The heat of disappointment

I have many reasons to be grouchy about in this el nino heat.Gawd, so panas. My research team and I found solace in the hills of Templer Rainforest. We finished up our module the days we were in the jungle, surrounded by monkeys and the mystery of a rainforest.We loved the place (I found it and it's so famous with tourists from Europe, Australia, China, Spore.Just over a year old).Mr Saw and wife are the most patient couple I'd met.I complained psl kita semua terpijak kaca halus in my room pun Mr Saw did wht I requested..tht Yuni their maid mop the floor, vacuum it and lap lagi dgn kain basah (this bit si Yuni tak kuasa nak buat.I hasut Mr Saw..my maid does that..baru bersih.Evil tak? The plc is very clean but Yuni ni ngaku tak sempat mop..just vac.Someone broke a glass before we moved in).

We drove to a nearby waterfall to do earthing.Monkey bergayut on my bag. Mula2 I rasa my bag tiba2  jadi berat. I didn't even turn to look takut terkejut so I campak my bag and screamed sekuat hati I.A monkey came to ransack my paperbag..my ph tercampak dia rampas.Tht was too much so I halau guna my towel.Lucky the beast went.I cepat2 ambik my harta karun.Phew..traumatised! The water was really good for a hot day.We went back with renewed energy and worked non-stop.

We would come again with our family (maybe not to the waterfall)

The new Rebong

My good old friends from NZ are in town so we took them out to dine at the new Rebong now at Tasik Botani Perdana. It's too bad that I'd be away while they are here.

But we caught up quickly.Ibrahim didn't look too well but Sharifah tak tua2! Rambut pun tak payah dye. Haiyo.

My fav dodol

Wargamas

This was earlier- before Rebong dinner
(we had him for close to 4 hours)

Earth Hour

March 19 at Kota Dsara Reserved Forest with the PPRT kids .In an earlier meeting, the kids voted to pray Maghrib in the open space.It was lovely till waktu sujud...the boys infront of me (aged 13-14) who obviously were not familiar with solat berjumaah started making funny noise cos' they didn't know wht to recite.They went klok klok klok.Mcm bunyi ayam.I was struggling not to laugh aloud but a few in the front row were snickering.I think I had to qada' my Maghrib cos' rakaat kedua berbunyi lagi..I had to cover my mouth frm a loud laugh! Maybe byk syaitan frm the nearby jungle!

Then we had pertandingan azan.The first prize went to this tiny little boy about 12 or 13 years old.Dia azan je kita pun naik bulu roma sebab sedap sgt.So merdu and melancholic.I asked him belajar kat mana.He said belajar sendiri.But I later found out from someone that his dad tukang azan kat flat tu.Mungkin le dia belajar sendiri after listening to his dad.Tak silap I..dia le yg bunyi klok klok depan my saf. :D I also heard them talking to one another masa sujud.Hadoi.

Then we had a picnic on the grass di bawah cahaya lilin.While observing Earth Hour, we also listened to the sound of the jungle for a minute.It was not easy to calm the kids but anti haze activist Animah managed to get everyone quiet for a minute and wht we heard frm the jungle was amazing and beautiful.

My family and students I brought frm IIUM (3) had a good time and new learning experience.Alhamdulillah.

Farewell Sheena

Bibik tried to tell me of the bad accident but I was too occupied with work.Tak perasan she meant yg accident tu anak my jiran, Sheena.Kecik2 sama2 sambut bday with Z altho Z is years older.

She died today.I found out at around 2 pm.
Went to visit when the parents came bck frm the hospital.Shashi (who kindly cooked me dhal dish when I had Indian guests for dinner some time ago - she came to my house and cooked!) said soon I too will follow her.We hugged for a long time.I said don't talk like that..you still have Muniandy to care for and he, you.Please look after each other, don't give up on life.We are all going to die.Talk is free.Yang memikul lagi teruk remuk perasaannya. We will never say the right thing in situations like this.I read somewhere grieving people just want to be heard.Do not deny that right.Perhaps I should have just said I understand it is painful when Shashi said she would go next.

Muniandy ni baik so people came round the clock sampai the whole neighbourhood takda tempat nak park.The canopy looked like a wedding's which 19 years old Sheena tak sempat and we tak sempat tengok dia kawin. Such a beautiful child. And such is life.

I had promised to meet my PPRT new friends to discuss Earth Hour besok so I went.Enna and Mia were there.Nice ladies.Then the kids slowly came in.Older ones takda.Yg dtg 12 years -15. Maybe it's better to train them young so we discussed what we wanted to do.

Watch this space as I document Earth Hour 2016 with my new young friends.

Friends visiting

We went to have breakfast at the new Raju's with Shanta and Peter on Saturday.The new place is a lot spacious, airy and clean.Parking is easy too. We loved it! The curries...so authentic and it's amazing they didn't spill once on the banana leaves. Between 4 of us, we had 6 coconut juice, lime juice, kopi and teh tarek. Roti canai 6. Shanta said she had not had roti canai for ages. She had not been back in KL for 8 years.Peter 13 years (I think).Shanta visited my plc 8 years ago and was telling Peter about my small garden (both are ardent gardeners.I love their garden in Staines) so we took them over to see the 'new' garden.I restructured it and it's better looking than that 8 years ago.Kata Peter, you've got your sanctuary here. My Little Bali. I showed them my sun flowers rentung after being sprayed by pepper and cili water (my natural pesticides kononnya) cos' I was trying to deter the garden snails from eating my sunflower leaves (sedap gamaknya..hari2 habis kena kunyah!).Peter said bagi je racun.I said I didn't want to destroy the eco-system.He said get copper wire and tie around the pots.I went to the hardware.Cina tu looked up puzzled..He showed me electric wire and said kasi potong and take the copper out. Tak kerja aku jadi mat pik!

We rushed to TS's daughter's wedding held at Sri Perdana (di luarnya) but I went in the house to see once again where Najib, Nazir, Nazim, Johari and Nizam grew up.Second visit but this time I ambik gambar. Very simple home for the 70s.Tun Razak refused to build a swimming pool cos' it would encroach on duit rakyat, he said.Al fatihah.

Sunday..my friends of 27 years dropped by.Zah lives in Tganu and loves me so much.Haha.I pun love her..a great friend.Her daughter has just found a job near the Curve so I helped her look for an apt.Found a studio for RM1.4k a month but Zah told me she solat hajat for kemudahan...as they were coming down from viewing a place, they bumped into a studio owner who comes on and off je and was looking for someone to look after her studio and she had wanted penyewa yg solat dan baik.Ma syaAllah, Zah's daughter had only to pay RM300 per month for wht is RM1,400 a month.Begitulah bila Allah dah redho dengan kita.When Zah called me to help find, I told Nik..ohh..she'll be OK..org baik2 mcm tu Allah permudahkan. Betul pun.Alhamdulillah.

Zah ni very loving..as they were leaving, she said I love you.Haha.I ni mana biasa nak berlap you lap you begitu.But I responded back I love you too. Semoga persahabatan ini terus dirahmati Allah.Her sister and I satu research team. And now Z and Zah's daughter will be friends.Same age.

Our responsibility

If Muslims are misconstrued, it is Muslims themselves who are responsible for that. We don't speak for ourselves and allow others to define us.

Last night was a good example. A young Australian student, in KL under the new Colombo Plan stood up and asked our guest of the evening what would be her advice for people who treated women as inferior.He was referring to an experience at his law school in Uni Malaya in which a female student preferred to get her male colleague to ask their Prof a question instead of asking directly herself.So this poor chap was quick to generalise that the young woman was inferior and Islam made her that.And he said his stint as a New Colombo Plan student was coming to an end. Aiyoo..did he spend all his time in KL in the pubs and not take the opportunity in getting to know Malaysia, Islams in Malaysia etc? A pity.I'd blame UM for not doing its job.I'm glad Prof Aiman stood up and told the audience that where she was, she found prob to make her male students speak!

I think it is our responsibility to explain or even to discuss critically the various representations of Muslims not only in this country but abroad.

I'm beginning to appreciate the tabligh group.

Dame Bryce - Australia's first female Governor-General

(the only one to date)

Lessons learnt

Zura's dad passed away on Fri evening and the funeral was on Saturday morning.When she texted me, I was on my way to two meetings (one after the other.. Thr were 3 but a harakiri if I were to attend all.

By the time I finished my second event, tak sempat singgah ziarah Zurahani's family.I promised Long and Ummi to have dinner with them in Putrajaya then Nora told me Zura's family had moved to Bangi. So after a nice typical Raub dinner with my family (sambal tempoyak ikan bilis, ikan masin goreng, masak keladi with lots of daun kesom and bunga kantan and I tak ingat amende lain..fuiyo), we rushed to visit Zura..almost 11.30 pm. Nasib they kept the budaya Yemeni whr the home would be open till late.Her mom was a pic of calm.But she did express how much terasa her partner of 50 years had now gone.Nanti bila semua dah balik, makcik nangislah sorang2, she said.

I only found out from Nik masa going home tht Zura's dad org tabligh yg telah islamkan ramai sambil berbual atas tram, tepi pantai (while travelling in Australia).Dia akan ckp wht a beautiful horizon kat mat salleh sebelah dia.Mat Salleh pun kata yes! Very beautiful.Aruah would say if you know the creator of that beautiful horizon, He is even more beautiful.Di akhir perbualan, org itu akan masuk Islam.Aruah meninggal dlm wudhu' ketika sedang solat Asr di tempat dia baring dlm keadaan sakit.Subhanallah..akhiran org yg berdakwah.Kita ni yg sombong..tak ckp dgn jiran..mcmana?Saya sgt terkedu.

Pastu tadi Intan and I pi ikut rombongan bdk2 uni dari Tokyo yg Jeff bawak tengok project dia kat PPRT flats. Dia bwk bilik menjahit run by an American company yg bagi kerja dan skills kat kaum wanita di flats ini.Met Ani..she dulu daif..anak ramai..low self esteem...mat salleh tu ajar dia menjahit  and she will teach others to buat tempahan baju, souvenirs dari batik pd peringkat antarabangsa.Yg memalukan Intan and I...to boost Ani's self confidence sbb gigi dia terok seblm ni,mat salleh pompuan tu buatkan gigi Ani sampai dia jadi cantik dan confident.Mak oii..jgn le kita ingat wang zakat rm400 ke apa tu cukup nak ubah sikap org.Cash is not King.

Intan and I pun berkobar2 nak buat itu ini.Jeff tu 5 tahun nak convince org, companies, local government to support his vision.So I said kita belajar dulu from Jeff.Jeff ni networknya luas.

If the law goes...

...that all bloggers have to register, I-Glass will be no more (I'll write my online diary quietly the old fashioned way). I don't relish on the idea of being policed, monitored, stalked..anyone does?

Anyway, I made bold steps this week by unfriending my 8-year old fb friend...my flatmate at Cornell who is from Tel Aviv. We were great flatmates...we shared the most intimate details about our family members etc.There was respect but I could not bear to see the contrast of her secure and normal life with those of the Palestinians.It was too much and she's part of the Israeli intelligentsia.She should be able to affect change, make that difference.

It was not easy to unclick friendship but I teach about human rights, basic decency in life.I just had to do it although my friend maybe just as helpless as we are in our fight against bipolar leaders.

And Allah sent me a replacement.A new friend who oil paints, gets invited all over the world for her expertise in Islamic Finance (and she would want to bring all her friends on her trips but self paying, OK?).I am more determined to start to oil paint but wish to specialise in painting clouds.I'm a cloud gazer.Do you realise that it's a different day every day up there? I go on a free holiday when I gaze at the clouds on my way to work when it is most beautiful.Every time I pray, if I could paint, I would capture your beauty O clouds.

Have a good weekend folks.

Adab

I wonder if I were just like those angry young people when I was that age.I told my boss nasib baik I had been off radar during much of the time.Tensi gua melihat kegemilangan Andalusia tua...Baghdad lama hanya tinggal nama.

I'm talking about the language we use or the way we carry ourselves when we disagree. Satu skill yang kita kurang ialah listening skill. Kita enggan mendengar. Then kemahiran berfikir di luar kotak.Kita nmpk itu, kita nmpk itu sahaja. So when I was with the TRGS groups yg begitu nekad to affect change through their research (without thinking of MyRA points too much or at all), I felt high.Malangnya jumlah boleh kira dgn jari.I think of the birds which gave so many excuses for not taking the journey to find the Truth in Attar/Ibn Sina/al Ghazali.

Maka hampir sahaja saya bersetuju dgn article yg buat saya mual pagi tadi: bhw org yg menganggap dirinya religious sebenarnya lebih "mean" dari org secular. But I know there are other variables...samples were minorities living in the West. But this is a separate issue.

But how do you explain ulemas berbalas2 pantun (insults) on youtube? I think one of the ustaz ising. Even my sister's hubby got attacked in his youtube..him calling Mizi Wahabi. Semua org wahabis..semua org pengganas.

The loss of adab...the beginning of downfall.

Muslim filmmakers

Another terkejar2 day. A wedding at Bukit Mahkota. Sat with Tan Sri Azlan and Puan Sri and Nik and TS had a good time catching up.Ramai familiar faces.We have all aged. :)

Lewat an hour to catch the film screenings at Publika. Z drove.Justin tiba2 suruh I jadi moderator after the screening with Monem..American-Muslim filmmaker and Luqman who spoke on the Rohingya refugee prob.Bdk ni baru 22 but my, so clever! I met his whole family..abg, mak, kakak. I'm now a fan.I hope he makes more profound films.

This was what was shown https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8rStA6OqTdo
Monem's was interesting too.We had a good time talking about Islam, Muslims and filmmaking in general.

Rushed home for family dinner at Chilly Crab.

My community and I

In preparation of another research grant application, J ajak I pi CNY dinner at the plc where we would be focusing on. I worked late semlm.Terkejar2 Maghrib then off again to attend the get together.Z and her dad mmg balik lambat. Nik going through EPF dividend matters soon to be announced, kot? A busy household.

There were about 5 or 6 RAs talking about a greater Kota Dsara (Sierra Dsara pun masuk).I'm surprised to know ada lagi break-ins in the neighbourhood...siap pakai laser nak bwk lari peti besi..peti ais yang besar. Our MBPJ councilor was there.People lobbied for him when his service was about to be terminated (the good ones sokmo nak kena cantas) and the rakyat won.This guy is so easy to work with...minta itu, dpt, minta ini dpt.And we are working on a safe and clean city...keeping our green lungs yg dok diintai oleh greedy indivs/corporations.Nak buat hotel di tengah2 residential area...gila ke hapa?

J has been working at this plc for 4 years...tempat tu masa he came nmpk najis keluar seketul2... He fought for infrastructure...dua budak dah mati sbb poor railings...tht did it lah.Local gomen pumped in juta to ensure the plc is safe.You need to make noise and tell your gomen wht you want.Duit is there.Jgn percaya if they say takda duit.

I paksa two guys to escort me to my car.Don't leave till I'm in the car, I said.Phobia doh.Masa tu le we clinched a deal..more police personnel..more cctvs.Alhamdulillah.

The best deal was planning for art activities..jazz festival in the woods...cat shows..Harap2 depa ni buat le. I have my own plans with my team. If it happens, you will read about them here in months to come IA.

Between us and the Thais

My conclusions are:

1. Thais are more creative than us...they start from something raw and turn it to something commercial e.g coconut..jadi coconut ice-cream (very popular at Ao Nang streets), jadi cosmetic products/spa products, buah2an dia semua jadi bahan export: dried durian, dried mango, dried everything.Manggis tu jadi gula2.

2. Pemuda dia walau ramai penagih or bekas penagih, depa bekerja..sendiri hidu, sendiri cari duit..depa tak meragut pelancung yang handbag bersepah2 di pantai.Kat Msia..dream on, ya

3. Kerajaan tempatan dia pandai hormat penduduk asal..kg2 tak dikacaunya..sama2 cari rezeki..rich Muslims own lands, tourism businesses etc.Mereka tidak hidup minta sedekah!

4. But Muslims bila jumpa ..Msia ke Thai ke..jarang bagi salam to each other.

5. Thai authorities respect the environment..they live with nature not against it (I think this is Buddhist philosophy but Islam patutnya lebih lagi). Despite a booming tourist industry, mereka tak overbuild.

6. They have better roads.

7. Their toilets are a lot cleaner than ours (even at the airport)

8. Pantainya pun bersih.

9. Air laut bersih.

10. Udara bersih.

11. Kenapa I tak pindah je ke Krabi kalau semuanya bagus sangat? Sebab Krabi can be this too http://m.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Tourist-dies-scuba-diving-Phi-Phi-national/63140.

 Mereka juga tidak jual Tuhan mereka

 bumbung taxi yang picked us up (there's only 3 of us)

They are really serious about tourism as an industry, OK?

Semlm I balik naik taxi at KLIA2..pedalnya berbunyi..bau busuk..driver mcm on pil kuda..

first impression matters, babe.

 the pool at our resort (none of us turun mandi cos' survey showed 

that more than 50% pool users will kencing in the pool and do not shower 

before they jump in the pool.I getik)

cocktails in bamboos

ikan bakar at their Night Market

Krabi 2

If you don't go on speedboats on a rough sea, Krabi is a beautiful and slow-paced place.We also enjoyed our first ride in the open air taxi called Tok Tok.The first ride pun laju mcm speedboat.Wht an experience which made us all laugh out of joyride thrill! This trip takes us out of our comfort zone.The brain was doing overtime trying to figure out things as they were unexpected and really new experience for us.Doing Europe or US holidays (or Oz/Kiwi) was a breeze.

And we did massage almost every day.Mmg heavenly and 50% cheaper than KL.This plc is 40% Muslim so getting halal food is not a problem (controlled by Indian Muslim/Pakistan if you are in Au Nang area).

Shopping is mostly for beach items.

Krabi has many tourists frm France.Entah mengapa.European lain pun ramai but the French are like everywhere.Mcm kat tempat dia juga, depa suka buang sampah merata.Ada satu family buang sisa buah nenas and tembikai into the sea! Terkejut saya! Pas tu tak pakai life jacket in the open sea.Haiyo..poor sense of security.We met a lovely German couple who would spend their winter in Krabi and other Asian countries yearly.Last year depa pi Mynmar.I pun promote Tioman and Perhentian.Told them kalu snorkel kat Msia..lagi byk ikannya.Sigh.I don't know why I bother.Negara mcm nak dicampak ke laut.Even Thai government tak rampas hak org (Krabi dan pulau2nya byk kepunyaan org Muslim) and encourage Muslims here to get involved in the tourism industry (byk bix are owned by them).Mungkin dari segi education for all, Msia masih no. 1.Sini ramai je bdk2 muda kerja jaga boat etc.But they may hv the rezeki to be a minister one day.Rezeki Allah siapa nak tau dak?

 big ikan todak ke hapa ni?

 Krabi seafood from the Andaman Sea (I think I had an allergy 

mkn seafood di sini)

 view from our balcony at Arawan Beach Resort

(nyaman betul kena sea breeze)

 our room - if you email/call the place, it's a lot cheaper than 

doing it online

 Thai Malay boy sedang membuang tangkai cili api

(happy face!)

Thai-Malay meal (mcm Thai food in KL.Krabi 

Thai food lagi sedap)