My son's wedding at our house in Klang - a success.

My son's wedding ceremony at our place was on 26th.August 2006 .Planning a wedding was a very hectic and worrisome one .I was worried there would be not enough guests to fill the seats ,I was also worried whether the food would be enough or not and I was worried whether the guests would be satisfied or not with our treatments and all sort of worries .

Any way on D-day ,when guests started rollng in , I began to feel confident that everything would run smoothly . The majority of my relatives I invited came. They came as far as Jerantut ,Ipoh and Teluk Intan . I was happy that they came . Friends too came as far as Kota Bahru, Muar ,Melaka and Ipoh .I was also happy and appreciated their presence .

The neighbours too including our Chinese neighbours came . Infact my immediate neighbour , a Chinese gave me a big angpow ( RM.550/- ) , the biggest given by an individual on that day.

My brother Muttakin and my wife's relatives played the major role in making the wedding a success . I am thankful to them .

But as expected , my mother , my two sisters and a brother ( Samson ) who belonged to their camp were not present . My relatives present , kept on asking me about their abscence and I tried to defend them giving excuses that they would arrive a bit late although I knew I was not telling the truth . Finally ,when I could not avoid it anymore when asked by my uncle ( my mother's brother ) I told him that my mother could not leave her cats hungry . Infact that was the reason given by her when she told me that she would not be attending the wedding when I came to see her on the 9th.August 2006 . I knew he was a bit unhappy . I was also sad and full of remorse . I did not quarrel with them and had not had a misunderstanding with them. Deep inside my heart I knew they were abscent (despite of being officially invited) because they listen to the advise of my mother who told them not to go . Believe it or not that was the situation in our family . We are now divided . We are not as before .

The wedding went well . Even one of the members of the Penang entourage commented to me that it was well organised .

I am grateful to Allah.

The wedding at the bride's place in Penang

On 19th.August 2006 we left Klang for Penang to attend my son's wedding at th bride's place. We came in 5 cars comprising of 1) me and wife and bruther in law Mahadi and wife 2) Brother in law Hassan ,wife, Pak Mail and his wife 3) En.Agos and his family 4) Brother Muttakin and his family 5) My son Azman and daughter Eileen . We reached Penang at about 3.00 pm. and checked in at the Crystal Suite ,Bayan Lepas . A long lost friend ( my former detective in Segamat ) Jamaluddin Ismail joined us .He came along with his wife ,son and daughter in law . have not met him for almost 20 years . I am thankful to my my former officer in the Narcotics Dept. in Bukit Aman ,DSP Zainal Abd.Aziz the OCPD of Serdang for helping me to trace the whereabout of this long lost friend . I am glad I could renew this frienship.

At about 5.00 pm we came to a mosque in Gelugor where the 'akad nikat' ( the solemnising of the marriage ) was to take place . There was a slight delay due to some unforeseen reasons .Any way everything went on smoothly after that .

We were then treated to a brought forward dinner at the bride's house . According to most of our entourage the curry was superb . The smell of the curry remained on our hands all day long even after it has been washed .

In the evening except for a few females who went to the bride's house to attend the ' majlis berinai' ceremony most of us did not go anywhere as we were then tired .

On 20 th.August 2006 at about 1.00 pm we checked from our rooms . We then proceeded to the bride's house for the 'majlis bersanding' . We were welcome by almost the 'mamak community' ( Indian Muslim ). Even the kompang group comprised of mamak children and the kompang songs too were very peculiar , perhaps the kompang beat were also of mamak songs. My daughter in law is not 'anak mami' . Her father and mother are Malays originally from Ulu Langat,Selangor . Her father was adopted by a mamak family from Penang . That was how she became integrated into the mamak family . Sometimes I could not believe it that I would have an extended family of mamaks . It was God's fate . We could only plan , He disposes .

The feast was a very modest one and I could understand it.They are not so well-off and I am glad that my son chose a wife not based on wealth but perhaps for true love . I know where I came from ( my parents too were not well off ) and I am glad to Allah for bestowing upon me a little bit of wealth and happiness . My religious education have always reminded me not to look down upon people who are so lucky as we are .But I hate people who are lazy and do not make any effort to help themselves .

After lunch, at about 4.30 pm we left Penang and reached home at about 8.00 pm.

On 21st.August 2006 while I was at the TESCO Klang to buy some groceries my wife called me.She was crying over the phone telling me that my brother in law Hassan had been admitted in the CCU ward at the University Hospital,P.Jaya after a heart attack while sudying at the Shah Alam Library . Immediately we drove to P.Jaya to see him at the Hospital . My sister in law Rozie ( his wife ) was not around as she was in Trengganu . We waited at the hospital for a few hours before being told by the doctor his condition was stable .We then relived and left the hospital .

For the next few days we would be very busy making preparations for my son's wedding .

My nephews and nieces ,unfairly treated.

On 9th.August 2006 we went to Sabak Bernam to visit my mother and invite her to attend my son's wedding due to be held on 26th.Augsut 2006 although I was a bit pessimistic she would attend. Lately our relationships was a bit strain due to differences of opinion . Any way as a mark of respect we came back for courtsy's sake. We stopped at Haji Latiff's house to invite him and his family too.She told us she would not be attending as she could not leave her cats hungry. (As if the cats were more important than the wedding of her grandson.)

My intention of going back was for the sole purpose of inviting my mother and nothing else. As usual she tried to take the opportunity to force me into agreeing to her ideas which I see as unfair to my brothers ( minus my sisters ) . As a mother she is not a fair mother . She has always been favouring her daughrters only. Even some of her grand children ( my brother's children ) are being deprived of her love and attention. I felt something was not right . I voiced out my feelings and she did not like it . From that time on our relationships became strain .Any way despite of that, I still came back to visit her although not as often as before .

What I did was not for my advantage .It was for the sake of my brothers and their children whom I felt have been unfairly treated . To her, her grandchildren are those only from her daughters and not from her sons . It hurt my feelings whenever she talk bad of my nephews and nieces .( My brothers children ) My brothers have been complaining to me about this and their children are not too happy to go back to our kampong .Once I told her that my daugher Eileen Farhana was going to Dublin study Medicine, she remarked " Oh , she would be touching all the dirty things of patients ". Instead of feeling proud that a member of her family for the first time was going to be a doctor ,she had that remarked. I had a shock of my life when I heard that coming from her mouth .Sometimes, I just could not believe that my mother would harbour such an attitude .Believe it or not that is the fact . Even her relationship with her only brother has also turned sour since the death of my grandmother .I do not know for what reasons . I pray to Allah that she would realised her mistakes and would turn over a new leaf .