Beach treat

 cantik mmg cantik but badly maintained

 the apartments from the private beach

 kids playing water soccer

 view from my balcony

 the weather was fine, alhamdulillah

 loved it here

 Baraqah my niece in Kuantan (anak my aruah sister) is about Zafirah's age.

We built sand castles together

 Zac, me and Swee Hai (friends of NZ days)

Aging in style.Haha

Clown yang melampau. :)

From SH's camera

A real treat for my colleagues and I as we spent our annual IEEP at the Sanctuary Resort in Kuantan over the weekends.A real sanctuary at the apartment..there were a lizard and a bee in it which sent me screaming in the middle of the night! I didn't like the apt..the lift didn't work, too many dangerous steps around..I almost sprained my ankle as I tripped over one and fell! The ustaz2 came around to help but oopps..tak leh pegang so a female colleague helped me up..and I limped bck to my room.This on the last day.I went to see the mat salleh manager.Mak oiii..he's gone local..was very defensive at first.I could not believe it when he said: I have worked here 11 years and this is the first time I hear this.I said maybe people did not go to you and complain.I hope you'd take my feedback seriously cos' if someone broke a leg or arm over lack of safety, they'd sue you, you know.Dia pun mula lembut and apologised and asked how I was..I said I was limping.

But I loved the beach.Siapakah gerangan pemuda berkuda di pantai itu? Haha..as Nik and I stared at him, he looked at us, stared back, senyum, nodded and rode on. Baru nak jerit..hei anak muda..kasi makcik pulak naik kuda tu.:)) It was a very relaxing atmosphere.

My niece Baraqah teman I tidur tht Fri evening cos' Nik would arrive the following day je (busy with his mlm epf).The second evening, Swee Hai came to pick us up to dine at Impiana at Cherating.Zac met us there.It was a good reunion with them.We stayed up so late talking about the good old days in NZ.Nik pun tompang riang ria.I am grateful that I continue to be blessed with great friends who I still get to meet even after 30 or so years.

We took a quick drive to Kemaman to buy some kerupok lekor as advised by Adnan on fb.Bought Kemaman satar which had green cili api in it.I loved the taste of it.Beli kerupok mcm nak berniaga di pasar mlm.I got a wee bit outa control in Kemaman. :) And oh, we bought ikan tenggiri fresh from the sea and live crabs and Pakcik Daud,a fisherman at Sg Ular taught me how to tell a female crab from a male one.A female crab has more flesh than a male one.Biasalah, kan? :)

Menyelam sambil minum air

My PhD students would always energise me.We discussed Hellenistic philosophers and compared them with early Muslim scholars (my candu for the day) and moved on to Said Nursi to Gullen to Mohamed Morsi (Egyptian President). Candu day! :)

We concluded that IOK was not widespread in educating Muslims (and non-Muslims) to be aware of the greater picture/happening in the Muslim world and beyond.We agreed new terms to define many things had to be created if we wanted to breakaway from the consumer/slave mentality (many of the terms/labels were created in the West e.g. the word modern or modernity..if we added Islamic modernity then you would be guilty of assuming there were a time/period/space in which Islam was not modern, etc etc..if you say you are a modern Muslim, then you assume there are non-modern Muslims some where..terok, kan? I raised this before with my American political scientist friend but he said this is just to facilitate the intellectual categorisation...still...it's intellectual cos' we endorse it as such).

Lepas kelas, kami fikir jalan mcmana nak tolong kawan kita dari Palestin ni.Dia takda scholarship.Takda gaji.Gaji semua dah kena sekat.Sourgrapes betul Israel ni.Dah kalah tu, buatlah cara kalah, kan? :))

End of the year spring clean

Sometimes we keep things which we don't really need.And we keep buying new ones.Oprah pernah kata, if we buy one, get rid of an old one so that our space is not cluttered.

I'm doing just that now.Start with the office.

Wall decorations, oil paintings (premature ones), books (yang you know have very little value in terms of knowledge..how on earth did they make it to my book shelves in the first place? Must be door gifts...recycled gifts yang your friends pun nak get rid of and what better way than to pass them to another friend...I don't do this to you, OK? :)) )

The office looks cleaner and better, actually.Sedap sikit mata memandang.

Kat rumah nanti, the wardrobe..too many clothes which I do not use much.I think I'll give some to the cleaners.Merelap-relip la pulak nanti depa.Many of the bajus are for weddings/baju kerja.Ada sapa2 tau if there are organisations which won't mind baju2 yang mcm traffic lights/Xmas trees? Please beep.I'd be happy to give away some of my old (and not so old) baju kurungs.

Lagi cerita insaf

I must blog this before I forget.The week will get busier.

I will not disclose my source (ahaks) but ceritanya begini:

Cik A is a Xtian who went on an early retirement some years ago.She spends her time on community work, work with children and will be migrating to Perth soon.She told my source fadilat sedekah ni besar.From my Ramadan stories, you should by now be convinced but wait! Here's something which will make us more insaf.

Cik A was saying depa tak mampu nak send anak2 belajar overseas.She was just a B officer.Hubby pun kerja sendiri.So one of the gals pun setuju masuk one private local college buat twinning prog.Then after finishing her diploma ke hapa told the mom dia nak juga pi Oz for her degree.Dia pun applied but Oz uni said diploma dia not recognised so kena spend juga 4 years.Mak dia bertawakal..ambil semua subjects yg anak dia dah buat kat sini,compared dgn subjects kat sana and appealed.Bukan je Oz uni was convinced, depa benarkan anak dia terus masuk year 2! So taklah beban sgt financially.

Cik A kata ini mesti sebab kerja2 community dia.Selalu dia rasa bila ada je masalah mcm ni..ada je jalan keluar Allah beri.Pernah satu ketika masa dia masih kerja, ada pelanggan yang tidak dikenali cerita dia perlukan RM4 ribu sebab anak nak masuk uni.Kalau takda, budak ni tak boleh masuk uni.Cik A tengok dlm akaun dia ada RM4,600 je tapi sebab kesian,dia tutup je mata dan kasi RM4K tu.Dia tak fikir pun nak balik ke hapa ke duit tu.Years later,bdk yg pinjam duit tu graduated & kerja..dia bayar balik that RM4K and they became close friends.Touching,kan? Kita selalu fikir Allah jaga kita je org Islam tetapi org2 bukan Islam yg baik mcm Cik A ini juga mendapat rahmat Allah.Maka betullah janji Allah dalam ungkapan Bismillahirrohmanirroheem...Dengan nama Allah yang Maha Pengasih dan Penyayang.

Something to think about, really.

Ma'thurat 34

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from disbelief and poverty; O Allah! I seek refuge in You from the torment of the grave. There is no God but You."

This verse sums up the purpose of our existence, right? No one wants to live in disbelief (imagine the pain!) No one wants to live in poverty. Finally, no one wants to be tortured after living in pain (after living in disbelief and poor living!)

We had another round of meeting on a couple of new progs which the Dean wishes to propose.If they happen, you gonna love him for them but my friend from West Germany was right to voice her concerns but I think the progs are in good hands.Everyone has got fiqh or shariah b/grounds.Kita ni takut sangat nak innovate.Kalau conservative sangat sampai tak leh bergerak pun tak elok juga, kan? Scholars dulu2 pun innovated juga.Ijtihad is a plus in the religion.

Centre of Alliance of Civilisations

IIUM launched hers semalam.Kak Oni yang jadi Directornya.Aptly chosen.So the former UN Prez of the 66th Session now the UN High Rep to the Alliance of Civilisations His Excellency Nassir Abdulaziz Al Nasser met us tadi.Chandra Muzzafar pun ada.And Prof Ariff pun ada (back from NYC for a visit.We all miss him so much.Hatinya mulia.Walaupun he left cos' he got cancer and now fully recovered..syukur..dia masih bawak masuk byk international networks kat IIUM..mulia sungguh hatinya).

A lot of discussions on UN, Security Council, Palestine, OIC.The gist was as follows:

From Prof. Kamal Hassan: our intellectual consciousness is often related to the concept of state instead of civilisational consciousness or discourse (heh.I think this was wht he said).He advised Muslim youths to transcend beyond the State as the civilisational discourse would open up the mind.

From Prof Chandra Muzzafar: we often generalise the western civilisation as an exaggerated individualism and often forget that it is the same civilisation which has a deep sense of community.Similarly, when we think of Asian civilisation, we often look at it as totalitarian.We forget it is the same civilisation which produces great individuals and groups who fight for the value of accountability,openness, human rights etc.Gandhi, Rizal, Anwar Ibrahim (ahaks..my tambahan) all come to mind at this point.

Chandra stresses on the fact that there ain't any clash of civilisations ~ only clash of interests.The crusaders didn't kill Muslims only but Jews and Christians alike.

On the issue of promoting peace in Palestine, he said while we should use UN to solve the political turmoil in Palestine-Israel, there are other means which have been effective and backed up by the masses even in countries which support Israel i.e making use of BDS which stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions first introduced by NGOs in Palestine some years ago.I recall the same was done in Iran ..by boycotting the tobacco industry in their fight against the Brits zaman dulu kala.

So folks..make sure we boycott bkn sahaja Israeli products but also sekutu2nya.

No one was convinced that a two-state solution would work.State ke hapa jadah as Palestinian borders shrink daily.The only way, says Chandra, is to psyche up for  a single democratic state.Amboi kau! Takkan boleh berubah sekelip mata...and they would want to expand their territory once they are done with Palestine.Nanti menular ke Syria, Iran,Iraq, Jordan. Senangnya nak mengalah!

Kak Oni on growing Palestinian settlements: the Jewish settlements built around Jerusalem are even more worrying..it would limit movements of worshippers esp. Muslims. The problem is the ruling elites in the Arab world.Mereka ni yg tak berani nak bersatu and think of ways to strengthen the ummah.

Part 2, Centre of Alliance

Semalam wife Dr. Cassim came and when someone rang me and said she wanted to meet me, I said silap orang tu..I know no Dr. Cassim.But I said but if she wants to see me, pls show her the way to my office.

Then I recalled.Of cos' I know Dr. Cassim! (my Liverpool alumna!) MasyaAllah...I need more gingko for my memory.Pls do not give me surprise visits..nanti jadi mcm Mamun..excited to surprise2 org..bila I went can you please tell me your name again, tak ke dua2 malu? :)

Anyway, Dr. Cassim left for Gaza semalam.We wish him and his medical team well.

The proud momma..

How could you miss my proud moments..

Z dah pandai memasak! (less than 3 months, living away from home.Syukurlah!).
Some pics below:

                           cinnamon & garlic roast chicken with brown rice

 I don't know what she called this but I think

it's salmon and sour cream she made herself and garlic ciabatta



Top pic: burger she made herself and broccoli soup ~ not from the can.
Below: Her best friend, H, enjoying the burger.H is a better cook but she said
everything's sedap. :)



Ma'thurat 33

"O Allah. grant me health in my body.O Allah, grant me health in my hearing.O Allah, grant me health in my seeing."

It sounds odd reading the translation in English but if it helps, this is how it is in Malay:

"Ya Allah, sejahterakanlah badanku.Ya Allah, sejahterakanlah pendengaranku.Ya Allah, sejahterakan penglihatanku."

Hearing and Seeing (Sight) are important in Islam.But you can't have them without a healthy body.How often do we take our overall health and well-being for granted? I have a colleague who feels guilty if she goes on mc.She whines, "I'm not using my brain! I'm not using my brain!" And I tell her this: your brain has taken control of you, not vice versa.Take charge!

What good is a rich nation if its people are weak and dying early? Worse, what good is a poor nation if its people are also perishing early.I hope organisations are taking care of their workers' work-life balance.I know some MNCs would shoo off staff when it's 5 pm..go home and spend time with your family.

Have a good week ahead you, folks.I'm energised after a good weekend.

December projects

I'm working on a few projects this month.One of them is a short story entitled Pengembaraan Aji Kitul.It wants to be written.Cerita ini tiada kaitan dengan yang hidup atau mati but it has been playing in my mind for so long! It was Dipika and Suchen who told me that some stories and characters would come alive and scream to be written.

The moment has come.I won't rush it.I am writing it down bit by bit as it hits me.

Red hot cili api meeting

...we walked away with more to think about. Like why some people would rather be on the defensive rather than listen to what the masses are saying? If we do not recognise the fact that there are real issues to be addressed, we'd never ever be able to solve the problems.Hence, no change.Hence, why bother to even discuss things?

I'm reflecting on my Kull meeting with the top management.Prof. Noraini presented Kull's status.Then Prez spoke.She menyampuk and Prez sportingly said ok..you wanna debate, let's do it.Wough! Like 1 million times! :) So we spoke.Mula2 Profs tu semua diam je cos' I think everyone was thinking wht's the point but as Prez encouraged us to speak up with Noraini bertalu2 questioning..haha bless this woman trained at Oxford...we started arguing to validate that hey, the arts deserves a fair budget too to grow..ni asyik2 favour medicine and engineering..mentelaah la two deputy rectors dari sinun.Haha...Dulu we had two rectors from our kull...takda la pulak depa nak lempor million2 kat kita..cos' I suspect they had to be seen as fair leaders dan tak biased. I was still sore about my younger colleagues being told to do their pgrad studies locally.Which was denied by the relevant office - depa kata they still send...sila kasi nama? Yang pergi tu cari sources lain..haiya...not only our dept complaining of this,dept lain juga.Bkn kita pandang rendah local grads but if they had done their studies here, kasi chan la depa menimba pengalaman luar..see how things are done..face the challenges abroad, build the networks to bring home...

Anyway, kita tengoklah.Prez sokong apa I cakap.We'll encourage the young ones to go to the best uni. outside Msia. But I think it was a good discussion.At least we'd get our Endnotes..:))

Ma'thurat 32

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from anxiety and grief, and I seek refuge in You from weakness and indolence, and I seek refuge in You from cowardice and miserliness and I seek refuge in You from the burden of debts and the oppression of men."

Woohoo..oppression of men...Men..panic not.The Malay translation is "penindasan manusia." :) But let me chip in manusia yang byk menindas adalah men. :)) Most of the nations have male leaders, kan? And many things do not go right in the world now, kan?

Anyway, IWFF soft launch video clip was played again by Dato Sri Rector at the uni's monthly assembly so about 3000 more people know of IWFF.The pressure builds on! But my shariah team (Islamic scholars and a couple from HS/Humanities) and I had a very fruitful discussion and the shariah compliant framework telah menjadi sangat2 comprehensive and highly intellectual.Kita pun tak sangka but as I had raised before...this Fest has a life of its own.We are mere players.Takbir! Mart is preparing the rules and regulations. Dato is looking at the legal needs of the partnership and if all goes well, we'll roll in a bit.May Allah make it easy for us.Ini BUKAN kerja mudah.Ini macam seekor semut nak tolak satu kayu balak from Pahang to KL! Jalan kaki!

Ma'thurat 31

"I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from evil of what He has created"

Isn't that beautiful? Perfect words of Allah...evil He has created.Wough!

Anyway, you didn't know that at the IWFF soft launch my Rector announced a new Centre and named me as the Head/Director.Later I sms-ed her saying I could not do this now..not until IWFF is over (focus, babe.I need focus.This multitasking belief is a myth.Mana ada orang boleh buat kerja perfect when on multitasks) but am willing to assist with the making of the Centre and now I am having fun detailing/visioning what it should be like.The highest honour one could have in a life time.Takbir! :))

If it happens the way I envision it, folks...YOU gonna love me for it.If you pray for me that it will happen the way I dream it, I'm gonna love you for it.

My good friend Haji Zaidon is arriving 'home' today.He has not been home for decades! Kita dengar je ceritanya nanti.Nik and I will take him out on a dinner or something.

Ma'thurat 30

O Allah we seek refuge in You from associating with You anything that we know, and we seek Your forgiveness from associating anything that we do not know"

A bit tricky this one (itulah pentingnya kena faham bahasa arab!). If it helps, terjemahan melayu nya berbunyi:

"Ya Tuhanku, sesungguhnya kami berlindung dengan Engkau dari menyegutukan Engkau dgn sesuatu apa jua yang kami ketahui dan kami memohon dari Engkau terhadap kesalahan yang kami tidak mengetahuinya."

I need to check this one out with an Arabic speaking friend whose Islamic knowledge is also sound.Will beep back but I have a feeling the verse is to remind us NOT to liken Allah to anything we know or do not know (i.e. anything imagined). Ni kira mengenal sifat 20 Allah tu le yang kita mengaji kat kelas2 agama kita dulu.Wallahualam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_x6KFTVjuw

Macam nilah dunia...

Nik and I were saddened by a piece of news on a close friend's fb wall.Dia dan isterinya telah bercerai.We attended their wedding reception in the USA and thought what a lovely couple they were.

I mcm biasa, cuba jadi orang tengah..kot2 mereka boleh kembali bersama.Yang lelaki cerita sebab musabab.Complicated sikitlah nak berbaik balik.Yang perempuan cuma ucap terima kasih di atas kata2 baik I.Susah kalau ada pihak ke tiga dan byk rasa rendah diri dlm salah seorang pasangan ni.Yang itu kena address dulu..perasaan rendah diri itu.Yang satu kena la cuba memahami

Tapi kalau pasangan kita terdedah kpd penyakit kelamin melalui pihak ketiga ni, baiklah tinggalkan.Cari yang bersih.

But it is still a sad thing for us to know.Allah lebih mengetahui.

Macam nilah dunia, part 2:

As I was sipping my hot milo at the kedai mamak, saw In Pursuit of Happiness movie.It was that part when the church choir was singing, "O  Lord, do not move the mountain...but give us strength to climb it...cos' you promised to meet us in the world of prayers..O Lord, do not move the mountain, give us strength to work around it."

Waaahhhh...cantik doa tu! :)) Mountain was translated as "rintangan" in the Malay subtitle.Betul juga yah? God would never put a mountain before us/on us, if it was not meant to test our faith in Him.Why ask for it to be moved away? Just pray for strength.Am I getting personal here? No...this is a general reminder for all.I thought that was a very positive doa.

Enjoy your day.Hari ni takda Ma'thurat sebab I kena food poisoning but the vomitting and diarrhea have eased up a lot, alhamdulillah(I loved the female doc at the clinic near my plc.Baik la dia.Kita boleh gelak2 lagi dlm keadaan I lembik longlai tu. Haha)

Macam nilah dunia, part 3:

Kalau Zul ada, he would accuse me of trying to save space. :) But I need to record a couple of things here.

Mamun dropped by to say hello (with wife and Latif). Ingat juga dia kat I.I mcm biasa, tak ingat (sgt memalukan..walhal dah puas makan minum dan naik small aircraft dgn dia and geng masa lawatan ke Dhaka dulu) I mcm biasa ingat dia dtg nakkan pertolongan of sorts. Terok, kan? Ni sebab kalau kat KL, gitu lah.Org dtg hanya bila nak benda.Walhal dia dtg cuma nak menyambung silrahturrahim.And we agreed to network with other alumni chapters.

Lepas tu Dr. Nora rang to say S dah meninggal semalam (our mutual colleague since Matric days.S was from Burma and was our neighbour for a long time in Subang Jaya..was the first to visit me after I lahirkan Zafirah..him and Najmi.Hi S, maafkan saya sebab tak sempat telefon sebelum nafas terakhir mu.Semoga dicucuri rahmah.Al fatihah.Dia meninggal di Burma.Bapanya dulu Menteri Kehakiman sebelum junta took over.Tapi S sgt la humble.Selalu org ingat dia jual roti canai).

His story is a sad story.Kasihnya dia terhadap the only child he had..yang kemudian byk memberinya kesedihan walaupun anaknya berjaya dari segi material.He would always carry her letter with him (placed next to his heart). Anak dia dah jadi rakyat NZ.Gaduh dgn bapaknya kes kawin dgn laki yang enggan masuk Islam.Maknya dah lama denounced Islam.Na'uzubillah.

Tapi masih belum terlambat utk kita doakan agar anak S ni pulang ke pangkal asal.I think satu hari dia akan menyesal but we hope dia akan jadi Muslim yang baik dan mendoakan ayahnya.

Ma'thurat 29

"In the name of Allah with Whose name nothing in the Earth or in the Heaven can cause harm; and He is the All-Hearing the All-Knowing."

Said in Arabic, this is a powerful doa/prayer (say it 3 times).Nothing can hurt if you do.
I recall the story of a wife (if I remember it correctly) who was hated so much by the husband (it had to be another woman, right?) that he wished to harm her.Tried to poison her, no go.Tried this, no go.Tried that, no go.I will not give you details of some of the stuffs he did on her (do not want to give ideas to readers..haha)

Her strength was just reciting bismillahirrohmanirroheemmm in every move that she makes..In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate.

Just connect this story to Ma'thurat no. 29 here in good and bad times, InsyaAllah you'd be fine from all harms (unless Allah wills it).

A close friend (much younger than me) is undergoing her chemo treatment..we were happy when she survived the ordeal a few years ago.And we'll pray she will too, this time.Dr. A is sangat tough.Semoga Allah bersamanya sentiasa.Like Dr Haslina with my CERDAS work, Dr. A was always with me when we were at the Alumni/Career Div. in giving her support during tough and trying times doing the impossible (and alhamdullilah, this woman of faith helped me pull through many hurdles together)

For that Ya Allah, tolonglah ringankan kesakitan dan dugaan sahabat saya ini.

Sunday, in the kitchen

Only God knows how long I had not done real cooking.

Today, while waiting to attend Azwadi's kenduri or teman Nik pi test drive his dream car, I decided to try Evan's broccoli soup (and had taught Bibik how to do Azra's honeyed roast chicken pineapple dish).Bibik was out of focus..I notice this for some time now.I asked if she fell in love with that Sepang guy (a married man).She didn't affirm or confirm.I hope not.She's such a good woman but 2 weeks ago she dreamt of a little baby..ustaz selalu kata kalau mimpi budak kecik esp if kita menyusukan dia, mimpi ular hitam, mimpi jatuh kat tempat kotor..itu petanda kita kena ilmu sihir.I really,really hope not.Bibik ni jujur but we never know what loneliness can do you.Sigh..I pray to God it's just some home worries that she's thinking of.I pun kena la sabar, kan? Tadi I dah jerit2, "What is wrong with you, Bibik?!" ~ cos' she tak salin betul2 recipe soup Evan as I read out to her.Lain I suruh letak, lain dia taruk.

But alhamdulillah, sempat I selamatkan.Kesian Bibik.I'll talk to her in a bit.
I'll share with you the recipe when I'm free.Evan pun merepek juga but I like the layers of taste as dia soup lapiskan perasa different sayor.Mcm kek lapis Sarawak. :))

Have a good weekend ~ what's left of it.

Part 2, Sunday, in the kitchen:

We were still talking about the IWFF soft launch at Azwadi's plc.According to Has, sebenarnya Zara yang launched the event.Guling2! I told them I actually saw that from my table.And told them how hati I berkata2 pasal pulak Zara ni yang tekan button computer tu sampai menyala semuanya?! Kah3.Zara said Tan Sri dah pressed but butang tu dok pause so she wanted to get it right by pressing, pressing. :))

Anyway, Munira saw the news on Hijrah.

More cerita behind the scene: perihal Mart tanya I if he was needed at the pc.I was told by Corp Comm, 3 org je needed so I told him tak perlu.But actually we needed him masa Q&A.After pc, Datuk tanya whr were you, M said I was shoving him with reps from the Embassies, suruh network. :)) Kelakar betul.

And I must record this: Datuk Othman Hafsham was the first Malay to do a degree in film studies in London.Dia pergi naik kapal.About 27 days baru sampai.His dad wanted him to do Political Sci but he said dia nak belajar filem.His dad asked: kau nak jadi P.Ramlee? Jika kau nak buat filem, aku tak support engkau.
And that's how he left for London.That was in the 1960s.

I think most artists in this country have a similar story.

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.