Raya pics

Day 1: raya breakfast at my mother's with the boyz

Day 1: Z with Benny at my 3rd sister's home

Day 2 at my eldest sister's (with some of the clan)

river boyz

saying the doa at my sister's grave

rumah kampong (my aunt's)

eating jambu air

Adnan melemang

Ali pun nak cuba

Swabry pun

Mahmud paling suka makan lemang

Some Raya pics.

We had a joyous one.Partly because the 4 boyz we took home balik kampong were talented lot.Ali (Central Africa) could recite the Quran, read beautiful and touching doas as well as dance African dance (while barbecuing...hahaha), Adnan (Bosnia) boleh baca Quran in such a melodious voice, Swabri (Kenya) does martial arts, Mahmud (Palestine) pandai cakap Melayu.We took them melemang, baca takbir in surau and visit ailing aunts and uncles in the kampong.

Ali kata kampong kita macam kampong dia but kampong dia masih ada singa, binatang macam kat safari tu lagi.Mak I suka dia sebab dia hormat orang tua.Yang lain2 tu pun my mak suka sebab pandai baca Quran.

Does it happen to you too?

If you blog with blogspot, ada tak you dapat amaran they will delete your blog in 20 days? Haiyo..if that happens, I will lose all my pics since 2006.I don't have backups! And I would also lose jottings that go with the pics/events. Inilah nasib menompang kat tempat orang! Orang boleh tendang kita bila2 masa. Cheh!

Anyway, hari ni sibuk buat rambut.Hahaha.Tengah buat rambut Marzuki of NTV7 beritau berita project I akan keluar news pukul 1 pm.Mana ada TV kat salon tu but I tanya juga.Hairdresser I kata kedai sebelah ada (kedai reflexology) so jam tepat 1 pm I dengan rambut berbungkus pi ke kedai sebelah nak tompang tengok TV dia.Hahah..you should have seen mulut clients dia bila tengok I dgn kepala berbungkus dgn penuh confidence duduk sebelah dia yang sedang buat foot reflexology.Then when the slot came out, everyone asked is that you? I said yah yah yah.They all laughed with me.Nampak lucu pulak. :))

Hairdresser I charged RM30 more but I fought with her.So she managed to charge me RM2 more than the price quoted to me before she saw me on TV.Apa daaa.

Lepas tu pi hantar Homam and Vernes to Datuk N's home at Tropicana Golf Resort..weeiii..banyak betul rumah besar kat dalam golf resort ni! Some are as big as ships! But Datuk N and her hubby are very down to earth people.Sincerity is transparent, bak kata Kak Oni. Plumber dia pun orang asing! (orang Irak). They are so used to hosting foreign students so I guess Homan and Vernes will have a good time over Raya.When the good Datuk ajak berbuka kat rumah dia yang ada garden yang begitu cantik (they were having Korean bar b q for berbuka) I politely said no.Nanti Nik and Z cari I pi mana pulak. :)

Oh well folks, besok dah nak start pack suitcases. We have to bertolak awal ke Raub on Tuesday sebab nak kejar makcik buat lemang (susah nak cari dah.We just buy) tu before 12 noon.My sisters dah beritau dia suruh spare 4 buluh lemang for the boys to try and melemang (lepas tu they are going to terjun dalam sungai belakang rumah makcik tu ..kalau depa tak malu.I will not sit around to watch of cos'!)


I hope blog ni tak kena delete in 20 days' time.Ketidak...google me in another space.Hahah.

Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir batin sekali lagi.Stay safe.

Last Iftar Out

Phew..relieved rasanya cos' last nite was my last iftar out.Tak larat iftar kat luar almost every day of the week.But last nite was fun sebab we did it with our Campus Ambassadors (good samaritans from SHELL).These young and energetic people are truly inspiring.They seem to enjoy their "community work' with us.We are grateful.Memang patut la ada tanggungjawab dari pihak korporat2 begitu, kan? SHELL is doing it with style.Hilang lah sikit rasa 'geram' I over pollution/environment issues often associated with it.The kids were good as well.I thought there would be many who would have gone home for raya but I think we got close to 50 people last nite (from Kull of Engineering and Econs/Management).

Yang kelakar kisah Azry dah pindah ke Bintulu.His friends (termasuk MD dia, Yang Mulia Raja!) teased him about being in the outback.Nak dapat roti gardenia pun susah, mcdonald pun takda.Hahaha, I won't be able to survive without my malls.

But it's nice to know budak2 muda ni memang brilliant.Sayang we don't have too many of them working in the government (tak macam Spore..best brains semua gomen absorbs.Officers dia ramai dari ivy league unis.I met one young chap..a poet but he's in gomen.Graduated from Yale.Bila la Msia nak capai taraf ni?)

Raya Mood, Part 2

Nasib baik I pakai cantik sikit today (cos' I went to the API Fellowship interview at Nikko in the morning -- which was tough juga.Ramainya interviewers! Patutnya 10 mins but I think it went beyond.Penat juga I buka kung fu nak defend my proposal.Lepas tu just as I was allowed to leave, Kee Thuan Chye pulak masuk.Dia terlewat sampai so I was asked to sit again nak jawab Chye's questions.Chye and I kan selalu 'gaduh'? Kecut juga perut I but they were all very nice and professional.Chye pun tak menyusahkan I.Baik juga dia. :))

Balik office, orang-orang Hotel Imperial (siap bawak Chef) datang nak tau setting cocktails kita on the 8th Oct nanti.Rasa lapar tengok menu depa.

Lepas tu Nora beritau NTV7 datang nak interbiu pasal projek jom balik raya (with 'adopted' children) Kaossar dapat tangkap 3 orang je: Adnan from Bosnia, and someone from Algeria and another from Bangladesh.So kita pun disuruh berlakun.I kadang2 menyibuk jadi Pengarah shooting ni.Hahaha.I told Marzuki (TV journalist tu) kalau ada tawaran berlakun, kami terima. :))

Besok people from the newspapers pulak nak interbiu participants of Jom Balik Raya. Memang rasa nak raya betul dah ni sebab we have to discuss pasal raya and activities surrounding it.

Dr. Solehah came to discuss the Islamization of Knowledge project and we both agreed she should be the principal researcher (even though the idea was mine) sebab I want to apply for another grant and need to be the principal researcher to this project (I can't be principal researcher to two grants).She will do a nice job sebab dia tau Arabic.

Raya mood

Tak percaya that at last my Raya mood datang juga! Semalam tat nenas sampai satu kotak besar.Memang sedap.It kinda melt in your mouth. Then a friend in Macedonia said how he missed Malaysia this time of the year sebab he misses biskut kelapa (he is our alumnus).Dah lama I tak makan biskut kelapa.Tak nampak pun dijual kat pasar.Used to help my sisters bikin biskut kelapa masa kecik2. Ask me now, satu hapa tak reti.My daughter is good at making chocolate cookies.

Sibuk nak sembelih sekor kambing Australia this raya since I bawak balik 4 guests from all over the world.Kita nak buat bar b q. My bro in law yang pandai masak will buat nasi arab (he lived in Medinah many years).My mak yang paling excited.Memang untuk dia pun.

How's your raya preparation? (mana my regulars ni? Habis tidur ke? Hahaha) Shima, Zul, DrBubbles, Hashimah Osmond (hee2) dan rakan2 seperjuangan.Dengan pertanyaan: sedang buat apa tu?

Selamat menyambut raya.Maaf zahir batin.

Iftar with the kids

Well, not all are "kids".Some are bapak and mak orang.But the last couple of weekends had been really good as we took turns hosting IIUM foreign students. I hosted one yesterday with 10 gals.Hari ni another 10 boys.It's not that difficult.Angkat je telefon call Shahril mintak masak nasi bryani gam johor for 20 people.Lepas tu order je kuih bakar makcik Damansara Utama tu.I just need to prepare my Polish salad, drinks and desserts.Amat mudah.

It's so sad to see Ramadan go so soon (maklumlah women get to puasa 3 weeks je).This year takda mood nak pi shopping Raya.I just got two pairs of shoes tailor made for me ala ala Jimmy Choo gitu.Hahaha (not exactly for Raya).Maklum byk functions now.Selalu I am happiest pakai kasut/selipar buruk je.Senang nak kung fu. Kalau kena curi pun tak sakit hati.High heels slow down my movements.Nak ikutkan hati, pakai je roller blades. Can do the job twice faster. :)))

Nik cuti next week so I think whatever raya shopping we need to do, mcm biasa: last min.Yang tinggal nanti barang2 yang buruk or mahal (stuffs people don't want to buy).

I tak kisah.Too many things to do after Raya.May have to travel to China and Korea on work.It'll be cold. :(

I got shortlisted for the API Fellowship.The interview will be at Nikko next week. Kalau dapat, boleh retire in Cyprus. Hee hee.

Nuzul Quran

Tomorrow will be a public holiday for us in Selangor.It's Nuzul Quran.Happy Nuzul Quran to you and yours.

The day ended on a high note for me.First it was a meeting on the Alumni Trust Fund.Later on, it was on the German youth orchaestra.The team managed to sort out some key issues. After that it was on strategising our coffee table book sales.We gotta sell all copies by year end.The team was confident we'd be able to make it.I hope.I pray.Sebab nak membuatnya penat betul.

Zul came to discuss how to get more sponsorships for next year's Nov. event.What a big help.I hope our plans work.Lepas tu I can retire in Cyprus.Haha.

Read surah 21 (Al Anbiya') on the plights of a few Prophets. How inspiring to read about Prophet Ayub (Job) and Prophet Yunus (Jonah). Ayub was tested to the maximum.He lost his family, servants, friends, health, wealth, etc.The footnotes said he cursed his life and only repented later but this was not what I read of him in other secondary sources.Anyway, his prayer is beautiful (even more in the Malay translation):

And (remember) Job when
He cried to his Lord
"Truly distress has seized me.
But Thou are the Most
Merciful of those that are Merciful." (al Anbiya' : 83)

But when I got to read about Prophet Yunus and the whale, I began to understand what Prof Syed Naguib Alatas meant when he used Nabi Yunus' story to explain why he would never migrate to another country no matter how bad Msia would turn out to be (this I heard years ago). Reading the footnotes of`Yusuf Ali's translation of the Quran, I began to compute what Alatas meant.Nabi Yunus left his plight out of frustration (yeah..that 'I quit' thingy).It's like he had no faith in Allah (he didn't think/believe that Allah had the power to make things right no matter how bad).Listen to verse 87 same surah (Al Anbiya'):

And remember Dhu al Nun ("the man of the fish or the whale")
When he departed in wrath:
He imagined that We
Had no power over him!
But he cried through the depths
Of darkness, "There is
No god but Thou:
Glory to Thee: I was
Indeed wrong!"

Footnotes detailed how after Prophet Yunus left the Assyrian capital Nineveh, he took a ship but the sailors threw him out as a man of bad omen. And the rest is history (he was swallowed by a big fish, cried and admitted his weakness in the depth of darkness, Allah forgave him, cast out ashore and continued his mission, relying on the power of Allah)

How inspiring indeed! No one should quit! AI never! Neither would Pak Lah.Haha.Kantoi betul.

I see red

A friend sms-ed to share her disgust over the ISA arrests. I had not been reading newspapers or watching TV news for a long time so the ISA news was news to me. I felt nothing.I had lost that feeling for a longggggggggg time now.No anger.No joy.Lumpuh perasaan ku.This is not a country for anyone anymore but ironically, I plod along.I continue to hope and plan for better things. What choice do we have? We cannot say we quit! Politicians are so fond of doing that.I quit! when things go wrong.Apa ke jadah.

Lantak kau oranglah. ACSD's progs berjalan lancar, alhamdullilah. Our iftar with the kids dah melepasi sasaran kita (we aimed for 100 participants but we have passed that targetted mark today.Syukur).But Malaysians are still pretty slow in opening up to other people of different cultures (esp. of the same faith) Pelik juga when offers to host foreign students were turned down dengan alasan iftar (or raya) is meant for family je.Luckily we still have some good samaritans who signed up (most of them had lived abroad and would have understood what Ramadan/Raya meant, living berkelana). A friend's friend (a CEO of a large corporation) who organises student exchange prog. has voiced similar grievance.That it is hard to get Malaysians to host students from abroad.Entah apa pasal. I thought yang paling generous hal2 begini are orang Melayu.Nampaknya sasaran meleset.

But I am so proud of those who participated in our iftar and raya progs.They are very interesting people, with many experiences and very pleasant personalities and I think we become friends as we get to know one another.

Semoga Allah lipat-gandakan rezeki mereka.

Chye's book

I must get a copy.Kata Chye I'm featured.Entah macamanalah keluarnya dan apakah response masyarakat umum akan short comments I tu? Masa Chye tanya apa pendapat I tentang GE yang bersejarah tahun ini, I pun tulih aja.He said he was touched walaupun kita selalu juga bertaki on issue NEP dan Melayu-Cina.Dia kata tak semua Cina kaya (I pun tau) jadi NEP tak leh le bagi kat Melayu je.I pun setuju.Bagi pada yang memerlukan tapi jgn la dok hantam semua Melayu macam kita takda depan dia atau macam kita ni buta hurup as the race bash bermaharajalela in English dailies and blogs.Kalu acap buat gitu,nanti orang tuduh anti-Malay, kata I kpd Chye(kawan-kawan mat saleh I selalu kata ramai penulis dan cendikiawan bangsa Cina di Malaysia are anti-Malay. Analisa mereka jarang seimbang bila bercakap tentang isu Malaysia). Lagipun bukan semua Melayu pun yang benefit from NEP.Mak I pun bergolok gadai to put my kid sister in universiti sebab kita tak da political ties nak minta scholarship walaupun layak.I pun suffer the same fate with my daughter walaupun As nya berjela since UPSR dan co-curriculumnya pun impressip (naib johan English debate for Selangor babe).I wonder if it's becos nama depannya Nik? Kot depa ingat cucu Nik Aziz? Haha.

Iyalah, response I utk buku Chye tu dari hati. Itu takda sapa boleh edit.But I'm curious to read what others had said of March 8.Moh kita beli beramai-ramai.Kalau tak suka versi Chye, kita tulih buku kita sendiri.

Tapi inilah dunia yang merdeka.Sapa-sapa pun boleh cakap.

Um..hari ni KSN (merangkap Prez IIUM) will launch the coffee table book my colleagues and I bertungkus lumus buat last April (as part of our fund-raising activities). Dato Rector patut bagi a short speech telah berkata bahwa I pulak yang kena bercakap.Ayoo mak datuk..gue malu! (dalam pada tu, terlupa pulak nak bawa camera-cum videocam tadi)

Kalau tak mahu jadi APEK university

This is a press statement given by my friend Prof Manan (Presiden Persatuan Pensyarah USM):

4th September 2008
USM Selected as Apex University: PKAPUSM's Reaction

The Universiti Sains Malaysia Academic and Administrative Staff Association (PKAPUSM) welcomes the move by the Ministry of Higher Education to categorize USM as the Apex University in Malaysia. We congratulate USM and her staff for their continuous effort in proving that they can and will achieve ¡§world-class status¡¨ through the Accelerated Program for Excellence (APEX) initiative. USM is the second oldest university in Malaysia and will commemorate its 4Oth anniversary next year. Having been selected as the Apex University will be a great challenge to USM and it will have to prove its worth and capability to be one of the world's top universities in the near future.

However, without cooperation of all segments of the USM staff and students, it will not be easy for USM to realize its plan of action. Words have to be translated into hard work and academic dynamism. To be categorized as an Apex University is not like being given a crown, but it is accepting the duty and trust for USM to pursue higher and leading the higher education edge in Malaysia. The people of Malaysia and the world in general will witness what USM is made up of. We are of the opinion that to be a world-class university, the immediate thing to create or achieve is the culture of excellence on campus, it will encompasses the academic culture, research culture and intellectual culture. With respect to creating the culture of excellence which is the prerequisite towards achieving a world-class university, several factors have to be taken seriously.

Teaching and Learning : There must be improvement in the quality of teaching and learning, recruiting more academic staff and expert with the best qualifications. The quality of students also needs to be assessed before admission to the undergraduate and postgraduate programs.

Research: Even though the research track record in USM can be proud of, nonetheless, research activities need to be increased and upgraded in all fields with immediate effect. The immediate benefit of research can be presented in the classroom for both postgraduate and undergraduates apart from being disseminated in peer-reviewed journals of discipline concerned or presented in conferences. Research is the engine of economic development, it will contribute expertise, skills, knowledge generation and dissemination. However, the overzealousness for research should not be at the expense of teaching. Ideally, research and teaching should complement each other, and one of the attribute of a world-class university is to be able to strike the right balance between the two.

Academic Freedom and University Autonomy: University autonomy normally refers to the independence of universities from the state and all other forces of society, to make decision regarding its internal government, finance, administration, and to establish its policies of education, research, extension work and other related activities. History has shown that those universities which retained their autonomous status have a long tradition of scholarship and at the forefront of research in their own societies. Autonomy will promote academic freedom and intellectual dynamism that is central to a world-class university. Academic freedom refers to ¡§the freedom of members of the academic community individually or collectively, in the pursuit, development and transmission of knowledge, through research, study, discussion, documentation, production, creation, teaching, lecturing and writing.¡¨ Thus, unless academic freedom is given its due place and respect within a university, significant contribution to the quality of the institution as a whole cannot be promoted to an excellent level. In this respect, USM should exercise its university autonomy and academic freedom through greater autonomy and flexibility that was enshrined under the Apex initiative.

Academic Leadership : One of the important attribute of a world-class university is self-governance, where internal self-governance by ensuring that the academic community has control over the main academic functions such as admission of students, curriculum, criteria for graduation, selection of new members of the professoriate, and future direction of the institution. A university is neither a government department nor a business agency. A university of excellence will require a democratic leadership to be able to cater to the needs of various disciplines and coordinate them in such a way that the mission of the university will be fulfilled. Academic leadership is essential to navigate the university to achieve a world-class status. Appointing the right person can lead the institution to the platform of excellence, while promoting the wrong individual can be a journey down the mediocratic path. PKAPUSM belief that the campus community need to unite their forces to make the Apex initiative a reality. The academic staff will play a major role in realizing the Accelerated Program for Excellence (APEX); however, other groups should not be marginalized. We may need new thinking and new negotiation, particularly in relation to terms of services. Under the Apex scheme the university should be able to attract more academics and researcher with calibre from within and outside Malaysia.

However, those people who have given their long service and have been loyal to the university should not be neglected.. A world-class university is not about producing scientists, engineers, doctors and technicians with higher degrees. What we are lacking are thinkers in our universities in particular and our society in general.

Abdul Manan Wan Muda
President, PKAPUSM

Ramadan Kareem

That's how we wish each other at IIUM.Ramadan Kareem.Siapa yang nama Karim tu syok le. :))
The family has vowed to go slow on food this year.We went to our first food bazaar yesterday at Kelana Jaya.MasyaAllah...it was like a little Mekah! It put me off buying cos' it was too crowded (tak nampak apa benda pun).I ended up buying rendang Minang and sirap bandung cincau.We were trying to look for stall ikan bakar.Tak jumpa.Only after we had bought gulai kawah berkawah2 did we find it.By then we thought..eh eleh...

Iftar was at my in law's.I thought of my own mom, berbuka on her own (possibly with my nephew or other sister). We had offered her to stay with us, dia cakap dia nak mengaji lah, etc. Sigh.

Anyway, for those reading this, have a blessed Ramadan.Banyakkan ibadah. I already feel very old.Every morning I get up feeling the body does not belong to me anymore. I think we have to take care of what we eatlah.Am exercising more now.

Happy merdeka day!

Well done Malaysia! We survived Permatang Pauh by-election without any untoward incidents.Kalah menang adat bertanding.Bagi yang menang, JANGAN kecewakan harapan rakyat Permatang Pauh.Bagi yang kalah, cuba lagi. I was hoping AI will be sworn in today so that kita akan nampak pembangunan pesat di Permatang Pauh (he is said to be able to bring in so many investors from the Middle East and I thought..it should not matter what party brings in those investors, asalkan rakyat kampong yang mendapat habuannya.I hope they will look after health care, education, environment, clean water issues.Kita tak perlu bangunan pencakar langit to achieve basic human rights ni.Kita tengoklah AI boleh bawak perubahan2 ini atau tidak tapi apa pasal he's denied his right to be sworn in now? Najib kata democracy is alive.Can we see it to the finishing line? The finishing line is rakyat Permatang Pauh want AI in parliament)

Yang kelakar so many who are not from Permatang Pauh turut menyibuk.A relative of mine (not living in Pulau Pinang) sampai takut nak tengok TV to find the results.She sms-ed me and told me to pls text her the results.I pun malas nak follow the news (my daughter and I were watching some romance movie on TV and only after it's done we switched on to AWANI). My mom lagi best, dia masuk tidur early and before sleeping she said, "Kalau Allah nak naikkan/menjatuhkan seseorang tu, takda kuasa boleh menghalangnya".Pagi ni she asked selamba, "So who won?" I said selamba juga, "Anwar." She said, "I told you! Kalau Allah nak naikkan seseorang itu, takda kuasa boleh menghalangnya."

My relative yang tak duduk kat Permatang Pauh said she now nak sedekah pisang kat masjid.Hahaha...harga kemenangan AI hanyalah seikat pisang. I find this so funny.

My family is big and we all 'simpati kedai kopi' to different parties (kecuali DAP).My mom has been a die-hard UMNO supporter tapi bila kita tekan2 if she has berpaling tadah, she will say my undi is rahsia. But I suspect dia kesian kat Dato' Seri Dr.Azizah and anak2 (having to raise me and my 2 younger sisters after my father died when I was 18) when she showed her support for AI.I think she could relate to DS Dr.Azizah.

Anyway, happy merdeka folks! Kibarkan jalur gemilang!

Hilang

Musim orang hilang ni, it's nice to hilang for a while -- without the net, phone, television except I could not do without the last two items. Heh heh.

The family had planned to fly to Bangkok but we ended up in Alor Star, visiting an ailing aunty.
It was not too bad cos' we made a few stops: Kuala Kangsar to meet Saniah, Jitra to visit Nura and her family (met her talented kids.Jalil scuba dives at 15, speaks non-stop on everything.I think he's a genius.Won some gold award while living in UAE.Fatehah did wonderful origamis for Z and I).

Mak Yang in AS has so many cats (I'm not a cat lover, though) and Nik didn't want to upset her by sleeping at a hotel we'd booked so akhirnya, kita semua melepak with her for 2 days.Bonding la kiranya. It has been a while, really.

I like Alor Star.It's a lazy town.Good for retired people.Makan pun murah.
On our way back, kita dropped by Permatang Pauh.Bumped into Arif Shah tengah kempen.Hee hee. Orang tak ramai but it's a working day.Most people would be at work, I guess.I'll post some pics in a while.

If you talk to Arif's people, they will say it's 51-49 win in favour of him.Kalu cakap dgn org AI, they will say rubbbissshhhhh! Whatever it is folks, stay cool. Yang penting jangan main kotor.Whoever wins, he will be judged again in the next elections.So takut apa? Kalau main kotor, rakyat lagi menyampah.Yang I tak paham, apa pasal dok suruh AI bersumpah siang malam? As though yang suruh bersumpah tu clean sangat.Cuba hangpa semua bersumpah kami tak main politic money, kami tak songlap duit rakyat, kami tak kaki betina, kami tak kaki rasuah, kami tak cuba suap pengundi RM100 to RM200 setiap kali piliharanraya (kecil atau besar)etc etc. Tiba2 ramai sangat yang nak jadi hakim di luar mahkamah.That, I pelik.

Anyway, kita tinggalkan cerita politik tak berfaedah ni dulu. Let me continue with my family holiday story..lepas tu, Nik wanted to show Penang to Z.Z has never been to Penang so we went tanpa ada rancangan awal.Penang has become a lovely city compared to the last time I was there.Tak byk pulak mat motor.But I guess people were at work.Belum rush hours. Rang up Zairi (every time I'm up, he's down in KL!) for advice mana nak makan sedap (I don't like nasi kandar).Zairi told us of a little place off Jalan Transfer.Nasi Padang depan petrol station.We found it after going round and round.Wahlau! Memang bagusssss....bagus giler! I l-o-v-e Penang.It's so green, so breezy, so green (Air Itam area).Z says it's so happening also (byk new malls).In many parts, macam kat Spore.

Must make it a point to come holidaying here, proper.

University of Liverpool Alumni: The Malaysian Chapter

According to the 'Ambassador' of Uni of Liverpool, Dr. Yan-Goh Ng, they tried 4 times trying to set up this chapter.Apa ke kalut sangat tu?! Apparently suami Noorkumalasari is an alumnus and was supposed to be the first Prez.Malangnya tidak menjadi.

Anyway, some of us met up at his office today and if you are reading this and are an alumnus (or know others who are) please email Dr. Ng your particulars. We are building our alumni database in order to plan future get togethers/activities for all.Dr. Ng can be reached at yangoh at pc.jaring.my

We want to set up an official comm by Dec. this year.Shucks! This reminds me that I have to compile another list of names for Yong! (for Waikato Alumni) Adoi!

Will you cry over this?

http://klpos.com/v2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2249&Itemid=0

AUKU and Msian universities

Datang beramai-ramai to discuss the future of Msian universities!


Date: 16th August 2008
Venue: Lecture Hall B, PASUM, UM (next to University House)
Time: 8.30 am - 1 pm

Speakers:
Prof. Dato' Mohamad Zawawi Ismail (keynote)

Assoc. Prof. Rosli Mahat
Prof. Wan Manan Wan Muda
Prof. Azmi Sharom
YB Tony Pua
Prof. Hashim Hussin Yaacob
BN rep (to be confirmed)

Jeff Ooi on Arif Shah

I first got to know Jeff when we were together in the USJ-Subang Jaya e-comm (this when I was still living in USJ). I was in awe of the man.Not only would he do his homework well in any plight he worked on, his Malay was also perfect (in one event we organised with Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya dengan yang *Dipertua who I was also in awe of..sapa ke namanya...he's a big man in Penang after he left Selangor.Tak tau la ada lagi kat Penang ke tak.If not...jumpa Jeff lagi.Hahaha, what a fate!Anyway, in that event with Yang DiPertua, Jeff recited a Malay poem which had this line "biarlah aku berkelana..." or something to that effect.Wahlau, impressive! His fav. kuih is tepung pelita which he'd look for, every Ramadan at our local Ramadan food bazaar.)

Anyway, his write-up on Arif Shah can be read here http://www.jeffooi.com/

* Nama Yang Dipertua itu ialah Dato' Ahmad Fuad Ismail (he got Datoship after I left USJ).Another worker.I liked him a lot! Dia dan Jeff Ooi setanding!

Mother of All Reunions

Ivy and Allen who flew home from LA to join the fun

from left: wati, kim, aida, me, shimah and norida (who got 'feelings' to sing as an entry for our karaoke competition)

shamni and christine, looking glamorous

another happy couple who flew from Oregon, Kim and Steve

at the registration counter.Kai Chong has projects everywhere (the Curve was his)

vacuum, pak, jangan tak vacuum

Finally, the mother of all reunions which was planned for 2 years came to reality last night.

What a night!

Despite all the plannings (mostly done over the net via our mailing list), we still experienced last minute alarm and panic. We should have checked out the layout of the venue earlier.Luckily I went early cos' Peter Yong (a millionaire by day, in charge of technical stuffs) said he'd be there by 4 pm to check the sound system for our multimedia presentation and karaoke competition.So as the chairperson of the event, I had to come early to oversee stuffs. By 5 pm, Peter had not shown up. When I rang him up, he said he was still testing the system at home and would be there in 30 mins.I went oh oh..if the system failed, we didn't have any plan B.Or C. Or Z.

But it was good I was already there.I had to supervise the cleaners to properly clean up the hall (the previous event left it in a messy state and the cleaners did not bother to vacuum up).Then I realised we needed to do some touch up on the decor.A few phone calls here and there to buy rose petals, candles etc.

Then the comm came and we decorated the place. CEOs tak CEOs, Chairman tak Chairman. All were instructed to help out.Hee hee.It looked and felt like a wedding place in the end. :)))

As people poured in (some we didn't recognise, those who we did -- got screamings and huggings from us), the level of noise and excitements were beyond description. I am glad it was as planned.Alhamdulillah! Ivy and Kim and their spouses came and they said they enjoyed the do as much as I did. Allen and Steve (who flew from the US, for their wives) were judges for the karaoke competition (and Kim had whispered to her husband to give extra marks for our group/table when we sang 'Feelings'.Hahaha.But we didn't win)

I think the Reunion was timely.Outside us, in the morning, a peaceful street demo took place in protest of the way Bar Council handled its forum on Muslim conversion (this is how I read it.The protest to me is not against the topic of the forum but the bias Bar Council had in organising the forum). Had it been held at a neutral venue, organised by a neutral body, the dialogue might have worked.But I do not understand why the few experiences of non-Muslims who had a bad deal with bad Muslims could be used as a basis to create an uproar on Muslim conversion. They should also have invited Muslim converts who had good experiences to give a balanced perspective on the issue.Definitely we have issues and problems to settle but by setting an agenda to serve a certain quarter of the population is not ethical, methinks.One must be mindful of the sensitivity of 60% of the population.We can dialogue but means of the doing it must be well considered.

So last nite amidst what went on on the streets, my school reunion may have represented the ideal life of what Msia should be (or what it was before).I grew up with a very mixed group of friends in the 70s and 80s.We were colour blind. Last nite we celebrated this although the country may have changed and if left unguarded, would have taken all of us on a different route.I think the ordinary people like my friends and I have no problem with each other.And I pray it is people like us who will hold the country together.

More pics at this link (thanks to Ricky): http://www.freewebs.com/mahmud80/apps/photos/.

Someone who went through the pics spotted a ghost's hand (trying to eat kacang Sempalit?) in Pic no. 4.The arm is transparent! Don't view this if you live alone and it's midnite!

August

It's our merdeka month.I almost forgot about this.It has been very hectic since the start of August.Suddenly the uni is swamped by so many conferences, half day seminars, exotic guest speakers (by this I also mean John Esposito whose talk I missed today cos' I had opted for the half day seminar on Msian Foreign Policies by academics from IKON, UKM; UM and ISIS)

Our IKON rep. gave a promising start but towards the end he sounded very preachy, almost like an MIC politician, talking about how the 40% minority must be respected and considered (wei..I thought we were talking about FOREIGN policies Not domestic problems) Habis isu HINDRAF dia bawak masuk then issue temple.Lepas jawab 2-3 questions, cepat2 cabut.I wanted to raise an issue. But his discussant, Dr. Stephen yang kena (dia pun sama raised isu Islamic State tak Statenya). He said Msia is not an Islamic State and should it be one, what would be the issues surrounding it.He said it's impossible that it would work (look at Saudi, Iran, Pakistan kata dia) Aik? For someone who should know what foreign policies are about, tiba2 so undiplomatic naming those countries as failures...(based on whose judgment? western media?) Prof Dato' Bakar of UM gave his input.He made sense! He said the same thing..do not be fooled by definitions given by the western media.How do we judge the success of a country? By dollar and cent? (ini tambahan I selepas I discussed with Nik.Haha.This is Nik's input: he said how is it the world could accept Islamic econ. system/Islamic Financial system but not its legal system, etc.Is success only to be measured by dollar and cent, he argued.Boleh tahan!)

Anyway, at lunch with Dato' Bakar and Dr. Stephen, kita sambung lagi.Best juga open discussion macam ni. I had raised during the talk why is it when it comes to talking about Islam and Muslims in Msia, the non-Muslims often have a certain kinda prejudice, often NOT fully supported by scholarly arguments..they are always opinionated and non-scholarly.Is it fair to compare Msia with Saudi, Pakistan or Iran? Our history is different.Our culture and population makeup is also different.And how can anyone argue that an Islamic State is impossible in Msia.IF (or when...hahaha) PAS wins the next elections..apo nak dikato? Better psyche yourself up, bro. Also, why do we associate Islam as a religion or a system which favours Muslims only.Read the history of Islamic cities (Medina is a good example).Learn how non-Muslim minorities were protected..they lived in the inner circle of the city and then only the Muslims, outside this privileged circle...

Toshihiko Izutsu

I was busy eavesdropping this seminar on Japanese scholar/thinker/philosopher/linguist Toshihiko Izutsu, organised by friends in IRK.He's the first Japanese who translated Quran to Japanese (he had a degree in English Lit but spent some time in Iran studying sufism, philosophy etc).I went cos' I was curious (tinggal kerja opis kejap).What had he said/written which past Muslim scholars had not said that deserved him a conference dedicated to him alone? Pelik juga, kan? Someone said it's becos' western schools that do Islamic Studies popularise him as great thinker of Islamic Studies.It's a brand of America's Islam.They decide who to study, etc.But having gone back to my Renaissance class after the seminar, etc, I could relate to Izutsu's sensibility/debates & discussions raised at the conference esp. about concept of man, philosophy, position of knowledge, language and the use/abuse of it. I guess I learned lots esp in my discussions with colleagues of the field.

Tak jumpa cari budak yang touched and went on the concept of man during jahiliah.I thought that concept fit in Renaissance's definition of man.Does this mean Renaissance values were actually jahiliah's? My mental bulb lit up at this! Would like to read more on this topic (concept of man during the jahiliah's period).

Tonight I will dine with Nura who I have not seen since 1993 (semalam sibuk kat Istana Hotel at the Corporate Dinner.I thot Muhyideen Yassin was boring ..dok persembah Financial Report buat apa? Duit banyak trillion2 pun bukan dapat ke rakyat biasa macam kami.And we are not Permatang Pauh voters.Tak payah nak impress lah how well the country did.I was hoping that he'd give some inspiring talk on how to build this city again)

Kaki bodek pun ramai (they did an Olympics gimmick on him..tiba2 nak announce how well he did as Sports Minister..apa ke jadah...what is the relationship between that and the event?)

Hare Mai Waikato

with some people from NZ High Comm, Uni of Waikato and local private institutions

Profs Maya David (UM) and McLellan (who speaks fluent Malay, having lived in Brunei for 17 years.He's British, now teaching at Waikato)

Where I learned to be independent

Waikato River

(kalau summer, banyak water skiing/cruises here.We rented a motel by the river 4 years ago.Ahh..nostalgic nya)

Jangan marah, folks but this evening witnessed another get together with friends of yonder years at the Royal Lake Club (dinner was salmon sebesar one whole chicken.Nak termuntah I makan.Could not finish up.Tak sedap).I was there cos' visitors from my alma mater in New Zealand (er..I have 4 alma maters, harap maaf di atas segala confusion) came to town.

Unfortunately I was the only alumnus invited cos' the rest could not come at a short notice (some I rang at 6.30 am soonest I hear from Ir. Yong that I could invite other alumni.Bagus betul kerja dia bagi short notice macam tu). Nura Che Din who thought someone died when I called so early said she just got discharged from SJMC (alamak!). Badri mungkin terlalu sibuk with his work at Ericsson. Epah langsung tak jawab phone. Zurina too. Campak je handphones tu ke Sungai Klang weh kalau tak mau guna.

Anyway, I had a good time (the social animal I am). At least the Kiwis are much more sociable compared to the Ozzies (except for Geoff). Lawak juga depa ni. Two of them were saying how the role of parents is now reversed.Uri, yang dari NZ High Comm tu kampong dia di Masterton! What a small world!

He said the trend is now parents leave home to live abroad and their kids telling them to be careful living in strange countries. Their kids are sad to see them go cos' their babysitters are now gone.But ada juga anak2 yang so encouraging cos' it'd mean free holidays abroad and a stopover to places they wanna go e.g. Nepal, Cambodia etc. Can cut costs.Lawak betul.

I went back to NZ about 4 years ago after I left it in 1986. It has changed so much but the family and I loved it.Rasa nak visit balik but the truth is, I don't even have time to go holidaying in Malaysia.

Anwar di Permatang Pauh

she has inspired many women

Dato' Seri in action

still a family woman

Wahlau!

I usually don't like writing political commentaries (esp. on Malaysian politics yang amat memalukan! A colleague at lunch, was telling me how embarassed she was travelling abroad now and got asked about current issues at home.Sodomy is definitely not something you want to discuss in your conference room.She said sekarang dah ada mee segera called sodomee.Yuks! I will not be able to enjoy my maggi mee now).

I feel for Dato' Seri Dr. Wan Azizah. It is true that we'll know who our real friends are when we are in trouble.Online, I also observe who her real friends are. Kalau on blogs cakap gedebak gedebuk kami sokong, kami sanggup berkorban.But at the same time question why must MY seat be sacrificed (kalau nak bagi, bagi je dengan ikhlas.Tak payah nak hint2 penyokong tak suka etc.Kalau tak nak bagi, cakap je terus terang tak boleh.No need to be like a good samaritan, beritau satu dunia ini pengorbanan ku) Tak perlu nak tanya why not AI's wife.Why not AI's daughter.Real getik.If there's anything which I hate, it's inconsistency.And hypocrisy.

I had hoped that Dato' Seri Dr. Wan Azizah would stay in politics long enough for her to be our first woman PM.Nampaknya harapan meleset.But I will keep praying for her well-being.Allah will protect her.Only God knows what level of patience she has gone through.Kalau I jadi dia, dah lama AI kena fasakh. Bezanya wanita berhati mulia and one who is not. :)

Meanwhile, al-fatihah to Syed Othman Kelantan who passed away last night. To SM Zakir, takziah.Semoga bersabar di atas kehilangan ini.

Exciting days ahead!

fireworks in Putrajaya

If you are an IIUM alumnus, we have exciting progs for you in the coming months (apart from German youths playing baroque music in Oct).

We need IIUM staff/alumni/immediate family members to register as hosts to IIUM foreign students (as well as those who live far away from KL e.g. Sabah/Sarawak) for:

1.iftar (a day of berbuka puasa in Ramadan)
2. raya (Jom Balik Raya prog)

If you are or know of any IIUM alumni/IIUM staff who might be interested in these two progs (handled by ISD and ACSD), please email norazilee at iiu.edu.my or call him at 03 6196 4023.

Meanwhile, have a look at this homestay in Selangor.If you know of any others in your area, please let us know as well.

http://www.doranihomestay.blogspot.com/

PAS, Our Choice

I'm going to be naughty today.But serious.

I've been going through a few blogs and my quick assessment is this: PAS is the choice of many young intellectual/professional Muslims in Malaysia (and outside). Yayyyy!!!!

My Prof friend from NUS (who is visiting IIUM for a month) has a very interesting observation of PAS too.Met up with him today (his first day) and we spoke about current politics (except topics on Batu Putih).

Prof T is older than Spore itself and was part of the making of Spore as a nation.As a prominent scholar who has been and seen a lot, he shares with me the future of PAS, post 2008 elections. He was in KB, he said. He'd accidentally given a taxi driver a RM50 note (for a RM3 fare or something). The man returned it back to him.Prof T was so touched he wanted to give more.The man refused, saying he takes only what he deserves (or what the meter says).Wow! But Prof T (a non-Muslim) went to a supermarket and bought him stuffs which he insisted the man accept as gifts.

Itulah bezanya pemandu KL and KB although I have met very nice KL taxi drivers before.Yang tamak pun ramai esp. depan KLCC.They only take foreign passengers so that they can earn close to RM100 per trip (or more).Despite complaints in local media, the powers that be buat blur juga. This would explain why there are still so many cars in city centre despite the petrol hike.

Anyway, I think PAS, with its continuous recruitment of young, talented, intelligent, trustworthy (sometimes handsome) leaders, will go a long way. I think they have candidates who are committed Muslims who graduated from good unis in the world (Cambridge? Oxford? Melbourne?) and hence, are streetwise with so many things. Way to go, PAS!

Chatting with an epicurist

Abe at the Dept.

Life is full of surprises.Today, a total stranger walked into my life (via telephone). I thought he was a spy.Hahaha. Would not you if a total stranger called you up and knew so much about you (the truth was, he had spoken to my Boss who gave him my contacts! Kelakar?). Abe is from South California. Originally from Romania (but born in the USA).

After 2 hours' chat on the phone (and a character check on the net), Abe came across as a genuine travel writer (focusing on gourmet).Tapi soalan2 dia memang menyangsikan.Apa ke jadah tanya pasal Islam, Muslims in Msia and Indonesia, Msian identity, etc. But then again I thought it's good to engage in a discussion like this.Lebih baik dengar dari Muslims sendiri than have Islam defined by others.So we enjoyed talking to each other.Ada masa I 'katuk' dia balik dengan stereotypical perceptions dia. Anyway, I promised to give him a recipe I discovered in Melaka (masak utk 46 people,dengan bahan2 yang mudah dicari in the west, he said) Whaaaat??? Masak utk sorang pun no time! But resipe ketam black pepper senang nak buat.I had tried it and it tasted good. :)) Will I be famous? Nak ambik gambar ke Abe? Hahaha. Ada kamera, jadik! :)) Just kidding. But my Dept will invite him to speak to our students and help inspire them to be writers (macam dia). He'll be in KL for another 2 weeks.

Something on Abe, taken (without permission) from http://katinkalot.wordpress.com/2008/06/:

Abe Opincar’s Fried Butter is not the first food memoir but came 5 years before Eat, Pray, Love and other books that heightened the status of food. While Opincar may not be writing of long lost love or soul searching as openly as other authors do, his writing is refreshing. He does not whine. He appreciates his life and all of its obstacles. He pines for the sadness in life over the happiness because that is where he grew the most. His writing is not just a story of his life. Opincar intertwines a history of food. Each chapter is about a dish or an ingredient. He explains the history of items while revealing a story of himself. He does not seem to be longing for anything in life. Except for the ingredients and the memories attached to each.
Opincar’s story is not riveting or a page-turner because of suspense or compassion. Instead, his stories provide the reader with something they can relate to. Turning the page means learning more about oneself than about Opincar.
I especially appreciate Opincar’s stories because he is Jewish and he inserts anecdotes that I can appreciate. He picks up the Jewish relationship between spirituality and food.
I do not recommend Fried Butter for people looking for a good memoir of life and adventure. I do recommend it for people who appreciate food for its history, the memories it creates, for the emotion and for food itself. It is a simple story of a man who has seen the world but holds all his memories in ingredients not in material items or places. I particularly like the chapter on turmeric and how you can use replacements for ingredients in recipes but somehow it is not like the real thing. There are certain things in life that you can have replacements of and never know that it is different from the real thing until you have the real one.

One of my favorite quotes: “Either there is a G-d, of Judaism is the cruelest joke that’s ever been pulled on any people in the history of the world!” (123).

'Teh Tarik' , a poem by Francis Tanglao-Aguas

Francis, posing at 3 am

teh tarik

All night long we chatted, souls exposed, spirits ablaze.

Arts, sodomy, democracy. Who thought they could be uttered in the same breath.

Yet there we were, at 3am, impassioned yet cautious, free yet not

so much.
(How Asian, no?)

Another cup, another deliberate yet gentle passing of milk

and sugar tea between

two cups awaits us.

Our conversations are like that tea that flows from these two cups
--flowing, fragile, and free, at least while in transit between the
cups that.

Our thoughts, our art while delicious like teh tarik, are
uncontainable.

They will always linger in between two cups,
always visible,
always mid flight, always free.

*footnote: Francis wrote this poem for friends he met at the Fringe Festival

MSSR Reunion 2008 (Batch 1980)

Wheeeyyyy...it's so close to the D-day.We have been planning this for 2 years, online.For the last couple of months (since Andrew migrated to Australia and me, busy with my new job), the mailing list has been pretty quiet. We met twice this year and got pretty confident that things were under control then wham bang! Yesterday everyone started to feel panicky.Have we done this? That? Confirmed this, that?

Wheeeyyyyy....here we go down the roller coaster...

Ivy has arrived from California.Kim is on her way from Canada. Andrew may, may not return (when all this was HIS idea! Memang dia nak kena cekik..conveniently passing the chairmanship to me!). Ai Girl who was pretty sure she could join us 2 years ago is now in Munich.No go.

I have gotten Shukeri to help out with the multimedia presentation.Jenoh la dia nak incorporate Streisand's song in the cd I gave him.

Sharida, if you are reading this: make that trip to KL!
Whatever it is, it's supposed to be an evening out with old (very old) friends.So, apa nak jadi, jadilah.We are just out to have fun.

Breathe in, ouuuuutttttt...in...outttt.

Melaka Retreat

Melaka river cruise

a selection of fish to be grilled

Melaka has become too touristic and too commercialised.There's nothing wrong with being both but I wish it had happened in a more natural way and not too fast. I miss the old Melaka of the late 80s when I had a 3-month stint, living in Melaka. The old country road is now shadowed by the highway but I made an effort to drive the old country road, passing Perigi Hang Tuah and enjoying old Melakan homes with colourful tiled tangga.

In the city..wahlau..not one shopping mall but two...ada noisy concert lagi on roof-top of the mall.Very da canggih mah.So this is how we shape the future generation? Galakkan budaya lepak melepak? Budaya obese? Makan non stop.Budaya menuju arah bebas sex? Bagi mereka ruang untuk belajar merokok at a very early age?

I took a walk on Jonker Street and loved the scene of cruises on the river.Was tempted to join one but at the sight of air yang macam longkang busuk, I changed my mind (what if I fell down? Yuks!) Kerajaan Melaka patut buat macam Boston yang spent lotsa money cleaning up its waterfront sampai nampak reflection langit biru in their waters.

At least the ikan bakar culture is stilll alive.They have better housing now.I still enjoyed my ikan/sotong/ketam bakar with nasi lemak.Tak peduli lah if the restaurant isn't as exotic as the old days (from which we could see the perahu man deliver his fresh catch to our ikan bakar cook)

I did something fantastic: I drove all the way from KL to Melaka for the first time in my life (Nik had to be in KB with his family over some family matters for the weekend). Anyway, I had to plead with May to temankan I though.Takut mengantuk. :)) She drove back half way cos' I wanted to catch some sleep (no rest since I got back from the UK). Memang ada rasa nak mampos penatnya.

The office did good at completing the framework for Balanced Scorecard and setting our KPIs.Dr. June is a god-send and had guided us a lot in this. She's so funny too.The challenge is HOW are we gonna deliver.

I think it's gonna be busy months ahead us.

The debat

I got home just in time to catch the debat.

Kita bangga it took place.Syabas to all. Masih ada courage and civility in town.
It's OK if Anwar looked like he borrowed his coat from someone (one size bigger) or that Shabery foamed in the mouth.They should have done some touch up la sikit, kan? Or give both a glass of water.

Byk org kata they didn't solve issues. Sejak bila debat solve issues? Or sejak bila politics can solve issues? (Dato Ti will bersilat on this kejap lagi). :)

Anyway, keterbukaan macam ini is much welcome.We are here NOT to judge personalities but to focus on issues or non-issues.

Can we have Dr M and Karpal Singh next?

Cambridge

Me on a punting tour. A nice break

Punting on River Camb

Suami Chanita, Tomas (he's Swede), who took time off to show me Cambridge Uni.

By River Camb (masa ni Chanita and I went for a walk)

I took this pic cos' I liked the fountain in the middle

Entah lah apa nama College ni but part of Cambridge Uni.

Rasa-rasa part of St. John's College

My Thai friend, Chanita (dulu a librarian at Cornell but now works at a hospital in Cambridge)

I better write down my thoughts while they are still fresh.

Chanita had to go to work after we sent Lina to sch. Then Tomas showed me where he worked (St. John's College).Very English but the new building (built in 1970s) was ugly.Then I took a punting tour on River Camb.Nice.Our punter was funny but some tall tales about a lot of things on the uni and the town itself (temberang kuat! I heard more authentic stuffs from Tomas esp. about the cows on campus)

Anyway, Tomas brought me to his College lunch.Wough....they do this everyday (served!) and I sat next to the College Master (some Prof in Biochem). The fruit dessert included a bowl of dates. Pelik juga orang putih makan kurma. I suppose their scientists have figured out khasiat kurma. Bukan kurma cikai.Besar dan tak manis.

After lunch, it's tea or coffee, served in a different room.Many old and famous Profs here.I think it's a great idea to eat with your colleagues and discuss great ideas on a regular basis.Back at IIUM, we only get to discuss great ideas when we meet in the Ladies masa ambik air semayang.Sometimes research projects are born there, ideas to organise conferences, etc. Imagine if we have proper lunch together on daily basis! UM has its own Rumah Universiti where academics socialise and discuss impt issues over lunch/dinner etc. At Flinders (my other alma mater), we have a proper restaurant (meant only for academics and their guests.I remember being asked if I wanted kangaroo meat for lunch one day)

It may be a while to travel this way again now that UK gomen gatal nak impose visas on us pulak.Only if Z gets to study here that I'll take the trouble to come this way again.Tomas kata budak2 Cambridge ni tak macam budak2 Cornell where they read in advance and the class would have good discussions.Sini..budak2 malas (accordimg to my punter, kerjanya nak mengabehkan duit mak bapak, drink and chase gals.The gals chase the boys back).And they don't have to submit their essays (they only discuss with their Fellows 2-3 times but essay writing is like every week! Budak2 IIUM will not be able to handle that!). Exams are 100% (3 questions, 3 hours).Yikes! Senangnya hidup macam ni. But this should explain KJ too, dak? Heh heh.

English postcards

ah..English roses...

Duaa, a PhD candidate from Egypt.She showed me halal restaurants in Leicester (banyak.They even had Islamic Banking there.A strong presence of Muslim population, second after Bradford, I think)

Emma, giving her thank you speech

Prof Carole Davies is from Cornell (far right).Anak dia model kat NYC.

Anne and Umeru are from Manchester

At the conference lunch before the fire drill

Part of Leicester Uni. campus

This UK trip is like returning home (sadly, I have no time to visit my alma mater in Liverpool) as I travelled on the train past so many meadows, farms, seeing horses, cattle, swans, ducks and boathouses on the river.

Seeing Chanita again is great.We cooked, walked along River Camb and met this couple who lived in Tanzania but moved to live in Cambridge for almost 40 years now. Chanita and I then went out eating Jap. food and sat in the cafe, reminiscing our Ithaca days and catching up with news and all.Maria and her got to be friends over the phone and I am happy for both. :)

The conference in Leicester went well.The uni. was a beautiful one. Lotsa green and roses.Very comfortable student hall.But the friends I made...woooooooooo...seronok.Some people came up to me and told me my paper (on Kahf) was inspiring but I'm surprised how Freud is still fashionable here.Got cornered by psychoanalysis talk.I don't buy those crap.I think it can be culturally incompatible.

Greetings from London

At Satay House in Paddington with my sis in law and her son (they were in town on a 3-week holiday)

Leicester Square where we watched Mamma Mia, the movie

Maria with her orchids

Maria's better half, Pete, at their allotment

I like this concept of bumi hijau. Each household tends to their own kebun sayur, rented out from the city council at a very low fee

Playing Queen at the Windsor Castle.

(pengapit beta orang putih)

It was quite a bumpy flight esp. over Bengal Bay.But in general it was a good flight on MAS.Met a couple from Australia (the hubby was Scottish).

Shanta and Pete picked me up from Heathrow.It rained a bit.Nice couple and nice place and nice English garden! I'll post a pic in a bit.

We didn't waste much time...went to West End to catch Chicago but tickets were sold out so we went to catch Mamma Mia the movie, also at West End.Meryl Streep could sing (she was in theatre before she got into movies) but Pierce Brosnan...gawd..it's hilarious.Imagine James Bond singing ABBA songs! Kelakar gila.But the movie is definitely better than the play.

OK folks, jangan marah.We are going to Windsor Castle..to shop (books!) and do the castle thingy.