Hari Raya Idilfitri in Klang .

Although we are now staying in Klang we did not go to the mosque nearby our house to pray Sunnat Idilfitri this year . Instead I and my son Azman decided to pray at the Grand Mosque in Shah Alam .I decided to do so because after the prayers we wanted to pay our respect to my late father at his grave in Seksyen 21 Shah Alam .At the mosque the situation was almost like the previous years . There were quite a conspicously large number of Indonesian and Bangladeshi workers . The locals who were present were those who came back from other places .This I could notice from their car number plates and their unfamiliar faces .

Surprisingly at the grave there was not as many crowd as the previous years . This could be due to the fact that the people knew of the situation like last year where there was a massive jam. To avoid the jam they could have stagger the time to visit the graves or they could have gone a day earlier .

Immediately after reciting surah Yassin at my late father's grave , we came home . Not long later some non Muslim friends came to the house . There were quite a number of them and we were busy entertaining them till about 5.00 pm. I was quite happy because there are people who still care for me .

On the morning of second day of Hari Raya , Azman and his wife left for Penang . Before leaving Azman's wife surprisingly gave me and my wife angpows containing RM.100 each . I refused to accept but she insisted .So ,I and my wife had no choice but to accept . Ever since staying with us she gives my wife RM.200 each month and she also sometimes spend buying the kitchen requirements . A real big contrast to Aizad's wife .

After that we were quite busy because quite a number of children on bicycle came to our house to collect angpows.

In the evening my sister in law ( Samson's wife ) and her children came to the house . According to her ,my brother Samson had gone back to the kampong .Earlier they visited my father's grave in Shah Alam . I noticed that they are not in good terms with my brother . For some unknown reason their houe in Taman Bukit Teratai, Ampang was auctioned and they are now staying in her late mother's house in Kg.Pandan .I do not know where my brother is staying.

Later my brother in law Mahadi his wife, daughter Asrina, husband and children, Roha , husband and son came . The house was a bit rowdy for some time . They left at about 11.00 pm .

On the third day of Hari Raya we were quite free because no one came .So we could sleep . Although we heard our gate bell rang ( the children came to collect angpows ) we did not open it because we were so tired .

Today is Friday .I am fasting today -Puasa Enam . Till now no one comes . Tomorrow morning we would be going to Johor Bahru to send Farin back to her university . Although her leave is till next week , she decides to go back earlier to study for her exams which is scheduled to be on 6th Nov.2006 . I pray to Allah so that she would be successfull with flying colours in her exams and achieve her ambition to do her Masters in the UK .

On 6th November 2006 I and wife would be flying to Padang Indonesia for a short holiday .

Do not dream like Mr.Mat Jenin .

Today is Deepavalee. I just stay at home .I am now all alone by myself because the rest ( wife, Alisya, Azman and his wife ) has gone to Shah Alam to do some shopping .I told them not to buy unnecessary things because this year's Hari Raya would be a quiet one , unlike when I was still working when I still have many friends .Now that I am retired , who would want to be a friend to a retired person ? A retired person is of little use to most people .( Not all of course ).That is a fact which I have for long accepted . Soon perhaps a retired person like me would be of little use to his family too . I am ready to anticipate the unexpected . I am not surprise too when I am too old and be a burden to the family I would perhaps opt to stay in an Old Folks Home .Not the government one of course , may be the private one where one has to pay . Or may be I may choose to stay alone in my seaside apartment in Port Dickson . Any way I hope I do not have to be into that predicament because I still love my family .

Age has turned me into a wiser person .I am not like the old days when I was so looking forward to Hari Raya. I feel Hari Raya is just like any other days .Nothing special .I am also not looking forward to going back to my home town.This is especially so, ever since I decided that I no more have a home town . Morover my children are grown up and where I am residing is their home town .I have to be home during Hari Raya because my children need a place to come back to .

Oh, I have to stop for a while because the gate bell is ringing . An old friend , Mr. Tan Poh Sim is coming to visit me and wish me Hari Raya .They would not be able to come for Hari Raya because they are going to visit a relative in Singapore .

Mr.Tan Poh Sim and his wife who came to the house just now kept on praising about our house .They were impressed with the plan and told me that I had built a nice comfortable home . Of course it is so because I took pains to see other houses and incorporate all those elements into mine .And the cost too was not cheap because I had to spend almost my entire life's savings on it .Any way it was money well spent and I do not regret it because it is something like my dream come true achievement . It was my dream that I would one day reside in a bungalow house of some standing . Any way I still have other dreams which I must achieve before I die - ie to own a Mercedes car , to see the world and plus other upgraded dreams .

I would advise my children that they should have dreams like mine . They should have a target or vision which they must achieve within a stipulated time .By that way ,they would steer their vision to a direction and would not go astray .This is important, so that they would always work hard to achieve their vision .It also work as a catalyst for motivation .Otherwise one would not know what he is working for . Once you have achieved a certain drean try to upgrade your dream so that there is always a dream . But do not dream like Mr.Mat Jenin .( dream of fantasies ).

The medicine for my knee is very expensive .

After taking a bottle of ' Viartril-S - Glucosamine Sulphate ' which was recommended by my doctor , I feel a bit better on my left knee.At least I could walk though slowly .Actually the recomended dosage was 2 capsules each time and 3 times a day .But because of the Fasting month I had to limit it to 2 times a day only ie.once after ' sahur 'and once after iftar .According to the recomendations I should take the medicine for 3 months and after an interval of 2 months, I should continue taking if there is a need to as recomended by the doctor. A bottle contains 80 pills and if I take in 3 times a day it would only last only 13 days . A bottle costs RM.119.00 .What an expensive medicine ? ( I guess I have got no choice if I want to walk as before ) . This could be due to the fact that it is manufactured by ' Rottapharm Limited ,Dublin ,Ireland . Perhaps it could be cheaper in Dublin . ( If my daughter Eileen who is studying Medicine in Dublin happens to read this blog ,perhaps she could inquire how much it cost in Dublin ).

For this year I had not performed a single tarawikh prayers in the mosque . Unlike the previous years I hardly missed a single tarawikh prayers . All because of my knee problem.I feel a bit hopeless having missed the tranquility of the prayers in the mosque . Due to that also my wife had only gone once to the mosque because she felt lost without me .Any way despite of that I had not missed my tarawikh prayers . Because I perform it after isyak prayers in my room and of course while seated on a chair .Well, as Prophet Muhammad said , if you cannot do it standing, you can sit and if you cannot sit you can do it while lying down and if you still cannot do it , do it with your eyes and even if you cannot do it , do it in your heart .This shows how important is prayers to Muslims .Normally I do not perform the witir prayers after that because I normally wake up around 3.00 am or 4.00 am to perform the Tahajjud and Hajjat prayers. After that , then only I perform the Witir prayers .

Is Doom's Day really approaching near ?

Without realising it ,today it has been 17 days now that we have been fasting during this year's Ramadhan .It also means that I have been fasting 4 times ever since I retired from my job. Wow , time runs very fast without us really realising it . This also means that age is also cathching up with me . I cannot rest on my laurels any more . I have to do whatever I am suppose to do before I could never do it .

The other day I watched a Religious ( Islam ) programme on TV whch reminded us to prepare ourselves for Doom's Day which is approaching near . Scientists have also predicted the comet is on it's way towards Earth and would collide with Earth somewhere in 2009 .The exact date ? I do not know and I do not want to know .According to the Quran Doom's Day would happen on a Firday .( Even if the prediction by the scientist is not true ,we as Muslims should be ready to face any eventualities ) .It really worries me . If this happens , it would be the end of the World . All of us would perished .According to the speaker minor Doom's Day ( Kiamat Kecil ) had actually taken place on this Earth. An example was the Tsunami which hit various parts of the world. Now, are we prepared to face God when all human beings would be awaken from death and then judged for all the wrong doings and good deeds that we have done while we were alive ? Oh , I am not . I have to fulfill my obligations to God and do good deeds to mankind as much as I can before I am ready to be judged . Oh , God please protect me from evils and guide me to the right path so that I would not only enjoy good life on this Earth but also in the life after . Please give me good health so that I could perform all my obligations fully . Please cure my knee so that I could go to the mosque to perform my obligations .

This Ramadhan we feel a bit lively especially during iftar because of the presence of my new daughter in law . Being a lady she is quite helpfull to my wife in the kitchen . She would wake up at about 4.30 am to help cook the food . At times even my wife had forgotten to wake up . Luckily my daughter in law had already prepared the food for the sahur .Otherwise we would miss the sahur and went hungry the whole day.

As for Hari Raya , we would be celebertaing it in Klang only . Perhaps we would go to JB later because on the 10th of Hari Raya we would be flying to Padang/Bukit Tinggi ,Indonesia .

We deserve a good holiday.

My left knee is getting better now ,although I am still unable to pray at the mosque because I cannot sit properly in the ' tahyat ' situation . Any way I still perform my obligations including the 'tarawikh' prayers at home . I hope I will recover completely soon . After having going through this ordeal now I realised how important is our leg , without which we would not be able to enjoy life fully. This too brings back my memory to that of a cousin of mine who is of the same age as mine and who is now bound to a wheel chair . He has been in the predicament for more than 5 years . He was a graduate teacher and has been an active person .For no obvious reasons he has to suffer that way . Well that is God's will . I invited this cousin of mine to my son's wedding recently and a few days before the wedding day he called me and told of his situation. I have not seen him for more than 20 years although we were quite close when we were young. I hope to visit him in his house in Teluk Intan one day.

Yesterday I received a call from a tennant who is renting my shop in Ampang .He told me his business was badly hurt and thus could not afford to continue renting the shop .He would be moving out at the end of December . This means I will have to find a new tennant , otherwise I would be loosing more than RM 2,000 per month . I think I will not be finding it difficult to find a new tennant as it is in a hot spot area . The only difficulty would be to find a good tennant who would be a good paymaster .The present tennant has been renting the shop from the beginning the shop was bought , that was about 15 years ago and he has been a good paymaster . According to him the building industry is badly hit by the inflation situation in this country and he has no other choice but to close shop .

From 6th.November till 9th November 2006 I and wife would be going to Bukit Tinggi, Padang,Indonesia for a short holiday. I have booked the tickets today and it has been confirmed .I think we deserve a good rest after all the hard work playing host to our son's wedding .We are not bringing anybody this time because we do not want to be disturbed .