, of course! ...

(Short Post) Last September 8, 2011, I went to the island Province of Basilan to attend a Mass Graduation Ceremony for our First batch of Literacy classes (our foundation’s beneficiaries are mostly adults, women, elderly and out-of-school-youths who were illiterates). It was indeed a double-excitement for me; an incident I have always wanted to experience. Aside from the excitement of attending the mass graduation of our first batch of Adult learners, it was also my very first time to be in Basilan. Basilan is a small island south-west of Zamboanga Peninsula. You can ride a fast seacraft and arrive in Isabela City, Basilan 45-minutes later. It is so near that you can see the other island by simply looking out the window from inside the seacraft. Unlike Sulu, my homeland: it would take at least 8 hours of sea travel in regular sea vessels. Yet still, in my twenty years of life, I have never ever stepped my ever-so-travelling feet on that island. And I have always been wondering h...