One day I may publish 'My Jottings' into a book .

My wife , son Azman and his wife and Adrina and even Alisya have gone to Johor Bahru on the 26th December 2008. They are expected to be back on the 28th.December 2008 .They were there to send Farin back to her campus after her one month semester holidays . This would be her final semester before she graduates from UTM. I am left alone in the house . I had earlier planned to be with them but because there is no one to look after the house I decided to remain behind .

Being left alone is nothing new to me because I was living alone for 3 years ( 1997 - 2000 ) in Port Dickson when I was the OCPD there . I am now quite used to be a lone ranger especially ever since I retired from my job . It is quite natural for a retiree to be so . Therefore he/she has to accept that fact . We must adapt ourselves fast to that new situation . Otherwise he/she would end up as some one with psychic problems . As for me , I am beginning to feel the joy and excitement being alone . I am free from disturbances and distractions and could concentrate on doing what I am interested in . I have finished reading a book on ' Growing Up in Trengganu ' or ' Guit ' by Wan A.Hulaimi or popularly known as Awang Goneng , who is based in London . Awang Goneng , a native of Trengganu have been living in London for more than 30 years .The book was actually a collection of his memories of Trengganu which was earlier written in his blog . His earlier intention was for the benefit of his children only who were borned and bred in London , to know of his early childhood in Trengganu . What I appreciate most about this book is the English language that he used. Being long in London and being involved in Journalism as a freelance journalist for so long there , his English is what I consider as superb . I have learned new words and his style of wrting . I hope one day I would publish my blog too into a book and would be informative not only to my children and grandchildren but also to the public as a whole .

I would strongly encourage my grand children to take up dentistry.

I think dentist today make much more money than the other doctors . Just imagine my daughter in-law went to the dentist recently to pull out a tooth and it cost her more than RM 150/- . A few weeks earlier my grand daughter Alisya went to the dentist to have her already dangling tooth pulled was also charged about RM 120/- . Last week my daughter Farin went to the dentist to have her teeth straighthened or realigned and the Dental Clinic charged RM 5,000/- . Besides that she has to wear that crazy looking iron cast on her whole set of teeth for 2 years . She also has to visit the clinic every month for the periodic check-ups during that 2 year period . At first I thought she could have been cheated by the dentist but after inquiring with other clinics , I found out that , that was the normal present day fee . I think the fee was a little bit exorbitant charged by the dentist . Something must be done by the government to control the escalating fees by the dentists and health clinics . Pity the poor people and pensioners like me . We are not business men who can make tons of money every time a contract is awarded . Even the business men today are badly hit by the present day economic down turn . This is like day-light robbery by the dentists . Any way , since I have not spent much on Farin for her tertiary education , I thought it would be unfair if I were not to allow her have her teeth realigned . Reluctantly , I had to part with my hard earned RM 5,000/- for the sake of my daughter's ' looks ' .

If only I have another child , I would encourage him/her to take up dentistry . Unfortunately I have no more . Instead , I would strongly encourage my grand daughter Alisya or her sister Alia or even her cousin Adrina to take up the challenge . Not that I am a ' mata duitan ' . It is just that I am a little bit sore with the Dental Clinic .

The gathering of the Jamak family at Puspanitapuri,Putrajaya.

The gathering of the Jamak family .

On 20th.December 2008 morning my wife , daughter Farin and I went to the Puspanitapuri, at Precint 10, Putrajaya and attended the gathering of the Jamak family . Actually , I am not a member of that family but came into it by virtue that I married my wife who is a direct decendent of that Bugis family . She is the 4th. generation of that family while my children are the 5th generation . It was quite a big crowd with members who came from all over the world . There were those who are now settled in the US, UK , Australia ,New Zealand ,Brunei, Singapore and Saudi Arabia . There were prominent people in the Civil Service and the corporate sectors .The most prominent one was the late Tan Sri Taib Andak , the former Chairman of FeLDA . Others include Tan Sri Jaafar Abdul , the former Deputy IGP ,Dato Sri Farouk Abdullah , the son in-law of the Sultan of Perak and many more .

Haji Abdul Jamak b.Majok was a Bugis sea-farer from South Sulawesi,Indonesia . His grandfather was by the name of Menatah . Hj.Abd.Jamak b. Majok and his father Majok left South Sulawesi to find a new life in the Malay archipelago . Having reached Johor they settled down at Bukit Mor ,Muar ,Johor around the year 1800 .At that time there was a Bugis/Malay Kingdom of Padang at Bukit Mor . Jamak b. Majok married Hajjah Aminah ,the daughter of another Bugis warrior Derima @ Dinwa and then settled at Parit Bakar,Muar . They had 10 chidren viz. 1) Hj.Mohamad 2) Hj.Mahmood 3) Hj.Andak 4) Hamidon 5) Safiah 6) Hjh.Khadijah 7) Zainab 8) Hj.Abd.Majid 9) Hassan 10) Hussin. My wife belongs to the Andak family which is the biggest among all .

The programme arranged was from morning till evening . There was a karaoke for members to show their talents in singing , poco-poco dance , magic show and lucky draws . However , we left the venue at about 3.00 pm.

Another cousin passed away .

Just now ( at about 11.00 pm 18th.Dec.2008 ) I received a call from a cousin ,Yassin Mukri of Shah Alam who informed me that another cousin ( a lady ) of ours had passed away in the evening at Kg.Selekoh , Bagan Datok , Perak . She was around 70+ . I last visited her on the 27th.Oct.2007 , about a year ago . She was was already very sick then due to old age . I think she did not even recognised me . Actually she was brought up by my paternal grandmother and so I used to bump into her whenever I came to my grandmother's house which was just besides ours . However , our relationship was a little bit apart when at the age of 10 , I followed my family to live in Sabak Bernam ,Selangor . After that I seldom saw her but only heard that she got married and moved out of my grandmother's house to live with her husband a few miles away .Since it was already late and the funeral would take place next morning , I do not think that I would make it to attend the funeral . Any way I recited the ' alfatihah ' and prayed that her soul would be placed among the good souls in Heaven . Amin .

Lately it seems that one after the other ' people known to me had passed away . Well , that is life - ' From Him we come and to Him we shall return '. No one could escape death . Our beloved Prophet Muhammad pbh. died at the age of 62 . If we are lucky we could reach 70 or even 80 . Only the few could reach 90 and above .Hah , thinking of it I begin to feel cold in my feet . There is not much time left for me to make preparation to be judged by the almighty . I must renew my resolution to be a good Muslim and to fulfill my all obligation to Him .

Never did I know that I would loose a cousin so soon - 12 days after I met him .

Ever since the sms system was known to me , it has been my practice to wish my relatives and friends on festives and special occassions via it . It is so convenient , fast and cheap . So on the eve of Hari Raya Aidil adha this year , I sent quite a number of smses . Among them was the sms which I sent to my cousin Hj.Sulaiman B.Hj.Abd.Samad who was living in Parit Pinang Seribu in Muar , whom I had visited on the 25th October 2008 . I was so surprised and stunned when I received the sms reply from that phone number but sent by his wife informing me that my cousin Hj.Sulaiman had passed away on 6th.November 2008 , 12 days after I visited him . I was not informed of his death till I received that return sms reply from his wife .

At the same time I am grateful to Allah for with His blessing I was able to visit my late cousin on 25th. October .( Refer to the 27th.October 2008 of my blog entry , entitled ' A day in Segamat , a night in Muar and a half day in Melaka ' ). I was so eager to visit him because I had not met him for almost 40 years . We had planned to visit him many times before , but had postponed it due to some unavoidable reasons . When I met him on 25th.Oct.2008 he was already sickly but I did not expect that he would die so soon . We talked for almost an hour reminiscing the good old days of our childhood when we were living as neighbours in Simpang Tiga , Rungkup, Perak . He gave us a good meal of lontong and satay. Since it was still during the Muslim month of Syawal , it was like a visit during the Hari Raya . He asked us to put up the night in his house that night but since we had other plans we had to turn down his offer .We parted that evening but promised him that we would visit him again . Never did I know that it was to be our last meeting .

I could only pray to Allah so that his soul would be among the good souls in Heaven . Amin .

Siti Nuralia Zahra on 6th.December 2008

Obviously she looks matured than before .

Siti Nuralia Zahra is 21 days old today.