MIND YOUR LANGUAGE

Want to hear a story? Two stories actually - true one, told by a friend a while ago. Got her permission to tell it here.

STORY NO.1 : An undergraduate from a local university - won't tell you which university - was on teaching practice at a Primary School. He / She was teaching maths - subtraction. Heard him / her said, "O.K. class. What is 3 push 2?" Ha, ha, ha . . "push" translated from Malay "tolak". Ha, ha, ha . . my Iddin in Monty kindy already saying "minus"! What the . . . .

STORY NO. 2 : Another undergraduate was at an interview for a job. He / She had difficulty expressing himself / herself in English as required by the interviewee. (Is there such a word?). Well anyway, the person interviewing made it easier by asking the undergraduate to explain how he / she made coffee. So he / she went on "First I put coffee in mug, then sugar. and then hot water. After that I add in some condensed milk. And then I take small spoon and disturb it." Kah, kah, kah. . . "disturb" translated from Malay "kacau"! What the . . . second time! HELP!

FRIENDS AND PRESENTS

I want to thank these friends who have made me very happy today. They are ever so kind and thoughtful. You see, even if it's no special occasion today, I received gifts from them. They must have thought of me when they were handling the whatever . . . "will she like this? Has she got one already? That'll be nice on her . . " Maybe these are the questions in their minds before they presented the gifts to me. Thank you, friends. I really appreciate all the things given because it is the thought that counts.

This is a lovely, well-decorated book given by Zaharah. Every single page within has beautiful border designs and of course the contents too are inspirational.

Linda gave me this big, roomy bag through Ms. Hart - a belated birthday present. I love it Linda! Already used it today stuffed with my telekung and kain and Al-Quran - to a "majlis" at a friend's house. Thanks!

This cute pair of socks from Gayah who has just returned from a month stay in Jeddah. It's so colourful and very comfortable too. Just look at them on my feet! I love them. I received all these within these two days . . . lucky me! Thank you everyone.

YO WAT'SSUP WAT'SSUP

Drawing by my favourite artist, AMAL, 8 years old.

I like this drawing of Amal's very much. It is so brave, confident and assertive. That is Amal through her drawings. Nobody teaches her how to draw, she just does it! Amal wants to be like her grand-aunt (that's me, ahem . . . at least some ONE in the family wants to be in the Art line).

THE PROPHET'S BIRTHDAY PROCESSION

Today is a public holiday to commemorate the birth date of our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). According to the Muslim (Hijrah) calendar, he was born on 12 Rabiul Awwal in the year of the elephant i.e. 23 April 571. It is an auspicious date for all Muslims.

In my home-town, there was a very colourful procession held after the official launching at the Kubu Stadium. They walked for about 4 kilometers from the Stadium through the streets of Melaka ending at the Masjid Al-Adzim Mosque. That was quite a walk! This year I noticed that the participants were more disciplined, smart-looking and very serious in their mission. Participants were from schools, government departments, private firms and NGOs. The procession was one of the events held to remind us about this special date - lest we forget. Though celebrating birthdays is not normally practised by Muslims but we are encouraged to be grateful for all that has been bestowed upon us. And adding another good, healthy year to our life is surely something to be thankful for. Below are some pictures I took while observing the procession near the Masjid Pengkalan Rama mosque.

Several spectators sitting 'comfortably' by the road-side.

Notice how smartly-dressed this group is? They're from the Telecom company.

This group of young men hitting the 'kompang' happily.

Then I noticed my friend, Muna . . hey wave to us Muna, way to go . . . But not long after, I noticed Muna exited from the long procession . . Hmmm must have taken the toil. Anyway, congrats for having walked this far!

This kiddo is being trained from young. Good for him!

To all Muslims,

"SELAMAT MENYAMBUT MAULID RASUL".

TELUK CEMPEDAK, KUANTAN

Yesterday I was in Kuantan, Pahang, visiting my sis. In the evening she took me and Bibik to Kuantan's beautiful cove, the Teluk Cempedak located about 5 km. from the city centre. ('Teluk" = cove, 'cempedak' = name of a local fruit similar like the jackfruit but with a strong, pungent smell). The air was fresh and breezy while the South China Sea was so breathtaking, another one of God's creation. The waves were high which we over on the west coast do not have the chance to see often. No wonder there were many visitors to the cove enjoying the evening with family and friends - picnicking, just having small talk, strolling . . It was such a comforting feeling to observe the peace and calmness there.

"A relaxing breeze sweeps

Across the calm flat surface

of the sea.

reflected deep azure

the waves start to roll and tumble

in the sea . . ."

excerpt from "poem boy"

Time for sharing among friends . . . . by the sea . . .

and with family too . . . by the sea . . .

A group of young men on their bikes having a break . . . by the sea

POLLING DAY

Phew . . . I've just returned from my 'morning walk' to the polling station at the Malacca Girls' High School. I put on my sneakers and my track-bottom and walked briskly all along the way, stopping now and then to greet Nyonya Surat-Khabar (the newspaper lady) and Ah Meng and her sisters at their sundry shop also Ketat and his gang lobbying voters for their party. The morning was bright and sunny which was a blessing this polling day. Everybody I met was chirpy and very friendly. The different parties contesting provided transport to and from the polling stations but I graciously refused preferring to 'exercise' instead. It took me 15 minutes to reach the School, 2 minutes lining up to vote and 15 minutes to walk home. That was not too bad, was it? For your information, Iman, Amal and Iddin, this is the 12th General Election of Malaysia. The last 11th General Election was on 21st. March 2004. I remember at the last Election, I took your late Grandma Nek Noi to the polling station at Durian Daun Girls School where I wheeled her to the polling booth. Well, here are some scenes depicting the excitement before D-day and the day itself today, 8th March 2008 :

You could see banners, posters all over town, maybe looked slightly untidy, but it's O.K. After all it's only once in four years and only for a couple of weeks.

Even decked on buildings . . .

Above is a scene on Polling Day, a checking-station put up by one of the competing parties.

Caught sight of Mak Timah and Siti Aminah (in the wheel-chair) after they had casted their votes at the Melaka Girls' High School.

Ah well, we had done our duties as loyal citizens. I hope the winning representatives would do their job and not forget us, the voters. Until the next election . . . .

THANKSGIVING

Thursday nights are usually observed by the Malays in my kampung (Kampung Bukit Gedung) as perfect times for any religious celebration. That is so since in Islam, Thursday night is when the holy day, Friday, starts. Suri, our neighbour, invited us to a kenduri kesyukuran (thanksgiving feast) at their house. Khairil, her husband, had made a nazar - a promise to Allah. When a person made a nazar, he had to fulfill his wish once he felt it had been granted. Once my late Mum nazar that she would send nasi kunyit (yellow glutinous rice) and a comb of bananas to the Kampung Hulu mosque if I got through my Senior Cambridge Exams. When I did, she had to perform her intention. So it was with Khairil, my neighbour. He invited neighbours, close friends and relatives to a thanksgiving dinner last night. After one of the elders had recited some prayers, dinner was served (see picture above) to the guests all seated on the floor. The dishes seen above were accompanied by hot steaming rice. Thank you, Khairil and Suri, may all your wishes be fulfilled and blessed.

PAK LONG'S LITTLE JALOPY

I found this old photo among the many photos in my scrapbook. It must have been taken some time in the mid 60's. Do you like the vintage car? It belonged to the late Tuan Hj. Muslim whom we affectionately called "Pak Long" (elder uncle) though no relation of ours. When we were kids, Pak Long was really, really old! He was a petition-writer, his 'office' being a small wooden desk located at the left-hand side entrance to my late father's shop. Everyday, except Sunday, Pak Long would drive to work in this quaint, little old jalopy from his home in Tanjong Kling, dressed in his baggy shorts and knee-length socks. He was grumpy, spoke very loudly to his clients, yet an affable sort of man. His English was perfect (no wonder he was a petition writer then). Pak Long liked children, having many grandchildren himself. That was why at every opportunity, we would scramble into his jalopy and pretend to drive around the town in it. That's cousin Esah at the wheel, Alang beside her and at the back Senah and Shau. I snapped the photo with my Kodak Brownie camera.

May Allah bless his soul . . . AMIN.

MALAYSIA NIGHT - Nostalgia

A request from a Malaysian student blogger in far-away Manchester evoked memories of my own student days in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Well . . . that was way, way back in the early 60's - some of my young generation might label it 'the prehistoric era'. Lydia, the student, was looking for a particular 'joget' song for a dance to be performed for a 'Malaysia Night' show. That brought back memories of the time when I, as a freshie, performed 2 dances in our own "Malaysia Night'.

Joget Inang Kebun Bunga - Malaysia Night, Armidale

Tea-picking Dance - Malaysia Night, Armidale

Students overseas then (and now too I 'm sure) were very proud to be Malaysians especially on 'Malaysia Night'. There was no racial identity. I mean we didn't say I'm Malay, I'm Chinese, Indian, Iban or the like. Just one - Malaysian! We dressed in the national attire - Malay baju kurung and selendang, the men in songkok or the Chinese samfoo and cheongsam or the Indian sari and dhoti on special occasions - didn't matter who had them on. We cooked special rendang, curries, fried mee, roti canai to the delight of our hosts. We put up scenic posters of interesting places to visit during Malaysia Week. In fact, we students were little ambassadors of Malaysia. We were proud to be Malaysians when overseas. Oh . . . those were the days!

P.S. Managed to help Lydia get the song she wanted.

PHOTOSPEAK

HOLY-MOLY MATRIMONY