The weekend getaway in Batu Pahat was meant for Anidah-Tol's son's wedding reception but my husband wanted to do a down the memory lane going back to Muar where he spent 2 years as a primary sch boy, living with his uncle while his mom went back to University Malaya to study History. So he showed us where he grew up (rumah tu pun dah runtuh), places he'd go. A bit emo for him. Z and I could not understand. We thought he was lucky to see so many things at such a young age.
The wedding reception was cool. Semua buat sendiri. Tak payah catering, upah orang buat pelamin ke hapa. And we felt so warmly received.Food was good. Paling liat nak balik sebab we were eating this and that. :)
Then Muar. What a discovery! I thought it might be a sleeping town but no! So much life. So much food! Bak kata Engku..kalau dah suka makan tu...
Hubby said geng motor surau might go on a day trip.Boleh la suruh tapau satay muar, mee bandung udang galah, murtabak spore.
I think Allah made it easy for me with this conference (imagine writing one immediately after my Asiapac ended). The paper was the same one presented to a small circle of Indonesian scholars at Andalas last June. I translated into English and updated some info. All in 2 days.
This morning not only my paper was on first thing in the morning but I also had to moderate the session. They put all my FRGS research members in one session. Fatin lost her voice but courageously presented it well. I had to rearrange the schedule ikut chronology. Alhamdulillah our audience could follow it like watching a TV drama. Haha. We had many positive remarks and comments. An old Prof of History was so overwhelmed and appreciative of our session came to sit with us to offer more suggestions how we could move forward cos' he saw the importance of the research going big. I was so inspired by his remarks (from his long scholarship as a Historian).
Then as I walked out of the hall, satu guy pakai kupiah looked at me in the eyes tersenyum2 so I had to say hello and asked if he had presented his paper. He said dah and that he had sat through our session in the morning. Rupa2nya dia pun peminat kami. Haha. He's from Afghanistan so I buka la cerita Kabul I and hopefully I'd get to visit my other homeland soon.It's been a dream too (belah my paternal grandma).
Pastu I jumpa this scholar from Riyadh.Kita pun bincang nak buat group ala2 Asiapac group.
Banyak sangat cita2 I ni. Kata nak pencen awal.
One day I will grow old and senile. I must record some of these nice words from nice people who have crossed my path by will of Allah. Some are total strangers turned wonderful friends:
1.
Thank you so much for sending the link to these lovely photographs. They are a lovely memento of a conference that was wonderful in every way: wonderfully organised, wonderful speakers and papers, a wonderful team of students, and you fill me with awe at how efficiently and seemingly effortlessly you kept everything going. It was indeed a pleasure to meet you and I have so much to learn from you! Very best wishes for a happy holiday season. I hope to see you in Sydney.
Warmest regards,
Hsu-Ming, Australia
2. Thank you, and thank you again for a very memorable symposium and equally memorable birthday.
Congratulations and thanks for a memorable symposium. ET, Singapore
3. Thank you for the wonderful opportunity you gave me. I really learnt a lot from the papers and talks presented at the symposium. Mahmoud, Saudi
4.The conference was full of small miracles, amazing film and art...not so many people, but fire and talent and brains for 3 days...Carlotta, USA
5.Thank you for everything, sister. It was a dream come true. We are so blessed to have this chance at such a community/kampung/family all because of your efforts.Francis, USA
6. By far, the most organised symposium. Sonia, Australia
7. Well organised. Lily and Isabella, Philippines
8. Excellent. Amzek, India
Cukup lah kot? The credit is not mine alone. No one can do this kinda event alone.Kudos to my students and colleagues and my kind sponsors.
It ended on Nov 24 but we took a few out to the Central Market yesterday before one by one of our guests flew home. Francis left on the train from Central Market. Prof Amzek, Carlotta and Sari came home with me after checking out and Amzek left at 4 pm then Carlotta at 10 pm ( Nik pandai2 buat plan with Andrew so I missed seeing her off naik taxi from my home).
We dropped Sari at KLIA Express this morning. Bak kata Edwin Thumboo..even my family is turned into my network. Haha.
I am dumbfounded. Too many things happening at the same time but I'm glad, alhamdulillah all the hard work paid off. My students pulled through very well (Shan said better than the one in 2009 in which she was part of saying 2017 was so well organised, so fun). We celebrated like the country was not going through a financial crisis. But this is how we celebrate our friends who would always be there, rain or shine.Edwin pun tersentuh hatinya. We all did. We threw him a surprise birthday celebration.His cake in the form of his book (The Best of Edwin Thumboo by Princess Dack memang nampak real)..it worked as planned..the bday song played, the cake trolley was pushed in.candle fireworks went off and everyone sang. Before that we had Sonia's book launch.
I treasured each min of everything..Justin and Luqman's film session was moving too. Salehu tak dpt dtg cos' wife dia bersalin awal that day but Justin played his short film nonetheless..got taste, got style, got humour. Kami terhibur.
Then came in Sabeera with her shadow play (bukan wayang kulit) and Francis with his solo performances on Friday..wahhh..what a treat! I'll try put some pics or video if I have them - later.
Mus the architect friend came to the rescue when I wanted to find someone to address the city from builder's perspective. Surprise, surprise, Mus impressed everyone (Mahmoud said he's philosophical..I chipped in saying "well, he tried!" Haha, evil as always). Pastu mlm dinner he read two poems.Dennis ckp best he kept to Architecture or else he too could doodle and call himself an Architect. Haha, evil! But we all appreciated his perspective and actually the arts community was inspired to work with city council on enhancing literature, culture and performances.At least my young colleagues said that.
The poetry readings on all three days pun dasyat. Prof Muhd Haji Salleh and Edwin read on 1st day (the giants of Msia and Spore). The readings at IIUM Gallery were talks of town for those who went. Dynamites! Jamal Raslan memang terrer.Mahmoud from Egypt also read. I also read (grin). Then we makan durian after that depan pintu Rector dok lalu lalang cos' guards would not allow us bring durians in. I hope someone ada ambik gambar ni. I'm glad Omar did the right decision buying musang king and durian udang for our guests to enjoy.Some had it for the first time. They loved it. Edwin yang paling happy cos' he had been mentioning it. Omar was quick to act. :)
After my closing speech, I pulak kena kantoi! They gave me a surprise thank you cake..siap dgn powerpoint pic of me senyum lebar..entah bila depa ambik gambar tu.I punya terkejut I cried a little.Drama! My friends kata mrk rasa begitu diraikan dgn hospitality kita. Rasa dijaga macam family. Apalah sangat, kan? Mmg begitu kita menghormati tetamu.Nabi yang ajar. Mmg la penat and I told Carlotta.Carlotta la mastermindnya..beli cake, etc etc. Eee...mmg tak selesa but I appreciated lah niat murni mereka tu.
Pastu Francis jumped kata belum habis..mesti main lagu tema kelompok ini (and I know he and Sabeera and Justin and Luqman and semua oranglah yang ada bersama - my colleagues Mei, Farizah, Aimilia, Madihah, Quayum, Aishah, Ridwan would always be there bila I minta tolong).
Nampaknya Allah mendengar doa solat hajat kami agar majlis berjalan lancar (which kids and I did at the mosque 3 days before we hit the road).
As I enter the convo environs at IIUM Gombak, I tiba2 rasa sebak. Today would mean so many things to so many people whose children, grandchildren, brothers/sisters are graduating. Farhan is one of them. Sal and Daud would be beaming with joy, maybe lots of tears too. Farhan was our reliable driver when Mak or Irshad was going in and out hospitals. There were days Sal or I would be so tired to send mak to dialysis so all we did was call Farhan to pick or send mak or teman Irshad at the hospital/s.Both died the same year. Today all the memories came rushing. Sometimes I wonder if ever I got out of the sadness of it all.
I hope Farhan will go a long way. He's such a responsible young man.I'll see him after the convo kejap lagi.
On another family news, Z took the two gals out to a book launch yesterday with Hanna. Ajir pun kecik2 dah pandai nengok pompuan lawa! Tiba2 he rushed out to the gate in his nappy and tried to attract Hanna's attention. Haha. Selalu kita datang dia buat tak pada. Hamboi budak 3.5 tahun ni! Then Nadra said this to Z, "Wow, your friend is beautiful". Then addressed Hanna and told her this: do you know that when you are beautiful, people will do everything for you?". I wasn't there but when Z told me this, Nik and I macam ternganga. She is only 5 years old. Mana dia belajar philosophy ni? Haha. Hanna went ho yeah? really? Will you do everything for me? She said sure.
Maybe I was right when I associated her with philosophy so early when she was barely 2 (read my old blog entry on her a few years ago)
I have been saying a lot of Nos this year because I'm prioritising my health and trying to reduce my stress level. Rupanya memang ada ayat Quran di mana Allah highlights how people sibuk bekerja sampai lupa adanya Allah (something along this line). When I saw that ayat for the first time, I thought wow..and kita lupa why kita solat 5 waktu di tengah2 kesibukan kita bekerja (supaya kita ingat Allah). Tu pun solat tergesa2 mengejar entah apa.So now when I solat, I tell myself, I'm going to have a conversation with Allah. Boleh focus better dan tak tergesa2 solat cos' we have to respect our conversation with Allah.
I hope once the Nov event is over, I have some space to go back to my Rawa research and write overdue papers. Dengan berat hati I said no to the asean gathering in Manila in Dec and no to the women's summit which Prof Ruzy had kindly invited me to be part of (and meet first ladies, katanya)
It was a struggle in saying those Nos but I feel less stressed out cos' I have fewer responsibilities while doing tonnes on-going ones.
I cuti sejak Friday. All I wanted to do I did then and over the weekends. Balik Raub and see my two sisters who are still living in Raub.Yang sorang in the hospital..in and out...even when she was in KL, I tak sempat ziarah..busy with guests from everywhere (which was also work).
Alas, balik Raub..my beloved hometown! Letrik pulak takda.Air pun takda. Hadoi. Called TNB HQ beritau mengapa bila time nak caj kita kemain mahal dan tak boleh terlambat bayar sikit pun..bila supply putus..kemain lama..di mana servicenya? Masa I called KL, dah ramai yang called. Janji 3 pm ada supply..4.15 pm baru ada. We checked into a hotel cos' both sisters were away..sorang in the hospital, sorang lagi walaupun baru balik dari haji..pi berjalan ke Melaka pulak. We ate at Angah's.Satay Harun yang dimakan oleh Obama masa dia dtg Msia.Wahhh..memang sedap rupanya!
Bonded with Umaira and Sophia. Senang sangat nak menipu budak berdua ni.Haha.They would tail me suruh cerita hantu.So I created a few. :)
On Sunday I woke up early to go to Pekan Ahad Raub nak pi cari tempoyak. The ones I bought were much questioned..kot campur pisang ke (since durian tak menjadi this year). I bought things yang susah dpt in KL..rebung...petai..makcik tu kata I kena tipu..org tu jual petai muda with no mata. Haha..lantak le..asal rupa petai. Tapai..we had breakfast at Kak De's. Tengok2 Fateh pun ada (cucu aruah Mek). Dia ni mmg bijak bdknya.Patut le aruah always mentioned him. Fateh itu.Fateh ini.He got up early..siap bermandi dan berbedak dah. So I gave him Van Gogh's chocolates (kasi sikit2 cos' simpan yang lain for others). He kept coming back for more. I gave more than others. Then I asked him: do you know me? He said tak. I said ohh lepas awak mkn chocolate saya byk2, awak rupanya tak kenal saya siapa. He said alaa..cokelat awak tu sikit sangat. I laughed mcm nak rak.He's only 4.Maybe 5. Then we went to visit kubur my parents and my sisters and other family members. Fateh pun nak ikut. He wanted to show a beautiful tasbih to his wan. Mmg sampai kat kubur he showed the tasbih kat wan dia: Wan...saya ada ini.. Luluh my hati.
And he got attached to me. I left Kak De's to Long's (discharged now). Fateh told the parents jom kita pi rumah Wan Dah. My sister said Wan Dah takda kat rumah.Fateh said kita pi tengok je if her slippers are infront her home..kalau takda, kita balik lah. Haha. I think I reminded him of her Wan Mek. Wan Mek rajin layan budak (and suka bergaduh with budak.Me and Fateh were like that..dia dok cerita ada momok sana sini..I said you ni asyik momok ..momok..he said betul..he saw a black momok at his house..warna hitam.Haha.Macam2 si Fateh ni)
Looks like we would be visiting JB more often now. I have a new pet.
End of 2nd week of the mobility prog. The week was busy with dining out and taking some students to buy books at Silverfish Books in Bangsar. By Friday, I started to have a sore throat and a bit of flu but rode on the bus to Melaka with the group.Only Amir came along. We stopped at Mini Msia..saw the show..Dylan and Brooke were at ease doing the Iban sumpit and dance. Then a few went up to joget. I tengok jelah. Dah tak terjoget dah at this age! We took the cruise down Melaka river and stopped at Jonker's. I went to rest at the 1824 surau.Dah penat dah. Then we shot off to the floating restaurant at Umbai to eat. Only a few of us ate. Tak tau lah dah kenyang ke takda duit ke.I tak daya nak fikirkan semua but we enjoyed our black pepper crabs, sotong tepung, ikan bakar and nasi lemak and sayur kangkung belacan.Some spotted ular laut.Entah iya entah tidak.
Then off to PD.Nik and Bibik had arrived.Thank God.4 rooms and the boys tidur bawah.The gals tidur in 2 rooms..berhimpit2.Biar dia belajar cara kampong but air-con semua working well and attached bathrooms.The best thing was the private beach! Sabtu show at audi museum tentera darat.Fun gila.The army guys were helpful and lawak. We all enjoyed being there.Malam we buat barbecue.Sal came to help.Siang tu she helped arrange a wonderful by the beach lunch.Pretty giler and so nyaman. I want to come again to PD.
On Sunday I terjun laut.Warm water. Oh heavens! Then we went to visit forest reserve and kg orang asli ..syok juga.Pas tu lunch at Muslim Chinese restaraunt Cik Salim kindly took us..he's from the Forest Reserve.Baik dia nak tunjuk kami jalan pi sana sini.
Nasib Nik datang.I jumped ship..balik dgn dia. Letih dah naik bas.Haha.Amirlah yang jaga dia orang pulak.
Today Monday they did the mosque tour.Dan belajar ambik wudhu. Then they went to see org solat Zohr from tingkat 3.I thought tonight was my dinner with Sreya. She said hari ni 2nd bkn 3rd Oct.That's how lost I am with time.
And a couple of people on campus are not helping me do my job.Kerja penat lagi rasa penat. if it's just to show your authority..not now, please. Forget control OK? Respect people's wish. We don't do things for fun.
