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.

Of belly dance and Port Lincoln oysters

Carcosa Seri Negara

Grand Marquee

cantik

Port Lincoln oysters: yum

So I had a wonderful dinner at Seri Carcosa last nite.It was hosted by South Australian Government and Australian Malaysia Business Council (SA) Inc. We had fresh oysters specially flown from Port Lincoln in South Australia...Oooooo...luckyyyyy....then semuanya dari Ozzie except the violinists and I was impressed.Sedap betul music dia and they were Malaysians (one of them was my daughter's former violin teacher).

When they served steaks,I tak berapa yakin it's halal and budak Filipino attending us tu pulak tak pandai cakap English sangat so when I asked, she brought me vegetarian meal.Haha.Nasib I dah kenyang makan bass (hmm, yum) and lotsa buns. Now, this is the issue I wanna raise (belly dancer tu kejap lagi).

WHY DO WE EMPLOY FOREIGN WORKERS IN EVERY INDUSTRY???? We should just employ in areas yang orang2 kita tak boleh nak buat kerja.Imagine if I were served by a local, he/she would understand my query and I would not be denied nice Australian steaks (walaupun I tak lapar but had I been hungry, how? Only goats suka sayur!)

At the petrol station pun..kalau nak tanya apa-apa direction ke..punyalah susah (I get lost quite often when travelling by myself).Bayangkan if it's orang local.We save time and being progressive is all about how much time we can save.

Anyway, I had a nice time at Carcosa yah? The local chaps were very nice when we (Noriah and I.Nik had another dinner elsewhere) asked for tempat sembahyang. He found us a room and we got into a Carcosa room and perasan we were Queen of England. :)) One Dato pun berebut2 nak sembahyang (yang lain tu buat blur jelah) and it gave us a feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood dalam kekalutan mengejar masa.

Now the belly dancer...Zul went to see (on Sunday I told him of the do at MPO Hall).He didn't waste time.Semalam pun dia pulun.Maklumlah orang seni.He is also a dancer.Pagi buta dah text-ed.I pun kata pasal pulak we allowed half naked woman macam tu? Kalau locals buat gelek dangdut pun dah bising (memang patut bising.Prof Z says in Indonesia, it's started by the pros).Tiba2 ini kat MPO Hall pulak. Even in Istanbul, belly dancing is done in nite clubs -- private space, you want, you pay. Why are we like this? MPO Hall ni konon a classy and elitist space. Is it a case of if you wanna perform whatever, asal foreigner, tak mengapa?

It's like if you have a Malaysian passport, expect the worst in your own country.
Can we have some respect some where, in our own land?

Interfaith Dialogue

Dr Kamar Oniah delivered a talk on this.Of cos' she is an authority..having been one of the founders of the original Interfaith Dialogue group before it became something else (Oni and Chandra Muzzafar withdrew, along with other people who believed in having dialogues and NOT using the platform to convert/change others)

Oni said one main criterion in initiating interfaith dialogue (or any other dialogues) is sincerity.And sincerity is transparent. If we go into a dialogue trying to change the other for our own agenda...we can..we can blah. :)) We dialogue becos we wanna understand, not to condemn or boast I am better than you, etc.

She said in engaging in a dialogue, the other impt thing to observe is your willingness to listen.Jangan masuk2 dah nak bagi lecture/nak mengajar orang/nak marah orang.People will leave you and will never come back.

She was in Spore recently and entah macamana they arranged for her to have a dialogue with Ambassador of Israel (in Spore). Kak Oni is known for her bluntness. So she and the ambassador
got into a ping pong game.Ha ambik kau sebiji! Heaayah, ini utk kau! Ping! Pong! Ping and de pong!

Orang Israel tu tanya kenapa Malaysia larang rakyat visit Israel? Kami orang baik..tak ajar anak2 kami violence, etc.

Kak Oni: kerajaan kami larang kami ke China/South Africa satu masa dulu tapi bila dasar mereka berubah, kami semua boleh pergi bebas keluar masuk.Kalau Israel nak Msians datang, berubahlah! (ha ha..I thot this so cute)

Kak Oni: Kita bertanggungjawab di atas waktu ini dan masa hadapan bukan sejarah lampau! Israel asyik terkenangkan sejarah silamnya.Yang merebus kamu orang Jerman bukan orang Islam.Kenapa lanyak kami? (why take out on us?)


Kak Oni nasihat budak2 (yang datang dari troubled regions also in Africa/Middle East, etc): when things get worse, look into the eyes of the young ones not your parents cos' the eyes of your parents are filled with hatred,revenge, anger, etc.Lihatlah mata anak2 yang tidak berdosa dan menaruh harapan that the future is waiting for them.

She spoke of many sincere Xtian and Jewish friends who defended Muslims during the Intifada (one Jewish lady mati kena bulldozed when they were doing human shield to protect Palestinian kids who wanted to go to sch but harassed by the Israeli armies).She also spoke of good ties between Xtian,Muslims and Jews but this group is also dying out sebab byk sgt propaganda after Sept 11.

But peace is impt and it is everyone's responsibility to restore/sustain it, regardless of creed/colour/nationality.

Well done IIUM!

I am proud of the two IIUM ICT teams which won first and second prizes at the ACM-ICPC Malaysia al-Khawārizmī National Programming Contest 2008 (al-Khawārizmī-08) beating Monash University and 21 other teams. I was invited to their closing and prize giving ceremony and although I knew next to nothing about programming, the whole contest looked very exciting.I was also told that IIUM got to host the regional contest in Dec (competing against world's best programmers cos' Malaysia is in the same league as those in China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore..kalau kalah pun tak malu) and world event in 2011.Well done IIUM and Malaysia! (it's not easy to bid to host world events and we did it).

If we do well, tak perlu kita advertise for students to study here...people will berebut2 nak masuk!

But I was comparing my arty crafty world with this new world. My world is often noisy and unruly especially in majlis-majlis anugerah like this.Budak-budak ni menang, muka selamba.I asked S..why ah? Aren't they happy they won?

S: "nerdy world"

They didn't look nerdy tapi selamba.I thought of the TV reality show Beauty and the Geek.
Nahhh..our kids look more natural, cuma expression kurang.If you are happy, clap your hands! :)

Whatever it is, I had fun talking with S and other ICT staff at the do.

The good old Tengku who officiated the event didn't age one bit -- in fact he looked younger than when he was CEO of MIMOS. I was wondering apa petua awet muda he amalkan. Maybe a good heart.Literally.

He spoke of how al-Khawārizmī became an inventor...he was trying to calculate the distribution of faraih and had to find a mathematical solution (and became father of algebra etc).Tengku was saying we need to create things to solve problems (instead of becoming lifelong consumers..ini I tambah)

More about him here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_M%C5%ABs%C4%81_al-Khw%C4%81rizm%C4%AB

Our brother Anwar

A top notch scholar of Southeast Asian Studies at a top notch university in NY is pretty certain that there will not be any assassination of Anwar (except character assassination) because Malaysia has no history of this. I think we do have such a history but politicians gunned down were not key names...we had one in Kelantan in the 1960s and recently, in Segamat (an MIC politician). So, I will not rule out possibilities.We wake up to surprises everyday, since our last General Elections.

Asked if CIA/KGB/Mossad/Singapore intelligence/batman/superman/spiderman/cicakman/kluang man was behind all this chaos, my friend said such a thought would only come from frustrated and worried people.No such thing as conspiracy theory.

Mmmph.

But the crowds at Malawati were huge.
http://anwaribrahimblog.com/

Komunikasi dua hala (untuk Dato Ti Lian Ker)

Bait-bait balas saya warna ungu utk apa yang ditulis oleh Dato' dalam warna biru di bawah ini:

faridah...faridah...faridah???
Faridah mana satu yang sebenar?
rupanya rakan sebangku sekolah!
memori ni masih segar, tak 'senile'..bila di bangku sekolah...
kita telingkah dan bertelagah..mau ubah negara - seolah-olah..
tapi kita tak berani buat fitnah..

kini..aku begini..engkau begitu..
kita sehala..walaupun tak setuju..
nasib ada blog utk kita sambil lalu..
tidak sedarpun Faridah dah ada buku..

mari kita sama-sama cari titik bersetuju.
demi untuk masa depan anak dan cucu..
janganlah mereka itu terus dibelenggu..
dengan jeratan dan perangkap dulu-dulu..
(diambil dari blog http://tilianker.blogspot.com/)

Dato,
yang dulunya Kapten (rumah)
masih bisa berbicara
tentang hal-hal besar
ingin mengubah Malaysia

Faridah masih yang sama
mencari keadilan di mana-mana
tanpa ingin mengubah jati diri
Islam hanya satu
tidak ada had hari

Faridah juga percaya
perkauman adalah 'imagined'
dan sesuatu yang dididik
dari bapa kepada anak
dari sekolah ke universiti
bahawa dunia ini ada boundary

Kita mungkin menuju
destinasi yang sama
jalan yang berbeda
tetapi inilah yang
menjadikan kita Malaysia

Perbedaan pendapat adalah rahmat
bukan bencana

arah ke hadapan ialah
menyambut apa sahaja
dengan fikiran terbuka

Majulah kita untuk negara!


wough...macam iklan TV!

But it was nice talking to you again.Thks for calling. We'll catch up soon. Mahmud is 100 years this year.We should all be back and celebrate and give back what we had taken from it. Ada sapa2 nak anjur? I think the school is but I have not heard anything from them.

Rapatkan saf

FORUM PENCEROBOHAN HAK -HAK MELAYU DAN MUSLIM

Kebelakangan ini telah timbul semula isu-isu yang menggugat kedudukan Islam dan kepentingan umat di negara ini yang memerlukan perhatian dan penglibatan kita sebagai seorang Muslim yang komited kapada agama kita. Di antara isu-isu yang mencabar ialah cabaran-cabaran terhadap status Islam dalam Perlembagaan dan dalam undang-undang negara termasuk kedudukan Mahkamah Syari’ah itu sendiri, kes-kes mahkamah seperti pengunaan kalimat-kalimat suci Islam oleh agama-agama lain, kedudukan tanah wakaf, usaha-usaha pihak–pihak tertentu mendesak, malah ada juga yang mencabar, pihak berwajib supaya melonggarkan status dan menurunkan martabat Islam di negara ini yang disuarakan secara lantang mau pun diusahakan secara halus, usaha-usaha badan-badan agama lain dari luar negera menyebarkan dakyah-dakyah mereka di kalangan umat Islam tempatan serta usaha-usaha mereka memperalatkan individu-individu Islam tertentu untuk kepentingan mereka, berita-berita negatif terhadap Islam dan umat Islam di negara ini yang dipamerkan dalam siaran-siaran TV di luar negera, dan lain-lain.

Menginsafi keadaan ini, maka IMAN (Interactive Muslimah Association) berserta Malaysian Chapter Alumni Universiti Islam Antarabangsa akan mengadakan forum bertajuk “Forum Pencerobohan Hak -Hak Melayu Dan Muslim ” yang akan menampilkan mereka yang terlibat terus dalam isu-isu ini serta mereka yang berpengalaman dalam hal-hal umat Islam di Malaysia. Semuga dengan penjelasan-penjelasan dari para aktivis dan tokoh-tokoh ini, saf-saf umat Islam di negara yang tercinta ini akan lebih kemas dan tersusun.




Tarikh: 12hb Julai 2008, Sabtu
Masa:: 9.30 pagi – 1.00 ptg
Tempat: Main Auditorium, UIA Gombak


Panelis forum:

Dato’ Haji Mohd. Nakhaie Ahmad (Yang Di Pertua YADIM)
En. Zainur Zakaria (peguam, Pengerusi Peguam Pembela Islam)
Haji Yusri Muhammad (Presiden ABIM)
En. Abdul Rahim Sinwan (peguam)
Hj. Muzaffar Dato’ Mohamad (pakar Sejarah Kesultanan Melayu)

Moderator: Puan Kamar Ainiah Kamaruzaman
(Ketua Biro Undang-Undang dan Hak Asasi Manusia IMAN, peguam)

Penganjur Bersama
IMAN (Interactive Muslimah Association)
Alumni Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (Malaysian Chapter)
ASA (Academic Staff Association UIA )

Pihak Penganjur akan mengadakan kutipan derma kilat untuk Tabung Urusan Umat membantu para aktivis bergerak dengan lebih kemas. Sila berikan sumbangan ikhlas saudara.

JEMPUT DATANG BERAMAI-RAMAI

Another promo

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1. Your subscription at RM36 for 24 issues OR
RM72 for 48 issues

Email your subscription wish at subscription@criteria.com.my


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PLEASE SUPPORT THE PAPER.IT'S OUR VOICE

A busy weekend

The Osmonds going down the memory lane

Donny yang masih nampak muda remaja .Dia ni very tertib and actually, pemalu

Marie yang masih cantik jelita.She's very witty onstage.Anaknya dah 8

the osmond brothers celebrating their 50th year in show biz, on their last world tour

It's spent with a mix of guilt and joy.

Just before the Osmonds' concert which I had looked forward to, I was with some lawyer friends enjoying popia, somewhere in Gombak.

We started discussing the latest in the country:

1.About legal demands made by certain quarters of the society over the use of words like "Allah", "kaabah", "baitullah", "solat" in their holy books which Pak Lah some time ago said OK boleh dicetak dalam bahasa melayu.Mungkin so sure of iman orang melayu di kala ini.

2.I think if the tujuan is to mengelirukan, we have to voice our concerns.Very often my non-Muslim friends argue, apa pasal orang Islam boleh buat dakwah terbuka but they can't? Then they start to quote article 11 perlembagaan without mentioning clause 4 which nyata melarang mengembangkan agama lain selain Islam to Muslims.

Sometimes depa ni nak guna equal rights/human rights arguments but sometimes I suspect it's only a one-sided kinda human rights.Mna blehhhhh!!! Kita di Msia mesti hormat menghormati.Ikut je perlembagaan negara..rule of law..jgn selective memory je why we are all here, accommodating each other, each a bit of earth.

Sultan Johor dah bagi sebijik to that DAP MP yang konon nak tunjuk protest over hegemonisation of all races over pakai songkok yang dia mungkin lihat cuba memelayukan atau mengislamkan dia? Apa punya narrow mind lah.Tak pernah dengar pasal dress code? Setiap tempat/majlis ada dress code.Ikut je le cos' you are part of the game. Life is not an island.You are not answerable to your constituency sahaja.The whole network of society/nation is wider than just a small hamlet in Johor.

If DAP has always fought for equality atas dasar perlu memikirkan budaya dan bangsa lain, apa when it comes to integrating one aspect of budaya Msia, depa nak tunjuk lawak kasar pulak? Kalau bukan atas Pakatan Rakyat, majority takkan pandang this ultra racist party DAP walau dengan sebelah mata daa. Penang, better watch out next election if DAP does not re-invent itself to suit local and contemporary climate/culture (as should BN, PAS dan BA).


Anyway, going to Genting was an escapism from all this.While we work hard for world peace and peaceful co-existence, benda2 macam ni buat I fikiran kaciau.

At Genting Arena of Stars, Donny and Marie Osmond masih mengancam.Mungkin botox and liposuction.I am sure Donny cat/dye rambut dia.Too dark brown.No grey hair at all like his older brothers (ada yang datang bertongkat) but we still had fun, going down memory lane.We were a bunch of screamy 40s and 50s. Semua jerit when Donny sang Puppy Love. :)) Bila Donny kata they were here 28 years ago, orang sebelah I jerit balik, "We came twice for you!" Wah..peminat fanatik. :)

I saw Marie close up at the theme park but tak sempat nak bergambar.Donny came that close to where we were sitting (he went to meet the crowds while singing, jumping from one seat to another; Marie pulak panggil one male audience to sing with her and allowed him to hug her while she sang.Lucky animal!)


Some pics. and Donny on YouTube

1. http://www.last.fm/music/Donny+Osmond/+videos/+1-ikk1wKmVtFY

2. http://www.last.fm/music/Donny+Osmond/+videos/+1-rP8YmNeulvs

His story: http://www.donny.com/announcements.pl?cmd=view&aid=111

Promo

Had promised Zul that I'd help promote his event.Good luck, bro!

http://www.klfringefestival.blogspot.com/

When you geram

For my international readers, 'geram' is a Malay word we use when we are annoyed or pissed off.

What do you do when you 'geram'?

I got geram yesterday. I went to a car workshop to fix a new car lamp.The car guy asked if I wanted an imitation one or an original one.I asked for price difference.He said one was RM30, the other RM80.Okaaayyy..gimme the expensive one.

It was a 15 mins wait.I went to have my rojak mee just around the corner and ordered some mee mamak for my mom in law who was not feeling well (I was supposed to visit her on my way back).

Lama juga I kat mamak stall tu.

When I returned to the car workshop, my man said it's all done.But picking the habit of my husband (who's in Kuching till Friday), I checked and found out it's not Borsch as printed on my bill. *&^%$#!! but I was so cool and calm. I panggil balik Cina tu and tanya apa hat? Ini lampu bukan Borsch.Saya bayar Borsch price.He said sama saja..ini original, label lain.I must have looked stupid or what?

I said nyet, change it to Borsch.Saya nak Borsch! Saya nak Borsch! (but still cool and calm and collected here.Maybe masih ada senyum)

So I waited while the other guy get my Borsch from the Mines (jauhnya! I live in PJ).I was lucky I was reading an interesting book.Tak sangka sampai waktu Maghrib.Close to one hour, waiting!

The demon had to come out!
Business was as usual for my Chinese guy.There was not even a look of remorse or guilt on his face for his attempted fraud/cheating act on me.

The demon REALLY came out.

I made a scene. I demanded my money back.Dia pled for another 10 mins. Like I believe him? Mines tu jauh! I had wasted enough time.I said nyet.My money back, and my old lamp. Masa I tengah berleter2 tengah public tu (there were people.There were clients and I hope they marked every word I said, underline on the word cheat..this shop is no ordinary shop..it has 3 big branches in Lembah Klang), kawan2 dia pasang alat peng-grill kuat2 so my words were lost.No one could hear me...hahaha..I felt funny juga masa tu but sebab geram....

I got my money back and this shop is blacklisted.I will tell my friends and family members.

I drove away to another shop and got my car lamp fixed within minutes at a lesser price.

Tak geram ke? Berniaga kalau tak tipu, tak boleh hidup ke?

Happy Father's Day

To all fathers who have done good to their kids, happy father's day!

I think we'll go somewhere close to celebrate this evening.It is also my 21st wedding anniversary.We thought of giving sadaqah to orphans as a sign of bersyukur that we are still here, in good shape. I think the relationship is good cos' we allow ourselves to scream at each other bila dah naik benggang.Hahaha.But Nik is a good friend and a loving person (a good father).That is his strength (we did a checklist of what I like about you/what I don't pagi ni when we woke up.Morbid people!)

Anyway, we have to be grateful for the jodoh given to us.Allah knows best.Empat perkara we cannot change no matter how much wealth/power we have: time of death, where we die, who we marry and the kind of wealth/rezeki we get.

I think we'll try the Cinnamon at One World Hotel (One Utama) tonight. Tak larat nak pergi jauh-jauh.I have theses to examine and a conference paper to write.One of my friends kerja at One World (my Australian alumna) recommended Cinnamon but I saw the reviews (on the hotel) Sama banyak je yes and no nya.But they have a wonderful write-up on Cinnamon.My fav. spot is One Bangsar (either Thai or Vietnamese dia...very da nice)

Never da mind. We have lotsa choices at One Utama if we don't like Cinnamon.Dulu ada Barn Thai (lantainya tanah, rumah bangsal but good jazz --- live music).I don't know where the new one is (I thot they moved to One Utama..modern setting).

Will recommend Cinnamon kalau bagus.Watch this space.

Family and Friends

Jenny and Swee Mee at lunch

Z with a fellow participant

Z and Sakinah as Malaysian reps

Istanbul from a cable car

Saturday was a busy day for me. Z was scheduled to arrive at 9 am.We took leave on Friday thinking her flight was on Friday (only to be told on Thurs. that it was on Sat!) So we spent some time doing the garden. Then in the afternoon I had to rush back to the uni for Krishna's PhD thesis defense.So takda cuti sangat lah.

Anyway, on Saturday I had also scheduled my Reunion meeting at 11 am.I figured sempat lah balik from the airport but Z took more than an hour to clear her luggage (KLIA's management is so bad..for what is supposed to be a sophisticated airport, the luggage clearance is so lama.I was told once that the workers sabotaged work, for better pay.Wallahualam)

Anyway, I am so bersyukur Z came back safe.She has many stories to tell.Access luggage fee sampai close to RM2K! (bawak barang2 Olympics dia like selimut yang beratnya berkati2.Sigh).

Some pics of her in Turkey (she was in Istanbul, Ankara and Gaziantep, travelling like a superstar, she said.The Turkish Language Olympics is a big thing in Turkey.What I like about it is the business community coming together to help promote Turkish language and culture that they have organised 6 olympics without fail -- sponsoring 550 students from over 100 countries, this year.Airfares, hotels/meals semua paid for for 3 weeks.Anyone keen on registering for next year's event, contact Mr. Turgay at the Turkish International School for further enquiries.Your child must be between 12 and 18 to qualify.They will teach your child, Turkish, for 6 months every weekend, free)

Read the kind of excitement your child may have here http://www.victoriousgal.blogspot.com/

See also http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/6/15/education/21467438&sec=education

Ahhh...my Reunion meeting lunch.I met Jenny after almost 3 decades.Tak nampak tua langsung dia ni.Then Sivanes mula buka cerita lama2 when we were at school.I tak sangka I was so naughty at school and they suspected it was me (at 15) who threw a note to 'harass' a temporary male teacher (one that said 'you are so handsome, I love you'.Haha).I tak ingat langsung benda ni and it's so uncharacteristic of me to say benda2 pelik macam tu to strangers. But Sivanes said she had evidence I wrote to the Revolvers (in the form of a postcard) cos' I liked Freddie Fernandez (then) and how Freddie wrote back thanking us for writing such an interesting postcard (I wrote it with Sivanes).Entah iya entah tidak Freddie who wrote back.Entah2 his peon. :))


But we laughed so much all afternoon just reminiscing what we had done and NOT done.Jenny just discovered at lunch that her gynae (a very famous one now and who had delivered her two babies) was the temporary teacher she didn't like at school.The gynae did ask her if she were from Raub during her first checkup.She didn't connect at all then. We thought this was so hilarious.How could she not know???


Some pics.

P.Ramlee the Musical, Part 2

Korang baik pi tengok! Memang international standardlah (the setting especially...stage dia better than Broadway's Mamma Mia which we saw in New York City last year.Mamma Mia so cikai.P.Ramlee punya macam Don Quixote's I saw in Madrid..stage-nya bertingkat2 dan babak keretapi tu memang sophisticated habislah.Sapo engineer/architectnya gamaknya? Gua tabik lu!)

Memang sedih juga kisah P.Ramlee ni tapi tak tau betui ke tidak versi depa ni.I hope they did their research well.Theatre kena ada R&D baru boleh percaya.Blue Man group dia pun semua buat research for every show they make.That's why they appeal to so many people esp. orang2 technical minded ni.

Last year, ramai orang marah sebab the play was accused of turning all of Ramlee's women into prostitutes.I guess it's a matter of interpretation-lah.

Costume dia bagus tapi dalam konteks hari ni..tengok wanita Melayu onstage berkemban (lagi! Dulu dalam Puteri Gunung Ledang pun timbul isu berkemban) hodoh juga.At one point, a group of them looked like wanita zaman batu sedang buat tarian zaman batu mereka.Adakah ini disengajakan, wallahualam.

I suka papparazzi tu.Mereka tersangat la cute sebab mereka tersangat lah kelakar.

Sapa Musly Ramlee? Dia betul2 macam aruah P.Ramlee.Gedik dia memang gedik P.Ramlee.

Jawapannya di sini http://star-ecentral.com/services/sprinterfriendly.asp?file=/2008/6/3/soundnstage/21387494&sec=soundnstage

Questions I need you to answer:

1.Mengapa legenda negara selalu die in poverty? : P.Ramlee, Saloma, Sudirman?

2. Sepanjang hayat P.Ramlee, orang selalu exploited him..begitu banyak films and songs he made, sapa yang kaya? Even today I wonder profits made out of his life through this play..adakah dikongsi bersama2 keluarga Allahyarham? (anaknya Nasir dan yang lain2 itu..Dian dan Sazali? Sazali is a rubbish collector I was told)

3.Bagaimanapun I still say syabas to Tiara and co. I think she has done a lot to promote Malay theatre into being accepted by ALL Malaysians (malam tu ramai bangsa bukan Melayu datang).That is why I told her, "Thank you for making us all Malaysians." Kita jangan underestimate Tiara.Dia telah bawak kita jauh and her Malay is so sedap didengar (as is her English).Kita yang kononnya memperjuangan bahasa, budaya ni tau bercakap je.Tiara telah lama tinggalkan kita. My question is: tidakkah kita malu dengan Tiara? (and her co.)

Orang kata ada duit, semua jalan.Not true.Ramai philanthropists kita pun banyak duit but what do they do to menmertabatkan warisan budaya kita?

http://mikeyip.com/tag/istana-budaya/

P.Ramlee the Musical

Mek asked if I wanted to join her watch P.Ramlee the Musical at Istana Budaya. Malas.Sejuk tempat tu (macam winter) but Nik kata tak baik, orang dah ajak.Mek is my elder sister.A bit cracko.

Nasib baik tiket dah habis.

But today she rang again.Tiket ada lagi! I said ok, book it. Dia pi booked tiket mahal! (sebab yang lain dah habis).Haiyooo...

I hope it'll be worth it.The first version (2007) had mixed reviews.Tahun ni katanya terlebih pulak pujinya.We'll see.

I like this advert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwhRJEaZ8hk

The Osmonds

Annabelle has always been a die-hard fan.So when she told me about the Osmonds coming to perform in Genting, I wired the family and we got interested.I hope things will go as planned.Watch this space. :)

Here's his link http://donny.osmond.com/

His YouTubes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2ubbk5C8DU&feature=related (to Christine, Annabelle etc reading this, do you remember the dance at my sister's bday party? ha ha)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96HqPpjI3UY&feature=related (another grin here)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEZJyfPkWCY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyRiNZDb5EY&feature=related (zaman sesat.Haha)

Mr. Gambus

Raja Ahmad and his guest artist, Mustapa Ibrahim

at RA Gallery, KL

Farid Ali (Mr.Gambus) and friends

Nik and I were feeling a bit lost without Z so we started to date one another again cos' staying at home on a Saturday evening seemed too much for us without our child.

First, we went to RA Gallery to give moral support to the opening of a local artist's art exhibition.Mustapa Ibrahim was his name.We met many arty crafty people.I enjoyed the banana leaf motifs Mustapa had.Simple but the paintings brought you back to earth.

Then after Maghrib,we decided to go shopping at KLCC.Isetan was having a sale.Everywhere I turned were young children.Hmm..when Z leaves home after SPM...I cannot imagine how much worse it can get.
Every Arab child I saw looked like Z when she was 2, 3, 4, 5, 6....Gosh..now I know how my Mom felt when I left home and when I got married...

We still didn't want to go home when malls closed at 10.We decided to listen to Mr.Gambus at Bangkok Jazz and have something to eat there.

They didn't start on time (this is something I hate..not starting on time) but when they did, I think it was worth waiting for.I never thought gambus could be so jazzy.Farid Ali (Mr.Gambus) looked like he's a banker.He sang better than he played his gambus. :)) He didn't open his mouth too widely as most singers I had seen but he had nice voice. Very intriguing, that.

Truly nice voice! . We left just before 12 but not without me saying to Mr. Gambus and his saxophone guy, "That was fabulous."

But his gambus can't beat Dennis Lau's electric violin. :))

I have a meeting at 4 pm today.You know it's Sunday here.But a woman has to do what a woman has to do.Work.

footnote: I had re-written this piece and if you notice everything is now in English.I received an email from Charlotta in the US saying her students want to know more about me after reading my book In the art of naming.Ahem. So folks, this blog has to go international now. :))

Party's over

Syukur alhamdullilah, the party's over.

The dinner went well I think.The boys played good music (many approached them to say so).Tapi lagu 'Sway" I depa tak sempat main sebab Sultan balik awal (but Sultan told the boys he liked their music and told Zamil that he had P.Ramlee's voice.Haha) but Dennis' Prelude memang sedap gila.Nanti bila album dia keluar, kita nak suruh dia buat concert free kat alumni. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYWHzj_eTGw

Dan untuk peminat-peminat Dennis yang membaca blog ini, ini blog Dennis http://www.dennislaumusic.blogspot.com/

Tapi tension giler buat kerja ni.

Z is enjoying herself in Turkey.She deserves it.

like a wedding reception

As the day draws closer to IIUM's 25th anniversary, the preparations are like us preparing for a wedding reception esp. the evening event.It's good that every division/unit is involved.The Architecture students are in charge of decorating the hall (and my instruction was "tukar dia jadi ballroom". Ha ha.Saja nak mengusik.They showed us a few pics of past events.They were good at playing with colours and lightings.Kita doakan mereka sukses)

The jazz band boys came.I had to be honest with them tentang pantang larang IIUM.They took it well.Bukan pertama kali mereka main musik depan Sultan-sultan dan pembesar2 negeri lainnya so that is a relief.We decided on a few songs yang akan buat kita "sway-sway" (good for food digestion during dinner). Mufti Perlis will come.Tak tau lah macamana reception beliau nanti.Nampak macam dia hadhari so I hope takda masalah. But I guess mesti ada kritik kutuk ..macam majlis2 perkahwinan yang lain tetapi apalah erti hidup kalau tak berani berfikiran lapang.

If I'm fired, I have my small room to return to. :))
Yang penting, it's a celebration, kan?

And so I was on tv...

It's been a while since I was on tv..so I felt quite nervous about being interviewed live on Good Morning Malaysia (Selamat Pagi Malaysia). Prof Iswawi was with me but he's a pro.

So we spoke about IIUM celebrating our silver jubilee this year.I focused on alumni and participation of the masyarakat in building the nation which would mean participating in uni. development, etc.

Some positive feedbacks from colleagues.. that's REALLY nice to know. :)

My mom yang tengah merajuk pun (she said she could not watch sebab TV dia rosak but I just spoke to her semalam and she told me she was watching her favourite soap opera) said she saw me and said "wah..pandai cakap ya?" I could sense the mother's pride in her voice. Dia merajuk sebab kita dah lama tak balik menjengok dia.I'll pick her up next Saturday, InsyaAllah cos' Z is leaving for Ankara the day after.Dia rindu cucu and daughter but tak mau tinggalkan her kelas mengaji.

Ramai juga callers after the show.I hope more participations by alumni before May 20.

Calling all iium alumni

Hello!

IIUM will celebrate its 25th year on May 20, 2008. We are having a charity dinner in the evening.Seats can be bought at RM100 per head. Please email me for details. Last date to give charitably for this dinner is May 12. This is once every 25 years. :))

Umm..I might be on TV on Monday morning on this. Bukanlah satu perkara yang saya suka nak buat walaupun saya mungkin suka masuk TV.Ha ha.

Tapi setengah orang berperangai pelik...nak tanya dulu ke mana donation tu pergi...sapa audit funding..hello..kita cuma minta RM100 bukan 100 juta ringgit (sekali in 25 years). Lagipun zaman Islam bermula dulu, semua orang jihad bagi harta benda nak bangunkan Islam.Takda pun tanya pasal auditors dan lain2.Semuanya based on trust.Ini, kita telah tiada.TRUST.Walaupun atas emas sekarung.

Oh sad..so sad.

Stopover in Dubai

The pool at Ismail's villa at Palm Island looked like this

This is a belated entry.No time, weh.Too many meetings, social functions to attend. I had only a couple of hours doing poetry with Jacob Sam-la Rose, the East London poet brought to KL by British Council. But managed to see him perform at Zouk's Slam Poetry (phooii.., young people were drinking and smoking like they had never heard of cancer, kidney failure)

My Fulbright certificate giving (and dinner) was just hours before that.What a busy evening but Gayah and I had nice time talking about our teenagers and supporting each other as worn out parents! :)

But yes Dubai.Apa yang seronok sangat Dubai ni beats me. I didn't like the airport.I think it's over-rated (I found a scarf I bought in Muscat, sold 3 times more at the airport).People were rude at the counters. There were no proper and friendly resting lounges for passers by (hotels were always full).My Rawa relative waited but didn't wait any longer (went to sleep sebab besoknya kerja) when my plane was delayed.Bagus punya Rawa! :))

But Nik's Arab friend, Ismail, made a difference to my first impression of Dubai (although I had been passing through the airport on numerous occasions). Ismail is a young millionaire (unattached at 30, religious, smart and kind hearted). Can you imagine him picking us up at the airport at 10 something in the evening and was with us till 4 am? His brand new BMW was impressive.He showed us Dubai..the new and old Dubais. We had dinner at the Global Village which looked and sounded very global.I didn't like it except for the restaurant we were at (good service, good food, good philosophical conversations).

Then Ismail took us to his Palm Island weekend villa (worth millions of dirham) after showing us some of Dubai's 7 star hotels..woohooo..cantik.The Creek pun bagus.People didn't sleep even at 3 am.

But ke manakah Dubai ingin membawa kemajuan yang tiada nokhtah ini? Dan siapa yang untung?

Yang pasti, I am glad to see a glimpse of hope.Ismail masih berjubah walaupun dia seorang jutawan, trained in the West.