Bersama Keluarga

Bukan senang hendak mendapat peluang dimana semua ahli keluarga dapat bersama. Pada hari bekerja, saya dan anak perempuan saya akan balik lewat. Tentu tak berpeluang untuk makan bersama. Lagipun anak saya yang kedua, Arif, masih belajar di kolej.

Bila ada peluang kita cuba menafaatkan masa tersebut, seperti malam tadi, 5 Januari 2008. Aizat mencadangkan supaya kita makan Western. So, off we went to Cowboy Restaurant, by the Kelana Jaya Lake. Sebab Arif ada program selepas Isyak di Shah Alam we decided to have our Maghrib prayers at the nearby Masjid Kelana Putra.

The food was okay, I thought, but the place do not accept credit cards. Luckily I had enough cash with me. Kalau tak, buat malu jer.

Wonder when we can have a family get together again.

Alahai Hisham...

The new school year reopens on 3 January but on 2nd January the school held its registration and orientation for the Form One students. The PIBG Committee came in full force to provide support to the school management and also explain to parents the issues related to school fees. I took leave so that I can explain the PIBG computer program.

There were more than 300 new Form One students. The briefing went well and the consensus was that the parents had no complaints about having to make the necessary payments (or contributions as the politicians would refer them as). Even my request for the parents to contribute RM50 to support the PIBG's computer program did not receive any negative response.

We thought everything will be fine and we can start collecting the much needed funds. However, today's headlines in the mainstream papers dampened everything again. The Education Minister told a press conference that all school fees are optional and parents are not obliged to pay if they do not wish to do so. According to him all these fees were requested by the PIBGs but if parents do not want to pay it is up to them.

I have been involved in PIBG's activities for many years and I can attest that the school absolutely need the funds to function smoothly. Even with the fees, the school still require financial assistance from the PIBG from time to time. And now the Minister is saying that parents can choose not to contribute. I sure hope he will provide the schools with funds to operate because I've half a mind to organise a campaign to discourage parents from making the contributions. But I know if this happens, it is our children's education that will be affected and the politicians would not give a damn. After all their children are either in the elite schools which receives all the financial support from the government, private schools or overseas.

All the parents that I spoke to on Orientation Day had no qualms about making payments of about RM120.00 per year. After all, most of them pay at least that about a month to send their kids to kindergarten. The only problem is the government is not being honest with them. Why not just say that parents need to pay something for their children's education. However, for those who cannot afford it, the government will take care of them. Why ask schools to collect the money but tell the parents that they have an option not to pay. This makes it difficult for schools to collect the funds and also makes parents wonder whether the school "really" need the money to function.

Actually, the government could easily make education really free. The school reckons, it needs about RM120-150 per student per year to finance activities not currently financed by the government to run the school effectively. So assuming there are about 4-5 million school going children, the government would need about RM600-700 million per year which it can give to the schools without having to ask parents to pay for anything. Given the billions that the government spends on other less critical expenses, making education truly free should not be too difficult.

But they choose to play politics with education and I'm pissed off.

Post Pertama 2008

Hari in 1hb Jan 2008. Hari Cuti Am. Apa yang menyebabkan kita perlu bercuti pada 1hb Januari setiap tahun? Ia cuma legasi penjajah. Tapi kita akur tanpa sebarang soalan. Sampai bila kita harus jadi Pak Turut? Peduli apa jika semua orang lain bercuti pada hari ini? Kan kita akan bercuti pada 1hb Muharram? Mengapa kita perlu bercuti pada 1hb Januari jika kita telah memutuskan untuk bercuti pada 1hb Muharram?

Cuti pada 1hb Januari cuma berguna untuk mereka yang sibuk mengira kebelakang (10 hingga 1) pada menjelang 12:00 tengah malam 31hb Disember. Mereka ini akan pulang kerumah (kalau pun pulang) pada awal pagi, jadi agak mustahil untuk mereka ke pejabat keesokan harinya, iaitu 1hb Januari.

Kita boleh mengingati 1hb Januari kerana ia satu mercu tanda tarikh yang penting. Tapi, saya rasa, kita tak perlu bercuti. Dari pejabat pun kita boleh ucapkan:

"SELAMAT TAHUN BARU. Semoga hidup kita sekeluarga diberkati Allah sentiasa."

HBO

Last Post of 2007

In a few hours 2007 will be history. What should a man fast approaching 50 look forward to in life? What should my new year resolutions be? Definitely not trying to earn more money in the new year. After all, how much longer can I expect to live in this world? Of course, I would not want to have to depend on others in my final years.

I can only wish for a healthy life, a happy family and the chance to give back to society. But that is already asking for too much, I think, so God please help me.

To all my friends, have a wonderful 2008 and thank you for the memories of 2007.

Sallam
HBO

An Eventful 2007

It seemed like it was only yesterday when we ushered in 2007. I remember being caught in the jam at about midnight on 31 December 2006. I was trying to get home from office while people were going to celebrate the new year at the various sites in the city. I was driving along the MRR2 when I saw people parking their cars along the highway trying catch a glimpse of the fireworks display coming from the vicinity of KLCC. That was a year ago.

Now, it is the last day of 2007. How time flies. I've decided to take leave on the last few days of this year and stay home. I'm now trying to recollect the events of 2007.

1. The most significant event of 2007 for me must be the return to Rahmatullah of my dear father on 7 February. It was also my son, Arif's, 21st birthday.
2. A few weeks later my youngest brother got married and I had to assume the role of head of family.
3. In August, we organised a Reunion of my ex-university mates from 30 years ago. It was held in Selesa Hlllhomes and very well attended. It gave everybody a chance to rekindle old friendships.
4. In September a few friends from my High School days decided to organise a tahlil session for friends who have left us for the after world.
5. In December I organised my cousins (about 30 of them and another 30 kids) to help out with my cousin's wedding.
6. Our High School group managed to do a Qurban at our school surau.
7. Our university group organised another get together in Taiping
8. The country also saw some eventful happenings which included a few mass rallies.
9. Workwise, my company did well to complete our work well ahead of schedule.

Of course, there are other events but for this purpose maybe the above will suffice. All in all, 2007 will be remembered long after it is gone.

Syukur Alhamdullillah, Allah has blessed me and family for the year. Looking forward for 2008, I hope for Allah's continued blessing so that I can continue to be a useful member of my family and society.

Happy New Year to all.

Sallam
HBO

Happy Birthday Hani

Its officially 31 December 2007 now. So its my youngest daughter, Nurhani's, birthday. She just completed her 11 years of existence in this world. Alhamdullillah. Next year she will be in Standard Six.

I do not have any complaints about her. Basically a good and obedient daughter. InsyaAllah she will continue to be like this throughout her life.

Happy Birthday Hani.

HBO

Poor Show Lads

Manchester United lost away to West Ham (yet again) tonight. Last year, MU lost both home and away games to West Ham which has become its bogey team. Despite leading by a Ronaldo 14th minute goal they ended up losing 2-1. Ronaldo even missed a penalty when MU was still leading 1-0. With Arsenal winning at Everton, it will lead the standings going into 2008.

The team did not play well at all. Almost everyone played badly, maybe their worst performance all season. They are hardly able to hold onto the ball. West Ham was all heart and they certainly deserve to win tonight.

Lets get over this one and start afresh, MU.

Just a footnote: Tottenham beat Reading in a thriller at White Hart Lane winning 6-4 with Berbatov scoring 4 goals.

HBO