Wedding no. 2

 the first table we were at before Jonson, bapa pengantin, told us our table was

elsewhere (kita dah siap 3-4 courses dah! The new table had a better view)

 this wedding was very inclusive.All the cousins performed

 another dance item by cousins

 I guess they were friends of the bride/groom.Some flew from NYC

and London (biasalah,kan?)

 Jon doing his Man Bai's "Kau Ilham Ku", later joined by his

cousins/siblings

 Jon doing an English number with his best man (his younger bro) and sister

 I liked this number.Jon and Aruna doing a variety of dance performances.Jon good at twisting

and breakdancing.They even did an inang! (and a Chinese dance)

 Band Filipino which I tak berapa gemor but they had nice vocals

and some songs were irresistible. :)

Dah start dah...here, doing the gangnam

Our second wedding during this sch holiday was held at a hotel downtown.An Indian Xtian one.Bising mcm concert.Reggae live band from Manila ke hapa.Bkn utk org tua mcm Nik and I!But the bride and groom were so comey and charming.I got interested when both took to the stage and danced! Lawak giler.Then the groom started to sing for his beautiful and bubbly wife.Dia pilih lagu melayu by Man Bai.The Filipino singer said, "Strangely, he chose a Malay song."
Amboi! Kalau Kak Pah ada, she'd say..lajaknya dia!  :)) Jon brought the whole crowd singing Man Bai.Sungguh 1Malaysia.The crowd was 90% Indian.When Jon and Aruna came to our table, I told Jon, "Your Man Bai song was great." Kita tunjuk thumbs up kita sama2.Comey.

I was told the soft launch was on TV Hijrah at the 8 pm news.I missed sebab sibuk berconcert kat the wedding. Lama2 kita semua started to geleng2, hanggok2.The music was irresistible.:))

IWFF 2013's soft launch

 The ladies who were responsible for the launch station

(habis bunga I kena gunting! Haha) Thank you Dr Riza (middle)

Zara (left) and Has (right)

 The setting before the arrival of guests (thanks Zurina and

Corp Comm team, headed by Dr Baha)

 My orang kuat Zul (who was still up at 4 am doing

final touchups with Jeff)

Thank you, Zul!

 Bunting by ZI Production (Thank you Jeff and Datuk!)

 MC (Thank you Dr. Aida)

 Backdrop

 IIUM's Rector, President and FDAM Prez, Datuk Othman Hafsham

 The film preview

 keluar, kot?

 There will be many more late nites after this

(this was taken one senja after IWFF work)

Ta-da..orang2 di belakang soft launch kita hari ini

Syukur alhamdulillah, the long awaited, much delayed soft launch of Islamic World Film Festival 2013 (IWFF 2013) was done today dengan penuh kesederhanaan but meriah.

Some pics (more will come later) There was a press conference (yours truly pun menyelit la juga,kan? Datuk Othman Hafsham was there as well.There were other big names tapi tak hafal nama mereka semua.Reps from the embassies pun ada, media..fulamak...(must be the combination of Corp Comm and Datuk ZI's networks..Datuk ZI brought another Datuk in charge of PC and the other Datuk Zul inilah yang jadi prompter-nya..who started and ended the pc..wough..meriah, OK?)

I must thank Aji Kitul for the initial collection of films.We did use some of these movies in our 12 mins preview of some of the best films by Muslim film makers.But the whole format has taken a different shape now (we have to abandon the key concept of the initial proposal - also done by the IIUM team. The festival now has a life of its own...it seems to go where we never foresaw it going.I guess setiap sesuatu itu ada takdirnya.We are mere players).I must thank alumnus Shamsul for his important role in connecting me with his good friend, Datuk ZI and Nik's close friend,Rohiman for his friend, Mart.I will not forget the earlier support from my FDAM friends Azrain,Syed,Jamil,Kamal and later En. Rahim.OK, ini bukan lagi Malam Anugerah yah? I should not go I wish to thank my mother, my aruah father, etc etc...Kerja byk lagi nak buat nih!

The media were wonderful at pc.Al Hijrah, Awani, Bernama, Utusan, Kuwait News, were all there.Al Jazeera will come later (dah janji)

It is really hard work from now on.We had promised many things at the pc.Time to deliver now.Please make your doa.This is just not for IIUM but for Msia, SEAsia and the ummah.May God make it easy for us.

Ma'thurat 28

"Glory be to Allah, and all praise is due to Him as much as the number of His creation, and as much as befits Himself, and as much as the weight of His throne, and as much as the ink needed to record His words"


Too many meetings this month.There was one in the morning which I was not aware of! I joined a bit later and it was nice buat kecoh with the rest of the Kull Profs. :)) We came out with more tasks...the trick is, said Prof Moten, is not to open your (loud) mouth.I said => I learnt it from you.Ahaks.But I think we'd have a good system going if what we'd proposed to do is delivered.I'd be working on something which I would enjoy doing.The trick is when you wanna open your loud mouth, make sure you say something which will work well with you. :)

The clan's (my side) going to Spore this weekend.I have to stay back for my social events: weddings, launches, kenduris.

Record breaking!

I had never worked so hard and so late like tonight.Just got home from a meeting (Great Eastern Mall -- there would always be a new face at every meeting.Kali ni Datuk's brother.I think we were all on the same page, alhamdulillah)

We got a lot more done this evening.Mart just got back from Cambodia, flu and all.Jeff took the cake, rushing from Putrajaya, all committed.I love working with this group.I have never seen so much enthusiasm,commitment, selflessness.Semoga terus mendapat petunjuk Allah dan diberi bimbingan.

Nik should be home tomorrow.Rang me up about NEET...Not in Education, Employment or Training.Zul was just talking about it earlier so I had a nice discussion on this.It can be a worrying trend if it ain't productive or contributive to the society.

Sambung bsk.

Ma'thurat 27

"I am pleased with Allah as my Lord, and with Islam as my religion, and with Muhammad as Apostle and Messenger of Allah"

Official chauffeur of the day

I guess it was my last stint for this week..playing host to friends from abroad.I guess Dipika is the last to leave. She's such a joy to be with.Her debut novel Thunder Demons is impressive.I could relate to it.Non-pretentious indeed.But I haven't really read cover to cover.What little I saw/read was good. A well-researched novel.Reminds me of Suchen Lim's work.

We then (Quayum, Dipika and I) lunched at Kak Leha's restaurant.Quayum belanja.Weiii..syukur di atas rezeki but both Dipika and I agreed we over-ate (the spread was superb).The talk was most useful (on writing to be published). On my way driving her home, we decided to stop at the Curve to shop. :) But I left early. Penat meeting after meeting after meeting. My fav hair salon and my spa centre habis tutup.I do not know for good or for renovation (I was told the hair salon's closedown would be temporary and the spa centre next door might be so too.I hope! My package money masih beratus2 ringgit lagi tak pakai).Business can't be that bad but lots of shops have shut down.

Ma'thurat 26

"O My Lord, all praise is due to You as befits the majesty of your countenance and greatness of Your power."


In between entertaining guests and meetings.The D-day is Friday.Watch this space.

Ma'thurat 25

"O Allah, whatever grace I get in the morning (or afternoon), or any of your creatures gets, it is from You alone.There is no partner with You.All praise is due to You and You alone is gratitude due."

What a week that was! In between the joy of seeing old friends again and the ugly pictures of war/genocide of the Palestinians, I guess I should be thankful to Allah that I do get the opportunity to try refine my being.Whatever it means lah, kan? What is important is that we get or try to be better as a person each day.

In case you guys have not donated for the Gaza cause, Viva Palestina Malaysia's Maybank account is 5643 2460 1324

Don't even think of packing your kain2 baju buruk/selimut2 busuk (kita org Malaysia suka buat kerja macam ni..bila ada call for disaster areas, mula la kasi baju2 buruk sebab nak spring clean our home.Orang MERCY kata kadang2 dapat seluar dalam koyak lah.Tak senonoh!)  cos' it's easier to send money to them (they will get their stuffs from negara2 jiran..tak boleh sebut yang mana di sini..nanti kena serang oleh Israel jahanam)

Remember to give generously.Zaman Rasulullah dulu, people bergolok gadai to kembangkan syiar Islam sampai mati pun papa.

KL Art Scene

 Kimball talking to the audience at Sutra

 He plays for friends, salon style

 

 Local talent, Mano Maniam doing a Salleh ben Junid (I think)

I arrived midway

 Satay Station near the Istana Budaya sedap gila

 

It can be pretty interesting, actually if the community is all wired.

We were at Kimball's performance at Sutra.We arrived like 30 mins late, missing some of the best stunts by local artists.Mano Maniam was doing his bit, diiringi muzik piano K.
The last number by K was electrifying but very intense in parts.Bkn music tapi bising.But when he moved to a gentler and more lyrical pieces..haiyooo..mcm Richard Clydermanlah pulak.

Met Dipika and other musicians/artists termasuk Sabeera. A new friend Syahidah wanted to invite me to her event next week.A glass-maker from the UK ke stg nak dtg.Tak silap I lah, she said a glass-maker.Ahaks.

Pics from this evening's do will be posted later.

Old friends

good friends from NZ days (30 years down the road)

 group pic with students and colleagues

Dinner with Jai at Marche

 It's not cheap, OK Phil?

 The Kiwi CFO doing his bit to promote NZ

eating nasi lemak Mok Ku yang sgt sedap

Spent all day with guest speaker Philip and dined out with him and Jai.Nik could not join us. Again, cerita hantu.Jai was such a good storyteller.P and I kaki menjeritnya. :))

But it was indeed a lovely time getting together after almost 30 years.P's talk was well-received.For a stock exchange man, he has a great sense of humour and the students asked many good questions.

Will post pics later.Long day for me. But recharged. :)

Weddings

 With Puan Zaiton of DBP

  We were the runners-up (of the self-proclaimed best couple award)

The Couple of the Year Award went to Datuk and Datin!

 friends meeting friends

 nope, she didn't sing

 Dato' Hattan sang,

right infront of my table

The baby of the group

It's that time of the year.Our first was a while ago.I loved the wedding concept...open space, informal.Many familiar faces.Food was great.

Byk media people/artists but since I don't watch much TV, I didn't really know who they were except the old ones like Dato' Hattan and Dato' Siti Nurhaliza and hubby Datuk K.

Salon culture in KL

 the art gallery

 Kimball before a painting at the dining area

 part of the gorgeous garden

 mangkok nasi mcm mak's

 the airy dining overlooking the stage and pond

 Ramli suka sangat daun layu ni (for its colour)

 I was mesmerised by these payung raja lama

two artists in conversation at lunch

Was all afternoon with guest pianist Kimball Gallagher.Nik was kind enough to pick him up from LCCT ngok.Amin could not find anyone as everyone's busy preparing the location at ISTAC.

From there we dropped him off at Ramli's plc.Ramli, being the gracious person he was, invited us over for a simple lunch.Except it was not simple at all.Rumah Ramli ni mcm Sutra juga but Ramli said you are like any other mat salleh...everything looks the same for you.Kamaria is not, he insisted.Ahaks.I guess not as I did the home tour.It's like a boutique hotel.In Bali.He did his own landscape.Rumah mak dia which he renovated after she passed away.I'll post some pics after the wedding mlm ni or bsk if I get too lazy to do it.

Ramli ni lawak gila.I love his story about him keeping safe his mom's jewelleries.Then his two sisters went to him after some years ke hapa and said, OK now Ramli...where is it? We have looked everywhere...(I just had to laugh out loud as he told us the story).Pinggan mangkok makan dia (inherited from the mom) reminded me of mak's old as well.So exotic.So precious.

Lepas tu kita cerita pasal pythons..Rosli found a baby python on Anna's bed at Rumah University a day before she arrived and checked in.Rosli punya bagus told her about it that Anna would check the room inside out every time she retired to her room.But she said she was more afraid of the monkeys than the python.

Then Ramli cerita pasal python in his oven when he was living in Sg. Pencala.A 12 feet one.I just went yikes! Lepas tu drove over to ISTAC.Kimball spoke on his music and the salon culture he often promoted.That's how it began, anyway.I'll write more later. Gotta be ready for the wedding.

Maal Hijrah

The surau had a special solat hajat and also maal hijrah talk.Not that good but the gist was not so bad.Basically Hijrah means berkorban.Berkorban everything for Allah.Ustaz said to maafkan everyone and that to doa tingkatkan iman kita semua.

The rambutans served were good. That made my new year meaningful.

Selamat tahun baru Hijrah, everyone. Let's hope we can do more good this year.

Ma'thurat 24

Ma'thurat, kita jangan lupa:

"O Allah, we are now in the morning (or afternoon) with grace, health and protection from You.So continue to bestow Your grace, health and protection upon me in this world and Hereafter"

Selamat menyambut Awal Muharram.Kita harap kita semua berubah menjadi insan yang diredhoi Allah. Saya maafkan semua yang cuba menyakiti saya dan saya juga minta maaf jika blog entries ini memberi ketidak-selesaan kepada mana-mana pihak.But this is my space. Ahaks (nada macam belum tobat!)

Mlm ni surau buat solat special mengakhiri tahun dan memulakan tahun baru Islam.I hope you won't forget too doa akhir/awal tahun.

Of perverts, stalkers and cyberbullies

I was going through some blogs and quite a number of female bloggers complain of the above.This should make an interesting gender studies research.Like rape, some men do not rape for sex..they just want to show dominance and power.Sick, isn't it?

A word of caution..do not trust every normal looking esp. religious looking or religious sounding people esp men out there.For gals/women, do not be overly friendly with any man who offers to do your homework, your children's homework, help with your business projects etc.A male friend once said, men never help for nothing.This is an age of risk.You never know what you'd get.Or what you'd lose.

Be very, very afraid of wolves in sheepskins.

My last entry on perverts, stalkers and cyberbullies.

Footnote: A friend who is an expert on criminal mind/s was saying cyber psychopaths would get their kicks from annoying or rather bullying others online.E-terrorism, yah? They would not stop until perhaps the authorities get them.Your silence will only make them more determined to annoy you further so don't think it will work if you lie low. 

Another tip from the expert: it's best to put these cyber bullies on iggie.

Deepavali update

deepavali at sunway lagoon club

 early arrivals

 more early arrivals



 make way for me, Sir.

 my fav spot of the day: tosei paling sedap

 2 heroes of the country: Mr. FOMCA man and Mr. SUHAKAM man

You can say Diwali or Deepavali.Both also can

As expected, the tosay was good. Without shame, I went for several helpings.I was at the same table with two gentlemen from the Labour Dept.We started talking about employees' rights, equal pay etc ..memang..I ni tak tau nak hormat orang...pilih lah tajuk2 yg deepavali sikit, kan? But bila lagi nak dpt inside stories.In the end, we all had fun talking.You'd be surprised to know that the gomen's decision to have a min pay of RM 900 ditentang oleh company yg besar2 ni..nak minta gomen lanjutkan tempoh implementasi.Terok, kan? RM 900 tu way below world's average pay at USD1500.

I said prob is if gaji naik, barang pun naik..sama juga.Cik Nik kita dgn bijak menyampuk..but kalau gaji tak naik, brg terus naik, worse.Haha..iyalah..iyalah.

Then ada satu lagi joker.An activist (another reason why I like going to Datuk M's annual open house selain tosay yang sedap ialah tetamu2 dia kebanyakannya activists.Tapi lawak).So Mr J ni kwn Nik juga.Nik kata let's say hi to J.I asked where is he from.Nik : Portugal.

So I told J, Nik said you're from Portugal.Pakcik ni kata yes but our ancestors were mainly from Goa.I said are you sure you are not Jewish cos' kat Goa kan byk Jewish settlements dulu2 masa zaman colonial..and saki baki masih ada sekarang.J ketawa kuat2.He said I have an answer to that : who cares.

Haha.

I'll put up the pics later.

Was going through some fb postings on Deepavali (some people are so lucky holidaying in Prague...)...one entry complained for being mistaken for a Hindu.Dia pi hantar kereta nak cuci but was asked tak mau wax ke for raya. Another Hindu fren was asked if he were carrying the kavadi this year.I remember my own blunder last year and another one at raya a few years back.Yg Indian Muslim tu I asked at a seminar held on deepavali eve: so besok Deepavali? He said I don't celebrate, I'm Muslim.Kantoi jahanam!

At a raya puasa open house,I asked 2 Indian looking guests if they ate beef..they said they had no problem.Rupa2nya Indian Muslims.And they were from IIUM too ( different Kulliyyah).Kantoi!

Marriage tip

I was trying to reach out to one of my former students but I wonder if the *^%# stalker hacker is fooling around with my internet connection.I could not get through this fine young woman.

#%^* stalker has been flooding me with improper pics.One reason why this blog was kept to a small circle earlier but I figure...huff and puff, why should I deny the rights of others to read me. Perasanlah sikit mcm ramai readersnya! :)

A, I bumped into your blog and you mentioned about your mom-in-law suggesting that you quit your job and you felt a failure as a wife and mother to your lovely child.I can't discuss it here but do you mind either emailing me or private messaging me on fb? My fb account is my full name.Otherwise email me at Faridah dot Manaf at gmail dot com. Stay happy, gal.

Sibuk di malam raya

Not my rayalah of cos'.Raya kawan2 India I.Tadi tu sorang dah kena kacau masa dia tengah semayang mlm raya dia.Kes sapa nak ambik Kimball balik dari Penang.So I had to call Ramli (Ibrahim) who will be performing with Kimball nanti.K is staying at his plc.Ramli suruh K ambik cab je.But you knowlah our cab macamana.And we have time constraint nak memunggah brg2 si K ni.So I rang up Amin suruh dia carilah sapa2 pi collect K tu.Karang dok kena tipu dgn taxi kita.He said OK.I malas.Too far.Tak suka rushing from one end to the other.Balik tu mungkinlah I can drop him at Ramli's plc.But Amin pun duduk kat PJ on the way to R's plc.I kena memikir nak pick Philip pulak.Dipika pun ada ni.Kimball bumped into her in Spore.Line crony sama. :)) Piccadilly.Gangnam style.
I guess I'd meet her at Sutra's.

I was caught in the jam balik dari meeting kat Great Eastern Mall tadi..finalising our other event.InsyaAllah, I'll post the video clip here soonest it's done.The mall was playing early Xmas songs...apa daa..patut tunggu la Deepavali over dulu.Ain't it early to be singing Xmas? It was raining hard outside so yes, we felt like it's winter too over here.

Selamat bercuti besok for those not celebrating Deepavali.I'd be marking exam scripts and essays.

Ma'thurat 23

An exciting week this week.So many public holidays! To friends celebrating Diwali/Deepavali, have a good one. I'm looking fwd to going to our annual Deepavali's open house (Datuk hapa ke namanya..kawan Nik).Every year, different location.Looking fwd to the tosays, lamb/fish curries and murukus.My neighbour pun usually would buat open house.Ahhh..putu mayam with curries...

Kimball's and Philip's events pun this week.2 weddings to attend and Awal Muharram! Yikes, how time flies.

Ma'thurat, kita jangan lupa:

"We are now in the morning (or afternoon), firm in the natural disposition of Islam and the word of sincere devotion to Allah, and in the religion of our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and in the creed of our Father Ibrahim, the True in Faith and he was not of those who associate partners with Allah"

Losing a sense of shame

I don't usually read Sunday printed newspapers but today, terbaca. On gigolo boys kept by older women.Yup, in KL. Haiyooo..are women too that sex starved these days? The guys (not all)...would go without saying as they keep their bohsia, bohjan etc. - in addition to GROs and bini2 org/single moms yg galak ni.Or tertipu cos' terkena ilmu hitam etc.

In case you missed the news...I find it unbelievable...iyalah..partly I think it's so stupid to do it.Mengabehkan boraih aje.Like this 53 year old woman..with good position, good husband, good kids..she kept what the reporter termed as "anak ikan" ...a term commonly used on young gay boys of older gay men and of late, young gals being sexually used by rich older men.Now the term is well extended to include crazy old women.

So where did we go wrong? (the woman who later on went from one anak ikan to another akhirnya got Aids and she lost everything..her job, her family and her anak2 ikan).

Interestingly there was also a case of a young female doctor who kept a university student.Aiyoo...doctors also? Malay, OK?

Do we blame the technology for easy access to all these? Most of them said they met online.
So are we that deprived as post modern subjects that we have to reach out to strangers for intimacies and fulfilment of sexual needs? Any psychologist will tell you it's not so much the crave for sex..it's some unresolved needs one would have as a child...

Then of cos' later it would become an addiction ( as in the case of the anak ikan..he said he was getting treatment for his sex addiction).

I find it hard to believe that the women are picking up fast the habit. Well, some women. I hope la SOME!

Off to meet my friends now.Enjoy what is left of your weekend.Say No to being an anak ikan or mummy ikan.God is watching us.

Bond tua...

We have to face it...the world now belongs to our children.If you don't believe this, just go and watch the latest Bond movie.Tak sedap langsong! Cos' Bond dah tua.Nak kejar org jahat pun dah mengah.:))

But a nite out is a nite out. Skyfall has many witty conversations esp. between M and 007. I enjoyed this bit.Parts of Istanbul and Macau were recognisable.And Shanghai looked beautiful in the movie.

And we had a lunch wedding and saw Dato' and Datin again..my Malaccan foster parents.There were friends of the bride's parents who travelled all the way from London and Brunei.I turned to Nik and said Amiruddin (bride's dad) must have been such a lovable and likeable friend that people would travel all the way to share his happy day.And I asked Nik, I wonder if your friends from abroad would do that for you.Haha, saja usik dia.To which he replied, and I wonder about yours too.Wakaka.I'm pretty confident they would, pretty confident. :)

End of the week's drama

Yup, I do have an exciting life.Sometimes rasa mcm nak pengsan dibuatnya.

Our drama this week started around Maghrib time.I was picking up my mom from Sal's plc.She was still in Putrajaya on a meeting.Baru aku tau Sal dah naik pangkat jadi Penolong Guru Besar.See? Berkat jaga mak yang sakit.Allah lapangkan rezeki kita.Alhamdulillah.Dah lama katanya.Sal would never flaunt.Not like me. Semua benda nak di-blogkan.You know now when I go to work, my friends at work who are also my fb friends dok tanya handbag dah jumpa? Then they laughed at me.Bertuah punya kawan2.:))

Anyway, Sal's youngest son Bashir is 10.Comel habis.Today the older brother was supposed to pick him up from sch.Hujan lebat.When Yayan went, Bashir was not there.That was at 5 pm.

By 8.30 pm he was not home..still.My mom dah mula berdrama: mmg hari ni Bashir not himself.Dia tak sempat makan cos' the father was in a rush.bla bla bla.

I was like oh mannn...

I had a long day so I told my mom let's go home to my plc dulu.We'll come bck with Nik if B is not bck yet.Nak tunggu pun, I tak tau buat apa.Meanwhile mcm biasa...bilik gerakan started calling the family network: the doctors, the human rights officer, the police, the media guy...sambil kita speculated what could have happened to Bashir.

I had never felt so scared in my life of ugly possibilities.Cos' pernah terjadi kat Bashir ni...ada org ajak dia ikut naik kereta.Nasib perempuan.And she knew where to send him! 

Dalam kecoh2 ni, sempatlah pulak I menjawab telefon my friend baru tiba KL.Then my mom's phone rang.I was driving.Fuiiii...mcm telephonist..bersilang tangan nak menjawab queries.

I rang Pak Din minta dia buat solat hajat Bashir tak apa2.

Gamaknya tak sempat pun Pak Din ambik wudhu', Sal rang to say they found Bashir.

Or rather Bashir was sent home.By his friend's mother.

Oh mannnn...phone..tau tak there is such a thing called telephone?

So I had to reverse all my calls to update the happy news termasuk my friend yang baru sampai Msia ni.Tak pasal2 turut sesak nafas!

Sampai kat rumah..another drama..Nik's sister pulak kena langgar.Nayli was inside the car but alhamdullilah, just a small accident.No one's hurt.Hujan lebat, licin, org belakang hit her when she stopped at the toll.

Lesson to be learnt: get rid of all tolls.

I hope no more dramalah.Tak sanggup aku!

Ma'thurat 22

Petang pun boleh baca ma'thurat ni.Kalau pagi, sebut pagi, if petang sebut petang:

We are now in the morning (or afternoon), and so the sovereign and praise is due to Allah.There is no partner with Him and there is no deity except Him, and to Him is the resurrection (or the return)

You will need to baca 3x ayat sebelum ni and from this onwards till ma'thurat 41.

Full day today.Nak pengsan rasanya.Just finished a session with the postgrads.Prof Noraini kasi 15 mins sorang to speak on research methodology..mana aci.My slides pun dah 20. So I had to go on my rambling mode (but intelligent ramblings OK? Nak muntah, sila).Slot pulak 4 pm.But sempat I temubual a 'victim' on my way out ("How was my presentation? Did you find it useful?" Kah3.I need to know so that I can use it again next time.Budak pompuan ni dgn senyuman paling manis in the world said yes! yes! thank you so much!)

Message I simple: kau dtg nak buat postgraduate studies ni jgn kerana nama..nak title Dr, Prof kat depan tu.Jadilah macam sarjana2 Muslim zaman silam..they did research to solve problems of the community, the ummah, the world.I thought if I dropped a pin in the hall, I could hear it.Malangnya hall itu bercarpet tebal.

So I didn't hear it.
But I had a good time.Despite that time constraint.

Ma'thurat 21

Something familiar:

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Say: I seek refuge with the Lord and Cherisher of Mankind, the King (or Ruler) of Mankind, the God (or Judge) of Mankind, from the mischielf of the Whisperer (of Evil), who withdraws (after his whisper), (The same) who whispers into the hearts of Mankind, among jinns and among men." (Al-Nas:1-6)

KL Rain

Sebab dah terkantoi, maka I pun bawaklah Anna and Colin ke Central Market. Rosli pandai, kali ni dia tak mau pergi.I was hoping dia boleh jadi gps.:))

Bila dah tersilap turning (road construction tak habeh2!) we got stuck in a jam kat Bangsar lagi.Yang nak tergelak when I saw this woman in a car next to mine at the traffic light jam.She was waving mcm I ni celebrity.Her gal driver pun melambai2.Rupa2nya Jai and her gal.I pun unwind my window and ckp hey..where are you heading..Jai said ke Melawati and asked apa I buat kat Bangsar jam...and we actually had a conversation mcm one motorcyclist with another...sempat plan dinner with our mutual fren from NZ tu..lepas tu I terasa kelakar sgt and had to explain to Anna and Colin...I don't do this everyday...Anna ckp yeah..I was wondering if you knew so many people in kl which is a big city.

Sebab jam terok sgt, we decided to have dinner kat Shangri-la je.Hujan turun lebat gila.Nasib Mat Salleh berdua ni enjoyed their dinner.Mcm2lah keluar cerita.Untung jadi tourist guide ni.Anna ckp nak dtg Bologna, ckp je.Dia ni Yahudi-Amerika.Asal Austria, kerja kat Italy.She's based in Paris at the mo. but soon would want to move to Bologna which is not far from Florence.Kerja memasang network ni mmglah seronok. :)

Congrats Obama on yet another term.Kau jgn meragamlah pulak bila masuk round ke2 nih.

Academic freedom

Freedom fighters :)

Looks like 2-3 hari ni tak sempat kita berma'thurat.My apologies.Nov. sibuk with friends visiting.
Today we were at UM, attending Rosli's seminar on academic freedom,academic rights etc.We had 2 guests from Melbourne and Bologna, Italy talking about what it was like whr they were.

Sama je.In fact Victoria may be heading for the worst, according to Dr. Colin Long, a historian but now fulltime with the education trade union.Dasyat, kan? Rosli kata trade union depa ni kaya..academics thr potong gaji tiap2 bulan for trade union depa mcm kita byr epf kita.Colin ni comey..tak bergaya la trade unionist.Haha.Anna tu bergaya sikit tapi ckpnya lembut.Menikam kalbu whn she shows her commitment to professionalism of the academe.

We had banana leaf dinner...I tak le gemor sgt but in the end, fun juga.Kepala gila semuanya.
Lepas tu we showed them KL at nite.

Bosan je KL ni.20 mins dah habeh pusing.

But I'll share with you more later.Ngantuk giler lepas mkn kari Kerala ni.

The Professor

I met this smart lady Professor just a while ago.
But besok sahaja sambung.

Sila maafkan semua orang sebelum kita tidur.:)))

Sebelum kaorang...

...muntah secara berjemaah (my fav borrowed expression from one of the bloggers), let me warn you that I am starting to feel like Imelda Marcos now..or Kak Mah kita...

handbags ok..handbags!

Not too long ago, I belilah (well..a gift from boiferen I sempena our anniversary) satu lagi handbag yang agak2 setanding jugalah dgn handbag Marcos sebelum dia (Marcos) jatuh papa...ahaks.No..bukan Prada I..hok tu came later.My life before Prada...

Entah macamana, bag yang tak sampai 6 bulan dibeli itu telah tercemar dan pemegangnya telah menjadi tak mcm leather.Terdetik hati I..depa ni jual kualiti tahap lain ke? (harga ori.Maklum, ini kan Msia? Pulak tu suppliernya Hong Kong..bukankah HK tu part of China? Jeng jeng jeng...beli kat Pavilion OK? Bukan beli kat Giant)

Adapun tujuan I menulis blog ni ialah agar kita semua (kaum wanita terutamanya) berwaspada..dgn barang2 jualan biarpun di mall2 yang besar2 di KL ni.

Bila I dah naik hangin (kebetulan I saw the same bag in London..kulit dan pemegangnya lain tapi harga sama! Even after conversion) I pun ckp nak report kat HQ mereka di Italy..keh keh keh.Waahh..melawan..maka mereka pun memberi I contacts di Itali (sampai la ni I takda masa nak tulih) but semalam ladies and gentlemen, sambil I bernekad nak ambik balik handbag I tu selepas memberi sepatah dua kata bersifat peluru berpandu dan tulis kat Italy, supervisor nya kata did my gal tell you I had placed an order for the holders from Italy and they should arrive in a few months' time? (I kata nope)

Awat hang tak habag awai2...hang biag aku pot pet pot pet! :))
Lantas I said er..oh yeah? When is your next sale? I'll bring my friends...

Bolehlah muntah secara berjemaah now!
But imagine if I didn't make noise...ada mrk kisah nak order2 dari Italy? (the gal who attended to me months earlier kata oh they sent to HK, HK kata there's ntg they could do)

But selepas kehilangan handbag baru2 ni, I vow no more handbags pelik2 ginih.Gua akan bawak beg plastik je.

Perompak pun tak angkat sebelah mata tengok I.I pun tak stress kalau bag tercalar sana sini.

Koyak, ganti lain. Warna merah jambu.Warna oren.Warna kuning.Warna biru.Putih belang2.Semua ada. :)

Ma'thurat 20

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of Dawn, from the mischief of created things; from the mischief of darkness as it overspreads; from the mischief of those who practise secret arts; and from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy." (Al-Falaq:1-5)

The English translation mischief is so mild compared to the Malay one: jahat (isn't the word 'evil' closest to the meaning of "jahat"?) If Ustaz Rizal is reading this, mohon penjelasan.What is the Arabic sense of jahat/mischief in this ayat?

For IIUM alums

Announcement from Dept of Accounting (for IIUM Accounting alums):
Join us

16 Nov. 2012 10 a.m. at KENMS, IIUM

All the way from New Zealand

Mr. Philip Lim will share :


• Tips to success
• His journey to NZ
• IFRS transition – the NZ experience
• Confessions of a Financial Controller

Background and experience:
*Chief Financial Officer – New Zealand Stock Exchange Limited
• Chief Financial Officer - AMP Capital Investors (New Zealand) Limited
• Senior Manager - KPMG New Zealand
• Group Financial Controller - PGG Wrightson Limited
• Financial Accounting Manager - Fonterra Cooperative Group Limited
• Financial Controller & Company Secretary - Prudential Assurance
• Senior Auditor - Deloittes New Zealand


Admission: Free Please call to register at 03-6196 4684 / 4698

(Sr. Fatima / Sr. Yati / Sr. Shima)

Hantu tangan

We were in Bangkok.
As in Bangkok, the restaurant. :))

Nik was with PM at some function and could not join us, celebrating Faiz's grand day.He graduated despite many obstacles, alhamdulillah.Faiz is one of Mek's twins.Mek, if you remember from old blog entries is that crazy sister of mine who quit medical school to be a chemist cos' she pengsan tengok darah or mayat.Ironically, she can see ghosts.I avoid travelling with her alone at night.She'd go, nampak tak perempuan tua tepi jalan ni? (as we drive through the night) Memang menyampah jalan dgn dia ni. :))

Of all tales at dinner, cerita hantu yang keluar.It started with me telling all about my mom ketakutan, sitting at the back satu malam when I picked her up from my sister's plc to sleepover at mine.Masa tu I just got back from Italy, kan? So the music I listened to on my cd was some funny Italian songs.Italian can sound scary in some songs.Mmg bunyi hantu!

So sampai je at my house, my mom immediately asked, was that you talking just now or was it some singing? I was shivering at the back cos' I thought it was a ghost.

Then Mek, Syam and his wife Nor started telling me their ghost stories.Mak oiii! Mek was saying her residential area ni keras.Semua rumah mesti ada sightings.My other cousin pun tinggal dekat rumah Mek and would always see lembaga baring atas katil di bilik mereka downstairs.And sometimes the hantu would want to terkam G's hubby, a tabligh guy.One of Mek's encounters was bila the alarm went off at 3 am cos' Fairoz the other twin has to travel for work in Spore.Mek saw a tangan keluar from langsir tiba2 tutup jam tu.Tangan warna putih...jari2nya panjang.She didn't meraba2 to find where punat jam tu..she knew at one tap. Nor (yang tak mau kalah) mula keluarkan cerita hantu tangan dia pulak.It was during her college days in Shah Alam.Her bed was next to the window.Windownya pulak terbuka.I guess masa tu takda aircon la tu.Ahaks.She fell asleep while watching TV. Tiba2 she felt someone tapped on her shoulder (tangan berbulu from the tingkap)and showed her the tv as though to say jgn membazir letrik,tutup TV tu! But ada she kisah? She tutup muka with bantal and went back to sleep.Dalam ketakutan! Me? Happy to have no sightings ever in my life.Semoga terus dilindungi Allah.

Lady Macbeth

For BENL students, do you remember that blood washing scene in Macbeth?

Have you ever been so geram when trying to get rid of something? ahaks..a lot of things?Then there would be some fools who would not simply let go?? Apa ke jadah faedahnya?

I give up! But there are stuffs which are mine which I wish to take back.I ni macam eraser.I don't like, I erase. :)

Ma'thurat 19

A quick one this morning, folks (rushing to mengadap Tan Sri with my cronies.Harap2 berhasil lah perjumpaan ini):

"In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.Say: He is Allah, One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like Him." (Al-Ikhlas:1-4)

If you notice ya Ustaz Rizal, Ma'thurat ni banyak reinforcements or re-assertions of Allah as the only God.Tidak dua.Tidak tiga. Nampak mcm hanya satu perlafazan yang biasa2 aje but it is so core to our belief.If I have time, I will write about how this 'simple' belieflah yang membuat saudara2 bukan Islam kita masuk berduyun2 ke dalam Islam. I cukup suka cerita2 conversion to Islam (tak leh ckp revert, contrary to what we are told.Nanti kita bincang).

Al fatihah buat Shukri

Setiap kali melewati
lamanmu

kami akan tertanya-tanya
di mana shukri

anak lelaki saingan di usia muda
yang sering berlari berkejar-kejaran

setiap raya
bentong-raub-bentong

di mana agaknya dia

dan semalam teman mu mazlan
telah berkata
telah bertanya

masihkah kau ingat
shukri, kawan kita

dan aku menderaskan angguk ku
iya iya
di mana dia?

I have always wondered
about this childhood friend

Mazlan bercerita dia orang besar kelasi
yang satu hari , 4 bulan lalu
semasa seronok bersama teman-teman
ber-harley davidson
dia tiba-tiba rebah

nafasnya yang terakhir

shukri
we never met again
but your youth
was a friendship
I carried with me
every time raya
bentong-raub-bentong

al fatihah
semoga dicucuri rahmat ke atasmu

IIUM
Gombak

* also takziah to Hizwani whose dad passed away yesterday.Al fatihah dan semoga dicucuri rahmah ke atasnya.

Ma'thurat 18

One thing I love about the Ma'thurat is it's made of many different verses:

"In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. When comes the Help of Allah and Victory, and thou dost see people enter Allah's religion in crowds, celebrate the praises of thy Lord, and pray for His forgiveness: for He is Oft-Returning (in Grace and Mercy). " (Al-Nasr: 1-3)

I will need Ustaz Rizal to interpret this verse.I guess it's about celebrating God's mercy and grace on people who are shown the light, the right path. Anyone out there who wants to offer his/her interpretation?

Nov. will be my busiest month this year, I think.In terms of coordinating events and visits of friends from abroad.Watch this space.

Historical moment

One day, we will understand why. But this was where it began.Bersama rakan-rakan seperjuangan yang tidak pernah melihat $$ itu penting (Mak Aji Esah kata pede'ah! pede'ah! haha)

Ma'thurat 17

In between meetings, folks. Ma'thurat, kita jangan lupa:

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.Say: O you that reject Faith! I worship not that which you worship. Nor will you worship that which I worship.And I will not worship that which you are worshipping.Nor will you worship that which I worship.To you be your Way, and to me mine." (Al-Kafirun: 1-6)

This much cited verse endorsing religious freedom is one of my favourites also (meant for those who have chosen not to be Muslims but not for those already Muslims..hey man, if you have joined the club, you have to play by the club's rules and regulations.If you choose to exit, remember there's heaven and hell and if thee are in misery, blame no one cos' the Quran has given guides to happiness and tranquility.Chewah! Macam Mak Aji Esah je bercakap!)

All's well

In case you too have been worrying about my friends (ahaks), they all wrote back.Haji Zaidon is not in Atlantic City.I repeat, not in Atlantic City.He's in Atlanta.Not affected at all.Syukurlah.Dia tuan guru saya. Zikirnya sokmo menjadi.Ada ke patut I thot Atlantic City was the capital of Atlanta.Kah3...I sound so American, kan. Ramai depa tu, Kuala Lumpur pun tak tau kat mana.

Atlanta tu metropolitan ke 9 besarnya.Kota budaya.Kota ekonomi (ranked 15th in the world).Kota diversities (immigrants mcm2 ada). Manakala Atlantic City tu pula kota judi, kota leisure.Ada judi ada la betina, kan? Donald Trump banyak reta kat sini.Dia bawak peninju laga2 agar penjudi2 main judi atas perlawanan2 tak berperikemanusiaan ginih.Macam laga ayam gitu.Tak percaya, google sendiri. :) Tapi kita jgn la kata : patut la turun Sandy (kata laporan kawan I kat NYC, mata Sandy memang menuju Atlantic City ..the eye of the storm on the place.NYC tu sipi2 jah) sebab hanya Allah tau mengapa setiap kejadian itu berlaku.Kita jgn la lebih2 pulak muncung tu bawak cerita.

Me and friends are still raising funds for Sandy victims.Kimball akan bawak balik uncang2 kami, diizinkan Allah.Watch this space for further updates.Org berbudi kita berbahasa (org2 Amerika yang paling byk memberi bantuan kpd mangsa2 tsunami Acheh.Bukan gomen dia..rakyat biasanya)

Also good news: kawan yg ada cancer tu ckp dia selamat.Not only that, tanda2 cancer dia takda dah.I tell ya, dia ni ikut kumpulan sufi.Went to their zikir group once.Woit..cleansing habis...if you see our brothers and sisters yg masuk Islam later in their lives ni beribadat, insaf sgt.

I leave you with that thought.Di mana kita dengan Islam kita.

Ma'thurat 16

Doa Ma'thurat pagi ini untuk mereka di East Coast, USA.Semoga tabah dan selamat.

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.When the Earth is shaken to its (utmost) convulsion, And the Earth throws up her burdens (from within), And man cries (distressed); 'What is the matter with it?' In that Day will it declare its tidings:For thy Lord will have given her inspiration.On that Day will men proceed in companies sorted out, to be shown the Deeds that they (had done).Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it." (Al-Zalzalah:1-8)

Prayers for friends in the East Coast,USA

My prayers for all friends in the East Coast (ramai!) as they encounter Sandy and her aftermath.One of my friends is recovering from cancer...I hope he and his family are protected by Allah (Muslim converts). Haji Zaidon in Atlantic City... harap2 not affected by the banjir.May sounds fine on fb.Gotta beep friends upstate New York.Hopefully they are not affected.Situ kawasannya berbukit2 dan banyak pokok so probably, tak apa2.

Begitulah ujian Allah.Remember what one of the ustaz masa tazkirah Ramadan said? We gotta pray that angin or hujan yg dtg tidak memusnahkan kita tetapi memberi rahmat tatkala 4 malaikat turun di bulan Ramadan tu?And afdal berdoa ketika bulan Ramadan cos' Israfil ada meraikan Ramadan bersama2 kita.Wallahualam.

Ma'thurat 15

Selamat sampai office tanpa drama (dgn takdir Allah, tak berbunyi pulak alarm tu bila I started the car to go to work tadi, syukur alhamdulillah).

First thing sampai, mengadap sembah kat Big Boss, Dato' Zuhdi. Banyak benda nak kena buat since Ministry buat polisi baru pasal exe. courses ni (semua nak kontrol! how on earth can new knowledge be?) Anyway, kena akurlah.Dato' and I cuba cari jalan terbaik to work with the system but at the same time ensuring ilmu2 berfaedah kekal mcm biasa.Or make it better.


Ma'thurat, kita jangan lupa:

"Allah is He, Whom there is no other God except Him; Who knows (all things) both secret and open; He is the Most Gracious, Most Merciful.Allah is He, Whom there is no other God except Him; the Sovereign, the Holy One, the Source of Peace (and Perfection), the Guardian of Faith, the Preserver of Safety, the Exalted in Might, the Irresistible, the Supreme: Glory to Allah! (High is He) above the partners they attribute to Him. He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolver, the Bestower of whatever is in the heavens and on earth, doth declare His Praises and Glory; and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise." (Al-Hasyr:22-4)

Wow, this ayat leaves no space utk menduakan Allah.Ayat ini penuh dgn Kemuliaan dan KebesaranNya.I like that: source of peace.Source of perfection.Guardian of faith.Preserver of safety.If we internalise all these, we can walk confidently through just about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.

Monday blues

Aisehman..the car will not go on spare key.The alarm will go off.Tak sanggup I pi Honda Service Centre dgn keadaan begitu.Dah lah IC and driving license tak sampai lagi ( my nephew will send my handbag from Raub in a bit..tak tau pukul berapa sampainya).Imagine this: me driving kereta yg alarm tengah berbunyi, polis stops me..ic/lesen takda...dah la dituduh mencuri kereta, kesalahan takda proper docos pulak.Time to write a short story!

But I cannot afford to go late to work.Kimball nak dtg.Philip nak dtg.Kena check if things are in order.So folks, akan ku brave going to my car service centre to reprogram my spare key agar I can drive my car without the alarm going off.

Watch this channel to know if there are interesting adventures happening nanti.