Adab

I wonder if I were just like those angry young people when I was that age.I told my boss nasib baik I had been off radar during much of the time.Tensi gua melihat kegemilangan Andalusia tua...Baghdad lama hanya tinggal nama.

I'm talking about the language we use or the way we carry ourselves when we disagree. Satu skill yang kita kurang ialah listening skill. Kita enggan mendengar. Then kemahiran berfikir di luar kotak.Kita nmpk itu, kita nmpk itu sahaja. So when I was with the TRGS groups yg begitu nekad to affect change through their research (without thinking of MyRA points too much or at all), I felt high.Malangnya jumlah boleh kira dgn jari.I think of the birds which gave so many excuses for not taking the journey to find the Truth in Attar/Ibn Sina/al Ghazali.

Maka hampir sahaja saya bersetuju dgn article yg buat saya mual pagi tadi: bhw org yg menganggap dirinya religious sebenarnya lebih "mean" dari org secular. But I know there are other variables...samples were minorities living in the West. But this is a separate issue.

But how do you explain ulemas berbalas2 pantun (insults) on youtube? I think one of the ustaz ising. Even my sister's hubby got attacked in his youtube..him calling Mizi Wahabi. Semua org wahabis..semua org pengganas.

The loss of adab...the beginning of downfall.

Muslim filmmakers

Another terkejar2 day. A wedding at Bukit Mahkota. Sat with Tan Sri Azlan and Puan Sri and Nik and TS had a good time catching up.Ramai familiar faces.We have all aged. :)

Lewat an hour to catch the film screenings at Publika. Z drove.Justin tiba2 suruh I jadi moderator after the screening with Monem..American-Muslim filmmaker and Luqman who spoke on the Rohingya refugee prob.Bdk ni baru 22 but my, so clever! I met his whole family..abg, mak, kakak. I'm now a fan.I hope he makes more profound films.

This was what was shown https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8rStA6OqTdo
Monem's was interesting too.We had a good time talking about Islam, Muslims and filmmaking in general.

Rushed home for family dinner at Chilly Crab.

My community and I

In preparation of another research grant application, J ajak I pi CNY dinner at the plc where we would be focusing on. I worked late semlm.Terkejar2 Maghrib then off again to attend the get together.Z and her dad mmg balik lambat. Nik going through EPF dividend matters soon to be announced, kot? A busy household.

There were about 5 or 6 RAs talking about a greater Kota Dsara (Sierra Dsara pun masuk).I'm surprised to know ada lagi break-ins in the neighbourhood...siap pakai laser nak bwk lari peti besi..peti ais yang besar. Our MBPJ councilor was there.People lobbied for him when his service was about to be terminated (the good ones sokmo nak kena cantas) and the rakyat won.This guy is so easy to work with...minta itu, dpt, minta ini dpt.And we are working on a safe and clean city...keeping our green lungs yg dok diintai oleh greedy indivs/corporations.Nak buat hotel di tengah2 residential area...gila ke hapa?

J has been working at this plc for 4 years...tempat tu masa he came nmpk najis keluar seketul2... He fought for infrastructure...dua budak dah mati sbb poor railings...tht did it lah.Local gomen pumped in juta to ensure the plc is safe.You need to make noise and tell your gomen wht you want.Duit is there.Jgn percaya if they say takda duit.

I paksa two guys to escort me to my car.Don't leave till I'm in the car, I said.Phobia doh.Masa tu le we clinched a deal..more police personnel..more cctvs.Alhamdulillah.

The best deal was planning for art activities..jazz festival in the woods...cat shows..Harap2 depa ni buat le. I have my own plans with my team. If it happens, you will read about them here in months to come IA.

Between us and the Thais

My conclusions are:

1. Thais are more creative than us...they start from something raw and turn it to something commercial e.g coconut..jadi coconut ice-cream (very popular at Ao Nang streets), jadi cosmetic products/spa products, buah2an dia semua jadi bahan export: dried durian, dried mango, dried everything.Manggis tu jadi gula2.

2. Pemuda dia walau ramai penagih or bekas penagih, depa bekerja..sendiri hidu, sendiri cari duit..depa tak meragut pelancung yang handbag bersepah2 di pantai.Kat Msia..dream on, ya

3. Kerajaan tempatan dia pandai hormat penduduk asal..kg2 tak dikacaunya..sama2 cari rezeki..rich Muslims own lands, tourism businesses etc.Mereka tidak hidup minta sedekah!

4. But Muslims bila jumpa ..Msia ke Thai ke..jarang bagi salam to each other.

5. Thai authorities respect the environment..they live with nature not against it (I think this is Buddhist philosophy but Islam patutnya lebih lagi). Despite a booming tourist industry, mereka tak overbuild.

6. They have better roads.

7. Their toilets are a lot cleaner than ours (even at the airport)

8. Pantainya pun bersih.

9. Air laut bersih.

10. Udara bersih.

11. Kenapa I tak pindah je ke Krabi kalau semuanya bagus sangat? Sebab Krabi can be this too http://m.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Tourist-dies-scuba-diving-Phi-Phi-national/63140.

 Mereka juga tidak jual Tuhan mereka

 bumbung taxi yang picked us up (there's only 3 of us)

They are really serious about tourism as an industry, OK?

Semlm I balik naik taxi at KLIA2..pedalnya berbunyi..bau busuk..driver mcm on pil kuda..

first impression matters, babe.

 the pool at our resort (none of us turun mandi cos' survey showed 

that more than 50% pool users will kencing in the pool and do not shower 

before they jump in the pool.I getik)

cocktails in bamboos

ikan bakar at their Night Market

Krabi 2

If you don't go on speedboats on a rough sea, Krabi is a beautiful and slow-paced place.We also enjoyed our first ride in the open air taxi called Tok Tok.The first ride pun laju mcm speedboat.Wht an experience which made us all laugh out of joyride thrill! This trip takes us out of our comfort zone.The brain was doing overtime trying to figure out things as they were unexpected and really new experience for us.Doing Europe or US holidays (or Oz/Kiwi) was a breeze.

And we did massage almost every day.Mmg heavenly and 50% cheaper than KL.This plc is 40% Muslim so getting halal food is not a problem (controlled by Indian Muslim/Pakistan if you are in Au Nang area).

Shopping is mostly for beach items.

Krabi has many tourists frm France.Entah mengapa.European lain pun ramai but the French are like everywhere.Mcm kat tempat dia juga, depa suka buang sampah merata.Ada satu family buang sisa buah nenas and tembikai into the sea! Terkejut saya! Pas tu tak pakai life jacket in the open sea.Haiyo..poor sense of security.We met a lovely German couple who would spend their winter in Krabi and other Asian countries yearly.Last year depa pi Mynmar.I pun promote Tioman and Perhentian.Told them kalu snorkel kat Msia..lagi byk ikannya.Sigh.I don't know why I bother.Negara mcm nak dicampak ke laut.Even Thai government tak rampas hak org (Krabi dan pulau2nya byk kepunyaan org Muslim) and encourage Muslims here to get involved in the tourism industry (byk bix are owned by them).Mungkin dari segi education for all, Msia masih no. 1.Sini ramai je bdk2 muda kerja jaga boat etc.But they may hv the rezeki to be a minister one day.Rezeki Allah siapa nak tau dak?

 big ikan todak ke hapa ni?

 Krabi seafood from the Andaman Sea (I think I had an allergy 

mkn seafood di sini)

 view from our balcony at Arawan Beach Resort

(nyaman betul kena sea breeze)

 our room - if you email/call the place, it's a lot cheaper than 

doing it online

 Thai Malay boy sedang membuang tangkai cili api

(happy face!)

Thai-Malay meal (mcm Thai food in KL.Krabi 

Thai food lagi sedap)

Krabi - not for the faint-hearted

The excitement of packing for Krabi is not the same as packing for ParisLondonNuyork, I jokingly told a friend.

Upon touch-down at Krabi airport, I was impressed..clean,courteous and modern.Our hotel was a long way away (Ao Nang..a beach area and touristic but our resort was a km in the jungle by the beach.Very quiet but beachnya berlumpur.Free shuttle to Railay Beach jetty so tht's not too bad (we went today on our 3rd day).Very pretty beach..no big waves and easy to swim.

Yesterday was a nightmare.We took a day trip to island hop..naik speedboat to 3 islands to swim and snorkel.Pretty beaches but short stops.Naik boat berjam2.Time balik ombak besar so the boat captain bwk laju to avoid big waves.I was really traumatised.Ni bkn holiday namanya.Ni nak cari mati! I hate going in and out the boats cos' we had to get into the water then climbed up the boat.No such thing as having a jetty.Dah le narrow steps up.Tadi naik perahu nelayan lagi traumatising..ada 2 kaki I had to climb up after walking miles on wobbly plastic floats (it felt like miles).I told Z I'm going to warn my friends tht if they are cityfolks..Krabi holiday is not for them.Z was quick to correct me: not cityfolks...orangtua.Krabi is not meant for org tua. :D

Gen X, make way!

For those in my generation (Gen X)...please make way for the young ones. Masa kita telah berlalu. Tak payah nak bertahan macam lutut masih kuat, ingatan macam 20 something dan rambut masih hitam. :D

We need a new engine everywhere: in politics, in trade, in health, in education. Semua! It's amazing if you take a look at our country...Gen X (kekadang gen yang lebih awal) masih mendominasi. We should be retiring and doing worthwhile things daa.The country needs new leaders, new ideas.Yang masih kuat dan cerdik tu can stay.Yang kuat buat pedeoh tu (bak kata orang Pahang)..undur la.

On my homefront, it is heart warming to see the younger gen slowly taking over building their career and leading. Yayan is in Turkey on a 6-month student exchange (transferrable credits), Dayah has just gotten her sijil guaman shari'e and the rest are doing their best to find their fertile soil and start rooting (Z got her first pay and NIk and I dah dapat bahagian ibubapa kami! Alhamdulillah ..not that we want but she must learn to be responsible juga, kan? Byr bil mana yang patut.Haha).

My first class will start today.I'm changing my tactics this sem.Last sem ramai ngat dapat A- (more than 50%! Yang betul2 A ada la 2 orang) - I noticed they ber WA and exchanged notes, so time exam..semua well-prepared. Kita tengok if they can maintain that record.If they can, then I must be a darn good teacher. :))

Happy Chinese New Year for those celebrating.For those having a long weekend, have a good rest!