Good nutrition

...is so important.

Finally Mek and I managed to check the shop which is known for its organic stuffs, anti-cancer friendly.Next to it is a restaurant which cancer patients frequent.

We met the owner, a UK-trained pharmacist.He joined us at lunch.Kak Ani pun came.We bought lots for Irshad.Mr. L said the most impt thing is having a good nutrition.Even if you have been cleared of cancer, it'd usually recur cos' we do not take care of what we eat.Mr. L was so sharing.Suka dia.He also owns a few organic farms.

Then we went to visit Irshad.At three, they had not started the chemo.We left to get Sal a new fruit juicer (not blender.Air can cepat sebar kuman). L said nanti Irshad tak lalu mkn so it's impt to feed him liquid food.Juice pun penting.Buah2 yg friendly are dragonfruit yg merah tu, organic green apple,lemon,berries, watermelons, etc.Semua ni alkaline food.

Besok sambung.A long day.Zzzzz.

Hospital update

I was so busy and Mek punya phone pun kong, tak jadi pi Subang Jaya to check on the shop.We'll try again besok.Semoga diizinkan Allah.Nak pi pharmacy Vitacare to check if Ensure milk (good for chemo patients) ada dijual ke tidak.

Mek said I'd better visit Irshad.Sebenarnya we saw him masa dia balik rumah over the weekends.He looked aweful.Kesian I nengoknya.But today dia nampak segar, bibir pun dah merah and ceria.Alhamdulillah.Doa dari guru2, ibubapa dan saudara mara tidak pernah putus.When I think of how I took him and his youngest brother pi shopping raya baru-baru ni, rasa nak break down lagi.My friend kata jgn emosi sgt.Easy for her to say (sometimes org2 ni tak tau how to be comforting.Sal told me 'some' visiting friend cakap kuat2 depan Irshad someone she knew buat chemo, mati.Irshad termenung balik lepas tu.Crazy, kan? Tak tau adab ziarah org sakit...we have to give hope to the sickly and keluarga mereka)

Anyway, I paid IIUM Prez a courtesy call to update him on the film events. He's easy to talk with and truly and deeply concerned over culture matters.May his wish to see IIUM to be a culturally vibrant place come true.

It's Confirmed

...Irshad has cancer.The normal reading should be 1000 but his dah 9000 within two weeks..from lung to bone to now throat cos' his voice dah garau.Docs will start chemo on Fri.

If we rasa sedih...bayangkan ibubapa dan Irshad sendiri.But setiap yg berlaku adalah dgn izin Allah.Setiap sesuatu ada kebaikannya.Kita berbaik sangka with Allah.

I rang another friend whose nephew and daughter are cancer survivors...they were Irshad's age or slightly older when they had it.Kak Ani gave loads of tips which I passed to Sal.At this stage, seorang ibu akan ikut je apa orang kata elok.Hai kuatnya iman dia.I broke down.She didn't this time.

Remember this: beras putih is no good, roti putih is no good.According to Kak Ani go for basmati rice.Go to foods for cancer patients shop to find what is allowed esp during chemo period.She promised to show me kedai ini di Subang Jaya this week.Drink green apple juice (organic).I need to meet up with her for more diet info.

According to my niece doc, Irshad is looked after the top oncologist in Msia.Syukur alhamdulillah.He said cancer jenis ini peratus sembuh is 70% but we will doa and doa that he will pull through.It will not be easy.I had seen aruah Mama on chemo.

Please doa that everyone stays strong with this dugaan.

First World Congress on Integration and Islamicisation of Acquired Human Knowledge

Keynotes: Prof Muhaya, Prof Kasule and Prof Kamal Hassan

PM Najib Razak was held captive for close to 4 hours at IIUM!
He launched the Congress and Islamic City. 

Yours truly lunching with former Rector Abdul Hamid AbuSulayman
and Prof Rosnani at Prince Hotel, KL

Lelaki-lelaki Melayu terakhir: Datuk Jamil and Prof Hazizan
 (P.Ramlee masa muda lookalike)

Prof Malik Badri

Semangat kuat..walaupun dah tua dan uzur, dtg juga dia dari Makkah

Cak! (glasses is on)

Everything was happening too fast. What with Irshad's situation, my own series of medical checkup, IWFF AND IYSFC preps...I missed my chairing session! Sangat memalukan! Tne venue was changed.I thought it was at IIUM.Rupa2nya the morning session je at Prince (was changed to Prince from the initial IIUM) and ptg back to IIUM for launching by PM Najib Razak.I missed two meetings and missed the last two days emails in which they announced the last min changes.But it was a blessing in disguise cos' Kak Oni took over and no one could have done it better.And so apt for her to be wired with Tan Sri Jamilah Mahmud (she and Rector were the keynotes who I was supposed to chair).Tan Sri Kamal Hassan pun tak kisah.I think dia pun faham kekalutan yg berlaku.Mana nak launch Islamic City lagi, IIUM as premier Islamic uni lagi.If he pening,I lagi lah. :) I managed to be at the Prince (naik train since jam terok gila) to catch the tail of the session.Kawan2 gelak when I told them why I went missing (nama dah ada dlm prog book).If you think I takda rasa malu, think again! :D

But I thought the Congress went well.Loved all the keynotes and some papers I managed to catch.Former Rector Abdul Hamid AbuSulayman reminded me of Ben Anderson.In his ailment and old age,dia duduk menunggu, listening to papers and presentations...some were not that great.Sungguh humble.Tapi siap! Dia suka menyampuk tak kena masa.Haha.

Some pics.

Despite it all...

Mmg takda mood to do anything.Somehow of all the siblings, I feel closest to Sal.Partly cos' we alternately look after our Mom on regular days (she does more on irregular days).Maybe that is why her ujian is the biggest of all.

Today I saw my appointment letter (sent a week ago to the other email add) making me a Board Director of one of the IIUM Holdings' companies.I guess I should say alhamdulillah for the trust placed upon me but Nik said if silap langkah, Board Directors dulu pihak berwajib cari.Na'uzubillah. 

I did my woman's medical checkups today.The mammo (last done in 2005) came out right,alhamdulillah. They have the latest machine which was less painful compared to examination done in 2005.Yang kelakar when the nurse tanya are you sure you are not pregnant after I told her about my irregular period...So I agreed to go for a pregnancy test.Wakaka.But halfway, I changed my mind.Ngok betul...my gynae baru checked...ultra sound,probe..kalau ada baby,takkan she hantar I pi buat mammo.I was too hopeful for a baby! :D

Back in the office, kalut gila to catch up with tomorrow's big event.PM is officiating Prof Kamal's World Congress.I want to distribute info on the two film festivals to reporters covering the Congress.The kids are away on their 3rd sem break. Nasib my interns 4 orang tu boleh diharap.We stayed back late.It should be OKlah besok.

Irshad

Do you remember I blogged about Irshad not too long ago? Sal's quiet 17-year old lad?

Well, we had a health scare yesterday.The docs found something not nice.Then wanted to do surgery the same day they broke the bad news to Sal.I knew earlier from my niece doctor but she said let the news come from the docs to Sal.But I text-ed her to psyche her up...I said be strong whatever the news is...we'll ikhtiar semua cara.Sal ni lurus bendul.Pagi tu she was still saying I hope it's nothing serious.I said do not panic whatever it is.I continued to work (byk la pulak kerjanya semalam).

Then around 10 am,Sal rang to say docs dah nak operate on Irshad's spine if they allowed it.She rang to ask wht I thought.As we spoke,she broke down.Gosh...someone had to be strong,kan? I told her pls don't cry, it won't help.We need to stay calm so we can think clearer.She calmed down.I told her I'd make a few phone calls and would get back to her.

And you know the wealth which I would not trade with anything else: my friends from various backgrounds and experiences.I called them one by one.The first I rang was Wan.She said go do istikarah and doa sekiranya surgery ini baik for Irshad, permudahkanlah.If not,berilah jalan keluar yang lebih baik utk sembuhkan dia.I told Sal and Daud.They would do.I did too sbb Wan kata sapa2 pun boleh buat.More is better.Then I rang my qigong friend.Dia pun kasi feedback..go for it sbb the growth will not shrink (given the timeframe we had).Then Dr Lau, trained in both Western and Chinese med.He also said go for it.So I conveyed all these to Sal.

By noon I went to the hospital to give her the support needed.None of the family members was thr yet.While both went to solat,I psyched Irshad up selepas tengok dia sgt susah hati.Kenapa Irshad termenung? Irshad takut mati ke, I joked.He said no...saya takut lumpuh. Budak ni pun mcm mak dia..so lurus bendul.You see his face like so pure (walaupun he's quietly so nakal). I told him what ustaz tazkirah ramadan told us: jgn ingat sakit tu sesuatu negatif.It is a rahmah cos' Allah nak ingatkan kita mcm2.I said nasib it happens now cos he's only 17. Kalau 40? 50? I taklah berleter lagi lepas tu but just told him to be strong and bertawakkal apapun he has to go through.

When the surgeons came, I was there sama2 menyibuk tanya questions and their decisions to do the surgery so soon.Dato Dr. Azmi is one of the best so I tanya why the approach he took cos' it would mean two unnecessary operations...why not do the biopsy dulu.Once confirmed cancerous ke hapa, baru operate and do everything at one go (buang growth, potong parts of the bone which impinge on the nerves, etc).He gave his explanations but then said he'd leave it to us to decide.He'd respect any decision we made.Baik dia ni.Suka.

So lepas kita bincang balik dan Irshad pun bersetuju bertawakkal, we opted for the surgery (with kata2 Wan at the back of our minds..selepas solat istikarah tu, leave everything to Allah.Things will take place according to His Will).While they went for another scan,I turun solat Zohor and got some lunch.Then Sal text-ed kata operation postponed sebab machine hanged ke hapa.Then Dato pun kata buat biopsy dulu.MasyaAllah...ini bukan pertama kali I experienced miracle dan the presence of God....kita je dok ingat He's so far away from our lives.I almost broke down,so humbled.

After seeing them and getting details about the turn of events,I pun balik.Punya letih, lepas Maghrib terus tertidur.Here I am after Isyak,documenting kebesaran Allah dan kealpaan kita tentang kehadiranNya di setiap saat hidup kita.

All we need to do is ask.  

Nice people with big hearts

I just want to record my gratitude to N for his assistance in putting me in touch with important people.Mana ada dah org yg nak menolong for nothing these days? May Allah bless him and his young family.Dropped by beraya his plc to visit his newborn son and wife yg baru bersalin.We have mutual friends.Small world but bak kata Megat and Amir (Z's friends) last night: your mom has friends all over.Kahkah.I ain't rich but God gave me lots and lots of friends.Syukurlah,awak.

The Putrajaya meeting went well so my team and I gotta start crackinglah.First time pi ofis Menteri, awak.Nampak mcm takda kerja but they were convincingly busy.

Raya O Raya

I cuti the whole week after raya.Nasib dah jumpa dietitian with the whole family before the open houses go on rampage.So kami berhati-hati betul.

Friday I had to rush to work.Got text Menteri nak jumpa.Wakaka.I'll blog later.Will put pics of some guests at our place.Tahun ni ramai former students datang (with their young families).Teringat la tu zaman2 nakal mereka tu. :)) Alhamdulillah..every visitor is a rahmah to the household.

Marathon

From morning, we were busy with visitors.A real marathon.Dah lama tak bergelak ketawa.First with Sheela and Mail and their little boy,Nuqman (who told me I was too slow with the digital game I played with him).Then my clan came (7 families).Then Nik's close friends.Then Z's close friends.I sempat pi beraya rumah jiran (Nik's lawatan balas kawan dia who is also our neighbour).Met a filmmaker.Dah jual IWFF pulak.:)

Tak larat.An early night for me but we had a nice time with our guests.

Health talk

We decided to consult a dietitian about eating right...so inspired or so humbled by what had happened to Dr.Shukran.Dia lelaki beriman yg tinggi, mudah dilindungi Allah...urat jantung dah putus pun masih boleh main tennis!

Alina is such a sweet girl (trained in Australia). She taught us many things we had taken for granted.Rasa mcm we have to reverse everything.Start with this:

1. Bahagikan pinggan makan kpd tiga bahagian..separuh dan satu suku setiap satu bagi yang separuh lagi.
2. Yg separuh itu harus dipenuhi dgn sayor2an.Yang suku dipenuhi dgn protein (daging atau ikan atau ayam) dan suku lagi dgn dua senduk rata nasi.Ini perlu bagi kedua2 mkn mlm dan mkn thari bagi mereka yg overweight.
3.Snacks in between meals ok but padtikan buah atau biskut cracker atau kalau rajin kira caloriesnya.Jgn lebih dari yg dibenarkan.I tak ingat.Tak silap hanya 250 cal.Could be less.
4.Kalau minum air jus buah, jgn tambah gula.4 biji apple bersamaan 2 senduk nasi so hati2.Gula sedia ada dlm buah2 juga bahaya,.
5. Bersenam amat perlu, 20 mins sehari.Jalan kaki 1000- 3000 tapak.Beli alat pengukur di mana2 farmasi to help you count the step.

Byk lagi tipsnya but saya sibuk beraya lagi ni. :) Tapi mkn saya jaga. ;)

Z's first pay dinner

We went to Bangkok.The restaurant.Z belanja dinner...her first pay.

Z and I went to have a body massage earlier.Then we had lunch at my friend's restaurant, The Bird Fish Head Curry.James was there and sat with us.Z was curious how J and I met.Dia abang Ally my hairstylist.James is also a hairstylist.Kedai makannya ada 3. Kedai rambutnya pun tiga.Itu yg beyond Z to believe I have a friend like James.Baik apa, dia.Siap berangan nak mai our house beraya (I told him you lagi pandai masak,saya malu nak invite ke rumah.Z later told me order je from his restaurant). :D

Lepas Zuhr, I went rushing to KL for my Fulbright meeting.Lambat sgt habis, I cabut dulu.Obama is visiting but given the opportunity pun tak hingin I nak terhegeh2.Menyampah dah.

Visiting Dr. Shukran

We did this on Sunday.Too busy to update the blog.But I must document Dr. Shukran's story sebagai peringatan buat kita.

Like aruah Dr. Marzuki, Dr. Shukran ni (as far as I know) has no enemies.So maybe kebaikan inilah yang memberinya rahmah untuk terus hidup meneruskan perjuangan ummah yg belum selesai.

One of the urat jantung dah putus and for a long time,Dr.Shukran went about doing his work not knowing this.IJN surgeons and cardiologists pun amazed how Dr. S tak kena attack and his readings semua OK (except for symptoms which he thought was caused by gastritis)- doctors pun ruled out heart problem..mmg susah nak detect he had 97% blockage already.Bila scanned kat IJN baru tau and you know nak buat surgery there queue sokmo panjang? Dr. Shukran buat in 2 weeks.Azian his wife said byk complications after that but masa kita pi visit, Dr. Shukran dah sihat dan boleh berbual2 panjang with us.Byk pengajaran from his experience and I'm glad he's writing a book (Azian will do too...as a caretaker). Yang I suka him meeting a Chinese patient who had to do 3 surgeries, one failed.The Chinese guy advised Shukran to bertawakkal and leave everything to God.Shukran said positive thinking yah.The guy said...no...that is a secular concept...you must connect everything to God.Wahlau! Tak malu, kita? He said the fact that you came out alive means God still wants you to do good to people on this earth.

Kita tunggu buku Dr. Shukran.

Raya dinner

Shapx and family came beraya at my place

then the clan came for dinner

my flower arrangemement

mobile-generation, Nadra - not talking

Sri Kandi with her toy

Toy and Sri Kandi

Ikatan mesra guru-murid dan keluarga mereka

Presentation may be out but taste is excellent :)

We decided to invite Nik's siblings and families to dinner this evening so pagi lagi kita org dah ke pasar Taman Tun membeli apa yang patut.I decided to cook Onion Rice and barbecued chicken and lamb with Polish salad (my signature).Shapx text-ed saying he wanted to pay me a courtesy visit.

By the time Shapx and wife Sri and little Shafi arrived, my onion rice sudah siap.Sri yang tak suka bawang said tersangat lah delicious hasil gubahan saya hari ini.Haha.Syukurlah.Shapx told us pasal Vivy's dad (he went beraya at his plc before getting to mine)...wah, seorg budiman.Baguslah ada lagi billionaire yg pemurah mcm tu.

After Shapx left, the whole clan except Faiz arrived.Nadra wanted to touch everything.Nak gugur my jantung.She's too fast...bak kata Maide of Ridha...I do not know whether she wants to run or fly.
Sekalung appreciation for dinner again from the clan.Bow.Bow.Terima kasih.

I miss Fateh (Mek's 11-month grandson). We saw him for the first time this raya.13 kilos but he's sooooo adorable and responsive.A well-mannered baby.We taught him how to dance! He was so excited, he started walking on his knees! :D

Nanti cuti panjang nak cari dialah.

Gals' Outing

Raya kedua di Raub.Nik missing his Mom

Tagging along my Mahmudian seniors.Beraya at Bibah's sisters'

Lizan's dad still strong at 80.He's one of my dad's friends

Masih cantik jelita at 50 something :)

Liza at her mom's place (aruah mom and dad)

Also my senior but mcm tak senior cos' of the closeness (Liza is a successful

corporate)

Ustazah Hafsah, my cikgu agama masa kat MGS!

Her son (my classmate) married Liza's sister.

Ms Pretty from Malaysian Airlines (dah berhenti)

Kawan buat nakal. Haha.

Liza was our driver.

Visiting my 3rd sister on 2nd day raya

This is Fateh, 11 months old. Our heartthrob at the moment

Red velvet cake

Fruit cake kegemaran my mom

Solat raya di masjid Raub

gubahan bunga I

mengintai bahagian org jantan..kosong nampaknya tu (belum start)

Liza, Ainun and Lizan are some of my school days closest girlfriends.It was this group which went to Spore post SPM and HSC exams.Yup, there's age gap between me&lizan and  liza&ainun.Everyone has a good career now but we make it a point kalau raya, mesti cuba berhubungan.Liza's family home is in the same neighbourhood with my family home and we all know each other's family members cos' her aruah parents were also good friends with mine.

Yesterday we started beraya at Liza's place.Ainun came with Eileen and another lady (dah lupa namanya) who came with her family.A day's trip from KL just nak beraya with old friends.I tagged along.Nik had to decline cos nak pi solat jumaat.

Nak pendekkan cerita, we did 4 houses! Every stop lain juadahnya.Bibah (group ni sebenarnya my seniors by 2 years) served us lunch.Nasi daging but Ainun and I went for her nasi putih with gulai pucuk ubi and ikan masin and sambal belacan.Haiyooi...sedap giler.It's amazing how much we could eat from house to house.

Bashir (now CEO of Fisheries somewhere) pun bwk kita pi his family home.I will put some pics.The group plans for a rombongan ke Maldives cos' Bashir has strong ties with Maldives.Harap2 bkn angan2 mat jenin

Lemang, rendang dan dodol

Raya tahun ni kami tidur di hotel.Rumah mak dah terlalu lama tinggal.Lagipun she lost the keys to the bedrooms.Bilik yg selalu kami guna pun terkunci.Hotel ni comfy juga.With breakfast.Raya pertama, juadah hari raya.Hari kedua, nasi lemak.The good thing is kami tak perlu berebut2 nak mandi.:)

Will try to find a decent raya picture.Gambar semlm tak senonoh.Tak perasan baju raya yg dibeli jarang! Cheh!

Second day ni busy sikit jadual makannya.Semoga kuat imannya NOT to over-eat.

Selamat hari raya

Maaf zahir dan batin.Semoga ibadah Ramadan kita berkekalan sehingga Ramadan yang akan datang.

29th Day of Ramadan

I baru keluar pi beli baju raya today.Tailor baru tu takut nak potong kain baju raya I (but didn't have the courtesy to inform me earlier.Only sepasang yang siap.Mencabar kesabaran betul).

So we went to my fav plc kat Great Eastern Mall.Luckily I'm an easy shopper.Pegang satu terus berkenan.Ada la extra time to shop for other stuffs...like cake platter.Perabot.Guling2.Bukan apa.We have a big family.Our teratak needs more chairs.So we bought a pair.Kalau kat Harvey Norman sebijik dekat RM3K.Kat kedai atap zink tu tak sampai RM800 sebijik.Same design,same comfort.Gila tak gilanya perniagaan riba kat negara kita ni.

We'll shoot bck to Raub after berbuka.Nik nak visit pusara Mama lepas Asr.Sedihnya.Terasa she takda.

28th Day of Ramadan

Aiman from Little Egypt, installing my Raya mirror

(ayat Qursi)

I went early to work to sort a few things.Mak ooiii..now I panic dah byk la pulak entries and so few days to screen.My Dean kata tak ke just a few weeks ago you were whining no films to screen? Heh.Berkat doa di Makkah and doa students di waktu berbuka ni.See? Allah Maha Mendengar.Syukurlah.Now we have to work on how to schedule all without controversies.Maklum..mcm2 topics.I nak sebut kat sini pun takut.Nasib dapat Dean yang global minded.Ketidak byk le pantang larangnya.Ini tak boleh.Itu tak boleh.

Then I had a meeting on indexing Tan Sri's book.Kejap je siap I buat dgn Gayah and Haris and Suhaimi.The book should be ready before Raya Haji.We need good pics.They are re-doing that.

Lepas tu..jeng jeng jeng...I pi shopping Raya.Beli mirror ayat Quran tu.Baru naik mood Raya. Evil! (Dah lama I wanted to buy a piece tapi masa tu terasa mahal sangat.Today Aiman bdk Egypt tu kasi I a good discount.Happy!)Lalu pulak India jual putu mayam and vadey...lailatul qadr ke hapa ni? :)) Syukurlah alhamdulillah.

Tazkirah
Ustaz mlm ni was talking on celebrating raya properly.Ada 6 perkara to consider.I sambung besok but will write some important ones: mlm raya tu teruskan qiam and solat sunat.Org yg solat mcm ni di mlm raya akan Allah pelihara dan hidupkan hatinya di kala org lain gelap hatinya dan sukakan kejahatan dan maksiat.First time I dengar ni. Bykkan bertasbih, tutup tv, disconnect your internet and start bersilrahtulrahim.Ajar anak2 juga dan remind them pahala menziarah and jgn minta duit. Rasulullah tidak pernah melarang people dressing up expensively or owning expensive things cos' itu sebahagian dari kecantikan and Allah loves kecantikan.Yg jadi haram is when we start to look down on people who have not.Ini sendiri mau ingat. Sleepy.InsyaAllah sambung besok.

27th day of Ramadan

The campus is quiet now but Dr Rahman and Dr Ismail and I had a very productive meeting.Mudah2an apa yang kita rancang dimakbulkan Allah.


 Last night (around 4 am), Nik kejut I ajak solat tahajjud and tasbih .We slept late semalam (Z came back late from her iftar with her school friends and me from my community meets ADUNs/Councillors iftar.We exchanged our iftar stories.Nik jadi moderator.Haha.Tidur lewat).Pukul 4 am dah bangun.3 hours' sleep je.Wough..memang perlukan kekuatan.Tasbih is done in pairs (makna kata ada 4 rakaat semuanya).As I prayed, I said this to my heart in between the surah and tasbih: sujudlah kau O hati, rukuk lah, obey God, obey God.Wough..tak biasa buat memang rasa liat (4 am is the best time to sleep!).Like Math, practice will perfect it.

Lepas Subuh (which we did immediately after all those solats), hujan turun.Oh rahmah! (but I went to sleep again sebab ngantuk lepas tu woke up at 9 am.Lambat! Had to send my mom to her dialysis in Gombak).Nasib tak jam. Phew!

Please God, no more iftar outside di hari2 terakhir bulan yang indah ini.

Tazkirah

Syukur alhamdullilah for this evening's tazkirah.Amat sangat luarbiasa.It's by this chartered accountant who one day went to Makkah and doa agar dia boleh hafal Quran dan faham apa yang dibaca.And he got it at age 30... Menjadi hafiz at 30 dan menjumpai kaedah how to do it, wrote a book and teach people how to be hafiz (dah 100 students in his class in Ampang).He also went to Al Azhar to study.MasyaAllah, cara applikasi Quran to life dia sgt menusuk kalbu.He said manusia yg masuk syurga ini hanya satu golongan yakni mereka yg bertaqwa.Apa makna taqwa? Compliance with rules of Allah.To do that you kena faham Quran.To faham Quran you kena tau Arabic.Nak tau Arabic cara pintas is to learn it through belajar Quran.You need to know vocab dlm the first 3 juz je to understand 80% of the Quran.

Dia ada satu buku motivasi called You are the best (tajuk je English..tulisan Melayu..ayat tu dia ambik dari surah Baqarah tak silap.We bought the book.InsyaAllah nanti saya baca, saya kupas di sini but please register your name here.Nanti saya tutup balik blog ni kpd lalu lintas awam.I do not want to be on a reality show...apa saya buat semua saya tulis dan semua orang baca.Atas langkah2 keselamatan jua.Sorry yah?)

Satu contoh yang menyentuh hati was when he said the call for prayer ibarat boss kita panggil kita meeting.Takkan kita nak jawab, tunggu dulu I'll see you at a later time.Ibarat Allah kata jom kita meeting jam 1.30 pm.Takkan kita nak kata waktu zohor tu panjang so I'll meet you at  4 pm.Terasa kurang ajar melengahkan waktu begitu yah?

He said (nama dia Dr. Mohd Shafie Md Amin) if we got out of Ramadan tak faham apa kita baca dlm solat kita or Quran kita,kita fail...khatamlah sepuluh kali pun.Ibarat org baru masuk kerja.First week baca SOP, second week pun gitu.Third week pun baca lagi..masuk 4th week Boss pecat saying aku employ kau bkn suruh baca SOP.Suruh faham and do.Begitulah juga kita.Umur 7 tahun baca Quran.15 tahun pun baca Quran.40 pun baca.60 pun masih membaca.Tapi Allah tak pecat kita tapi sendiri mau ingat...apa action kita buat seperti tuntutan Allah dlm Quran.Apa dakwah kita.Apa kita buat utk kesejahteraan dunia dan akhirat.

Byk lagi...semua buat kita berfikir tapi saya nak tidur.Nanti nak kena bangun.Nik ckp nak buat 3 jenis solat....O hati..sujudlah, rukuklah, patuhlah..jgn buat keras tergolek dog gitu.We have two nites je ni.

26th day of Ramadan

Only two ADUNs and two councillors came but was a brutally frank dialogue

Community activists from Petaling Jaya bergabung to make PJ 

the most livable city in the country

I sempat mereka cipta pudding oreo-cocktail fruits mixed ini utk suami tercinta 

sbb dia berbuka with my Mom and Bibik je

...which is actually mlm 27 ramadan, often associated with lailatul qadr.I had to iftar out again. I thought of just showing my face, have a quick dinner and go home to my surau.

But no...God had a grander design for me.The MC fell and had to be rushed to ER on the Ground Floor ( yup..we were on Floor 7 of a private hospital near my home). Jeff and Eileen  asked if I could cover as the mc.I said what.I'm clueless, I said.They briefed me and I was on.I changed a bit the prog cos' takda slot berhenti solat.Then I gave a little intro of berbuka and pasal waktu doa paling makbul...ahaks...you'd be surprised ramai kawan2 bukan Islam kita tak tau.At another function,a friend yg dah umur 60 stg pertama kali berbuka puasa.Tonite was no different.It's a nice feeling being culturally connected.I found a new friend,V.Kita nak set up a new task force for PJ in addition to the 6 proposed by Jeff and gang (David and I met after all those email exchanges.He said he was so curious to meet me in person.Sebab I je yg selalu responded to his emails.Dia ni mcm Jeff Ooi lah.Would do the extra mile to bring order to the society.) In fact I met many new friends, ADUNs and councillors and community activists.One chap from Bar Council is working on safety and says we need to reclaim back the country.I like.I like.Rasa mcm nak retire early and do this full time.

Tazkirah

Nik said ustaz mlm ni was from Kedah.He reminded everyone how to stay consistent after Ramadan in our ibadah:

1. Sekurang2nya solat berjemaah 2 waktu sehari : Subuh and Isyak (with your pasangan and anak2).Ini semua utk mendidik hati.Hati yg hitam tak rasa apa bila buat dosa.If we have lost that,naya kita.I ingat Prof Kamal said recently the heart of the problem is with the problem of the heart.Sufi,kan?

2. Baca Quran daily walaupun sebaris ayat.

3. Solat di masjid and dekati diri dgn masjid.

4.Banyakkan dengar tazkirah dan menghadiri majlis ilmu agama.Nak cuci hati yg berkarat ni bukan senang.

Not much to ask for, right? Bukan suruh pergi berperang pun. My best wishes as we finish up our ibadah puasa di bulan yg sungguh permai ini.

25th day of Ramadan

 Berkenan kat Asyraf in striped blue.Manis.

Ni from Abdel Rahman's camera pulak.

Dr.Mujahaddah and kids.

Dr Abdel Rahman (Sudan/Oman) and Bro. Abdul Raheem (Sri Lanka/Msia)

Mohammed and Ashraf

Haya, 4 years old

Went to have a hair trim and inai kat Taman Tun.James was too busy to do it at his Kota Dsara salon where I usually go.Ally has a new shop at Fahrenheit.Jauh la sgt nak meredah jam.I usually do my inai with Ally.Inai Makkah.Rambut sihat,no chemicals.Easily 20 years off.Ahaks.

Dr. Abdel Rahman, his wife Dr. Mujahaddah (with their kids) and Bro. Raheem had iftar with us.I sibuk sgt nak masak (sibuk set rambut...haha) so I ordered je nasi dagang and murtabak Spore and kuih2 lain.Diaorg biasa makanan kita cos' they spent 10 years in Msia..in fact they met and had two kids in Msia! Abd Rahman is Sudanese, wife is from Sri Lanka.Both work in Muscat.I met them when we visited Muscat some years back.Sempat pi rumah mereka.I ingat diorg cerita air kena tadah semalaman sebab kena sejukkan..tak leh mandi terus dari paip...melecur kulit nanti cos' of the heat.In winter,sejuk la pulak but they have heater.Eisshhh...tak boleh la hidup mcm tu.Nanti lupa or too tired nak tadah air, how? Tak mandi all day!

Tazkirah

It was by an ustaz named Ramadan Fitri cos' he was born di hujung Ramadan.He said often his name jadi attraction.Org tanya ustaz byk berpuasa atau lebih beraya.He said lebih beraya. :D

He just got bck from Tokyo cos' persatuan Islam di sana jemput dia dtg berceramah.Mmg sedap mendengarnya.He said mlm 10 terakhir ni kalu susah sgt nak bangun mlm,sebelum tidur niat sungguh2 dan penuh ikhlas nak bangun.If tak terbangun, at least pahala niat sudah dapat.But jgn hidup atas niat je lah.He said mana sama para syuhadah dgn kita yg tak berjihad di syurga nanti tetapi jika kita tolong doa (cos' doa juga adalah senjata) agar Allah beri mereka kemenangan, kita juga sama mcm turun berjihad dan akan diberi ganjaran besar.The least we can do, right?He said ibu2 yg menyediakan sahur tu pun pahalanya mungkin lebih besar dari bapa2 yg beriktikaf cos' kalau hubungan dgn Allah baik sampai org memuji2 tapi balik ke rumah anak bini benci sbb perangai tak elok pun kena beringat (sbb Allah tutup aib kita). He stresses on keikhlasan hati di dalam beribadah.Jgn nak menunjuk2.

Actually my discussions with Dr Abdel Rahman, Bro Raheem and Dr Mujahaddah pun best.Peri pentingnya kita semua berdakwah..jgn dok tau komplen je society or people dah jadi makin terok.Ask ourselves apa kita buat to correct the society? Sendiri mau ingat. :) Ni yg syoknya bila bersama ilmuan agama.

24th day of Ramadan

I was invited to this talk by Tan Sri Dr.Tengku Azman (former MIMOS CEO).I've always liked him (listening to him) tapi dia suka ckp pasal buat duit. :)) Today he spoke on innovation ecosystem.Iyalah tu wok.I pointed out that it would work if there were freedom and support for thinking outa the box.This country? Pfuh! He said it would take a certain kinda leadership (pls tell us where does it come from in this so anti-intellectual/anti-thinking environ? Ada sorang berdua Hang Nadim, asyik kena belasah, kena saman) He said create a small space dulu (itu I tau...) Haha.To be fair, he made lots of sense and I learnt much. But as usual wrong crowd (we'd do what we can with our small space capacity) but I harap Prof. Ridza will pick up (he looks like he's not taking care of his health...watch it dude!) and help us all to rock the boat (Tengku's advice and fav phrase)

Tazkirah
Tonight > on sapa2 yg dtg masjid/surau berjemaah teraweh di the grand final week of Ramadan adalah dipilih Allah,kata Ustaz.He said dlm nak meningkatkan iman kita,kita kena sentiasa meminta kekuatan dari Allah..kuat dan terpelihara dari sifat malas dan sebagainya.He said in the call of azan..ada kita jawab tiada upaya atau kuasa aku kecuali dgn kekuatan dari Allah.Kata Allah, mukmin yg kuat adalah lebih disukaiNya dari mukmin yg lemah (solat pun lambat sbb sibuk layan hawa nafsu..tengok bola la dulu..tengok cerita Korea la dulu..layan fb la,etc)

Ustaz kata kalau nak rajin dan khusyuk beribadah..jgn makan byk cos' itu melemahkan kita.Then dlm I tersengut2 ngantuk tadi..I thought I heard him say badan lemah, air mani byk.Air mani byk nafsu syahwat tinggi.I could be hearing the wrong thing sebab antara nak tidur dan nak menahan diri dari tertidur.:D But I'm pretty sure I heard it.Ustaz kita ni studied Syariah at Al Azhar and Imam 1 at a mosque in Shah Alam

23rd day of Ramadan

Spent all day with the IYSFC judges going through entries to pick top 5 (and finally top 3 winners). Seronok juga as we debated, negotiated, elaborated.:) I certainly learnt much from the discussions.The Award Giving for youth competition will be held during the IWFF week (with workshops and talks to go with the screenings from both IYSFC winning entries and IWFF entries)

Iftaring outside again.

Tazkirah

Nik said tazkirah mlm ini sangat interesting.It's about a woman lost alone in the desert and if she bumped into anyone (I'm trying to figure out the coherence...kalau lost di padang pasir, berapa ramai org dpt dijumpai but anggaplah ini kisah teladan.Think of substance not form so much), ucapan yang dia guna in her conversation semuanya ayat2 Quran.In fact kalau tak hilang pun, that's how she speaks cos' inginkan keredhoaan Allah and not wanting to waste words dgn cara sia2 malah tambah dosa. Ustaz said if you can't do that, better don't say anything.

Wheeee...takut, kan?