Murah Hati dan Kelangsungan Hidup

Sehari dua sebelum Aidilfitri, para netizen berdiskusi di Facebook tentang seorang ayah membawa tiga orang anaknya menaiki motorsikal pulang ke kampung.

Seminggu kemudiannya, viral lagi di Facebook tentang seorang peniaga yang pemurah, mendermakan sebuah kereta Iswara kepada keluarga ini untuk kegunaan seharian. Itupun, setelah puas memujuk si ayah selama dua jam untuk menerima pemberian ini.

Sekarang, tertanya-tanya benak ini apakah kereta itu bakal menyelesaikan hal ini - pulang ke kampung dengan selamat.

Hati ini juga tertanya-tanya, ke mana suri rumah keluarga ini? Adakah mereka mempunyai anak-anak yang lain? Tidakkah mereka juga pulang ke kampung untuk beraya? Bagaimana ya? Satu demi satu soalan datang tanpa jawapan.

Pada aku, masyarakat perlu disedarkan tentang bahaya menunggang motorsikal berempat sejauh 300-400 km itu. Mungkin si ayah menunggang dengan cermat tetapi ada juga kemalangan yang berlaku ekoran kelalaian pemandu yang lain. Aku tidak pernah menunggang motorsikal hampir 20 tahun tetapi aku pernah memandu lebih jauh daripada itu. Sedikit sebanyak keletihan tetap dirasa.

Mungkinkah itu adalah pilihan yang paling ekonomikal tetapi faktor keselamatannya bagaimana pula?

Aku rasa isu sebenar adalah kos sara hidup. Jika betul telahanku, pemberian kereta tersebut belum tentu akan membantu keluarga ini ke sana ke sini dengan murah dan selamat.

Aku rasa lebih sesuai bantuan diberi dalam bentuk pemberian tiket bas ekspres kepada keluarga ini. Jika sesiapa mempunyai maklumat lanjut tentang keluarga ini, mungkin boleh dipanjangkan kepada aku supaya boleh diusahakan inisiatif #TiketBasUntukPulangKeDesa.

Apa-apa pun, aku berdoa kepada Allah taala semoga keluarga ini diberikan perlindungan dan kelapangan hidup.

Sent from my iPhone

Aidfitri 1434

Semoga ramdhan dan syawal tahun ini mendatangkan lebih banyak rahmat dan berkat dari Allah taala buat kita semua.

Berayalah dengan penuh kesederhanaan.

Terima kasih kepada rombongan dari Kuala Lumpur iaitu Ieka Kassim, Fay and isteri, Izal dan Dollah yang sudi turun beraya di Melaka.

Tahun ini, kami cuma sempat ziarah empat buat rumah sahaja iaitu Fendy, Nazri, Ejarn dan HB Hamdan.

Jangan serik tau untuk turun lagi tahun hadapan, boleh kita boleh konsert lagi.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Tahun ini aku sekali lagi bekerja pada petang Hari Raya. Harap-harap tahun depan tidak lagi.

Di kesempatan ini, aku ingin menyusun sepuluh jari sempena hari baik bulan baik ini untuk meminta maaf atas segala salah silap sama ada disengajakan ataupun tidak. Minta dihalalkan makan dan minum juga.

Kepada yang memandu, pandulah kenderaan dengan berhati-hati. Have a safe and pleasant trip guys.

Eid Mubarak. Maaf zahir dan batin.

Going Green this Aidilfitri!

Kepada kaum keluarga dan sahabat handai, tiada lagi want kertas baru untuk Aidilfitri kali ini. Semua not adalah yang dikitar semula.

Mari kita sama-sama menjayakan kempen "Going Green"!

Di bawah ini adalah pengumuman daripada Bank Negara Malaysia untuk bacaan semua :)


"Going Green" dengan Wang Kertas Yang Sesuai untuk Edaran Semula Semasa Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Dalam usaha menyokong agenda nasional "Going Green", Bank Negara Malaysia akan mengedar semula wang kertas denominasi RM1 dan RM5 yang sesuai untuk Hari Raya Aidilfitri yang akan datang. Inisiatif ini merupakan usaha yang membabitkan Kementerian Tenaga, Teknologi Hijau dan Air (KeTTHA), Persatuan Bank-bank dalam Malaysia (ABM), Malaysian Environmental NGOs (MENGO) dan Yayasan Anak Warisan Alam (YAWA) untuk menggalakkan kelestarian sumber negara dan pemuliharaan alam sekitar.

Substrat polimer diperkenalkan pada tahun 2004 untuk RM5 bagi meningkatkan ketahanan wang kertas dan mengurangkan kos dan permintaan yang tinggi terhadap sumber yang digunakan dalam pengeluaran mata wang. Penggunaan substrat polimer diperluas untuk merangkumi RM1 pada tahun 2012 apabila wang kertas polimer RM5 mencapai rekod penggunaan yang positif. Wang kertas polimer dapat bertahan 2 hingga 3 kali lebih lama berbanding dengan wang kertas biasa. Dicetak menggunakan substrat yang sangat tahan lama, wang kertas RM1 dan RM5 dapat kekal dalam edaran lebih lama dan lebih berupaya untuk mengekalkan kualiti keselamatan dan estetika sepanjang hayat penggunaannya. Memandangkan hanya wang kertas yang berkualiti tinggi akan diedar semula, orang ramai adalah digalakkan untuk menggunakan wang kertas yang sesuai ini sebagai "duit raya".

Setiap tahun Bank Negara Malaysia mengeluarkan lebih kurang 750 juta keping wang kertas RM1 dan RM5 bagi memenuhi permintaan bermusim untuk Hari Raya Aidilfitri dan Tahun Baharu Cina. Walau bagaimanapun, lebih kurang 70% daripada wang kertas yang dikeluarkan tidak diperlukan untuk urus niaga pembayaran biasa. Wang kertas tersebut dipulangkan sebagai deposit sejurus selepas musim perayaan dan menyebabkan lebihan pengumpulan wang kertas RM1 dan RM5 di Bank Negara Malaysia. Cetakan tambahan 500 juta keping wang kertas untuk memenuhi permintaan perayaan menyebabkan kos dan permintaan yang tinggi terhadap sumber negara. Pengeluarannya menggunakan lebih daripada 80 ton dakwat dan 2 juta kWh elektrik yang cukup bagi kegunaan 7,500 rumah di Malaysia untuk sebulan.

Bagi musim perayaan ini, orang ramai diberikan jaminan bahawa terdapat kertas yang mencukupi dalam semua denominasi. ABM dan AIBIM akan bersama-sama mengambil bahagian dalam usaha ini untuk membantu aktiviti kitar semula wang kertas yang sesuai dengan mengeluarkannya melalui cawangan bank dan mesin ATM. Orang ramai digalakkan untuk menyokong usaha nasional "Going Green" dan menyambut bulan Ramadan dan Hari Raya Aidilfitri dengan semangat mengurangkan pembaziran dengan menyokong penggunaan wang kertas edaran semula.

Aidilfitri Open House 2011

I hope you guys did enjoy the laksa nyonya!

Bowling Tournament Keluarga Abdul Hamid

Best!

Ziarah Kuburan

Assalamualaikum ya ahli kubur. Semoga tenang di sana. Aamin.

Dan terima kasih kepada Mak Lang Aini, yang telah menghajikan datuk dan nenek.

Perihal Rumah Terbuka

Aku cuba memulakan puasa enam tapi tergendala. Aku baru tahu tentang perihal lebih afdal berbuka puasa (according to my colleagues, terpakai kepada puasa sunat sahaja) dan menerima undangan rumah terbuka.

Jadi aku pun menghadiri majlis rumah terbuka anjuran salah sebuah institusi kewangan pembangunan di Hotel Istana. Mewah dengan makanan. Tiada komplen daripada aku dan Linda, cuma Ajaex sedikit terkilan tidak dapat merasa beberapa juadah gara-gara perkhidmatan yang kurang memuaskan daripada Hotel Istana.

Keesokannya, aku pergi ke satu lagi majlis rumah terbuka anjuran sebuah lagi institusi kewangan pembangunan. Berbanding majlis yang berlangsung sehari sebelum, majlis pada petang jumaat itu lebih mempunyai impak, sekurang-kurang kepada aku.

Makanan tidak semewah di Hotel Istana, dan dilangsungkan di perkarangan institusi tersebut. Teratur dan lebih tenang.

Dan lebih menyenangkan untuk bertukar-tukar bicara dengan staf yang ringan mulut. Bukan hendak kata yang staf institusi yang satu lagi tidak ringan mulut, malah mereka juga ramah tamah, cuma kehadiran tetamu yang menyendatkan, dan dibingitkan dengan celoteh pengacara selebriti yang menjemukan dan dendangan lagu daripada artis jemputan yang meletihkan, membuatkan mereka kekok, tetamu pun turut kekok.

Yang satu, penuh meriah dan mewah. Yang satu lagi, sederhana. Hah, sesuai dengan konsep kesederhanaan yang aku cuba peluk sejak 1 ramadhan lagi. Mungkinkah konsep ini dicedok oleh Mus dan dikhabarkan kepada jawatankuasa penganjur di syarikatnya? Kwang... kwang... kwang...

Apa-apa pun, aku senang dengan rumah terbuka IKP yang berlangsung pada hari jumaat nan lalu. And sorry Tan Sri for "downgrading" you. Sorry for my ignorance.

Terima kasih daun keladi kepada yang menjemput aku ke majlis rumah terbuka mereka - Zack, Shah, Nazri, Fendi, Rafin, Azzril, Ema, Ida, Zul & Malisa, Abang sulung Faizal dan Kakak Ipar Faizal, Andi, Kak Ana B, Sam and Aidil. And of course the two DFIs, plus another 2/3 DFIs next week.

May Allah bless all of you with more rahmat. Aamin.

Maaf banyak-banyak kepada Zafrul kerana tidak berkesempatan untuk ke rumah beliau semalam. Jangan serik untuk ajak lagi tau!

Oh, please... don't ask me about mine. I don't have answer to that. Peace.

Eid Mubarak

Salam.

Moga ramadhan kali ini dilimpahi Allah dengan lebih banyak hidayah, rahmat dan berkat. Maafkan segala buruk laku, salah tutur. Dan minta dihalalkan segala makan dan minum. Semoga berbahagia bersama yang tersayang di hari lebaran.

Insya-Allah, sentiasa di hati dan doa.

"Eid Mubarak"dari:
- saya -

p/: Al-fatihah buat arwah Tok Mustapha, Nek Soya, Pak Lang Jailani, Nek Long, Nek Mok dan lain-lain ahli keluarga tercinta yang telah tiada.

"Ni rendang ke kari?"

Yeap, she threw me that question in front of her special friend and other friends of mine.

"Baru nak belajar masak-masak, kak."

I smiled and she smiled back to me.

Almost every of my friends know for sure that I am NO a good cook. And, thank God because of the existence of "healthy eating" culture, I have something as a scapegoat.

"Sayang... healthy eating does not mean eat tasteless food tau!

I called my mother to ask her why my rendang didn't produce similar smell as hers. Confidently, she said it may because of the coconut milk that I used in my rendang.

"Oh... tapi Along tak guna santan. Along guna susu!"

"Susu? Hmmm... susu tepung?" she asked me again.

Hesitantly, I said "Nope, soya milk".

"Ni masak untuk siapa ni? Untuk Along ke, kawan-kawan?"

Only one guest sincerely gave a thumb down for my rendang, but the rest happily said, "Okey lah" or to that effect. Or maybe they were, indeed, very sincerely.

To Ana, thank you for teaching me to cook edible pasta. Now I know how to cook something without the need to add salt or seasoning, and believe me... it was not tasteless. Hehehe, I hope so!

Aidilfitri 2008

Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim friends. Maaf zahir batin. May Allah bless us with rahmat and berkat. Aamin.

Thank you very much for all your kind wishes, especially the following SMSes:

Ampun dan maaf andainya...
TERkasar bahasa
TERsilap bahasa
TERmarah yang tak kena
TERtanya tak tentu hala
TERsasul yang tak sengaja
TERpukul kat mana-mana
TERpekik di telinga
TERhantuk di kepala
TERpinjam harta benda
TERumpat bila-bila
TERmacam-macam lagi yang kena mengena
Semoga dimaafkan...
Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf zahir batin (Aidil)

Dear, selamat menyambut aidilfitri. Since i oredi raya dis eveving, i might as well wish everyone earlier. Enjoy urself. Jgn main mercun! Peace! :-p (Rina)

Salam sumer, bgn! Sahur terakir tok kali ni... Slmt bpuasa n slmt hari raya. Maaf zahir batin... (Ajoy)

!@#$%^&*-+=<>? (Mus)[not cursing, but chinese characters]

Ketupat pulut lagi bersantan, mudah dingap bersama rakan, Selamat menyambut hari lebaran, salah & silap harap maafkan. (Tarmizi & fmly)

Salam eidul fitri dan maaf zahir batin. have a great one this yr wt ur family and frens k. (Sham)

Selamat hari raya haron. Maaf zahir batin :) (Mya)

"Daun Kemboja Tumbuh Melata, Mekar Mewangi Di Halaman Bonda, Berayalah Ke Rumah Jiran Tetangga, Mana Tau Mereka Ada Anak Dara" SALAM AIDILFITRI MAAF ZAHIR BATIN (Nora Fendi & Zaidi)

PeLiTa diPaSaNg PeNaiK SeRi, RaMadaN D'GaNti Si Aidifitri, Msj pEnDeK P'ganti diri, TaNdA Diri mu seNTiaSa diiNgAti, SelAmaT haRi rAya iAdiLFitri. MaAF ZAhir&BatiN (Fasli)

Mohon maaf jika ada terkasar bahasa, terlebih gurau senda & terlanjur bicara. Have a safe raya! (Zetty)

Slamat hari raye n maaf zahir batin... (Dini)

Salam Aidilfitri Maaf Zahir Batin. (Sri Jaafar, Niza n Zahira)

Hari Raya bmksud: bsolat snat raya -bmaaf2an ..................... -bjumpa dgn makcik2 yg bmulut lahar Slm Aidil, maaf zahir batin :) (Danny sekeluarga)

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri * Maafkan segala kesalahan yg sengaja & tidak sengajakan. Halalkan makan minum * Maaf Zahir Batin (Mas Taufik Muhd)

"Suka duka silih brganti, Jatuh bgun brselang-seli, Sempena Syawal yg mulia ini, Maaf ku pinta setulus hati". Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri - Maaf Zahir Batin (Unsaved number)

Slamat aidilfitri, maaf zahir batin! (Athen)

Slamat ari raya as well! maaf bnyk2. iAllah kalo ada rzeki i trn umah u. have fun.tc (Effendy)

Slmat Hari Raya 'Idulfitri, mohon kemaafan dan moga sdr2 skluarga beroleh kejayaan (Surau Darul Falah & kluarga)

Raikan Syawal dgn penuh kesyukuran. Slm Idulfitri buat sekeluarga. Andai ada slh silap, keampunan dipohon seikhlas hati. (Izfaizal)

Terima kasih daun keladi to those who sent cards or who wished me personally.

2 "open house"s and a discussion group

Back home, in one of my favourite cities (My top five, in an alphabetical order, are Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, London, Melaka, Paris and Tokyo) I am always looking forward to weekend. There are tonnes of things you can do to fill up your weekend. And if I were to list them down here, I am sure, at the quarter of the list you will, either get bored or annoyed reading this posting (as if my postings have been that interesting all this while!).


Fast forward a month plus later, I am totally clueless on what to do when I opened my eyes on the Saturday morning. I know I have one lunch invitation at Sarah's place and a group discussion at 2.00 pm in preparation for a brief presentation to the class on economic development challenges in the context of Latin American economies.

Well said, I will be (was) productive from 12.30 to 4.30 pm on Saturday.

But how about the other 20 hours? Well, I can use 8 hours for a beautiful sleep but the other 12 hours?

What? The final rugby between South Africa and England. Where? The nearest bar. Whom? Other Ladybarn residents since my flatmates do not fancy rugby.

At first, I have to admit it did sound interesting to me. It will gives me the opportunity to buddy with other people like Ivan (who also in the ICT and Social Development class with me) or the guy from Kazakhstan who I totally forgot his name.

But then I have a second thought when I remembered an old memory of mine about an evening when Manchester United had a game with I-cannot-remember club nine or ten years ago. But that's football, not rugby.

Well... I guess to British, sport will always be sport regardless what type of games. They take it seriously and definitely I am too coward to let myself be surrounded by a bunch of drinking (drunk? I am too stupid to know the difference) people, cheering a game which I do not know almost anything about this game.

So, I guess I should heading to my sanctuary, kill the time by surfing the Internet, heat the pre-cooked meal, light reading, taking my daily 8-hour beauty therapy before get ready for another open house in Rusholme.

Thank you Sarah and hubby for the delicious prawn noodles and thank you very much to Fendy, Ayap and housemates for my second lontong in UK. And not to forget, the lemang (at last)!!! And who cooked those delicious ayam Palembang? I like it very, very much.

Well, that goes my an hour and a half Sunday outing. My God... I really miss my karaoke outing very much!

My second Raya card!

Yeah!!! I received my second Raya card today. It came from a dear friend of mine - Wadi. He has been sending me cards without fail since Aidilfitri 2005. Terima kasih daun keladi. I really, really appreciate it. But I really need to apologise to you that I have no Raya card to reply to you. Seriously, I feel so awful.

Man, I should have bring some greeting cards from home before coming here. Argh....!




Talking about Raya cards, I received an email from an old friend of mine a last week, if I am not mistaken three days before Eid Mubarak. It was a typical email from someone who you have not heard for two or three years - how's your life over there; are you married; do you hear anything from other friends; bla... bla... bla...

After he found out where I am now, in his reply, he told me now he know why he has yet to receive a Raya card from me. He said he has been expecting my card this year, similar to previous years, because I have been sending him Raya card every year without fail since 1998! Wow, I, myself quite surprised with this fact!

Then, when I think about it again, yeah... I think I did that!

Well, I did not realise how a Raya card can mean something to someone, until I read (1) my friend's email last week; and (2) Wadi's card just now (I found his card under my room's door after came back from class).

Both are making my day in their own ways. The former convinces me that my gesture is welcomed and called for (syok sendiri: ya atau tidak?) while the latter shows how good it is to be surprised by a friend. Why I say surprise, when it is a common sense to expect to receive Raya cards from family and friends? Simply because I did not give my address to him. That is so sweet of him to find out what my address is and to jot down personal message, that make it double sweet!

And I am so glad to read what my friend wrote on that card, I did not realise that I reread the card until the third time. I guess it is because you are so used to receive "official" Raya cards where they come with nothing but signatures. And you should consider yourself lucky if the card was signed off with ink from a pen, not a rubber stamp!

I do not know about you guys, but I will definitely treat this Raya card thingy differently in the future. It is not just a card!

Photoblog II

Friday, 8.00 am - Salat Aidilfitri@McDoughall Prayer Room.

9.00 am - In the Financial Market class.

Saturday, from 12.30 to 11.30 pm - Open House@my aunt's house in London







Sunday, 12.30pm - in the bus, on my way to Victoria Station, London

Esok Hari Raya!

Ya Rabbi, this is the first time in my life that while I'm about to celebrate Eid Mubarak and my parents and my siblings have another day to fast.

When Fendi broke the news to me about two hours ago, I thought he was kidding me. I quickly called my cousin, Nurul, to verify this piece of information. Yeah, it's 100% true. We, muslims in the United Kingdom will be celebrating 1st Syawal tomorrow, a day ahead of our beloved ones in Malaysia.

Then, Maz called me to inform me about the same thing and we wished each other and planned to meet up in London maybe on Saturday or Sunday. Most probably on Sunday because I can't on Saturday because my aunt is organising an open house on Saturday and Maz too has a prior arrangement with her cousin. According to Maz that the High Commission will be organising an open on Sunday at the Malaysia Hall. But from what I read on Lee's website, it's scheduled on Saturday. Hmmm...

Anyhow, I'm going to wear my maroon-coloured baju Melayu, full with sampin and songkok. Hopefully, the weather will be nice tomorrow morning. Fendi informed me that the first batch of Eid Mubarak salat will start around 8.15 in the morning. Alhamdulillah, I can have both, the salat as well as my morning lecture on Financial Market.

In the evening, I'll be going to London to celebrate Eid Mubarak with my aunt and her family.

Before I go, would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you, "Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri" and "Maaf zahir dan batin". Guys, don't forget to tune-in to TV1 on 4th Raya at 6.30pm, there will be a big, big surprise for you. Don't miss it, ya!

Ambang, Ambang, Ambang, Ambang Raya!

Another four more days before we celebrate Eid Mubarak. And this is going to be my fourth Aidilfitri that I won't be around my beloved mother, father and siblings.

The thing that I'm gonna miss the most is the opportunity to kiss my parents' cheeks and to hug them passionately. This is because only on Aidilfitri (and a very, very few and rare occasions) my parents "allow" us to perform this. And only on that day as well, I will cry like a small child.

Only on Raya too, my siblings and I will have the ketupat with not one or two but four or five dishes. And my favourite, as always, will be the rendang kerang. My all time favourite! We will also have chicken rendang, beef rendang, sambal udang and if we're well-behaved on Raya eve, normally my mother will cook an extra dish, either peanut sauce or rendang peparu.

Since I was a little boy, I don't fancy fire crackers. So, I don't miss that thing definitely. Pasang pelita? Yeah... I'm so blessed to have a father who loves to light up oil lamps and put them around our house. And every three or four years, he will change with new design. And I love the one that my father made them by himself, using bamboo. That was five or six years back, when I've just started working and was a bit nervous to give out my first angpows to smaller cousins.

Instead of joining my two younger brothers go for takbir raya from house to house, I will patiently accompany two of my younger sisters changing the curtains as well as cushion cases. Go on, guess what was my role?

"Senteng tu!"
"Labuh sangat!"
"Kedut-kedutkan dia."

Because of my big mouth, I always get this from them.

"Along pandai sangat kan, nah buat!"

Oh, God... can I still have this at my aunt's house?

What a suprise!

I was surprised to received a mail from Kuala Lumpur and by looking at its squarish envelope, I've a feeling it consists of a greeting card. Raya card? Cannot be... I don't think I've given my UK address to anyone in Malaysia, including my family (well not yet). So, who could it be? Come on... think, think really hard this time.

Without waiting for my mind to make another wild guess, I opened the unglued (another indication that it's a Raya card) envelope and yeah... it is indeed a Raya card, Bank Negara Malaysia's Raya card to be exact. Hmmm... this is weird, but I'm very positive that I've not given my address to anyone in the office, except... could it be someone from HR department, then?

Yes, indeed! My first Raya card that I personally received this year (because I was informed by a colleague of mine that there are a couple of Raya card sent to me using the office address) and it's from the Director of the HR department - Encik Kamari Zaman, who used to be one of my bosses when I was in the previous department. Thank you very much En. Kamari and of course his AA. Terima kasih daun keladi.

Well, I'm sure all the scholars will receive theirs as well (not only me, of course) but it really makes me happy today to be receiving the could-be-my-only-Raya-card. Actually a couple of my friends did ask for my address but I would prefer to receive e-card this year because it will be easier for them and especially for me because I don't know where to get my Raya cards here. At least, if I receive the e-card, I can reply it using e-card as well. Plain and simple.

But I really, really need to get at least one Raya card for my parents. Once again, I'm going to bother my "senior" - Fendy - where to get it as soon as possible because I don't know Abah and Mak to receive my card weeks after the first Syawal.

p/s: I really like the painting on this card and it mentioned at the back of the card that the painting was by Syed Ahmad Jamal, titled Langit dan Bumi II (1998).