Post Raya Blues

Nik, Zafirah and I would get up early every morning to jog and exercise to lose fats we gained over Raya.When we get home, another plate of bee hoon or nasi lemak melambai-lambai mesra.The following day the routine continues.We weigh ourselves daily too.The weight remains the same.Comes weekends, more open houses...

Today we were in Banting at En. Hamdan's place.He and his family ni orang baik2.Very da humble.When you step into his home, you feel the berkat of the house.Kita makan macam open house tu utk kita sahaja (the Thal group had its monthly meeting in Banting this month cos' Hamdan says come and feel the distance.We believe him now and Dr Zul says lain kali if he cannot attend our weekly meeting for the Dec. Charity Dinner, it's OK.Banting memangggggggggggg jaauuuuhhh.I cannot imagine Hamdan driving back from PJ to Banting after we finish our meetings late at night).Dr Zul kata mungkin next time we can all meet halfway -- buat meeting at his hospital pulak in Shah Alam.People in Cheras and Ampang pulak komplen. :)

But we had fun today.The spread was really good.Semua isteri Hamdan buat.Rendang dia yang paling sedap.And the kuah kacang...nothing like mine at all (remember, mine kena re-do?)

Lepas tu ada 'drama' but I think I will write another entry on this.Pasal orang suka percaya bomoh hingga boleh sebabkan keluarga bercerai berai.I can't believe it that we are still this tahyul (and syirik!)

My advice is..the moment you bump into this kinda group, avoid them at all cost.Berkawanlah dgn org2 yang hidup dan matinya kerana Allah dan mereka percaya rezeki semua datang dari Allah bukan kerana 'sial badan' seseorang.

Selamat Hari Raya

It's still Ramadan but the Raya atmosphere is here as long lost friends begin to pour in their raya wishes and remind me of Raya during student days abroad.Saniah claimed I love to cry on Raya.The funny thing is I DON'T remember crying at all! Tapi impossible juga kalau tak menangis. :)

Then Badri wrote to say Kak Yasmin's and Abang Nizam's son is now doing his Master's at IIUM.I quickly rang him up.We both don't know each other.He was so small when I was in NZ but I know his Kiwi Dad sent him to sekolah pondok in Indonesia so anak orang putih ni bukan saja boleh cakap Arab, English tetapi Melayu juga.Masa Raya kat NZ dulu, rumah mak dialah kita lepak sebab it's one of the few Malay homes in town.

Lepas tu Dr A pulak wrote saying he took my advice to perform hajj while young cos' hajj is not for the old.He goes to Makkah almost yearly now.I have not heard from him for so long (since 2000) so it's nice to know he's still alive. Dia kawan Noraini at Monash so N and I had some laughs today over our student days,suka berkelahi dengan boys. :))

This year my raya will be biasa sahaja.I have decided to spend it with my mom first cos' she's 73 this year.I usually spend it with Nik's family in PJ and after lunch balik Raub and spend a week there.But mom says she needs me malam raya.She says that every year so this year,I will do as she wishes.But it will mean I have to rush back to KL to spend it with Nik's family pulak.Hmmph.Balik awal KL boring sebab people will still be away...open houses won't start so soon.

For those celebrating raya here's my e-card for all of you (cut and paste to view).Maaf zahir batin.

http://www.heartsincards.com//index.php?step=pickup&cs_id=e88283219fe9052

Kerenah birokrasi di universiti tempatan

Hari ini saya bersama kawan-kawan yang mewakili Persatuan Pensyarah universiti/uni kolej masing-masing di dalam satu perjumpaan dgn KPT di Putrajaya.Kita tau bila orang serius nak buat kerja/tidak dan saya memang tabik hormat Dato Mustafa w/pun ramai orang Kelantan tak berapa suka dgn dia.Tetapi di dalam ramai2 Menteri tu, dia yang saya tengok paling kuat bekerja dan paling menjaga masa. :) Dan dia hormatkan orang.Even masa dia kat Treasury lagi (saya tahu sebab suami saya cakap! Dia dapat nota terima kasih dari Dato Mustafa.Bagi orang biasa, dapat nota terima kasih tulisan tangan dari Timbalan Menteri..waktu itu..amatlah besar artinya terutama he wasn't doing a favour for him sekadar menjalankan tugas yang diamanahkan)

Anyway, hari ini kami bincang kerenah birokrasi di universiti.Perbincangan melintasi masa sehingga hosts kami semua terpaksa minta diri! Ha ha.Lain kali adakan satu hari khas untuk kami.Pensyarah bila bercakap, dia tak pernah tahu berhenti.

Yang menggembirakan hati saya ialah bertemu kawan2 seperjuangan.Bukanlah kami ini anti-establishment tapi saya bangga dgn rakan2 yang sanggup travel dari Sabah, Sarawak Perlis, Pulau Pinang atas 3 days' notice utk membantu membaiki sistem di universiti.Saya tumpang kawan dari Universiti Malaya sebab malas nak drive ke Putrajaya dari Gombak.Mengabeh ko boraih sahajo terutama jika hanya untuk bercakap satu ayat pendek! :)

Salah seorang kawan cerita pasal Azmi dipanggil Ketuanya sebab tulis dalam STAR pasal pilihanraya di kampus.Kena warned..jangan tulih2 lagi.I tak faham sebab apa kita takut sangat dgn budak2 kita.Biarkan sahaja mereka belajar berpolitik.Ini sebahagian dari membesar.Dah kerja esok,mereka akan hilang minat.Lebih penting buat duit untuk rumah besar, isteri besar. :)

Jika kita terlalu takut, semua benda nak censor/monitor..macamana kita nak capai even top 100 best universiti? Kita ini terlalu control freak.Lepaskan sahaja anak2 kita.Kita dah bekalkan mereka ilmu yang cukup.Benarkan mereka berfikir.Sekiranya mereka jatuh, mereka akan bangun kembali, lebih kuat dari sebelumnya.

Dan itulah bakal pemimpin kita di masa hadapan!

Performance Poetry Workshop with Francesca Beard

I read about the workshop in Sharon Bakar's blog (thanks Sharon!) I wrote in to a British Council email and applied.It was a while before I heard anything.I thought I didn't qualify (age factor!) But I did so off I went (lost again for the 3rd time to KLPAC) and found there were older people at the workshop (or OK..more or less my age).There's a mix of old and young and it's wonderful.

Francesca lives up to her fame as the British Queen of Performance Poetry. I have seen poets performed (this guy from the Caribbean, this lady from Japan and some of our very own are pretty good too) but Francesca is not a poet, she's a story teller!(she'd first start by narrating a story/extracting answers from the audience then she'd continue with her poetry in story telling form..sometimes she sings! There's one which reminds me so much of Leonard Cohen..is she a fan too?)

At the workshop just hours earlier,we wrote many things about identity, fear/self-censorship and were asked to explore why we censor, why we fear, etc, etc.

I learnt a few tricks: that poets can manipulate audiences so we can lie and we can steal other people's lives.

I find when I did that, my work became even more powerful!Francesca and several people at the w/shop came to me and said they liked my work.Hmmmph....Here's one of the few pieces I wrote at the workshop (one on introducing myself):

I remember Kirpal Singh writing the same piece
asking 'how do i introduce me?'

Do you start by telling
what your name is?
or what your occupation is?
Is that really you?

Or do race and religion matter more than your nationality?

I will start with my little toe
it is a bit crooked
for that,I limp a little
and this scar on the upper lip?
that will never make me anything closer to Angelina Jolie
THAT I received when quarelling with my little sister
becos' she took my mom's love
away from me

I will also begin with these eyes
half Chinese half Afghan
which will make them 4 generations old


the mind travels like a
space shuttle
going back and forth
planet Earth.

And I will keep searching
for ways to
introduce me.


But I liked the one on Allahyarhamah Dr Latifah whose funeral I missed cos' I thought funerals could wait while I finished up work in the office.But I am still mourning and it pains me so much just to type the piece all over again (for non-Malaysians reading my blog, you must know that Muslim funerals are swift.Burial is usually quick and sometimes far away relatives will miss paying their last respect.We don't believe in allowing the body to rot and hence, the quick burial)