On friendships again

I told ya, bila dah tua, mesti cari kawan lama punya.

Jai tiba2 rang ajak brunch.I tengah pening tunggang langgang for lack of sleep...for two days dok sibuk writing forewords and speeches for Tan Sris and Dato Seris in between marking essays and exam scripts.Pening woh last min work mcm ni.Dahlah no time to cuti.

Then Zarah from Bangkok text-ed.She's in town. Hair dryer dia from the last visit tertinggal.I harap she has time to collect it from my place.She's at the seminar The Sunnah, the Better.Cute title ya?

Gonna go out with my best friend (Nik) and meet Arif in a bit.Arif ni doktor homopati.Haha.I sound so old, kan? Nasib kau la labu.

Part 2

Wedding time again.Both weddings were of Nik's friends' kids.Pretty interesting.Yang siang punya saw Razak Baginda and family.Then read the kecoh made of Razak's daughter's question at a forum: how would the minority take care of the majority ( in case minority memerintah la gamaknya) Alaa...soalan bdk pun nak melenting depa ni.

The wedding's cuisine was nice.

Yang malam at PWTC...so touching to see old friends going all out menolong their friend buat kenduri kawin (MCKK boys). The groom's dad's best friend nyanyi saying the groom's dad masa kat college was a member of a rock group.:D  Sedap juga kawan dia nyanyi.

Doktor homopati I advised whatever happens, do not take your uterus out sbb nanti mcm2 penyakit dtg.And he explained why and how.I'm not in danger but we were talking about stuffs cos' quite a no of my gfs took their uterus out.

Yul dari Jakarta

Yul is in town, from Jakarta.Sedihnya tak dapat keluar dinner tonite with her sebab masing2 sibuk.Yesterday we had lunch on campus with her other friend from Padang.Semasa di Flinders, pelajar2 pasca ijazah inilah menjadi teman saya yang tinggal bersendirian tanpa keluarga.They were always kind to me.I become part of the Indonesian group..waktu hari merdeka mereka, raya dll (bdk2 Msia mostly undergrads and while they were nice and helpful, it was with Yul, Eka, Wahidah dll who I hung out with.Zafirah - during the 7 months she was with me -  was babysat by Lilis, the wife of a fellow Indonesian friend,Nano.We are still in touch on fb.Eka and I met in Jakarta waktu dia pulang dari US..suaminya pegawai diplomat gitu.Now she's back in Jakarta kerana suaminya ingin menjaga ibubapa yang uzur.Nice, kan?

Friends come and go but the good ones usually stay for a while longer.Syukurlah punyai teman begini.Bila dah tua, kita akan cari balik teman-teman baik kita yang lama.

Class on Xmas day and family gathering

I'm meeting my PhD students in a bit.We are having our replacement class at my place today (too many holidays and conferences which fell on our class days so we are doing the final qada today).Bibik is cooking them nasi dagang lunch.

At 4 pm, the clan will meet at a family high tea, baca yassin for mama and all parents no longer here.If we have time, we'll visit the kubur.Harap2 tak hujan.

Holidays are for families.Mencari keberkatan hidup adalah utama.Should be utama in our lives.

Have a good holiday with your family.

Fish for the pond

Pond belakang which was built for my mom tak sampai setahun, rosak.Cina yg buat tu dah lingkup biznya.Nak buat balik RM30k.All the ikan koi habis mati at mama's pond cos' the electricity supply died on them one day.Close to 20 ikan koi mati..mama had many in it.

Today we bought small kois.Kalu local dalam RM3 seekor.Kalau imported, RM250 for sejengkal.Besar RM1K.Gila.Cos' you can't tell the difference.Sama je I tengok.

It was fun melepaskan beberapa koi and ikan lampam in the pond.The rest tak tahan outdoor so no guppies.Xmas yang mendebarkan as little Nadra and Qaisar visit. :D

Part 2

Z is in Spain with H and S this week.Missing the little one in her and found some pics of the past. In Adelaide, KL and Manila.Mudanya I. Haha.

Z at Shangri-la at her dad's M.Sc.graduation from Stirling Uni ,held in KL

Cute, kan?

Z in Adelaide during my PhD stint

Z's 2nd birthday at Tonsley Court, with Neng (from Indonesia)

Neng is married now

Z on her SPM results day (straight 10 As, alhamdulillah)

Me in Manila with Filipino well-known writers 

and a priest

The golden gals and Koryo-won

tersilap hantar to Waza's room but kita dapat izin 

supaya makan je

if you notice, strawberry tu dah berkulat

(Waza was given another set of pastries later)

Korean smoked barbecue.Sedap giler.Halal.

Just the four of us at JW Marriott

I also didn't have time to document this. A few girl friends of yonder years and I met up and we ate korean at jw marriott's koryo-won (which means high elegant garden).More later.

Book launch of a generation

the stage, all set up

selfie :)

Puan Sri at the holding room

Tan Sri at the holding room. He invited Gayah and me 

to join them

Former Ketua Pengarah LLN and CEO of TNB

Dato and Tan Sri Zahrim I think

Sakinah taking pics

Puan Sri with Puan Sri Elizebeth Moggie

Dato Azman (TNB CEO), Tan Sri Leo Moggie and 

Dato LLN (I do not know his name)

the crowd was good.Full house

With Tan Sri Zaman Khan, Tan Sri Leo Moggie

and Dato apa nama dia and

Gayah.Nice people.Had a nice time chatting

about the past and present Msia

I was so busy that I forgot to blog about Tan Sri Ani Arope's book launch held at UNITEN on Dec 17.

Some pics as posted above.

Pak Pandir Moden

Lili, Linda and I were rolling on the floor, laughing over this term Pak Pandir Moden late in our IOK class.It was a long day for me and it must have been for them as well.We were looking at Syed Naguib al-Attas's chapter on dewesternisation of knowledge and his elaboration on modern Xtianity.Postmodernism came into discussion as well.Byk sgt modern2 nih.I posed the question on who decides on what is good or bad in a secular world.Where do values come from.How did ethics get its virtues? Lili said how folklores also shaped our sense of sensibility and shaped our wisdom.We looked at Nasreddin Hodja and his variants in different cultural settings.Abu Nawas in Malaysia.So you have a wise man and a group of fools.Where would you position Pak Pandir Moden (my question).Kids went blank.You have not heard of Pak Pandir Moden? No, said them in unison.I thought waah...they are too old to be gen y...not knowing who pak pandir moden is.Then Lili or Linda said we don't know pak pandir moden but pak pandir...yes.

I burst laughing first.Then apologised and told them I meant him.Nak pecah perut for a good 5 mins.Gosh...I love teaching and love being so human..so full of flaws! :))

And my PhD students have made wonderful discoveries in our freeway discussions.Ain, for example found human disillusionment with reality in her take on the current fad on magic and fantasy which I hope she will explore further in her thesis.

Yup, it's been a challenging semester ...with workloads and all.But it has also been a superb semester.

Nikmat mana hendak kamu kufurkan?

Fire scare

 tiga buah kereta bomba datang (satu sahaja

diperlukan utk memadamkan api)

 kalau tong gas meletup, habis!

syukurlah bangunan tidak musnah

Not long after I posted about my beautiful and peaceful garden, Bibik rang crying rumah my immediate neighbour was on fire and asap hitam.I calmly told her to stay safe and leave the house.

And went to continue with work! (maybe the aftershock)

Then terfikir nak ring Nik.I rang him.Dia pun buat tak pada.Then I exaggerated the story...he said he'd call our neighbour Tim.

My colleague semua terkagum I was so calm.They asked me to go home.I was still like..takpa..the fire brigade dah datang and I'm sure my husband will take care of things (sah aftershock ni)

Then Nik rang with panik rambang and said api makin besar and he's going home.Masa tu I was like trembling dah.I told my colleagues, I ambik wudhu solat hajat for safety dulu.

Masa drive tu tak henti2 zikir.My immediate thought was habislah my emas yang sedikit tu (kata tak suka gold!). Then thought kalau tak habis, nanti orang looted (hissshhh...dunianya).But I prayed for Allah's forgiveness and said if it's meant to be, I redho but please save my harta benda.

Half way my carpenter rang me up (I do not know him) and said do not worry, rumah kami selamat.Hanya rumah sebelah je yang kena bahagian dapornya.Bomba dah padamkan api.

My god...you can't tell how relieved I was but deep down I knew...Allah would save us.Sesampainya, Nik dah ada talking to the bomba.Tim and Mun yang sedang buat renovations (thank god they were at home..depa la yang panggil bomba and my carpenter pun panggil) menceritakan detik2 cemas mereka di tempat kejadian.My jiran was crying.I told her sabar cos' hilang harta benda boleh diganti and syukurlah her children were all safe (two were sleeping in the house..had it not been for neighbours' shouting for them to leave the house, entahlah.They came out with muka hitam2 dgn asap tebal/debu).

I am not close to these neighbours (they just rented out the place.The owners are in the UK) but I told Bibik to give whatever they need.

Semoga Allah terus selamatkan kita semua dan kita bersabar di atas segala dugaan hidup.

Xmas is early this year

wonderful waterfall sound this makes

Well, we re-do the garden.It now has the five senses: sound, touch, smell, taste and see.It's supposed to be ready today.We had to cancel the jacuzzi in the backyard.Didn't like the price:harga sebuah kereta kecil.Haha...not that stupid,huh? Nanti under-use.Better put it indoor.

My girl siblings and nieces semua thought we all membazir with the new garden but really, honestly...it's like having a resort at your doorstep, Bali without flying.And food is free.;) The other Rawa girls said we would not spend so much on a garden.We'd rather buy gold.I said, but I don't like gold.My gal also doesn't.Ummi said I'd rather buy a small car for my son.I said but we already have cars and Z does not drive..yet.I love nature but do not like going into the jungle (after the FRIM jungle trekking experience where I came back limping and surgeons wanted to do two surgeries on my spine.Dengan izin Allah, tak payah cos' I went for physio and other stuffs).No..no regrets...living in KL/PJ and going through jam stress is not a joke.You return to a lovely garden where you can also write and do your reading.Tanahnya tak luas but luas enough for a beautiful small garden.

I am grateful for this nikmat.Not jet setting but the feel of a resort in the comfort of your own home.

Xmas ke early birthday gift? ;)

Fulbright's conference on innovation in health and wellness for the 21st century

What an enlightening 2-day conference it was.We had prominent specialists from John Hopkins' Uni, Uni of Pittsburgh and local neurosurgeons.Dato Raymond was a real delight on sleep disorder.Kelakar giler dia ni rupanya.Spoke of a case in which a lesion was removed and the patient was cured from an extreme sleeping disorder.But dia jadi lain mcm after the surgery ( hyper-sexed - dok menge-text doctors with sexy messages.What an after effect!)

On the right amount of sleep: 6 hours for adults.But you can break into 2:3+3 if you are so busy.We must qada our sleep.Best time to sleep is before 12 and we need 3 solid hours from 12 midnite to 3 am sleeping cos' this is the time the body starts repairing itself.That 3 hours is a must.

I've tried it for a couple of days..rasa less tired.

On fasting: fasting detoxifies so start doing your puasa sunat Monday and Thursday cos' it's wajib we take care of our body kerana Allah. Allowing us to harm it is berdosa.Respect the body and stop abusing it.Most importantly, we eat right at breaking of fast.I ate very little yesterday and I got up this morning feeling so light.

On exercising: you have to do this on a regular basis 4-5 times a week for 30-40 minutes.You'd need to diversify your exercises..need to tighten up those muscles, work on the cardio etc.Talk to your doc to know what is safe.

On nutrition: no soda drinks, sweetened ones, no coffee or tea.You'd need your carbo as your base but more fruits and veges than refined flour, chemicalised salt (the ones we bought in the hypermarket are chemicalised...buy cooking salt).

On DNA test: you can do it at some hospitals here and find out  what kind of diseases or illnesses you are prone to so the docs could advise you better.Fee is as much as your smart phone.

On stem cells: They will keep you outa pain.A couple of friends had done it for their hips and athritis problems.Fee: as much as your car.

DIS new batch

I met them today.As always, a very interesting mix...a couple enrolled cos' they were concerned about raising their young kids Islamically. Couple muda. Suaminya works in the aviation industry.At least 3 were there cos' they were integrating Islamic studies with their professional progs.A lady corporate quit her job cos' she wanted to learn Islam.I thought masyaAllah..hidayah Allah beri dalam byk cara.Two others said mereka menyiapkan diri utk kembara mutakhir. Of cos' I was humbled by all these sharings.

I hope they will benefit much and that we will not disappoint them.
Wedding in PJ.Then I went for my spa.High! High! Gal tu allowed extra time for me to rest a bit more.God bless her.

IIUM relief team

After a quick lunch discussion, my good friend and I managed to assist a relief team to send stuffs to Kuantan.This is the beauty of social media...aid in the form of cash, food items, items for women and babies came pouring.

I shopped some at Giant and guess what? Giant employees not only helped with the packings but sent the trolleys and angkat those heavy boxes into my car.It felt good shopping this way. :)

I visited Pak Ngah at Selayang Hospital.Funny how it felt like family again.I saw the glint in Shahrul's eyes as his mom and dad discussed harta pusaka infront of him and his mom said nak tukar nama to both him and Sham.Haha.

Pak Ngah has good memory of my time in NZ...I must have written quite a lot to him.He remembered the accident in which Epah was driving.I went whaaaat? Byk benda I have forgotten.Terror betul Pak Ngah ni.

Lina gave birth to a fat baby (4 kilos).Nama dia Nasser Idris.Haha...nasib tak Idris Jala.So semua N now: Nabil,Nayli,Nadra and Nasser.Nik said nama mcm zaman P.Ramlee.I know he likes Irfan.

I like Desmond Tutu. ;)

Big day

Nothing material but today was a day I had looked forward to.I invited a linguist friend to speak to my PhD students esp my IOK class...on the issue of lang and lit in Quran and hadis.My friend ni speaks 5 languages.We first discovered him when he kupas Quran like never before..he dissected the language layer by layer.Tak terasa hening subuh.

A much sought after person, he said yes to my short notice invitation.Orang berilmu memang begitu.Dia tidak berkira.I told him ada 3 orang je nanti.He said takpa.

So I tabled segala soalan-soalan kufur I (cos' I would need to know how to answer them later berdepan dgn bijak pandai di luar sana): apa maksud this Greek Muslim new convert when he said Quran byk borrowed language and loan words.Ada byk implikasi if we accept this: satu semasa proses penyampaian ayat-ayat Quran dari hafiz ke hafiz,mereka telah memasukkan bahasa tempatan sbb bknkah bahasa Quran itu harus pure? Kenapa nak borrow2.Dua, jika Quran diturunkan utk menukar kaum jahiliah, apa perlu bahasa yg sophisticated sebab bkn mereka akan faham pun.Menurut pengkaji Greek Muslim ini, pinjaman bahasa itu dari merata dunia.Adakah bangsa arab jahiliah begitu sophisticated dan well-travelled? 

Jawaban Dr. AK sangat mengkagumkan (sbb ilmunya sgt tinggi)... kata beliau jgn ingat org arab waktu itu kuno..yes, they were sophisticated, well-travelled...mereka bangsa pedagang...the silk road was already there longggg before Islam arrived jadi yes, mereka terdedah kpd pelbagai bahasa.sejak kaaba dibina sbb itu jadi pusat dagang juga.I tanya jadi di mana jahiliahnya mereka? Itu dari segi meletakkan sesuatu yg hak esp dari segi agama.Dari segi lain, mrk ke hadapan.

Also, mmg nature language dia ber-interaktif dgn bahasa yg lain..mesti byk pinjam meminjam.Mustahil utk tahu asal bahasa cos' bahasa diberi Allah kpd Adam dan Hawa di syurga lagi not after their fall to earth.Masa ini kami sudah ternganga already.Give us more! more!

He said kajian linguist di Barat pun terikut2 fahaman org Islam..they tried to trace asal usul sesuatu bahasa itu and found out the hubungkait between one another eg sanskrit sama dgn bahasa eropah etc.

I asked apakah tidak ada lagi bahasa baru muncul? Byk yg mencuba tapi gagal... It has to do with power and dominance except Israel je yg berjaya memunculkan bahasa yg baru yakni hebrew modern.Itu pun byk tiru bahasa arab (melalui ancient puisi arab) .Mereka bina bahasa Hebrew modern ni from doa2 agama Judaism and built from there..institutionalised it...paksa rakyat guna for survival bangsa mereka dan antara generasi pertama nationalisme melampau ini adalah Benyamin Netanyahu.This will explain his racism, patrioticism yg melampau itu.

Lepas tu I tanya pasal hadis: Rasulullah seolah2 tak sukakan translation sbb byk hadis dia suruh sahabat2nya picked other languages rather than getting translators to do it.Satu, langkah keselamatan.Dua, strategi pertahanan dan juga isu identiti.Sabda baginda s.a.w. Sapa yg bercakap Arab, dia dikira orang Arab.Ini sama dgn peribahasa bahasa jiwa bangsa.Takbir! But I said ini akan backfire kpd org mcm I: ckp English..so adakah..I orang English?AK ketawa besar.But I think it is a serious matter and I was convinced sebenarnya.Mmg kita ialah apa bahasa yg kuat kita tuturkan.Yg mengimbangi mungkin agama kita.Yang memandu akhlaq kita.Gitu.

Ohhh I tell ya...even my students refused to bergerak keluar kelas long after AK left.They were numbed.Terasa ilmu sgt cetek, kata mereka.Me too.Itulah sbb I menggila nak belajar Arabic tetapi gila saja tak cukup.

Then I had to settle it once and for all.Apa betul Islam berkembang melalui senjata/pedang.Bknkah isi surat Rasululah terima Islam atau kami perangi.

Bersambung.

Private screening

Azrain was kind enough to invite me to his 'friends only' private screening at P.Ramlee Mini Audi at FINAS.

Syed also screened his Melaka trailer.Waaahhh..mcm world class betul.I hope he'll get to do a full film on it.Mansor Putih pun ada.I met Azrain's other friends as well.And the new talents from London.Happy tengok bdk2 pelapis ni.Cerdik2 dan street-wise.About Z's age or slightly older.

More later.

A promising Sunday

Looks like I was the only rep from IIUM to be at Rosli's wedding reception (his son's).Isham tak sihat, he said.Aslam got guests.Maszlee senyap je.It was pleasant.We dropped by my relative's place since it's in the neighbourhood ( I think our grannies or great grannies  were siblings.I lost track but Abg Abbas and Kak Tun would make the effort to attend any wedding or funeral in the family...often without fail). Abg Abbas dah tak sihat...kena stroke and is on wheel chair now.Not too long ago, heboh org kg kata he's no more.When we went to 'round2' depan rumah dia (not far from where we live), rumahnya gelap.I lost their phone number so no way of finding out.

Today we found out yes, there was a scare.He was in and out hospitals, etc etc. He's better now..dah boleh berborak pasal politics and said he thought I look fairer.Haha ( mmg betul sbb tengah period...pucat!).

After that, we went to visit a friend.The surprise will be revealed next year.InsyaAllah.Am so looking fwd to this.Hint: it has to do with the five senses.