Wednesday, July 31, 2013

22nd day of Ramadan

Malam ganjil lagi tonite.Nik's tahlil but I had to iftar out again.

Another call from a filmmaker in Gaza.Byk ke duit diorang kol ni? Ke free on the net? Yang ini cemas sikit.Film dia pasal Hamas.Aiyooo.But I will not discriminate.Tengok dulu.It should be OK.For all we care for, it might educate us on many things not revealed in the media.


Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Urban Form and Planning in Development

Goh Ban Lee (from The Sun Daily today)


IN THE last three decades or so, cities have been called "engines of growth". They are centres of finance, industry, trade, education, healthcare and entertainment.
As such, municipal councils and national leaders have been trying to make their cities not only liveable for their own citizens, but also attractive to foreign entrepreneurs, professionals and tourists.
But liveable towns and cities do not happen naturally. Among the important tools to bring about liveable cities are town planning and development control.
Malaysia has a rather long history in this regard. Officially, town planning began in 1921 when the government of the Federated States of Malaya invited Charles Reade from South Australia to be the Town Planning Adviser in Kuala Lumpur.
He not only drew up legislations to allow the government the power to make plans, but also to enforce development control. Reade stayed in Kuala Lumpur until 1930 when he moved to North Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). He died in South Africa in 1933.
Since then the law governing town planning and development control has been amended several times.
The current law is the Town and Country Planning Act of 1976. Anyone who wants to build a house or building must obtain permission from the local authority.
Development control has been largely focused on two aspects of development – type of land use and intensity of use.
There has been very little attention on urban form. In other words, those in charge of regulating development projects do not pay attention on how new projects affect the form of the cities.
More specifically, there has been little control on the heights or shapes of new buildings in relation to the landscapes of the surrounding areas. As Malaysian cities begin to experience scarcity of development land, developers began to build taller buildings.
The advancement made in building technology also plays an important part.
The indiscriminate development of high-rise buildings is bad enough. Making things worse are the development of tall slab-blocks along or perpendicular to the roads, blocking the view of surrounding houses at the ground level.
No matter how well the buildings are maintained, the townscapes are destroyedThe indiscriminate building of high-rise structures has done much damage to the development of attractive urban form.
There are good examples of attractive urban forms. Generally, the centres of European cities have uniform heights of low-rise buildings.
The tallest man-made structures are usually the steeples of intricately-designed churches. Besides churches, iconic buildings include municipal and state legislative buildings, libraries, museums or even the parliaments.
Examples of such cities are Cologne or Bonn in Germany, Vienna, the capital of Austria and Amsterdam in Holland. Tall buildings are only allowed at the outskirts of the cities.
The urban forms in some American cities are different. In New York and Los Angeles, skyscrapers are located in the city centres.
Besides strict development control, internationally recognised liveable cities have facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.There are proper walkways for pedestrians. Drivers of motor vehicles stop for pedestrians at zebra crossings even without traffic lights.
Then there are adequate parks and monuments that make walking very interesting and rewarding.
It may be of interests to know that urban form was already an important agenda in "modern" town planning when Kelvin Lynch wrote a book entitled "The Image of the City" in 1959. Since then, much has been written about the importance of urban form and urban design.
For those who are interested in urban form and design but not very keen to read academic books, there is a feature-length documentary film entitled Urbanised produced by Gary Hustwit, an independent filmmaker based in New York and London.
The film is about the designs of cities all over the world, including Mumbai, Brasilia, Bogota and Copenhagen and how they affect housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement and the environment.
Malaysia has experienced rather rapid urbanisation in the last three decades. As a result, there is pressure to build high-rise structures. So far, there seems to be no control of urban form. High-rise buildings seem to be sprouting here and there haphazardly, including residential areas.
So far, only the Unesco heritage sites of George Town and Malacca City have height control to ensure that the heritage buildings are not dwarfed by new buildings. It is time for the town planners and those who are involved in building cities to think seriously about urban form in the towns and cities in Malaysia.
Datuk Dr Goh Ban Lee is interested in urban governance, housing and urban planning. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

21st Day of Ramadan

I was invited to this think tank meeting of a centre at the uni.Prof Kamal was there too.And Mawi world (Prof Mawi) and the other usual heroes.I sorang je heroine nya.Kah kah.But it's nice seeing how men work.Esp. foreign men.I pun menyampuk le sikit2 mana rasa tak setuju tu.

Rector nmpk supportive of the little sms I sent her.Hopefully ada le hasilnya.
I had a few surprises via emails and phone messages this Ramadan.Sometimes you wonder apa ke bendanya yang orang nak from you sebenar2nya.I'm straight like lidi.Cakap je apa nak, jgn dok berkias2.Jenoh pulak kita nak meneka apa ke bendanya.But becos' I'm psychic (kah kah), I balas la ikut rasa hati I.Kot2 mengena, untung aku! :))

More updates later.Iftar kat luar malam ni so gonna miss my tazkirah. :(

Part 2

Iftar at Halia, Bukit Kiara

Kalau org jemput makan sampai dua kali tak pergi, jatuh berdosa, kan? So today I went to the second  invitation for iftar by the US Embassy at Restaurant Halia at Bukit Kiara.One of my fav places to dine.New friends.Budak2 muda yang bercita2 mulia sat with me.I pun rasa muda balik. :) Byk new things I tak tau e.g trading silver is in, gold is out (well, almost). Sat with a couple from Teach Malaysia..a prog I'm much impressed with after the fb entry by this Accenture young (and beautiful) consultant.Told them to hook up with UNESCO for funding.But I guess, funding isn't a prob cos the govt is backing them up.Baguslah.

Met the new Cultural Affairs attache.Baru pindah from Jakarta.Dia janji nak support IWFF.Iyalah tu wok.Besok saya email awak.Tak balas, tunggu! ;)



Monday, July 29, 2013

20th day of Ramadan

Syukur alhamdulillah tonight's turn out was so good at the surau sebab we offered tahlil for our loved ones.I think people mengejar mlm seribu bulan.Also our guest penceramah was a TV personality and a well known scholar:Assoc Prof Dr. Sharifah Hayati.The moderator was her husband Syed Zakaria.What a blessed couple.Suka nengoknya.Nampak dirahmati Allah.Syed pun pandai ckp.We all terpesona.Not a word wasted.Setiap patah adalah ilmu.Begitu bezanya org berilmu ini tuan2 dan puan2 dan we heard new things...masyaAllah...so rejuvenating!

Syed stressed on kebersihan hati.Sharifah stressed on the last phase of Ramadan bagaimana puasa itu milik Allah (kalau ibadah lain for us..kita sakit, kita zikir or baca Quran to calm ourselves..but puasa, kita berlapar dahaga, menahan hawa nafsu kita for Allah..Allah sendiri beri balasan dan beritau malaikat kau tak payah catit..I take care of this ibadah myself).Punya kasih Allah kpd hamba2 yang berpuasa, semua ikan2 di laut mendoakan kita.Bkn satu laut je but semua yg ada.Allahuakbar! Rugi org yg tak berpuasa (Z cerita one of her friends yg dah kerja with oil and gas said clients dia org Melayu minum arak while doing biz..ini belum lagi layanan GROs...ada lagi orang2 mcm ni di zaman org celik agama ni? Orang putih pun pandai tak mau minum lagi..those yg cerdik)

Ada 5 perkara dlm bulan puasa ni yg kalu kita buat pasti syurga:

1.Byk doa pohon keampunan utk diri kita
2.Doa keampunan utk isteri atau suami kita
3.Doa keampunan utk ibubapa kita
4.Doa keampunan utk anak kita
5.Doa keampunan utk jiran tetangga kita dan seluruh umat Islam

Ada kisah seorang pemuda sebelum dia masuk masjid, Rasulullah dah beritau sahabat2 yg hadir, akan masuk seorg ahli syurga.Sat tu masuk seorg pemuda yg basah wajahnya dgn air wuduk.Dia solat dua rakaat.For 3 days the Prophet said the same thing.Sahabat2 jeles..kami yg dok keliling the Prophet tidak nyata keahlian syurga kami, pi intai apa amalan pemuda itu.

Intai punya intai, ntg extraordinary.Akhirnya depa pi tanya sendiri.Pemuda kata aku buat apa kamu buat,takda apa2 lebih.Selidik punya selidik akhirnya kata pemuda itu, kalau ada pun selepas solat aku doakan keampunan semua umat Islam.Bong! Ini jarang kita buat yah?Apatah lagi nak doa keampunan jiran tetangga yg asyik park kat tempat kita.Cino.

Anyway,ada lagi habuan kita.Setiap mlm Allah kasi kita keampunan di bulan puasa tapi kalau kita verbalise minta ampun, lagi bagus (ni I tambah) Lailatul qadar is something additional to 'gaji' tiap2 mlm hari kita berpuasa ini (tidur kita pun ibadah,awak)

Wow...so cool.Not much time left to make the most of this wonderful month,folks.All the best!

Sunday, July 28, 2013

19th day of Ramadan

We had iftar at my niece's plc at Bukit Antarabangsa.Macam raya dah.They are good cooks and good eaters.I think we all are. :)

Aiman was telling us about his life as a matric science student at iium pj.He took O level and although had straight As,could not get into the medical prog sbb depa prioritise bdk2 spm dulu.Aiman has to get cgpa 3.8 ke hapa to change prog.Even having me inside pun tak guna.Dan saya bknlah org yg suka meminta2 juga. :) Ada rezeki, he'd get to do it.If not, the parents will withdraw and put him in another medical sch.

Ijat the younger brother is funnier.He's doing upsr this year.Asked if he could get straight As, he said insyaAllah if I don't forget to write my nama dan no. calon (he forgot this during his trial exam).We have weird nephews/nieces and cucu anak sedara.But without them, we'd feel so dull.It's fun watching kids grow.

I ponteng tazkirah but Nik said mlm ni on kepentingan bertaubat sepanjang waktu (taubat nasuha la bkn taubat lepas tu buat balik).Zikir,solat taubat all those jazz.

Hari ni I'm so affected by news on fb...Sanjeevan's shooting,Egyptian genocide and Syrian refugees in Ampang..betul mcm tanda nak kiamat...org alim dibunuh sewenang2nya, org jahat dan jahil memerintah...have you checked arah qiblat on your compass? Ours has changed quite a bit! Cer check.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

18th of Ramadan, my nephews and I

Nadra is two this year.Still clueless
and tak boleh cakap lagi!


I decided to shop with two of Sal's kids...Basyir and Irshad at the Curve.Irshad needs some moral support..he's sitting for SPM dlm beberapa bulan but we all know how 'prepared' he is.So mukanya tensi satu mcm.He's on the quiet side.I managed to pujuk him to sit with me all afternoon to work on his English (which is not bad but we are planning for his As so start with English dulu.) But before that dah 'suap' dgn baju raya and it was easier to get him to cooperate doing past year exam papers.

He wants to do architecture.I told him what he needed to be accepted.Bdk2 skrg kena beri guide.If not, they grow up clueless and without sense of direction.Harap2 he picks up.3 months to clean up his act.

Nadra's bday.I bought her a painting set (cos' she jenis yg tak reti duduk diam).Wah...how she loved her gift.Habis satu lengan and paha she painted!
Nadra has a Farrah Fawcett hairdo

We did family teraweh tonight so no tazkirah.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Nuzul Quran's tazkirah

Cheh...have I lost control of my blog again? :( I have prob uploading my pics lah.

Anyway,today's tazkirah was about masa tidak menunggu kita.So kita yang kena beria-iya mencari lailatul qadar especially the last ten days.Bagi isteri, being extra nice to suami dgn ikhlas, pahalanya pun sama dgn orang lelaki keluar beribadat di masjid or org lelaki beriktikaf last ten days pun berbaloi dlm mencari lailatul qadar.

I was thinking...be yourself.Do your usual good deeds dgn ikhlas dan selebihnya hak Allah.Beramal sbb nak kejar pahala is not so good,kan?You've got to be selfless..losing yourself in the essence of God.Kemaruk in your worship and your closeness with Him.We should strive to reach this level.The rest is and will be by product.Wallahualamlah.

Ustaz said akhir zaman ni byk petanda manusia makin jauh dari Allah: org tua tak hormat org muda (diperkosanya anak2 muda, didera dll) dan anak2 muda pun sama...dibunuhnya ibubapa sendiri, dibiarkan ibubapa tua sendirian, dll.Bila syiar Islam atau suruhan2 Allah tidak lagi diendahkan maka Allah akan hancurkan mukabumi ini.

Lawak hari ini :Ustaz kata ramai org pasti dah dapat 4 juz di bulan Ramadan ini: jus oren,jus apple,jus kedondong dan jus durian belanda.:D

17th day of Ramadan

Happy Nuzul Quran.Selangor cuti.Z and her dad kerja.It is expected that KL will be flooded with 1 million shoppers.

I chose to make a police report about last night's incident.My sister said at least I'd record the statistics of crimes in this country.We know the police would not do anything.Car plate no. pun I takda.So I went to my local police station near my home.Police tak tau mengeja and he refused to use my ayat.He would not let me type my own report like Bentong police station. Ayat dia tak sedap langsung!

Then I was told to submit a copy to Balai Polis Selayang.I asked if they were closed since it's nuzul quran.He laughed and said we are open 24 hours.

I picked up Sal to show me the location.Sampai kat tempat ambik visitor's card tu..bau rokok and could see can drink on the desk.Camno nak tangkap org puasa kalau diri sendiri tak puasa?Haiyo.
Then we went to the office.The sarjan pompuan said bahagian trafik tutup.They are open Mon to Fri office hours.I mula nak naik hangin.I said kwn awak kat balai polis lagi satu kata buka.Then they pointed to the working hours on my report slip.Sal said call the sarjan listed.The other polis yg tak reti mengeja tu recorded no. telefon sarjan in charge as 019-019 xxxxxxx.Biar betul polis ni! I rang the office no.Someone picked up and said they are open and Sarjan yg I nak jumpa tu ada on duty melayan seorang pengadu.

The office was on the other side.Apa pasal sarjan pompuan and her geng ckp tutup?They were not helpful at all.Rupa2nya yg tutup office byr saman.Office bhgn trafik buka.

The people in this office were friendlier except the photographer who got pissed off when I asked if he had taken gambar kereta I bercalar.He said sarcastically (but with a smile) satu kereta dia dah ambik.Iyalah iyalah. :)

Adapun tujuan peristiwa ini dicatitkan ialah agar kita sedar we need to groom and train smarter policemen and women.If they could not even spell properly, do not even know wht the other division is doing (what their operating hours are)...is it any wonder the crime rate in this country is so high?You've got to be interested in your job, folks.Travel the extra mile.Satu lagi...when you recruit better qualified and well trained people, bolehlah naikkan gaji mereka.Dah dua kali I perhati...they become agents for car repair workshops..kasi business card and their phone number to connect.This should not be allowed yah? Nanti org tuduh polis ambik commission for recommending a particular car workshop.

Then I took my mom shopping baju raya dia.Pilih baju kinky tahun ni.Let her cheer up a bit pakai colour org muda.:)

Thursday, July 25, 2013

16th Day of Ramadan

I think I'm psychic. :D

Another car hit me from behind on my way home from Iftar di luar.Just moments before the car hit me, I felt it was coming so I looked at my rear window and saw this car memecut to hit me.Wough my body jolted ke depan and seperti last year I screamed.I had the same zikir cd on! Spooky tak spooky nya.I think because I saw the car coming,I had pressed my accelerator forward so impact nya mungkin tak sekuat mana,syukur alhamdulillah.

My instinct said don't stop.I saw the car following me for quite a bit then after a while dia corner masuk simpang lain.When I arrived home, syukur...tak byk nak katuk.Nasib I didn't stop to look at how bad the damage was!

The message is: mati can come any time.Ingat, protection Allah juga pasti so just do what diredhoiNya.

Short tazkirah

Short cos' I arrived late for the tazkirah. Also ustaz gave a short one (according to my partner).Nik ckp he (ustaz from Pattani) cerita skrg orang2 beragama seperti imam2 habis kena bunuh dgn Siam.This we do not get to read in our media.Me gonna google now.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

15th of Ramadan

Some inside stories from Z about her Pakatan MPs.Kesianlah mereka ni.You know they have to pay RM40K for every petition lost with regard to challenging the recent GE results? They filed 23 cases.3 dah dismissed with costs (RM40k satu case..bila BN punya kena tolak, free.Hadoi...negaraku!)

Why is it hard to understand that the country needs intelligent and diligent leaders? Mengapa mahu dibunuh setiap Hang Nadim the country has?

Hari ni takda tazkirah.Tunggu Nik balik.

Footnotes: Hari ini kami semua kalah with busy-ness and keletihan.Nik pun solat teraweh at home after returning from his office iftar.Z berbuka kat One Utama cos' takda transport nak balik.Taxis tak mau hantar at rush hours.I pulak berguling2 in pain before berbuka (like period pain cuma it's not.Haiyo).My mom biasalah..came to massage my tummy then would say kuat betul angin awak ni..tangan mak kebas (lantas beredar turun tangga.Haha) Tunggu bomoh saya balik (Nik). Dia baca fatihah and selawat, terus kurang.Ini syndrome nak attention nih.:)) 

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

14th day of Ramadan

Two weeks already! First, syukur we made it this far.Two, if there's no change in our akhlaq after 2 weeks of fasting, we have insyaAllah 2 more weeks to get it right.Moga Allah sentiasa beri petunjuk.

Tazkirah

Ustaz mlm ni was from Sentul.He stressed on the usual Ramadan stuffs lah...all those I had written earlier.Apa pasal lah tazkirah tahun ni tak sedap sgt? Or expectation saya terlalu tinggi? But I thought ustaz ni canggih juga when he spoke of state vs religion.Amboi...mcm attend political science or literature class la pulak.I found the moderator mlm ni funny cos' masa ustaz showed no sign of stopping from his lengthy tazkirah, moderator tiba2 bersuara tanpa kasi signal ada 5 minit lagi ke hapa terus kata ya, itu sahaja buat mlm ini, diminta ustaz baca doa (words to this effect lah..very abrupt.Z whispered..dia nak balik cepat sbb bsk nak kerja tu.). :D

Zul, me and my Thai intern went to collect 8 documentary films from my friend (South African Indian who is American citizen). Syukur alhamdulillah.More countries are participating.I can't wait to watch these movies.Salam's film (directed by that Jejak Rasul guy) turns out to be the best out of the 3 films we made...mine not too bad after Harith edited.Matin punya tak tau lagi...I hope they'd do stg about it ..ketidak first round dah kena KO.

I lodged a complaint over this guy harassing me for two days dah (on campus).Ada org memandai recommended that he sought my advice.Dah pagi ptg dia dok dtg minta itu ini.Today I just went like this on him:






Monday, July 22, 2013

13th day of Ramadan

O sweet Lord! A colleague from another Centre came asking if I could assist him at his Centre..sebagai orang kanan dia (terpaksa tulis in Malay takut empunya diri berasa hati diri dia nak diganti dgn org lain).I was almost in tears saying No. Haha..I ni ada juga ngoknya..sikit2 nak in tears (org tua lagu ni la..sensitip terlebih).People do not understand why IWFF is so important for me.Dah dua tahun I mcm roller coaster, my life on hold cos' IWFF wants to happen.It will not let me go and I pun mcm terikat dengan dia.It's hard to explain but akhirnya my colleague respected my decision.Lepas Sept nak suruh I jaga apa pun takpalah ya? I pun need to move on.Dengan penemuan rakan-rakan baru semalam, byk benda lain can do.My pet areas: rural development and urban poverty.If I do not hold a post, this is what I want to be busy with.We need to look beyond diri kita.Masih ramai di luar sana yang serba kekurangan.Yang perlukan pendidikan, panduan dan sokongan.

I want to be there.

Tazkirah malam ini

Imam dan ustaz tazkirah kita mlm ini didatangkan khas dari Gaza oleh Aman Palestin.There are 19 of them going around the country.Sambil jadi imam sambil jadi penceramah.Lepas tu ikut kita nak sponsor poor families or orphans (orphans seramai 200 semua dah habis ditaja).

Anyway, bacaan imam Palestin ini sgt2 merdu.I rasa terbuai2 dan termelayang-layang ikut alunan suaranya.But pelik, dia tak kasi selawat selepas setiap 2 rakaat tu.Hadoi, mcm2 style.
The imam related to us wht we had read on the net...zionis korek tanah bwh masjid Aqsa, tahan wanita dan kanak2 dlm penjara..jumlah dah 9000 org.Ramai mati kering...kalau sakit tak diberi medical attention, kalau lapar tak diberi makan.Tunnels tu semua dah ditutup...people can no longer go in and out freely.So can't get consistent food supply etc.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

12th day of Ramadan

Michelle (UN)

The stage

Prayer room

Saudi dates and juice pembuka puasa


Some guests at the private function

His Excellency,Cathy (the performer) and Mary Thornton (President of MANZA)


No tazkirah tonite.Harap maklum.

Ustaz Rashid came with his tahfiz kids.Dia buat tazkirah in between teraweh 8 tu.Nik ckp semua nangis.I missed it.

I went to see a performance by a well-known NZ actress of works by Katherine Mansfield at NZ High Commissioner's home at Jln Langgak Golf.David siapkan satu bilik solat khas and kami dihidangkan dgn dates dari Saudi dan minuman jus for berbuka.After that NZ roast lamb,dll.Bagus yah? The Kiwis have always been tolerant of diversities.Protocol kurang atau takda langsung.David setuju to help me get a NZ film for the festival.Alhamdulillah.

I also met Michelle yg cantik jelita from the Carribean.Dia baru sampai..wakil UNESCO yang baru.We clicked...fun talking with her.Cerdik.Trained as a Trade Lawyer.I also met other people from other Embassies..US, Australia, UK.Some NZ alums from Colombo Plan.

The performance was mesmerising.Cathy Downes the actress ni ada two theatre companies in London and Amsterdam.She was performing in Spore but David said it would be a shame if she didn't do it in KL so he brought her over.I felt lucky to catch it. Mmg mengetop.

Balik rumah almost midnite.Nik suruh buat juga teraweh.Rugi tak kejar pahala, he said.
So I did.

Katherine Mansfield

I have always read her as a madwoman (a creative madwoman like Virginia Woolf,Sylvia Plath, etc) but had loved her Doll's House so much (English bridging course at Waikato).Last night showed a livelier, madder (in a nice way) Katherine Mansfield.She found NZ such a boring place and had this burning desire to leave it and live in London.But a woman could not be so mobile those days.However, she was allowed to go on one condition - only for a year - by her parents.At 19, she sailed on a ship, never to return to NZ.She found her freedom there, mingling with the likes of Picasso, DH Lawrence, Virginia Woolf.The audience went ooh and aah on this.

The most touching scene was at the news of the death of her brother (it was the world war) ...the grenade he was demonstrating to his friends exploded in his hand.At his death scene, he said..lift up my head Katherine,I can't breathe ( this was related to her by her brother's friend). Like Woolf, she was also suicidal but lived to write stories, in memory of the dead brother.

I miss lah performances like this.Like Mansfield, I dream of London.Leicester Square.My West End.My wakaka.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

11th day of Ramadan

We were out doing bits of our Raya shopping.Z is away so it was quick.I dah takda apa nak beli for Raya (tahun ni baju kurung dah ditempah.No fancy2) but had to purchase pakaian2 wanita yg lain.Wough...I collected a beautiful raya gift and vouchers.Best juga shopping mcm ni.

Semlm ustaz kata puasa ni ada kategori2 nya.If hanya menahan lapar dan dahaga...itu puasa org awam.If menahan lain2... darjatnya tinggi lagi.Tak silap I he said ada 5 kategori puasa.Gulp.Just pray ours termasuk dalam kelompok yg tinggi bukan yg di bawah sekali tu.As you age, puasa is not easy mcm kita puasa muda2 dulu. Kering tekaklah, panaslah, mengantuklah (although tidur can be a form of ibadah bilamana kita kurang berckp, tidak mendengar atau melihat perkara2 tak senonoh)

Tazkirah Ramadan

Nik Aziz punya son was supposed to give the tazkirah but he rang to say tak dpt dtg so Haji Ali twisted Abe Akob (ahli tabligh) to ganti.MasyaAllah...what a rezeki! This chap shared with us aplikasi agama..putting all the beautiful values we so often talk about to practice.

He said dia and gang baru balik dari kawasan paling ulu in Sarawak, Long Lama which would take 4 hours ride on jalan lori balak.No electricity except between 6 and 10 pm and no water except mandi dlm sungai byk buaya.Kg tu ada 50 families...10 families je Islam tapi Islam kapal selam cos' sapa nak do dakwah work, right? My perception of the tabligh people berubah sekelip mata.

Ustaz kata bulan2 Ramadan ni he would collect zakat kat kawasan uptown tu (cerita kat Kota Dsara la pulak ni)....kawasan bdk2 muda rock melepak..one young man approached and asked saya pakai seluar pendek boleh ke byr zakat.Ustaz said bolehhh.Another would come and say saya nak byr utk awek saya, boleh ke? Ustaz kata dia dah kerja? Dah.Dia kena dtg byr sendiri.Another one came pakai gelang besar and masa bersalam, dia yg genggam ustaz kuat2. Ustaz kata ada juga yg lembut dtg.Ustaz said dia tak pasti nak salam ke tidak...tapi akhirnya tidak bersalam (dia joke je ni).

It was enlightening really.Ustaz kata ada tiga golongan yg syurga tunggu:

1. Org yg beri salam masa masuk rumah
2. Org yg keluar rumah menuju masjid
3. Org yg sentiasa berzikir subhanaAllah (yg ni tak pasti but I remember tahap syurga adalah lebih bagi mereka yg buat semua amalan baik but yg membezakan penghuni syurga tahap atas and lesser is mrk yg suka zikir subhanaAllah)

Ustaz kata nak tingkat iman, kita mesti tingkat amalan baik.Tingkat iman, tingkat taqwa.Turun amalan, turun iman, turun atau kurang taqwa.Wough...senang je calculation nak jaga KPI iman kita ni.Amal.Action.Inilah worldview org tabligh so harap2 takda lagi org look down on them.

And imam kita kali ni budak muda...haiyooo..you'll simply melt dengar merdunya suara dia baca surah2 tu.

Afundi teraweh mlm ni!


Friday, July 19, 2013

Part two Ramadan day 10

Z's working outstation over the weekends,Nik has iftar outside.I decided to spend mine with my mom at Sal's.Very nice family time.

I teraweh at home cos' Imam Karachi tu baca ayat panjang bebenor. :) Went to catch the tazkirah by the ustaz from Bandung.He was here last year.This year tak best sgt but reminders are reminders.He spoke on golongan yg dirindui syurga (rasa same topic as last year's).Golongan itu antara lain mrk yg suka kasi makan org lapar; suka baca dan menghayati Quran, suka bersedekah.Itu je yg I ingat.He was making too many irrelevant jokes, many were sexist.Me yawnnnn.

The Fulbright talk which I organised went well.About 40 students turned up..from different Kull as well.We'll try talk to International Relations about incorporating some of the progs in our own curriculum ( to cater to the in and out bound students mobility).


10th day of Ramadan

Pagi ini dikejutkan dengan dua berita kematian...father of a colleague (the brother of former USM VC, Datuk Dzul..bapanya Hiroshima bomb survivor) and my former student...umur early 30s, belum kawin...maybe kena heart attack, mild stroke, then did surgery then major stroke and coma and terus menemui Allah di dalam bulan yang cukup mulia.Begitu mudah! I have asked her friends apa amalan allahyarhamah ketika hidup.Sedang menunggu jawapan.

It will be another long day today.Semoga semuanya menjadi ibadah yang dirahmati Allah.

Ustaz cakap betul

Bahwa bulan ini penuh rahmah dan kasihsayang.Minta la apa-apa yang baik dan tidak bercanggah dgn Islam.Ustaz kata buat solat qiyamulail.

So pukul 3.30 pagi tadi I pun bangun.Berkobar2 nak buat solat qiyamulail.Pasanglah niat solat qiyamulail.Terdetik kata hati tak pernah buat solat ni.But I teruskan juga.Then I did solat tahajjud.Then solat hajat.

Then when Nik woke up, dia pun nak solat juga.I told him I just did solat qiyamulail.He said mana ada solat macam tu.Solat qiyamulail tu tahajjud dan lain2 solat sunat yang dibuat di tengah malam.I tak percaya (almaklum..between him and me, lebih kureng...haha).So I googled up.Aiyoooo..betullah! My god, dah tua pun tak reti2 lagi!

But mungkin I ikhlas maka pagi ni apa yang I hajati berlaku.MasyaAllah..rasa nak menangis la pulak! Bukan satu hajat yang Allah bayar cash today.Dua! (This Saudi guy rang me up from Saudi untuk beritau dia nak submit film dia wanting to be lost in Mecca so he really got lost then found a lot of unknown things about the Prophet.He wants to share that with us at our film festival.I cry as I type this.Evidence apa lagi kita nak tentang kebesaran Allah, kasihsayangNya? SifatNya yang Maha Mendengar?)

It's Ok if you laughed I did solat qiyamulail.I learn each day, InsyaAllah.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

9th day of Ramadan

I see a lot of hope in my current project.My meeting with a rep from one of the Embassies nampak mcm promising.But hanya Allah Yang Maha Mengetahui. Today is all about meeting people.Some people are so mean.Bukan somelah..seorang 'salimas' dari satu org....ada ke patut dia kata an email is not authorised to be shared with the public...gawd..I can always look it up on the net OK? When I started name dropping baru la dia nak layan. But so far alhamdulillah people have been helpful (you tak tau ke I berdoa sampai berbuih2 di mulut? Nak buka puasa je, doa.Lepas teraweh je doa.And I paksa all my student comms buat benda yang sama.Haha..been here before.Inilah caranya..bila dah dekat event, kita akan buat solat hajat agar semuanya berjalan lancar, InsyaAllah)

Matin pun heartbroken tengok skrip dia jadi mcm kerja budak sekolah tadika.Every time things go wrong, sabar is the word.Semua ini lessons of life.Nothing is wasted.You'll grow better and stronger.Nak kata apa lagi.

Part two

Haiyooo...cannot tahanlah. So I rang up Hafsham and told him what I thought.He said he'd talk to the director and see how he could save the film.I like Hafsham...he is a very good listener.

Isham came and we spoke a bit over rough waters.He said give him two weeks.Nov. event nak bawak a very mengetop Muslim personality kalau ada rezeki. My role would be over by then, ZI takes over.I need to move on baybeh.

Part three

Ustaz mlm ni is an entrepreneur yg boleh beri tazkirah.He said benda yg wajib mesti didahulukan.Kalau dulu byk tinggal solat wajib, qada sebelum nak buat yg sunat mcm teraweh.Ibarat rumah (yg wajib itu) dgn perabot rumah (sunat) Ustaz put an emphasis on our need to know the difference of living with tujuan hidup and living with keperluan hidup.If we know what our tujuan hidup is,semua jadi ibadah...ibadah asas/am is our livelihood...kita makan,kita bekerja, kita beranak pinak beri tanggungjawab ke atas family etc di samping ibadah2 wajib kita...solat etc.

Tetapi jika we live with or for or on keperluan hidup...itu yang kita dok kerja siang malam dok cari duit juta-juta tetapi tak pernah cukup sampai lupa ibadah wajib.

Ustaz kata kalau iman kita tidak meningkat, check balik apa yang salah.Kena monitor.Adakah Ramadan kali ni performance kita mengetop compared to last year's atau kita semakin malas,semakin jauh dari Allah.If we wanna change, then something must be altered or changed.Ketidak mcm mat pit...bila dah dapat candu, janji nak tobat...bila ketagih balik, balik buat kerja lama.Consistency,keikhlasan dgn Allah akan membantu kita menjadi lebih baik.Peringatan utk diri sendiri.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

8th day of Ramadan?

Apa betul it's 8th day of Ramadan already? Waaaa... (nangis)

Some touching moments today...two of my friends who are located in two different parts of the world bent their backs to help me (well...ok...I twisted their arms a bit).Given that situation, terasa ukhwahnya.The beauty of Ramadan.So one of my friends ni gave a contact number of another friend (Head of a TV station) to call..I rang up.Mcm ayam and itik bercakap.I tak faham accent dia,dia tak faham my accent.Punya la susah nak jot down the email add (yup...it bounced) but in the end we found out what the missing link was.

Harith rang to say besok boleh pi edit short film kat FINAS but I have an important meeting la pulak.I trust himlah. Had listed things for him to address.

Part two

This evening's tazkirah was by one of our regular ustazs who spoke on Ramadan dan keistimewaan bulan ini.It's the only month in the Islamic calendar mentioned in the Quran as early as Surah Baqarah.It's bulan of everything: bulan rahmah, bulan kasihsayang, dll.So message yg sama time and again: pulun pahala byk2 sebab syurga has a price ( kalau nak masuk toilet pun berbayar...apparently a practice in the Islamic world 800 years ago sampai Sheikh Adham menangis sbb he reasoned out if atas dunia nak masuk toilet pun kena byr apatah lagi nak masuk syurga)

Ustaz ni cerita pasal fitrah wanita suka berleter ( tak pasal2 pulak dia nak buka cerita ni..oh ya..bab kena jaga mulut, mata dan hati di bulan puasa ni...he said jaga mulut lagi senang dari jaga mata.Jaga mata lagi senang dari jaga hati.Then went on to cerita psl isteri suka berleter):

Jadi suaminya tak tahan lantas bawak isterinya ke belakang and put her in a well (bagus punya laki).Tengah mlm lakinya terjaga and wondered why wife tak kejut dia bangun malam.Lepas tu dia ke dapor and tengok dapur tak berasap.Then baru si ngok ni teringat he put his wife in the well.
Lantas dia hulor tali nak tarik isteri dia keluar.Nasib hidup lagi.

But bila sampai kat atas bkn isterinya yang naik tetapi satu lembaga hitam.Lelaki itu bertanya siapakah kamu? Lembaga jawab: aku jin perigi ini dan sudah lama menunggu perigi ini dan tak pernah keluar2.

Jadi kenapa kamu keluar hari ini, tanya sang suami.
Itu di bawah itu..aku tidak tahan mendengar isteri kamu berleter.

Me and some women laughed too but we whispered to one another: tak suka joke ni. :D
My other friend sms-ed me the following (lagi enak membacanya):

Sabda Rasulullah saw:
Allah benci 3 golongan dan lebih benci 3 golongan yang lain :-

1.Allah benci org kedekut tetapi lebih benci org kaya yg kedekut
2.Allah benci org fasiq tetapi lebih benci orang tua yang fasiq
3.Allah benci org sombong tetapi lebih benci org miskin yang sombong

Sabda Rasulullah saw lagi:

Allah suka 3 golongan dan lebih suka 3 golongan yang lain:-

1.Allah suka orang pemurah tetapi lebih suka org miskin yang pemurah
2. Allah suka org merendah diri tetapi lebih suka org kaya yg merendah diri
3.Allah suka org bertaqwa tetapi lebih suka org muda yg bertaqwa

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

7th day of Ramadan

How time flies.We have only 3 weeks left of Ramadan!

I'm watching some of the IWFF film entries.They make me cry (some because of poor productions! But some because they have real strong messages especially those from Palestine and India.We'll put some trailers on our website from time to time).

We now accept online submissions so if you have friends keen on joining us, details are at iwff.org.my and we are also on facebook Iwff Kuala Lumpur (lots of Islamic films there if you need to be inspired).The theme is faith on film and our deadline is August 1, 2013.

Part Two

This evening's ustaz is from Jakarta. It's amazing someone so young is doing so well building tahfiz school with branches in Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Egypt.Such a school gives opportunities to poor kids to get an education. Kadang2 terkedu with how people use their time...so young and so much contribution to mankind.

Ustaz spoke of ten perkara menjemput rahmah dari Allah supaya kita terus bertaqwa kpdNya.I didn't bring my notebook so let's see if I can recall all:

1. Solat
2. Zikir
3. Sedekah
4. Baca Quran
5. Membuat kebajikan sesama manusia
6. Menuntut ilmu
7. Puasa
8. Iktikaf (niat iktikaf bila masuk masjid)
9. Menjauhi maksiat
10. Memperbanyakkan perkara-perkara sunat seperti qiyamulail dan BANYAKKAN berdoa

No. 8-10 ingat tak ingat but I think tak salah. If you do, Allah will give you rahmah.

I'm so sad over the latest in Egypt.Askar2 jahat tu masuk masjid tengah org teraweh and start menyerang.Ini terok dari kapir! I wonder if the Israeli armies have penetrated Egyptian armies - cara buat lahanat ni mcm cara mereka. Pls do not forget to pray for our brothers and sisters in Egypt.And Syria.And Palestine.

Monday, July 15, 2013

6th day of Ramadan

I could not make it to teraweh this evening.Bergulung2 in pain just before Asr.It got worse after Maghrib. Angin apa ni?? Nasib my mom ada.She baca2 sikit ayat Quran but said the moment she touched me, the angin naik kuat till she dared not touch me again. Hmmph...mak I suka la cerita2 mcm ni. :))

In truth, it must have been something I ate or yesterday's massage.Budak tu touched my tummy mcm menibai roti canai.

Harap2 Nik brings back good stories tonight from the tazkirah.

Footnotes: I didn't miss much cos' ustaz pun tak datang. :D The imam for teraweh was a Yemeni guy so they twisted his arm to give the tazkirah in Arabic.Translation was not immediate so that was off, said Nik. Kita dengar Ustaz Youtube jelah time2 mcm ni.Macam2 ada on the net.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

5th day of Ramadan

ACCIN's meeting, talk and iftar...semua I tak pergi.Family time mah.At first I wanted to go...at least the meeting and talk but once at the Curve...time just flew. :) Bukan shopping pun.Went to pick up some stuffs.

This evening ceramah spoke of kepentingan tazkirah yakni ingat mengingati antara satu sama lain.Terdapat satu hadis in which the Prophet quoted about people yg lalu di taman2 Allah utk pergi ke taman Allah yang lebih hakiki.Sahabah tanya apakah taman2 itu.Jawab Rasulullah pbuh itulah tempat2 org mengingati Allah, majlis2 zikir, majlis2 belajar agama, tazkirah dan apa2 seangkatan dgnnya.Ustaz said kita perlu ini semua to keep us on track.Hati dan nafs itu perlu dididik dan ditundukkan.

Ustaz said kita kena pulun habis mencari pahala di bulan rahmah ini.It's hard cos' we do not see pahala, he said.If solat could be measured by money...satu rakaat satu juta ringgit...sure penuh masjid and surau, kata ustaz Uni Malaya-Wales ni ( a new uni near Open Uni... UM subsidiary).

Z spoke on youth and the future or hope for the nation at a forum.I didn't go cos' she said parents were not allowed.Only youths.Found out bdk lain bwk mak-bapak dia orang. :)

4th day of Ramadan

We finished late last night and had to send Damia and Nabil home after buying them ice creams for being good kids.My God, they were so good! Nabil goes to a private integrated school and at Maghrib, done secara berjemaah, he was asked to azan (random call).Tengok2 sedap pulak budak umur 9 tahun ni azan! We were all impressed.Then after solat, he was asked to baca doa.MasyaAllah...fluent like an Arab tongue.He's done us proud.He jumped at the offer of following us to do qiyam Ramadan (proper name for teraweh zaman Rasulullah s.a.w dahulu).Damia wanted to come along.

Ustaz malam ini panjanglah pulak tazkirahnya.Intipati tazkirah is ibadah ini yg penting bukan quantity but quality.Nabi dulu hidup mcm orang biasa. Kalau buat qiyamulail, dia buat dua rakaat sahaja.Qiyamulail amat penting...ia menguatkan diri kita.Ibadah2 kita menguatkan kita semua selain menjadikan kita semua bertaqwa.That is why para mujahidin kita antara amalan mereka ialah bangun tengah malam to do qiyamulail.

Ustaz malam ini is an economics graduate.He and team had built byk rumah for fakir miskin di Selama Perak and is building a tahfiz school there.He said last year, half of the kutipan derma for his tahfiz and development for the poor came from our surau.Investment akhirat from those who care.I'll give you the link and info if you too wanna invest in your akhirat.

Ustaz kata bulan Ramadan ni nak menjinakkan nafsu kita so that roh kita gemok supaya mudah kita beribadat. If we continue to makan byk more than bulan2 biasa yg lain, we'd never tame our nafs.Makanan roh kita tetap sedikit sebab nafsu kita took up the space.Nak ibadah pun malas.And since we need memperbanyakkan amalan2 sunat, maka kita kenalah disiplinkan diri not to over-eat.

Friday, July 12, 2013

3rd day of Ramadan

Ustaz Rashid is busy in Cambodia so he is not here to read our tafsir bacaan Quran in our teraweh.I miss this so much.That's the cream actually.

Bagaimanapun, the tazkirah after teraweh is maintained.Ustaz hari ni cerita pasal puasa should not be    associated with eating and drinking sahaja.It's about mencari keredhoan Allah.He said kita ni masih jauh dari keimanan umat Islam lain in which pasukan mujahidin datang dari pelbagai negara to assist keluarga kita di Mesir.Semua berebut untuk syahid ( nanti lalu laju kat titian siratulmustaqim terus masuk syurga).

He said kalau baca Quran, lebih baik tau maknanya.Look up www.quranweekly.com for daily tafsir.I have not look it up but may work if I get stuck in 4-hour jam again. :)

Ustaz said ramai tak sah solat kalau rukun solat tak betul...tak verbalise the takbir.Then he asked the moderator (org lain mlm ni) if there's rukun puasa ke tidak.Moderator nmpk confused.Then he angguk mcm sure tak sure.Waktu ni I tengah sipping my teh tarik.Di depan I is my French lady friend (told ya...she tak pernah miss teraweh for the last decade or so)... then ustaz asked moderator apa rukun puasa.Moderator felt cornered.His response was funny (act blur).Bersembur my teh tarik as I tried to supress my laughter.That was so cruel, I thought. I laughed cos' it looked so ridiculous putting people on the spot like that.I should not have laughed.May Allah forgive me.

We have decided not to buy lauk pauk at the bazar.Ada yg jual balik lebihan semalam.Tastes poisonous.


Thursday, July 11, 2013

2nd day of Ramadan

A bit busy in the office.I went to work - prepared..dates and zam-zam satu botol, in case I get stuck in a 4-hour jam again.

Syukur, no jam.Jadi malamnya sempat la ikut Nik pi teraweh as usual.Sebelum tu mcm drug addict dapat pi bazar Ramadan. :)) But I just bought keperluan sahaja like air kelapa (alkaline...bagus to cool down the body system), kuih muih and murtabak for Nik (he loves them).I found masak lemak telor itik.Fuiyooo..and gulai kawah.

The tazkirah mlm ni was by an ustaz who was a student in Syria but could not complete his studies because of the war.After Raya, he'd go to Jordan to continue but he has no money.So dia mohon derma.Kesian kan? I tak bawak byk duit tonite.So I gave whatever little I had on me (then I pasang niat...semoga duit RM so and so ni membiak jadi beratus ringgit)

Ustaz said kerajaan Bashar ni terok..masuk masjid bunuh orang...terbalik2kan rak, dll dlm masjid.He said last Ramadan..nak pi teraweh kat masjid byk check points..kena tunjuk IC..mcm cara kat Israel, kan? Ustaz kata umat Islam yang beribadah dlm keadaan kena tindas mcm ni mcm dpt 50 kali pahala para sahabat Rasulullah...punyalah besar ganjarannya.

The moderator read his poem he wrote while listening to cerita sedih Ustaz ni.Dah kita orang pulak menangis.Intipati nukilan moderator ni ialah kita wajar bersyukur dpt berpuasa dlm keadaan aman dan serba kemewahan sedangkan umat Islam yg lain bergadai nyawa nak ke masjid or sedang solat.

Sebelum tu Ustaz cerita ibadah or God consciousness kita membawa taqwa kpd kita.Ada satu kisah tentang pemuda miskin.Punya miskin, he can only drink water daily.Satu hari he went to the balcony of the two storied home.Nmpk kuih.Sbb lapar sangat..dia capai dan dah nak gigit.But dia teringat ini bkn hak dia so dia letak balik.Then tertidur.

Besoknya his lecturer ke hapa tanya dia nak kawin ke.He said he had no money.Ustaz dia ckp bkn pasal wang..jwb je nak ke tidak.He said nak.So kawin.Pindah rumah wife...wife hidang kuih.Mcm kat balcony tu.Rupa2nya wife tu anak towkay rumah sewa dia.So sbb sikap amanah, jujur, taqwa pemuda ini, bkn je kuih tu jadi miliknya tetapi Allah beri isteri cantik rupawan dan beriman.

Cerita baru ni.Tak pernah dengar. :)


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

First day of Ramadan

Is it me or you feel it too? Dahaga sesangat. :))

Last night I was too tired to join Nik pi teraweh so I missed the first Ramadan's tazkirah.Ustaz kata waktu paling bagus berdoa is ketika berbuka dan selepas solat Maghrib (minta la utk kesihatan dan segala.Umat yang kuat dtg dari umat yang bagus kesihatannya..I tambah la sikit ni)

Last Ramadan I was better than previous Ramadans.Harap2 tahun ni meningkat kerajinannya.Saya doakan ibadah anda pun begitu juga.

Part 2

 was stuck in a traffic jam for over 4 hours on my first day of Ramadan.Mcm biasa police traffic was clueless (I asked both KL and PJ ones) Sorang kata lori terbalik.I keluar 4 pm..sampai 8.30 pm.I didn't bring any bekal.Imagine Asr tercabut, Maghrib almost missed...sapa nak tanggung dosa I nanti?

Rupa2nya lori tersidai at one of the hillslope (I suspect sengaja ...sebab nak suruh orang guna DUKE yang mahal tu) I tengok lori tu segar bugar sahaja dan pemandu takda rasa resah lori dia rosak (for 4 hours...takkan tak buat apa2?) I told Z: go and tell your MPs...Z laughed je saying who gonna believe me.

Terus beritau Nik can we go look for a nice apartment for me to melepak time2 mcm ni? Saturday ni kita pergi, said him (I will buy it using my savings).But I googled...takda satu yang I berkenan and I think some are over-priced.Semi D 1.1 million.Giler ke hapa? But if I were to stay on at IIUM...I need to buy a place closer to the uni.Tak larat jam berjam2 macam ni.




Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Kantoi!

Kita semua pernah terkantoi but talking about orang lain punya kantoi biasanya lagi menyeronokkan.Memang tidak adil but hey, ayam tak patuk, itik tidak menyudu.What to do.

Ceritanya pasal one of the chaps doing my small garden semalam.I had asked the younger one why dia tak bawak wife dia ke Malaysia (I was looking for a maid to replace mine).He said tak boleh, isterinya kena jaga ibunya yang sudah tua.He told me he's been here for almost ten years.Hasil gaji dia buat rumah batu adiknya.Now he's working on his home.I asked why dia dulukan buat rumah adik dia.He said kesian.Wough...luhurnya hati dia yah?

The kantoi part was this: when I picked him and another guy up to bring over to my home, I saw a woman.They all live in one place.After doing my garden time hantar mrk balik, I mcm biasa tanya isteri M (the other guy) ke yang masak.M said itu isteri H (the guy who told me wife dia di Indonesia).I buat tak tau je but someone at the back seat went very quiet.H seems like a nice guy.But I guess he did right.Nikah is better than visiting brothels, kan? (then picks up segala penyakit kelamin to pass on kpd isteri yg tidak berdosa yg menjaga ibu di kampung).




Sunday, July 07, 2013

Tahlil and Ramadan Do

We did tahlil and kenduri menyambut Ramadan in the evening.A family affair (both sides).Mek suggested menu lauk kampong.Ramai yang komplen. :)) They expected kambing golek like always.
Sorry babes...makcik and pakcik ruling out meat this time.

Caught in terrible jam on my way to lunch with Flinders' new VC (only 12 alums were invited).Sampai kat Renaissance Hotel, I decided to leave my car there and walk to Sheraton..dgn handbag Prada I,OK?
Nasib the hotel doorman said it would be too far, too hot for me.He suggested I take the monorail at Bukit Nanas and stop at the next stop, Medan Tunku and walk a bit.It's closer that way.

 with Michael and Patrick, eating Chinese

The new VC of Flinders Uni and Prof Rahmatullah
Sheraton Hotel, KL

The thing was...saya tak reti naik monorail! ( or public transport). And the gals tu pandai tunjuk kat situ situ ( to all directions). I ended up going mundar mandir looking for my platform.I hope no one was watching.Haha.

When I finally got it ( tengok la no. platform tu, ngok!) I got to Sheraton in less than 8 mins.Nama je Medan Tunku.Dia stopped dekat Sheraton betul! They were mentioning my name when I muncul.Pjg umur, murah rezeki. :)

Kata the new VC ( from the corporate world...tengok mcmana unis in Oz move fwd.Tak cari VC merepek)...it's unimaginable that people in Adelaide had to park their car swhere and take a train for such a short distance.Haha..in KL pun, kot? It's just me wanting to catch up with time.

We ended up having a fun lunch.I sat next to a millionaire chap ( he tak mengaku but when you own the property biz all over, quarries sejak zaman tok you, would you not be one?).David is so humble.In fact, they all are.Patrick moved from the financial world to start his cake biz online.Biskut raya pun dia jual, you.I nak order.He brought a cake for the VC.VC ajak makan ramai2. Kalah Secret Recipe, you.I'm not
exaggerating.

Check out www.deliciouslychocolate.com.If you wanna order for b'days ke, hapa ke, pre order 3 days before your event.They will do the delivery.Cool ya?

Friday, July 05, 2013

Reformasi: behind the scene

Z is doing her summer internship with some MPs.She'd come home with so many funny (and sad) stories.Iyalah kan..nak berjuang for a cause ni bukan mudah.

She applied to work with a famous BN MP and a famous PR MP.Both said yes but BN MP was a bit slow in affirming the internship with him so Z went and interned with the other MP.If it's not that, it could be with one of the radio stations (or yet another MP).

Anyway, last night at dinner she was telling me about this Chinese man whose job is to record rally pictures and news.He uses kamera murah je but his timing is always good to cater to curious Msian minds.Sekali tu one reader agak tidak puas hati dengan quality gambar lantas bought him a new camera worth RM10K or so.We thought that's so funny! (imagine orang tak kenal kasi you an expensive camera sebab nak tengok gambar bagus).This chap says kerja sebenarnya jual insurance.Pagi pi demo, petang jual insurance he said.One day his client called for something urgent, kat belakang tu bising bunyi reformasi! reformasi! (chap ni never disclosed apa kerja dia yang lain kpd clientsnya ...sebab no everyone is open to political rights of another yakni the right to choose which party one wants) so mamat ni beritau client dia he was trapped in a big reformasi jam.Wakaka.

And I guess that is how some of us live to survive.

Ma'thurat 47

I have not completed my Ma'thurat verses.Verse 47 is the final one.How come no one noticed? :)
Sempena Ramadan yang mulia dan sangat kita raikan, here's to end our Ma'thurat series (hopefully we can begin with another surah).I wish all my I-Glass readers, Ramadan Kareem.Semoga kita temui apa yang kita cari.

"O Allah! You know that these hearts have come together for the sake of Your love and have met for the sake of Your obedience and have united for the sake of Your worship and have pledged for the triumph of Your Law.O Allah! Make firm the relation between them, eternalise the love and friendship between them, and guide them in their ways and fill them with Your light that does not fade and comfort their chest with the overflowing abundance of faith in You and the beautification of complete dependance upon You and give life to them with the knowledge of Yours and take their life with the martyrdom in Your path, verily You are the Benefactor and Protector.

O Allah! Bestow Your grace on our Master Muhammad and on his people and on his companions and shower Your blessings on themMay the blessings and the peace of Allah be upon our Master Muhammad and upon his people and his Companions.Ameen"

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Dato Baha Zain's book launch at Seri Pacific Ballroom

My first day at work.After sorting out key issues, I decided to attend the book launch of sasterawan negara. The usual personalities were there (mana Mawar? :) )

Duduk sebelah Nisah and Siti Jasmina and author of Natrah and a few other young writers.Nisah and another writer wanted me to do a book discussion after Raya.I said yes.Travelogues and memoirs.Mmg makanan kegemaran! :)

K and Z got thank you gifts for their kindness.Working shirt for Z silap size but he said he'd slim down since baju tu mahal (Z was my manager who had helped me pull through when the office was swarmed by auditors and all.He put things in order and nw Z has left for another job).

Dato Baha said after Raya we could all do readings at his place.Cool.I look fwd to that.
Nik pun follow kontroversi kemenangan B.Zain yang disampaikan oleh Faisal Tehrani sebagai orang tengah Shahnon Ahmad.I thought besar jiwa Dato Baha dlm response dia in YouTube.



Jgn kita jadi budak kecik berebut gula2 dalam isu hadiah dan penghargaan ini.Terimalah hakikat bahawa semua rezeki ditentukan oleh Allah.

Z's (my daughter) first day doing her internship today.Kena la belajar bangun pagi dan bersusah payah pergi kerja.

Oh, saya dapat Dekan baru.He came to ask wht my plans for Cerdas were.I said after IWFF, buatlah apa yg patut.Dia suruh I tlg cover Prof Noraini's job,in charge of research (in addition to my current job).I said tak boleh...nanti stressed up.I told him I tak sihat these days.He said if dah tiba masa kita pergi, kita akan pergi bila2 masa.

I told him I perlu bersedia.He said I sudah bersedia..dah pi haji dan I bkn org jahat.Alahai! Nmpk mcm boss baru ni lembut tapi very determined.I kept quiet.So he said I take tht as a yes.Mak oiii!