Not Jakarta Jam

I'm beginning to have second thoughts on Jakarta as an exciting cultural city.The jam is baaadddd here.

We worked late so there was no time to shop at nice places cos' you'd get trapped in Jakarta's traffic jam anyway.What would have taken 20 mins became close to 2 hours.The people at the Embassy told us to do our shopping at the Ambassador, a mall not that far from our hotel.But try doing that after office hours.It's crazy!

So we went to ITC next to the Ambassador.Barang2 mcm kat Rantau Panjang.By the time we went over to Ambassador (sebelah tu je) the stores were closing.KL is betterlah kalau nak shop2 ni. :)

Ibu Yayok and Pak Hassan came all the way from Bogor to take us around (this is what the couple does everytime kita datang) Yesterday also they came.Sweet, kan? But we also bought things from Ibu Yayok.She's so good at selling health products (she's with an O&G company or used to be).Sekali jual RM500, you.But it's Japanese nanotech.We were all sold! Habis duit allowance aku yang juta2 rupiah tu. :)

Besok last day meeting.I tak sabar nak balik dah.I got my telekong sulam (3 times cheaper than it is in KL!) That's a comfort.

Kamilah pembawa obor keamanan

Last day of my conference.My paper was after lunch.I thought it went well.Got a few nice questions from sidang hadirin and was sharing a panel (I was in the plenary session) with someone from KOMPAS dan someone from the publishing industry (wough...depa so advanced....promo novels mcm buat filem!)

Malamnya I was invited by Dato KP to join his team to a dinner hosted by one Deputy Minister (the Kedutaan Malaysia people also came).Nama restoran tu Nona Bola..Malaysian and Indian cuisine with an Indonesian touch.We had a nice time.I sat to this very strong lady who works at the Msian Embassy in Jakarta who's just lost her eldest son in a motor accident malam 27 Ramadan yang baru ni...he's a student at MCKK.My..so tough...may Allah grant her greater iman and may her son be placed in jannah.

Anyway, it was a business dinner.Kami bincang how to eratkan hubungan erat dua-hala Msia-Indonesia through budaya dan sastera.Nov. ini mungkin sesuatu besar akan dianjurkan bersama antara group Riau dan DBP.I harap UIA akan tompang semangkok. I dah offered IIUM hospitality. Kami ingin bersama membawa obor keamanan! :)

While I say nice things about the literary scene in Indonesia, our counterparts think we are so much better than them.

I enjoyed the sessions presented by non-native speakers from France, Holland and China today.Yang sorang tu presented a paper on ideologi sastra bugis.Katanya, orang bugis ini ada 3 teras falsafah dalam budayanya demi untuk meraih kemenangan (see how C4 fits in here)

ujung pisau (guna kekerasan)
ujung lidah (if kekerasan fails, guna diplomasi)
ujung penis (if all fails, guna perkahwinan untuk meraih cita-cita)

Satu bentuk sastera Bugis ialah elong.Bunyinya begini:

Lebbae paleq pawawa
patiwiq temmassengeq
mau ni sagala

maksudnya

sebab kecewa
aku tak rindu
sekalipun ia cantik

(elong ada 3 baris dgn sukukata 8-7-6...a bit like haiku, dak? cuma haiku ada bunyi alam)

Oh malam tadi we had another dinner (hosted by Pusat Bahasa).Semua pekerja mereka pandai nyanyi..jazz you..ada juga lagu2 rakyat/local.Group Malaysia ni buta music.Puan Salmiah malu2...walhal she can sing very well (I was willing to be backup gal with the others kalau dia nak nyanyi lagu raya.Hahaha).

I dah homesick ni (sebab sehingga ini, belum ada kesempatan nak keluar membeli telekong bersulam).Besok bermula pulak mesyuarat kami (another event yang berbeza from the conference).

Greetings from Jakarta

at Santika Hotel, Jakarta

Bulan ni byk pulak I kena travel.Anyway salam dari Jakarta yang lebih bertenaga dan berbudaya dari KL.Dari atas plane, nampak seperti Indonesia jauh lebih mewah dari KL...ekonomi mereka lebih mantap.Ini kelihatan dari udara lagi!

Hotel saya sangat nyaman walaupun budak kaunter itu agak lembab (tak jumpa nama saya dan SM Zakir dan kami tunggu lama...dia tak nampak kunci dah di depan matanya.Hissh!) Lain-lain saya puas hati.Hotel ini very quiet and nice.Nak pi swim tapi Zakir's room next to mine (menghadap swimming pool..takut pulak Zakir mati terkejut tengok I in swimsuit walaupun Muslim swimsuit)

The gals and I walked to this Padang restaurant.Enak.Tunggu Francis call.Besok dia dah balik Spore.Mungkin tak sempat cos' the gals nak keluar pi kedai buku kejap lagi.

I am very sleepy.Semalam punya marathon gila betul.But we enjoyed foods at Rector's and time at Azura's was really riang.Had a great fun teasing OLD friends.Makanan pun sedap.We visited her mom.Dah byk improvementnya.

Malam punya open house at Rawang was really crazy.Jam kat Rawang mcm nak gila.Got home late.I main campak je my clothes into the suitcase.Pagi jam 5.30 am dah bangun.The meeting and conference better be good!

If Abam! is reading this: thank you for waking up so early on Sunday to see me off at Sentral.

IIUM Pagoh?

The DPM had just announced that an IIUM Pagoh should be set up soonest possible.I guess we should feel grateful but Engineering and Modern Languages Kulliyyah there? Maybe Engineering is befitting but Languages? In the middle of nowhere? I hope DELL would not be affected.I think I'd quit if we have to move.Jauh sangat meh.Many of my colleagues are saying the same thing.Well, it had happened before I'm sure (masa Kuantan campus was set up).IIUM will survive (in fact will be better).New people would always be better.More energy.More creativity.

While we are here, we gotta give our best and groom the young ones to take over.

Puasa 6

My HK friend, Agnes, with the family at dinner

Tahun ini Allah dorongkan hati saya untuk melakukan ibadah puasa sunat.Mungkin semakin kita tua, semakin kita merasa segala nikmat dunia ini amat sedikit dan sementara dan kita tidak apa-apa untuk menolak juadah dan santapan di sekeliling kita.

Tetapi ini tidak bermakna keimanan saya tidak dicabar.

Pagi2 lagi suami ajak teman pergi breakfast.Dia cakap hari ni ada jiran buat kenduri kawin, mungkin saya patut tangguhkan puasa sunat saya.Masa dia usulkan cadangan itu, dia sedang makan nasi lemak dengan sambal sotong dan sedang meng-order roti canai untuk dibungkus pulang.Wough! Tough! 50-50 nak berbuka. Naik 80-20.Diconggak2 kalau berbuka hari ni, week days lagi susah nak puasa...

Akhirnya saya ambik keputusan meneruskan puasa saya kerana berfikir, sedap makanan hanya sementara tapi pahala puasa kekal ke akhirat. :)

Dan semasa suami siap sedia nak ke majlis kawin anak jiran (dibuat di Taman Tun), dia checked kad kawin.Bukan hari ni..but 2 weeks lagi.Nasib baik tak berbuka!

Fadilat puasa 6: www.saujanautama3.com/?p=461

I'm home

Z said the lady behind me looks like me

(topi ni bagussss..dia tutup aurat)

Salam,

Flight kami sampai around 6.30 pm tadi. Lepas sembahyang jamak, kita balik terus ke rumah.Taxi driver masih bercerita pasal kes pembunuhan Sosilawati dan 3 yang lain.I think pembunuh mereka ni ada mental problem.Mungkin masa kecik kena abused...kena baling kat dinding dan pecah kepala gamaknya.How can any heart have so much hatred or greed?

My mother has also moved out from my house to my sister's.Bukan pasal isu I tak balik raya (thank God not!). Dialysis centre dia tak da machine for her cos' she has Hep C now (from one of her blood transfusions..either the ones done at HUKM or the last one done at Tropicana Hosp. which is a private uni) How could they be so careless tak screen betul2? I pity her...just how much more she needs to suffer.Besok I'll visit her (I called her on the phone tadi..she seems to be so strong and coping well). Her new dialysis centre lebih Islamic..tiap2 Friday ada baca Yassin and ada kuliah agama.Maybe Allah knows better what is good for her.On days she takda dialysis, I'll bring her back to my home.Kenalah bergilir2 jaga.

Anyway, for those who wish to go for a short holiday, Hong Kong and Seoul would make a good choice atas sebab2 di bawah ni:

1.journey not too long : about 3.5 to 4 hours.Compare this to going to the US/Europe.

2.shopping is good in these two cities.I didn't want to go to Seoul sebab I dah 3x pi situ. :)

3. a lot of things to do and see in HK.If you have young kids, ada Disney World, Ocean Park etc.Memang seronoklah budak2.We didn't go sebab Z dah besar dan dah pergi tempat2 mcm tu kat US/Australia/NZ.Kat KL pun best juga aqua world kita tu.

4.Makanan halal no prob. kat HK.Kat airport pun ada ..Popeye tu halal (dia mcm KFC lah)

5.Lawatan ke HK tak sah kalau tak pi Victoria Harbour tengok HK skyline.Org HK kalau nak berpacaran dan propose nak kawin, kat sinilah.Agak romantik tempatnya. :) Kalau nak go across ke HK Island from Kowloon, boleh juga naik feri (which kami tak sempat nak buat)

6.Lady of Leisure tanya pasal hotels in HK: mahal ke tak.Mahal memang mahal tapi book online via web yang buat offer (I think iklan dia ada dalam the Star...list hotels yang reasonable kat Kowloon...khas utk pi shopping bukan nak tidur sedap.Yang the first 2 days tu kita sengaja pilih yang selesa sebab nak rehat..masa tu memang no shopping on our list.Hotel tu kat New Territories, a resort tepi pantai. Memang jauh dari Kowloon or Hong Kong (1 hour from both.Naik taxi lebih HK200. The last 2 days tu yang kita masuk gear 5 pulun habis sebab nak qada shopping so it does not matter what hotel we stay in.Janji dekat dengan MTR dan senang nak pi Tsim Sha Tsui, Admiralty, Harbour City dan street markets.Hahaha).

Kesimpulanya: we have to respect our body and mind.Jgn kerja sampai badan dan otak penat.Not good.Kumpul duit and pi lah holiday with your family.If not luar negara, dalam negara pun OK.Next trip insyaAllah I nak pi Tioman or Redang or Kapaslah.Tak pernah pergi! I think pantai and pulau kita jauh lagi cantik.Cuma...takda tempat nak shopping! (for this reason, Langkawi remains my best island in Malaysia).

Hong Kong as we know it

Agnes and me by the harbour

Kat HK,makcik2 tua suka pakai topi.Here's one at Wan Chai's mosque
(kat Level 2 ada canteen halal)

Look at the cloud! Me at Stanley

HK skyline.Z melaram depan Vic Harbour

Z by the harbour where they put up giant lanterns

Jumbo, floating restaurant at Tai Pak or
Aberdeen Fishing Village

The harbour, from our vegetarian restaurant

boatview of Aberdeen Fishing Village

OK folks, I'm gonna share you my impressions of Hong Kong as I know it through my day activities today.Quite full and very exciting actually.

Lepas buat mee kari in the hotel room for breakfast(mee maggie direndam dgn air panas dan
dicampurkan rendang kari ayam Brahim), kita bersiap2 nak pi Aberdeen Fishing Village.If we took the tour, it would cost us HKD490 per head.6 jam pulak.We would not have time to shop.So kita naik MTR dan bas ke Aberdeen (kat Hong Kong Island across the harbour.Kita duduk kat Kowloon seberang HK Island.Train that went across sebenarnya lalu tunnel bawah laut, constructed in the 70s).We found out org2 HK very helpful kalau kita sesat.Kalau dia tak boleh cakap English, dia akan call anak dia dan suruh dia tunjuk jalan.Baik, kan? Kalau tak tau jalan, dia akan google map kat ipod.Lain benar dgn penduduk Kowloon yang lebih kasar dan tak da masa nak layan sapa2.

We found the fishing village.Nama Cinanya ialah Tai Pak.Jgn tanya the locals where Aberdeen Fishing Village is.Memang mereka tak tau.Itu commercial name dia.

Kat situ you can sewa sampan.Org tu akan minta HK60 per head tapi you mesti berani tawar.We got HK100 for half an hour.Seronok naik sampan tengok boathouses and floating restaurant terbesar di Asia dan marina boat org kaya2.

From there we went to Wan Chai kawasan Muslim.Nak cari Muslim Centre.Punya susah nak cari and when we found it, tutup pulak.Nasib the masjid wasn't far from there so we walked again (about 5 mins).Kat situ ada canteen jual makanan Chinese Muslim yang halal.Haiyooo...very2 nice.Next time you nak senang, just stay at Charter House which is berdepan dgn masjid ni/canteen halal.We had dim sum, and segala chinese food/s you can think of.Syukur alhamdulillah.Kat sini byk maid from Indonesia having their day off (once a week and they will kumpul kat masjid).

From Wan Chai, kita naik taxi pi Stanley Market yang famous tu.Stanley Market terletak di kawasan mahal di atas bukit.Tambang taxi dekat HKD100.Ingat taxi driver tu ikut jalan jauh tapi I asked around, memang harganya begitu..sometimes up to HKD150! Tak jauh dari Stanley Plaza yang canggih tu (byk bungalows and apartments mewah up the hills).Along the beach byk pubs and ramai mat salleh minum2 kat sini.Stanley Market ni jauh lebih mahal dari Ladies Market (payung HK 30 jadi HK 130 di sini) Berhati2.Walaupun kedai2nya jauh lebih sophisticated, org2 sini suka kerat kepala dari Ladies Market.

From Stanley, we took a bus to Causeway Bay to catch a train to Admiralty to catch another train to Tsim Sha Tsui to meet my good friend Agnes (academic and writer friend).Kami 15 mins lebih awal but she was already there.She has such a generous heart.Dia bawak kita dine kat a vegetarian restaurant yang mahal , overlooking the harbour.Wahhh...very da cantik.

Lepas tu kita walked to the harbour and walked past malls yang canggih manggih.Semua designers.

Balik hotel naik MTR rasa macam nak tercabut kaki penatnya. But we experienced Hong Kong/Kowloon at a cheaper rate than what we would have paid a tour agent (and would not see as much as we did today)

Sekian wassalam. :))

Makanan halal di Hong Kong

Halal Chinese cuisine kat restaurant masjid Wan Chai

Z with Dad at a vegetarian restaurant near
Victoria Harbour (what's supposed to be fake chicken, fake eel, sayor tu betul)

bryani and kebab (halal)

Tidak susah mencari makanan halal di Hong Kong kerana penduduk Muslimnya pelbagai: dari Cina Muslim ke India Muslim ke Mesir Muslim ke Turki Muslim dan sebagainya.Ada satu rangkaian makanan Muslim yang begitu mudah didapati (jika anda tau website makanan halal di HK..hahaha..bagi saya, kawan saya Mark yang berasal dari Canada tapi kawin dgn org sini dan menetap di sini..dialah yang bagi saya tau hal2 begini.Begitu juga kawan saya Agnes..org sini..dia juga beritau mana nak shopping, mana nak makan...).

Anyway, check out rangkaian makanan halal Ebeneezer.Tadi kita pi kat Knutsford Terrace (turun MTR di station Tsim Sha Tsui dan jalan keluar Exit 2B dan jalan cari Knutsford Terrace along Jalan Kimberley) di mana ada satu restoran fusion Malaysia, Thai dan India.Namanya Spice.Yo..mahal giler dan eja rendang kambing pun salah dalam menu: randang kambling. Tapi sebab restoran tu halal dan kita pun sgt lapar, kita order sahaja.Pengaruh India sgt kuat sebab b/ground music dia pun music India.Jadi kita nak create suasana Malaysia, kita pasang lagu dari phone kita lagu Ungu, Iklim dan lagu koleksi raya.Nasib towkay kedai tu tak halau kita keluar.Tapi kat HK semua org cakap kuat2. Nak makan pun terganggu.Cakap kuat dan jerit2 ni dah budaya mereka I guess.Kat Macau sampai ada poster peringatan supaya cakap perlahan2 dan sila bungkus kahak anda dalam tisu dan jgn berludah merata2.Yewl! Getik!

Tadi kita pi Ladies' Market.Penatlah nak bargain harga.I usually tawar sampai 50% w/pun my HK friend kata tawar about 20% je tapi I'm good..byk kali dapat harga yang diturunkan lebih dari 50% (buat2 je nak blah..nanti dia panggil balik). Tapi ada juga penjual mcm nak katuk I sebab mintak tawar byk sgt (dan mereka tak mau layan).

Lusa dah nak balik KL...waaaa...belum puas ku membeli belah di sini...

Greetings from Hong Kong

also from our hotel window

Z spotted a siput babi in Hong Kong

(at our resort)

Vela Latina, Portuguese Restaurant in Macau

you wake up to this view every morning

from our hotel window.Look at that hanging cloud over the mountain/hill

We touched down HKIA yesterday petang.As we were approaching the island, the flight got to be really bumpy.Takut oh.But alhamdulillah selamat sampai.

Thanks to the advice and info given by a friend, Mark Malby (who had to attend his brother's wedding in California and could not meet us in this trip), we decided to be as far away from the busy city as possible so took up a room in the Gold Coast (where HKies run away for retreats).Everywhere is view of the sea.Very da pretty.I fell in love with the place so fast.Then a posh2 mall was just within a walk.We wanted to go for something safe (like Thai cuisine where there's fish/seafood dishes) but dgn izin Allah, there's a halal middle eastern bistro and we had lamb bryani, tandoori and whatever eastern and halal you could think of.And a decent supermarket was also there.Beli fruits and drinks.Kat hotel mahal giler.

Oh by the way, if you ever get to HK, kat Airport tu ada tempat sembahyang (siap dengan tempat berwuduk) Tingkat 7 of the Airport building OK?

This morning we took a walk by the beach (Z forgot to bring our Muslim swimwear so there went our opportunity for a swim)...when we get connected with the earth (walking bare foot on the sand), memang rasa lain macam.Stress hilang.

Lepas tu we decided to go to Macau (1 hour by ferry). Pi shopping cos' nak buat apa lagi? Sightseeing semua nengok sisa2 penjajah (churches, museums). The casinos macam huge shopping malls (sometimes you can't tell the difference!)

We had lunch at this very nice restaurant (Vela Latina).It's a fusion of Portuguese and Macau cuisine.We went for seafood and veges. And ice creams. :)

I think I can live in HK.Shopping bagussss.

Raya drama

the only raya pic left (yang lain my niece, Tasniem, dah deleted.

She's 4 years old).This with my in laws

OK this year, the raya drama award goes to me and my mom.

Thursday mak I found that my family and I would not balik Raub to spend raya there.Dia naik angin.The rendang, satay goreng, baju raya I gave, semua dia tak mau (walhal before she found out, sikit punya excited nak bawak balik.Nasi impit pun dah packed siap2).The reason why we decided we'd stay put in KL was because she balik Raub Thursday ptg after her dialysis.Raya belah malam (besoknya on Friday) she has to travel back to KL for Saturday dialysis.We didn't want to tire ourselves running up and down Karak highway (balik ari) cos' Nik would want to spend raya in KL with his mom too.Nak travel Thursday evening too early for us...paip air nak kena ganti, pump kolam rosak..everything nak buat Thursday tu.Habis kalau balik Friday? Kena rush juga nak raya with Nik's family kan? It's her first raya without my father in law.

So...high drama.
I was very hurt but Nik said let my mom cool first.Nanti balik dari holiday, we'd see her and raya and minta maaf.

Friday my sis was supposed to drive her to KL.I knew they would not stop at my place.Saturday tu she had her dialysis (the centre is near my place).I thought I should drop by and salam raya.But my mom can be very difficult bila dia merajuk.Nik kata biar dia cool off dulu.

I dah janji nak invite Swabri (from Kenya) and Ali (Central Africa) to lunch so I masak bryani and prepared salad and all.Chicken I bought at Rasa Mas (Ayam Kasturi dia sedap).Meanwhile Sal and I were text-ing about masalah semasa ni. She said go and see our mom at the Centre since my house was so close-by.We are flying off for our hols besok..she said tak baik if I didn't see her first.I thought so too.Tak nak la nanti kena telan dek bumi.We went to the Centre.They had just left.So we went to pick up Swabri at the LRT station.Ali takda.Dalam perjalanan, my sis kata kalau nak jumpa juga mom, go to Pizza Hut.So another chase.By now Swabri was with us.I pakat dgn Swabri..can you enter Pizza Hut tu dulu...sweet talk my mom (my mom suka dia) and get her mood right..then I'd come and salam her while she's still smiling at him.Swabri thought oh this is so funny but he agreed.Kita gelak2 juga sambil tu.Memang funny.Dramalah kata kan.

It worked (I owe Swabri my lifetime gratitude) Haha.So I kissed my mom's hand and said sorry.Although she was not terribly excited, she took my salam.

You think it's easy huh? Both of us (like mother, like daughter/s) are all strong-headed, ego maniacs.But I knew my place...

During my 2 days plus ordeal (Thursday and Friday and part of Sat) I had online and sms support from friends and students (they didn't know I was upset but their kindness and love cheered me up) Francis esp. was a big comfort.He and his family are also going through a tough time.We kinda connect on this.He says I'm his spiritual teacher.I think it's the other way round.He has more patience and generosity than I have.

Anyway, nasi bryani I buat memang sedap (pastenya paste Brahim..tapi kalau tak betul ikut instructions..tak sedap juga kan?) My in laws and good neighbours (Tim and family) pun datang.Mini open house.

Need to pack now.Flight kita besok noon.Pray that it goes well.

Hariraya yang sederhana

I'm still at the office, trying to finish up a conference paper.Everyone has gone on leave.Initially I wanted to stay another day to finish up the paper tomorrow but it's so quiet here.I don't feel safe. :))

Sharifah and kids came to iftar last night.It's been a while since I last saw them. They live in Makkah. Sharifah told me she went to Rosmah's place the evening before, witnessing her khatam Quran. Something you cannot reconcile with, kan? But it kinda puts her in a different perspective. Nak juga dia khatam Quran. :)

This year's raya betul-betul low key.Is it age or just circumstances?

My only consolation is biskut raya yang I beli online tu ternyata tersangat sedap. Aku tidak tertipu seperti selalu.

Z is at home marinating satay meat.Besok kita start buat rendang.I'll check Cold Storage for another round to see if Rendang Brahim is available (short cut to rendang making..you just throw in your rendang meat with pati rendang Brahim and there you go, sedap macam buat sendiri! Sayangnya, hypermarkets tak support Brahim.Limited stock, susah nak dapat).

Langsir I pun siap lepas Raya (sebab lambat hantar...no time).

Malam-malam terakhir Ramadan

Mak I bilang I lagi banyak tak puasa dari dia! (she will not puasa on days she does her dialysis which is 3 kali seminggu). Sudah tentu nyata dia exaggerates, kan? :))

Anyway, Z pun tak puasa lagi hari ni.Ahhh...we will miss our lailatulqada but hopefully jumpa dalam kami berbuat baik dgn orang2 yang berpuasa.We should start puasa balik besok. :))

Hari ni we went to dine with my friend's daughter from New Zealand.She brought another friend (also from NZ but they are both migrating to Australia).Kita makan Japanese at Shangri-la.Mula2 depa ajak I pi makan kat KL Tower...malas..tak sedap dan mahal although Nik kata Shang lagi mahal.Anyway tak kisah..we have money to spend (Najib bagi RM500 extra, remember? Haha)

Budak2 ni cerita how depa balik kampong mak dia kat Belawai, 3 jam naik bot dari Kuching.Betul2 kampong...kata Natalie yang first time pi tempat2 gitu..ayam berkokok all hours..dia tak leh nak tidur.Pelik pulak ayam Belawai ni..biasanya ayam cuma berkokok bila dah Subuh...ni malam2 pun dia berkokok.Apa kena??

Sarinah ni maknya org Sarawak, bapak org putih NZ so dia tak tau cakap apa2 local pun kecuali "makan" dan "panas" tapi sejak akhir2 ni kerap juga dia balik ke kampong maknya.Very decent personality.

I ni rasa loya lepas makan pregnant fish kat restaurant Jepun ni.My daughterlah kata sedap (kawan dia recommended).Ikan kecik yang bunting dgn telor.Hiss...

Semoga hari-hari terakhir Ramadan membawa bahagia.

Merdeka Blues

This year apa pasal tak rasa merdeka pun? What is going on??

Pagi-pagi I got an email saying well-written.Aku dah agak..mesti ada issue race.Kawan-kawan Cina aku ramai macam ni (yang betul-betul luhur pun ramai). Yang segelintir ni suka sangat hantar emails yang berbau perkauman.Aku benci! Dah berapa puluh tahun merdeka, still harping on kami rakyat kelas kedua? rakyat anak tiri? orang melayu ada hak istimewa.Kalau tak bulan ramadan..dah lama nak kena hamput ni!

Macamana pun I voiced my 'resistance'.Pi check kat Penang tu..PKR rule kaa DAP rule.My friend (we are still friends..hahaha) kata check dulu la kau punya fakta..open tender ada pun, Melayu juga dapat projek.He said pi talk to the people.Masalahnya I spoke to orang-orang miskin Penanglah aku berani cakap mcm tu! (unless taxi drivers tu orang2 UMNO??) I habag kat my fren, nak tanya Melayu mana? Semua dah tak mampu nak duduk kat island..habeh lari ke mainland.

Tak habis dok kalut with this email, tiba lagi satu kawan bagi email on merdeka (tajuk well-written).Dok cerita pasal Cina-Melayu lagi..haiya..this is not how I want to spend the rest of my life as a Malaysian (dok cerita ungkit melayu dapat ni..Cina terpinggir) Come on! anak aku pun tak dapat government scholarship OK? Kita pun duduk rumah teres lagi OK? Privilege apa, cuba habag maii!

I told my friends (supposedly to be educated people) tukarlah skrip..jangan dok main the same song.Aku bosan! Tukarlah skrip kepada yang ini (dan ajar anak-anak dan cucu-cucu sekali):

We do not care how others make us feel.We are Malaysians.Let's build this country together and assist each other..work with the rich to help the poor.

See? Takda ill-feelings against any group based on race, class, religion.Take the venoms out.Be happy!

Happy merdeka day, anyway.You may not like your politicians but they don't own this country.It is ours to keep and take care of.

Busy days ahead

It's almost raya now ha? I have a series of conferences to attend between now and Nov.Tensi, dong! Konon nak unwind kat tempat buat facial and urut kaki..sakit bahu pulak jadinya..muka naik gerutu! (ini akibat coupon murah la ni..patut harga RM380 jadi RM98..inilah padahnya!)

Anyway, I thought of flying to Brunei to collect my data for the conference in Jakarta..suntuklah masa! Mana nak raya..mana nak pi holiday raya...and my writers from Indonesia semua I call je on the phone.Mana I faks, I faks, mana ada emel I emel.Kerja gila mcm ni! There's this Kiai on my list ..susah nak connect.I hope he'll respond.Nampak mcm interesting je orangnya.

Bagi yang tak berpuasa, how do you cope? Makan sorok2 ke?

Nur Ramadan Talk Series

We'd like to announce our series of talk this Ramadan.For those keen on life-long learning, this is the time.

Tomorrow Aug 20, 2010 (11 am -12.30 pm) at CERDAS room

1.Dr Meriam (clinical psychologist with years of experience) talking on Memahami Keperluan Warga Emas (we'll get there sooner or later!)

Fee RM30; students RM10

2.Puan Nina Abdullah (certified marriage counselor who ran a practice in USA before moving to Malaysia) speaking on Menyuburkan kasihsayang di dalam rumahtangga

CERDAS room August 26, 2010 (same time, same fee)

3. Prof Dr. Alini (Board Trustee Member of Khalifah Institute, Prof of Pharmacy, UKM) speaking on Memahami Keperluan Remaja

CERDAS room Sept 3, 2010 (same time, same fee)

Make time for knowledge.RM30 is sooooo cheap cos' the professional rate is RM250 an hour with the psychologists.

See you tmrw!

Dari Golden Lounge

Greetings from Penang.I'm writing from the airport's golden lounge..hai..seronok betul travel business class nih...rasa relaxed and unrushed sikit..surau kat sini, toilet bersih dan tak berbau...rahmah Allah sangat besar bagi yang berpuasa...hahaha (cuma tak leh makan)

I was at USM to examine a thesis (viva).Sempat jumpa beberapa rakan seperjuangan.Mcm2 idea dapat bila dah berbual2.

I suka Penang.Green, clean, accessible.Dulu tak mcm ni.Dulu byk motosikal dan agak tak teratur.Kalau tak jadi cuti ke Seoul or Hong Kong or Australia, nak suruh Nik datang sinilah cuti Raya nanti.Duduk tepi pantai macam orang putih...

Saturday baru ni we had a family event (buka puasa plus kenduri doa selamat : for Z and for Nik..long overdue.Also for my mother: for coming through her toughest ordeal last Feb). I catered but caterer baru ni not so goodlah.But anak2 angkat yang kita ambik last 2 rayas came.My mom was so happy (Ali led the prayers/doa..dia punya doa boleh buat org menangis..so sayu..style masjid Madinah where he studied for his undergrad days).Makram pun I invited (maklum he just came from Jordan/Saudi.A pelarian Palestine.A bit lost takda kawan but with the 4 boys, ada la kawan dia nak cakap Arab..Ala budak Palestin tu pun ada..from Engineering Sch.Dia ni tertib.Mak bapak duduk Dubai.Nampak mcm kaya but humble je).Nik ajak budak2 ni makan durian (my nephew bawak dari Raub).Ya Allah...macam pesta! ( I don't like durian..busuk..hahaha..gue mcm oreng putih kulit hitam)

But it's nice kasi makan students.Ali was saying semayang kat masjid UIA tu mcm kat Makkah musim puasa ni.Orang luar pun will come to pray there.One of these days I pun nak pi lah.Dah teringat kat Masjidil Haram...harap2 ada lambaian pi umrah soon.

Unnecessary fear that impedes...

I hate it when it happens.Unfortunately in this country, it happens a lot.

2 years ago I got some small research grant.In my busy-ness and excitement that I completed the project, I submitted whatever I got and moved on to other reserach projects (and completed..some with slight delay).

Now that the whole uni is or will be audited, many offices are over-cautious about their spendings to the extent of impeding other people's progress.Arghhhs!!! Benci betul. I could not trace RM400 RA money spent (budak tu dah balik Nigeria I think).I wrote a letter saying my work was submitted and published the same year (2008).How come the file isn't close yet.Selagi tak close tak leh apply another project (although between 2008 and 2010 I got other grants..cuma now in their spring-cleaning, they just discovered ada doco I tak cukup). Truly leceh.If it's RM4 million I can faham the kecoh (and esp if work is not done).

Oh well.

Happy Ramadan

My fav month is almost here. I wish to wish everyone selamat menyambut bulan yang penuh berkat ini.

We shopped early for Ramadan sebab Sat afternoon I had IEEP at Genting till Sunday.Malam tu pulak nak pi tengok Z punya Culture Show (dia jadi pompuan mengandung...good acting but I asked apa pasal tak pilih langsung watak lakonan tu.She said it was given.But the kids pandai...they did everything within a week : from writing the play to setting up props, belajar tarian, etc.We were impressed but masa 20 mins intermission, we all cabut.Z's scene pun dah lepas.Had to pick up my mom from Sal's.Dia baru keluar Tropicana, masuk balik HUKM besoknya.Sigh..but now stable and discharged).

I feel that I need a holiday.The mind, body and spiritual a bit battered.May Ramadan energise me.

paling maksima

Hari ini ujian cukup besar.Paling Maksima.Macam nak buat cerpen pulak.

I had to uruskan my mom keluar hospital seorang diri. Can you imagine I mengangkat kerusi roda besi tu sorang2? Ya right..tak terbayangkan yah? Memang tak terangkatkan! Hari ni I tak pi valet parking sebab nak save duit.So I kena hangkut besi tu from carpark kat bawah tu..bukanlah hangkut sampai atas but from my car boot to keluar.It was impossible.Then I just doa: Ya Allah permudahkanlah...and like magic, benda tu jadi ringan and MUDAH keluar.I have seen byk magic since I take care of my mom, folks.Truly!

But I got tired. I bukan malaikat yang tak tidur, tak lapar, tak marah.By the time I got to work (separuh hari nak settle mcm2 kat hospital tu > it's not a one-stop centre nak mengeluarkan pesakit ni.I wish you can just do it at the ward's counter) I rasa mcm nak pengsan.I sms-ed all my siblings, reminding them hey look, we gotta share this responsibility.Yang sorang tu byk ckp pulak..reminding betapa byk pahala kalau buat kerja dgn ikhlas (my eyes roll up here)...and that it's all destiny that I should do more and even quoted the story of anak mithali yang pikul mak dia kat bahu ...haiyo...never quote anything to a tired caregiver...I told her jgn guna destiny as an excuse but ask how much extra mileage are we willing to do for an aged parent.

Anyway, we sorted out some kinda arrangement: kena bergilir2.There are times my work would not permit me to be this flexible with my time..so they better be prepared.

And kesian the aged patient next to my mom's bed.Dia mcm dah nyanyuk.Only her sons rajin tunggu but they are easily chased away by the nurses sebab tu ward pompuan.Tadi pagi nenek tu duduk tak bergerak2.Anak2 jantan dia tak datang lagi. My mom kata dia pengsan (sebenarnya tidak).I asked her upon seeing her meal tak dimakan."Makcik tak lapar ke?"

She mouthed me : "lapar."

"Makcik nak makan ke?" I asked trying to be civil.Idak I tau makcik tu nak kata iya.

"Iya." she said and looked at me with this pleading look.Plez O plez.

Halamak! Terpaksa la I jadi misi dia kejap.Kasi makan...(betul2 macam baby.. lap2 mulut dia when makanan tu jatuh atas bib dia).Nak ketawa pun ada, nak menangis pun ada (I felt kiri kanan I had to serve)

Tapi di sinilah agama amat penting.Sedang setan dok kipas I, I teringat hadis Rasulullah "tidak dari golonganku jika dia tidak mengasihi yang kecil dan menyayangi yang tua" or something like that lah.And you actually feel good helping others....

And balasan serta merta Allah hari ni buat I?
Diana Wong sent me an email and gave me her tel no!!!!!

This is the friend I have been looking for for over 10 years!! (dia pun cari I) Hatinya sangat mulia walaupun dia bukan orang Islam.Masa I susah sebatang kara in Adelaide, sapa yang cheered me up (tolong share sewa rumah..tolong jaga anak I..tolong kasi I moral support when Z had to go back to Malaysia cos' I could not afford childcare expenses and could not cope between writing a thesis and caring for an infant...) Memang kalau Diana Wong takda, I dah lama biul.

Itulah balasan Allah utk mengangkat besi berat hari ini.Syukur alhamdulillah!

Events of the month

Men in uniform (Doc Zul and friends)


Role playing

Dr Ng and Delesh at UoL dinner


Stuart at UoL cocktails

Stuart and Malaysian Mona Lisa
(kah kah kah)

guests at the registration counter

The gala dinner with Uni of Liverpool at KL Sentral's Hilton went well.Met a few interesting people: Dr Khan who flew all the way from Dhaka for the dinner (trained as a doctor at the Uni of Liverpool) and ada Mat Salleh berumur (was a lawyer) yang I suka berbual.The group who came (the VC and wife included) were not your typical English yang sombong.They also thought we were a bunch of friendly people. :)) And I met Datuk Zakaria (ingatkan dia ni Chinese convert..dok cerita dgn dia pasal budak2 Melayu cerdik yang tak dapat scholarship..aleh2 bila nak pi cari nama dia kat VVIP table, wife dia kata look for his name: Paul Chan..halamak! But I think he was representing someone else..these days tak tau who is who..muka semua sama! I remember meeting with Datuk Z when HELP gave Z an award and scholarship for High Achievers..dia la yang gave away the award.Baik sgt mereka suami isteri)

I had a great evening sitting with Dr Kassim and wife, Kwan and wife, Delesh (bujang) and Dr Ng.

On Sunday kita tukar hospital mak kita dari private ke uni hospital.The meter stopped at close to RM12K (2 days je).But mak kita dah stabil so alhamdulillah.

Monday ada closing ceremony for our peacekeepers.Syok oh talking and mingling with uniformed men/women. :)) Kita tak pernah tau dunia mereka.Mereka pun tak pernah tau dunia uni.kami.We all hope there would be other opportunities to work together again.And I hope our newly found friends will email us pics from wherever they are (takleh beritau lokasi mission mereka but they go as peacekeepers)

And now, back to examining theses.