Old colleagues - turning back on retirees .

On 28th.June 2008 we ( daughter Farin , my mother and my wife ) went to Ipoh ( Pekan Razaki ) to attend a wedding kenduri of my cousin's daughter . We left Klang at about 9.30 am . and expected to reach our destination in 2 hours . Since this was our first visit to my cousin's place we encountered a minor difficulty in locating the place . We had to stop and made enquiries a few times before we finally find the place .We reached the place at about 1.30 pm. Pekan Razaki was actually a satellite town within Ipoh city , which I believe was formally a mining area . The houses consisted of medium cost bungalows built on lots sold to earlier settlers in the area , terrace houses and flats . There were also some shops . My cousin's house was one of the double storey terrace houses .

There I had the opportunity of meeting another cousin of mine Malek, who hailed from Taiping ,whom I have not met for more than 40 years . He was a former Secretary of the Majlis Perbandaran Taiping . He retired about 12 years ago and since then settled down in Taiping . He was an icon to us in our big family that time because he was the first from our family to graduate from the University. When my daughter Eileen was studying at MRSM Taiping in the late 1990s I had tried to locate this cousin's house in Taiping but failed . I am very thankful to God for finally I met him . Had I not attend this wedding kenduri I would not have met him .I also met another distant relative who came from Kuantan whom I have not for some years .He was our former neighbour when we were staying at Kg.Simpang Tiga Rungkup , Bagan Datok , Perak . When we were boys we used to go to the forest near our houses to trap birds and to go swimming at the streams nearby . Both of us are old now and like most people we are grandfathers today .Time runs fast and I feel it is even faster each day passes today . I have to catch up with the speed of time , otherwise I would be running out of time .

Now a days I make it a point that I must attend all wedding invitation especially those from realatives . Normally I would meet realatives whom I have not met for many years at these finctions .Thus we could renew our realationships and reminisce our old days . Those days when I was working I was kept busy with work as if it was all that matters . Now I realised that relatives are more important because when we retire all the friends and office colleagues whom we were once close to abandon us . I have seen and witness this on many occassions . They even do not attend our invitations for our kenduris . Recent proof was this cousin's wedding kenduri . She was Principal of a well known boarding school in Perak while her husband , a well known voluntary worker and yet not many people attended the kenduri . If it was not for the support from relatives ,attendance to the kenduri would have been very dismal .

We had to shelve our earlier plan to return home via Sabak Bernam ( where my mother wanted to take a look at her house ) because our daughter in-law's parents from Penang were coming to our house to visit their newly borned grand daughter . Before coming home we stopped at my wife's niece house in Shah Alam to inquire about the parcel from US sent by my sister in-law . We reached home at about 7.00 pm but by then our daughter in-law's father already left our house because he was in a hurry a catch a bus to Penang at KL terminal . However his wife stayed behind to spend the night at our house .

Another new member to our family - a baby girl .

On Thursday morning , 19th. June 2008 Azman's wife ,Shidah was admitted to the Dr.Razif Maternity Hospital , Taman Sri Andalas ,Klang not very far from our house . She was due to give birth on Friday . This would be our second grand child and a first child for Azman and Shidah . We were hoping for a boy , but we were grateful whatever God would give us . I preferred a boy because he would continue my off spring to persist in this world .

On Friday at about 6.00 am , Azman called me from the Hospital to inform me that his wife had given birth to a baby girl . Although , I was a bit disappointed , however I was grateful to Allah for He has given us a bouncing baby grand daughter . As a Muslim I believe that God knows what is best for us . Perhaps He would give us a grand son later . Since our elder daughter in-law , Izah ( Alisyah's mother ) is also pregnant , I hope this time she would give birth to a boy which would then be our first grand son . Amin .

After sending my grand-daughter, Alisya to school , I went to visit my daughter in-law at the private Hospital . Unfortunately , I could not see my new grand daughter because she was in the children's ward under the care of the nurses . I could only see her on my second visit, that was in the evening on that day .Although then she was just a few hours after being borned into this world she could already opened her eyes and was looking at us left and right . She looked like she was a smart baby girl .I hope she would grow up to be a smart lady and be useful to society .

Today , Saurday morning they were allowed to return home . And we welcome a new member of our family .

For this I am very grateful to Allah .

Yesterday ( 13th.June 2008 ) evening I received a telephone call from my brother Muttakin who informed me that our mother who was then staying with my sister Fadzilah at Sunway, PJ. had caused a commotion and demanded to be sent back to her home in Sungai Air Tawar , Sabak Bernam . I suspect she must have got some misunderstandings with my sister - over what matter , I do not know . I thought it would be unbecoming for us if we allow her to live alone by herself in the village since she is already very much handicapped due to old age and poor health . I then requested my brother Muttakin to bring her to my house the next day but he told me that he would be working on that day . So, I had no choice but to pick her up myself . On 14th.June 2008 morning accompanied by my wife I went to my sister's house in Taman Sunway , PJ and brought my mother to my house in Klang . From what I gather I came to understand that my mother felt lonely staying there, especially when my sister and my brother in-law were away at work . From morning till evening she had to stay in a locked house with no one to talk to and when my sister and her husband came home they would already be exhausted and had no time for her . Thus she felt neglected . I had earlier invited her to stay with me but she refused . I hope this time she would agree to stay with us .

The one day or so she has been with us here, I noticed that she is not the usual mother that I used to know . She is ageing fast and perhaps on the verge of getting senile ( I hope she would not be ). She love to talk to anybody and she would not sleep just to talk to some one . Luckily there are quite a number of us in the house and we would take turn to talk to her . Inspite of that I do not get irritated by her change in her behavior . I reckon that is the process of getting old and I too might be in the same boat as hers when I grow older . I hope my children and grand children then , would bear with me as what I am bearing today with my mother .

Any way I am a happy man today as I have completely reconciled with my mother . My relationship with her was on the rock for some time due to some petty misunderstandings due to no foul of mine .I guess God have answered my prayers . I have been praying incessantly to Allah so that she would realized her mistakes and would be nice to me again . For that I am very grateful to Allah .

P/S. In the evening my wife ,daughter Farin and I went to attend the wedding of my wife's cousin which was held at the Dewan Merak Kayangan ,Wisma Felda ,Jalan Gurney , KL. It was a grandeur ceremony attended by Tan Sris and Datuks . The only snag was , almost a quater of the tables were not filled up . Although my wife's uncle was a former senior Police officer , I could hardly see any serving or retired police oficers attended . True to most of my colleagues contentions that once you are retired , most of your comrade-in-arms would abandon you . You have to accept this reality , otherwise you would certainly be disappointed .

The feared night mare has really arrived .

Talk of a price hike of oil has been going on for some time . It was expected to be announced officially in August . As such I did not pay a heed to it . I thought I would cross the bridge when the time comes .In other words I did not want to be unduly worried over something that is about 2 months away . But when TV3 suddenly stopped it's programme at 6.30 pm yesterday to air the announcement by the PM himself of a price hike of petrol and diesel ,I was taken a back . What was really shocking was the price increases was not 20 or 30 sens per litre but a whopping 78 sens ( from RM 1.92 to RM 2.70 per litre ) which when calculated to the percentage , was more than 40% ( 40.6 % ) increase of the present .While diesel was increased by RM 1/- ( from RM 1.50 to RM 2.50 per litre ) . This would also mean that if you normally pay RM 100/- , after midnight yesterday ( 5thAugust 2008 ) , it would cost RM 140/- for the same amount of petrol . This is really a big chunk of my hard earned pension money , would have to be spent on petrol .

After Maghrib prayer yesterday ,I went to town with the idea of filling up my tank before it was incresed by midnight . I also asked my wife to fill up her tank . I went to 3 petrol stations but after 2 hours queeing up I still failed to get near to any one of them . They were all packed with cars .I had to abandon queeing up because of the call of nature and had to ease myself .I came home empty handed . Luckily my wife managed to fill up her tank after an hour . She was wise by going to the Sri Andalas Petrol station which was not so packed at that time .

As usual the increase in price of pertol and diesel would be followed by price increases of all other goods ,especially food items . As it is , without the price increase of petrol and diesel , prices of food items are already spiralling up by the day , what more with the price increase recentlty announced . What was feared -the night mare has really happened . The rakyat are really feeling the pinch . Every where I go especially when I talk to the kampong people or the low income earners in the towns whom I normally meet at the market , I could see the expression on their faces which tells their dissappointment with the government for not managing the country well .Most of them knows that Petronas is raking more than RM 600 billion profit yearly from the oil price hikes .They questioned how the Petronas money was spent to the benefit of the rakyat ?