Farin's internship at Jtekt Corporation,Shah Alam.

Last Friday ( 7th.April 2008 ) our daughter Farin came home for the week end . She told us that the purpose of her coming home was to survey the factory where she would be doing her internship for about two months during her long semester holidays . She would be having her internship from 5th.May till 30th.June at the Jtekt Corporation factory at Subang Hitech Industrial zone in Shah Alam . It is an international Japanese company ( with branches all over the world ) specialising into making automatic steering for all types of cars. She got the place for her internship there through the good office of my cousin who happen to work as an electrical engineer at the factory . This cousin of mine is a graduate from a Japanese university in Tokyo .

Our daughter Farin actually has got another year to go at the University of Technology,Malaysia , Skudai , before she could get her degree . She would be graduating the same year as her sister Eileen in Dublin . I feel she is too young to work because she is just 20 years old and 21 years when she would get her degree . I would prefer her to continue her studies for her Masters degree at one of the universities in UK/Europe before she is really ready to work . Any way the final decision is her's to make .

On Sunday morning we brought her to the factory in Shah Alam for her to have a look at the location .In the evening we sent Farin to the Klang Bus station for her to get back to her university.

At the end of the month we would be travelling to Johor Bahru by bus . We would be driving Farin's car back to Shah Alam .

The big surprise.

On 6th.April 2008 my mother came to our house for the first time . She was brought by my brother Muttakin who came to visit her at my youngest sister's house in Taman Sunway, Petaling Jaya . My brother invited her to his house which is just within a walking distance from mine . Infact my brother had been trying many times to invite her to his house but all failed . We were suprised of the sudden change in her attitude because normally she would not want to come to our houses . She prefered to stay in our sisters's houses . Then I remember that Allah must have answered my prayers . I have been praying daily to Allah so that she would change her negative perceptions on us and be fair to us all .My mother stayed for the night at my brother's house but had lunch at my house the next day . After lunch I persuaded her to go to another of my brother's house in Meru to which she finally relented . My brother Muttakin brought her to the house before sending her back to Taman Sunway . For this development I could only thank Allah .

I always believe that if we pray to Allah and be sincere about it , whatever we ask for would finally be granted by Him . On many occasions God has always been kind to me . Almost all my prayers has been answered . I am very grateful to Him and I am determined that I would not shirk my duty to Him nor would I want to commit any more sin . Whatever sins that I had committed I have repented and determined not to repeat them . I want to devote the remaining years of my life to Allah .

Tired of our tenant .

We are almost exhausted today .We went to Shah Alam to paint our old house in Seksyen 11,Shah Alam . The tenant had moved out after about 7 years of stay there . We had headache caused by this tenant . The house was almost a total wreck when they left . We regretted having rented the house to this particular family .It was rented cheap ,just RM 750/- per month .Where could they get a double storey terrace house for that amount in Shah Alam . The tenant promised to look after the house well ' as if it was theirs ' . That was the exact word uttered by the tenant when he took the house key from us about 7 years ago .We thought it would be okay since they were going to look after the house well . They ' really treated the house as theirs ' which cost us more than RM.15,000/- for the repair . We have been too nice to them and they took advantage of us . All the toiltes were clogged due to things like plastic , belt and even broken bottles were thrown into the toilet bowl . Doors of the bedroom were broken due to force entry perhaps because they had lost the room key .Water from the tank above our house were flowing like nobody's business because the lever ball was faulty and the tenant never care to replace it or at least inform us .The front compound was dug up where they built a stupid looking pond to keep their fish . The condition was so pathetic . I could not control myself but to curse the tenant every time I visited the house. It's the worst tenant that we ever had and we regretted very much having rented the house to him . Worst still he refused to pay rental for the last 2 months which he insisted should be deducted from the 2 months deposit . As such we could not charge him anything for the defects done to our house .

Thus for the past 2 weeks or so we have been coming to the house to do some cleaning up and painting to make it look presentable for the next prospective tenant or buyer . We intend to sell the house because we feel it is much worthwhile if we invest the money into Amanah Saham which would spare us all the headaches .

Signs of getting old.

My teeth have been dropping off one by one almost once every other 2-3 months . Normally it began by having gum pains ,then swollening of the gums and subsequently followed by the loosening of the tooth before it finally peeled off . I am now left with only half the number of teeth of what I should have . The vital teeth whose function is to chew the food are now gone and I am now finding it difficult to digest food especially the hard one . As such I have lost the joy of having food and naturally the amount of food that I take in is significatly reduced . Before, besides the three main meals ( breakfast, lunch and dinner ) I would have titbits in between but today that practice have ceased from my daily practices . I used to hear from my peers who used to say , " My friend , enjoy your food as much as you can , before the time comes when you cease to enjoy it any more " . Now I realized what they told me is absolutely true .

Age is really catching up with me although I am just only 61 ( in July 2008 ) . I feel I am not as active as before and easily got worn out . That is perhaps the sign of getting old . One by one Almighty God would take away from us the joy ( kenikmatan ) that we usually enjoy , when age is catching up with us . Then we must realize and recognise the will of Allah and therefore we must go back to Him for guidance for our next long journey to Heaven . All that we have on this earth is meaningless if we do not prepare ourselves for that eternal life . Only 3 things that would help us go through ;-

1. Charity that we have given which continue to benefit mankind,

2. Beneficial knowledge that we have imparted,

3. Supplication ( doa ) by our righteous /God fearing ( solleh ) children.

I have nothing much to depend on the 1st and 2nd subjects as my contributions are not that significant . But I do greatly depend much on the 3rd subject if I could count on my children . I do not know how much my children love me and appreciate what I have given them or would they treat it ( my contribution to them ) as mere fatherly responsibility . If that is the case , it would be the saddest thing that could ever happen to me and I would die feeling dejected . However , I hope Allah would not allow that to befall me . Amin .