I-Glass

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Cambodian pics

Am too lazy to upload more pics (will try again tmrw, OK?)

one of the many mosques in Phnom Penh

another halal restaurant (Cafe Malaya)

nite life

flowers for some festival

young muslim cambodian

nice toy (I wanted to buy it from this boy.Dia tak kasi)

with a cambodian friend

from my hotel window (mekong and 3 other rivers merge)

cambodian top with kain baju kurung

at city cats (halal Cambodian restaurant)

city cats again, on our final nite

Friday, September 16, 2011

Touched down at KLIA around 2 pm yesterday. Found out that one of my bags was wide open although the zip ain't faulty and the lock was intact.

So I reported this bad handling of my luggage to the airline rep. but was too tired to check if anything went missing. At Phnom Penh I was afraid of having excess luggage so I took note of the weight on the scale and it was 19.7. Didn't realise the Cambodian worker put 20kg on my ticket.So when their counterpart in KL re-weighed my luggage to find if anything's missing, the scale read 19.75 and the MAS rep said yup, something's missing cos' on the ticket the weight was supposed to be 20kg.I told them what I saw on the scale in Phnom Penh.My! So how do I know if things really went missing like this?!(maybe I tersilap tengok scale in Phnom Penh?Maybe it was really 20kg?) The only way is to write a complaint to the CEO to get him to observe standard weighing in all MAS outlets. Kalau tak, menyusahkan clients!

But I also suspected it's not MAS but airport handling cos' yang mengangkut bag from the plane to the conveyor adalah pekerja airport so you must know that when things like this happens, you'll need to lodge 2 reports: one to the airliner you flew with and the other with the airport handling your luggage transfer.I did both (in writing) and also spoke personally to their people.Will also email their CEOs.The top must know their staff's inefficiency.How else do they improve their service.I should be paid for doing this job for them!

The taxi driver was also telling me this is not something new..every year there would be someone terminated for membuka2 bags mcm ni, kata dia.Haha...the kinda info I'd raise with the CEOs..betul ke tidak?

Z is back this week so we caught up with her college stories for a bit.And the rabbits are doing fine.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Phnom Penh is not KL

Greetings from Phnom Penh folks.The flight was a wee bit bumpy an hour into Phnom Penh.Takut woh!

The city looked beautiful in floods from the air.The outskirts seemed to be flooded.The city drizzled a bit but the airport very da canggih..they checked all 4 fingers (both sides) and a thumb (both hands).Tak cukup tu..kena nengok camera dia mau ambik gambar.Kat KL kita checked thumbs je. Itu pun ramai pendatang haram keluar masuk.

Ustaz Ismail and Olvy (it sounded like that) took us around..first to a killing field (fields actually).I nak termuntah menonton video dan all those historical write-ups. Pol Pot ni sah gila.My Freudian teori is this: dia dengki kat bijak pandai sebab he failed his Parisian degree. Back in Cambodia, bila dia berkuasa, dia nak hapuskan all bijak pandai cos' senang dia nak memerintah..org pakai cermin mata pun habis kena bunuh (lucky I didn't live there then).Cara dia suruh dogs dia bunuh sgt kejam. And the bloody General yang in charge of the killings baru dijatuhkan hukuman penjara 35 years just last year (sebelum ni dia bersenang lenang kerja as a teacher before he was sighted by a journalist who pressured that he'd be brought to justice as a war criminal). Yang lain2 masih bebas/tunggu pembicaraan.Sicko! sicko! Kalau Saddam/Osama depa cari sampai ke lobang cacing...

Pics later cos' internet is very da slow here.

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Raya pics

with cucu saudara, Umaira

with Wati, childhood friend
(tak jumpa puluhan tahun!)

teka siapa Chinese Emperor-nya?

semua perasan cantik dan hensem!

angsa emas!

comel?

Bibik insisted on a studio pic for kenangan

Friday, September 02, 2011

Raya stories

How did yours go?

Mine went OK except on 2nd raya around 3 am, I woke up thinking it was Subuh already.Found out later, one of my nephews kena his funny 'attack' again (mcm dia berlawan dgn sesuatu).

The following day he was so weak, tak leh bangun etc.What's so beautiful was the support system the family members gave (his cousins).Ada yang tolong bacakan air yassin and bathe him with it.Ada yang tolong drove him back to KL for his medical treatment, etc.

By evening, he was OK again (kita bawak dia jumpa one ustaz also).Apparently belajar silat yang songsang and he had stopped midway.Guru silat dia sudah marah but he had recently passed away.Amaran utk anak2 remaja: hati2 with silat..if silat tu pelik, don't bother.

Raya 4: Z's second cousin Amirul sleptover last nite.Some charm this 5- year old has but we have to be careful with him.Dia suka meraba! Haha.The younger kids in the family selalu mcm ni.They like older women.Once yg sorang tu saw Mek in her nightwear and told her this: you look sexy in that.Haha.Umur baru 4 tahun! Mek kata I think he is an old man trapped in a boy's body, I'm afraid of him! And this 4-year old would buy Mek brooches and all.Org lain dia tak kasi.Haha.

This raya, another cucu sedara pulak.Dia dah suka kat Kak Zaf.I asked why? Cos' she's pretty and she has baju apa2 je.Mek asked Zaf, did he see you in your nightwear? Zaf said yes, semalam.We all burst laughing!

Moral of the story: be very2 afraid of small boys. :)

Monday, August 29, 2011

Tuah and Teja

see how bulat Teja is

Tuah is curious of the outside world

their fav. spot

I'm beginning to feel like I have a sad life...it is all about rabbits now that even when I solat teraweh last nite and my toes terkeluar sikit, I saw that they have become rabbity.Kaki rabbit! Haha.And when I went to have cold drinks after teraweh with Z and Nik, I ordered carrot juice...this is so unbecoming...my dreams are full of bunnies too...the last time I was like this, it was when I worked at a hat making factory in New Zealand (part time in summer).My job was to tie ribbons round the hats.My Boss told me on my first day, you'd be dreaming of hats, gal.I did.For a week! (my working hours was 8 hours a day for 5 days a week).

I think I'm spending too much time with Tuah and Teja.Yesterday I put up a small fence for them so that they could run around freely.Ooohhh..you should have seen the acrobatic movements they made.Teja is so quick with her movements, very clever.I'm afraid Tuah is not so intelligent..he's curious of the life outside the fence but it was Teja who managed to escape.Haha.Teja perut gendut.Too much eating.I think she's the fav. in the family.Si Tuah tu...entahlah..dia suka meronta2 bila dipegang.Like a wild rabbit.I don't like.

Maybe I'll keep them a while longer but I am also thinking of places where to put them (e.g Dr Bubbles' orphanage, the kindy near my place, or just release them at IIUM campus' wilderness!).We'll see.I cannot be seeing rabbity feet all the time.I need to have a life. :))

Friday, August 26, 2011

adegan2 lucu menjelang raya

Here we are folks...di hari2 terakhir Ramadan yang penuh baraqah.Orang dah ramai cuti.The campus so lenggang but I was working late.Sempat pi Forum on Palestine.Nak tertidur2 mendengar cerita sama.I wanted to say encourage inter-state (Israel-Palestine) marriage.Nanti tamat le perangnya.Nak pikir apa lagi NATO sana, treaties sini.

So I cabut during Q&A to shop lampu raya at Giant.2 sets lap lip for the ofis.Hasnah belum cuti so kita berdua pun sibuk menukul dan memplaster dinding.By the time Dr. Haslina came to give us our raya gifts, she was (as expected) screamy, "Ehhhh..office sapa ni cantik sgt ni..sapa buat ni...?"

Me and Hasnah went, "Us" ~ yang tak balik bercuti lagi nih.
Pagi tadi bibik2 tu semua tak kejutkan Nik and I sahur (I tidur mati cos' penat dok edit buku tu sampai ke malam dari pagi ~Prof Q dah tinggalkan I kering sebab dia dah join family dia kat Adelaide so I kena cari typesetter, book cover designer, etc).Pagi ni pulak masa I nak belikan otak lembu for my mom (she's been asking for it) kat butcher tepi jalan tu, depa letak harga gila kat I (I almost bought cos' I didn't know market price otak lembu ni.Tak pernah beli).The boys kata RM50.I asked iya ke? Tak mahal sgt ke tu, dik? Budak2 tu berpandang2an and said memang nilah harga dia kak (kak! haha).I said let me make a few phone calls.So I rang my eldest sister.Tak berangkat pulak.Tried my 2nd.She said around RM13. I told her they cited me RM50.She said,"You ask them this: awak jual otak lembu ke otak awak?" Haha.She's the one who works at Suhakam.Will not tolerate oppressions and lies.

I just laughed and walked away.

Then berita I nak beli otak lembu for RM50 ni got circulated ..I got ph calls and sms-es from my other siblings.Ada yang ckp market price RM8.Ada yang ckp RM10.I have that rich lady look, is it? Selalu sgt nak kena tipu nih! Either that or a stupid look.Haha.

Rabbit news: I think not only I have two rabbits yang gatal (usia 2 bulan dah mula mengawan!) but today, the maids kata mereka main laga kepala pulak.Jangan2...?? Domestic violence?

Definitely going to the vet besok.Nak tengok apa sebab mereka ni liar sgt.Nak di'kasi' hukumnya berdosa, kan? But I read s/where that that would solve a lot of rabbit probs.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

My iftar with Rahoma Orphanage

IIUM facilitators

Shamsi on solat (Ali is at the far end)

Jabber, braving his dakwah work

the little ones loved Kak Farah

Cherno survived his non-English

speaking audience

The boys from the Dakwah Workshop and I set up a mailinglist and a group to put skills to practice.We found an orphanage near IIUM to work with so yesterday all 8 of us (with Dr S as a volunteer counselor) started 'work' at the orphanage at 11 am.It's run by a Dato' who shares the same name as me (tapi dia keturunan Pakistan and hence, iftar was her nice Pakistani bryani gam from her famous restaurant in Taipan.Wough, nak lagi!)

Budak2 ni (mostly gals cos' the boys didn't turn up except for 6 org) mula2 like blur but my students pandai warmed them up.By end of day, semua were clingy to their abang2 and kakak (Farah my RA was the only female facilitator) and makcik Saodah and me (Dr S handled the single moms' group.I nampak dari jauh agak traumatic..a couple broke down ...Dr S is trained so dia nampak cool je.Dr S pun single mom so I didn't want to interfere their session so that semua org could express and share their probs).Yang agak mencabar, the male facilitators (my students) semua foreigners and spoke no Malay.But Farah did a good job translating.Occasionally I jumped in as well.We really had fun.I tak larat and balik rumah kejap by 5 pm but my students (esp. Ali yang kasi talk on iman and why we must bersyukur jadi Muslims and he was also the imam for jumaah prayer) tak tau penat.I nak bayar upah pun depa tolak.I am so proud of them! (postgrads except for Farah who is only in her year 3 and Shamsi who just graduated.Cerah masa depan budak2 ni).

Sesi belah petang was on solat: their bacaan and other rituals related to wudhu' and solat were observed (practical).I learnt new things too!

Ali's so sweet, read a long doa for me..twice..sekali masa hujan turun..he said most mustajab kalau doa masa ni and sekali lepas Maghrib (I tak minta pun) but Ali memang mcm tu.Dia mcm looks up to me.Haha.May Allah bless him too.Dia la yang I bawak balik beraya ke kampong I with 3 other foreign students dulu (and did a nice African dance at the family bar- b - q).

Back at home, my sis in law buat kenduri aqiqah.I arrived late with Makoto, who wanted to follow me home for the weekend (makan susah kat campus di bulan ramadan.Dia dah missed byk lunch and looks cengkung).

Nasib mak mentua sporting.Wough, the kurmak and kari lamb sedap giler! (la ni kalau buat aqiqah, tukang sembelih masak siap2.You just order on ph ckp saya nak aqiqah anak.Pay up melalui bank ke hapa ke, then they will deliver lauk dah masak to your house.Phyuiyooo..so easy beranak these days)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

New webbits

Sorry..tak sengaja terkangkang

Ni baju raya saya

Baju raya beli kat Curve

the nameless beauties

On Sunday I went shopping with Bibik. We had to drop by the Pet shop to buy some fish food for my fish.Then I saw two lovely webbits (babies) and just bought them despite knowing Nik and Zafirah would not be happy about having additional family members (I had wanted to purchase one for over a year).

True enough.When they saw, they asked, "Who's going to look after them?" bla bla bla.
But by the next day, both fell in love with the creatures.

I ran a naming contest on my NZ alumni facebook.It's a crazy thing to do cos' the contestants got outa control!! (they set their own rules, demanded more prizes, hahaha).The closing date is today (6 pm) and I will announce the winner by 21/8.I can't say there are creative entries so far although I do like one or two names suggested.I takut rabbits tu mati sebab nama tak rasi je. :)

Will have to see the vet this Sunday to ensure my new toys are OK.

Friday, August 12, 2011

My iftar with the homeless, orphans, new Muslims (sponsored by Bank Muamalat)

Yesterday was a meaningful iftar for me.Our students from our Islamic Fundamental Course graduated and received their certs from an MP at a very humbling iftar, sponsored by Bank Muamalat (this is the bank you wanna bank with because they are serious about giving back to the needy).

Last night it was feeding the poor and the underprivileged and I never knew there would be so many homeless in the city! Dr Haslina and I tried to chat up with a few homeless women.Asked if they wanted to work as care givers (for my mom esp).One said she had health prob (darah saya rendah).Apa nak buat.She would have a proper job and a home had she chosen to work with a family.I guess she would lose her freedom, roaming the streets (ouch!).

I have never been to Masjid Jamek KL (apparently Jamek means masjid.Apa ke blur sgt kita ni no one corrects anything..masjid masjid? Patutnya Jamek KL.Or just Masjid KL.Ini mcm kes 'cuba try').

Anyway, Dr H and I enjoyed ourselves (makanan cukup lazat.Muamalat kalau bersedekah would never sacrifice quality.We 'heart' Muamalat.Saya dah transfer setengah wang saya balik ke Bank Muamalat sebab khidmat masyarakat dia ini).
The bank is now the 4th largest in Msia and one of the fastest growing.They believe in the more you give, the more you get.I think charity does that to you.

So we still have lots of Ramadan days to give.

Dr H and I went to ITNM earlier.MD Khair is a real nice person but also a good salesman.I ended up buying a couple of books. :) But we may also collaborate on a couple of projects.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

My iftar with ACCIN

ACCIN is an umbrella body of 17 Muslim NGOs and my Muslim women's NGO IMAN is one of them. I am one of 4 reps of IMAN to ACCIN meetings (held once a month). This year's secretariat is Persatuan Ulama Malaysia and their meetings are always spiritually exciting (they would have a talk at every meeting and usually is given by their members).

Yesterday we met at one of the golf clubs at Bukit Kiara (jangan tak percaya Persatuan Ulama kita very da canggih now.Haha.They have very dynamic generasi pelapis ..young academics/scholars to run the association now.Yang tua2 jadi content providers.I like).

As always I was the only female rep. (awkwardlah) but masa iftar, there were 3 more who came.
The talk was a panel discussion on isu2 semasa yang dihadapi oleh umat Islam di Malaysia given by the new Ketua Pengarah JAKIM and a Shari'e advisor to Office Peguam Negara (he's as old as my mom tapi fikirannya bagus..like my mom too).Berikut adalah isu-isu yang ditimbulkan:

1. Pengaruh shiah yang semakin berleluasa (di Perlis, satu lori yang membawa buku-buku shiah telah ditahan) Apparently, pengedaran pengaruh ini dibuat nationwide.Pihak berwajib memantau keadaan ini.Pihak ini telah menghantar memorandum ke JAKIM mengatakan bhw merekalah ahli sunnah waljamaah yang sebenar.

2.Kelab Taat Suami bukan yang baru (bermula di Sungai Patani 1994).Saya tidak boleh tulis lebih lanjut kerana sensitiviti isu.Nak tau, call JAKIM or private message me.

3.Madrasah yang runtuh yang mengorbankan anak-anak yatim di Selangor tempoh hari adalah di bawah pentadbiran seseorang yang mengamalkan ajaran sesat Ajaran yang dipanggil Juruzon (it sounded like that.i don't know how you spell it) telah diharamkan tetapi diamalkan balik di madrasah ini.Banyak perkara karut marut diajar termasuk guru ghaib menjelma dalam badan pentadbir madrasah ini (Pak Su). So yang bukan mahram boleh jadi mahram hanya dgn bersentuh kulit or something like that.Majlis Rabithah mereka pun suspicious.
Mereka ada ayat2 Quran sendiri.

4. Wahabi is still an issue.

5.Isu revivalism of Al Arqam yang telah diharamkan dan bekas2 ahli bergerak atas nama lain menjalankan pelbagai jenis perniagaan dan kerja-kerja amal.Mereka akan terus dipantau.

6. Isu tukar jantina.Bukan isu baru.Pernah satu ketika seorang Mufti didatangi oleh seoprang hamba Allah yang mempunyai 2 alat kelamin dan dia mempunyai 2 org anak (satu semasa dia jadi bapa, seorang lagi masa dia jadi ibu) Akhirnya dia berjumpa pihak berwajib minta pandangan.Dia dinasihatkan memilih satu alat kelamin sahaja dan dirujukkan kepada doktor pakar yang memberitahunya supaya dia menukar jantina kpd perempuan ketika hormon pompuannya aktif (mereka ni mempunyai waktu2 when hormonnya lebih kpd perempuan dan masa2nya lebih kepada lelaki so doktor suruh tukar jantina waktu hormon pompuan tu lebih).Wallahualam.Saya cuma melaporkan.

7.Isu butter churn yang kejap halal kejap tidak yang disibukkan dgn kenyataan akhbar Chua Soi Lek. Apa yang berlaku ialah ada 2 pengimport brand yang sama.Butter dari Australia di- packed in New Zealand.Satu pi Semenanjung (disahkan halal oleh Jabatan Kimia) dan satu pi ke Sarawak (didapati tidak halal).

8.Isu alcohol.Masa ni fikiran saya ke lain.Nota saya tak berapa lengkap.Sorry tapi ada saya catitkan alcohol yang bukan dari bahan buat arak tidak haram tapi tak lehlah diminum (racun).

9. Laman2 blog, facebook, twitter yang menghina Islam akan diambil tindakannya.Telah pun diambil tindakan ke atas yang dikenal-pasti.

10. Bahan-bahan pencetakan penerbitan yang bercanggah dgn Islam juga dipantau.

11.Isu 'serbuan' ke atas majlis makan malam di sebuah gereja.JAKIM melahirkan bantahannya terhadap istilah 'serbu'.Legally incorrect.Mereka pergi menyiasat sebab dapat panggilan telefon dari orang awam yang perihatin usaha ingin meng-kristiankan orang melayu yang berlanggar dgn undang2 kita.Dan sah waktu pemeriksaan dibuat, 12 orang melayu berpakaian baju melayu dan baju kurung, siap dgn bunga manggar, siap ada nasyeed dan tazkirah yang menghina Rasulullah telah berlaku.

12.Permulaan puasa tahun ni, Brunei lewat sehari walaupun nusantara telah sepakat untuk berpuasa dan berhariraya serentak.Mungkin isu ini akan dibawa ke mesyuarat ASEAN?

Panelist ke dua adalah Tan Sri dari Pejabat Peguam Negara.Beliau bercakap tentang legal aspects yang banyak kita perlu faham so that we know our rights.Yang saya suka dua points dalam byk2 dia raised tu:

i) 100 orang janda miskin yang masuk agama lain itu sepatutnya dibantu dgn sistem zakat kita.Zakat bukan setakat kasi duit utk makan, minum tetapi juga memberi tempat tinggal.Mereka ini patut dicari oleh pihak berwajib untuk dibantu dan NGOs should ask how zakat money is spent sebab kalau dibuat betul2, kita takda kemiskinan, kekufuran cos' welfare ummah has been taken care of (Selangor telah capai negara maju sebab sistem zakat yang efektif..ini kata Zainal who I bumped into at the iftar buffet with his wife.Zainal is in the financial circuit and knows a lot..dia pulak kasi another talk at the table where I was enjoying my ABC.Haha)

ii) Tan Sri kata adalah tidak nusyuz seorang isteri yang enggan pindah ke rumah mak mentua bila suaminnya gagal menyediakan tempat tinggal buatnya (woohoo..power giler!)

The iftar at the buffet (orang luar ramai): ada 200 dishes with all sorts of bar b qs.But one can only eat so much, kan?

Sekian laporan saya dari nota yang tidak lengkap.

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Ramadan 2011

Bersyukurlah we are still here this Ramadan.Ramadan Kareem to all.Make sure this year's Ramadan is your best.

I went to the local surau to do terawih semalam.Had not done it (at the surau) in years.Tak suka air-con in closed space (nanti org bersin, kita pun dapat germs dia).Usually I terawih kat rumah with Z.But Z is no longer at home ...so I have to ikut Nik pi surau.Luckily, they have open space space at the surau for women (karan pulak takda semalam at the new extension) so we prayed in the semi gelap with no kipas, OK? Wough..macam sauna la pulak.But better than germs, right?

Don't know why but this Ramadan, I lembik berpuasa (macam budak darjah satu rasanya).If I were 7, I would have minum air shower semasa mandi.Haha.

Today is better.Rasa mcm budak darjah dua (keeps talking and thinking about food...haha).But bila berbuka, I don't eat much (iya ke? boleh percaya ke??)

Apapun, this is my fav. month.I intend to make the most of it.
Have a good one, folks.

Monday, August 01, 2011

Of molest, sexual harassment and all that jazz

It's hard to focus on work when you are involved in matters to do with sexual harassment and molest in this country.

First of all, we do not even have a sexual harassment act in this country, ok? (mengikut Betty of AWAM). I do not think that many women (and men) are aware of what sexual harassment is.Or what to do if it happens.Betty says most of the time, it is the victims who feel guilty and embarrassed to report (their family members too!) so in the end, no one speaks up except the brave ones.

I am in a dilemma whether to lodge a police report/not on an incident which happened in 2009.I spoke to a couple of police officers (both of Sexual Harassment and Commercial Crime Depts).While they told me I was free to do as I wish (to report or not), it would be difficult to move anywhere if I did not have strong proof or evidence.Haiyoo..we are talking about sexual harassment here, OK? How does one prove it? (an emotional/psychological mark can be measured by what??) Do not expect support from places which are supposed to protect us.Betty was nice.Her words were encouraging (they made me like leaping out of my own comfort zone and making me want to make that report.I just might now!)

Anyway, I believe justice will bounce back from whatever space it is being squashed now.I hope my friends who are working hard to nail a very, very slick con man will succeed before too long.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Game Over!

OK folks, some of you would remember my expensive treatment with this guy who calls himself Doc Bob Koh.For a while, I simply refuse to associate myself with him, even in writing about him.

But after a while, you'd start thinking hey, I can do lots with RM50K.Haha.With time, money has different value, kan? But that is not the issue.The issue is this guy cannot go free, menipu people.So when my private investigator friend asked me if I had any evidence, webs for him to check with his friend, I googled up and wow...a fb was set up to expose this chap.Apparently he got arrested in KL for molest.But my other fren (Zul) looked up and said pakcik ni denied..konon2 ada org frame him up (biz rivalry).Bob pandai cakap (I suspect he uses NLP technique).Anyway, soonest I hear from my PI fren, I'll update you guys (sapa interested, angkat tangan!).

Sunday, July 24, 2011

new arrival

isn't she adorable??

Nik's sister gave birth semalam to a beautiful baby girl.Nadra is her name.

We went to have a cup of hot milo at the cafeteria after the visit, then Nik vomitted non-stop.Took him to the hospital's emergency.

Yup, food poisoning.
Lama juga kat situ...injection, ecg (just in case) but I asked the doc if it was OK to leave Nik alone at home cos' I had a dinner to attend to (isteri mithali).Doc said go ahead enjoy myself.Haha.Nik would be resting, anyway.

So after making sure he was settled nicely in bed, I minta izin keluar (isteri mithali, haha).It was a charity dinner hosted by Persatuan Ulama Malaysia.I was a bit late (but in time to hear the welcoming speeches) and I was happy to see Dr Aldila already there.So kita caught up with the latest and made friends with those at our table.

The dinner was to raise funds for a tahfiz school in Semenyih.They need close to RM6 juta.I thought any 3 Muslim millionaires could have donated some money for the cause...or even 1 millionaire.But Dr A asked a very valid question: just how many tahfiz schools do we need? The existing ones pun dah banyak..can't we kinda centralise je? Put under one umrella ke?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

seminars and conferences

With Lateef

Yang ambik gambar ni Bibik so I tak ready pun dia dah snapped.haha

yang ni tangan sebelah takda..but still

cute la, kan? kah3.

Looks like I am really back at work.ISTAC was having a couple of 'parties'.One was a seminar on Islam and Moderation (can't remember the full title but I went to the opening) and the last 3 days Islam in Africa.I chaired the roundtable session this morning on African Lit.Something crazy got into me...I went dressed as an African woman.Haha..bila lagi nak melaram the dress I bought in Conakry,Guinea kan? (or was it the Gambia?)

'Fans' rushed to take pics with me (mostly African students, some Msian ones).
In between lunch and dinner, a lot of excitements. :) New friends, new ideas, old pains (my back prob is back.Went to my physiotherapist who was happy to see me back in treatment.Haha)

I'll try upload my pic as an African woman some time later, OK?

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Back at work

My 2nd day at work today...beratnya kaki nak melangkah. :) My last day of puasa ganti too (I was busy doing puasa 6 then got sick, remember? Tak sempat nak ganti till the last min).Did a week's marathon.With physical work in the 2 holy cities, semua org kata I look fit and berseri2 and amazingly beautiful..hahaha..syukurlah, Allah beri kesihatan lagi.Must not abuse it, kan? And I told ya..kalau pi haji or umrah, balik mesti 20 tahun lebih muda.OKlah..10 tahun lebih muda. OK, 5. :)

A lot to do sampai tak tau where to begin! Org ni text itu, org ni text ini...next week full load kat ISTAC..conference and talk.I look fwd to that.Dah lama tak bermeriah dgn kawan2 akademik.Ah..Sat. pun NGO meetings...Sunday wedding.The following week, Z's theatre week and Ummi's lunch. Phuiyooo..makan and entertainment! Welcome home! :)

Prof Q and I will be finalising our Asia-pac book.I hope it gets out by this year.But Prof Noraini was saying even if the draft were perfect, the final output akan jadi terok juga...but to publish outside will be a betrayal...we'll see.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Pics sekitar umrah

a mysterious blind guy at Qubah mosque
(we tried 5 times to snap his pic..camera tak dapat captured.
This pic was taken with another person next to
him baru jadi..we've cropped it so dapat juga gambar dia sorang)

Keluarga bahagia with twins dari Sri Lanka Hassan and Hussain(Jeddah Airport)

Hotel kita yang selesa di Makkah (Dar ul Eiman Royal)

(di bawahnya shopping mall)

Buah kaktus dari Taif sgt sedap

Fruit Flan cake for Sharifah

dinner with Jamil's family

tawaf in the afternoon

TH group pic at Jabal Rahmah

Israk Mikraj berbuka puasa items

Al Haram in the evening

masih malam

makan mesti baguss

Al Haram, on expansion

leaving for Makkah

Z in Madinah

Mommy with Ahmad at Movenpick Hotel
in Madinah.He wants to study at IIUM

at the hotel in Madinah

our mutawif

Beberapa dos and don'ts bila buat umrah:

1.bawak sun block kalau pi musim panas

2.bawak botol spray air which you can sembur if it gets too dry

3. bawak vaseline utk bibir kering

4.bawak ready made sambal belacan sebab meals served by TH tak sedap (unless depa cari tukang masak Msia)

5.jangan beli mas pound sebab dia lebih murah tapi depa letak harga mahal (esp at Jeddah airport) Design memang cantik.

6. jangan lupa makan daging kibas kat Restoran Heraa kat Hilton.Kat situ je ada.Just say I want laham (daging kibas)

7.If you are at Safwa Towers foodcourt, ada counter D'Saji..situ ada roti canai, rendang and apa2 makanan Msian yang you nak.

8.Beli jubah kat Madinah, murah.Kurma pun beli situ.

9.Minum air zam2 byk2 (bawak botol utk dibawa pulang ke hotel..)

10.Saie kat Bin Daud is a must.The one at Zam2 Mall is the biggest.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

BERSIH rally

Siapa sangka begitu ramai rakyat Msia yang begitu berani turun padang menyatakan pendirian mereka against all forms of power-related intimidation.Yang menarik, rakyat2 berani ini datang dari pelbagai kelompok: anak2 remaja, kelas2 yang berbeza, usia yang pelbagai, bangsa dan agama yang pelbagai dan yang seronok, sastera kembali relevan dgn keberanian Pak Samad mengepalai saf.Oh I'm so proud of him (who I text-ed from Makkah kata tidak apa jika title Sasterawan Negara dilucutkan darinya..nanti Allah ganti dgn Nobel Laureate for Peace.I hope he will get it one day.Pak Samad balas dgn cool-nya).

I wanted to go..ajak Nik pi office dia.But dia tak kasi.Bahaya for me..kalau kena kejar FRU, takut I tak terlari.Haha.I text-ed my sister (yang kerja Suhakam) if I wanted to join her, boleh kah.She said semua sudah kena blocked.Tak leh masuk.Yang di dalam pun sudah terkepong (where is safety kalau apa2 berlaku.Sungguh tak bertanggungjawab pihak berkuasa! Dan sah, ada yang mati sesak nafas sewaktu dikejar FRU/polis...ini dari laporan pekerja Suhakam yang bertugas)

Kita masih BELUM maju kalau berfikiran kalau rally, mesti kacau bilau..mesti a threat.

Kawan2 yang anti-demo kata kenapa tak go proper saloran..dey...dah berpuluh tahun cakap benda sama, ada change kaa? Buat demo pun SPR punya byk cikadak and punya defensive..tak tau malu credibility depa at stake.Instead of working on points raised, depa lagi suka nak justify why things cannot be revised/changed.It's like justifying power, isn't it?

Apapun tahniah sekali lagi bagi mereka yang lari lintang pukang dikejar FRUs, SBs dan yang pedih matanya disembur asid/air cili? You have made your point for the nation (dan bagi mereka yang tak berani atau masih tidak faham mengapa rally Bersih itu penting).

Terima kasih!

Friday, July 08, 2011

Home

Selamat tiba waktu zuhr di KLIA tadi...syukur alhamdulllilah, the flight was uneventful.

What do I miss most about home? Clean toilets at the airport! and so many malls and tempat makan. :)

Lepas solat zuhr, terus kita berkejar ke Urban Retreat for body massage..aiyoooo..mcm kat syurga rasanya.Lepas tu dinner ayam percik..and chilled mountain tea and Boba tea..ohh...sejuknya...

Z went to a bday party rightaway.Lupa dah lah dia tawaf saie dia...

KL mengasyikkan.

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Last couple of days in Makkah

Ho boy..we will leave Makkah besok. But maybe it is the right time, heatwaves dah mula menjadi2 since yesterday.

We'll miss this city but pray we'll return soon.

Someone asked dah buat tawaf wida' kat malls ke belum.Haha. Soon!

Saturday, July 02, 2011

Night life in Makkah

It is meriah.Last night Jamil took us out eat seafood at one restaurant (there's a theme park near it so the kids went to get their rides..termasuk Z!) The place has chalet-like tempat makan so we have all the place to ourselves.You have privacy that way.Jamil's family members came - Nada, Bushra and family.It was really nice but dinner at 11 pm? Ngantuk juga but such is life here.The night starts around this time.Kita dah nak masuk tidur!

I promised an entry on the other "tawaf".Tawaf shopping mall which is conveniently housed at the hotel we are at..Al Safwa mall sekali dgn byk hotels (we are at dar al eiman..kalau haji people pay up to RM30K for 4 people in a room! Tapi musim umrah ni a lot cheaperlah).Z and I will tawaf the mall every after prayer.Haha.D'Saji has got a counter so semalam we ate roti canai with rendang.Do we miss home? Definitely not! Haha.

But sebenarnya the ibadah bit is the best (keluar hotel dah perkarangan the mosque.Masuk je, terus nampak kaabah.Nikmat Allah mana nak kita tidakkan?)

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Greetings from Makkah, kota suci kesayangan Rasululah

Kata ustaz, pernah the Prophet (pbuh) said kalau tidak kerana Allah suruh baginda berhijrah ke Madinah, baginda akan mahu tinggal di kota suci ini selama2nya.

Semasa musuh buat khianat dgn baginda (tak kasi masuk buat haji/umrah), baginda retreated and bila ada desas desus umat Islam nak mengamuk, musuh takut and terus buat perjanjian that they could return the following year for hajj.Tapi that was also not observed so war took place and Makkah was under the rule of good Muslims.

Quickly: we did our umrah upon arrival and today managed to solat betul2 depan pintu kaabah, belakang makam Ibrahim and antara aswad and pintu.MasyaAllah...betul kata Humaira..walaupun panas at noon, we didn't feel it.

More later of the other tawaf (shopping mall at our 5-star hotel).Haha.

Madinah, kota Rasul

I am already in Makkah (will do anotehr entry in a bit) but I must blog about Madinah, kota Rasul.

I will not go through how the whole family was put on a BIG test (dekat masjid Qubah, masjid pertama yang dibina oleh the Prophet pbuh and he loved it so much he would come and visit it often even when there were other mosques later on).

When you are tested (you would in any way when you are in the holy cities) you should be grateful it happens there.I prayed for solution in Raudhah (nak dapat semayang situ, kita tunggu 3 hours..only to get a small piece of the green carpet...tapi bersyukurlah..dari tak dapat langsung.Do not go at night..lebih ramai dari siangnya).I prayed that Allah show a solution and that the Prophet too would know what pain I went through, asked that he prayed for me and my family's well-being too esp. Zafirah's.You know what? I actually felt the Prophet's presence with me and by Zuhr the following day, we were one happy family again.Begitulah the power of doa. :) Never be afraid to ask and I found a doa that says jgn kami cuba menyelesaikan sendiri masalah kami kerana hanya Engkau yang tahu apa yang baik utk kami (or words to that effect.nanti balik I will put the exact words here..from mathurat).

When it was time to leave this blessed city for Makkah, I was all teary...I had been here 3 times but this time, the city meant so much to me.I felt like I had lived here before and I did not want to leave the Prophet for anything else.Sepanjang perjalanan keluar dari kawasan tanah suci itu I was crying.Uncontrollable kerana terasa sangat sayang kpd Rasullulah who had done so much for us sehingga Islam sampai kepada kita.

Semoga we will return dalam keadaan yang lebih suci jiwa kami, Ya Allah dan semoga kami mendapat syafaat Rasulullah.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

My "emergency" entry

Greetings from the Prophet (pbuh)'s city, Madinah.I told you I'd update my blog ONLY if there were an emergency, right?

Ha, ha..this is my emergency. Need to blog before I forget some of the wonderful stuffs experienced so far (from Jeddah to here).

Flight from KL to Jeddah was delayed by one hour.What do you do when you ph ran out of batteries at KLIA? Could not re-charge cos' there was no plug point.Kedekut kupik our KLIA management!

Anyway, the flight was unadventurous (syukurlah).I was worried the clearance at Jeddah would take about 5 hours (this is the std time I'm told).Dgn izin Allah we were cleared less than 2 hours..sejam lebih sikit je.And you know what? We got someone to push our 8 pieces luggage (berbayar kalau nak guna trolley at the airport and there were not many around) to the coach.I felt so lucky masa tu.
We stopped somewhere around midnite for solat and dinner.Ayooo..dinner at midnite.Takda appetite.

Reached Madinah around 3 am I think.Nice hotel, betul2 next to the mosque.But you know what? I masih tak boleh semayang and ikut schedule will not for the next 2 days! Panic! Panic! But Nik and Z prayed for me and by afternoon, I could do my Zuhr already.Was that not a miracle???

Ah Nabawi my love...
I went late sebab faktor di atas.But found a spot after much hassle.Belakang this fat woman from Turkiye (could tell from her tudung, ada chap Turkiye).I thot it was a safe distance but masa rukuq, she sat on my head! Adoiiii..apakah dosa ku! Nasib tak penyek my forehead and nasib baik she could not get up after the 1st rakaat and ended up semayang duduk.Selamat aku!

Then another funny episode was during Asr.Z (budak ni cekap! She would go long before waktu solat masuk to get easy spots and supaya tak bertolak2 for space) and I solat barisan depan.Tengah semayang we heard someone's phone went, "Atukk..nenek..hello...".Nak tergelak pun ada.Mesti telefon org Msia.Duh!

The heat ain't bad.Panas memang panas but bearable.
If I have time, I'll blog again.Ni tengah tunggu waktu Maghrib masuk.Assalamualaikum. :)

Friday, June 24, 2011

Last minute packing

InsyaAllah the family leaves for Jeddah tmrw afternoon.I took a week off, konon nak pack early but never got around it (cos' I needed to do some shopping first..could not pack without the stuffs, right?)

Z and Nik also took their sweet time to pack.There were the outings with friends (each of us went to lunch/dine with our close frens separately..haha), last min touch ups of stuffs at work, etc etc.
Finally today, Friday everyone vowed to stay at home and focus on packing.But I had to see the Sheikhs cos' they were leaving today (and without fail, must pick Dr S first).They were happy to see us again (haha...clients tetap no. 1) and did a special prayer for us.Lepas tu as we were saying farewell, semua nangis! (Dr P started it!) The one month they were with us, kita dah jadi very close (when my mom was acting up during the kenduri, I told sheikhs to pujuk her and they did).

Ah well, they will come again after Raya.Farewell my bros, see you guys soon.

Back to packing..I could not find the new jubah I bought..then remember it was still with the "English" boy (had it fitted sebab panjang sangat).It was 4 pm.Everyone's tired.I refused to drive..nasib baik Tan Sri saya sanggup drive me all the way to Ampang Park.Balik tu dah mula nak jam.Phew...started packing just before Maghrib and finished after Maghrib.I hope I have not missed anything important.Ikan sepat, checked; cookies, checked; shoes,slippers, alat2 wanita, checked;travelling iron and toilet articles, checked;camera, phone, sunglasses, buku doa, checked;medication needs..belum letak!

OK folks, I guess a spiritual retreat is a spiritual retreat.I will not update my blog unless it is an emergency.Grin.

Pray that all will be well.See you when I update the blog.Wassalam.
** in case you wonder why ikan sepat is in my travel list, it's for my fren Sharifah, OK? She lives in Makkah.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Lunch with Azah

Azah and I went a long way too.She's one of my bestest friends since my NZ days and later my UK days.We share a lot between us, my secrets are hers and hers are mine.Haha.

We decided to do lunch before I leave for my umrah on Saturday.I thot she said Friday cos' Thursday she'd have a workshop so when she called to ask if lunch was still on, I said yah, see you tomorrow (Friday).I hung up.

She called again (ayo..Azah..I'm enjoying my physio, OK? Jgn kacau)
Yes Azah? What now?

Is the lunch today or tomorrow?
Tomorrow.
But I have w/shop tmrw.
No, you said you have w/shop today.
No I said I would have w/shop tmrw.
Oh iya ke? Ah ok..what time do you wanna meet?
What time is good?
12?
OK 12.
Make it 11.30? I have to send my mom to her dialysis centre.
OK, see you in a bit.

So I drove to Azah's mom's place in Section 16.I have not been to her mom's for years.Decades! But found it..ada jiran dia meninggal.Lots of cars in the neighbourhood.

We decided to eat at Marche's at the Curve.What a lovely lunch that was! We went back to the days when we were so innocent...
"Sapa nama budak Cina yang danced with you tu?"
"I dah tak ingat tapi dia hensem"
Laughed.
Nama dia George, OK Azah.George danced with Azah.And I remember shy and proper Azah went to hide belakang pintu after that, her hands on her red cheeks.Haha.So innocent! :))

Then when we were in the UK (she in Edinburgh, me in Liverpool) she would travel to stay with me and we'd travel to York together to see the castles and Jorvick Viking Centre.The taxi man told us how he loved Thai gals (thinking we were Thai gals or thought Azah was cos I dah bertudung masa tu).

Good friends are hard to come by but when you have one, you better blog about her. :)

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Painting the town red

I have forgotten what it is like to have days of leave (from work)

Today terasa nikmatnya. :)
Z and I painted the town red by mengukur 3 malls yang ada di KL and Kota Dsara (yang 2 tu sebelah menyebelah).Betul kata Shirley Lim, shopping is Msians' national sport.Msian women, I guess.Men tak ramai sgt at the malls.

We wanted to check out our baju raya at Salikin's.He said dah siap but semua tak siap.The ones separa siap were nice...my kebaya riau-pahang..wow! really da cantik.Kata Zul, bolehlah bawak pi mengundi.Haha.Lawak Jebon! My second pair langsung tak nampak bayang.Kata Salikin, kain tenun kapas belum sampai.Baru di-order.Lain kali beli yang dah siap je senang, kot? Z punya kena buat fitting sikit (mine also) so I guess we won't see the clothes for a while till just before Raya.

We also bought a couple of jubahs (in case terlalu penat to buy in Madinah).The funny thing is budak yang jaga counter tu.Nampak mcm Pak.But I asked are you Afghan.He said he was from England.Serius, OK? Z and I dah nak berguling2 ketawa.Biar betul mamat ni.But betul matanya biru.I said huh? He said he's from Pak but his mother ke hapa ke is from the UK (he still has his family there).I asked ini kedai sapa (takda kerja,kan? Kena la buat part time crime investigating).He said kedai sepupu dia.Kawin Melayu? (I asked again) Dia terus tunjuk one Malay designer featured in a local mag.Oh ok...

If you care to look, there are so many interesting people in KL. Mana budak2 local kita bekerja, I do not know.

Lepas tu we went to the Curve (mula2 nak pi Bangsar Shopping Centre but I was too malas to drive since we stopped at Dsara Utama sekejap).Lunched at Tony Romas.We were served by a Vietnamese waitress.
Aiseh..they don't give free breads freely anymore.Harga tepong dah naik...Lepas tu Z and I nak cari something comfy to wear in Mekah ..could not find anything nice.

At the other mall, I got myself a new pair of running shoes.Entah nak lari ke mana! Maybe on the treadmill. :)) Sometimes we buy things we don't really need.But at the Pharmacy, we bought everything we could think of for a country like Saudi.

While Z still had energy to shop, I quit early and made my way to my fav spot: Urban Retreat to pamper my tired feet. :)

Now, that was the real nikmat of the day!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Not a lazy weekend

Just when you think weekends are for sleep-ins...
We had to wake up early to pick Z from Lembah Beringin..her hols have started and the kids have to clear their chalets for the management to do their maintenance work. Satu lori byknya barang2 si Z ni! Itupun some she left in her wardrobe.

Then we attended Mokhtar's son's wedding.Then Dr Faridah's son at Taman Tun (met up with Prof Faris and Dr. Hamzah.I updated Dr. Hamzah about ULMAA talks on green energy and was happy to knw that Prof Faris was not so keen on 'clean' energy anymore ie nuclear.Haha.Ingat I pernah raised the issue with him sebab IIUM championed nuclear energy ~before Fukushima). Met up with an old fren of Matric days..Fadillah..I dah tak ingat..so embarassing! She's Dr Faridah's sister rupa2nya.She's moved on to UTM Jln Semarak.One of those nice people during my Matric days.

Had to rush to Krash Pad to meet up Kanika and gang who had just arrived from Spore to continue their project with the KP kids.The bazaar would be next month.We gotta plan how to give the event a good press it so deserves.Kanika has graduated but returns to the KP community work outa love.Ah..I'm so touched and inspired (I supervised their project during its early days, roping in IIUM students to share the experience and joy working with the kids).It's been over a year and the kids tell me that they now have a sense of purpose when they drop by the centre ..to do as many accessories to sell at the bazaar.They have that skill now to survive...dah boleh buat duit sendiri.And they are all doing well at school (they meet all sorts of people and hence, so exposed and so intelligent).I'm looking fwd to that bazaar day (won't be cheap cos' the money will go back to the centre).

I had half an hour to catch the 3rd wedding at Jalan Semarak (Nik had to send Z to KLCC for her leadership prog interview with one of the MNCs so I had to go alone to the 3rd wedding).Nasib tak jam so sempatlah attend the wedding reception (org dah ramai balik!)

Z and I had a good time going over her interview session.As I told a fren, I have lost my gal.She has her own mind now.Even the materials I helped provide (through a kind fren who's also working with an MNC), she kata tak relevant! She did her own research and preps.I guess I have to learn to let go.She's smarter than me, anyway. :)

Not a lazy weekend, folks.I'll sleep early tonight.You have a good one, yah.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Men!

I don't quarrel with women as much as I do with men (some men!)

But here's the story, okay?

Dr. I is one of my good friends.Today I had a late lunch and bumped into him.We were talking this and that (family, work..the usual stuffs called civility) then wham! my fav topic for the last few weeks: NATO attacks on Libya.Haha.

You've heard all the arguments but what really tickled me was our argument on democracy and whether the democracy we see today is Islamic/not.I said it wasn't.Syura is.Dr I. asked "and you think syura isn't democratic?" I said not the way we understand it today.And they don't vote right? Decisions are made based on arguments and reasonings.And not anyone can be a syura member.Dr I kata boleh.Anyone boleh.I said mesti ada criteria.He said takda criteria.

I asked habis tu orang gila pun boleh jadi ahli syura??

Dr I said I gave an extreme example.

I said it is still valid.It is proof that there must be some criteria somewhere.
Adakah orang gila dibenarkan mengundi semasa pilihanraya kita? Dr I said tak boleh.Nik kata SPR is silent on this (of cos' I reported the late lunch conversation to Nik at dinner).Haha.OMG...I have to stop here.Nak gelak kejap.

.............

The second funny man is Prof. Munir from India who has re-emerged from my Solo volcanic adventure.If you remember my blog entry on him not too long ago, you'd remember how funny he was..tak tidur 3 hari 3 malam cos' he feared Gunung Merapi meletup dan dia tak sempat lari!!!! (and I told him this,"Munir, you will die not of Merapi but of fear.") He refused to fly back to India from Solo.He took a 13 hours train trip (or something like that) back to Jakarta and fly to India from there.

And today he wrote.So he's still alive! :))
I don't quarrel with Munir.He's such a nice man.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

disastrous wedding anniversary dinner

It was just not an evening for us, I guess.

First , Nik sampai around Maghrib.Then we were like wondering where to go? I thought maybe Fukuya but he does not fancy Japanese cuisine.He suggested Chynna KL Hilton but I just had Chinese with Carlotta semalamnya.Rasa muak dah lah.

We agreed on Chalet at Equatorial but halfway there Nik asked nak try hotel baru? Royale Chulan.I said yes, let's try something new.

Nice interior, pleasant environs.We settled for Continental cuisine at L'Heritage.
Appetiser was fantastic: foie gras with apple chutney and something.Sedap gila.
Then we waited for our fish and beef (bukan steak) Lama, OK? I dah rasa mcm nak balik dah.We were the only couple in the dining hall (cantik dining).Then the waitress kata oh ikan busuk so the chef buat lain.We were like what?!

Then the food came.I tasted my beef..yewl..rasa masam/busuk! Nik's fish was very2 nice but after dah habis baru dia realised the potato and other stuffs which were supposed to be there takda.Haha.

So he complained.The supervisor said a Minister who just dined there had the same order.He just didn't understand why it went bad.I said hellooo...your Minister came at lunch..ni dah dinner...our climate ni carry lots of bacteria and germs and if fish or beef are exposed unthinkingly to the open air, mestilah cepat rot.

We wanted to pay the bill and leave but he said the dessert dah on the way.
So we were 'forced' to stay back and eat dessert.Nasib tak busuk! :))

Kalau Mandarin O, they would say come back for another free dinner, kan? (which we didn't take up, by the way).Yang ini takda pun attempt to win back the diners.Nik dapat an extra dessert (cheap looking!) and our beef bill was waived.

Unless the chef is fired, I would not recommend this place, folks.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Happy 24th wedding anniversary

It was 24 years ago that Nik and I got married.

Hari ni my bridegroom is in Penang.So I guess the celebration will only begin at dinner time (if his flight is not delayed!)

Carlotta said it's not common for people in the US to stay married for this long.I said it is also becoming this in Malaysia.Kawin 2-3 tahun, cerai.

So I guess Nik and I have a lot to be grateful for.Oh I will not pretend that we don't have problems (we have ALL the time.Haha).We are like two opposite poles.He likes football, I like the net.I think what keeps us together for so long is the space we give to each other and the respect for each other's individuality: that we can be who we wanna be without expecting the other to change us.

Here's to another 24 years and more, may we continue to be blessed.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Kenduri syukur

Bro. Nasser doing the nasyeed on the Prophet

the two sheikhs

kambing

Sunday: the talk by ULMAA and IIUM Engineering Club went very2 well.Dato Aishah and Raj were so pandai, speaking on Green and Clean Energy.We learnt so many new things!

Getting together with the rest of the team at tea time was good too: Dr Cassim, Delesh, Dato Aizi (tak tau pun dia dah dapat Datoship, now working with MAMPU at JPM's), Amin (who got lost and was so impressed by IIUM students' civility showing him the way to Mini Audi), Annie, Azhar, of cos' Raj and Dato Aishah (and hubby).Aizi text-ed me later beritau dia hilang kunci.I have to check with the security nanti siang.

I had to rush back to pick Salim and Long for the little kenduri at my place.Ah, terkejar2 betul.Makoto and frens pulak sesat.By the time I arrived home, the two sheikhs and Dr P were already there.Had to collect Makoto and frens at Carrefour pulak.Tak sempat jumaah with the rest.We made the 2nd jumaah.

Then makan! (bar-b-q kambing sekor...jgn marah...).
Lepas tu Nasser performed nasyeed on the Prophet.Mcm one of the Vienna boys.

Sheikhs read special doas for us (it is also our 24th wedding anniversary..well..soon..June 14)

It was a nice evening, syukur alhamdullilah.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

ACCIN Meeting

Kak Oni reminded me many times of the meeting.No one could go and so she appointed me as the rep to represent our NGO.I didn't mind cos' the public lecture to be held before the monthly meeting looked good. It was given by one of PUM (Persatuan Ulama Malaysia which hosted the meeting) members, Dato' Saleh (who sits on many fatwa boards at both national and state levels). It was supposed to be at 1.45pm.I sibuk melayan Carlotta and arrived before 3 (itu pun after contacting Badri after I got lost somewhere in Section 7, Shah Alam).

By Allah's grace, the talk had not started and only began when I was seated nicely amidst the' all men''s crowd. Memang rezeki! I wanted to listen to the talk so much.It waited for me although I was almost 2 hours late.

I was ill-dressed.Mana I tau I'd be the only female in the crowd of OMG,all men and many were ulemas! But they were nice to me..takda sapa cakap apa2 and when I raised a couple of questions and issues, takda sapa kata apa2 except a reasonable debate why they disagreed with me. I was treated equally.Yay!

Dato' thanked me for my question on the need to include knowledge of other fields dalam kita nak berijtihad (he had outlined semua ilmu berkaitan dgn agama..fiqh to shariah to Arabic, etc)

Dato' Saleh Ahmad said ijtihad is tajuk specific dalam bidang usul fiqh, also ilmu teras shariah.Not everyone can be a mujtahid (org yang boleh buat ijtihad).Kassim Ahmad wanted to be a mujtahid tapi his criteria tak cukup.

Apakah criteria untuk jadi seorang mujtahid?

1.mesti menguasai bahasa arab dalam erti kata sebenarnya: bayan, tatabahasa, sastera, etc.

2. mesti faham Quran dan semua dalil (Quran adalah sumber semua hukum)

3. mesti tahu sunnah Rasul (tahu mana yang sahih, mana tak, tahu perawinya, etc)

4. mesti menguasai ilmu fiqh, metodologi hukum (usul fiqh adalah ilmu teras dalam syariah)

5. mesti tahu masalah2 yang telah berlaku ijmak para ulema terdahulu agar tidak menyalahkan ijtihad silam.

6. mesti mengetahu makasid al shariah (mengkaji matlamat dan objektif perundangan)

7. mesti ada persediaan fitrah untuk berijtihad, mempunyai jiwa bersih, pemikiran yang tajam, etc.

8. mestilah seorang yang adil dan bertaqwa, berakhlaq mulia dan tidak akan mengadaikan agamanya.

Itulah kriteria pokok utk jadi seorang mujtahid but Dato' agreed with me kalau dia tau ilmu2 kifayah yang lain, lagi perfect.

Someone asked about boleh ke bahan video jadi evidence kpd kes jenayah berat (seperti zina).Jawabnya tidak boleh.Kena ikut Quranjuga : mesti ada 4 saksi juga. Memang susah nak prove cos' zaman Nabi pun susah nak prov kecuali pellaku mengaku.Itu pun Prophet tidak terus mahu menghukum tetapi setelah diasak oleh pelaku,baginda memerintahkan hukuman dijatuhkan.

It's nice being among org beilmu begini.Next month kalau ada public lecture lagi, I would want to make time to attend.This time I will pakai jubah hitam.

nite life in kl

we love having visitors cos' their presence gives us a strong excuse to dine out in kl atau kawasan se zonenya.

we decided to go to fukuya, top rated japanese restaurant in jalan delima.but somehow we missed it and ter-masuk ke laman Ibunda, Malay fine-dining! Betullah kata pepatah...rezeki ditentukan Allah.

Ibunda ni harapkan cantik je decornya (inside out very da fine).The spread tak banyak.I wanted to go back looking for Fukuya but tengok Carlotta so tired, kesian pulak.Lagipun she just spent time with her Japanese family in Tokyo (mak Carlotta ni Jepun, bapak red Indian but she takda feature Jepun pun) and could do without Jap cuisine. :)

Desserts at Ibunda are the best in the world.Try sira labu dia dgn ice cream durian..phuiyoooo...high...I also liked the bubur cha-cha and bubur pulut hitam (you can have small portion of each)

Drinks: sirap bandung, ABC dia sedap giler.
Here's the link: http://www.ibunda-finedine.com.my/

Friday, June 10, 2011

Friends from abroad

Carlotta Abrams is in town.Expect things to be wild.She is also a published poet (from Arizona).Hatinya tulus macam kristal.Keluarga diraja red indian. She will sleep over at my place.A lot to catch up with.

It's Friday.Kedengaran Sheikh Nasser bernasyeed dari masjid (Sheikh Ibrahim bagi khutbah).They have conquered the mosque.Haha.Ini budaya baru...nyanyi lepas khutbah.Tak pernah lagi orang buat.Rosak betul connection kita. :))

Sunday nanti tak tau apa pulak akan berlaku as we have student guests from Canada, Nigeria, Japan, Saudi and Yemen (we are having a little thanksgiving kenduri).

Mawar..bila takda baby in the family...macam nilah!