Malam Raya

It's 11.25 p.m.


Baru habis masak kuah briyani daging, ayam masak merah and acar rampai. Dead tired and sleepy.

Esok mesti bangun awal. After subuh prayers, tolong masak nasi minyak jap, mandi sunat aidilfitri and head to the mosque for solat sunat aidilfitri.

Tahun ni we'll be spending raya in KL.. hopefully this time around, raya will bring sweet memories, and more people to the house!

Selamat Hari Raya to my readers and friends :)



Footnote:

In the car, heading back from Pasar Pagi Sek. 16.
Ain: Along, tahun depan Along dah tak ikut kitaorang pergi pasar beli barang kan.. Along dah tak tolong masak.. Pagi raya pun tak dgn kitaorang. Ee.. sedih nya..

Me: A'a kut.. hmm.. sedih kan.. tengok la macam mana nanti k..

Suddenly tears flowed down our cheeks. We cried in silence.

Ain: Mak.. minta tissue.. (sure Mak ingat Ain selsema..)

Blabs malam Likur

(1) Ramadhan has entered the 'Likur' period. Am I doing good? Well, I try to. Definitely many other people score better than I do. But, Allah is Most Merciful, and His mercy means everything for an average slave like me.

(2) Usually, the last ten days of Ramadhan will witness a more intense preparation towards welcoming 1 Syawal. Shoppings and stuff. I have not done that yet. Not excited to. Not really driven to celebrate raya, except by a few reasons: the annual leave, open houses by my friends and of course, my family will be complete again :) Well, for a week that is! Ozal, I got chocolates for you!

(3) I got this from someone: "What is constant in life? : CHANGE". I like that. It gives some sort of positive perspective of Change. Tiba-tiba terasa like it has been ages since I last went to a motivational talk. I suppose that was one of the recipe of my schooldays success. After schooling days ended, sendiri la kena motivate diri. Huhu..

(4) Siapa dah dapat kad raya from me, angkat tangan! Eh, sorry, I can't see you, hehe :D

I love (smart) kids!

My mom holds tuition classes on weekdays except on Thursday. That means 4 times a week. In those 4 days, I loved it when it's Tuesday or Friday, because the two days are meant for primary schoolkids :) (yang dah secondary school ni tak best nak layan sgt.. berangan diorang dah lain macam sikit)

Sometimes, I join in my mom to teach too. I don't mind if they tell me "Kak, tak faham la...". I never give up in teaching them, because I believe if they do not understand what I am trying to teach, perhaps there are loopholes in the way I am teaching them.

"Faham tak?"
"Faham akak.."
"Sure betul faham..?"
"Emm..."

Okay, teach again how to answer.

Tapi, paling tak suka if dah Standard 4 pun tak hafal sifir. The problem is, ramai yang tak hafal sifir! Sudahnya, memang kena bebel la..

I love kids. And above all, I looovveeee intelligent and witty kids. Bonus if they are cute (tak cute, salahkan mak bapak! haha)

But it's not everyday I get to see smart kids. When I meet one, I feel honored, refreshed, I feel great! And yes, I definitely respect the parents who know how to nurture the 'X-factor' in their kids. Walaupun Sufiah Yusof mischanneled her stress in education, I sincerely believe that her mom did a terrific job in educating her children until they are regarded as child prodigies in Math. Seriously, hebat.

When I was in primary school, I had two friends whom I consider to be totally out-of-the-box breed.

Zuhairy:
"Okay Sharifah, tell me in which period Velociraptor existed?"
"Johann Sebastian Bach was more into writing songs for the church.."
"Weih, fakta tentang Corsica and Sardinia dalam Joe Jambul semalam macam salah je.."

He made me read about classical composers, dinosaurs, world history, etc. Terrific inquisitive mind. I never stopped saluting him.

Arwah Idris:
"Okay Sharifah, aku challenge ko jawab soalan kuiz aku ni. Soalan pertama, namakan 5 jenis pokok fir.." (I was thinking "damn this isn't in Alam & Manusia year 4 chapters!")
"Kau ambil je mana-mana buku. Buku pasal Milky Way aku ada a few. Pinjam je.. aku dah baca semua"

It was a terrible moment when I learnt that he passed away. Almost 3 years already.

Presently, I think NST is doing a good job in educating kids and teens. Niexster pull-out is an avenue for me to find thoughtful kids and teens. Opinionated and matured compositions by ages 17 and below. I'm inspired. But most of the column contributors come from urban areas. Another NST effort is the Spell-It-Right contest. I guess that competition created some kind of competitiveness in learning among the participants (and the viewers too!)

I believe encouraging the offsprings to have a sense of race in learning is a good approach. Afterall, learning is not just about getting Top 3 in the school exam. To learn more means to give more choices of what one wants to specialize into in the future. Parents, they 'have been there, have done that', so supposedly they can guide their children through what they have experienced.

Ibu, Ayah, jangan la asyik fikir kerja.. we need your attention too!

1 - the number for Malaysia

Fuhh.. at present Malaysia has various kinds of fever:

1) H1N1 fever (please observe the way you cough and sneeze ya.. before someone gets a shout on the face for coughing or sneezing in front of people's face)
2) Bazaar Ramadhan fever (sila control selera anda. Perut anda bukan tong)
3) Shopping raya fever (baju kurung chiffon kat SACC RM1k! Are you crazy?)
4) Matta Fair fever (oklah, ni KL je)
and finally, the best fever ever - 1Malaysia fever (iyolah kau)

(actually I felt a little jealous of Faizal Tahir & co. for getting that RM25k fortune out of that 1Malaysia promo.. if only I write songs too.. haha. Tapi nasib baik Siti tak menang. Kuikuikui..)

Speaking about the spirit of 1Malaysia, I personally have been practicing it (without being pushed to do so!) since I was 5, that was when I moved to Alam Megah, and began to have friends of different races.

My first friend in the neighborhood was a Chinese boy. His name was Hock Seng. I can still recall, how I really enjoyed Chinese New Year, because we would fill our evening, together with my siblings, with playing firecrackers a few days before CNY. His family was equally friendly too. Then, when I stepped into kindergarten, my circle of Chinese and Indian friends grew. Some of them, I met them again when I stepped into secondary school. It was really fun back then. Every CNY, Raya or Deepavali would mean "it's time for beraya for us schoolmates!" Mandarin oranges, marukus and capatis and nasi impit.. everyone loved it.

Even language was not the barrier. In fact, we tried to learn a bit of Tamil and Cantonese. Those who excelled in English always made the effort to lend a hand to other classmates who wished to learn. Of course, when the exam seasons were around the corner, we became competitive, trying to outshine one another. We gauged each other's competency, and by knowing that, we doubled our efforts to do better. But we shared the mistakes we did in the exams, because in the end, it was the 'A' percentage of the class that mattered to us. We wanted to do better than our seniors. And yes, we did it.

Speaking of religion, we talked about everything. Why Muslims have to fast; the differences between Catholics and Protestants; the significance of cow in Hinduism, popular gods and goddesses of Buddhism (remember the series 'Journey to the West'?). Yet, we managed to observe the way we approach things between different races and religions. I totally felt the 'muhibah' atmosphere.

What I am trying to say is, even though the advertisements and promotions of 1Malaysia are heavily conducted, the possibility for 1Malaysia to be institutionalized inside everyone's mind and heart is slim if it is never felt nor experienced. I am not sure if the hearsay that says rifts among races are agonizing spreads purely on political purpose (disregarding what happened in Shah Alam). Politicians must remember, that one of their roles is to facilitate improvements, not scaring the public with free, baseless comments. I suppose, if more news on interracial well-being is publicized, perhaps it could motivate the readers to take it as a good societal example.

Another challenge for 1Malaysia to be implemented is that each race must understand the other races and their sensitivities. For example, caning of the Muslim model who consumed alcohol. Though for other races, it may be looked at as a severe prosecution for a woman, but it is a prosecution based on the religion. Therefore, other races must understand that the issue should totally be contained within the religious parameters only; not to be a polemic. Another good example is of course, the cow-head thingy. I suppose objections can be made in a more civilized and sensitive way. The action of putting the cow head to be displayed as such evidently showed that too little sensitivity is taken into consideration when the mind is in resentment.

But of course, intra racial harmony should be observed too~ (Malay neighbor vs Malay neighbor? A common eyesight I suppose. Sg Buloh Country Resort is the best example, haha. Siap nak berparang lagi.. gile.)

P/s: Tapi rasa pelik la bila dengar orang cakap "Salam 1Malaysia!". Ala-ala poyo pun ada jugak. Haha.

Some ngomelan

Just a few things to mention..

1) Two wrongs don't make a right. I suppose many of us can easily hear people say this, even in formal meetings! "It's mean.." (when the actual meaning is "it means..", not like in the context of "it's mean... to do something bad to someone..") Too many times. In fact, it has never been corrected since the first time I heard someone said "it's mean.." Is it because of the slogan "Kepimpinan melalui Teladan", therefore, those who don't really know grammar just follow blindly without questioning (or they can't even bother to question) the appropriate use of apostrophes? The worst part is, the grammatical error becomes increasingly widely used in other phrase like "it's depend" (duuhh..)

2) Terawih di masjid/ surau. When my siblings and I were younger, my mom used to scold us whenever we made noises when she was performing her prayers. Usually, the prize would be blue-black bruises, haha (serious sakit gile kena cubit dengan pakar!) But we got the point, that making noise when people are praying or reciting the verses is discourteous. I expect parents to teach their kids about manners. The tok imam repeatedly reminded parents who brought along their kids to refrain them from making noises while the jemaah were praying. But of course, some parents were too lenient toward their kids, until their kids became uncontrollably naughty and noisy. I have pinched one kid at the surau last Ramadhan after terawih, thanks to her distracting the jemaah by lying down on the prayer mat in front of us when we were performing terawih. I don't wanna do it again. But these kids, they just have to be taught a lesson! And believe me, I am actually tempted to do it again.

3) Sentenced to be caned, but nobody is expert enough to perform the caning? It's just like sentencing the accused person to go to jail, but then, rupa-rupanya the jail has not been built! Or does the judge actually expect her to appeal.. in which she didn't? Silap la Your Honor.

Of H1N1 and whatnots

Gossip hari ini: Akhil Hayy is married to Waheeda? Whateverrr...

Another week in Miri and I can't wait to come home. Unluckily, my flight home is on the first day of Ramadhan, which means I won't be able to dine on flight (which is something I reaallllyy love~) I hope the renovation is done by then, and hopefully I will be able to find something good for Mak to decorate the house with next weekend.

News on arising number of H1N1 cases is something not so nice to know. Yesterday, in the news, it was predicted that almost 5 million of Malaysians will be affected by the virus. Such a large number! I sincerely hope that we Malaysians adhere to the advice from MOH, to take care of our hygiene especially our hands, and to cover the mouth and nose whenever we sneeze or cough. I really think that those who cough and sneeze freely without heeding people's presence are really insensitive about this matter. Doesn't matter if you don't have H1N1 pun. It's also a matter of courtesy and manners. Sometimes I just feel like blurting out my anger to this kind of people. Tapi nanti diri sendiri terbuat (walaupun tak sengaja), orang kata 'cakap tak serupa bikin' lak kan.. so, better I keep it inside.. dan protect myself with tissue papers and Scott's Emulsion..

(Mak, Abah and the whole family, sila simpan stok Scott's Emulsion ya..)

At present, I feel time is ticking really fast. It's already August, and exactly in 5 months' time I'll be 26! Fuu.. dah nak late 20s ok. In these two years, I notice that there are lots of changes in me, especially in the aspect of viewing life. I am also trying to recollect things that happen in my childhood and adolescence, so that whatever I experienced can be shared with my generation later, in hope of giving them more life options and insights before making any decisions.

(Is that too early to be thought of? Hmm..)

I think I have aged (I bet Mak will say I'm crazy). Ageing, in a way, I think it's interesting. But I would prefer if it is accompanied with exponential matureness of the mind.

August wishes

A few people to congratulate =))
1) To Mak for completing her Ph.D. Can't wait for your convo in November!
2) En. Dayat and Kak Zufina for the newborn baby girl. Siapa namanya..? Is it Dania?
3) My dearest and prettiest roomate, Shafaf for the awesome news.

A few wishes to be expressed >_~
1) Happy birthday to Maktok. You never age in our eyes.
2) Happy 2 years of knowing each other, Encik Tunang~ :) dah 2 tahun kita convo ek.. how time flies..
3) Selamat berpuasa to all friends.. moga bulan puasa ni tak la panas sangat..
4) Best wishes to Kak Nedd.. may you deliver a healthy and cute little baby~ just like the mom ;)

I'm depending on Scott's Emulsion now.. to strengthen my body resistance.. and hopefully to keep me safe from that bloody flu! You guys should try it too. It's really good. One second I am having runny nose, and the other second it's totally gone! Magic gile..

Eh, dah August dah..

My weekend: two movies in a row: disappointing Harry Potter and his troubled mates (why did Snape claim himself a 'prince' eh? Is he some kind of royalty? I wonder..) and Transformers (to overcome the disappointment in Harry), some shopping, spending some time with beloved fiance at our fave ice cream parlor, dining out with the family, and making currypuffs for today's breakfast. Next on today's list: meeting my planner and accompanying Ain for more shopping =D

This week alone, I watched three movies already. The other one was 'Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian'. Okay, I should fairly say that Transformers 2 kinda uplifted the frustration. Well, boleh lah..

Some questions pondering in my mind while watching the movies:

1. What happened to the meeting with Wal-Mart that Larry's company managed to secure? I thought that he would be having tough time balancing between his business and his mission for the museum. In the end, his business didn't really portray himself as a successful businessman. I was puzzled.

2. I wonder if Amy Adams' presence as Amelia Earhart was merely because the story needed a character who knew how to fly an aircraft. Apart from flying, she was just an excess baggage for Larry.. and a seducer.. lame.

3. How could JK Rowling ended Dumbledore's character by letting him die in vain? In vain as in how could Dumbledore not know that the necklace was void and risked Harry and himself to get it? Could it be that the author just wanted to express that nobody is perfect?

Night at the Museum: The story is so easy to be predicted. Takde surprise. Bosan!
Harry Potter: Too many scenes of that itchy ugly girl getting obsessed with Ron, Malfoy crying and fidgeting.. haih, boring betul. Bila Death Eaters nak mati ni~~!!
Transformers: The robots are the ones who should be nominated in the Oscars.

Lepas ni lagi la malas nak pergi tengok wayang. The motivation is just the popcorn..

Hona Hain Tujhmein Fanaa~

Mode: Stucked in Kerteh again. Heading for KL this evening. Will head back to Kerteh on Saturday.

Current wish: To have the 'jumper'-ability, like Hayden Christensen :P

Blessing in disguise: Enrich Miles (though not as much as my bosses' miles!) & World Card & Treatspoints

You know, one of the reasons why I like to be on my own is that I don't have to make people understand of the things I like. One of the things I find hard to share about is my penchant for Hindi songs (and movies too :D) My all-time fave are the song from the movie Fanaa: Chand Sifarish ('chand' means the moon, while I'm not so sure what 'sifarish' means) and Tinak Tin Tana from the movie Mann (it doesn't mean anything specifically, just Tinak Tin Tana.. like la la la). Hmm.. ironically in those two movies Aamir Khan played the lead. Well, yeah, I am a big fan of his :) Look at the way he wooed Kajol in this video.. heart melting..~

(bestnya kalau ada someone mengorat mcm tu.. encik tunang, sila la ngorat saya macam tu, hihi)

The interest for Hindi songs is nothing new to me. I guess because all of us in the family were exposed to a lot of Hindi movies of the 60s and 70s (Bobby, An Evening in Paris, Sangam, Talaash, to name a few) and that the generations of the actors then emerged in the industry (Karisma Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Kajol, etc.) added to the interest of knowing and watching more of their movies. Abah and maktok love watching them until now. Abah even bought a few albums containing the songs that he liked. The result: I memorized some of them! Funnily, Ain thinks my fondness of Hindi songs is something crazy. She rather goes for Japanese. Thank God she doesn't like anime though, which I personally think is rather a weird interest :P

And because of the love for the songs, I put in effort to find the meanings of the songs.. to better understand the message, and the language itself. Believe me, it's not like learning English or Malay; the sentence will be jumbled up if I try to directly translate from English to Hindi. It's not that simple.

Have I sang Hindi songs in public? Yes! Tapi sekali je la.. during my PIPE group visit to this Old Folks Home in Semenyih, where most of the old folks were Indian. We didn't really know how to entertain them by doing other things less physical, except singing. So I sang a few Hindi songs for them, and a few who knew the songs joined me by singing along. Serious seronok seeing them enjoying themselves.

Haih, minta-minta la kat Astro/ TV2/ TV3 ada cerita Hindi yang best. Yang best pastinya ada Aamir Khan, SRK, or Preity Zinta :)

Forgive and forget?

2 weeks in Kerteh and now I'm back in KL for a while. A rough start in Kerteh: missing luggage and the emergence of a larger-than-a-dinosaur pimple on my forehead. Anyway, having my work completed 1 week ahead of schedule and getting a closer look on the plant instruments were definitely the cure.. apart from the nice small dinner I had with one of my best chums Nadi on my last night there. This weekend Ozal will be back home, since on this coming Monday he won't be having any classes. I'm thinking of what to do this weekend. I don't expect myself to watch Harry Potter that soon, because it is expected that the cinemas will definitely be flocked, and I don't really enjoy big crowds, especially on weekends. Nevertheless, I am foreseeing that Ozal might drag us to watch the movie.

During the dinner, among the topics that Nadi and I touched were about seeking apologies and being forgiving. I told her about a few stories, painful to the heart, that I am still unable to forgive and forget. One of the reasons: there were no apologies sought, and because of that, I am unable to forgive. Perhaps in those particular cases, I believe forgiveness does not come for free. It should be asked for. Especially when the occasions involve heart matters. It's not the same like one freeingly forgive a neighbor's offspring for breaking one's flower pot. The damage is not the same as the damage done to the heart. It leaves permanent scar inside.

I quote Fairuz's favorite tagline: Treat others like you wanna be treated. If the 'treat others' fails, then definitely 'like you wanna be treated' is just for us to dream about.

Walking through my life, I have seen too many incidents around me that were so damn impossible to forgive, that sometimes led to vengeance. I can totally understand why, because they did not involve the heart alone, but also pride and family ties. And because forgiveness was too seldom to be sought for, the ties just dissolved with time.

I have seen people begging for forgiveness, and eventually repeat the same old attitude again. What's worst is that they influence other people to hate the wronged person. Because of that, I tend to identify people around me as being trustworthy or otherwise. Because of that too, I tend to warn my family and friends acquanting with those of that type to be careful. It may sound paranoid, but I just wanna protect my beloved from being offended, or lied to, or heartbroken.

I do believe in the phrase 'once bitten, twice shy'. Perhaps there are former acquaintances that I don't wanna keep in touch with anymore. If they can't think of a reason why, may be the most likely case is that I was been incised by them. I love my heart, and I constantly make sure that it doesn't bleed. Perhaps in time it will heal, even though they never really say sorry to make things better. Perhaps they have forgotten what they have done, and that's why I'll just shy away and will not highlight things anymore. It's called "healing myself".

I know some will say 'sedangkan Nabi ampunkan umatnya'. Well, it takes a great deal to be a great human like the Prophet (pbuh). Allah's guidance to seek peace in mind, soul and heart is the only help I always ask for.

Oh yeah friends, do not advise me, unless I ask you to. The best thing to do is to send me tapes of sermons or books by Islamic scholars. That will be better :)

P/S: Kailua, I know who you are.