It was a busy weekend. Last Friday, after Maghrib, we held our mosque's 2009 AGM. It was a subdued affair, everything went so smoothly, it was almost boring. The Chairman had to probe those attending to ask questions and make comments. Maybe it was because the previous AJK had done its job well. But the meeting still ended at around 10:00pm and by the time we finished dinner it was almost 11:00pm. Everyone's work is done after the AGM but I still have to get the minutes out in due time. I had earlier planned to go back to Melaka after the AGM but since it was already late we decided to defer the trip to early Saturday morning.
We left Kelana Jaya at around 7:15 am. In no time the kids (well they are not exactly kids anymore. My eldest is almost 26 and the youngest 13) were fast asleep. Luckily the wife kept me company most of the way.
The kenduri took place immediately after Zohor prayers. As usual, most of the prayer congregation come for the kenduri, between 40 to 50 of them. This is what I like about kampong life. The spirit of ukhwah is not lost. It was still the usual crowd of the past few years, minus a few who have left us but plus a few new ones whom I can't recognize. Being the head of the family I had to be on hand to welcome them and later thank them for their presence. A few of them remarked that my voice sounded "sebiji macam ayah engkau". I won't know how I sounded but how I missed the voice of my father, they won't know.
At around 5:30 the "delegation" from Kuala Selangor arrived. They are supposed to merisik my youngest sister. It was the first time for me. Luckily I still have my uncle who have been there for our family all these years to again come to our rescue. This uncle of mine will be irreplaceable. Thanks so much Pak Ali. As is the case nowadays, all the terms and conditions for the occasion have been agreed upon between my sister and her would be husband. The meeting was just to "confirm" what has been agreed. InsyaAllah, if all goes well we will have the wedding at the end of the year.
By the time we finished it was almost Maghrib. We left Jasin at round 8:15pm. Again, in no time the kids dozed off. My wife managed to keep me company until after Seremban. I can't blame her as she was busy helping out with things in the kitchen. Luckily for me, the roads were quite clear.
I reached MRR2 around 9:30pm. When I was near Ampang, I called Sle just to make sure that the crowd are still there because it was already almost 10:00pm. It is late and I'm tired but I have to make it to Chan and Fuzi's. They have graciously agreed to host a few of us to meet up with Rosinah's family who are on a 3 week vacation in Malaysia. Ros was the one who took all the trouble to show me around Stockholm a few months back but I did not have the time to "repay" her this time around. Sorry Ros but I've been really tied up. Luckily, Chan and Fuzi played host. So how can I not attend?
When we arrived, everyone was busy with briyani and other stuff. I am already full with the day's continuous intake of food so decided to skip the food. Meeting up with my friends was enough,no need for the food. At the end of the whole thing, I only took one kueh and some durian.
The crowd was good. The special guset, Ros was there with her husband and daughter whom I did not meet when I was in Stockholm. From the first batch, Anwar was there with his wife.
The one's from Ros' batch include Izham and Didah who were there with their beautiful daughter. Aminah who took Computer Science together with Ros was there. You can count on Minah to be with us. Syed came with Umi. I still haven't met their daughter, Shahira. Shariff was alone though he had earlier confirmed coming with his wife. Apparently their kids were back home from school for the weekend and Shariff did want to bring them along as he had earlier confirmed coming with the wife only. Knowing Shariff (always the gentleman and being socially correct) he do not want to upset the host. FYI Shariff, I did not even confirm my presence but came with my wife and 3 kids. I hope the hosts are not upset. Syukri was also there alone but he was busy with his new toy, an expensive looking camera. I hope he will upload the photos that he took soon.
Finally, the third batch were represented by Amir and Tipah; Sle and Mawa and Dato' Khalid and Datin and also Dr Rahman who came all the way from Penang. Amir was busy opening up the durians for everyone. I had a good conversation with Dr Rahman but I will not touch on the subject discussed here, maybe later in another posting.
I hope I have not missed anybody. But as I said I have had a long day and was definitely not up to scratch. After slightly more than an hour I had to excuse myself. Actually, I could go on. With my friends, I would always find the energy to hang around but my kids have given me the telling looks more than once. I have to be fair to them too.
Thank you Chan and Fuzi. Thank you everybody for taking the time to meet up. My apologies for being late and going off early. To Ros and family, please accept my sincere apologies for not doing more during your trip here. I'm off to another short trip tomorrow.
Sallam semua.
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