Your investments for the hereafter

Calling all philanthropists and donors!

Seeing duit yang berbilliun2 diambil dari rumah bekas PM makes me wonder, berapa banyak scholarships, labs yang boleh benefit from that amount. If Datin Rosmah is reading this, boleh tak sedekah sedikit for us? A lot of young people can benefit from that, it will be your investments for akhirat (and dunia also).

Call me. 

New Year

Habis bersawang dah blog ni. No time to update.

Selamat tahun baru Gregorian. Takda maknanya kalau perangai lama tu tak berubah. :)

I had an early bday celebration on Dec 30 before Z flew back to Holland. Then on my bday, I lied low (maklum dah tua) but office pun bagi kek and at home, kek from Z and dad and a bunch of purple roses. They gave me a club membership - suruh go swimming and pi gym. AllahuAkbar! I ended up pi chiropractor at the club. Lagi berfaedah. Haha. OKlah I pi swimming juga and will resume my swimming lessons.

Visitors bertali arus. Semalam was the busiest but alhamdulillah it went well. Sheikh al Thani came to visit, gave a talk. Then a doctoral student from Goethe Uni in Frankfurt dropped by to speak on her short film. All morning amanat Menteri at UPM..bumped into a few friends, saw some from a far tapi ramai sgt orang, tak sempat berbual.I had to leave early to prepare for that Qatari talk.

Mcm lari marathon.

Today dok melayan an alum from Bosnia, petang pi Australia High Comm (my alum function..bawak Lan sbb bidang dia).

We will start a new sem in Feb so sementara can pulun, pulun. :)

From Bangkok to Kuala Lipis

Just as we were leaving Bangkok for KL, my sister texted to say another sister masuk hospital kena dengue. Wow, my Kak De tak pernah masuk hospital. She selalu sembunyi her illness so hearing this made me sad.

We sampai rumah malam. Besoknya planned to travel ke Raub but by noon were told she was rushed to hospital in Kuala Lipis where the doktor2 pakar were. We rushed ke Kuala Lipis with a pending Xmas dinner at Medan Dsara with my two American friends leaving besoknya. I fikir tak payah cancel, sempat balik ke KL by 8.30 pm.

What a long journey. Org Xmas, jam berjam2.We got to the hospital almost visiting time (the hosp is very strict with visiting hours esp with ICU patients). 4.30 I masuk. My sister antara sedar and tidak. She started nak bangun buat minum petang for me and Nik. I sedih tengok. But that is her. Always menghidang makanan to her siblings every time we visit.So proud of us and our achievements. Antara sedar and tak tu, she sempat flaunt me to her misi: ini adik saya yang pi Bangkok tu.Walhal she tengah memengsan demam. That's her. Ever since I was young, my mom put her and my eldest sister in charge looking after adik2 di bawah mereka.All her life. Even when I was about to get married, yang paling sibuk beli itu ini, cat rumah etc was her (by then my dad dah meninggal). It was her hubby who became my guarantor when I went to NZ. She paksa. I pray to God that she will survive this ordeal. At 60 something, she just need to be strong. I pray to God, that time is on her side although semalam she told me aruah2 family members visited her and smiling down on her.My mom and aruah Mek all told me the same thing weeks or days before they passed on.

Please doa. 

Bangkok

So we took time off to bond with Z. We thought Bangkok would be a good city to unwind. Unwind la sgt, trapped in traffic jam for hours.Dah le berjerebu. Never ever bercuti ke Bangkok unless you are crazy on shopping Sg Wang style. Haiyo. Staying in the city isn't cheap also. Over RM1K per night, OK? Next time we won't think twice paying for RM700 or RM800 per night room in KL. Cheh.

But the hotel we were at had a good station of fruit juices at breakfast. I always looked forward to doing my own mix: ginger + apple + carrot juice. Syok. Boleh ambik banyak kali. Every time I would try new mix. Haha. But that was about it. Porridge dia pun tak mcm Chinese porridge in Msia. Yang lain tak halal except seafood dim sums dan yang seangkatan (vegetarian).

Taxi pun suka tipu. Dah terpampang kat meter 97 baht. Bila tanya, berapa (kita pun satu..bayar je le..buat apa nak tanya2 lagi), taxi driver said 200 baht. Nik ckp meter says 97. oh okay okay 97. Lawak, dak?

Then when hotel booked us a taxi for 200 baht to go to Asiatique..dlm taxi, driver minta 400 baht. Takda nak layan, OK? Kau ngomel le sorang2. But we gave him 50 baht extra sebab mmg jam terok.

Then susah nak dapat Grab ke Grub ke. We went looking for kedai Usman halal naik Tuk Tuk which pecut mcm Ferari. Jauh pulak tu. Our TukTuk seemed to be the only TukTuk on the highway. Balik we took a taxi. Tak berani balik naik TukTuk dah. Gila lajunya.

We think KL ni banyak sangat mallsnya. Try Bangkok. Bersepah2 malls. You want low end, high end..semua ada.Boring, OK? Orang2 kedai dia rude sbb kita Muslim. Dia ingat kita southern Thai ke? But towkay jual emas yang Poh Kong dok beli from them tu baik pulak, He biasa dpt clients from Malaysia. They sold Thai silk also. They knew cantik untuk buat baju kurung. Haha. I pun beli le.

Of cos' Thai trip means spa and massage. Weii..hari2 we went foot massage, body massage OK?
But that was about it. Don't expect clean riverfront or nature in the city. Pokok pun tak banyak.

I suka hotel we were at je. It felt like a holiday inside. :D

 lobster at Asiatique (tak sedap)

 hotel lama that still goes strong

 bigger than KL definitely (from our room)

 walking is faster

 naik TukTuk

 We think Bangkok overdid its Xmas celebration

the pool

end of year

Makin nak tutup tahun, makin busy. 2 nights ago Afif brought in 2 friends to learn English from me.Afif is like that. If he has something, he will share. So we stayed all night to go through their EPT English tests: speaking, writing and reading. I dah lama tak ngajar language proficiency macam ni but I shared what I had from bridging course at Waikato in the 80s. Mrs Burn taught us many things. I gave them those. Budak2 tu mcm improved la pulak. If technique betul, semua mudah. I guess.

Z is back and we would talk endlessly about Nazir Idris. He is now so funny. Macam2 helah nak ambik phone from the parents. Very clever now.Cheeky.

At work: non-stop meeting.We took time out to meet Z when she arrived in Spore for her meeting. Nik dah tak sabar nak jumpa anak dia. Then we went back a day early from her. Bukan jumpa lama sgt pun cos she was busy meeting all day, balik nak tidur je. So we spent time pi shopping kat Mustafa and Arab Street beli baju raya. Haha. Nmpk sgt takda hala tuju.

Today I feel good talking to international student leaders who appreciated the leadership series I organised for them a few weeks ago (but I had to go to Tganu) and looks like we are going to have a busy year together, InshaAllah.

As we close the year, I nak rakam my rasa sedih over Adib's death as the whole nation mourns too. There must be a lot of wrong if manusia behaved like animals sampai ada orang mati macam tu. May we learn from the tragedy and that aruah ditempatkan di syurga firdaus.

Death

I was still on AKEPT's leadership programme in Kuala Trengganu on Sunday when Prof Amir texted me about a young Chinese girl's death at Mahallah Halimah. I found out later that she came in Sept only to die in early Dec in Malaysia (buried di perkuburan Islam near IIUM sama dgn Tan Sri Ahmad Ibrahim and lain2 scholars Islam UIA. MashaAllah Tabarakallah!)

When I returned back to work on Wedn, Prof Dawood and I had an appointment to meet Duta Kuwait (we are doing our duta rounds. We did Saudi last week), Kaossar rang to say jenazah masih di hospital Selayang so off we went to vist and meet the family yang baru sampai from China.

The mother terus peluk I and nangis. It was very sad for us all. Anak dia tu the eldest of two. Not knowing how to express how we felt, we just hugged there in tears for a long time. I need to pass my strength to her and try to comfort her in her grieving. Memang sedihlah.

Then we spoke to the pegawai penyiasat who I wish could have been kinder but I could see how stressful his job was, stationed at rumah mayat.

Kawan2 from kull international unit were kind enough to attend the solat jenazah at the mosque around Maghrib time. May Allah reward them accordingly (I dah balik awal not knowing bila siap proses pelepasan jenazah cos' the Kedutaan wasn't that helpful initially but in the end, facilitated).

rezeki

Today Uri gave me a tupperware of durian. I think mrk panggil cina jual durian from Raub and they bought ramai-ramai. She gave me a pack.

Then rombongan from US came with Ermin (originally from Bosnia but kawin Dr Bani from Msia) and I ajak "merasa"sedikit. Tak tau Ermin hantu durian. Haha. Memang rezeki dia gamaknya.

Then petang I had 2 sessions with a few international students (both ugrads and pgrads). Ada lagi peminat durian (also from Bosnia and bdk French tu pun suka). Takda rezeki Nik nmpk gayanya.

Itulah namanya rezeki dan bukan rezeki.
I'm humbled by this.

I had time to show the Provost of Shenandoah Uni Batu Caves.Adrienne panjat tangga tu in 20 mins je pi balik (biasa org buat 2 hours).

Amazing.

Still trying to settle in

I am still trying to settle in the new job.I hardly have time to reflect, let alone write.So, this is what it is like sitting in the front seat. We work hard to be the no. 1 or the no. 2. When you actually arrive, it's not as rosy as you think. guys. We lose sleep. Travel is no longer a delight. Cuti is scarce (but I knew this much earlier esp when at RMC). There are perks but perks come with work.And more work. I guess the only way to cope is to think positive..that you are here to serve a purpose.To lead the young ones, to put the org. in its rightful place so we can move forward with a sense of purpose.And pride.

Nov is a wee bit busy than usual.I get 3-4 visitors per day which is good because they bring rezeki and opportunities.

I hope it will not take me too long to feel settled in.

IIUM Convo

My second day convo at IIUM.I just wish they would ban the ayah dan ibu song.Hari bahagia tapi buat ramai orang menangis. I told Prof Isarji. He said nangis sekali sekala. Masalahnya we all attend almost every session, front seat some more.Tissues not provided.Hadoi.

I saw one pakcik nangis teresak2. The ladies tak payah cerita. Semua lap2 airmata.Tak baik buat orang macam tu, kan? Let them be happy on a happy occasion.

Convo at uum

This week, the UMC members are everywhere attending uni convos on behalf of Tan Sri Rector.I got UUM.Flew in late last night.My attending officer is such a kind lady.She did everything for me.A to Z.Baik sungguh budi pekertinya.May Allah shower her with blessings.I was under the weather.At breakfast, I muntah bersembur at my bfast table.Then melambak on the floor.Org nengok but none came to ask if I were OK.Kalu in the West, berkejar org nak tolong but the girl at the counter said takpa whn I told her saya muntah...She said it's ok, we will clean up and showed me the nearest rest room.Nasib tak kena baju kurung.I washed part of my tudung and whn Nura saw me and hug2..i hope i didnt smell muntah.haha.

Pulak tu ramai la pulak in the queue nak tanya itu ini.I  prayed hard I would not throw up again cos i was sitting right behind Mufti Kedah and nxt to him was wife of Raja Muda.

Alhamdulillah Rozana who looked after me dah bekalkan asam, sweets, minyak geliga to hidu if I felt funny again.Nasib the whole event was not boring..6 bands playing all sorts of music then at santapan tengahari with the royalists...we were sung to by Jay Jay and Farhan.And I met new friends sebaya and we joked abt how well chosen the songs were...mmg lagu2 utk org2 tua mcm kami. :))

Then Nura took me to Pekan Rabu.Shopping sakan.She gave me a box of stuffs.Rozana pun bagi i mcm2.Alhamdulillah.On the way to the airport, I saw bendang with lots of bangau.What a sight!

Two weeks in Konya

Diam tak diam, it's coming to an end. One of the Deputy Rectors kata rata I covered in 2 weeks. Orang dia juga yang bawak I pi sana sini. What can I say? We went to Cappadocia for  2 nights. Ekin and I. Nasib ada Ekin who can speak fluent Turkish. Cappadocia was fun. My gfs tengok gambar2 lelaki Turki di Cappadocia semua naik angau. Haha. Thr was an alert a few years ago not to allow gfs or wives pi Turkey sorang2. Takut tak balik. Haha. The women pun lawa2. Kacukan Greek, Persian, Italian. Yang rupa orang putih, rupa orang putih.

Yang nyata the Turks are very friendly.

From Istanbul to Konya to Ankara and back to Istanbul

Flashback.

I touched down in Istanbul from KL on Saturday morning.Rabia picked me from the airport to her apt where I had breakfast before going out to meet Dr Fatimah and Prof Malik Badri now at Zaim Uni.Kat sini biasa rumah takda lift walaupun 4 tingkat. Pastu toilet masih toilet cangkung.

Nasib Rabia's apt modern but malam tu she took me to her other home by the sea. Lagi besar and I had my own toilet (toilet biasa yang ada seat). Besoknya her sister's family came and we had lunch in the garden.Best sangat. Then she sent me to the airport for my flight to Konya.

No one waited in Konya. Nasib taxi drivers kat Turkey ni baik2. So mlm buta tu I travelled to my hostel on campus. Nama pulak takda. Hadoi. Then ada. Bilik tu macam I sorang satu floor.Seram juga.

Then I had my first class the day after. Over 100 students. Good questions. Bdk2 Turki ni cerdik2 dan suka bertanya.

By Wedn, Yusuf put me on fast train to Ankara and waited for me at the station. Fed me perde then sent me off to my hotel. Besoknya terus bawak pi jumpa orang 4-5 meetings back to back. I appreciate the kind gesture tapi mrk lupa kederat I kederat semut. Tak larat walk miles, climb staircases, etc. Lunyai rasa badan.

I love going to the women's cafe. They also treated me well. Beri I mcm2..dari woolen shawl to keep me warm to cardigan to socks..hee..if takda dia org ni I dah beku. Ankara was so cold. Angin pun kuat. Malam2 tu le juga mereka bawak I pi jumpa makam orang alim mereka. Dlm angin sejuk tu.But the feeling of sisterhood was so strong.

Bsknya I naik flight ke Istanbul dgn Yusuf. They put me at Radisson Blu. Soon besoknya a few of my IIUM colleagues pun tiba from KL. So pagi2 we would breakfast together although on 2 days I got locked in in my room. Entah mengapa.

Then I was invited to dinner by the Marmara by Dr Totonji and his wife. Baik dia nak layan saya. Makan ikan dan Turkish cuisine yang lain. Then he gave me IIIT books. Very precious books.Alhamdulillah.

Besoknya 2-3 meetings lagi but different towkay. By now Yusuf dah terlalu busy nak layan me (dia jadi translator at the conference). Nasib I ada networks lain. Haha. So angkat phone suruh dtg ambik je. Dua2 tempat tu jauh...dekat topkapi. Syrian academic centre. Bagus juga prog mrk ni. Maybe IIUM boleh tompang kursus bahasa arab dia tu.Mantap gitu.

Then I went to Fateh Mehmet. Sedar was nice. I mohon rehat in their beautiful waiting room while waiting for deputy rector dia habis meeting.By the time Deputy Rector dia dah habis meeting, I punya next meeting time pun dah hampir so we had some time to update each other je.

Mlm tu Hattice came to invite me to dinner so we went out to somewhere close to my hotel. Nice place. Can see part of Istanbul from the 14th floor.

Lepas tu I dah tak sabar nak balik Konya. Yusuf ajak pi Sparta dgn the rest of the group but I have classes to teach. So saya pun terbang balik. Rasa mcm balik ke rumah.

Hari Senin public holiday. Geng mula2 ckp nak pi beach but the day was so cold so they just took me around Konya areas...the many hills, the gardens and parks. Butterfly park dia gorgeous.Orang Msia frm Penang yang buat.Mmg cantik betul.

Then Umar took us home to have dinner at his place. Met his wife and parents in law.Sedap home cooked meals ni.
Pastu I pi shopping sebab tak byk bawa baju (bags penuh bwk brochures UIA/books).

Tak besar mana pun malls dia org ni but byk baju sesuai utk org Islam.
Hari ni dpt lagi jemputan pi Sparta but I tak larat. Lagipun Nik tak kasi jalan sorang2. I biasa dgn Yusuf je. If dia takda, rasa susah pulak nanti sbb dia je fluent English.

Mevlana Prog in Konya

I'm in my 2nd week on Mevlana Exchange prog at Selcuk Uni in Konya. Selcuk Uni is the largest uni in Turkey in terms of student population (around 80K) and the campus is also sprawling. Konya was the capital city of the Seljuk Empire and Rumi lived and died here.

I went to visit his tomb (which was closed under renovation) so tak nampak sgt le but the rest were open. The sufi settlement/quarters were nicely reconstructed and we had an insight of what it was like living in the sufi commune - dok berzikir for 1001 days. Yang rajin bawak I jalan2 were a group of Msian-Sporean-Turkish students/staff. Rata mrk bawak - Sille, hills and gardens around Konya. The butterfly park was something I enjoyed most. It was constructed by Msian architects and engineers.

By Wedns (I arrived Konya on Sunday), Yusuf bawak I ke Ankara to meet a few Rectors, Deputy Rectors and people from the Education Ministry. SubhanaAllah, God made my job easy via Yusuf's network. I naik fast train from Konya to Ankara..about 1.5 hours.Sampai sana dah ada org ambik.Tidur hotel Taj Mahal. Bagus network mrk ni.After a hectic day in Ankara, we flew to Istanbul for the conference on Islam and Science. I spoke twice. First as a welcoming note rep IIUM/Msia, then as one of the keynotes.

Byk lagi.Sambung later.

A trust, an amanah

I was voted in by ASA voters for one of the 3 Deputy Rector posts. I was shortlisted and the names were submitted to Board of Governors and 2 from the 9 were chosen: me and Prof Hafiz from our medical school.

It is an amanah. I hope I will not betray my voters. Mcm pilihanraya la pulak ya.
I thank Allah for the opportunity to serve a great uni.May this be my amal ibadah yang diterima Allah.

https://kampusuols.com/article/422800/U-In-News/SEL-KL/Dr-Maszlee-umum-pelantikan-tiga-Timbalan-Rektor-UIAM-yang-baharu

Postings I missed posting

A lot had happened before my most recent entry.

I attended Dr. Amani's wedding in Penang. Best gila pi Penang. We flew. Went for a few body and foot massages. Heavenly! And as a result, I felt like a bionic woman with my new legs. Alhamdulillah, kenduri syukur OK? The traditional Indian foot massage at Penang Hill was unbelievable. We spent some time up there, watched sunset and all. Cantik gila.

Went for swimming in that deep pool at Vistana. But very relaxing.We should get away more often mcm ni. Weekend trips within the region ke.

Then the Fulbright gang came over to discuss future events. We lunched at my plc.Dah lama tak entertain orang. Best juga.

Then a few people came to test drive Z's car. I buat cupcakes. But today we found out, tuanpunya badan has to be present at JPJ before she can sell the car. Hadoi.Tuanpunya badan dah seronok duduk di Europe pi sana sini. Balik dari Norway, boss hantar pi Mexico and Houston. Suruh balik Xmas, tak nak. What can we say to this anak muda berjiwa muda?

And we got a new Rector.And a new President. ASA supports Dr Maszlee and GERAK organised a talk on governance and academic leadership hosted by IIUM ASA amidst all this. I jadi bidan terjun and I thought we really had a good discussion on the need to have a fully independent body to appoint our own academic leaders.I hope there will be  a followup to this motion.

Post-Truth, Post-Normal Times

The long weekend saw me going to this special talk by two British Muslims on post-Truth and post-normal times. I thought just another variant of post-modernity or post post-modernity with more alarms of current changing times: climatic change, digital revolution in its 5th gear, artificial intelligence yada yada but it was good listening to seasoned scholars and thinkers like Ziauddin Sardar. I must get hold of his autobiography.That caught my interest more than his post-normal times. Haha.

And I saw Crazy Rich Asians.Kelakar gila. Henry Golding is so talented and so charming. He left school at 15..became a cook for a while then a hair dresser before going big with broadcasting. Pandai and down to earth and a proud Msian..just like Michelle Yeoh. Loved them both in the film.Pergi, jangan tak pergi. I don't care if people say it wasn't representatively Asian or if the film worships riches.Pendek kata, film tu fun and will make you laugh and cry at the same time.And it has got values and wonderful characters. Each is so different from the other.

Back at work..I am all stressed out so early in the semester (due to so many overdue deadlines and new ones) so I went down to get some Kit Kats. Malangnya Kit Kat buatan Thailand. How on earth did they get here? So I looked for those made in Msia.Found one. The girl who stood near me was so chatty asking why Kit Kat. I said I had a craving for sugar cos' I lost a lot through too much thinking. She said keep cool. I said I don't like made in Thailand products cos' of the presevatives they may have. She said I'm from Thailand. Opps...wough, she's not your typical Thailand gal. Good English, confident and overly friendly. Then she introduced the guy she's baby-sitting..an exchanged student from Turkey who spoke very little English. And we spoke a bit. Then Miss Thailand started giving me a marker pen (new one) as a gift. I just wentt why are you so kind? She said I am kind to everybody. Haha.

Walking back to my office, I wonder why I was so surprised with a friendly gesture of a total stranger on campus. Miss Thailand was not my student. We had never met.Why was I surprised by her generosity? Is it because even at IIUM this is something rare as it is outside there? Wow..such faith we have in humanity!

As though to reciprocate that kindness I offered her my Kit Kat (one of my Kit Kats) which to my delight, she said no to. Haha. I need all the sugar, you understand? :))

It's good to be back.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidul Adha

We took 2 days off KL to be in Raub for the qurban. Mcm biasa, masjid buat makan but this year, breakfast pun was provided for, not only lunch. Our lembu was so garang.Tahun ni lembu kurus-kurus but bila dilapah, banyak pulak isinya. Alhamdulillah and we got more sebab orang masjid agih-agihkan lagi daging2 orang lain tu. Sepatutnya tak payah. I ended up distributing to a few houses (sedara mara) bila balik KL cos' we are trying to cut down red meat also.Semoga ibadah qurban semua diterima Allah.

The best part about raya is of cos' family get together. I have not seen most of them for almost a year.Tau2 dah masuk uni. Tau2 dah nak kawin. Ijat and Afif dah masuk uni. Like oh wow..mcm semalam je baru kenduri berkhatan. Big boys already.

I got to know the smaller ones. New toy : Seth. My god, he's so funny! We must make it a point to see them more. We went for a family picnic at the newly open river picnic spot Jeram Bangking. Air tak dalam, tak byk batu. And air sejuk gila. My nephews and cucu sedara took good care of me going down the river slopes. Bagus mereka ni..hormat orang tua. :)

Went to visit my parents' and sisters' pusara. Waktu afdal is after asar Khamis till sebelum asar Sabtu but I can only go Khamis pagi. I hope my mom and dad were "home" and heard my salam.Miss them a lot waktu2 macam ni. And we pi kutip buah durian which my mom dok tanam "for anak cucu makan". Akhirnya hajatnya dimakbulkan Allah..memang anak cucu makan di Jeram Bangking (the kebun is now given to Eishah but she has kindly allowed the buah to be eaten by all).

Then we called two tukang urut to Long's house. One for me (lady), one (man) for Nik. Ni yang best bila balik Raub. It's like a holiday. :) At this age, it's important to look after ourselves.Jgan dok sibuk mengejar duit sehingga health diabaikan. The body needs servicing ..mcm kereta so put aside some money for that.And do it on a regular basis.

And be very careful with that daging qurban intake these next few days. Selamat Hari Raya. Bak kata Ustaz on the radio tadi, it is not about sup daging/sup ekor. It's a day to remind us that that lembu could have been us. So say thank you Allah for Your mercy and kindness.

Pelombongan emas di Raub

I'm picking up bits and pieces on this subject. Very interesting. If only Persatuan Sejarah Pahang dan Kuala Kubu ni mengangkat telefon like they are really thinking sejarah 24/7, rasa I hidup I lagi bahagia dari menunggu mcm buah tak gugur. I wish we are all serious about doing our job well. Cuba you call jabatan kerajaan..BN ke PH ke sama je..sebab yang bekerja tu tak bertukar! Haha.

Jawaban paling mudah saya tak tau..tiada dalam simpanan kami...bukan extension ini..saya tak tau..telefon tak berjawab. Yada yada.

But that guy who took the trouble to call me back after finding the info I needed must be applauded. Suka hati dia nak menyampaikan maklumat. Semoga berjaya dalam dunia akhirat, dik, :)

So I want to compare info cicit pelombong emas yang terawal di Raub ni dgn local naratif. Iya ke tidak Tok Gajah humbankan mesin pelombong Australia tu ke dalam Sungai Bilut? (dah lah nak bawak mesin2 berat tu sikit punya susah ke dalam hutan belantara tu semua..senang2 je Tok Gajah humban?). Dan siapa yang sampai dulu dan ambik emas yang banyak kat padang Raub tu (dulu tobek) sampai apabila disedut dgn pam oleh pelombong Australia, tidak ada barang setitik emas yang tinggal? Tapi mereka pergi pulak ke Bukit Koman melombong di situ. Byk dapatnya sampai nama Raub meniti di hujung bibir dunia.

Memang interesting so ingat ni, Raub was not built by the English but Australian miners (ya betul they were born in England sebelum berhijrah ke Australia but most of them considered Australia their home.Hugh Clifford tu datang apabila kerja-kerja melombong dah lama bermula. Kat Penjom it was a British mining company based in Hong Kong tapi Penjom tak banyak mengeluarkan emas like Raub).

Pulang the movie

Since everyone is talking about it, Nik and I decided to check it out.Both of us think it's overrated. The making of it we loved (not being technical people, we thought it was well done.I read a review that it's full of technical shortcomings.We didn't see them. Heh heh)

I was not convinced it's love that kept Othman away from pulang. But how do you criticise a film based on a real story and Othman is long gone? tak sopan kan? But my gfs and I had a nice discussion on this. They loved the film but I told them why I wasn't sympathetic of Othman. I was over his wife and son. Plot dia tak masuk akal. There were too many gaps before we could fully appreciate the plight of Othman or claim it's true love or epic love. Cik Thom's love was true love. Omar's love for his dad was true love but I doubt Othman's sincerity in loving his wife and son.

Bak kata Pakcik Mat Nor (one of the surviving Malay sailors in Liverpool who I know so well.He knew Othman who died in 1966) sailors are full of adventures..they only think of their parents (read home) when they encounter bad storms (the turning point in Othman's life too). We will never know why Othman didn't pulang or sent money (although the film said he thought Cik Thom had married another). Takkan tak singgah tanya? Main lari je ke?

I also find it annoying Puteri Aishah tu dok sebut Ot-man for Othman instead of Osman. 'th' biasanya bunyi 's'.

If you have not seen it, go.It's not too bad if you have nothing to do on a weekend.

Reward or punishment?

Sometimes kerja masuk bertubi-tubi.Rasa macam punishment la pulak although in the end it's rewarding.

Prof Amir Zikrgoo invited me to introduce his book at his book launch 2 weeks before the event.I was reluctant cos' time factor but he said simple introduction of him and his co translator and the book. I thought oh well, okay.

Then the official invitation listed me as a panelist! say what?To speak on Hamzah Fansuri.Saya pun ingat dia ni orang Iran! Dia sebenarnya orang Melayu.Orang Melayu pertama yang tulis melayu jawi tentang Islam dan pelopor sastera melayu, sastera sufi di nusantara.

I texted Amir tanya apa hal ni? Dia pun terkejut.Dia pun tak tau dia kena jadi panelist.Ingat key speaker ke.
So I had to work extra hours in the library..baca itu ini.The Istac librarian is fabulous.He emailed me stuffs yang berkaitan. You need to be a fast reader to absorb. Nasib no class la ni.Boleh le I spend pagi ke petang membaca.

Tiba harinya I negotiated. Syed Munawar who was supposed to moderate was kind enough to let me do the job.So off we went happily and I thought we had a great discussion.Tan Sri Aziz, Dato Kamala all said it was good and they enjoyed the session. Alhamdulillah.I learned much too.What an amazing mind this Hamzah Fansuri was.Sayang sekali karya dlm jawi dia tidak diterbitkan dalam rumi.Orang Iran dulu beat us to it: they translated Fansuri to Persian.

I hope those reading this and can read jawi faster than me will find ways to translate Fansuri dlm rumi.Setakat ni orang putih je buat and according to Naguib Al Attas, banyak salah dari segi vocabulary, tanda baca dll.