An afternoon with Faust and Latiff Mohidin



Dato Baha Zain and Fauziah Nawawi



Latiff Mohidin at the launch of his translated
work of Goethe's Faust (Part 1)



The distinguished crowd



Dua cendikiawan Melayu, Raja and Dato Anwar Ridhwan



Pak Samad Said, the national laureate who stops aging

German rep presenting the smallest book of Faust to
Latiff Mohidin

I like this pic: Khair mcm kat the Oscars

Showing off my personalised Faust,
with Latiff Mohidin, Pak Samad and Raja

...and the whole gang was there: gang of writers,performers,critics,etc. Khair is doing a good job heading ITNM.Goethe's Faust is the second great work translated under his leadership (the first was Mathnawi by Rumi). What I like most about today's launch is that it was launched not by a politician but a fellow writer,academic and critic,also a national laureate,Dato' Dr.Anwar Ridhwan.Pak Samad pun ada.Dato Baha Zain pun ada.Raja (who I thought was still at the hospital) was there too (gambar hospital tu gambar bulan December,he said.His son yang letak -when asked to put any pic on his fb.Haha).Rakan2 PENA pun ramai.It's been a while since I last saw most of them.

Khair was so good to give me a pre signed copy of the book (well I paid for a regular copy yg belum ber-sign) which gave me a good excuse to ask Latiff Mohidin to write 'Kpd Faridah' above his signature.So my copy is personalised,OK?I love his poems and love his translations of Faust.It's a pretty book.You must get one.Harga launching discount is RM120.Kata mc Syed Munawar, Latiff Mohidin had incorporated Malay puisi segala in this work and he said no one could have done it better than L.M. because no one could (read) Goethe in German anyway.Lawak scenario tu. :D

A sample of Latiff's superb translation is this (conversations of a city):

Orang Kota Kedua

Apakah yang lebih baik,pada hari minggu,hari cuti,
Daripada berbual-bual tentang perang,khabar angin
Tentang keadaan yang jauh,nun di negeri Turki sana
Negara berbalah, rakyat saling hentam-menghentam?
Kau berdiri-diri di tingkap sambil meneguk minuman
Dan melihat kapal-kapal berkilau menyusuri sungai,
Kemudian, ketika senja,pulang dengan rasa gembira
Dan bersyukur pada Tuhan demi hari-hari yang damai. (Faust, ms 65)

Beautiful, isn't it? It sounds like a poem which could stand on its own. Well done,all.I look fwd to the next karya besar dunia lain.Should try Ko Un.

A day for adrenalin rush

Chandran, Ivy and IIUM fans

..mana tidak....we had Chandran Nair (and his beautiful wife, Ivy) speaking on History of Spore literature in English then and now (and he read his poems in between his talk).Nair is so humble (consistently so)..google him and you will know why I say this of him.He's also a painter.Ivy tu takda benda tak nak disedekahkannya...when I asked about Nair's 24 years not writing while living as a UNESCO guy abroad (but painted instead), Ivy said we can give some of his paintings away when you visit us in Paris.Haha..I love Ivy! Ikhlas sangat orangnya and it so happens, she and Hilary Tham were best friends (she told me Joe kawin lain tak lama lepas Hilary meninggal.Iyalah..dah jodoh but you tau la kita women, kan? Soksek soksek juga over the 'speed')

A guest from across the river who happens to be Nair's friend in Spore (literary circle) came.Syed namanya.I have never bumped into him but he said he had been teaching Psychology for 4-5 years dah at IIUM.They are of the same gen.I caught them talking about them making their own medicine from herbs (interesting sangat!Of cos' Nair was trained as a scientist.Syed pulak tau pasal ubat2 orang mentally ill nih.Kah2.Bestlah.I wish the day didn't have to end.Gen 1960s-70s ni sgt2 cool)

Petang tu pulak Prof Muhammad Haji Salleh pulak datang to speak on his creative writing.Lama I tak jumpa dia (and Kak Ani).We (Nik and I) still owe them a dinner.We'll wait till Prof is back in KL for good.He's still flying in and out Penang.

Part 2 Adrenalin Rush

Ivy was persistent that I joined her and family at dinner.But I had to balik dulu after picking up my mom from Sal's.Not sure if Nik's willing to drive back to KL after returning home from KL.But anyway, I had to pass Prof M's books to C.So we went after Isyak.Ivy ni betul lah luhur.Dia pi ajak kita berborak in their room.And it was a nice time.She told us abt anak dia yg kawin org Muslim tu (grads of Imperial College, London).I tanya camna boleh accept.Ivy no hal cos' mak dia dulu pun jadi shelter home for a fren who married a Malay man selepas being disowned by the parents.C mula2 ada resistance but Ivy said kalau tak terima,esok if C dies,she'd give him a Muslim burial.Guling2.Bestlah couple ni.We learnt much from them.I teringat aruah Hilary.No wonder they were good friends.Ivy read my poems at their dinner (of almost 10 people termasuk kawan2 mrk from Paris..org putih).She nak suruh her publisher fren in Spore republish the book tapi I kata nak buat apa.I jual sendiri,untung lagi byk.She said I ni kalau berckp dok pikir untung.CERDAS' effect,OK? Haha.But dia nak tulih review abt the book.Ivy was a journalist with her own column dulu.

Poems mana you suka,I asked.She said the women ones.I said yg I Have Asked Too Much tu tak suka ke? She said suka.I also like that one.Semua ada: tragedy,stupidity (my own),humour (also laughing at my own stupidity which can be representative of most busybody Asians)

The day I naik angin (er..what is new here?)

Universities in Malaysia seem to be going the wrong direction.First, we want to go big with our industrial links.Konon to prepare our students for the workforce (for me that's like turning thinking powerhouses to vocational schools).Then, they want to turn or run universities like corporations.Kiri kanan fikir nak buat duit till our real job which is to educate and nurture young people becomes no.2 or 3 or 4.

I ran a business wing for a couple of years.Money made is never enough.But this is not why I am so mad about now.I'm pissed off cos' I can't be thinking making money all the time.I'm first an educator.There are many moments in my life in which I do things to educate my students.On two occassions this week and last I was asked by two different people what my monetary returns were.To the first person (whose tone was polite) I said the project I was doing was never created to make money in the first place.Bla bla bla.

Today the same question and the gal who spoke on behalf of her boss was rude I thought.So I told her about the educator thingy again.I'm sure I came out as rude also tapi geramlah....what kinda graduates are we churning out ni? Takkan tak paham2 the profession? A uni is NOT a corporation which has to churn profits all the time.Let the SBUs and Holdings do that job.Leave the educators alone.

It's nice to discuss the matter with a colleague who had gone through the gruelling process.It helped ease my frustration over this funny take on wht uni should be.Bak kata another fren: nak buat duit, pi la jadi private uni yg mcm cendawan tu.Quality is suspect.Amboi, lagi ganas! :D

Cross-cultural salon talk

I like my two new hair-stylists.They are siblings.One was trained in London, the other in Hong Kong.Cina Kedah who speak fluent Kedah Malay.Siap melatah Ya Alloh! when terkejut over one of my stories. :)

I was happy with J's work and A (who does rambut sultanah2 but says dia tak suka buat rambut artists cos' depa suka minta sponsors) understood my reservation over certain hair treatment.Dia janji nak buat inai Arab on me in the next visit (I do not want to dye my hair anymore cos' tak pasti sah ke tidak laluan air walaupun ingredients dye tu halal.My former hairdresser yg masuk Islam tu kata, sah)
Anyway, it is wrong to think women in tudung should not take care of their hair.Some salons siap ada bilik khas for tudung women.For married women, WAJIB kita bercantik2an untuk suami kita.Dan begitu juga sebaliknya...jangan dok berkain pelikat yang jarang tu ke hulu hilir in the house.

I enjoyed talking with J and A cos' they appreciated the Malay Muslim culture.They said we like the way the Malay community look after one another...how they visit old,sick people.They were referring to the Malay community in Kedah and comparing it to their Chinese one.I asked, isn't it the same? They said noooo...in ours, they look at how rich you are.If not rich, tak nak kawan. Something new for me.What I like about these two is also it's easy to explain about halal haram.But that I suppose they had learnt from their Malay clients who are practising Muslims.

J and I are about the same age so we were comparing notes about our single child.When J found out how old Z was, dia tanya my age ( ha..yang ni yg beria2 nak rekod ni).I said lah no. keramat tu.Dia screamed kata nooo....you don't look 50 at all....you look 45. Cheh! Beza 5 tahun je? Baik tak payah cakap noooo...you don't look 50 at all. Ha ha.

When in Makkah, we were told by the hairdresser (Nik's) that in Islam, haram dye rambut warna hitam cos' we'd forget about our mortality and behave akan hidup selamanya..tapi colour lain, OK (so inai is allowed).Bukan ke Rasulullah s.a.w pun inai his hair?

From some links I found that tujuan lelaki di zaman Nabi s.a.w. berinai supaya nampak muda waktu untuk berperang.I guess ketrampilan itu perlu untuk menakutkan musuh..agar kita kelihatan tough.Psychological warfare.Also outside war, supaya tidak kelihatan serabai.Sahabat2 Rasulullah s.a.w. juga inaikan their hair dgn warna hitam..Nabi tak marah pun.But you guys better double check again the source.Don't rely on mine.I selalu jumpa links pelik2.Heh.

Ma'thurat 45

"Say (O Muhammad): O Allah! Possessor of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom You will, and You take the kingdom from whom You will, and You bestow honour upon whom You will. In Your hand is the good.Verily, You are Able to do all things.You make the night to enter the day, and You make the day to enter into the night, You bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living.And You give wealth and substenance to whom You will, without limit (measure or account)" (Ali Imran: 26-7)

In recent years, I have come to terms with these verses. Sometimes we feel that certain leaders we have are not fit to be where they are.But we've gotta remember, it's not them who put them there.Everything comes by the will of Allah. Not necessarily they are there cos' they are good...they are there to test our patience and to test themselves if they'd get worse than they are.Ahaks.I mean sorry...what I want to say is that  everything happens for a reason or reasons known only to Allah.It is what we make good of what's given.

KC rang me up yesterday asking if I'd like to go to MITI's CNY's function.It's so closeby to my workplace so I said OK, no harm.But it's soooooo boringggg although the food was good.I think Tok Pa just wanted to do his election campaign bit.Nasib sound system tak berapa jelas. :) I met a group of people from the SMEs.I'm sure they'd come useful in one way or another later.

Enjoy your weekends, folks.If you wanna do sedekah on Friday, best to do it before the prayer, I'm told.

Behind the scene

We are busy working like bees behind the scene as we prepare for IWFF.The website needs to be upgraded, this that.Poning eden but alhamdulillah Allah sent me many committed people to assist me and team. I love our student volunteers.It's energising working with young minds.Their pace is sometimes too fast for me but this is what IWFF needs at the moment.

My good friend Prof Nura is in town.Went to dinner with her.We saw lamb chops and forgot about our need to watch our diet.Haha.

Here is the pic of the two lovely ladies. :) Our friendship goes back to 1981(New Zealand).

EPF dividend

Nik did a live phone interview from our bedroom with TV3 on this topic sebentar tadi (let me not say what he was wearing/not wearing..ahaks)

6.15...he said it's better but I think that truly and surely, we could have gotten a higher rate? Apapun, alhamdulillah.I saw my statement..dah terus masuk lor. Actually I'm of the age to withdraw everything but dengan amount yang ada (for working over 25 years) I still can't get my dream home.Rumah around my area paling murah 3 juta (for the kinda space I want).Betul lah kata Prof Abu Hassan Hasbullah tu...our current pay does not take us far.

But sesiapa yg tak bersyukur akan nikmat Allah, nanti Allah tarik balik.Yang ni pun takut juga! So better shut up la, kan? :)) Astargfirullah..pls forgive me ya Allah for complaining.Today I forget that wealth is not ours to keep.And that it is to be shared with the needy.And Quran dah kata sumber rezeki yg banyak adalah dari berniaga.Nak kaya, berniagalah.The rest is just service work although berniaga pun shld be a service work, yah? Serve community, serve Allah.You collect your real wealth in the akhirat.So, let's live well and blessed by Allah.

Have a productive week ahead you, folks.

A different kinda excitement

Am now totally convinced it ain't easy organising a film festival!

But so far, the experience has been the most rewarding,alhamdullilah. Each event brings a new rahmah.New friendships.New ilmu. But my constant prayer is may Allah make it easy for all of us.

Today we were working on the judging criteria.We held a workshop with two sessions in which the scholars deliberated on the meanings of Islamic film, shariah compliance, etc.Everyone learnt a lot esp. those from the industry.I like what Prof Zein said of Islamic films...how they have to be created by those who are also Islamically informed cos' you can't produce anything Islamic if you do not subscribe to the belief, etc.I also love his comparisons with Islamic finance ..how the industry cannot repeat whatever is lacking in the financial world now.He said even after 30 years, we have failed to educate the masses cos' you still get people asking what is the difference between conventional banking and Islamic banking.But hey, Rome was not built in a day.What is 30 years, kan?

Dr. Salam and Dr. Anis brought in good points about many things as well, saying we are behind in trying to do shariah compliant movies.Negara dot dot has spent billions to do this in 2010 and has managed to compile a significant number of Islamic films but according to a research cited by Dr. Salam out of millions of movies produced in the last 120 years of cinema around the world, only a small per centage qualify as good movies.Yikes, Tipah tertipu! I must write to the film authorities in negara dot dot.

The session by people from the film industry pun enjoyable and educating.I like Hajjah Ju's take on positioning ourselves in the halal industry (she's featured in Forbes, Wall Street, Bloomsberg etc, OK? A pleasure meeting her and met another new fren also..by the end of the day, we were kissy kissy, huggy huggy.Haha, women!) Tapi the one who took the cake was Pak Hassan.You've got to know him.Dia ni ckp he took 9 subjects for SPM..broke the record cos' he got 7 Fs.Never went to uni but self taught himself through reading, watching movies, travels and befriending bijakpandai.He speaks better than some Profs ...me included.Him as a film critic is fantastico.Of Bunuhan he said, messagenya ini: jangan cuba bawa UMNO ke Kelantan..punoh! Haha.His reading of Life of Pi, Bujang Lapok lagi interesting.He said P.Ramlee was ahead his time..zaman pompuan tak kerja ..apa tah lagi jadi cikgu...film Ramlee dah ada watak pompuan jadi cikgu.Masa the pendekar spoke to the gal's dad, the dad said ini la namanya pencil kontot..maknanya the dad taught his daughter and the gal would have worked so hard sampai pencil kontot..wow..I used to think dlm byk2 film Ramlee, filem tulah yang paling bodoh ( and cerita labu labi tu).Life of Pi pulak was seen as a criticism of failure of Hollywood.Woohoo...

At the end of the day folks..more work for me and team..to further refine our judging criteria.Semoga diberi Petunjuk oleh yang Esa. Malamnya pula: wedding yang juga interesting.Too many people sampai we had to wait for nasi to masak lagi.We took it in good spirit..told our close friends..ada la tu dosa kita mana2 tht our rezeki sempit today.Haha..but in the end we got it good also.I left early cos' Nik nak berhuu haa with his college friends.It had been a long day for me,Tompang my neighbours who had to leave early sebab flying overseas besok.

Hightlights of the week

The week's not over yet but there are some highlights which I must share!

1.Do you know that it would have taken me 4 days to renew my passport had I not complained? (tengah nak mengarang surat ke Dear Editor kejap lagi...cannot allow this country go to the drain..what is Hishamuddin doing? Kalau bergambar, lengan baju sokmo bersinsing macam go down to the grassroots and menebas lalang sangat.Pejabat2 bawah dia hampeh!)

2.Kekuatan ayat Ma'thurat terbukti.My fav colleague Dr Rahman (orang alim) cerita how dia berlanggar, kereta dia empat2 tayar mcm turtle terbalik some decades ago while he was teaching at UM (sekembali from his stint in Brunei) sampai onlookers kata, "Mati dah! Mati dah!" He said from dlm kereta terbalik with his kaki ke atas dan songkok still intact, "Dak mati lagi." (he's from Kelantan).Sikit pun tak luka but the kereta (hit by another car..a law Professor!) remok habis.He said amalan dia ma'thurat setiap pagi. Wough!

3.Met a new friend at the Imigresen (she was the one who helped passport I siap hari ni juga..ketidak I might have to return besok or lusa making it 4-5 days event instead of the piagam siap in 1 jam.Gila!) She told me she kena mugged kat Cologne, Germany by an immigrant (Gypsy looking..could be Romanian or Turk yah?).Sampai berjahit2 kaki dia but not without she 'gayong'kan peregut kurang hajar tu (she is a guru silat gayong).I was like whaaaat..masa I dengar cerita yang begitu menarik ni. :D She said yah, berdarah2 muka penyerangnya itu. See? There're so many interesting people out there!

4. Then masa I lunched sementara nunggu internet negara ke empat ini pulih kembali (can't pay my tel bill..I was so busy tak sedar dah 2 bulan tak bayar bill lantas telah digantung perkhidmatannya.I kol up my provider kata apa hal gantung? I have credit for so and so amount...and I am a good bill payer.She said sebab dah lebih hari tak byr.But cepat2 ckp we will lift the ban but pls pay over the weekends.I don't do online payment.Tak percaya kat Msia ni...Kang habeh duit I yang jota-jota rupiah tu.Ahaks) so me and this amoi dok berborak2 pasal raya cina dia...sama je rupanya...sibuk memasak...then sibuk buat biskut for mak mentua etc etc.She told me masa kecik2 buat kuih love letters tu (lebih kurang mcm buat bahulu) ..bila bangun dari duduk tepi api and mencanggung..punya la sakit nak patah pinggang. :) Best, kan? Despite race, we have many shared memories of raya/growing up.My imigresen fren pun ajak I makan muruku kat ofis dia tadi (kita dua2 Melayu).She bought over raya cina break. :)

My gal berangan nak buat community service di Honduras or Morocco.I dok doa siang malam ni agar she mendengar kata her parents (who say no..byk lagi org susah kat Msia ni yang perlu dibantu)

Valentine's Day

After we got married,Nik and I never celebrated Valentine's Day.It's him.Dia cakap berdosa celebrate.I tak kisah pun masa tu.I like roses and chocs and candle lit dinner.:D.Dulu masa mengorat, tak berdosa pulak hantar kad Valentine sebesar gajah? Guling2.But sebagai isteri mithali, saya tak pernah merungut except one funny year (this, after years of being married and NOT celebrating Valentine's Day). I buat hal the whole day masam.When he asked why, I said you lupa VD.Eh cheh cheh cheh.He asked sejak bila kita celebrate? Kantoi tak terjawab.

My point is those advertisements and commercials at the malls can really get to you.And you'd get to feel what Nayli felt the other day: why aren't you looking at me?

Kesimpulannya: sapa sambut VD are so starved for attention.:))

If you have time, google the following: Island of Vice, Richard Zacks, Theodore Roosevelt.The word teddy came from Roosevelt's name.An amazing man/leader.People then called him Harun Al Rashid sebab dia bersungguh2 nak hapuskan maksiat in Nuyork City (sekitar 1890s, waktu NYC tengah meriah with segala).Kisah hidup dia mcm movie.Wife and mom died on the same day in the same house.Then when he got shot, peluru tu dia biar dlm tubuhnya hingga dia mati cos' it's even dangerous trying to remove it.When he died in his sleep after so many other adventures, someone said death had to claim him while he was sleeping.Sebab kalau tidak, there would still be a fight.
Mcm2.

A new year with a difference

On a hot day, this will be heavenly

The infinity swimming pool

 You naik buggy to get to your villa

 writing a novel overlooking the sea..(berangan)

 while I write my novel, the smaller kids making noise

in the background (berangan 2)

 one of two rooms in the villa

 at the Bila-Bila Restaurant (dragon fruit soda drink and

my serai-ginger soda)

 the palm tree villas at a distance

my sirloin

 attention lover Nayli (who at

the mall asked me this:

Aunty Nor, why aren't you looking at me?)

 lovable, adorable Nadra

in her Chinese wear (ni after her

CNY dinner with her grandmom)

...whose Syrian grandmom got killed in Damascus

last week in a jet attack...(jangan lupa pada yang tiada)This pic was taken in my office.Basyar was not only intelligent but also well-mannered.

 mandarin tree

 manis gila

 Tim's family

raya 

I do not know if you experience it too this year.Takda orang main mercun, kan? I heard some faint sound last nite but not as years before, tahun ni kwn2 Cina or Melayu kita tak bakar mercun.

Dua kemungkinan besar: ramai travel out or memang tahun ni, undang2 haram itu betul2 diamati (tapi ini tak munasabah langsong).

We slept in, anyway.After lunch and Zohr, decided to go to the Gold Coast.Tengah nak masuk kereta, Tim jerit ajak datang rumah (I told you...tiap2 tahun mcm ni..air kotak..kacang..limau).We singgah kejap.Tim and us went a long way..zaman mula2 pindah ke kawasan ni and komplen kat telekom sampai masuk suratkabar nak mintak line telefon.Kepalanya me and him.When the reporters came to interview us, Tim hanya mahu dikenali sebagai Chua.Haha..those were the days.Tim ni mengucap je belum.Kalau org takbir mlm raya rumah ke rumah,dia pun ikut.And he's so civic-minded.Hal2 security..semua dia jaga.We are lucky to have him as our neighbour.

Tahun ni ramai pulak sedara mara dia dtg.He said the oldest matriarch lived with them and keluarga mak dia besar.Mmg adat org muda pay respect to the oldest.

Kami pun beredar sekadar segera.Gold Coast Sepang ni kat Bagan Lalang.We wanted to check in Palm Tree Resort dia tu but musim mcm ni, mmg jgn berangan.But wough..mahal gila..villa2nya ranging from RM620++ (no breakfast,OK?) and paling besar is RM3000.Kalau dah byr mahal mcm tu, you bwk satu kampong pun takpa (it's for 6 people yg RM3K tu).Memang luas.We went in to look at yg harga RM1000 tu sbb cleaner Bangla tu kasi masuk before the next occupant check in.3 families boleh masuk although it's meant for 4) We went in to have some makan ...murah gila but..tak sedap.I think you makan kat gerai tepi laut tu lagi sedap but since boiferen belanja, alhamdulillah lah kan?

Don't go musim cuti mcm ni or weekends.Mmg packed with holiday makers.But it's a nice break from the small, boring city we are in.Yg suka KL ni Sean and wife dia je.:)

An evening at Casbah

All the other places were booked and we were too lazy (tired, more likely) to scout around.Charles and Yvonne were happy to dine somewhere close to their hotel.

What I didn't know was the plc tempat org lepak sementara tunggu club kat bawah tu buka.Macam2 orang kita jumpa (Melayu!).Kata Charles, I'm through with that.Wife dia pun tak minum.

Funny fb message on my response to a comment.Wei..kita ajak discuss cara baik pun terus dituduh nak bakar Bible?Terus dicap intolerant? Betullah kata K.O who cited Karen Armstrong at a session they shared: these people are not interested in answers but only to argue, even before they listen to the answer they already got something "clever" to question. 

Me: questions are welcome but personal attacks are not.

K.O said: Al-Ghazali said wajib jawab genuine inquiries but haram jawab soalan yg di buat-buat. A waste of our existence on earth.

But my newly found friends ( people who are respectful of differences, asking genuine questions and willing to listen...values I hold dear to my heart too), Yvonne and Charles are charming.Kelakar gila.Their first visit to Msia.Charles kata his negative perceptions of Islam and Muslims changed with this visit.A literature person.Very sharp.Yvonne said (after meeting Nik) now she understood why I was so happy..laa..ke situ pulak perginya...sebab I had a good husband,kata dia. :)) Macam2 depa ni.

Snake Year

What are you folks doing over the long weekends? Me and Nik dok berangan tak habis.Tengok2 passport I pulak dah nak expire.You can't travel if it's less than 6 months.And although it will just take a day to renew it, I tell ya, me got no time.Saturday ni I got 2 meetings..pagi, petang.Wa no longer young...wa penat tau! :)

This week -  guests from Istanbul and Seoul (guest Prof talking on South Korean Lit.Rupa2nya org Korea ni kuat menipu! They are fond of claiming everything originates from Korea even Jesus!)Lawak juga Prof ni (he's American, wife nya campuran red indian).And I got Turkish Delights and segala mcm nuts from Istanbul.Syok kan when friends dtg bercuti di Kuala Lumpur ginih.Sapa yang untung? Kitaaaa. :)

Project ribu ringgit I siap tadi (but a team of us are doing it)...lega rasanya.Mlm ni start project lain.But this one is small scale.All I have to do is read 2 novels and write a full paper in 2-3 weeks.

If you are travelling this festive season, stay safe.CNY jarang ada open houses but my neighbour selalu ajak pi rumah dia makan kuaci/ kacang, minum air kotak and sebelum balik, kasi limau sebiji sorang.Simple tapi mesra.

Have a good one.

Hard pressed for time

IWFF is breathing down my neck! Tensi woh.Datuk tensi.I tensi. Puas dah kita ber-text2 the  whole day today (equivalent to screaming gamaknya! Haha) but baguslah Datuk ni (and his team). IWFF is so important to us, to everyone actually! So kita pun namanya joint cooperation, kan? Walaupun I ni bukanlah penyabar sangat orangnya.Tak tau ke I ni time freak? And kaki panik? :)

And now if you'll excuse me.Kepala I tengah tepu with deadlines kiri kanan ni.

P/S: If you see the arrangements of my blog items (profile, video bar, etc) are changed consistently, pls know that some small kids have been meddling with my blog.Budak kecil ini takda kerja lain except to 'choreograph' the positions of my add gadgets.If I have time, I re-arrange balik.Most of the time, I bior ke je.But it's annoying OK, you small kid!

Ma'thurat 44

"May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon our Master Muhammad, the venerable Prophet and upon his people and his Companions."

We'd hear wedding bells soon in the family (no, not Z), InsyaAllah.Will blog about it once the majlis is over.No, not my Mom (I wish!)

Heard lagi kisah cinta Rasulullah for Saidinatul Khatijah on IKIM radio tadi (different ustaz).It was on orang yang kuat adalah orang yang dapat menahan api kemarahannya.So the story went how satu hari Rasulullah merah padam matanya cos' sangat marah pihak musuh memerangi orang Islam.Macam tu jelah marah Rasulullah.Then he went to war.And we know how just he was in war.

Episode lain was when Saidinatul Aishah masak sedap and Rasulullah memuji2nya.Tetapi baginda telah tersebut nama Saidinatul Khatijah.Maka mengamuk sakanlah Aishah (dikatakan beliau telah melempar mangkok makanan itu ke kawasan Rasululah makan).Baginda sedar kesalahannya lantas meminta maaf kpd Aishah saying it's just that baginda teringat ketika Khatijah melayan baginda, makan minumnya segala.
Wough..tidak la pulak dinaskan kot2 naik hangin lagi Aishah mendengar keterangan jujur Rasulullah ini. :)

Ramah Mesra

An example of how films can be used to serve a purpose

The long weekend was spent at a leadership camp (the biggest gathering of IIUM academic/admin leaders in the history of IIUM yakni seramai 250 orang).A family member said leadership ke hapa benda...mesti kempen pre-election.

True enough..we had people from PM's office, BTN but my uni pun smart juga...(cos' this is the first time org BTN masuk uni selepas berpuluh2 tahun I kerja kat UIA...bukan salah ibu mengandung..sudah tentu ada di kalangan kami yg menjemput mereka dtg - which is not an IIUM tradition, really), management filled up most of the days with strategic plan kita so takda la nmpk sgt mcm pi nak dengar kempen pilihanraya. I heard kat campus pun bdk2 dah tanya soalan2 panas to tne BTN rep (the DG himself! Oh he's smarter and funnier than those we met or heard of before but I terpaksa raised issues after he showed us satu film propaganda..apa...dia lupa he's with a group of academics? Then Kak Oni pulak bangun menambah..it's not a personal attack on the funny DG..we loved him..he made us laugh...but approach lama BTN tu spoilt his credibility)

Many of us found the film which tried to establish ada campurtangan asing in all the street demos...antara indicators nya lambang penumbuk, topeng misai tu, etc etc.I do not doubt this but to imply tht bdk2 kita turun berdemo cos' they mengikut2 je is to evade real issues.I mengeryam nak tanya soalan walaupun kerap sgt bertanya but could not let this one go.I said yah ok..so maybe betul ada strategy jahat tapi itu isu yg lain.Isu sebenar ialah mengapa anak2 muda kita tertarik akan pergerakan sebegini ( byk movements lain, kan?) What's so appealing to them? Sebab terlalu byk kekangan di sekolah and uni.Takda kebebasan.Walhal mereka di universiti..meant to discover things.The DG said contoh..apa contohnya.I said nak organise a simple talk pun byk prosesnya..nak kebenaran itu ini.I said kena tau apa pasal bdk2 ni marah sgt.

Then Kak Oni stood up and said kita jgn sakitkan hati pelajar2 kita..udah naluri perangai mrk di usia ini begitu..and she went on explaining how a well intentioned gesture might backfire.Mr DG guy said you mean do not show the film cos' it's a propaganda? Kak Oni said yes.But I have to salute la the guy for keeping his cool ( he has a cert from Carnegie) and it was smart of him to quickly end the session.Ketidak ramai lagi bangun menibai ( discussions at tea showed that many shared our stand on the film)

I enjoyed our Prez's presentation and IGP's (our alum).And the best part of the weekend camping was the treasure hunt (teambuilding)... members were from different Kull and Division.One chap from Pharmacy, one from Science, one from Finance, Architecture,Aslam mengelat tak dtg (was in the same group)... Mcm group mafia je.Haha.