hectic weekends

ACCIN's AGM.Heard some interesting stories from Alex and Iyaz about kerja-kerja NGO mereka.Iyaz in estates and Alex shared how he returned to agama fitrah. Dr. Fadzillah was with me.I suruh dia pi say hi to both and get their contacts for her classes - senang nak invite for talks etc.

Terkejar2 for a wedding in Melawati.Then rush to get fruit basket for Delesh's party this evening in Bangsar.

You dengar pun penat? Kan? Tunggu besok.Mesti rasa nak pengsan.Cuti sekolah...penuh dgn kenduri kawin.

Full day giler

Today's morning session at the Interfaith Conference was tearful...the policewoman speaker spoke of juvenile crimes... about the need not to judge juvenile crimes ni.She spoke of a 16 year-old boy who murdered his mak tiri. He was a victim of emotional abuse.The whole hall wept I think.Then the guy from Prison Dept also shared the same sentiment.I'm so happy to learn that these orgs are governed by humane personnel.We heard of so many abuses of police of their wards, kan?

We were all excited to contribute more.Group kita planned for a family day for all. Tak sabar.

Malam: I was invited to speak on Stress vs Creative Arts. Sambung later.Am glad Nik came to escort me back.Seriously thinking of getting an apt in this area now.Takkan hari2 suami nak ambik, kan? I have had two incidents in which my safety was at stake bila balik mlm2 mcm ni. May Allah protect us all.

Interfaith conference on family institution

Kak Oni organised this under INTAC but we were all roped in to assist her.She minta I moderate one of the three workshops (on social initiatives). The other two were moderated by a community service activist Dr Hartini and lawyer Kamar Ainiah.

My session tu mcm tak ramai je mula2 nya but later penuh juga biliknya...and all the right people! We have a doctor from a Xtian body, a Bahai and a few Muslim NGOs and an officer from Prime Minister's Dept whom Ti (Bahai) usik as berpeluh-peluh as we went through problems, challenges and solutions we want to push to the government.Haha...yup...we had fun.Group kita yang paling awal siap dulu (thanks to Selmi yg dok harassed I kata you have only 5 mins left...sebenarnya we still had 30 mins cos' we started late.Tak senonoh punya bdk...haha but we all loved her...maknya seorang Psychologist terkenal in Jakarta)

Shocking findings: divorce rate is high not only di kalangan orang Melayu Muslim but also amidst Xtians, Hindus etc.In 2010, Star reported that 33k couples divorced that year.

Dr. Rupa kata poverty level is still bad..under her NGO's wing there are 1000 Indian kids who are constantly hungry that the project they do to educate them at Hindu temple ( to teach them how to read and write at pre sch level) becomes a hit...not for education but for food ( basic need ). I felt sad and angry over this...here we have much money wasted on Permata la, jet trips lah, electricity bill lah...how can you sleep knowing ramai lagi rakyat nak makan pun tak cukup?

So the whole afternoon was spent discussing how could we strengthen family institution, ensure divorcing couples are counselled, go through mediation and reconciliation to save kids and hence, the nation.We decided that there ought to be a balanced blueprint and policy to ensure the welfare of both men and women is well taken care of.Yang banyak kena tarbiyah ni men...biar ada rasa tanggungjawab sikit...jgn dok menggelabang ke hulu hilir like everything is tanggungjawab isteri semuanya.

Pak Tam is no more

My aruah sister's husband who we fondly call Pak Tam passed away on Wednesday around 4.30 am.Eishah, my youngest sister called me in the wee hours.She lives in Pekan, the closest to Pak Tam in Kuantan.

Nik tengah demam so after consulting with other sisters (we are all on WhatsApp), Kak Ngah and I decided to travel to Kuantan although jenazah will be brought back to Raub to be buried in the same graveyard as my sister.

We rushed and bila sampai, kejap tu mula bergerak (they were waiting for us sbb saudara mara from KL terus ke Raub which is closer to travel to).But Kak Ngah yg tak sempat breakfast (I too had little to eat) stopped nak cari batik to cover the jenazah carrier but tak jumpa.I looked for a restaurant to buy lunch for us both.Found it and we had lunch in the car.

When we arrived, jenazah dah masuk liang.Lucky we all sempat tengok in Kuantan.The jenazah was buried about 6 feet from my aruah sister dipisahkan hanya dgn dua kubur lain.Jodoh, rezeki, ajal dan tanah perkuburan adalah tentuan Allah and after 21 years, the two were laid next to each other.I am so humbled by this walhal kubur tu dah padat dan orang-orang baru meninggal semua ditanam in the other section (dipisahkan oleh sebatang jalan). My bro in law refused to remarry after the death of my sister who died in a car accident.Their kids were very young then, the youngest was barely 2.She graduated a few days before Pak Tam meninggal.Mungkin itulah doanya sepanjang hidupnya...agar dipanjangkan umur till the youngest berjaya masuk uni dll.

More later.

Post Mamanda

On Saturday I sempat beli more materials for my sisters on Arab St. and after that went for my coconut juice depan masjid tu.Terserempak with a wedding (an Indonesian family gayanya...wahh..they are doing well.kawin pun overseas...baguslah, alhamdulillah)

Smooth flight home but I was very tired.Nik's still away on his teambuilding trip at Haji Dorani's.I came bck early cos' mlm tu got dinner at Flamingo.When I arrived, all key guests were thr and tetamu utama was Aznil Nawawi..didn't know dia dah dapat Datuk.Very loving character who loves kids.

Sunday: meeting with my NGO.I dtg lambat cos' Dr Amilah dah ada as part of the rep for IMAN.I pi pasar tani with Bibik.

By lunch hours went to collect my shoes and wallet at Ikano and went for my facial at the Curve...aiyo..so nice.Nik met me there upon arrival. :))

Chandrika-Omar's wedding reception at Sultan Gate

I flew and went through horrible air turbulence but sampai
selamat.After checking in, mandi and a quick lunch at Minang's, I went
to check if my help was needed at the rumah bendahara...gorgeous place.
If Z kawin dgn org Spore, this is whr I'd like to have the reception too.:))

More later.

Macam comel je.Mcm seronok je. :)

Chandran, Chandrika, Omar and Ivy, Mamanda
Singapore

Food was superb

My new friends (yang tu uncle Spore's PM, ipar Lee Kuan Yew)

Brought Kak Pah ganti Nik who was having his teambuilding
retreat in Kuala Selangor (Sg Dorani)

Kawan Ivy yang sangat funny: her advice to the newly weds: have lots of sex.

Chanrika's gift from her mom's friend

Ivy and her new family (from Birmingham, UK)

Omar's young relative baca fatihah

at every daughter's wedding, Chandran would recite a poem for the
bride

besan Ivy at the tea ceremony

witnessing the tea ceremony. I pun was given the honour 

ipar Lee Kuan Yew.Mcm anak saudara dia, kan? Mereka ni keturunan Baba.
Speaks fluent Malay.Sgt la mesra.

Inang

Ijat is not handling well news of him getting only 4As and 1B.We had thought his BM would be the one which would be the casualty but he got through that miraculously but terkandas di Penulisan. My niece's son is very smart but he goes to a private sch which excels in everything but BM (and yang seangkatan). Ummi said her boy teriak kat sekolah lagi after finding out desas desus he got a B (he asked how many Bs, someone said 1 B.Terus dia meraung)

So I went over during lunch hours to pass the Pakistani salt for mandian for Irsyad (it helps you to energise).Ijat tertidur but antara lelap and tak (ohh how painful it must have been for the 12-year old) so I spoke to him , beri kata-kata semangat like who cares about upsr..itu exam for babies etc (kalau Bashir dengar..habis! He's taking it next year).I told him he has 5 years to prepare for his A Level bla bla bla.I thought kurang sikit isak nya but when his nenek called to speak, deras lagi nangis nya.

I guess he needs time.And space.

Irshad bancuh garam tu sendiri (ikut instruction container tu). Her mom terkejut cos' usually he's not motivated to do anything bila lepas chemo (tired, depressed, semua ada).Syukurlah and he said memang after mandi, rasa segar and recharged. Syukurlah.

I have started on my new book project.Doakanlah that it will see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Monday blues

I'm feeling all stressed up.Byk sangat kerja yang menimbun.Books to finish.

Lined up: 2 major conferences before the year ends.Nak update blog pun no time.

Food Paradise?

 Prof Barney, VC from Darwin

macam sedap je..macam manis je

a comfy cocktail dinner

A bit terkejar-kejar yesterday.After the meeting with Kak Oni, I had to rush for another meeting at Shangri-la.Told ya my Nov is packed.But Shang meeting was wonderful of cos'.Networking with Aussie unis' VCs and Deputy VCs and alumni of other unis.Met up with a few Petronas staff who went to La Trobe.Boleh tahan ramainya.I gave Prof Ajmal's latest book to Prof Rahmatullah and his wife Yasmin.Am reading his Malay translation version.Nice language.Pandai Ajmal ni.Kita dah berkomplot utk melatih anak2 muda kita supaya pandai bercakap.I need to look out for 'mangsa'. :)

KL-JB-Spore-JB-KL

 Specially for glitz and glam evening

a welcoming dance by some bdk sekolah in JB

Nik, officiating the malam anugerah

my appetisers

battered prawns with curry leaves

Zamani, singing his no. 1..Gerimis Cinta ke hapa

Can you spot me in green, giving away prizes?

Lighting shop on Arab St, Spore (kedai lampu Turki)

KSL Twin Towers (hotel, mall, water theme park, apartments)

 water theme park on the 7th floor.Mahal gila. RM50 per head if you are not hotel guest.

. I bought one for me (round shape, though)

Kegemaran Fateh (my cucu saudara) bergolek2 di lantai

Fateh mandi sampai kecut jari

Selepas puas bermandian at the theme park...

We flew to JB (Business Class) on Friday cos' Nik had an official function at the KSL Hotel and Resort (pretty new).Dropped by Mek's place to drop off mak's wheelchair and saw her briefly.Kesian la pulak.I had lunch with her, though.Nik delivered his speech without baca bismillah or beri salam. Apa la.I was also invited upstage to kasi hadiah and cabut cabutan bertuah.Zamani was the guest artist.I satu haram tak tau lagu dia although suara dia masih sedap despite being quite old by now.Mek said she's his diehard fan.I know Salim je.Also from Slam? We had fun.Food was good.

Malam tu tidur kat hotel.Booked extra room for my mom after her dialysis besoknya but she was so lembik and said tak larat.

We had hi tea with Kak Pah at Taman Perling (laksa Johor etc) after we got back fromn shopping at Arab Street in Spore (Nik's officer drove us over) Had lunch at Zam-zam.Gila sakan shopping kain.What Writers' Festival? (it's on).Haha.

Malam tu we took a cab and went to Mek's place again.By now, my mother nak pulak ikut.By now the room is taken by Fairuz and his family so Mak ended up sleeping with me and Nik on the huge bed meant for 4.Haha.Kelakar gila.But we slept well.Tilam syok.Up on the 24th floor.

Besoknya pi tengok Fateh mandi di theme park on 7th floor.He's so adorable.Macam Z masa kecik ..only he's fatter. :))

Sunday we dropped by Premium Outlet..quite decent la juga although not so many stuffs like outlets we've been abroad (the best would be the one in New York state..banyak and murah).
JB airport is a dying airport..makanan sejuk they served, golden lounge dah 4-5 tahun tutup katanya...wow..the politicians kena la hidupkan balik JB ni (apparently the city itself is dying out since government offices pindah ke Nusajaya).My fav textile shop pun dah takda (used to buy my pretty Indian crepe silk there).

Soon all cities in Msia will menerima nasib yang serupa.Orang mengembang, kita mengecut.