Postings I missed posting

A lot had happened before my most recent entry.

I attended Dr. Amani's wedding in Penang. Best gila pi Penang. We flew. Went for a few body and foot massages. Heavenly! And as a result, I felt like a bionic woman with my new legs. Alhamdulillah, kenduri syukur OK? The traditional Indian foot massage at Penang Hill was unbelievable. We spent some time up there, watched sunset and all. Cantik gila.

Went for swimming in that deep pool at Vistana. But very relaxing.We should get away more often mcm ni. Weekend trips within the region ke.

Then the Fulbright gang came over to discuss future events. We lunched at my plc.Dah lama tak entertain orang. Best juga.

Then a few people came to test drive Z's car. I buat cupcakes. But today we found out, tuanpunya badan has to be present at JPJ before she can sell the car. Hadoi.Tuanpunya badan dah seronok duduk di Europe pi sana sini. Balik dari Norway, boss hantar pi Mexico and Houston. Suruh balik Xmas, tak nak. What can we say to this anak muda berjiwa muda?

And we got a new Rector.And a new President. ASA supports Dr Maszlee and GERAK organised a talk on governance and academic leadership hosted by IIUM ASA amidst all this. I jadi bidan terjun and I thought we really had a good discussion on the need to have a fully independent body to appoint our own academic leaders.I hope there will be  a followup to this motion.

Post-Truth, Post-Normal Times

The long weekend saw me going to this special talk by two British Muslims on post-Truth and post-normal times. I thought just another variant of post-modernity or post post-modernity with more alarms of current changing times: climatic change, digital revolution in its 5th gear, artificial intelligence yada yada but it was good listening to seasoned scholars and thinkers like Ziauddin Sardar. I must get hold of his autobiography.That caught my interest more than his post-normal times. Haha.

And I saw Crazy Rich Asians.Kelakar gila. Henry Golding is so talented and so charming. He left school at 15..became a cook for a while then a hair dresser before going big with broadcasting. Pandai and down to earth and a proud Msian..just like Michelle Yeoh. Loved them both in the film.Pergi, jangan tak pergi. I don't care if people say it wasn't representatively Asian or if the film worships riches.Pendek kata, film tu fun and will make you laugh and cry at the same time.And it has got values and wonderful characters. Each is so different from the other.

Back at work..I am all stressed out so early in the semester (due to so many overdue deadlines and new ones) so I went down to get some Kit Kats. Malangnya Kit Kat buatan Thailand. How on earth did they get here? So I looked for those made in Msia.Found one. The girl who stood near me was so chatty asking why Kit Kat. I said I had a craving for sugar cos' I lost a lot through too much thinking. She said keep cool. I said I don't like made in Thailand products cos' of the presevatives they may have. She said I'm from Thailand. Opps...wough, she's not your typical Thailand gal. Good English, confident and overly friendly. Then she introduced the guy she's baby-sitting..an exchanged student from Turkey who spoke very little English. And we spoke a bit. Then Miss Thailand started giving me a marker pen (new one) as a gift. I just wentt why are you so kind? She said I am kind to everybody. Haha.

Walking back to my office, I wonder why I was so surprised with a friendly gesture of a total stranger on campus. Miss Thailand was not my student. We had never met.Why was I surprised by her generosity? Is it because even at IIUM this is something rare as it is outside there? Wow..such faith we have in humanity!

As though to reciprocate that kindness I offered her my Kit Kat (one of my Kit Kats) which to my delight, she said no to. Haha. I need all the sugar, you understand? :))

It's good to be back.