Instilling culture of giving

I was having a little conversation with Anas (my young Egyptian friend from ICT, a student leader). We tried to figure out why students are so manja and expect everything to be given on a platter.They just want to take but not give (ni I dah addressed in my Gen-Y talk at Segi).Then we got to discuss about fund-raising and how Egyptians are so generous with their money.Look at that cancer centre which provides FREE treatments to patients (it's run on wakaf money).And we know Al-Azhar has produced many great leaders around the Muslim world and it runs on wakaf money since its inception.So I asked Anas to tell me how an average Egyptian child is raised to understand Egyptian culture of giving.

Anas said kids were taught from young (aged 3 or 4) to be aware of rezeki from Allah e.g. if they see a cent (tak tau la its equivalent in Egypt), the child has to pick up the coin and kiss it, letak atas dahi and says alhamdulilah (all praise be to Allah) and put it aside/keep it.Likewise if they see food remains. Every Friday, a child is taught to give to the poor/needy.To do sedekah (parents will give a dolar or two and say give this to so and so who needs it).

MasyaAllah...how many of us do this to our child? Or do it ourselves? Kalau orang nak kutip sedekah for orphanage pun kita jeling2 dengan hujung mata kita and kata dalam hati, "ni sindiket ni..mesti ada dalang kat belakang nak tipu ni."

Biar beri sikit but consistent.Dan ikhlas.Tak perlu lah nak soal orang tipu ke tidak.Allah knows who is more sincere of the two: the giver or the taker.

That is all that matters.

Will you give, for my Nov. conference? :))

Al-fatihah for Yasmin Ahmad

I think most of us feel the loss. Yasmin had agreed to speak at our Nov conference on Asia-Pac Literatures and Cultures. I remember on two occasions when I rang her up, her PA would always say she's in prayer.Yasmin seorang yang menjaga solatnya.May Allah berkati rohnya.

Yasmin juga cepat menjawab emails.I have a few from her on me.I'll keep them.
Baru malam sebelum Yasmin meninggal beberapa jam kemudiannya, I was at a dinner and a writer said it was pretty bad and that he didn't think there'd be any hope of her surviving.A few of us said miracles do happen and I was praying for one.

Allah knows better and Allah loves her more.

Al-fatihah, Yasmin.You had shown love and hope to us, through your art.There will be many little Yasmins in years to come.

Click here for Yasmin's blog.

Important to document this

It's going to be a busy day today.But I must write this down before I forget.

1. My Master's students are doing great.I have at least 4 thesis topics of great value and a Cambridge scholar has shown interest in one of them! I'm sure the other 3 pun will be great names cos' their research findings will add value to existing knowledge on Msian Lit in English, Malay Lit and HK Lit in English. Rasa nak menari2 happy! :))

2. Kena pi tempah kasut and baju Raya.

Friday blues

It's hard to finish up reading a manuscript, due soon. Selagi ICC09 is not out of the way, it's hard to do anything.And today I cepat nak marah (walhal I've started eating..maybe this is the reason.Kejap je naik balik my weight.Sigh)

Attended Prof Kamal's talk on role of uni.I don't know what to say.We all know there are so many things to improve but who are going to be responsible.The right people were not present.
But I thought the questions which came from students were really good.

Horror of horrors...Anas put me on hot spot.He said I was to give a welcoming remark to an event in the presence of Tan Sri Fuzy Abd. Razak and some other impt people from the industries.I didn't even know what the event was for.Kalut betul.Nak marah pun ada kat budak2 ni buat kerja tak senonoh mcm ni (beritau kita on the 11th hour).Anas said my name dah all over.I said no one told me anything.He said nama I dah kat prog book.Grrgh! Had to go.On high heels terhencut2.Tangga stage Main Audi tu looked like Mt Kinabalu (I was going in my heart: can I make it? can I make it?)Tan Sri pulak suruh I jalan dulu.I had to tell him about my spine problem and why I was walking so slowly on my hi heels.Aiyooo....but he was such a gentleman (Nik kata dia ni dulu with Kementerian Luar Negara) and waited patiently.I wish all men were trained like him.Berapa ramai sanggup buka pintu knowing di belakangnya seorang wanita?

Onstage, I had to think fast what to say without wanting to look or sound stupid.Kerja macam mine ni macam nilah.Semua mcm short notice.I'm only on this job for a year, you know.They treat me like I've been 10 years. But syukur, I think I pulled through.Gave a short one about a war out there in which companies fight for talents...and how students should take the trouble to get work experience through internships.That or be left behind.Sapa punya idea setting up this WIEF? Tan Sri kata it came out masa OIC meeting in KL some 6 years ago.I think it's really far sighted and whoever who thought of it was a genius.I thought Waled of Saudi belonged to this group too but apparently they all are independent organisations but Tan Sri wants to connect in due time.I hope they'll do it.Our students will benefit if they have experience working abroad.

South Australian dinner pic

with flinders friends

Geoff sent me this pic (ada yang lain but I nampak gemok).

Day 6 puasa detox.Hopefully tmrw will be my last day going without food for 24 hours, 7 days on stretch (I wanted to do 9 but I miss my food/s ==> badly.Bob suspects it's emotional attachment cos' I am not hungry while on this detox prog.Cuma aku miss makanan Msia aku!!!)

Saw Bob and Mary today.Semalam pun.6 therapies, 12 to go.Alhamdullilah getting better each time.Can walk faster now.

Breaking fast

Yah yah..I told Bob I'd go easy on my first day.Oatmeal, fruits, soups.

Pagi2 lagi karipap kentang (well, I did have my oatmeal)
Around 10 am mee soup
And chocolate cookies.

I'm home. :))

Meeting of Academic Assocs with Minister

What can I say? I was only there for a short while yesterday but came back today to see if there's any new dev.Yesterday there were some 'shoutings' and bickerings over why we are doing this again and again (org dah fedup old issues are being raised again).Omar said he had raised almost similar issues with 9 different Ministers of Education but do we see any change.In the end he concluded that MOHE does not care cos' even teachers, police force, nurses have better deals than academics cos' their ministries fought for them.

And what's this move to sideline GERAK? (by creating a new body as the only official body which MOHE will lisaise with).Pulak tu macam2 conditions who should be in the Majlis.Ada ke pulak begitu?

Anyway, we voted Rosli as Prez (he's also orang kuat GERAK).But I think we should not be too bothered by names/labels.Yang penting whoever voted in must fight for the welfare of academics.I think we ought to work hand in hand with MOHE and MOHE janganlah pulak buat lip service je (sementara tunggu next election).

I'm happy Prof Raduan is Dato Khaled's special officer.

Life is a Rubik's Cube

Nasi Lemak Kopi O studio setting

Last nite this title came out as a title of a poem I wrote in my mind.

Life is a rubik's cube.

But I wanted to connect the whole idea with god-consciousness.You may twist and turn.But there's God everywhere (the answer of your cube's puzzle..the all white, or the all green or the all blue, yellow,red, orange)

All these murders and deaths you read in the n/papers daily...haiya...most disturbing is the murder of a student of an Islamic college.Apa nak jadi??

Anyway..I'm doing OK with my 3rd day detox.Was at (and on) TV9 to alert the public of our International Career Carnival at Mid Valley on July 31 - Aug 2. Nasib I asked the kind TV anchor what sort of questions she would ask me before we went on air (soalan kita prepared, depa tak ambik langsung) Haiyo..soalan tu semua utk career counsellor and I am not one.So I pun kata (off air)yang ini boleh tanya, yang itu tak payah.Hahaha.She's so kind.So dalam seconds I had to think of convincing answers.Nik was there.He said I lo0k pretty kena make-up (wei, tak make up lagi pretty lah) but thought I could have done better.Did I sound or look stupid? No, no..he said.You sounded like a Professor.Hahah.As supportive as ever.Thanks dear!!

But Aldila said she received ph calls and emails and sms-es after that.

That is all that matters. :)
Harap datang beramai2 and alert anak buah suruh pi Mid-Valley.Ada career talks (for SPM school leavers, parents, graduands), resume writing clinic by Jobstreet, career test clinics, walk in interviews.

Lapar

when you are denied good meals, you'd start to appreciate all the good lives you had before.

I'm on my Detox prog, folks.No food for 24 hours for the next 5-9 days (I vowed to go for 9 but after today's fast, I think I'd be lucky to make it to the 5th day.Laparlah!!!!)

It's a different kind of hunger.I think it's just the body missing food.Nothing to munch.A kind of emptiness. A kind of void. Rasa nak nangis.But for what? That's how I feel at the moment.I think it's just missing familiarity.Like someone pining for someone close who has just died.

But the 2 puasa ganti I did according to Bob's advice (no high protein at breaking fast) went well.Waaahh...baru terjumpa nikmat puasa after lebih 4 dekad! So folks, this Ramadan, make sure you do it the right way when breaking your fast.Badan rasa ringan, you'll have lots of good energy and basically, will feel fit.

It's all about trust

But where does trust come from? For me, testimonies from close/trusted friends, indicators from my solat/zikir and finally my gut feeling (which I take as valid after I'm convinced of the first two)

I'm talking about my alternative treatment. Azura rang up after she heard from Ruzy.Nak tergelak pun ada...kalau I kena tipu..it's a domino theory thingy....and my network is pretty wide.Hahaha.

But I have seen Bob 4 times.Everytime I go home, I feel like a new person (dengan izin Allah).Let's hope after detoxification, we'll see more pronounced results (ie a slimmer me).I will tell you about the detoxification later.But you may know this:

1. When we break fast, do not eat high protein.Just berbuka with rice, sayur and fruits.We want our kidneys to rehat.

2.When we drink, drink ikut cara Rasulullah (seteguk, berhenti.Buat ni sampai habis air.Sebab too much will also damage your kidneys) We need a glass of water every hour.

3. Make sure you exercise enough to release trapped chi/trapped energy.Trapped energy ni lah yang jadi penyakit cos' of poor blood circulation.Do a lot of stretching exercises esp for neck (Mary taught me ninja turtle exercise which she discovered while watching ayam makan...kan lehernya kejap panjang, kejap pendek? She did this to help her vertigo cos' pressure kat neck yang cause benda ni).

Naturalists learn from nature and it's so amazing how they find how to cope with pain by observing Nature (dalam Quran pun macam ni apa.Fadhilat from madu lebah, etc)

I can go on but Bob tak kasi cakap banyak2 cos' kalau orang tak faham concept Isogai and total well-being ni..people will be put off.But I can say this: we can have so much money but kalau badan tak sihat...tak guna juga.And I think we need to respect our body.Dia bukan machine.When you are sick, the body is trying to tell you something: stop abusing me! (I have not taken any leave for a long time save the trip to Brunei last year...and I forget I am not getting any younger).

So to all you workaholics out there: love yourself, listen to your body.Give it a break! eat well, sleep better (6-7 hours is enough), drink enough and EXERCISE (isogai ones are simple and not too painful)

TPM yang berani

I'm beginning to like our TPM.I think he's courageous to answer all criticisms with regard to the new decision on Math and Sci in Bahasa Melayu.And to go against Chet Det! Woohoo...berani.PM dah tak berbunyi (being the polite man he is).

I grew up in Malay medium.No prob what to pick up English Lit later in my life.The thing is our open mindedness not just to master English but other languages.But the way we go...aiya..like English is the be all and end all. What we should teach our kids is to understand the advantage of learning more than one language.So yes, they must do well in English, Malay but they must also make an effort to pick up Chinese (or even Tamil or Urdu).For Malays, Arabic tu dah macam wajib dah.

But I kecewa mindset kita.Hanya nak zoom to one language (be it English ke, Malay ke, Chinese ke).The mind must open like parachute la beb.How is it in Europe, they can do 4 languages at one go?

On my mc day

I saw Doc Bob Koh and his wonderful wife, Mary.Did more therapy for the leg using Isogai technique.My chi came back.Isogai believes that all sorts of ailment are caused by bad bone structure (cos' chi and blood circulation would be clogged).Not cheap but I thought better prevent than be a vegetable later. Watch me in 6 months if Allah izinkan (I had done solat hajat and zikir 5000 kali before I made this big decision cos' it meant parting with 6 years of my savings.I put my trust in Allah.Completely.Kalau tak menjadi, it's part of ikhtiar to feel well physically).

Tengah berpeluh2 buat exercise Isogai, Umaira rang.TV journalist from Gala TV Awani.Hahah, thanks Umaira for thinking of me and MJ! Initially I said No.Orang tua kerepot mana nak masuk Entertainment TV bercakap pasal MJ.Nanti Ustaz kat UIA kecam. Prof Aslam kata don't forget to brush my moonwalk when I text-ed him the funny news.I said tak pernah nak menjadi bila I tried. :))

But Umaira and her friend did a wonderful job (my garden will be featured.Thankyou thankyou!) and makcik pun ceritalah zaman makcik dulu.Then anak makcik pun kena interbiu.Pakcik tak mau sebab dia dah pakai baju melayu (lepas semayang maghrib).Pakcik pun boleh moonwalk zaman dulu2, kot?

What a day.It cheered me up.I'm happy for Umaira too.She's doing fine as broadcast journalist.I wish her well.Kawan dia pun sopan budaknya.Mungkin keluar Sunday ni jam 6 pm or next Sunday.Harap nonton and beritau sedara mara, yah.:)))

Great time at SEGI

Meeting SEGI undergrads reminded me of my own time with IIUM undergrads (esp the year they organised a national English conference...) At SEGI, the Psychology students were solely responsible for bringing in speakers to speak on Creative and Critical Thinking Skills.When I first received an email invitation, I asked if they had confused me with another Faridah.I told them I was not a Psychologist (although I did take some Psychology courses during my undergrad years...partly sebab lecturer dia hensem, partly also a couple were great scholars).But the rep said they found my name when they googled Critical Thinking.Hmmmph..maybe the few topics I included in my PhD's IOK on De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats plus Jamal Badi's work on Critical Thinking in Islam. But then again...as a Literature person, we do Creative and Critical thinking allllllllllllllll the time so yes..I qualify. :)) I'm glad the government is going to incorporate Lit classes in primary school.We'll breed nice monsters (who'll argue without fear...fun to have conversations with etc etc)

Anyway, I had a nice time sharing findings of so many research projects on Gen Y.Frances (a CEO of some consultant company) was also a delight.I must invite her to IIUM.She's so funny and inspiring.And tak sombong.Kita sempat berbisik2 about how scary the world is with Gen Ys about to take over! And she said it was appropriate for me to talk on the topic before a Gen Y audience.And yes, we had fun. The other speaker (parallel session) said no one asked any question in her session.Mine also but you know the mak tiri I am...I cucuk sana, cucuk sini...and in the end, the kids came out and some important issues came into discussion.

One feedback I got: the kids said 1 hour tak cukup.

Hahahaah....how nice.But the kids and I dah planned for something bigger (I'll rope in IIUM Psy Society.Biar mereka network and benefit from one another).

Watch this space.

a lazy weekend

The leg's a bit better.I could jump and run a bit now but it could be the effect of the drugs given.
I'm waiting for a miracle to happen.Please O please.

Only in Malaysia

that patients return crying!


I can't believe in today's high drama. Memang lah I can be your drama queen sometimes.But it takes two to tango, kan?


Went to get treatment at a hospital close to home (I went cos' of distance not so much reputation of the hosp.Dah lama tau it ain't that great but ain't that bad either)
My leg problem ler. The chiro prog is very da slow.I thought: see an orthopedic and get physiotherapy done and this would solve the prob.

I ended up in tears, telling an orthopedic: I'm sorry doctor but I don't think I can continue this.I do not want to be treated by you. I want to see another dr.I find you rude, obnoxious and I don't like the way you speak to me.I don't feel your sympathy.

(I felt like I was in a courtroom more than in a hospital.Dia nak satu je jawapan to his question.Some I could not answer.Tu yang frustrating.Mcm nak jawab peperiksaan Add Math masa SPM! Very gruelling! Dia tanya pasal I je sakit macam ni.I kata people vary ..some jaga diet maybe.He said what has diet got to do with the pain I have.God! Either I was menopausal or he was!)


Dah byk hospital private and consultants I went to..this chap has bad bedside manner.Google and read the news on this lady who donated USD2 million to a hospital (after her death) to teach its student doctors good bedside manner cos' when she was diagnosed with cancer, the doc rang her up and told her that she had cancer and hung up on her!

I will not leave any money to any private hospitals.They have robbed me enough (MRI seribu ringgit lebih! The second Dr, although kinder than the first, tak cakap pun sebelum dia hantar I buat MRI it would cost me that much.I never know it's expensive cos' I biasa buat free! Satu, opis Nik bayar.Kali kedua years later, my nephew yang buat.He's with a uni hospital).You gotta observe your private doctors.If they are arrogant, tell them in the face. Dalam Islam, orang sakit mesti dijaga baik.Bukan nak tunjuk lagak "I'm the expert here, I know better and I have no time to listen." It's OK, I dah bagi feedback kat spital tu.If they want to be relevant, they better have the right attitude (doc ni look down on other medical approaches ie chiropractice.Walhal some new hospitals are hiring chiropractors in their hospitals and in the US/Australia, they are alternative treatments and insurance companies pay them.Dr binggung ni so judgemental and got defensive..no..offensive when I mentioned the word) My take is: if patients choose to believe in Tok Aji ke, kiai ke, bomoh ke, chiroprator ke..that is their choice and it's how each deals with his/her illness (a healing process in itself).If this doc and this hospital is so close-minded mcm ni, tak lama bungkus la tu. You may disagree but you don't have to insult other approaches and be so judgmental.Binggung! I told Dr Rude that my chiro is attached to a reputable hospital then he started to membebel2.Like it's the fault of this hospital pulak to take chiros seriously.

Zul cakap pi je hospital Cina. :))

I took the case to the top management.Mana ada spital yang buat patient dia feel worse after talking to the doc?

For me ini satu salah laku professional yang serious.I hope it does not happen to others.
Maybe medicine schools must incorporate teaching bedside manners to their students as well.

Sastera Kebangsaan and 1 Malaysia

Joined a dialogue at DBP on the above out of curiosity.Many writers, critics and academics were present. KP chaired.I love this man.He seems to know what he's doing and seems pretty firm.I hope he delivers. Yang pasti Dato Hassan mcm biasa being blunt.Dia suka nak bagi pelempang kat orang ("saya kalau jumpa org yang dok kata dasar kita ni racist, nak je saya bagi pelempang" and he went on pointing faultlines often fwd-ed by minorities in Msia on kedudukan bahasa melayu, sastera kebangsaan, deb then, etc etc).

And secara selamba he asked why would UPM namakan one of the facs Fac Bahasa Moden. Bahasa mana yang tak modern? Selamba but big question.

Yang I suka dia kata menteri2 kita bukan ilmuan so macamana mereka nak buat keputusan yang bijak menangani masalah2? Bukan saja bukan ilmuan tapi takda pengalaman (some of them are so young! Ni I tambah)

Dr Hashim pointed to isu dasar sudah selesai dan kedudukan bahasa melayu/sastera kebangsaan pun sudah selesai.We ought to move fwd.I said selesai buat kita kelompok dbp and kelompok melayu but not for the minorities.Perkauman semakin menjadi2 di kalangan gen y (and I asked where do kids learn this if not from their parents.Amat2 bahaya!)

Zakir and Uthaya pun setuju memang kelompok bukan Melayu tidak dapat menerima kedudukan bahasa melayu or sastera kebangsaan sebagai mesti dlm bahasa melayu. Jadi nak buat mcmana? Mesti ada prog yang inclusive (let them write in lang of their choice but let the writings be translated into Malay..yang ini minorities tak leh nak challenge as long as the position of Malay as bahasa kebangsaan and dasar sastera kebangsaan mesti dlm bahasa melayu.Hey, we gotta have at least one language that we can communicate with...it can't be English.Hanya org bodoh yang akan ambik bahasa lain dan campakkan bahasa yang telah berakar umbi sebelum penjajahan! This kinda idea is often miscontrued as rejecting English altogether (or other languages).Apa ke bengap sgt tu??

Anyway, Zul, Zakir and I will meet on Facebook to discuss how to make lit. fashionable for our gen y.Harap2 tidak hangat2 taik ayam.If only they know sastera is a window (no! door!) to critical/creative thinking and a good training ground for effective communication.Sebab apa gen y cannot think,. it's becos' they were not taught to think and subjects like sastera je boleh do that (plus teach them empathy).You know don't you that part of the requirements to be in diplomatic service in Ireland is you must either be a grad of Literature or History or Philosophy? Hari ni ketiga subjects ini dilihat as takda nilai in Msia. Sebab kita sibuk nak buat duit.Enterpreneurshiplah, innovationlah.At the expense of stg bigger.Bila org attack nilai kita/negara kita, ternganga2 nak jawab sebab tak leh nak argue.Komunikasi and language and critical thinking skills takda.

Kerajaan pun mestilah jgn dok kupik sgt nak keluar budget to make lit important again.Ni konon nak 1 Malaysia tapi keluar belanja kedekut (with regard to supporting prog2 to include other groups to write for sastera kebangsaan..it includes costs to translate works written in other languages to Malay, training students/teachers to berkarya in Malay esp. creative writing, etc etc esp in Chinese and Tamil schools..can you imagine these kids tak tau Malay pun most of them? The Malays are not allowed to be chauvinists but they can? I think for 1 Malaysia to work, we must meet halfway dgn mematuhi perlembagaan dan semangat perpaduan.Dan jangan be selective perlembagaan mana yang harus diikut.There's a bit of earth for everyone.You must enter the playing field with utmost sincerity bukan dgn niat nak kick lawan and rampas bola tanpa ikut peraturan)

I dulu support Chelsea (masa Murinho) :))

Remembering Gaza

Kak Oni and Dr Saodah doing the coins

Even top lawyer wasn't spared from counting ringgits!
(Aini holding Vietnamese Dong)

All in all close to RM8K (this sitting, we made slightly over RM3K)

aku kaya...
(imagining dinar emas)

* Kak Oni kata the Jews love coin donors cos' they believe

money given by the poor has more value.

While we stayed glued watching news on MJ (shedding tears in between) all weekend, I had time to help count money collected for Gaza with IMAN members (will be passed on to COMPLETE). Byk sgt masalah this week.I am still limping (who knows if it's all those walkings at FRIM!) but bought ankle support today.Rimas juga but it helps.Saw Rita (my other chiropractor) on Friday and will see her twice a week to work on my bones.Some comfort.The moment I know I can jump and land nicely (esp on my left foot), I know I'm OK. :))

Tribute to Michael Jackson

I am not a fanatic fan but I grew up on Michael Jackson's music (and his music videos) as an undergrad in NZ. Kalau Saniah membaca ini, ingat tak kita punya disco parties especially after final exams? We danced to Billie Jean, Beat It.Memang bukan main lagi kita!!! :))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7MmEMrCRfc

I feel for MJ.Now that he's dead, no point praising him when he was so abused (by the Western media especially) during his fall.What remains amazing is his fans' continuous support for him in good and bad times.

Jermaine Jackson in his pc said "May Allah be with him always."
Al fatihah.

Quality time with Z

I took leave today.Sprained ankle.Went to see Dr Kluner, my new chiropractor.I miss my old one (dia dah blah balik Australia). Kalau Leigh ada, I balik dari treatment, mesti dah boleh berlari2 dan melompat2.Kluner is good but I guess I'll need time to get used to him.Lain orang, lain cara.

Anyway I sent Z and picked her from school.Dah lama tak main masak2/mak2. :))
It's quality time today.Byk cerita kelakar Z told me (we lunched at De 5 sebelum I went back to the Curve for treatment and shopping..sakan! It's been so long!)

Z told me they had guests at school today. One worked in advertising...the other a lecturer of a uni who wanted to promote her uni.She showed Stanford pic..saying it's the most contemporary uni..then showed Cambridge and said it's the most forward thinking uni. Then showed her uni and said this uni is both contemporary and fwd thinking. Budak2 kat belakang dah berbisik2 : wahhhh...buy one get two ahhh??? wahhhh go to one uni like going to two ahhh??

Lepas tu lecturer ni kata now what with swing flu....(swine bunyinya 'swing') Ayooooo.....I told Z that's being fwd thinking cos' even you guys are not familiar with the new pronunciation. Baru la fwd namanya! :))
Kawan dia bisik2 kat belakang "wahh..your England very da powerful ah?" (or something to this effect)

I don't know what to say...can we change language policy just because satu orang sudah terlepas masuk? And is intelligence or rather, should it be measured ONLY by how you speak? (or sound)

Minggu depan kita tau.

Z also said Nunu promised not to look down on Indian boys from the squatters who board the same sch bus as them cos' she was so touched by Slumdog Millionaire movie they both watched at home some time ago.Nunu said,"Aku tak nak benci mereka lagi walaupun mereka nakal.They could have come from that kind of background." Nunu plans to buy them foodlah, keropoklah, etc etc. Hahaha.I'm glad! (Z told me budak2 tu pernah buang baju PE dia keluar tingkap bas when she was asleep sebab she scolded them earlier for being so noisy.That's how ganas they are.And they are primary sch kids!These kids speak no English, no Malay.They go to Tamil sch.)

More World Environment Day celebration

kayakking near home

not as easy as you think

like a holiday

http://kd.communityforest.net/

Dear Friends
You are cordially invited to AMP's Tree Party at Kota Damansara Community Forest on the 21st of June.
DATE : SUNDAY 21 JUNE
TIME : 9 am
VENUE :CIMB SHELTER KDCF


Time Activities
8am Registration opens
Eco-active
915am – 1045am “Plant a Tree for the Planet” – Session One
11am – 1230pm “Plant a Tree for the Planet” – Session Two
9am – 12noon Guided nature walk
9am – 12noon Boat Ride at the Lake
9am – 12noon Photo competition

Eco-playground
9am – 1130am Morning eco-play session

Eco-licious & booths
All day Eco booths
All day Food stalls
All day Corporate sponsors

Eco-corner
All day Recycling corner
1030am – 11am Eco-host: Welcome VIP & media
12noon – 2pm Lunch break!
Officiating the 1km trail (AMP Radio)
Performance by drum circles, indie bands, local artists*
Prize giving for eco-play session (1) and appreciation to sponsors

Eco-active
2 – 5pm The Scouts Trail Mountain Bike Time Trial
(more details on the race at http://fakawitribe.com/home/)

Eco-playground
3pm – 430pm Afternoon eco-play session
430pm – 5pm Prize giving photo competition, eco-play ssession (2) & MTB trail
5pm Close

old pics

Er Cik kakak tengah dok menghafal nama2 tetamu before introducing them

the lecture room was full cos' Dr Che Noraini brought her class

to the forum (thanks!) Orang luar and reporters pun ada

Dr Najibah of AIKOL and lady police officer from Bukit Aman

Dr Hariyati, mc-ing

I bumped into En. Zamri's blog and look what I found! Pics taken 4 years ago when my women's research cluster group organised a forum on prostitution as an organised crime (in response to a controversial claim by a female 'ulama' that it's OK to prostitute yourself out of necessity). We had a policewoman officer from Crime Dept, Bukit Aman, a colleague scholar of Islamic Law and our esteemed guest speaker Dato Hassan Din who was so articulate, funny but very firm on hukum hakam.

Dr H was the mc and I moderated. We still have the cds (in Malay), selling them at RM5 each.

Pls beep if you want to buy one.

snowballing effect

I had an unexpected visitor today. A postgrad from Iran (based at IIUM Gombak). He came to show me his friend's project in Iran (saving the turtles) and how this friend was recently voted one of top scientists in the world (can't remember his ranking). Macam biasa, I kalau orang tak kenal datang, mesti ingat dia datang nak kutip derma or jual insurance or jual credit card (evil, evil mind!) but this hamba Allah cuma nak share and said he got to know about our office via the 'save the turtle' campaign we did with WWF last week (we were collecting 1000 signatures). He asked us to sign him up for our next event.How sweet! What a snowballing effect! Adam and friends must be so proud of themselves that they had managed to create an impact on their society. A lady visitor who saw their notice on campus rang Adam up and asked if they'd visit her school and talk to her students.Woohooo!

Berkat jiwa yang ikhlas (the kids terjun sungai and kutip sampah sarap dalam Sungai Pusu).Nora said the river flowed better after that.Hahaha. Iya ke Nora? :))

I am so so proud of them.Friday ni kita ada closing ceremony and they will show all those funny pics taken the whole of last week.I hope it won't be too embarrassing for me (I'm so good at being candid! then look like hantu)

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 22nd year of marriage.

Semoga panjang umur, murah rezeki and diperbaiki Allah akhlaq kami semua.

nota kaki:

The Jap restaurant we dined at was fabulous but as always we loved watching waiters and waitresses..yang satu ni real kelakar (as we entered, dia terkejar2 nak cakap Jepun, welcoming us.I ingat selipar Jepun dia pun tercabut2). The same woman chased a diner about to leave and asked aloud, "Sir, sir, have you paid sir?" (Z and I mcm tak percaya!) Ni hotel 5 star and among the diners we spotted was that lady who did the antartic solo expedition, Datuk whatshername.

Lepas tu our spirited waitress would thank people sekuat hatinya ==> thankyouvery much, which sounded like "thank you abang mat."Tak halus mcm Jepun (I think dia orang Msia, kalau bukan Rohingya.Definitely bukan Jepun)

But the food served was really really nice.We'd come again.

Gen Y

There are some wonderful articles on generation y (generation why). I think we get to see them first (as students) before CEOs start to wonder why and how to deal with them. I had noticed changes in students' behaviour in the last 10 years but am beginning to understand our new challenge (berdepan dgn new breed of 'monsters'.Hahaha). In the past, colleagues and I were wondering why the students were so different from previous batches: they seem to be more rude (because they were always asking 'why' over what we thought was basic common sense), lazier (we saw it as 'lazy' when they could have actually wanted their own space and time in doing things). We also wondered why getting recognition was so important to them.In the past, we did things for love, kan? It didn't matter who got the name for every success we were part of.

I think as educators, we ought to know what is happening to our new generation as the gap widens.New pedagogy, new approaches must be devised to handle this new breed of students before we 'flush' them into the workplace. I can identify quite easily cos' I have one member of gen y at home.My daughter. My recent brush with the undergrads working on the green project enlightened me on how to guide, shape and make myself relevant as an educator to these bright, active kids.If you know the trick, it'll be fun working with them. :)) Kalau tak, pening kepala as you deal with what seems to be 'stubborn' kids.They will never take No for an answer.You kata A, they nak Z.Mula2 angguk.You turn your back 5 secs, you tengok Z is there before you. And you end up thinking..yeah..they were right. :))

Teachers of dinosaur years, we gotta read on gen y to stay relevant!

Blessings in June

Pretty, aren't they?

(and expensive but we let them go)

1.So many: our World Environment Week went well. The best part was releasing 3 beautiful (expensive) birds (kita beli dgn duit kita sendiri, bukan duit universiti, to save caged birds) at the tree planting session with Dato Sri Rector and teman2 seperjuangan and our smart partners: IP, Dev Division, the students' group, etc) We also got to plant our rose garden and janda merana (malay name for weeping willows).

2. Nik got promoted (congrats darling! long overdue and I think very well-earned)

3. That we are still alive today.

scouting for the right toastmasters club

I didn't know it could be quite tricky trying to find the right toastmasters' group to join.If you google, not many will appear online but a certain Mr Ratnam of Subang Jaya was kind enough to give me some clues.Then Wong gave me more tips.Some clubs can be a bit exclusive and picky than others but Deborah of KDU's was all friendly and smiles on the phone.Found out that she's the out-going Prez but I sat in one of their monthly meetings.Wahhh..what a civil, cultured and warm group they have! I felt home immediately.Multi-ranged..from medical doctors to managers to engineers.They all spoke well.

Satu berita kelakar.I spotted a lady who I thought look so familiar.
Me: heyyyy! aren't you from my cake decoration class?
Lady: what? cake? nope...
Me: Hmm..must be someone else but I feel like I know you from somewhere before.

At the end of the session, I found out that my cake lady was Datuk so and so; then an ambassador I met in the USA.Allah!!! :))

I'll go club hunting a wee bit more to make sure I would be in the right group. But I have a feeling it'll be KDU's.

FRIM trip: Go Green!

canopy walk

Tan Sri's lecture at the park

My treasure hunt group
(showing off my recycled go green t-shirt)

anak-anak buluh betong

Monster fish (about 6-7 feet long)

FRIM park

Was with a group of students on a green project.We did treasure hunt in the jungle and took a canopy walk (macam nak mampos I turun naik bukit, some 1000 feet above sea level.Really bad news for my fat! I walk on my tread mill pun tak berpeluh macam ni!).The guide (Zul) was so sweet to wait on me.Adam and Kameel sekali sekala.Kameel carried my handbag! Hahaha. But it was a very, very, very nice walk.Jumpa stream je, kita minum air and a small river where I got to soak my tired feet..aaaaaaaaahhhhhh....heavens! But a little info: do not drink any water no matter how clean it is if it's after rain cos' di hutan byk tikus and they urinate.During rainy season,that goes to the streams...but on dry days, takpa, safe to drink (cos' air kencing tikus goes to the soil).

Tan Sri Dr. Salleh Mohd Nor waited for us and gave another talk to peminat2nya (budak2 UIA) who requested that the first FRIM Director-General and founder of FRIM be with them (he was the one who inspired them to set up the environmental student's group and made them observe the World Environment Day ...for a week!) I'm happy that the kids are so motivated.

We had a picnic in the park.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMDQCNh6NSM

God bless Mr Tamrin and team

Syukur my eldest sister survived her bypass.I wasn't there when she went in the OT (pukul 6.30 am) but my mom was (with loyal siblings).Pagi sangatlah.

But I took leave and went just a wee bit late.11 am? She keluar 12.30 noon.Sempat tengok kat ICU.Kalau dah mcm tu, mcm helpless je.
But met up with her surgeon (one of 4, I think). Good job Mr Tamrin and team.Thank you so much! May God bless you guys. Patut depa ni diberi gaji yang lebih tinggi dari private hosp.

liverpudlian lunch

We had our first grand dinner comm meeting today.Azhar chaired it.I hosted lunch at my place.Ordered nasi bryani from Shahril macam biasa.Senang.I don't know why he got confused with my title.Dulu panggil Hajjah.Then Dr.Now Datin.Lantak kau je lah! This new guy I met at UPM panggil I Puan Sri lagi.Hahaha. Ada gaya kaa? :))

We got invited to Agong's tea party tapi ada Liverpool meeting pulak so Nik kata tak payah pergi. The last time we went, they never honoured the special seats/car stickers we had.Park kat luar juga.Jauh nak jalan.Zaman Sultan Selangor (lama) jadi Agong, syok sikit.Dapat close up and dapat bersalam2 tanpa queue panjang.

Our Liverpudlian lunch was fun.The group more or less umur dekat2 sama: 30s to 50s.We have to work hard to make it happen in Jan next year.My job is to find Dato Aishah (with Tenaga now, they say).Apa ke susah sgt kerjanya? But Delesh's lagi susah.He has to take care of entertainment, dinner theme etc but he seems to love the role.Joseph kata dia nak perform (dulu dia ada band sendiri.Delesh said cousin dia boleh ajar kita semua menari macam STOMP. Kena practise la for some weeks.Hai, macam tak cukup kerja! But sounds like loads of fun tapi imagine me doing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu15Ou-jKM0

The Mines

at sunset....

you won't believe this is in seri kembangan

(we had barbecue at the 'beach', the deepest mine in the world)

water taxi at the mall

Was away on a conference at the Mines (Palace Resort Hotel and Spa). We meet every year and this year, the conference is hosted by UPM.Excellent organisation (except for the checking in and out, a bit kalut).They took us on a tour round the campus and we had a garden high tea makan ubi kayu with ikan masin and kelapa and sambal; rebus jagung, lepat labu, air kopi.Wah..macam kampong betul.Very nice.Cuma hari tak hujan.It would have been perfect if it rained. :))

Nice brainstorming and sharing sessions.Many new friends.I decided to sleep over the second nite cos' tak larat nak balik ke rumah late in the evening. I am so proud of UPM alumni (many are scientists! The institution is 78 years old so you can imagine the pioneers of UPM..they built this city)

IIUM alumni pun tak kurang.Maz came to speak for IIUM Alumni Assoc and spoke on how they helped with organising the inter-school debating competition (every year) and it gets better yearly.The no. of schools partcipating has gone up to 200.Simply amazing, what a contribution to IIUM!

I also hear good news from the campus: we have an overwhelming response for our World Environment Week programme. Kita akan tanam pokok secara beramai2, cuci sungai, recycle and reuse barang2.Yay!

nota kaki: gambar di atas diambil oleh saya sendiri melalui telefon murah saya.Cantik macam postcards. :))

Sarawak and Sabah for the weekends

with bride and bridegroom, Shapx and Sri Kandy

Maswings, in Sibu

Comelnya!

Lembah Impian dinner, KK

(alumni belanja)

gorgeous gals

gals doing the traditional music

Sarawak by the river

kek lapis yang popular

It is not something impossible to ill plan your trips to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu in a day and a half.

That was what done over the weekends.We forgot it's sch hols and were ignorant Sabah and Sarawak would have a long weekend starting May 30 (Harvest Festival).Naturally flights were fully booked.There was only one seat left so it had to go to me (my officer terpaksa tinggal).Dalam kecamukan fikiran (fume!fume!) I got lucky cos' a state Union leader sat next to me and we had fun talking about grievances at work! Hahaha.And I ended up enjoying the trip.He promised to introduce me to more union leaders.Bagus ni.I think if born another era, another country, I might be a communist. Oh ok, maybe a socialist.Hee3.

Sarawak

Although I was only doing a stopover for a few hours in Kuching (to lunch with our alumni there), we had a fruitful discussion about where we want to go.Banyaklah projek-projek kita harap dapat dijalankan.They are all doing very well in both government and private sectors.

Sempat pulak the ladies bawak I pi tempat buat Kek Lapis yang terkenal (ramai org2 terkemuka datang ke sini). The latest flavour is blueberry kek lapis.Sedap, awak! Berbungkus-bungkus saya beli untuk diagih-agihkan kepada sedara mara di Semenanjung.Different flavour.Alifah said flavour papaya tu sedap juga.Then there's chocolate layer. Tak larat nak pikul.

Sabah

Sebab flight penuh, I had to take the one which went to Sibu first. Wough, to get in and out Sarawak not easy you know? It's like travelling overseas.So many forms you have to fill in (what with the swine flu form although on the form it said only if you are entering Malaysia from overseas. We still had to fill it in although we flew from KL) Nak masuk isi form, nak keluarpun the form kena chop siap2.I dah lama tak pi Kuching and KK and can't really remember it was this kecoh (kalau transit in Sibu, lain pulak lorong nak mengechopnya.Kalau terus KK, lain) The guy at Sibu immigration ( I believe from Semenanjung) said, "Pelik, kan? Saya dulu pun rasa macam tu."


MASWings from KK to Sibu ni pun satu hal.Ada lagi this species of a plane? Hidup segan, mati tak mau.Very dirty, rude air stewardess as well.Mintak apple juice, dibaginya orange juice.Bila I tanya ini ke apple juice (I was innocent! Memang I was wondering without trying to be sarcastic), dihempas2nya gelas tu.Haram nak cakap sorry.Hmm..must write to Deris Jala.Masih ada sentimen bencikan orang Semenanjung ke? (I experienced this at the KK airport too, tempat collect luggage) but our Sabah alumni are the best of best (probably sebab depa good Muslims dan kita dah asuh at IIUM). Very tertib, bersopan santun.Salam cium tangan (for the ladies).

I arrived at about the same time with our guest speaker Prof Sidek Baba (although he flew direct from KL) so they took us to dinner at this great place called Lembah Impian Country Homes http://www.lembahimpian.com.my/ Macam kat Ing-ler or Scot-ler (bak kata Pakcik Soh, Nik's uncle) Good food, good conversations. Prof Sidek banyak cerita.He knows a lot. We were still talking about Syed Qutb and Hassan Al Banna jadi ahli freemason as claimed by Dr Omar.

Our alumni in KK (as also in Kuching) are all well-positioned in the society.Top lawyers, top bankers and telecommunicationists.One of them is Political Secretary to Sabah CM.BAR graduate.Hebatnya! BAR means you specialise in Arab language and literature, you know.Don't play2.These grads are everywhere in the world now: kerja kat Embassy, PTD, etc.But you tengoklah kita punya teaching staff of Arabic Dept pun..PhDs from SOAS, London...don't play-play.

Anyway, we stayed at Promenade. Not as good as the last time I stayed there..oh wait..I was at Sutera Harbour..not Promenade,Nik yang suka sangat Promenade. I updated him. Toilet tak leh flush, bau busuk.Staff tak friendly (although some are), if you go on government rate, they do not include breakfast (you have to buy extra) so I wrote a complaint (champion of complaints..kalau ada position in any company to trouble shoot problems,I fit in well!) and gave them my feedback:

hotels usually rely a lot on government trainings/meetings.Patut depa respect la sikit government civil servants sebab kasi hidup biz depa..ini tak..knowing there's guaranteed money, they want to squeeze every single sen. I told them, hotel lain bagi b/fast although on government rate (in fact, some are so good, they give extra attractions).Sekarang kalau semua orang tau Promenade buat macam ni, mesti depa tak mau pilih hotel ni.Sebab dia berkira sangat dgn kakitangan kerajaan (although IIUM is not kerajaan but we signed up for government rate and the same would apply for all government offices).

Sabah Chapter launch: May 31.I thought it went very well although the organising comm said they planned it in less than 2 months.Prof Sidek spoke on Islamophobia.I launched the chapter (first time! So yes, I got to say the famous line, "Dengan lafaz bismillah..saya rasmikan pelancaran Sabah Chapter..tahniah dan well done!" ...ada gimmick lagi...wough...ingatkan simple ceremony je (the main purpose was the talk, I thought).So I pressed some launching button, Quran keluar from somewhere and I had to cut ribbon some more...rasa macam CM pulak. Hahaha.

At lunch, more discussions (kita ni serious people.Lunch discussions kita bukan pasal cuaca).Yup, Sabah alumni are a different breed...committed to our philosophy of education.Yang kita suka they are everywhere: on both sides.Ketua Pemuda UMNO pun mereka, ketua pemuda PKR pun mereka juga..tetapi boleh duduk semeja, bergurau senda.Prof Kamal once advised them: rise above party politics and embrace kepentingan sejagat.

Pasar Filipina tu tak appealing sangat (I have so many pearls already at home) but udang kering is cheap here so kita pun pergi kejap.Beli la apa yang patut for family at home( I bosan nak bawak barang2 ni so kena beli bag extra nak angkut buah salak, buah mempelam.Hai..macam pi pekan sari le pulak!)

Flight to KL a bit delayed but not much.Dah janji Nik we'd rush to Shapx's wedding.We got there around 10 pm.Saw Sabeera at the car park, leaving and she kata eh? you leaving or arriving? :))

Nasib majlis belum selesai.Ini org kata rezeki.There was one whole table untouched so kita pun settled in nicely.Managed to speak to kedua mempelai.Sempat la bergambar2.Shapx and I went a long way (Asia-Pac Festival) and friends made out of the Festival (like Sabeera, Francis, Louis of Costa Rica, Busakorn of Chulalongkorn) last sampai hari ini.

Hari ni I have to cuti (June 1) Nak rest but Anidah is in town.Maybe I'll meet her for lunch at Subang Parade or something.

No title

I can't think of any.My life is not focused.I'm doing too many things at one go. :)

1. letters get mixed up.Someone screamed.
2. letters got lost.I screamed.
3. Nik's relatives and parents & siblings came to dinner.Nice time playing masak-masak.I like this role.I like putting flowers in the vases (and trying to figure out what flowers match the cushions, the curtains, the sofas, the carpets, the paintings), switching on the garden lights, the fountain, the candles. But if I do this 24/7, I might go gila. Tried uli tepong for 2 hours. :))
4. It's been a busy week.Besok we meet at Mid Valley to sort out stuffs to do with ICC.Kids are planning to celebrate World Environment Day on June 5 for a week.We are going to plant roses (maybe trees) on campus (among others). Dev and IP dah setuju nak tolong.Syoknya! I hope it's the spot by the lake (gradually we'll ask them if they could install a barbecue stand there.Senang nak picnic.I also wonder if we can do boating there)
5.Weekends kerja. Shapx is having his wedding reception on Sunday.Will have to rush from KL Sentral to Nelayan (I hope my flight tak delay).I hope sempat.

Sometimes my life reads like a book without a title. Pulak tu certain pages are missing.Hahaha.

This is one of those moments. :)

JIM's Harmony Carnival

I went to look after ACCIN's booth since everyone's away. Ended up as ACCIN rep to go onstage during the Opening ceremony (I was in my sandals!). You'd see my pic gamaknya mcm makcik nak pi pasar in JIM printed materials on the Opening. Malunya!

The carnival is a reaching out prog.There were reps from other religions talking on spiritual solution to the current econ crisis.Seronok juga berbual2 dgn mereka.And there was a lion dance at the Opening. Very da One Malaysia, ha?

Talk on environment

I thought it went very well.I was worried that the attendance would be so poor. I mean Dato Seri Salleh Mohd. Nor is so big -- we can't have only 3-4 people benefitting from his talk.

I don't know what the team did but the crowd was better than before.We got over 50 participants from different countries and some First Years were there as well (I love them! Comel sangat).So syukur.The talk and awareness campaign will go a longggggggggg way.Sampai ke Nigeria, Egypt, even Russia (satu sudah masuk perangkap.He said there are 15 others.Hokayyy...next time kita tangkap budak ni je to lure the rest.Hahaha).

What we found from Dato Seri's talk were these (am being selective):

1.environment can be a lucrative career which could bring in millions of ringgit/dollar/whatever currency you believe in.He said some people are willing to pay thousands just to have a glimpse of some rare bird, rare turtle etc.

2.some trees can grow faster so if you beli tanah banyak2, you tanam pokok2 jati or teak ke...lepas tu jual..you boleh kaya (say in a period of 5-20 years..depending on type of trees). I never thought!

3. the smart tunnel was Tun Mahathir's idea.It has 3 levels.Kalau banjir, jadi satu (to avoid massive flood in the city)

4.Denmark and other Scandinavian countries are leading in 'clean energy' (by that he meant wind energy, solar energy etc) No Muslim country has done anything about promoting 'clean energy'.

5. We can start to be environment friendly by doing little2 things at home like conserving water (e.g masa brush our teeth, guna a glass of water ...jgn biarkan air paip mencurah2 while you brush). Or make your own fertiliser by doing your own compost. Believe in and practise the 3Rs: Reduce, reuse, recycle.

The kids who came are planning for another environment friendly project (for World Environment Day early June). I like their enthusiasm.

I hope it's infectious! Watch this space for their news.

Employer/employee power relations

Was in a dialogue session with Human Resource Ministry people.I learned a lot of stuffs on employer/employee rights (as well as power structure of the two). Didn't like what I found: Acts too old (1955/1967, etc) and although reps from the Ministry said they made some amendments recently, I still could not see how the welfare of the marginalised, the under-privileged are taken care of.Transparency is still an issue (masih byk lagi nak berahsia2 and certain employees of certain groups are not allowed to berkesatuan.Isn't this a free world? Who speaks for their rights?Where do they channel their grievances) Someone was saying the practice overseas is that union leaders get to sit with Board of Governors (I know EPF does this) and in Japan, the JCC works so well that any grievance raised could be solved amicably. We need to increase our JCC members at IIUM.Kull reps should be there as well.

The current Acts favour employers MORE than the employees esp. Employers Act.What a shocking discovery and I told one Dato (tak pasti apa kerjanya but someone said he's No. 2) how I came out of the dialogue disillusioned.Sebenarnya nasib pekerja tidak begitu terbela with the current Acts.

And I learnt this: if you are not happy with your current employer, your best choice is just to leave.Look for a kinder one. Cos' there's nothing in any Act to ensure you'd get what you want.The best thing any Act can do is to compensate you or give back your rotten job.

I guess that is better than nothing.

3.10 am

I can't sleep. Gara-gara makan alternative medicines! My father in law was right: jangan percaya benda-benda begini.Just makan ubat hospital. And for someone who has EVERYTHING, he seems to be doing OK with his ubat hospital.

I am now convinced.

It all began with friends' recommendations lah ni. You know as we age we have all sorts of health complaints and we talk about them with friends, neighbours, relatives...and there would be among them who'd say go here, go there..so and so was cured, etc etc.

Kita pun akan mudah terjual. And I was sold! :))
Dr S, her friend and I went in Dr S's car to this place.Seemingly famous cos' he got his datukship and well-respected in his community.Big home.Funny (like most alternative healers). Oh yes, we were all nicely entertained.When I said have you duit kecik nak tukar? He said yah sure..gimme your money...I'd tear it to pieces (small change). Funny, kan? :))

Anyway, he charged me RM700 and for 3 days I took his prescriptions (loads!).On the 3rd day I felt real funny.Went to my doctor and I made a decision to stop this RM700 medication (byk capsulesnya weh!). Wough..nyaris tak mati. My bp went skyrocketing!

I decided to write this to advise you guys: do not take any capsules/medications not authorised by Ministry of Health/your medical doctor and I wonder who regulates alternative medicine practitioners.I think kat Msia ni mereka bebas sangat mengubat orang.Don't they have some sort of a license to practise their art?

Tapi I tak salahkan my funny Datuk.I think it worked with some people (it worked with my friends who recommended him to me) and I think he meant well as well.

Tak suka baca suratkabar

I don't take newspapers seriously. Unless they report natural disasters which papers can't lie about: like tsunami, earthquakes, etc.

Online news pun I tak suka.I read blogs yang boleh dipercayai.Hahaha.That's how I catch up with news (which is faster than suratkabar biasa).

Tapi today terbaca kat NST (semasa lepak2 takda apa nak buat di rumah after work) pasal isu meritocracy and PSD scholarship.Haiyooo..still at this ah? Berebut duit yang sedikit? I remember as a government scholar..tak cukup makan woh.Kena kerja ladang berries to tampung woh. Kena kira botol at supermarkets during stocktaking for a few dollars a day...semayang pun tertinggal.Banyak dosa if ambik PSD scholarship woh (cos' have to work overtime and langgar waktu semayang.)

If want to fight ah..fight for corporate scholarships lah.Ask them why not give more? They make so much money from the country what..oil habis semua kena sedut...balak sapu habis (apa companies buat semua ni? Why wanna bully the PSD alone? The real culprits yang kaya raya tu semua lepas...yang ambik duit orang through gambling tu...apa pasal tak tanya why don't give scholarships to the needy at a larger scale? )

Gila punya suggestion that only 11As are automatically given PSD s/ships (so small minded one!)
With that kinda attitude we will all be driving our young ones to be suicidal as pressure mounts.I think the government should stop young students from taking more subjects than what is necessary (ambik sampai 20 subjects....soon 30 subjects...gosh..and we just watch?) I worry about my gal preparing for her SPM.In the end I had to tell her it's OK to fail!!! (tidur pukul 1 or 2 am.Then gets up again at 4 am.Then at 6 am prepares to go to school.What is this? Have we as parents given her the wrong message? This 'you must study hard to get PSD s/ship' thingy?)

May Allah save us all from sinning against our own kids.Against our young.
SPM scares me like it never did before.

Sell Out, a movie which is truly asia, truly malaysia?

Chye cuba bagi tiket free ke movienya yang terbaru after I said mana ada masa nak tengok2 wayang ni? I ni academic, bukan budak bohsia. Dia cakap pergilah.He has some free tickets for Sat.I kata tak payah lah pree-pree.I boleh bayar (dalam hati.I just told him nicely I'd go on any week day belah malam lepas kerja.Bayar sendiri. Tak suka barang pree).

And Nik and I went out.Kelakar giler movie ni! Nak pecah perut ketawa and mungkin ketawa I yang paling kuat dalam panggung seramai 13 orang tuh (publicity is bad..kalau Chye tak sms, I pun tak tau apa) But dalam panggung lagi, I text-ed my friends suruh pergi.Kelakar gila but at the same time clever (script was written and directed by this lawyer chap..apa ke namanya) and it's also a musical actually.Lagu2 don't play2.Memang ada class.Wahhh..if ALL Malaysian movies can be like this ahhh..I tell you ahhh..Spore finish oh! :))

A few questions:

1. Mengapa TIADA main characters yang berbangsa Melayu atau India? Semua Cina dan pan Asians.I think it's done intentionally.FikiR! Sebab apa? Apa rasa anda bila anda dipinggirkan? (you are only in the background and not key players).Lesson no. 1.

2.Mengapa kita boleh ketawakan diri kita sendiri sebagai Malaysians tetapi tidak jika orang ketawakan kita? (my fav scene with regard to this is the death scene of the towkay penjual perabot..Rafflesia the tv journalist of a reality show asks, "What do you think of our government?".Towkay tu now no longer wants to hold back whatever that may offend, is about to voice his final say tetapi his clan semua goyang2 jari mengisharatkan no, no...dangerous to talk about politics.Ini semua stereotyping minda kaum Cinalah.Tapi cute sangat dalam bentuk wayang begitu!

Lagi satu scene fav is masa the two top bosses pi shopping...semua sales assistants menyorok tak mau layan.Kita ingat sebab bosses ni fussy pot tapi it's just that budak2 ni semua pemalas! Ada satu budak gemok tak sempat menyorok..Chye (playing one of the two bosses) caught him but the fat boy lari...chye kejar...akhirnya budak tu pengsan (hidung pun berdarah2).Chye kata we only wanted to ask 50% label tu.50% discount ke hapa ke.It was not clear.He could not answer.Semua nak tanya supervisor.I'm sure many of us went through this during mega sales! Hahaha. Woiit Zubin, hang dah pi tengok kaa movie ni? Tell me what you think.

3. Soalan no. tiga: Mengapa filem yang low budget ini begitu menghiburkan dan clever tetapi filem yang telan juta2 mcm Pasir Salak ke hapa ke sampai hari ni takda?

4.Mengapa pelakon2 ini semua nyanyi guna suara sendiri dgn gubahan musik yang begitu original dan ada kelas, gitu?

Ya, kami sangat puas hati akan filem ini.Kami harap anda cari masa untuk menikmatinya w/pun Chye dan saya bertekak kat sms isu mengapa takda melayu dlm film ni.Hahah.Chye kata filem P.Ramlee boleh diterima bukan Melayu.Saya kata P.Ramlee ada apek.Dia kata kadang2.

It's not really an issue with me.I like it cos' it's a brilliant movie.

Tuesday evening meeting

Kak Oni rang to say ACCIN's meeting is on and Kak Am is away in Pahang so I have to attend it on behalf of IMAN.We missed it last month (bad traffic jam but apparently they had 18 NGOs present.Oh wow! What a spirit!)

So I was the only woman and I expressed my discomfort being the only one : malam2, jauh..nanti timbul fitnah. Hahaha. But the guys took it well.They said they'd change the day to Saturday and will hold the next meeting during the day next month and see if the attendance is better (esp . among women members).I enjoyed being in this group.They are very focused and action oriented people.JIM is organising a harmoni karnival at Summit USJ.Macam2 ada.Must get the students involved : for experience and exposure.Really cool.

You won't believe it.I finally met Darma (the engineer cum remisier chap who converted to Islam after a long search for internal peace and whose story of conversion is so inspiring that I keep sharing it with friends for the last 4 years or so.I was trying to locate him for many years then one day, one of my PhD students told me Darma was her neighbour and gave me his tel no.Still I had no time to contact (maybe I did but no one picked up the ph).Then last nite at the Persatuan India Muslim where ACCIN meeting was held, I asked if they knew Darma.Latiff said tak kenal so I started relating his story.Latiff asked apa nama Islam dia.I said Darma.He said that's a Hindu name.I said it is also a Malay Muslim name..En Darma..are you reading this?I thought of YOUR name.Hahaha)

I told Latif I never met Darma but would like to meet up with him (cos' of his great spirituality and kot2 ada lagi cerita2 best dia yang lain.He reads Sanskrit and is well-read).Lepas tu one member came and Latiff said : ha, ini la dia Darma yang you nak kenal sangat tu!

I was so embarassed! I asked Latiff kenapa dia buat begitu..dok pala ke I cerita pasal Darma and pretended he didn't know him.He said he knew him by another name tapi as I related the story, dia terfikir, mungkin he knew the man. Kerana malu ke Allah, I had to tell Darma how inspiring his conversion story was. But I wanted to bury my head in the sand! Padah suka cakap banyak!

Happy Mother's Day

Bday gal

with big momma

time out

bukan itik sula

We celebrate it every day (we try) but we went out to celebrate both Mom's Day and Z's 17th bday today -- after scouting for a place to go, all nite last nite.It's so funny what we found online.There was someone who asked where was good to celebrate bdays.Some smart guy said MacD (MacDonald's) is good.Another wrote, "Pizza Hut is not too bad either." Z and I nak pecah perut gelak! Then we found places with names like Fat Boy Restaurant.Yup, in KL.Fat gals go to Fat Boy.Sapa nak!

I have always loved KL Sentral Hilton so we googled for a restaurant.Z had been to one and I had been to another.We wanted something new so we decided the Senses might be a good choice (dalam gambar nampak mcm bagus je)

Kita pun buat reservation.Bagus.Sophisticated.They sms you and say everything's set, ma'am, at so and so time.
Kita pun pergi.First, the place is tersorok (you have to go to 5th level then take the escalator down to the 4th level).We were promised Australian cuisine, fresh from the farm.We got them! The duck tasted like it's from the farm, unplucked.Z and I nak termuntah! We miss Makcik Yah's itik sula (she's Nik's grand aunty in Kota Bharu who knows how to prepare itik sula..makanan istana raja Kelantan of ancient days.Bau hanyir itik langsung takda!).We joked, Makcik Yah should work at Hilton's Senses.

I ordered organic chicken.Yup.Rasa mcm reban ayam.I thought of ayam percik Kak Leha at Melati.Hahaha.We are so kampong, actually! But makanan at the Senses memang tak sedap.The bill..you won't believe.Dekat RM600! (utk 3 org).

If you are celebrating your bday at Chalet (Equitorial), they'd serenade you yah? Sini, the kitchen staff nyanyi tanpa music.Kesian I tengok dan dengar! I hear at Soul Out, the kitchen staff are trained professionally to sing and dance (while I think this may be a labour abuse, at least diners don't have to suffer so much!)

Anyway, happy bday Z.Bersyukurlah kita akan rezeki kita hari ini walaupun tak sedap!May God bless all your 17 years and more.
And to all moms, happy mom's day.I hope your men will spoil you rotten.

Peace in nature

One of my fav. spots at IIUM

same spot

same spot, different angle

the pride of my life (from my garden)

it's spring!

don't blink!

Post peacebuilding workshop

our bonfire (we got one of the pakcik drivers to find us woods from a nearby hutan.He and Azilee tolong belah kayu.Kenangan kerja kat IIUM.Semua boleh!)

Boys working on peace

Peace ain't easy

Prof Hassan Ibrahim at the opening

There were many surprises over the last 3 events which the office helped organise: International Muslim Youth Camp, the 3-day peacebuilding workshop and the 1989 homecoming tahlil and dinner (hey, we got Mr Gambus and gang to perform at the dinner at a very reasonable price.Thanks Farid Ali and his manager, Paul Augustine..not the judge.I loved Farid singing his jazzy piece 'Fly me to the moon'.) You may like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEUkXccPzrk&feature=related

On Sunday, a few reps from the workshop had lunch at my house to discuss post-workshop actions.I left them with Baibonn to work on these (I had a wedding to attend to).We have some ideas: we want to start with our homefront, working on environment and needy groups.Nanti nak ring up Jeff and Dr Bubbles to help give ideas/projects.

The 3-day workshop went well.I'm so pleased with the whole thing (my colleagues worked very hard too.Azilee sampai belah kayu api for the bonfire! Kesian!) For the first time in my life, discussions over the 3 days really made me feel like this is a world class university (the level of maturity and intelligence of our students, etc.Too bad the Malaysian kids prioritised balik kampong than staying back to be educated and learned stuffs they never get from CNN/BBC/RTM/ASTRO)

I also had fun talking to Bro. Wilmot on Muslim Aid's projects.He's also very knowledgeable over so many things.He reminded the kids over the sins of suicide bombings and killing innocents.There's nothing in the Quran that condones the act, he said.Also I liked what he said about living with contradictions (we cannot expect total purity in our society and that fanaticism caused the fall of Islamic civilisation in the past.He also reminded all that there is only one Islam and that which is compassionate, just, broad-minded and one which prioritises humanity, not just Muslims).I love this man.