It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley

Fakta Lagu (The Song Facts)
Album: Greatest Hit, Release in 1960
US Chart: 1 UK Chart: 1

This morning, when I listened to "O Sole Mio" from my favourite artists, "The Three Tenors", I realised that Elvis recorded the same song (or melody) but with different lyrics (it is not the English translation of the song at all).

The Italian song "O Sole Mio" was first recorded by Giuseppe Anselmi in 1907. Then I also realised that the song "There is No Tomorrow" which was written by Al Hoffman, Leo Corday and Leon Carr actually was the first version of English Song based on O Sole Mio. U.S singer Tony Martin recorded the song in 1949 and it was a biggest hit on that year. His record reach the Billboard Magazine Charts on November 4, 1949 and lasted 27 weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 2.

In about 10 years later, in 1960 while stationed in Germany with the US army, Elvis Presley heard the recording (I believe must be the English version by Tony Martin) and was inspired by it. When he was discharged, he asked his record company to write new lyrics especially for him, a task that went to songwriters Aaron Schroeder and Wally Gold. The new version was titled "It's Now Or Never".

The rest is history..
The record was a number one hit in the U.S. and the U.K., where it spent nine weeks at the top and selling for more than 25 million copies worldwide to become his biggest international single ever!
In 2005, the song was re-released with the other Elvis Presley singles in the UK and again reached number one on the UK Single Chart.

Enjoy the song below..

Lyrics | Elvis Presley lyrics - It's Now Or Never lyrics

Rumi - The Muslim Legend in Poetry

Yesterday I went to Borders Bookshop, Chermside with a friend who is also my working colleague at the Prince Charles ICU. Eventhough he is very much younger than me by age, he has a very interesting character. He has a great passion in books and his advantage is being able to appreciate both Arabic and English literature.

While enjoying our breakfast (I had vegie roll), he went to the book shelves and brought back a pile of books to our table. I saw two books on Poems of Rumi. One of them entitled The Soul of Rumi and translation by the famous Coleman Barks. Coleman is also the author of the bestselling 'The Essential of Rumi". My friend asked me why most of the muslims are so ignorant? Yes, I admitted that I was ignorance of this man. His work has been translated in many languages. His poet is the most read in America. Why as a muslim I haven't heard about him at all and only acknowledged the existence of his books yesterday? Thank you my dear friend for letting me know and introducing me to his books.

Rumi's full name is Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi or also known as Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi but known to the english speaking world simply as Rumi. He was a 13th century Persian poet, Islamic jurist, theologian and mystic. Rumi means 'The Roman" since he lived most of his life in an area called Rum which was once ruled by Byzantine Empire.

Rumi is one of the great spiritual masters and poetical geniuses of mankind and was the founder of the Mawlawi Sufi order, a leading mystical brotherhood of Islam.

Eventhough his name is new to me, I am going to read his poems with an open heart and mind. There are few that I found through the net..

Read this:

On The Day I die

The day I've died, my pall is moving on

But do not think my heart is still on earth!

Don't weep and pity me: "Oh woe, how awful!"

You fall in devil's snare - woe, that is awful! Don't cry "Woe, parted!" at my burial

For me this is the time of joyful meeting! Don't say "Farewell!" when I'm put in the grave

A curtain is it for eternal bliss.

You saw "descending" - now look at the rising!

Is setting dangerous for sun and moon?

To you it looks like setting, but it's rising;

The coffin seems a jail, yet it means freedom.

Which seed fell in the earth that did not grow there?

Why do you doubt the fate of human seed?

What bucket came not filled from out the cistern?

Why should the Yusof "Soul" then fear this well?

Close here your mouth and open it on that side

So that your hymns may sound in Where- no-place!

The translation done by Coleman is more precise and impressive than above. I will write his version later.

I want to read his books to appreciate his literature and legacy. I can't believe that Rumi's work has been translated into many of the world's languages, including Russian, German, Urdu, Turkish, Arabic, French, Italian, and Spanish, and is being presented in a growing number of formats, including concerts, workshops, readings, dance performances, and other artistic creations. I am not sure if there is any translation in Malay though. I know, we are very sceptical with this sort of thing...sufism. Why don't we just appreciate Rumi's remarkable poetry? The English interpretations of Rumi's poetry by Coleman Barks have sold more than half a million copies worldwide ( I think must be that " The essential Rumi"). Rumi is one of the most widely read poets in the United States! Yes, unbelievable..I read that recordings of Rumi poems have made it to Billboard's Top 20 list as well.

A selection of Deepak Chopra's editing of the translations by Fereydoun Kia of Rumi's love poems has been performed by Hollywood personalities such as Madonna, Goldie Hawn, Phillip Glass and Demi Moore. Shahram Shiva's CD, Rumi: Lovedrunk, has been very popular in the Internet's music communities. Yes, this extra infomartion I obtained from my internet search on Rumi.

Read this:

I searched for God among the Christians and on the Cross and therein I found Him not.

I went into the ancient temples of idolatry; no trace of Him was there.

I entered the mountain cave of Hira and then went as far as Qandhar but God I found not.

With set purpose I fared to the summit of Mount Caucasus and found there only 'anqa's habitation.

Then I directed my search to the Kaaba, the resort of old and young; God was not there even.

Turning to philosophy I inquired about him from ibn Sina but found Him not within his range.

I fared then to the scene of the Prophet's experience of a great divine manifestation only a "two bow-lengths' distance from him" but God was not there even in that exalted court.

Finally, I looked into my own heart and there I saw Him; He was nowhere else.

Interesting isn't it? I will find the title of the above poem, one day.

In Memory of My Best Friend Colonel (Dr) Yee Chia Shao 9th September 1966 ~ 16th April 2008

I was devastated when I received the bad news from my friend Suresh, about the tragedy that killed our best mate, Yee. I never thought that he would die at this very young age and at the very peak of his career.

Down here is his orbituary as written by Dr Suresh in Bulletin Anaesthesiologi June 2008.

It was with much sadness that the news came of the passing away of Colonel (Dr) Yee Chia Shao, who died suddenly in a motor vehicle accident on 16th April 2008.
Colonel (Dr) Yee Chia Shao was born on 9th September 1966, the eldest of three children. He was a top all round student in his younger days. He did medicine at the University Science Malaysia where he graduated as a doctor in 1991.

He was commissioned into the Armed Forces on 1st September 1992 and his first tour of duty was as a medical officer in the 10 Royal Ranger Regiment, Sarawak from 1992 to 1993. He went on from there to serve as a medical officer at the 94 Armed Forces Hospital in Terendak, Melaka from 1993 to 1994. He subsequently joined University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur in 1994 to do his Masters in Anaesthesiology there on the Armed Forces scholarship. After qualifying as an anaesthesiologist he was sent to the 96 Armed Forces Hospital in Lumut, Perak where he served as the Head of Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care from 1999 until 2004. He was then sent to head the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at the 94 Armed Forces Hospital in Terendak from 2004 until his untimely demise.

Colonel Dr Yee was a very dedicated and hardworking anaesthesiologist. He was instrumental in the successful credentialing and accreditation of anaesthetic and intensive care services of the Armed Forces Hospital in Lumut when he worked there. In fact he was invited to be part of and was an essential member of the assessing team visiting hospitals throughout the country and assessing hospitals for accreditation. Colonel Dr Yee was also responsible for the modernisation and bringing of state-of-the-art equipment to intensive care units at Armed Forces hospitals in the country.

Colonel Dr Yee was also very involved in continuing professional development activities. He was the brainwave and the organizing chairman for the 1st Military Operating Theatre and Critical Care Services Conference held at Melaka in the year 2004 and the 2nd Military Medical Conference "A Rendezvous with Military Medicine", also held in Melaka in 2005. He was very involved in teaching his staff, organising courses for them and even authored a handbook on basic anaesthesia for the use of anaesthetic technicians in the Armed Forces Hospitals. He was more than once offered a place in the private sector but he always declined these offers because he always felt that he needed to contribute more for the improvement of the Armed Forces medical services. For all his positive contributions, he received the Pingat Pahlawan Angkatan Tentera (PAT) in March 2008.

On a personal note, I knew Colonel Dr Yee since the time we did our Masters training together in University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur and we had always kept in touch since. He was the one who showed me where to get the best Hokkien mee at Jalan Loke Yew in KL, the best Yong Tau Foo in Ampang and even good Dim Sum in Seri Petaling. He always made it a point to come back to Kuala Lumpur during weekends to be with his parents, brother and sister and spend time with them.

On 16th April 2008, the Malaysian Armed Forces mourned the loss of a true and disciplined leader, the medical and anaesthetic community, a brilliant and upcoming anaesthesiologist and I, a good friend.

It has been a year now since we (Suresh and I) mourned for the great loss of our very special and best friend.