HBO's Place

Hari Raya terakhir

2011-08-26T15:30:00.003+08:00

Bersama Haizir pada Hari Raya 2010

Aidilfitri 1431H merupakan Hari Raya terakhir buat Busu Jalil, suami kepada adik bongsu arwah ibu saya, Busu Lijah. Busu Jalil telah kembali keRahmah Allah pada hari Isnin 22 Ogos 2011 bersamaan 22 Ramadhan 1432H. Allahyarham memang telah lama tidak sihat dan sering keluar dan masuk hospital.

Minggu lepas, sepupu saya memaklumkan kepada saya bahawa Busu Jalil tidak sihat dan berada dirumah anak beliau di Kajang. Saya yang dalam kesibukan (bila agaknya kita tidak sibuk?)tidak sempat menziarah beliau. Malah saya beranggapan akan dapat bertemu beliau semasa Hari Raya yang tinggal tidak berapa hari lagi. Saya sebenarnya lupa bahawa ketentuan Allah tidak mengambil kira perancangan kita.

Akhirnya saya cuma sempat menziarah jenazah beliau pada hari Selasa, 23 Ogos 2011. Syukur juga saya sempat berbuat demikian walaupun terpaksa berhenti dua kali dalam perjalanan Kuala Lumpur ke Melaka dan sekali dalam perjalanan pulang kerana terlalu mengantuk.

AlFatihah untuk Busu Jalil. Semoga dipermudahkan jalan bertemu Pencipta.

A small part of Dubai in Pictures

2011-08-26T14:46:00.005+08:00

Uncle Didi commented in my earlier post why there there was no photos of Dubai. So here goes.

Burj Khalifa (in the background), presently the tallest building in the world

A giant aquarium in Dubai Mall, purportedly the largest mall in the Middle East or was it the world?

Another image of the aquarium

In an area called the "Gold Souq" where there were numerous jewellery shops

A waterfall in the Mall

This was what I had for Iftar in my hotel room

One of the mosques that I went to for my tarawikh prayers

Inside the mosque, after prayers

Outside view of the mosque

The hotel where I stayed in Dubai

At the restaurant where we normally had our Iftar

With my hosts at Iftar

At our Principal's office

Sunrise as seen from the plane just before reaching KLIA

Dubai was too hot when I was there. As such, I only left my hotel when going to the office for my meetings except for the one day that I went to Dubai Mall.

First Ramadhan in Dubai

2011-08-01T16:38:00.002+08:00

It is the first of Ramadhan 1432Hijri and I am in my room at Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai. I arrived yesterday, Sunday, 31 July 2011 for a meeting which was scheduled to take place today. The meeting was however rescheduled for tomorrow as my colleague from Beirut will only arrive later today. Travelling from Lebanon, he needs a visa but being Malaysian, we can just hop onto a plane from KLIA and get into Dubai with no questions asked.

The temperature outside is more than 40C, so I have no intention of walking around in the heat. This trip reminded me of my first trip to Dubai in 2004. I arrived at around 2:00am and the flight captain announced upon our arrival that the outside temperature was 42 degrees C. It really caught me by surprise as I was in a jacket.

Initially I thought I would go to the office for a while today but later decided to do some work in the room instead. The office hours in our Principal's office in Dubai during Ramadhan is between 10:00 am and 3:00pm. Maybe they need the short hours as the temperatures can be uncomfortable.

My hosts have promised to take me to a good Lebanese restaurant for iftar today and I am looking forward to that. Since the restaurant is part of their group, we always have good food and service.

Have a good Ramadhan and May we be Blessed.

For heaven's sake......please

2011-07-19T00:33:00.005+08:00

It is really going to happen. UiTM is going to have an award named after PERKASA's founder, Ibrahim Ali.

Now, I have always had high regards for the graduates of UiTM. In fact I recruited a few of them in my company and they are a credit to the university. Of all the local universities, I think UiTM produces graduates who have the best English proficiency. Closer to home, my wife and daughter were the products of UiTM. Presently my son and a few of his cousins are studying in UiTM campuses all over the country.

To name an award after maybe the most racist Malay in the country is definitely not sending the right message. I feel it is a disgrace to the esteem institution. I am very sure the winner of the award will not be employed by any private company without a political agenda which is in line with the present government. So why would anybody accept an award if it is going to be a liability?

To my son and his cousins, I have this to say:

"For heaven's sake please make sure you do not win this award because it is going to be detrimental to you"

Peristiwa 25 Jun 2011

2011-07-18T11:13:00.004+08:00

Sudah beberapa minggu berlalunya peristiwa yang sangat bersejarah bagi keluarga kami. Hari berlangsungnya majlis resepsi sempena perkahwinan anak sulung kami Nurlina bersama pasangannya Zarizi.

Banyak perkara yang berlaku sebelum dan sesudah peristiwas tersebut. Saya bercita-cita untuk membuat beberapa entri mengenai peristiwa ini tetapi masih belum tercapai.

Untuk permulaan saya memuatnaik satu video yang diambil oleh adik ipar saya, Tuan Haji Zahidi.

Terima kasih Pak Ngah.

Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah

2011-07-05T00:11:00.007+08:00

News from Malaysiakini
4 July 2011

Seventeen Malacca PAS leaders and members have been remanded for three days while they are being investigated under Section 47 of the Societies Act for possession of Bersih T-shirts.

The 17 arrested yesterday at around 2.15pm included state PAS Youth chief Yuhaizad Abdullah, PAS' Jasin division information chief Fauzi Maelah and 15 other party members.

Malacca PAS commissioner Adly Zahari told Malaysiakini about 50 PAS members were engaging in normal activities at Kemendur, Jasin about that time yesterday, when some decided to go back while others stayed behind.

"Those who stayed behind waited for the afternoon prayers and then suddenly 20 policemen raided the markas. The police found some Bersih t-shirts and leaflets. The members do not know how the t-shirts happened to be there and they were certainly not selling them.

"Nevertheless, the police arrested them and are investigating them under Section 47 for being in an unlawful organisation," he said.

Party premises crashed by police

Though yesterday's event was a closed door affair, the authorities raided the PAS premises, Adly said, adding that several women were arrested but later released by the authorities.

"It seems the authorities are phobic over the Bersih rally, but I have to stress here they were neither promoting the rally or selling the T-shirts at that time," he said.

Their lawyer Damian Yeo said the arrest took place around 12.30pm yesterday, according to the police.

"The police also recorded statements from all 17 of them between 5pm to 7pm and, hence, we are puzzled why they need to remand them further. I objected to the police applying to remand them further," he said.

Adly said police applied for four days' remand, but the magistrate only granted three days.

Yeo said those remanded are between 30 and 72 years-old and they will be remanded until Wednesday July 6.

Ya Allah Ya Tuhan kami, Kau berilah kemudahan kepada saudara kami yang teranianya dan kau hancurkan mereka yang menzaliminya.

This post is dedicated to my brother-in-law who was among those arrested.

UPDATE:
I received news from my sister that my brother-in-law and his 16 friends were released by the police today (6 July) without them being charged. I think there are about 30-40 voters within my immediate family. It is my believe that, after this recent incident, at least 95%, if not 100% of these voters will vote against those who are responsible for my brother-in-laws's detention.

Meluat

2011-06-20T23:35:00.002+08:00

Saya tahu yang saya tidak patut membenci atau bersangka buruk kepada sesama makhluk ciptaan Allah kerana segala ciptaan Nya adalah sempurna.

Tetapi ada seorang ahli politik yang saya memang meluat melihat. Tindak tanduk dan kata-katanya seolah-olah meminta supaya saya "membenci"nya.

Saya seorang Melayu tetapi saya tidak pernah melantik saudara memperjuangkan nasib saya. Oleh itu, tolong jangan kaitkan saya dengan apa yang awak laung-laungkan. Saya tidak pernah berniat untuk menjadi tuan atas dasar bangsa saya. Saya juga tidak ingin dikaitkan dengan usaha-usaha saudara.

Sebenarnya saya telah meluat melihat saudara dan mendengar cerita-cerita saudara, so please get out of my sight.

The State of the Nation

2011-06-20T01:17:00.003+08:00

I thought a recent speech by Tengku Razaleigh should be read by the young of the country who may have been led to believe that the government is trying to do something good for the future generations. Because it is given by an UMNO member, it may seem more credible to these "newly recruited government supporters". The same speech given by a DAP or PAS leader may seem unreasonable.

1. Malaysia's post-colonial history began with optimism and a grand hope in 1957. When Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, proclaimed our Independence at the Merdeka Stadium in the unforgettable words that "Malaysia is a parliamentary democracy with an independent judiciary," he had a vision of a happy people in spite of the formidable economic problems we needed to solve. After that dawn of independence, there was a search of how we could achieve this happy society, Fulfilling the needs and aspirations of all Malaysians which was to continue for the Generations to come. He symbolized the concept and conviction of generational responsibility in his vision.
2. Tunku Abdul Rahman and his generation were dedicated leaders, not for power but a sense of duty to the present and the future. They were not in politics for the money or for themselves. Indeed, even after they had assumed power, they never used their position to benefit themselves or their families, nor did they build loyal cronies who would act as their financiers or hold any wealth unlawfully earned at the expense of the people.
3. The guiding philosophy was responsibility of public office. Public office was seen as a duty, not as an opportunity. The public office was also part of their sense of political commitment to create a Malaysia that was fair, just, cohesive, and balanced. This was combined by a deep conviction of generational responsibility for those who would come after them.
4. One of the greatest losses in public life and in politics today in Malaysia is that loss of generational responsibility. Everything seems to be surrounded by greed and the desire to be billionaires. This had led to a pyramid of cronies within the incumbent political parties and their associates in business. It is this combination of the hierarchy of political cronies and business cronies that led to the centralization of power in the incumbent political leadership and in the office of the Prime Minister.
5. This power in one individual allowed the manipulation of the political system; I mean by this the institutions of power including the media. In exchange for the centralization of power greed and self-interest was encouraged by example and in the guise of racial loyalty deserving rewards. This is the case in all the parties within the power structure. This state of affairs is one of the most dangerous and difficult to dismantle because there has been three decades of centralized power.
6. The political style that has dominated in these lost three decades has been "double-think" and "double-talk". One of the features which is alarming in this plan to maintain status quo is the encouragement covertly of racial and religious obscurantism. The underlying theme was a policy of using a balance of racialism and religion on the one hand and talks of unity on the other hand in order to make the people hostage to the status quo of power. As a result, racialism and racial concerns seem to have a grip on all aspects of our lives, in politics, economics, education and employment, irrespective of the present reality which has got nothing to do with race or religion. We are deliberately made to feel that we are hostage to these forces.
7. Freedom of speech and expression of our political concerns to change the atmosphere are restrained by how it will be interpreted by those who want to deny us the right to differ. Article 10 of the Constitution which guarantees this freedom is almost non-existence or subject to fear of retaliation or defamation. Legal suits intended to silence legitimate concerns of public responsibility are increasingly used. Unfortunately, our judicial system has forgotten the fundamental importance of Article 10 to the democratic life of Malaysia. Common sense seems to have been taken out of the law.
8. On the economic front, income inequality in Malaysia has widened. Some studies suggest that Malaysia's inequality is wider than Thailand's or Indonesia's. Historically, the concern was about ownership and control of the economy. It was the view of some that if ownership was de-racialized or balanced at the top, economic justice would follow. It is no longer a valid premise for the future. Income inequality is no longer a problem between races; it crosses the racial divide and it is a problem of the majority of Malaysians who feel the pressure of inflation in almost every essential aspect of their lives, challenging their wellbeing of themselves, their families, and their future. Today and the in the near future, this is the most serious challenge we face. It is not an easy challenge to overcome. It is a time when Malaysia needs leadership of the highest quality and of those who have the moral courage to change and re-think our economic policies.
9. It is in these circumstances that we face the serious problem of rising food prices, inflation in price of houses compounded by shortage in housing for the vast majority of young Malaysians. Lack of economic expansion to give all levels an opportunity to use their talents to seek work that is commensurate with their contribution, their needs of daily life, and to narrow the inequality gap, is the threat of the future. Therefore, we should be concerned about the justification of the removal of subsidies that affects the low income because that will further widen the inequality and open the society to social disorder and disintegration, and increase social in cohesion. It is in this context that I raise the issue about Independent Power Production Companies (IPP). The privatization contracts are today protected by the Official Secrets Act, and therefore we are unable to really know whether or not the public and PETRONAS, as trustees of the public, are directly or indirectly subsidizing these companies and the tycoons who are benefitting at the expense of the public.
10. Related to the question of the withdrawal of subsidies is the deficit that the Government suffers from in managing the economy. This question cannot be separated from the way that the Government has managed the nation's finances. If the deficit is as a result of wastage, corruption and extravagance in the use of public funds, then the solution to the problem should not be passed on to the public. What is needed is a reexamination of the management of the country's finances before taking any drastic steps that would affect the well-being of the people. We need to know the reality behind the apparent subsidies that are given to the public and its relationship in the totality of the management of the public finance. Only after we know the truth – and the whole truth – should any change in the policy of subsidies be implemented, as the consequences would have life-changing impact on the livelihood of the people. In the circumstances of rising inflation in food, stagnation of the economy and income, we should not do anything that would widen the disparity of income which would cause social instability.
11. The challenge today is for the return to generational responsibility in politics and public office. This can only be achieved if we have democracy and parliamentary power which is responsible. Democracy was the basis of the founding of the state of Malaysia by the Constitution in 1957. When it was briefly suspended in 1969, the leaders of that generation were uneasy, and they restored democracy as soon as possible.
12. That is because they realized that democracy has an intrinsic value in creating a citizenship that is not made up of sheep but of responsible citizens. Only responsible citizenship that understands democracy can bring about stability, cohesion and economic prosperity. During those days, it was ingrained in that generation of leaders that democracy was not only a form but a value system that respected the essential institutions of democracy like the independence of judiciary, the supremacy of parliament subject to the Constitution, the respect for fundamental rights, and free speech. They also understood the meaning and primacy of the rule of law and not of men. They also knew that democracy is the common heritage of humanity that we inherited and have a duty to continue. The law that they understood was also from the common heritage of all civilized nations.
13. And one of our inheritances is the common law system of the rule of law which is enshrined in our constitution. They knew that the phrase "common law" meant the wisdom that is passed to us in the progress of law and the values that are encapsulated in the law governing public office and responsibility to society. That laws are meant to enhance democracy and freedom but not to maintain and continue political power that is inconsistent with the rule of law and the constitution.
14. Independence did not come with peace but with very difficult problems, particularly the management of the economy and transforming it to bring about a balance between all the racial groups. They realize that some of their problems had roots in the history of Malaysia. There was a serious imbalance between the countryside and the urban sector with racial dimensions which were too sharp. Indeed, poverty was also quite prevalent. There were open discussions and experiments.
15. Some of you may remember that one of the highlights of public debate was organized at the University of Malaya under the title, "The Great Economic Debate" every year. That disappeared with the changes in the University & Colleges Act and the decline of Universities' autonomy. The search was to eradicate a sense of inequality between the various peoples of Malaysia, whether because of one's identity and social origins, or for other reasons.
16. It was as part of this search that during Tun Abdul Razak's time, the Second Malaysia Plan was launched in 1971. We need to be reminded of the objective of that plan:
"National unity is the over-riding objective of the country. A stage has been reached in the nation's economic and social development where greater emphasis must be placed on social integration and more equitable distribution of income and opportunities for national unity."
17. That dream was slowly eroded from the mid-1980. The hope that we had at that time is now challenged in the most serious way.
18. Recently, PETRONAS announced that it had made a 90.5 billion pre-tax profit. If we accumulate the profit of PETRONAS over the years, it would come to a mind-boggling figure of billions and billions. Yet, the greatest poverty is found in the petroleum producing states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Sarawak, and Sabah. This moral inconsistency in a way exemplifies how the nation's economy is mismanaged and how the institutions set up in the 1970's have lost their objective and commitment to solving the immediate and pressing problems of the nation.
19. PETRONAS was set up with the objective of serving the nation's interest as a priority. It was never intended to give PETRONAS a life of its own as an incorporated company for selected individuals to profit at the expense of the national interest, nor was it the objective to allow PETRONAS a cooperate existence independent of national interest. 20. What is needed is for institutions like PETRONAS is to have a national focus rather than maintain a multinational status. The aim of making PETRONAS a multinational cooperation at the expense of national interest is contrary to the Petroleum Development Act. PETRONAS should have a Petroleum Advisory Council to advise the Prime Minister on the operation of the law as well as the management and utilization of its resources as spelt out in the Petroleum Development Act.
21. Another example of the abuse of power is the privatization of certain government institutions which were set up as a public service to serve the people. Bernas is one example of a privatization of an essential commodity as a monopoly for a group of people and owned partially by two companies in Hong Kong. An essential commodity such as rice should not have been privatized for business purposes. We are the only rice producing country that has privatized and given as a monopoly to one company the importation and distribution of all rice products.
22. The reality today is Thailand and Indonesia are self-sufficient in rice and we are dependent on 30% of imported rice. But because it is a monopoly, imported rice is cheaper in Singapore than Malaysia. Privatization for the benefit of private individuals to profit from such an essential commodity is a clear abuse of power. It would not have happened in those days. But with the centralization of power in the office of the prime Minister who had the party under his absolute control, anything was possible!
23. I will suggest to you that there was a deliberate plan to centralize power in the leadership in a surreptitious manner. Unfortunately the nature of racial politics blinded us of the reality behind certain policies and conduct of leaders at that time. The decline of democracy, the abuse of power, and the mismanagement of our economy and the nation's finances, the economic waste, the lack of national cohesion in our economic policies led to the flight of capital in the region of RM880 billion over the years from the 1980s. That was the beginning the lost decades and the full impact of the consequences of the economic policies which has continued since then, is yet to have its full impact on our national lives. And when it does the consequences are unpredictable.
24. The centralization of power in the office of the Prime Minister and the Attorney general had a major role in this state of affairs. The challenge today is to reverse the centralization of power and restore the check and balance of a genuine democracy.
25. We need to reclaim as citizens of Malaysia our rights in a democracy; that power and authority are positions of trust and responsibility, not to serve personal interest or as an opportunity for personal enrichment. We need to reassert as politically active and responsible citizens the concept of social obligation and public service in those who seek political office. Power is duty, NOT a prize.
26. We need to rethink our economic policies. Particularly in the focusing on the national objectives that are urgent; economic policies is not only about wealth creation but needs to have a moral dimension which takes into account the wellbeing of all citizens as the ultimate priority over profits.
27. I have given you a broad sweep of the past and a bird's eye view of the looming problems of managing our economy as it is today. I hope this will open a dialogue which benefits all of us.

Sham Kamikaze

2011-05-27T12:55:00.003+08:00

Saya terjumpa video ini di blog Dr. Mohd Asri. Cuma ingin berkongsi berita dan semoga mendapat menafaat.

Aizat Goes to UiTM

2011-05-21T22:28:00.011+08:00

Just arrived at UiTM Bkt Mertajam
After Friday prayers yesterday, our whole family left for Penang. I thought we had completed our regular trips to the northern part of the country once Aizat completed his SPM, last December, after two years at MRSM Kepala Batas. But it looks like the almost 350km journeys (one way) is set to continue for another 3 years. Nak dapat menantu anak mami agaknya :-)
Aizat with the UiTM dress code in the poster

I was very tardy in making our hotel bookings so we had to settle for a 2-star hotel in Juru. But the rooms were alright and the rates reasonable. We had mee udang Sungai Dua for dinner (after a lapse of almost six months).
Afiq, Hani and Mama in front of Aizat's Kolej Baiduri

We left the hotel for UiTM quite early to make sure we reach it by 8:30am, the scheduled time the registration is to start. We arrived on time but there are already quite a crowd. As usual, for every student there was about 4 or 5 others sending them off. I was told by the seniors helping out with the registration (who are an enthusiastic lot) that they are expecting 2,000 new students today and another 2,000 tomorrow. So you can imagine the crowd. But I must say everything looks very well organized and things seemed to proceed rather smoothly.

Actually, it was not much of a registration exercise. They were only giving out hostel room keys today. The actual academic registration will only take place tomorrow (in the absence of the parents). I thought that was a very good idea. Normally, it is the parents who will be "creating the trouble" and making things difficult. Without the parents I am sure it will be much easier for the seniors to "manage" the freshies.
Mama making enquiries from a senior on duty
The room is for four people but look at the number of "helpers". No wonder it gets heated up in there

There was a bit of problem with the room when Aizat was given a room with 5 people in it when there was only 4 beds. It was not a big issue for me as it must have been a genuine mistake when the spare key to the room was also given out. But one of the mothers who came in earlier tried to sound unhappy towards us. When I told one of the seniors about this mistake he immediately rectified it and allotted Aizat another room next to it. I thought it was better for Aizat as his "new" roommates and their parents seems more friendly. The seniors kept apologizing for their mistake and I kept telling them not to worry about it.
Pust Islam UiTM Penang in the background, just about 100m from Kolej Baiduri

There is something interesting about Aizat's roommates. There was Ariff, Afiq and Amir besides Aizat in the room. My wife told them that we had all our sons plus a nephew in the room. All of them are taking Diploma in Mechanical Engineering.
Aizat's roommates from Room 430B flanked by fathers of Afiq and Aizat

We left UiTM Penang at 3:30pm. Actually we were asked to leave by the seniors since they were about to start their program and do not want the parents to be hanging around. We went to our car but only left the compound after the boys marched out from their hostel compound,
Saying goodbyes

We reached home at around 9:00pm after dinner and prayers. Good luck Aizat. May Allah's Blessings are with you always.

Its tough being an MU Fan

2011-05-10T11:01:00.006+08:00

The deciding match of the BPL season was played last Sunday between Manchester United, the team I have been supporting since the early 70s when George Best was playing for them and Chelsea, the team bankrolled by Russian petro dollars.

Frankly, it was not much of a match but more of a game to showcase the capabilities of the champions in waiting. A first goal when the match was only 36 seconds old ensured that the Old Trafford faithful were in for a treat. With Park Ji Sung in the form of his life, winning balls and intercepting them at will and Antonio Valencia terrorising the right flank, it was just a matter of time before United score again. And they did it again in the 23rd minute when captain Nemanja Vidic headed home a goal from the evergreen Ryan Giggs.

Going into half time with a two goal lead looks like enough. At the restart United continued with its attacking ways and they are at their best playing this way. It therefore made me wonder why they were so defensive in the FA Cup semifinal against neighbours City a few weeks ago and against Arsenal last week. The chances continued to flow but nobody seems wanting to score the third goal and secure the proverbial final nail to Chelsea's coffin. Even Howard Webb whom some would say is a fan of United, decided to make live miserable for United fans. He brushed aside what looks like two perfectly justifiable penalty claims.

When Lampard stuck his foot to steer a header from Alex to score a goal with just over 20 minutes of play left, the United fans began to feel "Here we go again". The TV people must be the most ardent fans of United this season. After all which team ensures that the fans are glued to their TV sets until the final whistle is blown. United just refused to win (or for that matter lose) any game with more than 20 left on the clock.

As Sir Alex Ferguson said after the match:

"We should have been out of sight. But that is the nature of Manchester United. We take it to the wire all the time. We give these poor souls in the stands heart attacks. They are sitting on the edge of their seats and biting their nails. I was one of them."

It may not be mathematically over yet but I am looking forward for them to end the season next week when they play against Blackburn. I really hope they do not prolong this agony by waiting for the final game of the season against Blackpool at Old Trafford to secure the one point they needed just to take it to the wire, again.

It is tough being an MU fan. Apart from having to endure the final minutes of every game before securing the vital points we have to put up with the taunts from disgruntled Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and City fans who are so frustrated that their teams still cannot do better than a "mediocre United team". I am already preparing for the encounter with Barcelona at Wembley at the end of the month when the best team in England play against the so-called best team in the world.

Travelog Hidup Insan Biasa-Biasa

2011-05-03T23:23:00.010+08:00

Bersama Prof. Kamil dan isteri beliau Pn. Roza

Pesta Buku 2011 sangat istimewa buat saya kerana dapat berjumpa seorang insan biasa yang luar biasa. Saya mula "mengenali" Prof. Dr. Muhd. Kamil Ibrahim beberapa hari sebelum saya mengerjakan ibadat haji pada tahun 2008. Buku Travelog Haji beliau dihadiahkan oleh adik saya untuk bekalan menunaikan haji. Saya dan isteri sebenarnya tidak langsung mengikuti kursus haji bersiri yang diadakan dibanyak masjid. Kami cuma menghadiri kursus haji Perdana di masjid Shah Alam. Itu pun cuma disebelah siang, malamnya kami balik kerumah.
Berjumpa dengan adik saya yang datang dari Melaka

Ternyata buku Prof. Kamil banyak membantu saya di Mekah walaupun buku tersebut tidak menyentuh tentang hukum dan rukun haji secara detail. Ia banyak mengajar saya menjadi "street smart" dalam mengerjakan ibadat. Tetapi apa lebih menyentuh hati saya ialah transformasi seorang Hamba Allah yang biasa kepada yang luar biasa. Ia sangat releven kerana majoriti manusia, termasuk saya, tergolong dalam kategori biasa ini. Saya sangat cemburu dan berdoa agar dapat meningkat ketahap yang lebih dari biasa walaupun bukan luar biasa. Apabila saya membca buku kedua Prof. Kamil yang banyak menyentuh tentang pengalaman beliau di UiTM Segamat, saya terasa yang beliau telah membuat satu "quantum leap" dalam perjalanan hidup beliau sedangkan saya masih ditahap lama.
Adik dan anak buah bersama Prof. Kamil

Mungkin saya silap mengkategorikan Prof. Kamil sebagai manusia biasa kerana beliau sebenarnya tidak biasa. Beliau dikurniakan kepintaran dan bakat dalam banyak bidang sehingga tidak langsung menghadapi masaalah lulus dengan cemerlang dalam mendapat Diploma, Ijazah, Sarjana dan juga PhD. Beliau kemudian menjadi Prof. termuda di UiTM dan sangat rajin menghasilkan buku dan rencana ilmiah. Cuma sebagai Hamba Allah beliau manusia biasa (mengikut pengakuan beliau sendiri). Jika diamati perjalanan hidup beliau tidak jauh beza dari perjalanan hidup saya dan malah ribuan orang lain. Itu yang biasanya.

Apa yang luar biasa ialah beliau dikurniakan anugerah yang amat berharga oleh Allah swt. untuk berhijrah ketahap yang lebih mulia disisiNya. Tetapi jika beliau boleh mengapa kita tidak boleh? Ramai yang bermula ditahap yang lebih tinggi dari beliau tetapi terus statik ditahap tersebut. (Mungkin saya sebenarnya tergolong dalam kelompok ini). Kisah hidup dan kejayaan beliau ingin saya jadikan "benchmark" untuk diri saya. Mungkin saya tidak akan naik setinggi beliau, tetapi memadai jika saya dapat mencapai tahap tertinggi yang "sepatutnya" saya sampai. Saya cemburu dengan beliau dan amat berharap untuk menjadikan beliau sebagai pengerak diri.

Majlis pelancaran buku Prof. Kamil yang terbaru, "50 Tips Haji dan Umrah", meninggalkan kesan yang mendalam pada diri saya. Alunan nasyid dan zikir oleh Imam Masjid UiTM Segamat menyebabkan saya sebak dan menitiskan air mata. Ucapan bersahaja oleh Dato' Zakee, sahabat Prof. Kamil di UiTM Dungun, memberi saya satu harapan bahawa masih ada jutawan yang terus berpijak dibumi nyata dan tidak leka dengan kejayaan dunia yang sebenarnya ujian dari Allah. Turut dilancarkan ialah buku Travelog Impian Abadi oleh isteri Prof. Kamil, Puan Roza. Terima kasih kepada Dato' Zakee yang menghadiahkan kedua-dua buah buku kepada semua yang hadir pada majlis pelancaran tersebut.
Dato' Zakee yang melancarkan buku Prof Kamil dan Pn. Roza

Majlis yang bermula tepat pada masa melupakan saya bahawa saya telah berada di PWTC mulai pukul 11:00 pagi, menunggu di depan pintu bilik Johor yang ketika itu dipenuhi oleh pelukis komik. Saya juga lupa bahawa saya cuma makan tengahari pada pukul 4:00 petang, itu pun cuma rojak dan cendol yang tak berapa sedap. Tetapi ia pengalaman yang tidak mungkin saya lupa.
Mendapatkan autograf dari Prof. Kamil

Saya masih belum mula membaca buku Prof. Kamil yang terkini tetapi saya telah menghabiskan masa 3 jam pada hari Ahad lepas untuk membaca 257 mukasurat, tidak termasuk 5 mukasurat Prolog dan 4 mukasurat Catatan Pengarang, buku yang ditulis oleh Puan Roza yang sebenarnya kisah cinta beliau dengan Prof. Kamil. Ia menceritakan bagaimana seorang senior yang mempunyai banyak kelebihan (bijak, ahli pidato, ketua pelajar) telah berjaya menggoda seorang freshie yang masih naif (baru lepas sekolah menengah, pertama kali berjauhan dari keluarga) tetapi ia dilakukan dalam kerangka yang terkawal dan niat yang baik maka akhirnya mendapat Redha Allah swt.
Isteri, anak, adik dan anak buah bersama Jawa Banting yang juga tuan punya PTS
Dunia ini mempunyai berbilion penghuni tetapi berapa ramai yang berjaya menjadi signifikan dalam hidup? Kalau pun tidak untuk orang lain tetapi signifikan kepada diri sendiri dan mereka yang terdekat. Prof. Kamil pada saya telah menjadi signifikan kepada ramai orang termasuk saya. Tulisan di blog beliau di
http://muhdkamil.org/blog/ saya ikuti setiap ada kelapangan. Ia memberi motivasi untuk saya membuat yang terbaik buat diri saya dan manusia yang terdekat dengan saya.

Tidak lama lagi Prof Kamil dan keluarga akan terus menaiki tahap yang lebih tinggi dan signifikan apabila mereka berhijrah ke Madinah. Bukankah junjungan Nabi kita juga berhijrah ke Madinah? Semoga hijrah beliau akan menambah lagi sumbangan beliau kepada penambahan ilmu dan pengalaman untuk kita semua. Kita doakan Prof. Kamil sekeluarga sentiasa diberi kemudahan dalam segala urusan.

Pesta Buku 2011

2011-05-03T16:19:00.008+08:00

Saya semakin yakin bahawa orang Melayu memang suka berpesta. Sebab itu pameran dan jualan buku tahunan diberi nama Pesta Buku Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur. Setiap tahun semakin ramai orang Melayu yang datang berpesta. Pada anggaran saya, mungkin 90% dari pengunjung pesta buku adalah orang Melayu.

Sebenarnya saya patut rasa bangga kerana begitu ramai orang Melayu yang berhasrat untuk menimba ilmu dengan membaca buku. Lebih-lebih lagi apabila kita melihat begitu ramai pelajar sekolah yang turut hadir dari seluruh pelusuk Semenanjung. Tetapi saya sangat-sangat berharap ada pihak yang membuat analisis terperinci tentang pembelian yang dibuat oleh pengunjung-pegunjung yang begitu ramai. Apa jenis buku yang mereka beli dan apakah kesan yang boleh diraih dari pembacaan mereka dengan pembelian tersebut.

Walaupun demikian, kita berharap budaya membaca (tanpa mengira jenis bacaan) akan menjadi penggalak untuk mereka lebih tertarik kepada pembacaan berbentuk ilmiah dimasa akan datang. Seperti biasa, gerai-gerai yang popular seperti Karangkraf dan penerbit majalah popular sentiasa dikerumuni pengunjung sehingga tidak boleh bergerak kita dibuatnya. Saya langsung tidak singgah di gerai-gerai tersebut kerana terlalu sesak.

Apa yang menarik perhatian saya juga ialah kecenderungan pengunjung kepada gerai-gerai yang menjual buku-buku agama seperti gerai PTS, Telaga Biru, Ana Muslim dan beberapa lagi. Saya yakin kesedaran orang ramai terhadap agama semakin mendalam walaupun kita sering melihat dan mendengar tentang kegiatan maksiat yang
berleluasa.

Tahun hadapan jika saya ada kesempatan untuk ke Pesta Buku, saya akan mengambil cuti dan pergi pada hari bekerja dan bukan hujung minggu. Semoga saya ingat pesanan saya sendiri.

Terima Kasih

2011-04-25T17:22:00.005+08:00

Malam tadi adik saya yang "paling berani" dengan saya menalipon saya tetapi saya berada dimasjid dan tidak membawa telefon. Apabila saya perasan miss call tersebut, malam sudah agak lewat walaupun saya tidor lagi lewat kerana menonton BPL dan meraikan kekalahan pasukan yang disokong oleh adik bongsu saya, Arsenal.

Jadi pagi ini, dalam perjalanan ke pejabat, saya menalipon adik saya yang berani tu.

Saya: Assallamualaikum. Ada call semalam?
Adik: Waalaikumasallam. Ada.
Saya: Ada apa?
Adik: Takder apa-apa. Cuma adik2 Along semua bertanya saya bila Along nak panggil meeting nak bincang majlis walimah Lina.
Saya: Kan Along dah kata, Agenda mesyuarat belum siap. Macamana nak panggil meeting tanpa agenda.
Adik: Tu ler. Semua adik2 dan anak2 buah Along nak tahu apa kerja mereka pada hari tersebut. Makcik pun asyik tanya apasal kami tak tolong Along.
Saya: Nanti bila dah bersedia Along panggil meeting.
Adik: Saya kat Kelang semalam, semua orang tanya sebab tu call. Yang lain semua tak mahu call Along.
Saya: Apa pasal dia orang tak mahu call?
Adik: Mereka kata saya Setiausaha keluarga, so saya kena call.

Disini, saya nak ucapkan berbanyak terima kasih kepada semua adik-adik dan anak-anak buah saya yang tak sabar-sabar nak menolong saya dalam menjayakan walimah anak sulung saya yang InsyaAllah akan dilangsungkan pada 25 Jun 2011. Majlis pernikahan akan diadakan pada hari Jumaat, 24 Jun.

Sebenarnya memang belum bersedia nak panggil meeting sebab masih banyak perkara yang belum diputuskan. Saya pulak semakin sibuk dengan kerja. Isteri pun dah mula risau.

InsyaAllah dengan doa adik2 dan anak2 buah, semuanya akan dipermudahkan oleh Allah swt. Saya berasa amat bersyukur kerana mempunyai saudara mara yang amat perihatin dengan masaalah saya. Terima kasih semua.

Barakallahu lakuma, wa baraka alaikumaa wa jamaa bainakuma fi khair

"Semoga Allah memberi barakah bagi kamu dan memberkati keluarga kamu, dan mengumpulkan kamu dalam kebaikan dan kepada kebaikan."

Hong Kong 2011

2011-04-20T22:13:00.008+08:00

I went to Hong Kong for a few days at the end of April to attend a Conference and also took the opportunity to meet with our Principals to discuss several outstanding matters.

Nothing much to write but I just like to share some photos that I took while there.

The last time I was in Hong Kong we had lunch of dim sum at Ammar mosque and I enjoyed it very much. So this time, I insisted that we visit the same place again. I took some photos but I did not take any of the dim sum. Maybe I was too busy enjoying the food to even remember taking photos.

We also made a courtesy visit to the Malaysian High Commission in Hong Kong.

The rest of our time was spent mostly at the exhibition hall.

The Popeyes outlet at Hong Kong airport serves Halal food.

Resting

2011-04-20T12:07:00.002+08:00

It has definitely been a long while since my last post. There were times when I wonder if I will even continue with this though deep inside me I really want it to continue.

A lot has happened since my last post. Work has kept me busy. In fact there have been too many short trips over the past two weeks. I was in Hong Kong for a few days attending a conference. Then there were 3 two days trips each to Sandakan, Jakarta and Miri in quick succession. These trips have taken its toll on me. I am now down with cough, cold and a terrible headache, resting at home. In fact I am feeling all my 53 years at this point in time but I need to see the doctor to get some medicine.

I will stop here and maybe make another post later in the day if I am up to it. At least I have got the whole thing started again.

First Post of 2011

2011-02-11T23:52:00.005+08:00

It is already mid February and this is my first post of 2011. I must have been really busy but the sad truth is that I have been plain lazy.

I still have not managed to blog about my Travelog that I had planned earlier. They (you see I had this grand vision that there will be a few episodes) could ultimately be "time-barred". But I still have high hopes that they will finally see the liht of day and find their way to this blog. Any way, this entry was "forced" so that I finally managed to "break the ice" so to speak and make an entry in 2011.

The last 2 days (Wednesday and Thursday) I attended a course for Secretaries of mosques in Selangor, organised by ILDAS (Institut Latihan dan Dakwah Selangor). The place is located in Sabak Bernam more than 130km away from Kelana Jaya. It took me more than 2 hours to reach there despite consistently breaking the speed limit.

It was a useful course especially for those that have just been recently made secretaries for mosques in Selangor but the majority of the participants are "otais" and I am not too sure whether they benefited a lot. But I still feel it was a brave effort by JAIS to improve the professionalism of mosque management in Selangor.

BTW it may be worth noting that all mosques Management Committees in Selangor have been assigned KPIs to achieve since the second half of 2010. And here I am, still struggling with my efforts to implement KPIs in my office.

Travelog 2010 - Kuala Trengganu (Last Post of 2010)

2010-12-31T22:25:00.009+08:00

It is the New Year again. 2010 is coming to an end and we welcome 2011 in a few hours. Me and my whole family are currently in Kuala Trengganu as part of Phase 2 of our cuti-cuti Malaysia 2010. It is also our youngest daughter, Nurhani's, birthday.

We arrived yesterday after spending a night in Cherating but cannot travel much as my Naza Ria has other plans. It started springing a leak of engine oil which I realized along the way from Cherating. We stopped at a workshop in Dungun but was not able to rectify it as it requires about half a day work. I continued my journey with 8 liters of engine oil to top up along the way. I have used up 4 liters just for the journey from Dungun and some traveling within Kuala Trengganu.

As it is Friday today, no workshop is open. So I have to wait till tomorrow. Hopefully the problem can be resolved by mid-day so we can start our journey back to KL. I'm going to miss the wedding of Zahari's daughter and a neighbour's son's engagement.

We can plan but He(Allah swt) is the Master Planner and we have to believe that His plans are the best for us. However, most of the times, we fail to realize and appreciate His plans for us and start assigning blame to everyone.

This will be the last post for 2010. Here's hoping that 2011 will be more productive for This Place. Happy Birthday Hani and Happy New Year to all.

Travelog 2010 - Preamble

2010-12-30T09:13:00.009+08:00

I have always wanted to travel the country at my leisure, with my whole family. It was actually a tough assignment meeting the 3 basic requirements:

1. Travel the whole country
2. At leisure
3. With my whole family

After a rather tough year a work, I decided to force myself into doing this in 2010 and started to plan things in my mind as early as Hari Raya this year though I did not tell anybody yet.

I started with telling my boss that I will away from the office from mid December until early 2011. I then told my family about my plans and asked them to prepare an itinerary that will take us throughout Peninsular Malaysia for about two weeks. It was supposed to be a "free and easy" trip. So, no advance booking of accommodation and the like which will forced us to reach a certain place at a certain time.

To make the trip more meaningful, I told them that we will try to stop, pray and take photos at as many mosques as possible, visit a few orphanages, old folks homes and religious schools besides visiting the normal tourist attractions.

We are almost set when my eldest daughter, Nurlina, told us that she only managed to get a week's leave instead of the two she applied for. So, the first change of plans. Then we realised that we have received so many wedding invitations on every weekend in December. Some are from our close neighbours which we cannot afford to skip. So, we decided to break our travels into two phases, divided by the weekend where we can attend some weddings and also pick up Nurlina for the second phase.

We are now all set.

We left our house for the first phase on Sunday, 19th December, after attending a wedding reception and headed for Ipoh. Actually, I myself was not sure where we will be putting up the night when we left the house. There was no fixed plans, just a list giving phone numbers of hotels and addresses of orphanages in the states of Perak, Kedah, Perlis, Penang and Selangor.

This posting is the preamble to a series of postings (InsyaAllah) about our trip which took place in the last 12 days of 2010.

AFF Cup Final - First Leg

2010-12-27T02:10:00.008+08:00

Sudah lama saya tidak menonton bola yang melibatkan Malaysia secara langsung di Stadium, entah berapa tahun saya pun tak ingat. Hari ini saya bersama anak-anak saya, Ahmad Afiq dan Ahmad Aizat telah pergi ke Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil untuk menonton permainan akhir pertama Piala AFF. Sebenarnya Ahmad Afiq telah sejak perlawanan separuh akhir menentang Vietnam mengajak saya untuk ke stadium. Memandang kan ini perlawanan akhir, saya pun bersetuju.

Kami bertolak agak awal dari rumah, sekitar 5:30 petang dan meletakkan kereta di Jalan TAR KL untuk menaiki STAR LRT ke Bukit Jalil. Pada waktu itu pun LRT sudah sesak membuat kami berpeluh sebelum sampai di stadium. Kami terus mencari tempat duduk di stadium yang telah lebih 50% dipenuhi peminat bola. Ramai juga penyokong Indonesia. Mereka ditempatkan berasingan dengan penonton Malaysia. Sebelum permainan bermula kami solat maghrib secara berselerak di sekitar stadium dan tidak di surau. Alhamdullillah ramai juga yang bersolat, tetapi saya rasa lebh ramai yang tidak bersolat.

Permainan bermula tepat pukul 8:00 malam. Malaysia bermain baik sekali walaupun diwakili oleh pemain-pemain muda yang nyata kurang pengalaman diperingkat antarabangsa. Tidak seperti pasukan Malaysia beberapa tahun yang lalu pasukan ini bijak mengawal permainan. Walaupun Malaysia berjaya mencipta beberapa peluang, separuh masa pertama tamat dengan tiada jaringan.

Diseparuh masa kedua Malaysia terus mengawal permainan. Tetapi dalam satu counter attack, Indonesia telah berjaya memasukkan bola dalam gol Malaysia tetapi tidak dikira kerana ada pemain Indonesia yang off-side. Setelah kira-kira 15 minit permainan separuh masa kedua, pengadil menghentikan permainan dan seolah-olah mahu meninggalkan padang. Permainan terhenti buat beberapa minit. Akhirnya permainan diteruskan. Tidak lama kemudian skrin besar di stadium menyiarkan rayuan supaya penonton tidak menggunakan lampu laser yang boleh mengganggu pemain. Jika tidak permainan boleh di tangguhkan.

Selepas permainan diteruskan Malaysia seolah-olah mendapat semangat baru dan berjaya menjaringkan tiga gol tanpa balas. Walaupun pemain Malaysia dipadang bermain dengan baik, terdapat segelintir penonton yang berkelakuan buruk dan tidak matang. Mereka mencampak barang-barang ke padang dan juga membakar mercun. Ada yang sampai kepadang dan boleh mengganggu permainan. Pasukan polis simpanan (FRU) cuma melihat dan mengambil gambar.

Akhirnya Malaysia menang 3 gol tanpa balas. Permainan timbal balaas akan diadakan di Jakarta pada hari Rabu nanti.

Graduasi Aizat

2010-11-06T21:39:00.009+08:00

Today is Aizat's Official Graduation Day even though he still has a major exam, SPM, coming up in a few weeks. In my time we only graduate from college. Nowadays, our children graduate after Forms Three and Five. Come to think of it they started "graduating" when they complete kindergarten.

Anyway MRSM have this elaborate tradition of graduating their students after major exams. I first experienced it when our son, Arif, "graduated" from MRSM Kuala Kubu Baru six or seven years ago. Actually, it may not be a bad idea to have this as it provides the students with something to look forward to at the end of their secondary studies.

It was a grand occasion graced by the ADUN of Pinang Tunggal (It actually reminded me of the late P. Ramlee's Negeri Pinang Sebatang in his movie Nujum Pak Belalang). I wonder how a politician (an opposition politician in Penang, at that) can be allowed to do the honours when a politician from the state ruling party cannot be invited to similar functions, but that is another story.

Aizat may not have managed to get first class (CGPA of more than 3.5 for the duration of his studies in MRSM) but I am still happy for him as he got second class upper and is ranked among the top third in the whole graduating class. I hope he will do better in his SPM. I know he is capable if only he puts his mind to it. I am also glad that his teachers are also happy with him.

After the Graduasi, the school held a "Solat Hajat" at the surau. We stayed in Sungai Petani for the night and will be heading back to KL tomorrow.

A Hiatus?

2010-10-27T11:02:00.003+08:00

I'm taking a break from this Place. Hopefully, it is not a lengthy one.

Diari Aidilfitri 1431H : Episod 5 - Trip to Penang

2010-09-22T13:26:00.011+08:00

Seperti biasa selepas cuti panjang sekolah, saya akan menghantar anak saya, Aizat, balek ke asrama di MRSM Kepala Batas. Walaupun beliau dikehendaki balik pada hari Ahad, kami bertolak pada hari Sabtu supaya saya tidak perlu pergi dan balik pada hari yang sama. Dah tua-tua ni rasa tak berapa larat nak drive for too long without sufficient rest.

Saya menggunakan masa yang ada untuk menziarah kawan-kawan yang tinggal di perjalanan kami. Rumah pertama yang saya singgah ialah rumah Major(B) Jamil Mohd Nor. Beliau adalah kawan sekolah semasa saya di Melaka High School pada tahun 70an dulu. Sudah beberapa kali saya cuba singgah dirumah beliau sebelum ini tetapi tidak berkesempatan kerana jadual kami yang tidak selari. Kali ini saya berjaya. Rumah Jamil terletak di pinggir pekan Batu Gajah. Beliau yang bersara dari perkhidmatan tentera pada tahun 2006 kini menjadi pengurus Pusat Giatmara.

Telah agak lama juga saya tidak berjumpa Jamil walaupun kami sesekali ada berkomunikasi di blog saya atau melalui telefon. Jamil adalah seorang sporstman semasa di sekolah. Pelari jarak dekat yang disegani dan pemain ragbi yang digeruni. Ciri-ciri sportsman didalam diri beliau masih terserlah, badan yang cukup fit and slim. Walaupun saya dan Jamil cuma sempat bersama di sekolah selama 4 tahun kerana beliau telah berpindah ke Royal Military College (RMC) selepas LCE, kami mempunyai beberapa "defining moments" yang kami tidak lupa seperti menonton wayang cheap matinee dan cerita Hindustan bersama. Selepas makan mee yang disediakan oleh isteri Jamil kami berangkat ke Ipoh untuk kerumah sepupu isteri saya di Jelapang. Malangnya beliau tidak ada di rumah.

Kami terus ke Kepala Batas dan check-in di Seri Malaysia. Selepas itu kami bertolak ke Pulau Pinang menaiki feri. Kami makan malam di Nasi Kandar Line Clear atas permintaan Aizat. Selepas makan, saya ke rumah Prof. Madya Dr Rahman Othman dan isteri di Minden Heights. Pasangan ini adalah junior saya semasa di universiti dulu. Pertama kali kami menziarah mereka. Kedua-dua mereka bekerja di USM.

Keesokannya kami telah ke Sungai Petani untuk menziarah sahabat isteri saya, Seripah, semasa di ITM dulu. Beliau kini adalah pengusaha stesen minyak Petronas berdekatan dengan Cinta Sayang Golf Resort.

Sebelum saya menghantar Aizat balik ke asrama kami singgah makan tengahari di ikan bakar Kepala Batas. Dah lama saya nak ke tempat ini tetapi tak tahu lokasi sebenar. Cuma selepas Dr Rahman memberitahu baru saya jumpa restoran yang terletak tidak jauh dari pekan Kepala Batas di Jalan Perseketuan "P1" menghala ke selatan. Makanannya boleh tahan, tetapi kedai tersebut cuma buka di waktu siang.

Selepas makan kami terus menghantar Aizat balik ke asrama dan memulakan perjalanan balik ke KL pada pukul 3:00 petang. Alhamdullillah jalan tidak sesak dan kami sampai di kawasan rehat Sungai Buloh pada waktu maghrib. We reached home just in time to see Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-2 with Berbatov scoring a hattrick. All in all a productive weekend.

Diari Aidilfitri 1431H : Episod 4 - Warga Emas

2010-09-21T10:49:00.015+08:00

Selain anak-anak, orang yang semesti kita raikan pada Hari Raya ialah orang-orang tua kita. Saya tidak lagi mempunyai ibu, ayah, ibu mertua atau pun ayah mertua. Tetapi saya merasa amat bersyukur kerana mempunyai ibu tiri dan ibu mertua tiri yang sangat mengambil berat tentang kami adik beradik. Walau pun perkataan ibu tiri sering kali membawa konotasi yang kurang menyenangkan, kami amat bertuah kerana mendapat ibu tiri yang langsung tidak seperti yang digambarkan oleh cerita-cerita lama.

Sebenarnya, entri kali ini bukan berkenaan ibu tiri tetapi tentang warga emas yang kami lawati pada hari raya yang lalu. Ini termasuk, ibu dan bapa saudara, kawan-kawan dan sebagainya. Setiap tahun akan berkuranglah golongan ini. Walaupun sebenarnya golongan warga emas akan bertambah, bilamana saya sendiri akan menjadi warga emas.

Satu-satunya insan yang berpangkat Datok dan Nenek yang saya masih ada ialah Tok Mat dan Neksu Temah. Neksu Temah ialah emak saudara kepada arwah ibu saya. Pasangan ini harus menjangkau 90 tahun umur mereka. Mereka tinggal berdua di rumah mereka yang tidak berapa jauh dari rumah kami di kampong. Alhamdullillah mereka masih boleh bergerak dengan sendiri walaupun dengan perlahan. Peringatan mereka juga masih baik, masih dapat bercerita tentang arwah ibu saya. Cuma pendengaran mereka agak kurang.

Beberapa ayah dan ibu saudara saya juga tidak berapa sihat pada kali ini. Kalau lah saya sudah tidak lagi bekerja, mungkin saya dapat menziarah mereka dengan lebih kerap, tetapi mungkin juga tidak. Saya melihat beberapa orang saudara saya yang telah bersara masih tidak berpeluang meluangkan masa untuk menziarah saudara mara.

Diantara yang sempat kami lawati, Busu Lijah dan suami Busu Jalil yang tidak berapa sihat (sering masuk hospital beberapa bulan kebelakangan ini), Pak Long Baharom dan Maklong, Pak Ngah Bujang yang memang tidak sihat kerana tidak lalu makan, Pak Ngah Amat dan Mak Ngah.

Beberapa kawan lama saya yang telah boleh dikategorikan sebagai warga emas juga sempat saya lawati seprti Hj Dollah, Capt. Mazlan dan Abang Lias Keramat.

Disebelah isteri saya pula, kami sempat melawat adik-adik arwah bapa mertua saya yang masih ada (Anjang dan Cik) dan juga isteri kepada sahabat baik arwah di Keramat.

Masih ramai lagi yang tidak sempat saya ziarahi. Apa yang saya bimbang ialah saya tidak diberi kesempatan oleh Allah swt untuk bertemu mereka di Hari Raya tahun hadapan.

Diari Aidilfitri 1431H : Episod 3 - Anak-anak dan anak buah

2010-09-18T01:35:00.012+08:00

Lazimnya Hari Raya disambut meriah oleh anak-anak. Walaupun anak-anak dan kebanyakan anak-anak buah saya saya semuanya sudah remaja, sambutan hari raya tetap meriah kerana adanya mereka.

Saya merasa amat bertuah kerana mempunyai anak buah yang ramai dan jumlah ini sentiasa bertambah dari masa kemasa. Tambahan pula hubungan kekeluargaan antara mereka amat mesra sejak mereka kecil lagi. Ini membuat setiap perjumpaan keluarga seperti sambutan hari raya menjadi begitu meriah dan bermakna.

Saya amat berharap tradisi keluarga saya yang menggalakkan interaksi dikalangan anak saudara saya dapat diteruskan sehingga mereka dewasa, malah dipanjangkan pula dikalangan anak-anak mereka pada masa depan.

Diari Aidilfitri 1431H - Episod 2 di KL

2010-09-15T13:58:00.012+08:00

Rumah pertama kami ziarah di KL ialah rumah arwah bapa mertua saya di Petaling Jaya. Emak mertua (tiri) berasal dari Terengganu dan memang terkenal dengan nasi dagangnya. Biasanya beliau akan membuat nasi dagang pada hari raya pertama. Tetapi memandangkan keluarga saya dan keluarga kakak ipar dari Serkam cuma tiba pada hari raya ketiga beliau telah membuat nasi dagang sekali lagi pada hari raya ketiga, khas untuk kami. Saya sampai pada pukul 11:00 pagi, memang sesuai untuk makan tengahari dengan nasi dagang.

Selepas itu kami terus ke Shah Alam, ke rumah kakak ipar saya yang sulung. Oleh kerana dah makan nasi dagang dengan banyak, saya cuma minum air di Shah Alam sebelum kami ke rumah adik isteri saya di Bukit Jelutong. Disini kami sempat bertemu dengan beberapa adik beradik isteri saya yang lain. Disini pun saya tidak makan banyak walau pun antara hidangan ialah beriyani kambing.

Disebelah petang kami ke Cheras, melawat dua emak saudara isteri saya (disebelah ayah beliau) yang masih hidup.Sebelum kembali kerumah kami menziarah sepupu isteri saya yang juga di Cheras.

Pada sebelah malam kami kerumah seorang lagi sepupu beliau, kali ini di Shah Alam. Saya seronok bertemu suami kepada sepupu isteri saya yang ini kerana senang bercerita dengan beliau yang pernah bekerja dengan Kontena Nasional pada satu masa dulu.

Pada keesokan harinya kami ke Banting. Selalunya kami akan melawat rumah emak saudara isteri saya berhampiran pekan Banting. Pada tahun ini, rumah tersebut telah dirobohkan untuk pembangunan yang masih belum terlaksana. Terasa amat terkilan dengan keadaan rumah tersebut. Cuma ada dua rumah di Banting kini, rumah Mak Uda, yang kini di huni oleh anak beliau dan rumah seorang sepupu di Kancong. Cerita di kedua-dua rumah tersebut berkisar kepada pembunuhan kejam Datuk Sosilawati yang mana saspek utama adalah peguam dari Banting.

Kami makan tengahari di pekan Banting.

Sekembali dari Banting kami singgah di rumah Abang Long (sepupu paling tua) di Kg Kuantan Kelang. Sebelum balik saya sempat menziarah sahabat lama saya (yang pernah kerja bersama saya di MISC Coastal) bila saya mula bekerja di awal tahun 80an dulu. HJ. Abdullah Md. Yatim, berasal dari Melaka dan agak rapat dengan saya semasa bekerja dulu. Beliau tidak dapat berjalan berpunca dari "slip disc" tetapi beliau kelihatan ceria dan redho atas ketentuan Allah swt.

Keesokan harinya kami ke Kelang sekali lagi, melawat seorang supupu isteri saya yang akan pergi menunaikan ibadat haji tahun ini. Beliau yang telah kematian suami beberapa tahun lalu nampaknya telah dapat meneruskan hidup dengan baik setelah anak-anak mula bekerja.

Selepas itu kami menziarah seorang lagi sahabat saya dari zaman saya di MISC, Capt. Mazlan. Beliau yang berasal dari Kuala Pilah beristerikan Tariyah yang berasal dari Pulau Lumut, juga pernah bekerja dengan MISC. Capt. Mazlan diserang angin ahmar beberapa tahun lalu dan masih belum dapat berjalan walaupun telah puas berikhtiar mencari rawatan dengan berbagai cara.

Selepas solat zohor kami kembali kerumah kerana kakak ipar saya ingin singgah dirumah.

Diari Aidilfitri 1431 H - Episod 1

2010-09-13T00:42:00.011+08:00

1 Syawal 1431 H kali ini jatuh pada hari Jumaat, 10 September 2010 Masehi. Kami sekeluarga berangkat pulang ke kampong pada malam hari raya, sekitar pukul 10:00 malam, setelah singgah dirumah arwah bapa mertua di Petaling Jaya. Kami selamat sampai di kampong pada hampir pukul 12:00 tengah malam. Alhamdullillah, perjalanan lancar walaupun kenderaan di jalan banyak. Oleh sebab lambat sampai, saya tidak sempat bertemu dengan rakan-rakan sekolah rendah dan menengah seperti tahun-tahun lalu.

Solat sunat Aidilfitri dilakukan di perkarangan Kompleks PAS Jasin atau lebih dikenali sebagai HAMAS. Cuaca redup menambah rasa sayu keadaan dipagi syawal. Ketika solat bermula hujan rintik mulai turun tetapi tidak menjadi lebat. Khutbah disampaikan oleh Imam pada hari tersebut, Ust. Faizol (rasanya) yang, seperti biasa, cukup berkesan. Walaupun ia menjurus kearah perjuangan kepartian ia juga bersikap universal yang patutnya mesti diakui oleh seluruh umat Islam tanpa mengira fahaman politik.

Oleh kerana cuaca yang tidak mengizinkan kami tidak menunggu lama setelah selesai solat dan terus menziarah pusara arwah Ayah, Ibu, Ahmadon dan Makcik Jamilah (yang kembali kerahmah Allah pada 17 Julai 2010).

Sekembali kerumah, upacara bermaafan dimulakan. Pada tahun ini terasa kekurangan ahli keluarga kami. Hafsah sekeluarga beraya di Kedah, Hamzah sekeluarga belum tiba dan Habibah sekeluarga masih di rumah mertua. Oleh kerana ketiga-ketiga keluarga ini menyumbang ahli yang ramai (setiap satu lebih 10 orang ahli) maka keadaan terasa lengang. Azizah dan Junaidi pun menyambut raya pertama di Bukit Badong.

Oleh kerana hari raya pertama jatuh pada hari Jumaat, kami tidak beraya di waktu pagi untuk persediaan solat Jumaat. Saya sekeluarga pergi menziarah rumah arwah Makcik Jamilah. Ketiadaan makcik memang dirasai walau pun tidak seorang menyebut perkara tersebut ketika kami disana.

Selesai solat Jumaat, kami mulai menziarah rumah-rumah "wajib", Pak Ali, Busu Lijah, Tok Busu Temah dan Paklong Baharom. Itu saja yang kami dapat sebelum hari malam. Pada sebelah malam saya melawat rumah Mak Nunggal. Banyak yang kami bercerita tentang kisah lama. Saya teringin duduk lama dengan beliau untuk bertanya sejarah keluarga saya dari beliau. Tetapi beliau pun semacam telah mula lupa banyak perkara.

Sebelum tidor, isteri saya mengadu sakit perut. Kami tidak ada membawa sebarang ubat pun. Pada pukul 3:00 pagi isteri saya membangunkan saya kerana tidak tahan sakit perut. Saya terus ke Jasin untuk mencari klinik yang buka 24 jam tetapi tidak berjumpa. Akhirnya kami pergi ke Hospital Jasin. Ramai juga orang yang datang mendapat rawatan pada pagi tersebut. Setelah diperiksa oleh Pembantu Perubatan (doktor cuma datang setelah kami mendapat ubat), kami pun balik.

Pagi esoknya isteri saya terus mengadu sakit perut. Saya dan keluarga telah ke Serkam untuk kerumah kakak ipar untuk mendapat pendapat dari beliau. Rupanya kakak ipar saya pun mengalami sakit perut. Jadi saya telah membawa kedua-dua mereka ke Hospital Melaka untuk mendapat rawatan setalah kakak ipar saya memastikan rakan beliau bertugas di hospital ketika itu. Setelah mendapat ubat yang sesuai barulah sakit isteri saya berkurangan. Kami semuanya berehat di Serkam. Pada sebelah petang saya menziarah Pak Ngah di Pernu sebelum kembali ke Jasin.

Kami bertolak balik ke Kuala Lumpur pada pagi hari Ahad (hari raya ketiga). Tidak banyak rumah yang sempat kami ziarahi pada tahun ini. Saya juga tidak sempat bertemu dengan kawan-kawan sekolah rendah seperti yang telah saya rancang. Walau apa pun saya bersyukur kerana dapat bertemu dengan adik beradik dan juga bapa dan emak saudara yang semakin berumur.

Akhir Ramadhan 1431 H

2010-09-09T11:01:00.008+08:00

Malam semalam saya sempat melakukan solat sunat tarawikh dan solat sunat witir di masjid kariah saya, Masjid Nurul Yaqin, Kelana Jaya. Kedua-dua solat diimamkan oleh Imam jemputan dari Masjid Bukit Damansara. Imam muda yang cukup sedap bacaannya. Beliau membaca doa yang panjang ketika qunut dalam solat witir, ala Imam Mekah. Ketika itu saya menitiskan air mata walaupun tidak mengerti makna doa yang dibacakan.

Sebenarnya kesedihan saya bukan sangat sebab doa yang dibaca, walau pun ia telah memberi satu latar belakang yang mengharukan, tetapi mengenangkan tentang berakhirnya Ramadhan dan bersamanya solat tarawikh kali ini. Terfikir oleh saya, masihkah Tuhan memberi saya peluang untuk bertemu Ramadhan akan datang? Jika pun bertemu, masihkah Tuhan memberi nikmat sihat dan nikmat kelapangan masa untuk mengerjakan ibadat ini? Betapa ramai umat Islam yang berpeluang berada dalam bulan Ramadhan tetapi tidak berpeluang melakukan ibadat didalamnya.

Saya berasa sangat bersyukur kerana dapat melakukan sedikit sebanyak ibadat dalam bulan Ramadhan kali ini walaupun tidak mencapai tahap yang dirancang. Sekurang-kurangnya solat tarawikh kali ini tidak perlu dilakukan secara bersaorangan, sentiasa berjemaah, majoritinya di masjid Nurul Yaqin , dua kali di masjid berhampiran pejabat dan sekali di masjid Sungai Petani, sekali di pejabat bersama rakan sepejabat. Saya bersyukur dapat mengurangkan aktiviti berbuka di luar seperti di hotel dan sebagainya.

Aktiviti sempena Ramadhan di masjid Nurul Yaqin tahun ini mendapat sambutan yang sangat menggalakkan. Kalau di tahun-tahun yang lalu sekitar 120 orang akan berbuka di masjid kami, kali ini purata 180 orang akan hadir. Beberapa kali angka tersebut melepasi 200 orang menyebabkan makanan tidak mencukupi. Ahli kariah yang datang bersahur pada 10 malam terakhir juga bertambah. Purata 70-80 orang akan bersahur di masjid. Solat tarawikh pun mendapat sambutan baik. Seperti lazimnya majoriti jemaah akan mengikut sunah Nabi dengan mengerjakan solat tarawikh sebanyak lapan rakaat. Tetapi jumlah yang bersolat 20 rakaat juga bertambah berbanding tahun-tahun lepas. Jumlah jemaah yang bersolat tarawikh di penghujung bulan Ramadhan juga meningkat. Alhamdullillah.

AJK masjid berasa amat bersyukur atas sambutan yang diberi oleh ahli kariah. Sumbangan dari ahli kariah untuk aktiviti Ramadhan mencecah RM73 ribu. Walaupun nampak banyak, ia sebenarnya cukup-cukup untuk menampong semua kos berkaitan. Majoritinya ialah untuk kos makanan berbuka.

Beberapa malam yang lepas telah diadakan majlis khatam al-Quran untuk bacaan oleh Imam dalam solat tarawikh dan juga bacaan oleh kumpulan ahli kariah Muslim. Seperti biasa kariah Muslimat telah khatam lebih awal.

Malam semalam juga diadakan majlis penyampaian wang saguhati kepada Remaja masjid yang telah membantu dalam penyediaan makanan untuk berbuka dan morey termasuk mengemas ruang legar masjid.

Alhamdullillah semuanya berjalan dengan lancar.

Dalam beberapa jam lagi Ramdhan 1431H akan meninggalkan kita. Semoga Allah swt menerima ibadat yang telah kita lakukan. Semoga kita dapat bertemu pula dengan Ramadhan 1432H, InsyaAllah.

BENGONG

2010-08-30T11:09:00.002+08:00

Dipetik dari Blog Dr. Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin, antara lain:

Majlis Fatwa Tetap Arab Saudi mengeluarkan hukum tentang bukan muslim masuk ke masjid seperti berikut:

“Pendapat yang tepat bukan muslim boleh masuk ke dalam masjid untuk sesuatu kemaslahatan syariah atau sesuatu keperluan tertentu seperti mendengar sesuatu yang membawa masuk ke dalam Islam, atau keperluannya untuk minum air yang berada dalam masjid atau selainnya. Ini kerana Nabi s.a.w mengikat Thumamah bin Uthal al-Hanafi dalam masjid sebelum dia menganut Islam, baginda juga menempatkan perwakilan Thaqif dan perwakilan Kristian Najran di masjid sebelum mereka menganut Islam. Ini kerana ada banyak faedah mereka memasuki masjid, antaranya; mendengar ucapan dan nasihat Nabi s.a.w, melihat orang bersolat dan membaca al-Quran dan berbagai faedah besar yang lain bagi sesiapa yang melazimi masjid”. (Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah 6/276. Riyadh: Idarah al-Buhuth)

Dipetik dari Malaysian Insider:

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Malay rights group Perkasa has demanded that syariah laws be created to ban non-Muslims from entering mosques and suraus, despite Muslim scholars maintaining that such acts did not contravene Islamic law.

The group’s call comes in the wake of controversy surrounding Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching, following reports that she had entered the Surau Al-Huda in her Kajang constituency, during a visit there to deliver aid to the surau.

Former Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin and PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat have defended Teo’s surau visit, which has been criticised by Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders.

“There should be syariah laws to prevent incidents of non-Muslims entering suraus and mosques,” said Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali today.

Although he admitted that non-Muslims have entered mosques during Prophet Muhammad’s time, Ibrahim said that it was the responsibility of Muslims to uphold the sanctity of Islam.

The Pasir Mas MP accused Nik Aziz of not carrying out that responsibility fully by defending Teo’s visit to the surau.

“As Muslims, ‘taqwa’ (respect) says that we must preserve the sanctity of the mosque. Nik Aziz is a person of faith but ‘kurang bertaqwa’,” said Ibrahim.

Saya sebenarnya telah bertekad untuk tidak membuat sebarang komen tentang mereka yang rata-rata menunjukkan sifat bengong dalam tindak tanduk dan perkataan mereka tetapi kali ini saya rasa saya terpaksa kerana jika tidak saya juga akan dikategorikan sebagai dalam kumpulan mereka disebabkan saya juga Melayu seperti mereka.

Ustaz Muhammad Kazim Elias Al-Hafiz dalam salah satu ceramah beliau ada menyatakan bahawa hukum syarak ialah hukum yang datang dari Allah yang diberi kepada manusia melalui Rasul dan tidak boleh dipinda sehingga hari kiamat. Penyampaian hukum-hukum oleh Rasul termasuk melalui kata-kata dan tindakan mereka.

Sekarang sudah ada orang yang cukup cerdik mengesyorkan agar dibuat undang-undang syariah (cukup Islamik bunyinya) untuk mengharamkan apa yang telah dibenarkan oleh Nabi kita 1,400 tahun lalu. Kadang-kadang manusia ni bila mereka merasa terlalu cerdik mereka akan jadi bengong.

Iftar bersama keluarga

2010-08-30T09:34:00.007+08:00

Seperti tahun-tahun yang lepas, adik saya, Habibah dan suaminya Zainal, akan menjemput semua adik beradik yang berkesempatan untuk berbuka puasa di rumah mereka.

Pada tahun ini kesempatan tersebut adalah pada 28 Ogos bersamaan 18 Ramadhan yang lepas. Acara pada hari tersebut dimulakan dengan tahlil diikuti dengan berbuka puasa. Kemudian kami menunaikan solat maghrib berjemaah sebelum kami menjamu selera dengan bebagai makanan yang ada. Lazimnya dibulan Ramadhan kita tidak dapat makan berlebihan. Bagi saya, minuman lebih saya pentingkan. Saya tidak pasti becapa cawan air teh dan air tebu yang saya minum pada malam tersebut menyebabkan saya kurang makan (tapi sempat juga bertambah).

Kami kemudianya menunaikan solat Isyak dan seterusnya solat sunat tarawikh. Rasa seronok dapat bersama dengan adik beradik walaupun tidak semua dapat hadir pada malam tersebut. Hafsah sekeluarga di kampong sememangnya sukar untuk bersama. Azizah yang berada di Kota Bharu tentunya gembira mengerjakan puasa di Serambi Mekah pada tahun ini. Khabarnya suami juga bersama pada hujung minggu lepas, jadi tidaklah terasa ketinggalan tidak dapat bersama kami. Siti Khadijah juga tidak dapat berssama kerana menghantar anak beliau Amir untuk menjadi Imam tarawikh. Yang lain semua ada termasuk Hamzah dan isteri yang datang dari Temerloh.

Terima kasih saya sekeluarga ucapkan kepada Zainal sekeluarga kerana terus melaksanakan tradisi yang kami tunggu-tunggu setiap Ramadhan. Tahun depan kita makan ayam kampong yang mereka pelihara, InsyaAllah.

Ziarah Jenazah

2010-08-21T19:08:00.003+08:00

Petang tadi saya menziarah rakan sepejabat. Ayah beliau telah kembali ke Rahmah Allah pada paginya di hospital. Saya sampai agak awal sebelum jenazah tiba dari hospital. Beberapa orang telah berada di rumah. Saya jangka saudara dan jiran tentangga. Semuanya duduk-duduk dan ada yang bercakap-cakap. Saya menunggu di tembok dekat pintu pagar. Sambil menunggu saya membaca beberapa ayat dari buku yang saya bawa.

Tidak lama selepas itu, jenazah pun sampai dan terus dibawa masuk kedalam rumah. Jenazah telah selamat di mandi di hospital. Sebaik saja jenazah diletak di ruang tamu, tetamu dimaklum bahawa solat jenazah akan dilaksanakan. Majoriti lelaki yang hadir sempat berssama dalm solat tersebut.

Selepas solat kami dimaklumkan masih ada kira-kira satu jam sebelum jenazah dibawa ke masjid. Sanak saudara dijemput untuk melihat jenazah buat kali terakhir. Sementara itu, kebanyakan hadirin cuma duduk besembang terutama di luar pagar rumah. Ynag dalam rumah pun ramai yang bercakap sesama mereka. Saya dan rakan sepejabat yang hadir sempat membaca Yasin dan tahlil ringkas dalam nada yang rendah. Selepas itu kami pun tidak punya aktiviti lain, kecuali menunggu.

Apa sebenarnya yang patut dibuat dalam situasi begini? Saya rasa perlu ada maklumat lebih baik untuk dilaksanakan oleh orang ramai. Contohnya apa kah sunnah Nabi kita dalam perkara ini? Di kebanyakan tempat kita akan lihat orang yang mengziarah cuma duduk bersembang. Kadang-kadang apabila diajak solat jenazah pun ramai yang tidak turut serta. Kita perlu perbaiki keadaan, semestinya.

Al-Fatihah buat ayah rakan saya.

Tazkirah Pagi

2010-08-20T16:16:00.005+08:00

Hari ini merupakan hari Mesyuarat Bulanan kami dimana semua kakitangan teknikal akan bertemu untuk membincang masaalah operasi yang telah ditempuh selama sebulan yang lalu. Saya juga sering menyampaikan pesanan atau teguran saya pada sesi begini dimana semua kakitangan dapat bersama.

Seperti biasa sebelum mesyuarat bermula akan diadakan tazkirah ringkas. Hari ini kami bertuah kerana penceramah undangan ialah Ustaz Zawawi Jusoh pendakwah yang tak asing bagi ramai orang. Ketika saya menjemput ustaz Zawawi minggu beliau bertanya apa topik yang ingin dibincang. Saya beritahu dia "apa-apa yang ustaz nak cakap ler". Jadi apabila beliau datang hari ini beliau tidak bersedia dengan topik yang ingin beliau sampaikan.

Akhirnya beliau membuat keputusan untuk bercakap tentang Mukmin Profesional. Diantara yang diperkatakan:

1. Mukmin ialah sesaorang yang bergantung pada Allah.
2. Mukmin MESTI kenal Allah baru boleh yakin pada Allah
3. Apa matlamat hidup Mukmin? Tidak boleh ditentukan oleh diri sendiri. Mesti ditentukan oleh Pencipta kerana Dia yang lebih mengetahui tentang apa yang di ciptaNya.
4. Oleh itu ilmu yang paling penting ialah ilmu Ketuhanan
5. Allah akan ingat kepada mereka yang ingat pada Nya

Tanpa disedari masa selama satu jam yang diperuntukan telah tamat.

Semoga aktiviti hari in mendapat keberkatan Allah lebih-lebih lagi di bulan Ramadhan Al-Mubarak ini. Pada malamnya kami berbuka dan bersolat tarawikh dipejabat.

Visiting Vietnam

2010-08-17T14:43:00.010+08:00

Just a few days before Ramadhan me and my wife had an opportunity to visit Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). My boss (who had another operations in Vietnam) was celebrating his 10th year of doing business in Vietnam. I was invited to go but the trip coincided with a business meeting with our potential partner of our operations in Vietnam.

This is not my first trip to Vietnam. I had earlier visited HCMC and Hanoi on two previous occasions. But this is the first trip for my wife. We arrived late on Friday and the dinner was on that night. It was therefore a hectic affair. To add to it, something was also brewing back in Malaysia (in our absence). So, I had to excused myself early from the dinner to check my mails and draft some letters. It was however a welcome reprieve for my wife.

The next morning (Saturday) we had our meeting and adjourned for lunch. My wife together with the other guests had a separate program where they were brought to see the famed Chu Chi Tunnels. You have to visit this site to appreciate what the Vietnamese had achieved during the wars. It also reflected their tenacity and ingenuity under the face of foreign threats. Just to reflect on the enormity of the tunnels, it is more than 200km zig zagging across the country, even into Cambodia. Inside the tunnels are hospitals, kitchens, places to make arms, living quarters and a lot more. I had visited this place during my first trip so I did not feel the lost having to attend our meeting instead of the sight seeing.

On Sunday, I took part in the City Tour where we visited the War Museum and also the Independence Palace. We had a good tour guide who spoke good English with a bit of American accent. Again, the tour was worthwhile despite it at times being disgusting to see the effects of war. The atrocities of the Americans (of course nothing was shown about the acts of the Viet Congs) left some of the visitors feeling nauseated. There was even a performance by some kids suffering from the effects of Agent Orange (the chemicals used by the Americans) at the War Museum.

One cannot but be left impressed by the spirit of the Vietnamese and their Supreme Leader, Uncle Ho Chi Minh fighting for their country under tremendous pressure from a world superpower. After going through what they have during the many wars, we should not be surprised at the rate of development that they are experiencing now. But looking at the developments (both in HCMC and Hanoi) one would not believe that they were bombed to the middle ages just a few decades ago.

In the afternoon we managed to find our way to the famed Ben Than market. Thought it has become very touristy, we had no choice but to do our shopping here as we have no time to look for other places. A lot of the shops attendants can speak a little Malay. It just shows how many Malaysians flocked to these places nowadays. My wife managed to buy 3 pieces of materials which will be made into baju kurung in less than 24 hours. They will even send them to our hotel. We even paid for them in Ringgits. In the evening all of us were treated to a dinner on a river cruise. It was an experience by itself, despite the intermittent rain.

On Monday morning before we left for home we managed to wander around the hotel to get some art which were rather cheap. We also managed to visit one of the earliest mosques in HCMC. There are a few other mosques in town. On the way back to the airport we stopped for lunch at Satay House a Malaysian Halal eatery.

It was a hectic trip but was worth it. I would like to come again and this time see Vietnam's beaches. I wonder when that will happen though.

Is this how a Devil looks like?

2010-07-23T00:52:00.007+08:00

Who has seen the Devil? Does it come only in one form? Now I'm not supposed to wear my T-shirt with the logo of my favorite team and I've been asked to repent. Does this mean that whoever came up with this fatwa knows for sure that the devil looks like the one seen in the logo of Manchester United Football Club and as such it is wrong for me to be seen wearing it.

I agree that we should not wear shirts which carries the name of a liquor brand as we are contributing to its brand name and thus profits. That is why I did not allow my son to wear certain Liverpool shirts. But he is looking forward for next season when Liverpool has a new mjor sponsor.

I'm no religious expert so I will not venture any further but I'm not convinced. Maybe it is time for me to further my religious studies.

Kenduri

2010-07-18T00:45:00.006+08:00

Sabtu, 17 July 2010

Seperti beberapa minggu yang lalu, saya sibuk dengan jemputan di hujung minggu. Bermula dengan acara pertunangan anak saudara (anak kakak isteri) di Nilai, Saya tidak bersma konvoi dari Shah Alam, sebaliknya menunggu di Tol KLIA. Kami sampai di Nilai sekitar pukul 12:00 tengahari.

Acara berjalan lancar sekali. Jurucakap kami ialah biras saya dari Serkam. Seperti biasa semua perkara telah dirunding dan dipersetujui. Majlis cuma mengesahkan persetujuan yang dicapai. Majlis selesai sekitar 1:30 tengahari.

Saya sekeluarga meninggalkan majlis kira-kira pukul 2:00 petang dan terus menuju ke Pelabuhan Klang untuk menghadiri majlis perkahwinan anak sahabat saya Abdullah Md. Yatim, rakan semasa kami sama-sama bekerja di MISC. Malangnya saya tidak dapat berjumpa beliau kerana beliau berada di hospital. Dollah memang tidak sihat sejak beberapa bulan lepas. Semasa beliau menalipon saya menjemput untuk menghadiri majlis ini pun telah tidak sihat.

Pada sebelah malam kami ke rumah adik saya, Habibah, di Kelang.Makcik datang dari kampong untuk mengadakan kenduri arwah. Semua adik beradik saya (kecuali Hafsah) telah hadir.

Selepas makan malam diadakan pula acara memotong kek harijadi untuk adik-adik dan anak buah yang menyambut hari jadi dalam bulan Julai termasuk Makcik.

Satu hari yang penuh dengan aktiviti.

NATRAH

2010-06-30T15:00:00.000+08:00

Saya baru selesai membaca buku Natrah karya Datin Fatini Yaacob terbitan UTM Press. Bacaan buku setebal lebih 450 muka surat ini memerlukan iltizam yang tinggi untuk dihabiskan. Ditambah lebih 40 muka prakata dan penghargaan ianya memang mencabar. Bukannya ia membosankan tetapi oleh kerana ketebalannya, saya semacam tidak ingin "membuang masa" untuk membacanya memandangkan banyak perkara lain yang saya perlu beri perhatian pada masa ini. Nasib baik saya telah dikehendaki untuk ke Vietnam dan Indonesia minggu lepas, jadi kesempatan diatas pesawat saya gunakan sebaiknya untuk tujuan ini.

Buku ini telah ditulis dengan lengkap, saya rasa, merangkumi berbagai aspek manusia yang bernama Natrah (Nadra sebenarnya) atau Bertha Hertogh. Penulis telah membuat penyelidikan yang teliti dan menyeluruh, semestinya sejajar dengan hakikat yang ia diterbitkan oleh percetakan sebuah universiti penyelidikan. Tetapi saya agak musykil mengapa mesti ada tiga "Prakata". Tulisan Naib Canselor UTM saya akui relevannya tetapi apa perlu prakata dari Daim Zainuddin (mantan Menteri Kewangan) dan Tan Sri Adam Kadir (mantan YDP Dewan Negara). Saya "memaksa diri" untuk membaca kedua-dua prakata yang saya persoalkan ini dengan harapan dapat terjumpa mutiara kata yang memberi justifikasi perlunya ia dimuatkan dalam buku ini tetapi saya tidak terjumpa. Ini membuat saya memulakan bacaan buku ini dalam persepsi yang becampur baur. Tetapi bila penulis memulakan ceritanya dengan memberi latar belakang Natrah di Bandung, saya sudah merasa susah untuk meletakkan buku ini.

Saya sememangnya meminati bacaan yang berbentuk "real life", jadi tidak hairan saya mudah membaca buku ini apabila telah bermula. Banyak perkara yang menarik perhatian saya terutama catatan tentang rusuhan yang berlaku di Singapura ekoran perbicaraan di mahkamah Inggeris yang memaksa Natrah berpisah dari keluarga angkatnya dan dikembalikan kepada keluarga asalnya yang nyata tidak begitu menghendaki beliau. Saya pernah membaca tentang rusuhan ini. Saya juga pernah mendengar arwah ayah bercerita tentangnya tetapi saya tidak mempunyai latar belakang yang mencukupi ketika itu untuk bertanya lebih lanjut.

Sekarang saya sudah ada fakta tetapi ayah pula sudah tiada. Ia sudah pasti menarik jika saya dapat bertanya dengan ayah yang menjadi polis di Singapura ketika itu. Berbagai pengajaran yang boleh didapati dari cerita Natrah ini terutama sejaran dan sikap orang Melayu Islam. Ia juga memberi gambaran terhadap pemimpin dan kepimpinan Melayu yang saya rasa boleh dikaitkan dengan sikap kepimpinan Melayu yang ada sekarang. Ia juga memberi penekanan terhadap betapa pentingnya peranan media dalam membentuk pemikiran masyarakat.

Secara jujur saya nyatakan buku Natrah memang patut dibaca oleh semua orang Melayu. Cuma saya agak terkilan kerana penulis terlalu menyerlah dengan pandangan dan keprcayaan beliau. Sebagai sebuah buku yang mencatit sejarah beliau sepatutnya menyatakan fakta dan membiarkan pembaca berfikir dan membuat kesimpulan. Beliau tidak perlu melihat pembaca sebagai pelajar yang perlu dibentuk persepsinya. Memang penulis berhak terhadap pendapat dan pandangan beliau sendiri tetapi pembaca perlu diberi ruang untuk berfikir dan menemui kesimpulan masing-masing.

Memang kita sangat terkilan yang Natrah tidak dapat diselamatkan Islamnya. Tetapi ini semua ketentuan Yang Maha Esa dan sudah pasti Dia yang Maha Mengetahui tentang kebaikan untuk kita semua dari episod ini. Cuma kita yang tidak dapat menghargai kebaikan yang sudah semestinya ada dan telah kita nikmati.

Sebenarnya cerita Natrah bukan pertama kali cuba diketengahkan tetapi saya rasa buku ini yang paling komprehensif. Alangkah baiknya jika ada pihak yang sudi membiayai pembikinan filem Natrah dengan bajet yang besar. Kita tidak mahu membuat filem dengan bajet sekitar RM10 juta tetapi sekurang-kurangnya USD100 juta. Kita mahu filem tersebut membina kembali suasana Singapura sekitar 1950an lengkap dengan kostum dan sesuai. Kita mahu tunjukkan bukan saja dimana kekutatan Melayu ketika itu tetapi dimana kelemahan dan kesilapan yang telah dilakukan supaya ia tidak diulang.

Saya menjumpai beberapa sites yang bercerita tentang Natrah. Ada satu bolg entri yang saya rasa memberi gambaran yang agak peribadi dan informatif. Link entri tersebut saya sertakan disini.

: Aku, Tan Sri Prof Ahmad Ibrahim dan Natrah

Pakcik Tik

2010-06-28T16:40:00.006+08:00

Entri ini mungkin agak terlambat sebab seorang adik dan seorang anak saudara saya telah pun memblog topik yang sama. Tetapi saya mesti memasukkan juga entri ini dalam blog saya, jika tidak blog ini akan "kehilangan" satu episod yang amat penting dalam kehidupan saya.

Pakcik Tik Yasin adalah seorang rakan karib arwah ayah saya. Saya pernah memblog perkara ini tidak berapa lama dulu atas tajuk "Family Friends". Sejak yang saya ingat, Pakcik Tik, isteri beliau Makcik Bedah dan semua ahli keluarga mereka merupakan sesuatu yang sinonim dengan keluarga kami. Malah mereka yang sebenarnya tidak mempunyai tali persaudaraan khusus (selain dari keluarga seagama dan sebangsa) merupakan satu kemestian dalam setiap acara keluarga yang kami adakan. Seringkali, mereka kami anggap lebih penting dari sesetengah ahli keluarga kami sendiri.

Kedua-dua keluarga kami mempunyai jumlah ahli yang besar. Bila kami berjumpa semasa hari raya (selalunya kami akan bergilir, setahun di Bukit Rambai dan setahun di Kesang) suasana akan menjadi heboh, kecoh dengan kegembiraan. Saya masih terbayang suasana meriah sebegini terutama ketika Makcik Bedah masih ada. Sekarang, semua ini tinggal kenangan cuma.

Satu jasa Pakcik Tik dan Makcik Bedah yang tidak mungkin dapat kami sekeluarga lupakan ialah usaha mereka mengatur perkahwinan ayah kami dengan Makcik Rammelah. Jasa seorang kawan yang memberi menafaat yang tidak terhingga bukan saja kepada kawan tersebut tetapi kepada anak-anak dan cucu-cucu beliau. Cuma Tuhan yang dapat membalas jasa ini.

Kali terakhir saya berjumpa dengan Pakcik Tik ialah penghujung tahun 2009 di rumah anak beliau, Amran, yang tinggal dekat Batu Caves. Waktu itu Pakcik Tik baru saja terjatuh di bilik air dan beliau datang berehat dirumah Amran. Seperti biasa, ketika bertemu kami beliau begitu ceria, cuma pendengaran beliau agak kurang.

Sebenarnya saya baru merancang untuk bertemu beliau pada Hari Raya akan datang untuk bertanya tentang kisah Natrah yang berlaku di Singapura pada tahun 1950an. Saya baru selesai membaca buku tentang Natrah dan ada beberapa soalan yang ingin saya ajukan kepada Pakcik Tik tetapi ternyata saya terlambat. Saya punya rancangan tetapi rancangan Yang Maha Esa jua yang mengatasi segala-galanya.

Pakcik Tik meninggal dunia pada hari Khamis malam Jumaat, 24 Jun 2010 bersamaan 12 Rejab. Semoga roh beliau di beri keampunan dan ditempatkan bersama roh orang-orang yang soleh. AlFatihah buat Pakcik Tik dan Makcik Bedah.

qur'an and cricket

2010-06-19T00:15:00.006+08:00

This is the latest book I managed to finish reading. Actually, I finished it quite a while back but I did not find the inspiration to blog about it. Not that I'm overly inspired right now but since I'm about to finish reading another book, I thought I better blog about this one quickly.

Biodata of the author from Wikipedia:

Dr. Farish Ahmad Noor (born 15 May 1967 in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia) is a Malaysian political scientist and historian and is presently a Senior Fellow at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

He was formerly attached to Zentrum Moderner Orient (Centre for Modern Oriental Studies) in Berlin, Germany, Sciences-Po Paris, the Institute for the Study of Muslim Society (ISIMM, Ecole des haute etudes et sciences sociale, EHESS), Paris and the International Institute for the Study of the Muslim World (ISIM), Leiden, Netherlands. Dr. Noor's teaching credits include the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue, University of Malaya, the Institute for Islamic Studies, Free University Berlin, Sunan Kalijaga Islamic University (Jogjakarta), Muhamadiyah University Surakarta and Nanyang Technological University presently.

He received his BA in Philosophy & Literature from the University of Sussex in 1989, before studying for an MA in Philosophy at the same University in 1990, an MA in South-East Asian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, before completing his PhD at the University of Essex in 1997 in the field of governance and politics.

It is a pity that a person having such credentials did not find it attractive to offer his services to Malaysian universities. Even if he did, I don't think he can last long as his views would most probably be not in tune with the powers that be.

In this book, Farish writes about his travels to the various madrasahs and religious places of the world to "study" the way f life at these places. His trip took him to Pakistan, Kashmir, Sri Lanka, Jogjakarta, Solo, Surakarta, Saigon, Turkey, Amsterdam, Cairo, the Desert of Libya, Kuala Trengganu, Kota Bharu, Patani, Narathiwat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Its a good tour indeed.

The journey took the writer, among others, to Darul Oloom where Tuan Guru Nik Aziz had his studies. He also met up with Ustaz Abu Bakar Bashir of JI fame. He roamed the places where the Ottoman rulers used to reign supreme and also maybe the land where The Lion of the Desert, Umar Mukhtar used to fight the Italians and died a syahid. He was also involved in rescue efforts during the earthquake that hit the Indian subcontinent.

There are several chapters that left special impressions on me such as when he was in Turkey where he noted the following:

In practically every Muslim country I've visited, nostalgia and authenticity cast their spells. From Morocco to Pakistan to Indonesia, ordinary Muslims - be they taxi drivers, school teachers, or clerks - seem ever so inclined to return to the past to escape, albeit momentarily, the squalid realities of the present.

I also like Farish's take on the general election of 2008 when he was in Trengganu and Kota Bharu such as this:

The large screen that projects rhe live report by TV3 announces that Lim Kit Siang, leader of DAP has won. For half a second there was silence. Then the rebel yell is raised, "Takbir, Allahuakbar, Allahuakbar, Allahuakbar"....Who would have thought that here in Kota Bharu, a thousand PAS supporters would be cheering on their allies, the DAP?

Overall, the book was a good read plus it provides valuable insights into the happenings of the places visited by the writer. Farish writing make for easy reading though at times I feel he did spice things up a bit.

Ayah dan Ibu

2010-06-14T16:31:00.002+08:00

Al-Fatihah buat Ayah dan Ibu yang telah pergi. Untuk mereka-mereka yang masih ada ibu dan ayah, hargai lah mereka selagi berkesempatan.

A Marry Weekend

2010-06-07T11:13:00.010+08:00

The past weekend was spent attending weddings, five of them, to be exact. Two in Bangi, two in Kelana Jaya and one in Shah Alam. All are either friends, relatives or neighbours, so I deemed our attendance compulsory. Alhamdullillah, we managed to do it.

As usual, at occasions like these we will meet old friends and colleagues from our old school or places of work. These opportunities, I treasure most. Of course, I met people who I recognized but cannot make up their names but I think I have perfected the art of acting as if I know their names all along. I have always had problems remembering names but that do not stop me remembering their faces.

Selamat Hari Guru

2010-05-16T23:26:00.010+08:00

Its the 16th of May, the official Teacher's Day. I was in two minds about making this post but finally I decided that I have to do it, about 30 minutes before the day is over.

Why did I hesitated in making the post? Because I do not want to be seen as appreciating my teachers only on Teacher's Day. Just like why I did not celebrate Mother's Day because I feel mothers (like my wife, since I do not my mother anymore, though I have a replacement in my Makcik who has been a gem to me my siblings and all our children) deserves more than just a day of appreciation.

The only problem with "official" days is that by not celebrating them we are deemed to be not appreciative of the people concerned. To prevent this "misconception" I decided to make this post.

I can talk (or write for that matter) forever about teachers. However, in this post I am only going to write about my primary school teachers.

Standard One 1965 - Mr. M. Palany. He slapped me once for climbing the hill going up from the field instead of taking the stairs. I was also the class monitor and had the honor of carrying the exercise books of the class to his home not far from the school on my way home to catch the bus.

Standard 2 1966 - Miss Saraswathy (I think). Did not remember too much but I hate it when we were asked to remember our tables and recite them one by one in class failing which we have to stand on our chairs. Despite this I was still bad with my tables.

Just found out that actually my class teacher in standard 2 was Miss Wong. Ms. Saraswathy was a subject teacher (maybe).

Standard 3 1967 - Cikgu Jamaluddin. Again as a class monitor I was given to do some chores for the teacher. In this case I was asked to mark the work of the class. The teacher will give me his red ink pen and I will do the marking. He will just sign at the end. On one occasion I put a remark "Good" on the exercise done by a girl whom I thought I had a crush on. I was given a scolding by the cikgu and after that he did not ask me to do the marking again.

Standard 4 1968 - Mr. Chow Weng Wah. Had very little memory about the year. I was caught fighting one day with a new student who just transferred from Singapore after his father retired from the police. I thought he did not show enough respect for us kampong boys and gave him a few punches. Mr Chow was upset and scolded both of us. He then said if we want to fight, come to the front of the class. I thought I heard him said he want me to go to the front of the class. When I reach the front, he said in a loud voice: You still want to fight?. No wonder my friends looked puzzled when I walked past them towards the front of the class

Standard 5 1969 - Miss Devi. The year of our Assessment Exams, the first major exam in my life. Back then very few students scored all As (five subjects). I was earmarked to get 5 As. Miss Devi knew that my weakest subject was English but my other subjects are okay. So whenever we have extra classes, while the other students were studying all the exam subjects I will only be studying English. Despite all her efforts, I did not get A for English and there no one who scored all As for the school that year.

Standard 6 1970 - Mr. Victor Chinniah. Hockey master and a few other clubs including Scouts if I'm not mistaken. He was a good teacher but I was not happy with him when I left school. I was always competing with another boy, Thomas, to get the first position in our exams since our early years and we have alternatively grabbed the first place on many occasions. In the first term exam in Std 6, I beat Thomas. In the final exam (the last exam of our primary education), we scored exactly the same marks, so it was tie. To break the tie, Mr Chinniah said whoever got the higher English mark will be first. So Thomas got first and I got second. I thought that was not fair. Why should it be English and not Malay (which I was better at)? It should have been a neutral subject like Mathematics (which I would have won) or Science (which I think Thomas would have won).

The other teachers:

Mr. Tan Beng Hooi - Headmaster, Very dedicated teacher with a fatherly figure type of attitude. He taught Civics which helped us be better citizens. I remembered that Civics was not a boring subject then.

Cikgu Ali Bulat. Big sized teacher who taught us Bahasa Melayu.

Ustaz Abu Bakar - Taught us Ugama Islam. Very strict (but only with the boys, if I remember well). His exams are very tough and in Jawi. On many occasions, my agama marks pull my average down depriving me of first position in class. He later furthered his studies to university. Later he taught at mosques and suraus where he then became a teacher to my late father. I still bumped into him during Hari Raya prayers.

To all the above teachers who are still alive, Thank you very much and may your life be Blessed. To those who have left us, May Allah give His Blessings to your souls.

SELAMAT HARI GURU, Cikgu.

Note: Class photos courtesy of Saleha Hassan (via Facebook), a classmate in primary school. Now a teacher at St Francis Institution, Melaka.

Family Friends

2010-05-09T22:20:00.002+08:00

All of us have friends, all kinds of friends. Some of our friends are for the short term while both of us have "excuses" to remain friendly such as friends at school, at work, or any other similar circumstances. On some occasions these short term friends may develop into long term relationships.

I am blessed to have a few such friends where we started became friends in primary school, continue to secondary school and kept in touch during college and cement the friendship when we started working until now, more than 40 years after our first meeting. I also have friends that I first met during college or during my working days and keep being friends still.

But I do not have family friends. What do I mean by family friends? These are friends but they are more like family. Normally when we have friends, they only know us or at the most our spouses. However, family friends are not related to us but they know us just like family, even more so at times. They are not only friendly to us but they know our children, our parents and siblings too. Similarly, we and our family know about their family as well.

My late father has a true family friend. I do not know how they became friends (I regret not asking my father about this). Both of them were policemen in Singapore before independence. All of us know each other so well. Their children are more like brothers and sisters to us. My late father and mother would go to them whenever they have problems before going to their siblings.

When my late father was in KL Hospital undergoing his chemotherapy, I knew one of his friend's daughter visited him more often that I did, bringing home cooked meals for him and makcik who was looking after him. She is definitely more family than our real family.

My late father-in-law also has a family friend of similar stature, although I'm not in a position to know too much details. But this guy used to work for my father-in-law when he was the Director of Hospital University. Even after his retirement, their friendship remain in tact, in fact it was further strengthen maybe because my father is law was no longer his boss. Until now, without fail, he and his whole family will at my father-in-law's in times of sorrow or happiness. In fact when my father in law was hospitalised for quite an extended period and we had to take turns to sleep at the hospital, his name was also in the list of volunteers.

So far, I have not been able to establish any strong family friends despite the fact that I have quite a number of close friends but both our families have not been able to get into the act.

I know it is indeed a privilege to have family friends and I should I should work at achieving this.

.

Perhimpunan Perdana Palestine

2010-05-09T01:22:00.012+08:00

Seperti biasa hujung minggu saya lebih sibuk dari hari bekerja. Saya sebenarnya telah merancang untuk melawat anak saya yang di MRSM Kepala Batas minggu ini, tetapi hari Khamis lalu beliau sms isteri saya menyatakan yang beliau akan menghadiri satu perkhemahan hujung minggu ini. Jadinya rancangan untuk ke utara dibatalkan.

Awal pagi anak bongsu saya telah kesekolah untuk perjumpaan pandu puteri. Apabila beliau balik pada tengahari, kami terus makan tengahari di Restoran Jaring berhampiran Sunway Pyramid.

Seterusnya kami ke IKEA, Bandar Utama kerana saya ingin melihat perabot untuk pejabat. Kami menghabiskan masa sekitar dua jam di IKEA. Sekembali kerumah saya telah keletihan. Sempat berehat sebentar sebelum isteri mengajak saya menghadiri Perhimpunan Perdana Palestine. Hampir setiap masjid di Selangor mewar-warkan perhimpunan ini.

Program ini sebenarnya bermula sejak pagi dimana telah diadakan konvoi kereta dari masjid2 seluruh negeri menuju Masjid Negeri, Shah Alam. Saya tidak pasti berapa ramai yang mengambil bahagian, tetapi masjid saya tidak menghantar sebarang wakil.

Kami tiba kira-kira 5:30 petang. Program kemuncak saya jangka berlangsung pada sebelah malam tetapi saya terpaksa menghadiri majlis tahlil untuk arwah abang ipar yang baru pulang ke rahmatullah pada hari Khamis lepas.

Bila kami tiba masih belum ramai di dalam Stadium Malawati. Mungkin lebih ramai peserta dan penganjur dari pelawat.Acara dimulakan dengan nyanyian nasyid yang bernada patriotik, Ditengah gelanggang terdapat ramai muda-mudi yang membawa sepanduk dan kain rentang yang pelbagai. Mereka nampak sungguh bersemangat dan melompat-lompat ketika nasyid didendangkan. Lagu-lagu nasyid diselang seli dengan laungan "takbir" dan "jihad".

Saya dan isteri beredar dari tempat tersebut sekitar jam 6:45 petang. Saya tidak tahu apa perasaan sebenar saya tentang program yang saya saksikan.

Saya cukup yakin pihak penganjur telah menghabiskan banyak masa, tenaga dan kewangan untuk menganjurkan program ini, Penglibatan remaja juga cukup baik. Tetapi apakah kesan positif yang dapat dirasa oleh penduduk Palestine dalam jangka masa pendek? Saya rasa cukup terhad. Apakah kesan terhadap kesedaran remaja kita tentang sejarah Palestine? Juga terhad, saya rasa. Mana mungkin remaja yang terkinja-kinja ketika mendengar lagu nasyid (tidak jauh bezanya seperti remaja yang menonton konsert Akademi Fantasia) dapat menghayati penderitaan yang dialami oleh penduduk Islam di Palestine.

Memang mudah untuk saya menjadi pengkritik tanpa melihat gambaran yang lebih luas. Tetapi saya mempunyai hak terhadap pendapat saya walaupun ia hanya persepsi yang salah. Sebenarnya saya berharap persepsi saya salah dan segala usaha pihak penganjur membuahkan hasil terbaik buat rakyat Palestine dan remaja yang mengambil bahagian.

Sunday on Jalan TAR

2010-05-02T15:44:00.011+08:00

Zai wanted to buy some things to prepare for her niece's wedding in July. So, after breakfast we headed to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur. I do not mind going to KL on a Sunday as it will be deserted.

While the ladies are busy going through things before finally buying a small amount of some items, I spent the time looking at the crowd, taking photos and would you believe, it reading while standing.

Here are some of the snaps that I took.

Perginya seorang sahabat

2010-04-20T10:22:00.012+08:00

This was supposed to be posted on Thursday, 15 April 2010. I only managed to send it to my ex-High School mailing group on that day.

Hari ini seorang lagi sahabat saya telah pergi bertemu Allah swt. Satu hari nanti (entah bila yang telah ditetapkan walaupun kita tidak tahu) kita juga akan pergi. Arwah meninggalkan seorang balu dan empat orang anak (2 perempuan dan dua lelaki) yang tua baru lepas mendapat keputusan SPM yang cemerlang dan yang bongsu di darjah enam.

Arwah Abdul Rahim Aini bersama saya dari tahun 1971 hingga 1972 (rasanya) di asrama Melaka High School. Selepas itu beliau dan beberapa kawan saya yang lain telah berpindah ke asrama Bukit China (better known as ABC) where they apparently had more fun than those who remained in Jalan Chan Koon Cheng, like me.

Abdul Rahim that I remember was one of the most jovial friends around. Dengan selambanya dia akan membuat sesuatu atau berkata sesuatu. Saya tidak pernah ingat yang beliau pernah marah. Selepas sekolah menengah saya telah putus hubungan dengan beliau tetapi saya pernah bertemu beliau di JPJ Padang Jawa sekali untuk meminta pertolongan beliau menyelesaikan masaalah dengan pendaftaran kereta saya. Kali terakhir saya berjumpa arwah ialah pada 20 Oktober 2007 semasa saya dan beberapa rakan menziarah beliau sempena Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Ketika itu beliau baru menjalani pembedahan di kepala.

Dibawah ini saya tampalkan (betul ker translation paste?) entri blog saya sempena lawatan tersebut yang berkait dengan arwah.

Abdul Rahim Ani bertugas di JPJ Padang Jawa. Beberapa bulan yang lepas, tahap kesihatan beliau telah merosot. Walaupun tidak terasa sakit, beliau mengalami pandangan berganda dan lemah otot sehingga tidak berupaya menampung berat badan sendiri. Dengan bantuan seorang jiran, beliau telah menjalani peperiksaan doktor di Hospital KL pada awal September 2007. Beliau disahkan mempunyai ketumbuhan di bahagian otak. Pada 26 Sep 2007 beliau telah menjalani pembedahan dikepala untuk mengeluarkan ketubuhan tersebut. Alhamdullillah, pembedahan tersebut berjaya. Semasa pertemuan kami beliau nampak ceria dan tidak dalam kesakitan. Cuma otot masih terasa lemah, kata beliau. Pandangan telah pulih. Memori beliau juga masih baik, malah banyak cerita-cerita lama terutama semasa beliau "membantu dan menemani" Norjihad masih dapat beliau ingati. Cuma ada perkara-perkara yang berlaku baru-baru ini agak samar buat beliau.

Satu perkara yang saya agak terkilan ialah apabila Rahim memberitahu kami bahawa beliau telah mengambil keputusan untuk berhenti kerja. Saya kurang bersetuju kerana saya rasa beliau patut teruskan bersama Kerajaan yang mempunyai banyak kemudahan jika beliau terus berkhidmat. Saya pasti beliau akan diberi tugas ringan sekembalinya beliau ke pejabat. Pada pendapat saya, semasa beliau mendapat tahu beliau mempunyai ketumbuhan tersebut beliau merasa yang beliau tidak lagi mampu bertugas lalu membuat keputusan berhenti. Saya berharap ada sahabat atau saudara beliau yang dapat menasihat supaya Rahim memikirkan kembali keputusan yang telah diambil. Kita yang telah lazim bekerja, jika tiba-tiba duduk dirumah akan mudah ditimpa kemurungan dan tahap kesihatan kita akan terus merosot.

Walau apa pun, saya dapat lihat, lawatan sahabat-sahabt pada hari baik dan bulan yang baik ini telah memberi kecerian kepada Rahim. Malah isteri beliau menyatakan kepada saya bahawa memang Rahim nampak gembira dengan kehadiran kami. Beliau berharap kami akan kerap datang untuk menziarah Rahim dimasa akan datang. Walaupun saya tidak berkesempatan untuk berkawan rapat dengan Rahim dengan lebih lama semasa di MHS (sebab beliau dan ramai sahabat lain berpindah ke ABC) saya mempunyai beberapa episod menarik bersama beliau yang saya rasa ada antara sahabat yang lain juga masih ingat dengan jelas. Tetapi cerita ini tidak patut dinukilkan disini. Takut nanti menjadi bahan bukti :-)

Walaupun bersedih atas kehilangan seorang sahabat, saya gembira kerana beberapa sahabat masih dapat meluangkan masa menziarah beliau hingga ke tanah perkuburan pada siang tadi. Sdra Ghaffar Baba dan isteri datang dari Melaka.

Marilah kita sama-sama memaafkan antara satu sama lain atas apa yang telah kita lakukan semasa muda kita dan marilah juga kita sedekahkan Al-Fatihah kepada saudara kita yang baru meninggalkan kita. Al-Fatihah.

p/s: Saya dimaklumkan oleh Sdra Rosli Sanusi bahawa Pengarah JPJ telah menolak perletakan jawatan arwah Abdul Rahim Ani Oleh itu isteri beliau berhak untuk mendapat pencen arwah.

MRSM Sports

2010-04-12T02:18:00.005+08:00

We were in Penang the last two days visiting Aizat at MRSM Kepala Batas. We wanted to buy him new glasses as he has managed to break the frame of his existing glasses (again).

When we arrived and called him, he said he was at the stadium. Apparently he is taking part in the northern region MRSM athletics meet of which his school is hosting this year. Aizat is representing his school in the 100m and 4x100m events. When we arrived we managed to see a few events before the finals of he 4x100m event.

Well, his quartet did not fare very well. I can see his school is not well prepared. He only managed to use his spikes (on loan from the school) in the morning of the event. He was not properly attired for the event. The fact that they managed to get in the finals was good enough and we are proud of him. Aizat won the 100m race in his school sports day. So he is the fastest man in MRSM Kepala Batas for 2010.

There were quite a number of MRSMs in the northern region so there were quite a large number of participants. But I can see that sport days nowadays are a far cry from when I was in school. Those days we take great pride in the sports day and all participants took them seriously. Now, I guess it was done just for the sake of carrying it out.

A Date with the Doctor

2010-04-08T16:06:00.004+08:00

I had a date with the Doctor today, six months after my last date. I must say I have been in pretty good shape the past few months. I was quite excited to go to this appointment for one main reason - I wanted to know how I fare after not taking my medication as instructed by my doctor.

Just before my last appointment the doctor tried me on a few drugs to take care of my cholesterol problem. Actually my cholesterol level is not high, it is just that my "good cholesterol" level is too low. The drugs tested seemed to do a good job on me and I was put on a permanent dose. However, I later read that this drug had some side effects, so I decided not to continue after 2 months.

So today was D-Day for me to see what happened.

I had fasted so that I could take the blood test. My appointment was at 10:45 but I was at the hospital at 10:00 to take the blood tests. As usual, the lab was full of people and I only managed to do my tests at 10:30, no way the doctor an get the results by 10:45. So, after the tests I had my breakfast.

I met the doctor at around 11:30am.

Doctor: Have you been taking your medication?
Me: Yes Doc, however only for my BP i.e. Norvasc
Doc: What about for your cholesterol?
Me: I stopped after 2 months
Doc: Why?
Me: I read there is side effects for taking the medication
Doc: Of course there is side effects but there is also side effects if you do not take the medication. Let us see your results, and he proceeded looking at the results. Your BP is okay but your cholesterol is back to the previous levels. The good cholesterol is less than 1 though the bad cholesterol is not too high at 5.6. Your fats level is too high to make the other readings meaningful.
Me: Doc, is there a way I can increase the good cholesterol without taking medications?
Doc: Yes. You have to stop being a Malay
Me: ???
Doc: You see, we Malays take a lot of santan, deep fried food, eggs, salt, seafood and the rest. If you can survive on salads and boiled dishes without rice then there is no need for you to take your medication.
Me: Ok Doc. Give me my prescription.
Doc: Don't worry. I'm giving you a low dosage. I myself am taking a much higher dosage.
Me: Ok Doc
Doc: I'm only giving you 2 weeks ration. After that you go and buy them from your GP or at the pharmacies. At this hospital everything is so expensive. I'll see you in four months.
Me; Thanks Doc. Asssallamualaikum.

I paid the bill of RM360 and pick up the 2 weeks medication and resigned to the fact that I'm stuck with another two types of medication for my daily diet.

Ungrateful

2010-04-04T22:34:00.003+08:00

I'm feeling so ungrateful. There are groups of people who said they are fighting for my rights but I'm not in any mood to appreciate what they are doing. On the contrary I looked at them with utter contempt and disgust. How dare they classify me as needing the crutches that they think I desire?

To be fair, their intentions can be justified. If only their track record has proven otherwise. There is nothing wrong with trying to help those who are in need, in fact it is incumbent upon all of us to do so. But what they say is not what they do. How do you explain the presence of so many needy people after all these years while at the same time the chosen ones keep getting richer and becoming billionaires?

I have a feeling they are using me as an excuse to enrich themselves. In the process I will be labeled as the one depriving others of their rightful share of the pie while they are the ones actually laughing all the way to the bank.

Who are they? They are has been pseudo leaders who cannot even win an election on their own. They are the ones when in authority took advantage of the situation to enrich themselves and their ilk without having to work. And now they want to claim to be fighting for me and if I refuse their help they are going to call me ungrateful. So be it. I'll be the ungrateful one so long as I am not in any way associated with these opportunists.

Berpesta di Pesta Buku

2010-03-28T22:09:00.009+08:00

Hari Sabtu lepas, saya dan keluarga telah pergi ke Pesta Buku Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur 2010. Oleh kerana ini minggu terakhir pesta tersebut saya telah menjangka pengunjung akan ramai. Jadi kami telah pergi seawal mungkin, mengambil kira pesta dibuka pada pukul 10:00 pagi.

Kami sampai sekitar PWTC pada pukul 10:00 pagi, tetapi jalan telah mula sesak. Bas sekolah di letakkan disepanjang jalan. Murid-murid berpakaian seragam berkeliaran. Memang pesta, dan dimana ada pesta disitu ada orang Melayu. Saban tahun saya mengunjungi pesta buku memang pengunjungnya rata-rata Melayu, pasti lebih 95%. Tahun ini juga begitu. Sungguh kuat membaca orang Melayu nie.

Saya sebenarnya mempunyai beberapa "target" buku yang ingin saya cari, tetapi memandangkan keadaan yang ada saya tak yakin saya dapat berjumpa apa yang saya cari, jadi saya cuma pergi dengan fikiran terbuka.

Dipendekkan cerita, kami telah berada di pesta tersebut selama kurang lebih 5 jam. Jumlah resit yang saya kumpul dalam masa tersebut melebihi 50% dari potongan yang dibenarkan oleh Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri untuk pembelian buku setahun. Saya tidak terkilan berbelanja untuk membeli buku cuma sangat berharap buku-buku yang dibeli akan habis dibaca sebelum pesta serupa datang lagi tahun hadapan.

Seperti lazimnya, tumpuan paling ramai pengunjung ialah booth Karangkraf (menjual majalah dan novel remaja); Kumpulan Gila-Gila (komik dan novel), MOY Publications (komik Ujang), PTS Publications dan yang seumpamanya. Bukannya salah membaca bahan yang ringan tetapi sekali-sekala kita perlu juga membaca buku-buku yang ada maklumat terutama maklumat yang boleh diamal untuk kebaikan kita, keluarga dan masyarakat. Tetapi saya juga melihat banyak gerai menjual buku-buku berunsur keagamaan dan gerai-gerai ini mendapat sambutan baik.

Kami meninggalkan PWTC yang semakin sesak sekitar 3:30 ptg untuk menunaikan solat Zohor dan kemudiannya makan tengahari pada pukul 4:00 petang. Seronoknya berpesta hingga lupa makan.

Nota:
Gambar paling atas: diantara buku-buku yang telah kami borong
Gambar paling bawah: buku khas yang dibeli untuk anak bongsu saya, Nurhani

Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad @ Timothy Winters

2010-03-28T21:33:00.003+08:00

Me and family decided to attend a kulliyah by Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad at Masjid Kelana Putra after Maghrib today. The Sheikh, formally Timothy Winters is supposed to be a renowned Islamic scholar who is currently attached to the University of Cambridge. He came with impressive credentials.

Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad graduated from Cambridge University with a double-first in Arabic in 1983. He then lived in Cairo for three years, studying Islam under traditional teachers at Al-Azhar, one of the oldest universities in the world. He went on to reside for three years in Jeddah, where he administered a commercial translation office and maintained close contact with Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad and other ulama from Hadramaut, Yemen.

In 1989, Sheikh Abdul Hakim returned to England and spent two years at the University of London learning Turkish and Farsi. Since 1992 he has been a doctoral student at Oxford University, specializing in the religious life of the early Ottoman Empire. He is currently Secretary of the Muslim Academic Trust (London) and Director of the Sunna Project at the Centre of Middle Eastern Studies at Cambridge University, which issues the first-ever scholarly Arabic editions of the major Hadith collections.

We arrived just after azan. I managed to join the congregation midway. Immediately after maghrib prayers, the Nazir of the mosque introduced Sheikh Abdul Hamid and the kulliyah started. It was quie difficult for me to make out what the Sheikh was saying partly because of his slang and partly because he was speaking in low tones. His topic of discussions was "Spirituality in the Age of Uncertainty", a very relevant topic indeed. As best as I tried to decipher what was being said, I had problems taking my notes. I was therefore surprised that a rather elderly man besides me who was nodding in approval every so often while I was struggling with my predicament.

Anyway, I did managed to write down the following:

1. "Good qualities" are good because they are the qualities of Allah. This is an important concept because in its absence, everything can be viewed in relative terms depending on the eyes of the beholder.

2. One would have achieved the "true Iman" when he wants to do what Allah swt has commanded him to do.

3. The purpose of our life is to turn away from the shadows and be in the light. It must however be realized that there will be no shadows without light.

4. Allah swt created everything with meanings. Nothing has been created without a purpose.

The Sheikh ended his kulliyah just before Isyak prayers. At the end of the session, the ADUN for Seri Setia, YB Nazmi, briefed the congregation that the Sheikh was brought to Malaysia by ABIM Outreach for the purpose of soliciting funds for the building of a mosque in Cambridge.

Felda Residence Sungkai

2010-03-23T23:26:00.010+08:00

It was the school holidays last week. We took the opportunity to go for a short trip to Felda Hotspring Residence in Sungkai Perak. I read about it not too long ago and I thought I also saw it being highlighted on TV.

It is not too far away from Kuala Lumpur, just slightly over 100kms. We took the North South Highway, took the Sungkai exit and the directions took us to our destination without much hassle. It was just after the Sungkai Felda scheme and quite well developed. Felda must have spent quite a sum on it. It was also rather well maintained.

We took the rooms which I thought was rather pricey, at RM250 per day. I had wanted to take the Villa but they were not available when I booked through the internet. We enquired about the villa upon our arrival but were told all were taken up. They costs between RM600 to RM900 per day.

The main attraction at this place is the hotspring. On the first day I just took a walk around the area as it was already quite late when we arrived. The place has a good peaceful ambiance. Just hanging around in the compound surrounded by palm trees is enough to provide a welcome alternative to hectic Kuala Lumpur.

Looking at the brochures in the room, we were told that there is pasar malam about 7km from the place. I had a feeling that the information was mot right because I knew that the distance from the Sungkai toll plaza is already about 10km. Anyway, having nothing much to do we decided to venture out. Sure enough, the pasar malam which was in Slim River was almost 30km away.

We spent the next day in the pools (both the cool mountain spring pool and the hot hotspring pool). Being weekdays there was not much crowd despite the school holidays. There was also a Spa and other facilities which we did not try.

Overall, it was a good trip but you should not stay more than 2 days as there would be nothing else to do unless you want to go hiking in the nearby Main Range. I must commend Felda for "diversifying" its activities. I also saw that some of the settlers also operated "Homestay" facilities which will be much cheaper that the Felda Residences. I'm quite sure a lot of city dwellers would be looking forward to spending some time in a more peaceful rural environment once in a while and this cold become popular if the place is well maintained and marketed.

The Independents

2010-03-18T00:03:00.002+08:00

The new parliament session sees more than usual number of independent members. They are not REAL independents but merely people who have lost their way with the parties they represented on the previous elections. I would not like to comment more about them as a lot have been said already. I just want to ask them who the hell voted for them as independents? Don't they have any sense of dignity? Have they no shame thinking that they were voted into parliament on their own personal capacity?

They have to make the best out of their present situation. No party is going to take them as candidates in the next elections. Contesting as independents would also not be an alternative. They are sure to lose their deposits if they stand as independents.

So what do they do now? They have to make noise, barking at everything they can get hold of just to tell the world that they are still alive and hopefully some people will be desperate enough to take them as partners of convenience.

Frankly, I pity these people. I regard them so low in the human hierarchy that I do not even wish to talk about them. However, one of them I used to put some hopes on. In fact I think I even made a small contribution to his election campaign. How I regret this, only God knows.

I always try to look at the positives of situations. In this, the only positive I can think of is that at least we know who they really are. Not that we were 100% sure of them before.

Lets make it as a real lesson learnt.

Blogging

2010-02-23T23:24:00.000+08:00

I read some where that blogging is now less popular compared to "less cumbersome" social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook. It seems that people (especially youngsters) prefer the short and direct to the point approach demanded by Twitter and Facebook compared to the essay-like writings in blogs.

I think that is a real pity. People, especially the young, should be encouraged to write their thoughts. It may not be read by others but it would serve as a very good reference for the blogger himself in later periods. I started blogging a few years back and every so often I would "go back in time" to reread what I have written in the "days gone by". Without fail, I would be so grateful that I have taken time to record those events as it allowed me to relive history and experience the emotions that I use to feel about them.

I'm actually very happy to find out that quite a few of my children, nieces and siblings maintain their own blogs. Of course some of these blogs are not unlike many government departments' websites (hardly updated) but at least they have taken the first steps. Hopefully they will find time to make regular updates, as I'm sure over time they will find their efforts worthwhile.

Besides checking on these "family" blogs, I also have a few other blogs that I frequent. One of them is Loyar Burok, a blog dedicated to all things about the judiciary. I've always been attracted to the legal profession and I think I would have made a good lawyer if I may say so myself. Not able to fulfill this ambition of mine, I have always tried to keep in touch with it. I've also found a few blogs that are inspiring such as one maintained by a breast cancer patient, another by a guy my age who is trying to escape from the crutches of drug addiction, yet another by an NGO member involved with helping families of HIV patients and many more.

Sometimes I envy the blog owners who are able to religiously update their blogs. I wonder when I can do the same. In the meantime I will just continue to enjoy reading them.

The Road to Mecca

2010-02-22T13:21:00.008+08:00

It has been quite a while since I managed to finish reading a book even though I started reading quite a few. After some months they are still "works in progress". I'm however happy to note that my latest attempt at completing a book was a success. My wife managed to find a book that I have been looking for for quite a while a few weeks back. I started slowly but it picked up pace and I managed to finished it over the recent weekend, thanks in part to my short trip to Jakarta beginning on 18 February.

The book, The Road to Mecca was absorbing to say the least but it was also enlightening and fulfilling. It has been quite a while since I get so much satisfaction out of reading a book. I was trying to figure out the reasons for this. Maybe it was because the subject matter was so close to the heart. Maybe I was anxious to know about how my own religion (of which I was born into) was viewed by an "independent" party.

There were a few things in the book that kept me glued to it. For one, I am amazed at how a "Westerner" from a Jewish family who became disillusioned with religion and became a "free thinker" can "fall in love" with the Bedouin Arabs and their lifestyle. He then surmised that all the positive values of the people were the result of them embracing the tenets of the religion brought by the last Prophet of Islam and finally decided to "return to his natural religion".

I just completed my first reading. I need to read it again very soon so that I can enhance my understanding of what the writer is trying to say. Sometimes we take for granted what God has given us. We fail to value these including our belief in God. It takes "an outsider" to remind us that we are the chosen ones but somewhere along the way we have taken a diversion from the straight path.

It is my believe that to fully "appreciate" the book we need to know the author first. His family background, his education, his training. Knowing that he is a journalist, you can easily understand how he managed to describe a situation so succinctly or elaborate it so beautifully. I envied him for being able to meet up with the legendary Lion of the Desert, Sidi Umar al-Mukhtar, at his battlefield against the Italians. At the same time, I doubt I would have been able to carry out the mission had it been assigned to me, a born Muslim. I'm amazed at his description of his first hajj trip including the sea trip from Cairo.

It was definitely good reading. I would recommend it to everyone to read it, both Muslims and non-Muslims. I now want to get hold of the other works of Muhammad Asad, including , The Message of the Quran, which all reviews seems to agree that it is among the best translations of the Quran.

Go buy the book and read it. You can get it at Times (or was it MPH), One Utama, I think. It only costs RM30.00

Another Test

2010-02-22T09:57:00.003+08:00

I was about to sleep last night when I received a call from my sister. She told me me that another sister of mine had just been diagnosed as having a stage 2b cancer of the ovary. She has just been admitted to the USM hospital in Kubang Kerian and awaiting further deliberations by the doctors.

This will be the third case of the Big C in my immediate family. My late father had cancer of the colon, another sister cancer had breast cancer and now this. It seemed to be in our genes. Maybe its time for all of us to get a full medical check. The only comforting thought is that both my father and the sister (who had breast cancer) went through successful treatments.

I know its another test from Allah swt and I'm praying that He gives us the strength (especially to my sister Azizah and hubby Junaidi) to go through this.

Bertunang

2010-02-10T12:03:00.007+08:00

7th February 2010

Events that came to my mind on this day:
1. Ahmad Arif's 24th Birthday
2. 3rd Anniversary of my father's passing
3. Maisurah's engagement

How much things have changed. Bertunang (engagement) used to be a simple affair. Mine was carried out 28 years ago on Valentine's Day (how romantic someone would say) but it was not chosen because it was Valentine's Day but because it was a weekend and it suits everyone. It was a simple affair. My uncle and a few relatives (I think it was 4 of them) went to my future in-laws place to "seal the deal". The agreed time was 11:00 am. We arrived a few minutes before 11:00. I was not allowed to be in the party but had to show the way to the house in Section 16 Petaling Jaya. It was over before Zohor prayers without much fanfare.

Fast forward 2010 in Shah Alam. Maisurah, a niece on my wife's side is getting engaged. The guest list, I was told numbered 170. A pelamin was constructed (it must have costs a few hundred ringgits, at least). Three tents were put up in front of the house (maybe about RM300 each). A caterer had to be called in (RM15 per head I was told). A few hantarans, including the obligatory sirih junjung, had to be prepared in reply to the ones brought by the future groom. The male party (about 20 of them) came in a thematic grey outfits (must have costs them quite a bit). An Ustaz was invited to recite the doa. All in all quite an elaborate affair but still some one is not happy about the whole thing. "Lain kali kena buat betul-betul" was the remark made. How much "betul" could it be, I thought. But what do I know?

On the bright side, it was an occasion for relatives to get together. Nowadays, these events have become a rarity. Hopefully, it also strengthen the bonds between siblings, nephews and nieces and others that matters. I only hope we are not getting too carried away with the superficial aspects of a marriage so much so we forget about the more important spiritual and religious aspects which are life long obligations.

Congratulations are in order for Maisurah, her parents and siblings. Now that the floodgates have been opened lets see more taking the plunge to fulfill another of the Prophet's Sunnah.

Mentally Exhausted

2010-02-04T10:31:00.005+08:00

When one reach the age that I'm at now and with my current lifestyle I guess one will get physically tired easily. After all, I do not give too much thoughts on what I eat and I seldom find time to exercise, two things my doctors and doctor friends have always emphasized are requirements of healthy living. Somehow I have managed to compensate my physical setbacks with my determination.

However, when I am faced with mental fatigue (as what I'm experiencing now) relying on determination alone is not enough. I'm worried about so many things, especially my loved ones. Have I done enough for them? What problems are they facing now? Have I contributed to those problems? What can I do?

Oh Allah,

Guide us on the straight path,
The path of those whom Thou hast favored;
Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.
Al-Fatihah :5-7

First Wedding in 2010

2010-02-01T12:27:00.003+08:00

On Saturday, 30 January 2010, an old school friend (both primary and secondary, a total of 15 years) marries off his daughter. It was held in Intekma Resort Shah Alam. It was not a big affair as they already held a few receptions previously.

I always tried my best to attend wedding receptions held by friends and staff. To make it more meaningful I normally get to meet old friends on these occasions. It was also the case on Saturday. It was a cozy affair and the food was good.

Congratulations to Mohd Jaffri and wife for the addition of a new family member.

Dari Allah kita Datang......

2010-01-28T11:12:00.007+08:00

Pagi, hari Ahad, 24 Januari, saya, isteri dan anak bongsu mengambil keputusan untuk ke Melaka, melawat anak lelaki saya Ahmad Afiq yang sedang buat "praktikal" dengan tukang gunting rambut di kampong kami. Saya tahu Afiq dah mula boring sebab tak dapat main futsal setiap petang seperti di Kelana Jaya; tak ada handphone untuk bergayut dan tidak ada Astro untuk tengok Chelsea.

Selepas sarapan kami tiga beranak bertolak tanpa sebarang tekanan masa. Sesampai kami di kampong, Afiq sedang main playstation (nasib baik ada permainan ini untuk beliau menghabiskan masa). Selepas minum dan bercerita sedikit sebanyak, kami pun keluar. Makcik pun ikut sebab nak beli barang dapor. Anak2 adik saya pun mengikut juga. Sepupu2 Afiq yang berumur 7 dan 10 tahun nampaknya telah menjadi "pengikut setia" beliau.

Kami kembali kerumah sekitar pukul 3:00 petang. Cuaca sangat panas (Makcik cakap dah lama tak hujan di kampong). Saya bercadang untuk tidor sejenak sebelum kembali ke Kuala Lumpur. Tetapi belum sempat tidor, isteri saya menerima sms dari adik beliau di KL mengatakan ibu saudara mereka di Singapura telah kembali ke Rahmatullah selepas zohor. Dah lama juga kami tidak melawat beliau.

Isteri saya ingin melawat jenazah di Singapura. Dari Melaka perjalanan ke Singapura akan mengambil masa tidak lebih dari 3 jam. Tetapi kami tidak membawa pasport, jadi terpaksa pulang ke KL dulu. Setelah menyerahkan handphone kepada Afiq dan memberi sedikit duit untuk top-up, kami terus kembali ke KL sekitar pukul 5:00 petang. Saya bercadang untuk memandu ke JB dan mengambil teksi ke Singapura. Kakak ipar yang tinggal di Melaka mengambil keputusan untuk naik kapal terbang bersama suami dan anak mereka.

Selepas makan malam dan solat Isyak saya cuba melelapkan mata buat persiapan untuk memandu. Isteri mengejutkan saya pukul 12:00 malam. Kami bertolak pada jam 12:35 malam dari Kelana Jaya dan sampai di JB pada pukul 3:45 pagi. Selepas berehat seketika dan minum pagi kami menaiki teksi untuk ke Singapura sebelum pukul 6:00 pagi. Causeway telah mula sesak dengan motosikal dan bas kilang membawa pekerja Malaysia ke Singapura.

Kami tiba di Kembangan Singapura lebih kurang 10 minit sebelum pukul 7:00 pagi. Tiada orang di rumah kecuali sepupu isteri saya, isteri dan anak bongsu beliau dan pembantu rumah mereka. Kami pun mula membaca ayat-ayat Quran yang termampu. Sekitar pukul 8:00 pagi wakil dari MUIS (Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura) tiba untuk menguruskan jenazah. Cuma dua orang yang datang, seorang lelaki pembawa van jenazah yang lengkap dengan keranda dan tempat mandi jenazah dan seorang wanita yang akan memandikan jenazah.

Isteri saya dan beberapa wanita lain membantu memandikan jenazah. Sementara itu saya sempat melelapkan mata diatas kerusi. Kaum keluarga dan jiran-jiran mula datang, tetapi tak ramai. Maklumlah di Singapura tidak ramai orang Melayu. Arwah makcik isteri saya cuma seorang di Singapura (adik beradik beliau dan saudara terdekat masih di Sumatera). Beliau pula cuma mempunyai seorang anak (sepupu isteri saya). jadi saudara-mara cuma di sebelah isteri beliau dan sepupu yang datang dari Malaysia.

Pengurusan jenazah sungguh efisien. Pada pukul 9:15 pagi semuanya telah selesai dan sedia untuk disolatkan. Pemandu van jenazah rupanya adalah Imam dari MUIS yang akan menjadi Imam. Semua yang hadir menyertai solat jenazah. Untuk ke tanah perkuburan, telah disediakan bas (saya tidak bertanya siapa yang menyediakan bas tersebut). Saya menaiki bas untuk melihat cara pengkebumian walaupun mata mengantuk. Saya dimaklumkan perjalan untuk ke satu-satunya tanah perkuburan di Singapura akan memakan masa lebih kurang 45 minit. Diatas bas saya sempat melelapkan mata sekali lagi.

Tanah perkuburan luas dan begitu teratur sekali. Terdapat tanah perkuburan Cina, Islam dan Kristian. Ruang kubur telah tersedia. Semuanya dibuat dengan konkrit kecuali di bahagian bawah dimana di buat liang untuk diletakkan jenazah. Oleh sebab saiz konkrik standard, maka ia kelihatan begitu teratur. Ruang yang telah siap ditutup dengan penutup konkrit juga yang hanya boleh diangkat dengan mesen pengorek. Ia juga agak luas dan memudahkan kerja-kerja meletak jenazah didalam liang. Setelah jenazah diletak didalam liang dan ditutup sedikit tanah ia ditutup dengan papan sebelum mesen pengorek diguna untuk memasukkan tanah. Kerja-kerja dapat disiapkan dalam masa 30 minit. Imam yang sama membaca talqin dan doa. Kami pun bersurai selepas itu. Perjalanan balik mengambil masa yang sama.

Sampai dirumah diadakan bacaan tahlil ringkas. Para hadirin kemudianya dihidangkan dengan nasi bungkus yang dibeli dengan harga SD3.50 satu. Nasinya cukup banyak, lauk ayam, sayur dan telor. Saya pun membuat persiapan untuk kembali ke Malaysia. Saya tidak mahu terperangkap didalam jam apabila para pekerja balik dari kerja petang nati. Setiba di JB saya menghabiskan sedikit masa disana. Satu perkara yang saya nampak ialah ramai rakyat Johor "berkabong" atas kemangkatan Sultan Johor dengan memakai songkok yang berlilit kain putih dan sebagainya.

Selepas makan malam, kami meninggalkan JB pada pukul 8:30 malam dan sampai di Kelana Jaya pada pukul 12:30 tengah malam. Jadi, saya telah meninggalkan Kelana Jaya untuk ke Singapura dan kembali semula dalam masa 24 jam dengan tidor kurang dari 2 jam sahaja.

Sekarang telah hilang satu motivasi untuk kami ke Singapura. AlFatihah buat Mak Ani. Semoga rohnya ditempatkan bersama roh orang-orang yang soleh.

The King is Gone

2010-01-23T18:45:00.003+08:00

Sultan Johor (I do not know his full name) passed away last night at age 77. I wonder why the royals always take names that are more than a mouthful when they assume their throne. I guess it adds to the grandeur of their positions. But lets hope that they remember that when they meet their Maker they are just the same as you and me, their names not withstanding. The only difference is how they live their life.

As usual I would not like to comment on someone who is already gone but lets say that this Sultan of ours is "colourful" to say the least.

Sebagai seorang Muslim marilah kita baca Al-Fatihah dan jika ditakdirkan ada keberkatan atas bacaan kita di sisi Allah swt, kita sedekahkan lah pahala tersebut kepada beliau. Semoga Allah swt memaafkan kita semua atas segala kesalahan kita.

Capitalism rears its ugly head in BPL

2010-01-21T09:49:00.004+08:00

My favourite team since my childhood, Man United, lost to its City neighbours in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi final afew days ago. Man Utd would normally treat a Carling Cup tie, even one that will reward the winner with a Wembley visit, with less priority than a league match. But in this occasion, because the opponent is a resurgent neighbour, the manager fielded his best team.

Therefore the lost was a huge disappointment. I must say the referee had a big say in both goals that Tevez scored. The first was through a highly suspect penalty (since the foul was committed outside the penalty area) and the second from a corner which should not have been awarded (since the ball did not touch a United player before going out). The only consolation is there is another 90 minutes to play for in Old Trafford next week.

But what I want to point out is not the performance of my team but how the BPL is facing a financial crisis arising out of mounting debts taken by owners of the clubs. While there have been rich owners who have put in a great deal of their own money into clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City, there have equally been owners (mostly Americans) who have leveraged their clubs towards bankruptcy. These clubs include my beloved United and Liverpool.

It cannot be imagined that after selling its star player, Ronaldo, for a world record fee, it is not able to buy players at a time when it had injuries to its whole backline forcing the team to play with 3 midfielders in defence in one game. Initially, I thought it was because the manager felt he has enough good players in the squad waiting to make a come back but now I believe the real reason is they need to show a decent profit to attract new funds to keep the owners afloat. They are now asking the players to buy the new bonds that will be issued.

Sheez, these Americans. After destroying the world economy through its junk bonds and sub prime loans now they trying to destroy the English football clubs.

Lawak Bodoh

2010-01-13T00:17:00.005+08:00

(New Straits Times ) - The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has directed its officers to gather more evidence into an allegation of abuse of power by the Kelantan Menteri Besar Incorporated (PMBK) over a purchase of six cakes valued about RM3,900.

MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Shukri Abdull said the commission had opened an investigation paper into the case recently but needed more information about the purchase.

"We have referred the IP back to the state MACC so that they can gather more information," he said yesterday.

He was commenting on the allegation on Sunday by Kelantan opposition leader Datuk Md Alwi Che Ahmad, who had called on the MACC to investigate PMBK for purchase of the cakes during the last Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

++++++++++++++++++

Frankly, I don't know what to feel - happy, sad, angry, surprised or whatever.

Maybe I should feel happy because, the fact that the highest anti-corruption body in the country find it appropriate to get its Deputy Chief Commissioner (must be someone very important to carry that title) to announce that the august body has opened an investigation on the purchase of cakes for Hari Raya Aidilfitri. It just shows that our beloved country is almost free of corruption so much so that its anti-corruption body need to investigate this otherwise inconsequent transaction. In fact it is in line with the previous investigations of money spent by an EXCO in Selangor (more than RM2,000) to buy flags for Merdeka Day celebrations. Another similar case involves the purchase of cows by the Selangor MB to give to the poor in conjunction with Hari Raya Korban.

[Sorry, did I hear someone say, corruption is still corruption even if the amount involved is small? That is why we should go after the small fry so as not to encourage them to become big sharks when they will become immune to prosecution]

Maybe I should feel sad because I also hear of major questionable transactions such as the commissions for the purchase of submarines, helicopters, flight training services, construction of MATRADE building, naval boats, PKFZ and so on and here we have the Anti Corruption Commission investigate a state government agency buying cakes for Hari Raya.

Maybe I should feel angry because they are taking us for fools. I think they expect us to applaud them for taking their anti-corruption jobs seriously.

Should I feel surprised? No. I stopped feeling surprised a long time ago. These people can take us for a ride, seemingly with our consent.

Whatever, I have no more faith in these people. I pray that Allah swt show us the true and straight path. Ameen.

An accident

2010-01-09T18:36:00.004+08:00

My daughters went out for a meeting with their cousins in Subang Jaya. Me, wife and Afiq were at home. Around 2:15pm I decided to go out for something to eat and also go to the bookstore to look for some books.

We returned home at about 4:00pm and to our surprise saw a car which had just been driven into the electrical pole right in front of our house. My wife's first reaction was about her flower pots but I was relieved that the car did not ram into my wife's car which was parked in the vicinity. I was also glad that the electrical pole managed to withstand the knock. If not we will be in total darkness for the night.

We went out of our car and spoke to some of the neighbours who are still around. Apparently the car was driven by one of the residents staying on our road (7/14). The car looked bad, he must have been driving at quite a speed but I wonder how he can do that in such a congested road. Apparently his wife who is sitting in the front passenger's seat was hurt and had to be sent to the hospital. To make it worse she is pregnant. Hopefully nothing bad will befall on the family, especially the unborn child.

The Irrelevant Judge Moves On

2010-01-02T22:02:00.002+08:00

The Irrelevant Judge passed away today, I read in the blogs. I cannot help but noticed that almost all the comments written had nothing good to say about him. I have always prayed that when I leave this world to meet my Maker, most of those who had the opportunity to know me will have something good to say or think about me. Even if they see no reason to wish me well in the after world they will not find a reason to wish me hell either.

I would like to refrain from making any comments about the Irrelevant Judge upon his demise as I do not have first hand information about the man. However, from what little that I read about his judgments, I can understand the strong feelings people have against him. He will find out soon enough that nothing is now irrelevant as far as his Maker is concerned.

Maybe we should sympathise with his family that he left behind because they have to live with his past deeds. But then again.....maybe we should rub it in so that it will be a good example for the others.

Its a new Decade

2010-01-02T19:56:00.002+08:00

Its 2010, a new decade. A year seems too short, before we realized it its over so I would like to write about a decade instead. Just imagine if we talk about our resolutions for the decade instead of for the year, maybe its more achievable.

I stopped making resolutions many years ago when I realized I always failed even in the most modest of hopes. So rather than feel dismayed at the end of the year when its confirmed that I have failed yet again, its better if I stop making them all together.

Even so, I still have hopes that I would like to achieve. But it seems that I am thinking more of the after world than the present. And these need not be written down as KPIs as they concerned matters of the heart and my relationship with the Creator. My success or failure is determined by Him and Him alone. No superior to review or appraise at the end of the year.

HAPPY NEW DECADE EVERYONE

Hani is 13

2010-01-01T19:13:00.013+08:00

Its the last day of the last year of the first decade of the 21st century. I hope I got that right. I was on leave from work as I wanted to attend a function in the school where I'm a PTA Committee member, the Orientation Day for new students. The function only ended about noon. Later in the day I had to run some errands including sending my MPV for servicing to prepare for trip to Kepala Batas to send Aizat over the weekend,

Our youngest child, Nurhani celebrates her 13th birthday today. She is a grown up girl now. She'll be in Form Two soon. I can't wait for her to complete her schooling so that I can stop getting involved in the PTA. I think I've been involved in one way or another for the last 15 years. It must be time for me to take a break.

Hani has been very active in her first year in secondary school. She could have been a prefect had she wanted to but she preferred to be a Librarian and getting involved with trying to save the environment. Now she wants to be an "environmentalist", whatever that is. I hope by the time she completed school, an environmentalist will be able to survive in this world.

For some time I've promised Hani that I will treat her to dinner which would include one of the best mushroom soups that I know of for her birthday. So off we went to Kokopelli after maghrib. Yhe eatery is just near my office and I know the owner quiet well.

The place was full, being New Year Eve. Luckily, we managed to get a place for six as we were quiet early. It seemed everyone enjoyed their food. We went straight home after dinner as my wife has not been too well for the past few days because of her asthma attack.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANI.

Pergi tak kembali

2009-12-30T16:07:00.000+08:00

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

2009-12-28T16:24:00.011+08:00

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

2009-12-24T12:03:00.010+08:00

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

2009-12-23T11:37:00.009+08:00

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

2009-12-14T23:27:00.006+08:00

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

2009-12-10T15:41:00.007+08:00

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

2009-12-08T12:08:00.006+08:00

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

2009-11-30T11:16:00.009+08:00

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??

2009-11-12T11:29:00.002+08:00

"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

2009-11-02T21:42:00.009+08:00

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/

A Hectic Weekend

2009-10-26T11:52:00.002+08:00

My weekends have been hectic for the past few months. Our house renovation has taken its toll on us and deprive us of our rest days. It is almost completed but the unpacking is still "work in progress". I will leave that task to my dear wife.

Last weekend was particularly busy. Saturday morning was spent looking for things for the house (still). After zohor prayers, our next door neighbor had a kenduri as he and wife are going to perform the hajj this year. AT around 5:00pm we headed for Melaka to visit my sister in law who just had an angiogram done. Had a good dinner in Bandar Hilir (just opposite the Melaka prison). We spent the night at her place in Umbai.

Early Sunday morning we left Umbai for Jasin to visit my Makcik. Discussed a few things on the preparation for my sister's wedding in December. Later, visited my uncle (Pak Ali) to ask him about his recent doctor's visit. His vision has deteriorated and he is required to undergo some procedures which he is very reluctant to do and I was trying to coax him into doing it. Around 11:00 am, we left for KL to catch my staff's (Anwar) wedding.

We reached Anwar's place (Taman Medan) at around 1:30pm. Most of the office staff were present. I have always made it a point to attend all my staff's weddings. After the wedding, we went to Shah Alam to look for things for the house (still). By the time we are done, it was 5:00pm. We headed straight to Ampang to visit my auntie who had just undergone a major operation. We were there until maghrib. We had our dinner at Al-Rawshah Lebanese restaurant in Jalan Ampang. I was introduced to this place by my ex-boss and have been there a few times before but it was the first time for my family.

By the time we reached home it was past 9:00 o'clock. I took a shower and got myself ready for the big BPL game (Man U vs Liverpool). It was a tense game and both sides could have played better but I sensed Liverpool wanted to win the game more. The referee was also no help to Man U. In the end, Liverpool won 2-0 and ended their 4-game losing streak while Man U had to concede the leader board to Chelsea. To be fair, I think Liverpool deserve the win although I was again disappointed with Rio Ferdinand's performance. Maybe its time for Sir Alex to drop him for a few games.

Went to bed at around 1:00am after reading some emails which somehow kept coming despite it being a Sunday. It was a tiring weekend but a productive one. If only Man U had won it would have been a great weekend. I guess, you can't have it all.

Al Fatihah for Yusof

2009-10-08T14:43:00.002+08:00

I started going to school in 1965 when I entered standard 1 at Jasin English School. I was there until 1970 when I completed my primary education. During the six years there I met my first friends outside my kampong circle. Those days mixing with others outside your neighbours is a luxury. The school was about 6 kilometers away from where I was staying with my grandfather but it seemed very far. The only means of transport was the local bus service which ply the route about once every hour. Taxi service was available occasionally but beyond our means. We only use taxis in times of emergency.

Back to my primary schooling. I spent quite a bit of time in school since there is nothing much to do at home. It was in school that I met a lot of new friends. One of them was Yusof. We called him Yusof Mamak because of his dark skin. Actually he must have been of Indian origin. His family had a shop in Jasin town selling curries and related foodstuff. During the time when most of our parents were rubber tappers or farmers, having a parent who is a shopkeeper must have put Yusof on the "well to do" group. Despite that Yusof was "one of us". I do not remember being in the same class as Yusof but we met often enough (especially on the field during games) to consider him as a friend.

We were separated when we went to secondary school. I and a few others were given the opportunity to go to Melaka High School while Yusof continued in Jasin Secondary English School. However, we still met once in a while especially during the school holidays since he lives in town and we need to get to town to catch our connecting buses. After secondary school I completely lost contact with him but I still "keep track" of his whereabouts.

Then we started working, having families and these made it more difficult for us to meet up. I came to know that Yusof has moved out of his parents place after marriage but still live in Melaka, so it must still be quite near. After all, the furthest distance between two places in Melaka cannot be more than 60 kilometers.

About 2 years ago I was told Yusof was involved in a bad accident. I think he was riding a motor bike. Yusof was known to be a fan of big bikes and he must have owned at least one big bike. I was told he was bed ridden after the accident. Me and a few friends talked about paying him a visit but we never got around to actually doing it. Last week, I received an sms from Mokhlis (a friend who always find time to keep track and inform everyone of our friends' activities) that Yusof is in bad shape and is being transferred from Melaka to HUKM. Over the next few days I received updates about his conditions. Still I did not find the time to visit Yusof at HUKM, though it is only a short drive away. On Wednesday, 7 Oct., I received this sms from Mohklis,

"Innalillahi wainnahi rajiun... Al fatihah.... Dari Wahid... Sdr. Yusof Mamak telah kembali ke rahmatullah pada pukul 1:45 pagi tadi. Will inform details once I got it."

I've lost another friend though I cannot consider him to be a close one as I've not seen him for quite a while. God has given me a lot of opportunities to do some good deeds by visiting Yusof while he was sick (more than 2 years, if I was not wrong). In fact in his last days, God made it even easier for me as Yusof was transferred to HUKM from Melaka. Still I cannot find time for a friend. What kind of friend am I?

Al Fatihah for Yusof. Moga Allah cucuri RahmatNya ke atas roh Yusof.

Tak belajar Civics!!

2009-07-27T17:43:00.005+08:00

I've always wanted to write on this small matter but never got around to doing it. However, over the weekend, I met these creatures on more than one occasion and thought I better get it out of the way.

I'm talking about people who throw away rubbish from their cars, either moving or stationery. People throw all sorts of things from their cars onto the roads, from tin cans, cigarette packs, wrappers, etc. They like to keep their vehicles clean but do not mind making the environment dirty in the process. What kind of warp thinking do these people have? How do we teach them? I'm sure they do not dare do this is Singapore. I've seen things being thrown out from spanking new Mercedeses, BMWs and old Proton Sagas or Kancils that have seen better days themselves. I've also seen things flying off from buses and lorries. So this sickness is not confined to just those in high society.

Maybe we should take photos of them and shame them on the Net.

I'm sure there are laws on this but if we are hoping for the authorities to act, we might as well do the cleaning up of our roads ourselves.

I think the drivers are now too old to be thought simple manners, lets start with their children. Maybe, we should even start with our own.

Medical Check-up

2009-07-20T23:11:00.002+08:00

Three of my managers and myself went for our medical check-up on Thursday last week. We had all the "normal" tests carried out: blood, urine, chest X-ray, ECG and chest ultrasound. The cost : RM750.00 per person and the results will be given to us by a Medical Officer. I opted to see a specialist and it cost me another RM180.00 If this cost is not paid by my company, I doubt I will do the medical.

Anyway, my appointment with the specialist was this morning. I went early to make sure there are still vacant parking lots. Luckily, I did so as the lot is almost full when I arrived. I had opted to see a cardiologist as I have a history of hypertension and is currently on medication. The doctor was okay as he do not have too many patients so there was no need for me to wait for too long.

So here are the results:

1. Physical conditions - Overweight. I weighed in at 92.3kg (must be one of the heaviest I have experieced). No wonder I'm always feeling tired. The doctor told me that the MOST I should weigh is 80kg though ideally it should be closer to 70kg.
2. BP - 150/100, on the high side especially since I'm on medication. My readings used to be 130/90 when I'm on medication. Before I took my medication, my BP was 150/100. The doctor tried to console me by saying that maybe I'm a bit anxious today but he did not take another reading to confirm this.
3. Urine Tests - All normal, no issue
4. X-Ray - All normal, no issue
5. Ultrasound - Fatty Liver (whatever that means) but the doctor told me not to worry too much. Most probably it is the result of me being overweight
6. Blood tests - As I had expected, this will be an issue. All the blood tests that I've taken for the past few years have shown that I have problems with my cholesterol levels. Today was no exception. Actually my cholesterol level was not that high, only 5.7 but what is worrying the doctor is that my "good" cholesterol is only 0.9. There was also another issue with my Triglyceride level which the doctor is not happy with so much so he prescribed me medication for 6 weeks which costs me RM128.00
7. The doctor also asked me to come back in 6 weeks time to do a stress tests. The appointment would be in the first week of Ramadhan

I need to watch my weight and also exercise. I need to watch my weight and also exercise. I need to watch my weight and also exercise. Please God help me achieve this.

Maybe I continue later.

A Night at Chan and Fuzi's

2009-07-12T21:04:00.002+08:00

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.

A busy period

2009-07-08T02:13:00.002+08:00

I've been busy but that is no excuse for not updating this blog. Sometimes I feel more things get done during the busiest of periods. When things are moving slowly you tend to become lazy.

The past 2 months have seen me traveling to Stockholm, Indonesia and Vietnam. The trips are already tiring but trying to make sense of them through meaningful reports take real efforts. If I really think about the report writing I may just want to skip all these trips. And to think that writing is one of my strong points. But I've just been told today that I'll be traveling again next week.

All my weekends for the last month and the ones upto Ramadhan have been or will be fully occupied. There were times when I wonder why I got myself involved in so many things.

Got to go to bed now. There will be 2 meetings tomorrow and I still haven't completed compiling the Annual Report for the mosque's AGM this Friday. I'm sure someone will ask why the report was not distributed much earlier to enable them to read before the meeting. I have to think of an excuse.

Sleepless in Kelana Jaya

2009-06-26T00:42:00.002+08:00

In my more than half century of being on God's Earth, its not often that I have trouble falling asleep.

But when someone you love and care a lot ignores you, you begin to worry. After all you only want the best for them, more than what you want for yourself even and you become ....

Sleepless in Kelana Jaya

Ya Allah Kau Lindungi lah dia dan berilah kemudahan dalam hidupnya

I lost my Notebook and my cool

2009-06-10T23:08:00.004+08:00

I lost my IBM Notebook today, the first time in my life. I'm feeling really terrible ...even after almost 10 hours. I just do not know how to start doing my work. I'm lost.. totally lost. The following are some of the things that I lost in that notebook of mine:

1. almost 6 years of works that I have done for my present company from memos, working papers, letters, budgets, proposals, implementation plans, presentations.. you name it its in there. Basically, the whole company history is in there
2. more than 3 years of my work as Secretary of my mosque from notice of meeting, minutes of Committee meetings, AGMs, reports, proposals etc
3. many years of my work in PIBGs in 3 different schools for the past more than 7 years
4. many years of my works in my previous 2 companies
5. records of my share trading activities
6. many years of my personal and family photos (at least the last 3 years Hari Raya). There should be more than 2,000 photos (some of them priceless photos of my late father)
7. more than 10,000 email messages of various topics, though mostly work related some are personal in nature
8. various matters of interests that I have accumulated over the years
9. hundreds of songs that I've downloaded (mostly of the 70's era)
10. many more that I cannot bear thinking about.

Unfortunately for the person getting hold of my PC there is no pictures or video of me or anybody else in compromising situations.

I'm sick of the way the notebook was lost. I'm angry with my staff who were lax and/or negligent in their actions. I'm pissed off with the thieves who just walked into my room and took it away. I'm not supposed to pray for bad things to befall onto another human being but what I'm hoping would befall the thieves who stole my notebook is definitely not pretty.

The last time I did any back up was last year but I do not know where I put the back up hard disk.

These things are not supposed to happen to us..only to other people. So, though we know full well ALL the safety precautions and SOPs, we choose to ignore them. I've learnt my lesson ..the hard way.

Remembering May 13

2009-05-13T11:54:00.003+08:00

I was in Standard Five when this happened. We were in a kampong in Melaka, basically nothing eventful ever happens there. So, 13th May was an "event" for everyone. Not that it affected us directly.

I was maybe too young to remember many things but I remembered that we do not have to go to school. And the adult folks were saying something that the Chinese were getting too much and need to be taught a lesson. But the few (less than 10) Chinese families in the kampong have nothing to worry as they have been accepted as part of our community. They were all safe but I'm sure they must have been very worried.

I also remembered that we had to "mandi minyak" (oil bath??) to give us special powers in case we are attacked. Up to this day I still wonder how we can take an oil bath which is boiling, or was it an illusion?. After that we kids felt so powerful that we started fighting among us.

We were informed about the curfew by policemen in their patrol cars using hailers. A lot of the kampong folks simply ignored the directive to stay indoors after dark.

So what happened then? I think it is about time all Malaysians know the truth so that we can move on with our nation building. Lets settle this once and for all. There are definitely some lessons to be learnt from this painful episode of our nation. Let not it be exploited by some selfish few for their benefits.

Personally,I do not think there will be a repeat of May 13. The country simply cannot afford it. Moreover, the masses are now more informed. The prospect of them being taken for a painful ride is much less than 40 years ago. But lets not take any chances and work towards a more united Malaysia.

Perak oh Perak

2009-05-07T14:55:00.002+08:00

I was following the events that were unfolding in Perak this morning. Thanks to the internet, we get live coverage of the events from various sources. Even if some of the sources are biased towards a particular individual, groups or camps, at least we have the choice of "knowing" from various sources. And then it is up to us, the intelligent rakyats, to decide which one to trust. This was not so not too long ago where we had to rely on the "official media" version of everything that happens in the country.

I'm not going to touch on the details of the events that happened which culminated in today's encounter. But to me, as a layman rakyat, I'm sad at the state of affairs of my beloved country. Too many leaders who are supposed to look after the rakyats have instead failed us. Are these people who started this political fiasco ever stop to think about the rakyat or the country? I do not think so for if they do I do not think they will do what they did.

As things stand at the time of my writing, I have a feeling that BN will be the government of Perak. Personally, I do not think they have the moral legitimacy of being the government even if all the Courts of the land and the Sultan of the state who have the prerogative to appoint the Chief Minister said so. A government is chosen by the rakyats and they should have the final say. Of course, my personal views carries no weight whatsoever but I have a feeling that a significant percentage of the rakyat is with me on this.

If I am YB Nizar, I would now hand over the government to the BN since they craved it so much and are willing to do everything to get it. Along they way they have got the Sultan and the Courts on their side. Everyone knows that the police, SPR, Civil Service have always been on their side. So let them have it, for the sake of political stability. If not, we the rakyat, will suffer what with the present financial situation.

Let them rule the state without any inputs from the previous government (the PR government). The ADUNs just attend the State Assembly but do not utter a word. Let them table their Budgets or whatever bills. We just keep quite unless they are proposing to change the constitution or something like that which we should vote against. This way, nobody can say that we are responsible for any of their actions. In the meantime our ADUNs should serve the rakyats to their best of their abilities, despite not being in the government. For the seats that are held by BN we should identify potential candidates and start asking them to serve these areas.

Come next elections, we will be fully prepared and I'm sure we will win more than two thirds of the seats.

But I'm just a nobody and I do not think anybody will give my views a second look.

MU lost in FA Cup semi final

2009-04-21T23:10:00.002+08:00

MU's unlikely dream of winning 5 trophies this season finally came to an end when it lost its semi final tie with Everton over penalties after 120 minutes of goalless football two days ago.

Sir Alex gambled by fielding 6 youngsters such as Foster, Rafael, Fabio, Gibson, Macheda and Welbeck. Though they managed to hold a very determined Everton team to a goalless draw, they finally lost in the penalty shoot out.

A penalty kick is basically a gamble in itself. Well known strikers have fumbled in their kicks before but the way Berbatov took his kick was an insult to penalty kickers. He should have been kicked instead.

Maybe it is for the better for MU. Now they can concentrate on retaining the Premier League and European Cup. After all, the FA Cup is the least glamorous of the competitions left. Just to console myself, I guess.

Sir Alex, start looking for clubs interested in Berbatov. Maybe Spurs would want him back.

Writer's Block?

2009-04-21T22:55:00.002+08:00

It has been a while since I last made a post. A few friends have been asking why I have been so quiet. I was trying to look for a reason and came up with a list:

1. Have I been busy? Not actually. I've been busier before
2. Was I not well? No. I've been okay. In fact I have had some sleepless nights which I could have put to better use by making meaningful posts
3. Was there nothing news worthy that took place? No. In fact I was involved in a few things worth reporting

I finally ran out of excuses and have to admit that the REAL reason is that I was just plain LAZY and still am.

I hope this post will trigger me into writing again.

By Elections

2009-04-07T22:28:00.002+08:00

Three by elections took place today for the state seats of Bukit Selambau in Kedah and Batang Air in Sarawak and also for the parliament seat of Bukit Gantang in Perak. BN won the one in Sarawak while Pakatan Rakyat (PAS in Perak and PKR in Kedah) won the other two. All victories were with increased majorities.

As far as I'm concerned it was not a bad day for the Rakyats. It shows that the spirit of change is still intact. I do not think we can do much in the small (in terms of voters) state seat in Sarawak where money talks effectively. It is an uphill battle for the opposition in Sabah and Sarawak still.

Congratulations to the winners who have won fairly. To those who played dirty may you get your due either in this world or in the hereafter.

Man United won Carling Cup

2009-03-03T00:37:00.002+08:00

Manchester United won the Carling or League Cup after beating Spurs 4-1 on penalties. It was not vintage United. The two hour game was scrappy as far as I'm concerned. Both sides created some chances but the best chance to me was when Christiano Ronaldo hit the post with a scorching left foot drive in the final seconds of added time in regulation play. The extra 30 minutes was forgettable.

United has won 3 trophies this season (if the season opener Charity Shield is to be considered a trophy). In addition to the Carling Cup, United won the World Club Championship in Tokyo some months back. Now that the Premier League Championship is United's to lose, dare we dream of an unprecedented six trophies? That would be awesome and Sir Alex can retire peacefully at the end of the season. But first. let's get the 3 points at St. James Park, Newcastle on Wednesday.

Mee Udang Sungai Dua Penang

2009-02-12T01:09:00.004+08:00

As mentioned in my previous post, we went north to register Aizat at MRSM Kepala Batas. On the way we stopped for lunch of Mee Udang Sungai Dua. It was good as usual but a bit pricey. The prawns cost us RM80 per kilo. Of course we did not buy a kilo of prawns but we had 3 large prawns each and together with the mee and drinks our bill came to slightly above RM100 for the 6 of us. But I must say the mee was good and the prawns fresh and tasty.

Actually, we wanted to try out Mee Banjir Udang in Kuala Sepetang near Taiping. We saw this place featured in a TV rogram recently and decided to look for it. We found the place just outside the town of Kuala Sepetang but the place was so full of people we decided to skip it and head towards Sungai Dua for its famed Mee Udang instead.

Now that Aizat is in Kepala Batas it looks like we will have our mee udang Sungai Dua more often

Aizat off to MRSM Kepala Batas

2009-02-12T00:31:00.006+08:00

On Monday, 9 Feb 2009 the whole family headed north for Aizat's registration at MRSM Kepala Batas that is to take place the next day. We decided to go one day earlier so as not to be in too much of a rush. We put up at one of the hotels in Seberang Jaya. Not a bad place but for my subsequent visits to see my son I would most probably stay at Seri Malaysia Kepala Batas. I have not been to Kepala Batas before but the area is reflective of the fact that its member of Parliament is the current Prime Minister.

MRSM Kepala Batas is only in its third year of operations. As expected the whole complex is still "work in progress". The field is still not fully completed, the tennis courts are not playable yet and a few areas are visibly under construction. However, after the experience of sending my second child to an MRSM for which he was part of the first batch of students, this is a relief.

The registration process was relatively quick but the place was hot making all of us feeling tired. Apparently it had not rained for a month in the area and one can feel the heat. After all the "Taklimats" we went back to town for lunch and also purchase things which we have actually purchased before in KL but Aizat conveniently forgot to bring.

Anyway, we finally left MRSM Kepala Batas at around 5:40pm leaving Aizat to taste his first real experience of living away from home. I'm sure he can cope and this experience will make him a much better person in future. I only hope that Aizat thinks the same way soon because I have a feeling he does NOT think so now.

Good luck my son. We love you and will miss you but I know this is for your own good.

Tahniah BN

2009-02-05T17:53:00.003+08:00

Nampaknya berjaya juga BN merampas Perak dari Pakatan Rakyat. PM dengan selambanya menyuruh Pakatan menerima keputusan Sultan sama seperti BN menerima keptusan rakyat dalam pilihanraya lepas. Saya ingat rakyat mahu Pakatan memerintah, jadi bila pulak yang BN menerima keputusan pilihanraya.

Walaupun demikian, saya berpendapat kita tidak perlu tersangat risau. Tentunya apa yang ditakdirkan oleh Allah ada hikmahnya. Betul, kita tidak boleh menerima semuanya tanpa menjelaskan pendirian kita. Tetapi kita perlu lihat jangka panjang. Kalau kita sanggup hidup bawah pentadbiran BN selama 50 tahun apakah kita tidak boleh menunggu 3 atau 4 tahun lagi?

Pakatan telah membuktikan dalam masa 10 bulan, tanpa sebarang pengalaman memerintah dan Pakatan yang dipaksa pada mulanya, mereka telah menjalankan kerja dengan baik. Tidak mungkin BN dapat membuat dengan lebih baik.

Cuba kita lihat pula apa kesilapan yang telah Pakatan buat. Pertama, Anwar merancang dan menghebohkan untuk merampas kuasa dengan cara yang serupa dengan apa yang dibuat oleh BN. Mungkin ada justifikasi seperti penipuan dalam pilihanraya dan sebagainya tetapi ia tetap menidakkan keputusan pilihanraya yang telah dipersetujui bersama. Syukur, ini tidak berlaku. Kalau berlaku, adakah Pakatan mahu rakyat menerima tindakannya sama seperti BN mahu rakyat menerima tindakan mereka sekarang?

Kedua, tindakan BN di Perak akan membuat lebih ramai rakyat yang berfikir untuk menyokong Pakatan. Saya cukup yakin Pakatan akan jadi lebih kuat dimasa akan datang, bukan saja di Perak malah seluruh negara. Yang penting kita mesti menambah bilangan rakyat yang berfikir.

Ketiga, ia akan memberi peluang kepada Pakatan untuk memikirkan betapa pentingnya mereka membuat keputusan dengan mengambil kira komposisi ras dinegara ini.

Cuma satu yang saya agak terkilan. Saya rasa kewibawaan Sultan Perak akan agak terjejas akibat episod ini. Baginda satu-satunya Sultan yang mempunyai imej "berpelajaran" terpaksa membuat keputusan yang boleh dipertikaikan ramai.

Tahniah Pakatan dan Tahniah Rakyat.

Perak Government in limbo

2009-02-05T00:45:00.002+08:00

So many things happened in the last few days in Perak. Today, the MB Dato' Seri Nizar called upon the Sultan to dissolve the State Assembly but the DPM claimed BN has got majority control of the state and wants to form the next government.

A lot have been written about this episode so I would not like to add my views which will be full of anger. But to those involved, I wonder how they can even sleep at night and face the people. How can their family face the public?

No wonder I left politics after just two years. To think that I was moving quickly up the political ladder then.

However, I remembered Kelantan, under TG Nik Aziz, had a government with only one seat majority for most of the last term and the government was stable. It shows what the fear of God does to people.

p/s: I'm praying that that the Sultan of Perak in all his wisdom will consent to the dissolution of the Assembly, but maybe I'm asking for too much.

I'm Back!!

2009-02-02T22:39:00.005+08:00

That was a long absence, more than 2 months in fact. On several occasions I tried to write something but I always found excuses not to. A lot have happened in the last 2 months, most notably my 41 days in Makkah and Medinah. Too many events to even think about. Though I took my notebook with me and managed to take a lot of notes I still have not managed to organise any meaningful write up of my experience. I wonder if I can even do it ultimately.

This post is just to tell every one that I'm still around. Hopefully I'll get down to putting some of my experience in writing soon.

By the way, kepada semua yang telah sudi mendoakan kemudahan buat saya dan isteri semasa kami mengerjakan ibabat haji kami mengucapkan berbanyak terima kasih. Hanya Allah yang dapat membalas jasa kalian.

Lambaian Kaabah

2008-11-18T19:59:00.002+08:00

InsyaAllah, pada 28hb November ini saya dan isteri akan berangkat menunaikan fardhu haji yang pertama. Walaupun telah dua kali dapat menunaikan umrah, kami tetap merasa gementar tentang cabaran yang akan kami hadapi semasa mengerjakan rukun Islam yang kelima ini.

Terasa sangat tidak bersedianya kami. Kami tidak sempat mengikuti kursus yang dijalankan oleh Tabung Haji. Cuma sempat mengikuti Kursus Haji Perdana peringkat negeri Selangor. Mujur ada seorang rakan menganjurkan satu kursus khas bersama Dato' Kamal Mohamad. Dapat juga berguru bersama beliau kurang lebih empat jam.

Bila difikir-fikirkan semacam belum bersedia untuk mengerjakan haji. Tetapi jika diteliti semula bila pula kita akan betul-betul bersedia. Tuhan telah lama memfardhukan ibadat ini, tetapi kita yang tidak mahu membuat persediaan. Hati sangat-sangat berharap Tuhan akan memberi kemudahan dalam kami menjalankan kerja-kerja haji ini.

Ya Allah, kami memohon supaya diberi kemudahan dalam mengerjakan ibadat yang telah Engkau fardhu keatas kami semua. Kami sebenarnya terlalu cetek ilmu dalam segala bidang dan sangat lemah dalam segala hal. Berilah kami kekuatan untuk melaksanakan ibadat ini, berilah kami kemudahan dalam segala perkara, jauhkan kami dari segala sifat-sifat yang Engkau tidak sukai ketika kami berada disana dan seterusnya dalam hidup kami. Tetapkanlah niat kami semata-mata untuk menunaikan perintah Engkau Ya Allah dan untuk mendapat keberkatan dan keradhaan dari Engkau. Jadikanlah kami manusia yang lebih baik dari apa yang ada sekarang. Ya Allah, maafkan lah dosa-dosa kami, dosa ibubapa kami, anak-anak kami, saudara-mara kami, guru-guru kami, rakan-rakan kami, jiran-jiran kami dan semua umat Islam. Ya Allah perkenankan lah segala hajat kami Ya Allah. Amin Ya Rabbalalamin.

Kepada semua yang membaca, maafkan segala kesalahan kami, halalkan makan minum kami dan hutang-hutang kami.

Bangkok - November 11 to 14

2008-11-17T11:40:00.002+08:00

I was in Bangkok to attend a Security Printing Conference which was held in the 5-star Hilton by the River. It was a nice hotel and expectedly expensive. As I was not familiar with Bangkok, I asked the office to put me up at the Hilton instead of some where cheaper.

The conference was a standard fare, met a few familiar faces and learnt a few new things. Nothing exceptional happened. I was also not feeling too well so I did not wander around town. I only crossed the Chao Praya (using the hotel's ferry) to look for some Muslim food after a few days of eating salad and bread.

On the 13th of November Thailand celebrated their Loy Krathong festival. The Chao Praya saw a hive of activities including fireworks. I did not joined the crowd as I did not have a camera with me. Even my handphone with its 10 megapixels camera worked against me. When I wanted to get into its camera mode, the message " "Not Enough Video Memory" popped up. So I just stayed in my room and witnessed the festivities from the comfort of my hotel room.

On my last day in Bangkok (Friday, 14 November) the whole city was in mourning. The revered King's elder sister was being cremated on that day. A majority of the Bangkok population were wearing black, even the younger generation. How I wished I had my camera with me. It was quite a sight. Apparently there was no compulsion, the people just do it on their own accord.

I reached KLIA on Friday evening. The waiting line for taxis was so long I decided to take the KLIA Express. That is another story.

Pakatan yang tidak sepakat

2008-11-01T23:52:00.004+08:00

The UMNO elections are in the limelight these days putting the other political stories in the background. But the Pakatan parties are in the news for the wrong reasons.

In Selangor, the MB from PKR appointed a Chinese as acting head of PKNS and PAS is making a big issue out of it. In Penang the DAP led government started including Chinese characters in names of roads and many Malays are not happy. In Kedah, the PAS led government announced that the Bumiputra quotas for some housing schemes are increased to 50% and many non Bumis are disappointed.

As can be seen all the issues are race related and we thought the Pakatan Rakyat "coalition" is free from race-based policies. However, what is more worrying is the fact that the Pakatan coalition seemed to be working on their own without any consultation among them though they are supposed to be in a coalition.

I'm disappointed with PAS in Selangor especially its head, Dr. Hassan Ali, who I know personally. For him to question the appointment of the head of PKNS just because she is Chinese is not the Hassan Ali I knew. What is wrong with having a Chinese as head even if the objective of the company is to help the Malays? After all, Malays have headed the corporation all these years and they have failed their own race. Wouldn't it be good for the country, in fact for everybody, if we can get a Chinese to help the Malays for a change? But no. Now even PAS wants to champion "Ketuanan Melayu".

I'm also disappointed with DAP in Penang. What is the necessity to have names of roads in Chinese characters? Just to show that they care for the Chinese language I guess. I had hoped that the current DAP leaders are more mature in their deeds. It maybe asking too much for DAP to fight for promoting only Malay as the national language but changing road signs to me is petty and cheap.

It looks like the Pakatan is far from a real coalition. Maybe it is not time for them to take over the federal government just yet.

A post for October 2008

2008-10-25T21:43:00.002+08:00

I need to make a post, if not it will be a record that I will not be proud of - a month without any post. I've been lazy. Truth be told, I've been busy but I've also been busy the other months before this. So, I can only truthfully say that I've been lazy and that is no excuse.

The Raya celebrations have been hectic, not as hectic as last year but busy nevertheless. To add to that my fourth child had his PMR two weeks after Raya. So we decided to postpone our Raya visits after he finished his exams on the 18th. Since then, it has been one open house after another.

We only spent two days in Melaka for Hari Raya. My visits were thus limited to the "compulsory houses" only, mostly my uncles and aunties. I can't help but note that all have them have aged considerably. When I saw them, it struck me that I may not be able to meet some of them next Raya. How I wish I can stay in Melaka and leave the hustle and bustle of Klang Valley. How I wish I have the financial means to realise this dream of mine.

I had other "better" stories but I'm too lazy to recollect and write about them. I just remembered I need to start preparing for my Board Meeting next week. I cannot forego my salary still.....sigh

That wasn't that tough after all.