Pergi tak kembali

Selasa 29 Disember 2009

Saya dikejutkan dari tidor oleh bunyi telefon bimbit yang saya caj sebelum tidor. Dalam suasana samar saya sempat melihat (tanpa kaca mata) jam dinding, beberapa minit selepas 6:00 pagi. Saya melihat telefon untuk mengetahui pemanggil, Haslina.

Haslina: Assallamualaikum.
Me: Mualaikum sallam.
Haslina: Along ada dapat call dari Abang Hamzah?
Me: Takder
Haslina: Kak Yati dah takder, dah meninggal dunia
Me: Innalillahi wainnaillahirojiun. Bila?
Haslina: Sebelum subuh. Along nak pergi Temerloh ker?
Me: Pergi ler
Haslina: Nanti Ina datang rumah Along. Ina nak tumpang


Saya memaklumkan berita pada isteri yang telah bangun setelah mendengar saya bercakap telefon. Fikiran masih belum tenteram, baru minggu lepas kami adik beradik bersama mengendalikan kenduri perkahwinan adik kami Azizah. Yati, isteri adik saya Hamzah pun ada bersama. Beliau kelihatan biasa saja, walaupun saya memang jarang bercakap banyak dengan adik-adik ipar saya yang perempuan.


Kami membuat persiapan untuk berangkat ke Temerloh. Saya tidak berapa risau untuk kesana kerana beberapa tahun lalu ketika anak kami yang tua menuntut di UiTM Jengka kami memang selalu melalui bandar Temerloh. Tapi agak lama juga kami telah tidak ke pantai timur.


Setelah sarapan kami sekeluarga bersama dua anak saudara yang kebetulan masih bersama kami sekembali dari bertandang di Ijok berangkat ke Temerloh, sekitar pukul 9:15 pagi. Haslina memandu kereta sendiri kerana ramai yang tidak ada kenderaan. Di tol Gombak, kami berjumpa kereta adik saya, Hashim. Sebelum sampai tol Bentong, kami berjumpa pula kereta Haslina. Perjalanan lancar kerana kenderaan tidak berapa banyak. Lagipun kita mengikuti lebuhraya sepenuhnya. Sampai di Temerloh sekitar pukul 11:00 pagi.


Setiba kami di Taman Bunga Raya Temerloh, jemaah sedang mengurus jenazah. Kaum perempuan masuk kedalam rumah sementara kaum lelaki duduk di luar. Saya sempat baring dalam kereta sementara menunggu jenazah dimandikan. Pada pukul 12:30 jenazah dibawa ke surau berdekatan untuk di solatkan. Hamzah menjadi Imam. Agak ramai juga jemaah yang hadir, tak kurang dari 100, saya rasa.

Selesai solat kami berangkat ke tanah perkuburan yang terletak kira-kira 3 km dari bandar menghala ke Triang. Semua urusan berjalan lancar dan kerja-kerja pengkebumian selesai dalam pukul 2:00 petang. Kami pun pulang ke Taman Bunga Raya. Selesai makan tengah hari kami berangkat kembali ke Kuala Lumpur.


Arwah adik ipar saya berumur 47 tahun dan bertugas sebagai seorang guru. Hari sebelumnya beliau menghadiri mesyuarat guru disekolah kerana persiapan untuk tahun baru persekolahan. Beliau pergi bertemu Pencipta meninggalkan seorang suami dan 9 orang anak, kebanyakannya masih kecil lagi. Baliau meninggal dalam tidur tanpa pengetahuan sesiapa. Adik saya ketika itu tidak ada dirumah. Ketika beliau kembali arwah tidak bangun, adik saya menjangka beliau tidur. Tetapi adik saya cuba mengejutkan arwah apabila azan subuh baru beliau sedar bahawa beliau telah kehilangan isteri.


Begitu mudah untuk Allah melaksanakan apa yang telah Dia rancang.

AlFatihah buat arwah adik ipar saya. Semoga rohnya ditempatkan bersama roh mereka yang soleh.

Wedding 2 - Azizah Part 3

Sunday, 27 December 2009

After the hectic weekend in Melaka it is now time to "bertandang" in Ijok, Selangor.




The entourage from Melaka arrived on Saturday and spent the night in Kelana Jaya. Apparently the trip took about 3 hours due to heavy traffic.


On Sunday morning there was another wedding in my housing estate. The family who used to look after my kids had a wedding reception for one of their nephews. We dropped in early just to show our faces and went home to get ready for the trip 2 Ijok.

A total of 6 cars made their way to Ijok. My sons Afiq and Aizat did not make the trip as they took part in a futsal tournament supported by the masjid. The trip was only about 1 hour.

We were very well received by the groom's family despite us being about 20 minutes late from the promised arrival of 1:30pm.
With the completion of the event in Ijok, the wedding ceremony of Junaidi and Azizah is now officially closed. The newly weds must now be ready to face the realities of married life. For atarters they have to tackle the issue of one working in Selangor while the other is working Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. Good luck guys. Whatever happens just remember the Almighty Allah swt.

Wedding 2 - Azizah Part 2

The "Akad Nikah" day proceeded smoothly. The weather was cloudy but there was no rain making it very comfortable for all of us. By the end of the day we had to get ready for the next day when all the guests will be coming.

The preparations started with the arrival of the women folk to help prepare the ingredients for tomorrow's cooking. I'm happy to note that the kampong folks still maintain their tradition of helping in in this chore. It was a rather big crowd though most of them are already quite elderly. A lot of them recognized me but I cannot say the same about them. On a few occasions I had to act as though I know them when they enquired but in reality I did not really remember them. Most of them knew me from the days when I was staying with my late grandfather.


The day seemed to be moving very fast. It seems that despite all our early preparations some things can only be done at the last minute. Before the day is over things started coming in, one full cow, people doing the bbq chicken and everything else. As usual our big group of brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces were a big help. Even if a few decided to take a break, the others are more than able to cover the slack. By the time I managed to get to bed it was well after midnight.


Saturday, 19th December - The Big Day


The day started very early, immediately after our Subuh prayers. As we were preparing ourselves for the full day ahead, the men folk started arriving to help out with preparing the meat. It was a good crowd. People must still remember my late father despite him leaving us almost 3 years ago. The work was completed quickly given the many helpful hands. I also managed to put my expensive knife to good use. I bought it a few years back but only used it once before at the last korban at my mosque. After the work, it was breakfast time for everyone. Lontong and boiled tapioca. It has been quite a while I tasted good tapioca.


As the men folk left, the women folk started arriving. We were then busy setting up the tables and chairs. The dishes and rice are also being prepared. By 10:30 we are almost ready. I asked my younger brother Hamzah to recite the doa as we approach our time to receive our guests (11:00am as stated in the invitation card). The timing was good as we were ready by 11:00am. By then I had changed into my baju Melayu, ready to act as man of the house.


Once the guest started coming they never seemed to stop. The weather was always threatening a downpour at anytime since morning. We were all hoping for yesterday's fine weather to continue. But it was not meant to be. Around 1:00pm it started to rain. Though not heavy it was enough to make us wet. We had to get umbrellas for the guests. In the process we were the ones getting wet. At around 2:00pm the rain stopped, just in time for the groom to arrive without being drenched. Immediately after the newly weds and the entourage from the groom's finished their lunch, the sky just poured. There was nothing that we can do except revel in the rain.
Lucky for us ny then most of our guests have arrived and left.


Among the many guests that graced our event, I had a surprise visit by two school mates from my High School days in the 70s. Ismail Hamzan and Fawzy Wahid, thanks for taking time off to drop by. Actually, Shafie Ibrahim also came but he is already considered my kampong folk. I had my lunch at around 4:00pm and by then I'm totally spent. It has been a full day.


There are just too many people to thank for the successful staging of the event. My siblings, their children, my cousins, my uncles, aunties, neighbours, kampong folks, the Imam etc. etc. Thank you all. But I must put on record my sincere appreciation to my uncle, Pak Ali. He has been like a father since my own passed away on 7 February 2007. But all the efforts would have meant nothing had the guests not come in full force despite the fact there were many other weddings on the same day. And of course all these would have have not been possible without the Will of Allah Almighty.

Wedding 2 - Azizah Part 1

The event started on Friday, 18 December 2009 with the "Akad Nikah" ceremony held after Friday prayers. The Imam was most accommodating, as he normally is. All went well, Alhamdullillah. It was my first time giving away the bride. While waiting for the Imam to give his obligatory advice to the groom (much was said in a hush manner) which made many people curious. Among the things that he said was as a husband it will now be his responsibility to take care of all the needs of the wife including ensuring that she have adequate religious knowledge. I wonder how many husbands remember this long after the marriage.


I had time to reflect on the situation that I was in at the time. I was thinking about my late father. Had he still been around, I need not have to do this. There were times when I felt my eyes getting watery. I was worried that I may choke at the crucial moment. I was therefore much relieved when it was all over.


Earlier I had asked the Imam for the "script" to what I was supposed to say but he said it was unnecessary. Just imagine I had to conjure the words in my mind right up to the last moment. However, the Imam did said some words to the same effect during his short advice. I think I finally said this "Muhamad Junaidi bin Buang. Aku nikahkan akan dikau dengan adik aku, Azizah binti Othman dengan mas kahwinnya 300 ringgit tunai"


Junaidi and Azizah, please accept my best wishes in your marriage life. May both of you be Blessed by Allah swt with a lovely family life Guided by Him always. There may be times when you may disagree but always remember that there will be more times that you are in agreement.

Company's Family Day

The Company is more than 5 years old but it only managed to have its first Family Day cum Annual Dinner which was held at Colmar Tropicale, Bukit Tinggi, Bentong, Pahang last weekend.


It was a 3 day, 2 night affair but I only managed to go there on the second day. This is my second visit to this place. As it was a few years I only managed to stay less than 24 hours. But the most important event was the Annual Dinner. It was attended by all staff (except one) and their immediate family members. The Chairman and MD graced the dinner with their presence and short speeches.



For all intents and purposes, I think it was a succesful event. I'm sure the staff are looking forward for the next event.

Hantaran

Adik perempuan saya (yang kelapan dalam keluarga) akan melangsungkan perkahwinan pada 19 Disember akan datang. Seluruh keluarga telah mula sibuk dengan persiapan-persiapan sempena tarikh bahagia ini. Banyak perkara yang perlu dibuat. Walaupun ini bukan kali pertama kami sekeluarga membuat kerja-kerja begini, ia tetap memerlukan perancangan rapi.

Beberapa mesyuarat telah diadakan. Berbagai kerja telah diagih-agihkan tetapi masih terasa banyak yang belum selesai. Makcik kesaorangan dikampung. Mujur ada seorang lagi adik perempuan dan keluarga yang tinggal dibelakang rumah Makcik. Mujur juga ada seorang bapa saudara yang sentiasa peka dan mengambil berat tentang kami semenjak ketiadaan ayah tercinta.


Diantara kerja-kerja yang remeh temeh (pada saya sekurang-kurangnya) ialah penyediaan hantaran. Saya tidak nampak signifikan mengapa hantaran perlu dibuat sebegitu rupa sehingga memakan masa yang lama untuk disiapkan. Bila diterima nanti, begitu mudah pula hantaran tersebut dileraikan untuk menggunakan barangan yang diberi. Kadang-kadang harga barang itu jauh lebih murah dari kos "perhiasan" yang telah dibuat.


Walaupun demikian saya rasa ia satu dari tradisi kita yang akan terus dikekalkan. Untuk adik saya, isteri saya menjadi penghias bahan hantaran. Saya telah lama tahu yang isteri saya memang punya bakat dan minat membuat gubahan. Pernah saya mencadangkan untuk menghantar beliau mengikuti kursus gubahan secara formal apabila beliau berhenti bekerja dengan Nestle beberapa tahun dulu, tetapi beliau keberatan kerana kos yang agak tinggi.

Saya paparkan beberapa contoh gubahan yang dibuat oleh beliau untuk adik saya kali ini.
Mungkin dilain ketika beliau akan mengenakan caj untuk kerja-kerja sebegini. Setakat ini masih tempoh promosi :-)

Dibawah ini ialah gubahan yang telah dibuat oleh isteri saya semasa pertunangan adik saya dan perkahwinan anak saudara saya baru-baru ini.

Weekend Review

The weekend started on a disheartening note. My eldest daughter, Nurlina, who has not been too well for some months was admitted to the Universiti Malaya Hospital. She went to the hospital for her appointment (on her own) to see an ENT specialist. She later called her mother saying that she was detained for immediate treatment for viral infection in the ear. This changed a lot of our plans for the weekend.


That night I conducted a meeting among my brothers and sisters to discuss final preparations for my sister's wedding on 19 December. Since we had discussed some of the things before and we had the benefit of experience preparing for similar functions, the meeting went without much hassle.



On Saturday morning I went back to Melaka with my son, Afiq, to help my Makcik with some shopping in preparation for my sister's wedding. After the shopping, I managed to confirm the purchase of the cow for the wedding (RM3,000) and also met up with the Imam to confirm the nikah details. We left my kampong after Maghrib prayers, stopped at my sister in law's in Serkam to drop her the invitation card, pick up an exercise bicycle which she wanted to dispose and left for home.

We reached home just in time to catch MU's game against West Ham. MU fielded a depleted side especially in defence as injuries began to take its toll on Sir Alex's side. But the game ended on a positive note as MU won comfortably with four goals without reply. Scholes and Gibson scored two scorchers while Valencia nd Rooney had two tap-ins after some typical MU built ups. The night got better when Man City did MU a big favor by beating Chelsea 2-1. Chelsea's lead is now just 2 points. Hopefully, MU will be able to sustain the challenge without several key players in the run-in to the busy Christmas period.

On Sunday, we visited Lina at the hospital and headed for 2 weddings thereafter. Actually, we had 3 invitations on that day. I had to skip my niece's visit to the groom's place as it would mean missing the other 2 weddings. The first wedding was in Cheras where my wife's cousin is marrying off his last son. A short trip was made unnecessary long when I missed a turn in Batu 9 Cheras and we found ourselves in Hulu Langat instead of Cheras. We just stayed for a short while and headed to Shah Alam where a college mate was marrying off his son and daughter in one go.




Another full weekend.

Wedding 1 - Aisyah

Yesterday, 29 November, was the wedding day of my eldest niece, Aisyah. She is the eldest daughter of my second sister Habibah and her husband, Zainal. As was the case with most events in our family, it was a collective affair.

The planning process took place quite a while back under the reliable guidance of my other sister, Haslina. This is actually the second marriage in our family, the first being Aisyah's younger sister, Amirah, a few years back. (She now has 2 sons). Based on the experience gained from the previous event, Asiyah's wedding seemed less challenging. The only problem was that since it was held so close to the Eidul Adha celebrations, we were all in a rush to do things over a short period of time.

The night before the wedding the bride's family held a "kenduri kesyukuran" in their newly completed house. We were there since late afternoon and left around 10:30 (just in time for me to reach home and catch the start of Manchester United's game against Portsmouth).


The wedding day started with the "Majlis Nikah" in the morning which was held in a nearby mosque. All went well and the proceedings were completed by 11:00 am. The weather was cool after the morning showers, which started just as we were about to leave our house but stopped after about one hour. After the nikah, preparations started in earnest to welcome the first guests who are expected to arrive by noon. Of course, the cooking had started since the night before.


The involvement of our large extended family members made work relatively easy. I have more than 40 nieces and nephews and a lot of them are already in their teens. So, we have more than enough hands to carry out the tasks. What was needed was only proper guidance. Of course, this is a challenge since there are always more than one "instructors" and more often than not the instructions contradict each other. But as always, we managed.


The stream of visitors and well wishers did not stop since the "official visiting hours" began at 12:00 noon. Everyone were busy with their tasks. I had to take it easy as I had some trouble with my foot arising out of my helping out at the "korban" do in my mosque on Saturday. So, of and on, I had to sit down so as not to aggravate the condition of my foot which was causing considerable pain if I keep applying too much pressue on it.


Though the weather was downcast, we can feel the heat as it threatens to rain again. By 3:30pm, and after meeting up with our key relatives (including uncles and aunties), I decided take a short break in the house. By this time, I was told that we had run out of most of the food except for the main dish. Some of the guests, including the party accompanying the groom, had to wait for newly cooked rice before they can have their lunch. Thankfully, everybody had something to eat. Apparently most of the guests who were invited made it to the event. It was thus a success.


I managed a short nap in the house and was only awoken by the Azan for Asar prayers. It was raining again when we started work on "clearing things up". By 6:00pm, the major works have been completed. Most of the kids looked spent. We left for home at 6:30pm. I know there are still things to do but we decided to leave something for the newly weds to dirty their hand on :-)


I feel it was a successful do but what was most heartening for me was the fact that the whole family got involved in doing their bit. My father would have been proud to see his children, children in-laws and grand children working together. As always.

Now we got to prepare for "Wedding 2 - Azizah" on 19 December.

What??

"KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein blamed the country's high crime rate on the demonisation of institutions such as the police."


How does this guy get to become Minister? In fact how does he get through college with this kind of warp thinking? I hope he is only reading a script written by his speech writers because if it is from him, I see little hope for the country.

Sigh......

The Wedding

Dateline: Sunday, 1st November, 2009

We attended two weddings today, one a neighbour's daughter and the other a college friend's son. The college friends Mohamad Izham Ismail and Hadidah Hussain, both went to college with me in 1976. The reception was held at Concorde Hotel Shah Alam.

We were early, in fact the first to take up the seats at table reserved for ex-SIU college mates. Soon, more and more friends came to fill up the two tables. I was surprised to see Tan Sri Dato' Dr Yahaya Ibrahim and wife walked in. He looked spritely and full of zest. He is already 81 years of age and still keeps a 5 day work week. His secret, he told us is that he enjoys his work.

All in all, it was a good get together and we had a good time. The food was good and the host and company excellent. We only left long after the rest of the guests had left.

Congratulations Izham and Didah. Thanks for the invite. Semoga Allah memberkati kedua mempelai hingga keakhir hayat/