Thursday, December 31, 2015

New Year Eve

Becos' everyone could not go far away, we booked into a homestay at Kayangan Shah Alam..an end lot home with lots of space (6 rooms and a swimming pool).So that was our end of year vacation!

Surprisingly we had a good time...lunch nasi Mandy, lamb chops, sambal sotong basah and cold salads, barbecues in the evening, swimming, makan durian, lots of family silly jokes.Swimming with Nazir was so much of a joy.Stress free time cos' we didn't have to pack so much and didn't have to travel so far.Nmpknya inilah gaya hidup baru as we try to avoid being squeezed left and right front and back by you know who.










Saturday, December 26, 2015

In search of Pakcik Pin

Pakcik Pin's wife was the sibling of Nik's grandma.Both had passed on now.Pakcik Pin was a bus driver and has 12 kids tak silap.Semua berjaya: jadi lawyer, banker, etc.Berkatnya gaji Pakcik Pin.After Mama died, jarang dah kita semua berkumpul so this long break, Pakcik Pin suruh anak dia panggil semua suku sakat to a tahlil held at his youngest son's in Bangi.So kita pun berkonvoi.

We saw a marquee in the new housing area.. Nik told us to go first while he looked for a parking space.I kepalai rombongan and went looking for the hostess.I don't knw anak2 Pakcik Pin ni semuanya..maklum 12 org..one lady came up and salam.I said dah siap ke tahlilnya.She said yes, pagi tadi buatnya (terdetik juga hati I..jemput ptg..apa psl dah siap pagi). I pun hulur the fruits we brought for Pakcik Pin.No sign of him or anyone I knew.So I asked mana Pakcik Pinnya? The lady said Pakcik Pin? Kat sini takda nama mcm tu.Then she gasped.Ohhh..salah rumah ni..ada satu lagi kenduri at the other side (she hulor balik the buah). If you were me, where would you run and hide your face? I said so sorry (di luar..kak yah dah beratur pegang pinggan!). The lady was so graceful..she said mknlah dulu..I said oh takpa...nanti saya ada satu lagi wedding nak pergi.As I walked past a group of men, staring and I heard them laughing...rasa kalau boleh terbang lagi bagus!

When we finally found the house, belum sempat masuk, Nik dah buka cerita and Pakcik Pin giggled away and his sons laughed mcm nak rak.Hadoi.

Then we rushed to attend anak Manja & Rita kawin at One City.I dah tak larat nak mkn so just had the bubur kacang which they tersilap letak garam ingatkan gula, I'm sure.Met Ton who reminded me of a book project long gone.I said kena reschedule and Suhaimi kena monitor balik timeframe.I need to get two of my books out..dah siap..final touches je.Then I can revisit book project ni.

And now, I'm putting a do not disturb me signage.I owe Dewan Sastera an article.

Friday, December 25, 2015

The ringgit sign

I have the long weekends to come to grips with reality.Memang barang gila2 mahal.And yet...ramai juga my friends bercuti ke London, New York, Paris.Habis2 pi Perth.Kita pun berangan nak cabut ke Koh Samui or Chiengmai but no cuti..kalau nak pi pun, ingat short notice gini, byk lagi hotel or flight nya?

So we decided to strengthen silrahtulrahim..ziarah org sakit, visit sedara mara..layan anak buah.We almost drove to Melaka yesterday..chk hotel semua fully booked and nasib we called anak Makcik.They are all here, staying in Kajang.So off we went to visit Makcik and bedridden Pakcik (ari tu whn I had work in Melaka, they were at the hospital..I janji would return to visit with my family.Maklum masa tu nompang kereta org..tak sempat ziarah at the hosp).

Pakcik kena stroke dah 3 kali..now he can't speak and tak boleh bangun.His son Nazim and wife dipilih Allah utk jaga parents dia di saat mrk memerlukan.Nazim was a young boy whn I stayed with makcik and pakcik in the late 80s (masa buat teaching practice in Melaka 2 or 3 months).They were very kind to me and two other friends (kita diberi satu rumah khas sebelah bungalow dia.Pakcik was a former MP but jenis yang mesra rakyat).When I had my first miscarriage, both of themlah yg terkejar2 hantar I pi jumpa Dr. with Nik.And walaupun sekolah depan rumah (jalan 5-10 mins, makcik and pakcik would drive us to sch).Mmg loving couple.Whn my mom was not well, they visited her in Raub.So to see them in their old age and dependent on their kids..I pun terasa.I told Nazim my experience..jaga parents elok2... Walau mcmana baik kita buat, whn they are gone, yg kita terkasar dgn mrk sesaat itulah yg akan menghantui kita.Nazim masa kami tiba tengah menyalin diapers ayahnya.Peluh penuh di dahi dan menitis ke seluruh mukanya.MasyaAllah..syurgalah anak ini.Semoga Allah beri dia and his lovely wife kekuatan utk terus berbakti kepada kedua ibubapa mrk.Duit bukan lagi penghalang.Nazim pun a self-made biz man nmpknya.Muda2 rezeki dah melimpah ruah.Itulah sbb Allah pilih dia. We had lunch with them.The other siblings pun ada yg baru tiba.

Wanted to visit Zalila and Pak Din too but kol tak berangkat.Takda rezeki dia nak mkn gulai masak lemak daging salai I (beli kat kedai daging salai baru buka at TTDI).Then petang we took Nazir and sisters out.Wough..nak terkeluar isi perut ngangkat Nazir now.Dia dah tak takut orang and laughs more now.We are arranging for him to see a speech therapist soon.Lambat bercakap.Gayah has agreed to help.Mudah2an.

The ringgit sign has no meaning when it comes to love.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

The wedding

Baraqah's second reception was held at a club house in Kajang.We gathered at Ummi's and berkonvoi from there.

The bride and groom tiba lewat.We had to wait to mengiringi kedua mempelai.Luckily I remembered to bring nail polish which I had bought for the little girls in the family (easily peeled off so nak solat senang). Angah's girls were my targets but they arrived late so I had Dayah's girls but yang sorang tu dok berkerebut with her dad. So anti-social one. :)

Anyway, it was a good reception and a good family together.The adat mencampak was a new one for me.Very fascinating..budaya Parit memperkenalkan a new family member..as relatives salam, they "campak" duit (in a nice manner..letak atas satu bekas).Mak Aizad said not many people do this anymore but for their family, it's a tradition they so treasure.I would too.Sapa tak nak duit woi musim negara tengah nak bankerap ni (Dayah said she encountered org kena jail sebab curi susu baby.In another plc, org curi kampit beras di kedai runcit.For this reason alone, I refuse to go holidaying abroad this holiday season.Ramai lagi org kebuluran).

Allah ambik rezeki negara ini sikit demi sikit sebab ada di kalangan kita merompak hak orang miskin.
















Friday, December 18, 2015

Mengejar donia

Fui...tunggang langgang, berguling-guling doing this this week - in between marking papers, keying marks, doing a keynote speech for DELL postgraduate seminar,meeting with consultants, chasing MyRA marks, classes, dining out with friends on Xmas holiday in Msia, family tahlil and wedding..alhamdulillah masih dipanjangkan usia to be busy!

We had fun at the seminar.The Dean told us to do it every semester! My friends semua mcm oh tidak! :D We'll do it annually.Every sem, tak larat doh.

My class with my PhD students ended today.We are always happy even though we have a late class.That is what I like about my PhD classes.Full with energy.Ada yang ckp dia rasa nak enrol sekali lagi.Nik and Z said itu pemanis mulut.Haha.But I love them all.Yg ugrad ke pgrad ke, they are all brilliant lot.The ones who presented at the seminar made me proud.Dr Subra said the quality of papers was very high.Alhamdulillah.I hope we keep getting good students.Senang nak gilap.Kena marah pun depa suka! Devi told Mei, I wish Prof Faridah had scolded me earlier ( I marah betul sbb dia mcm2 alasan..which were all true..mak cancer..sekolah sibuk..sakit gigi..sakit bahu..I said do you want your PhD or not? Kalau tak ikut schedule, I would no longer want to supervise you..hambek! But she sped up.Lovely!) That's the spirit...terimalah kemarahan guru dgn hati yang lapang. :) The trick is : just follow the schedule given.

Sean and Kerry Foley and I dined at Marini's at 57. My second time there.Always exciting.Kali ni we bumped into Nicol David, her coach Liz Irving and her friends visiting from Holland.She's so super friendly.Her Dutch friend who took our pics with her pun super baik.Sean and Kerry made wonderful companions.Mcm2 lah cerita mereka..in Saudi, in Nashville, in Malaysia.Nik joined us later (driving from Bangi).Z and Amir were having their meeting on their Interninsider somewhere at KLCC.It's a busy household!

The meeting with our brand consultants went well.It's nice dealing with M.We have to open tender on the job.

Sean's talk at my Engl 4515 went well.The kids enjoyed him and his topic on art in KSA.We debated whether to do that or American Lit at dinner at Marini's.Tough decision cos' both were very interesting.But we decided on KSA cos' the perspective of an American would be rare.American Lit we can read any time. :)

What a way to end a semester.Lepas class, terus rushed to send Bibik to her relative's (her off day) and Ummi's at Putrajaya.We missed the tahlil but dinner was still on.I just had my mee siam.Most of the clan are here.The wedding is on Saturday.



















Tuesday, December 15, 2015

In support of academic freedom

Asalnya Aslam memandai naming me as IIUM coordinator to attend Azmi Sharom's court case starting today till Dec 17. Almost all academic staff assocs and unions turun to show their support for a fellow academic. At IIUM, everyone's busy with their last two weeks' classes before the finals.Ramai juga tidak sukakan kelantangan Azmi when talking about Islam and hudud.But this is not about Azmi.We may not agree with him but we will defend his rights to express his views secara akademik.

Akhirnya Isham and I je yg free to go (I took leave agar no one could pick an issue on how or where I spent my leave.Muahaha). Kami berkonvoi sebab he had to leave early.Session punyalah lambat start.Hakim berwajah bersih and despite wht the policeman told my two friends who put on their academic robes (polis tu kata tak boleh berpakaian gitu.Aznijar kata rubbish..mana ada perintah mcm tu dlm mahkamah), my friends terus je kept their cool in their robes. When Hakim came (dia ni nunduk je) and looked up..he tergamam kejap nengok Manan and the other lady pakai robe berwarna warni.I ingat dia akan halau or suruh buka ..but I thought I saw a little smile on him.I liked him immediately.Anak panah merata.Haha.

Anak Karpal Singh was Azmi's lawyer..dgn Imtiaz (anak my friend, Ghulam Sarwar).I stayed about an hour then I blah.Went back to key in my midsem marks and attended my afternoon class to discuss results.

Hanya Kak Ngah and my hubby and daughter approved of me attending Azmi's court session.Yang lain had more fear than me.Kak De said if my mom were alive, she would not approve.Haha.Memandai je.My mom would not know.I would not tell her.But she would find out anyway.Gosh, how I miss her!








Sunday, December 13, 2015

RIP Benedict Anderson

Ben passed on this morning in Batu, East Java. He was 79. Banyaklah ucap takziah from former students, scholars in the region atas pemergian Ben ini.Rata-rata he's remembered as a giving person.Memang he's very obliging but bijak on all occassions.Menyesal pulak when I put him in an intellectual debate with Prof Ibrahim Zein but the audience loved it...it's like watching a ping-pong game as both combated each other, adab retained.It was unbelievable! Ben later on asked who Ibrahim Zein was.But I told him the audience loved both of them and we learnt much from both.Baru dia relaxed sikit.

Entah sapa categorised the book which Quayum and I edited as also written by him.Preface was by him.I fear he might think I menenggek his fame by using his name.Not even close!

The past is passing me by..just a while ago, Ruzy showed me what she found in Tehran.One of the IWFF film winners who won gold placed his cert in Imam Khomeini Mosque in Tehran..signatures were Rector's and mine. Alhamdulillah...berbaloi juga akhirnya.

Gosh, two news of the past of different impact.

From Yahoo News:

Influential Southeast Asia scholar Benedict Anderson dies

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Benedict Anderson, a Cornell University scholar who became one of the most influential voices in the fields of nationalism and Southeast Asian studies, died Sunday in Indonesia. He was 79.
Anderson died in his sleep during a visit to the city of Malang, Indonesian media reported. The cause of death was not immediately known.
"This is to inform you that Ben Anderson has passed away in Java: the land and its people he loves most," Thai historian Charnvit Kasetsiri, Anderson's close friend and colleague, said in an email to fellow scholars. Indonesians reacted with an outpouring of tributes on Twitter and Facebook.
Anderson is best known for his 1983 book "Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism," whose admired but debated thesis is that nationalism is largely a modern concept rooted in language and literacy. Its publisher, Verso Books, said it had been translated into more than two dozen languages.
"Many readers of 'Imagined Communities' did not know that his knowledge of Southeast Asian languages gave him insights into Indonesian, Thai, and Philippine political culture and history," said Prof. Craig J. Reynolds of Australian National University.
Anderson's influence was not limited to the sphere of theory, as he engaged with the contentious issues of the day with a rigorous analysis and dry wit that inspired hisstudents.
"Throughout his life, he inspired successive generations of students to brush history against the grain by similarly marshaling every ounce of their intellectual creativity and courage to look at history and politics in totally new and greatly more profound ways," said Steve Heder, a research associate at London's School of Oriental and African Studies who studied under Anderson at Cornell.
Born to Anglo-Irish parents in 1936 in Kunming, China, Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson grew up in California and was educated at Cambridge and Cornell, where he studied Southeast Asian politics.
His early specialization in Indonesia turned out to be both a curse and a blessing. On one hand, a near-forensic analysis of Indonesia's bloody 1965 coup that he wrote with fellow scholar Ruth McVey led to him being banned from the country until 1999. The "Cornell Paper," as it came to be known, questioned the conventional wisdom that the coup was the consequence of an abortive communist uprising, suggesting instead premeditation on the part of the army.
But while retaining an active interest in Indonesia, Anderson's enforced absence from the country encouraged him to turn his energies elsewhere, with Thailand becoming another specialization by the mid-1970s. He learned enough Thai to co-author a 1985 collection and study of translated modern Thai short stories.
Anderson's most influential work on Thailand was his 1977 essay "Withdrawal Symptoms," which analyzed the social forces behind a 1976 counterrevolution in Thailand just three years after a student-led revolt toppled a military dictatorship.
"His scholarship and commitment to progressive political change meant that he was an icon for scholars in the region and for all those who have studied the region," said Kevin Hewison, a professor of politics and international studies at Australia's Murdoch University. "His analysis of Thailand's 1970s political turmoil remains unsurpassed and is as important today as it was when published."
Thailand is currently under military rule after another coup last year.
Anderson later turned his attention to the Philippines — learning Spanish so he could study colonial-era documents — which led to his last major book, 2005's "Under Three Flags: Anarchism and the Anti-Colonial Imagination."
In a blog posting, Verso Books said Anderson had been working recently on finalizing his memoir, "A Life Beyond Boundaries," which is scheduled for publication next year.

Friday, December 11, 2015

Happy retirement day, Cathie!

I don't remember how we met or when but my poetry book came out in 2006 and Cathie was one of those who told me she cried reading my poems.So it must be earlier than 2006.

Cathie is the type of person who makes you comfortable and welcomed all the time at functions in which she helps organise. She had served the NZ High Comm in KL for over 41 years.She married a local lawyer/judge and thank God, she will live here post-retirement so I will see her again.One of those friends you do not want to lose.

Last night, the new NZ High Commissioner (Cathie's 13th HC, 5th one for me) and his lovely wife threw a farewell party for Cathie and her close friends (all 15 of us) at Langgak Golf.We had NZ lamb, NZ dessert & ice cream and some Indian dishes improvised...the barley salad was really good..so was the curry flavoured tomato soup.Angela, HE's wife pasang lagu Yuna..she loves Yuna and Yuna sounded good in a NZ home.

M and I nyaris perang sabil cos' I silap quoted price..I wanted to say RM150k ..tertulis RM1500. Kata dia sebut sapa boleh buat kerja at RM9k.Kalau ada, suruh le (stg to this effect). Kah kah.When I corrected my figure and apologised for thinking cheap he said bkn cheap..charitable katanya.  :D

RMC mcm zombies trying to meet deadline.Semua org tensi.But the show has to go on.Ini kerja orang muda.

Some pics from last night.