Company's Family Day

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


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



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

Hantaran

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

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


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


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

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

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

Weekend Review

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


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



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

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

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




Another full weekend.

Wedding 1 - Aisyah

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

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

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


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


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


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


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


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


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

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

What??

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


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

Sigh......

The Wedding

Dateline: Sunday, 1st November, 2009

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

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

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

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

A Hectic Weekend

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.