Busy with the Money Changers.

I have been visiting the money changer's shop quite often lately . Unfortunately the values of the euro and pound sterling keep on escalating .I would then postponed buying either the euros or the pounds thinking that it would improve the next day . Unfortunately each changing days resulted in the increase of the value of the Euros and the Pounds . It is less than a forthnight before our trip to Dublin . It looks like we could not wait any longer and would have to buy the euros before it continues to escalate further . Since our stay in London would only be for 3-4 days I think 1,000 pound would be sufficient . Besides we could make use of the credit card . Perhaps Eu. 3,000 - Eu.3,500 would be enough for us to spend in Europe . I do not think that we would easily succumb to being lured by the so-called cheap sale gimmick . While Eu.10 would sound cheap to the European earners but to us it would almost amount to RM 50 . We have to always keep in our mind that Eu.10 is not RM 10 . Well , if there are actually really cheap things ( after taking into consideration the exchange rate ) I would not discourage my family to purchase them .

Our main problem during this journey , I foresee would be finding halal food . I may not be very particular about it , but my wife would .She would not want to dine in a restaurant that is not certified halal . God has said in the Quran that Islam is not meant to make things difficult for it's followers . We would be in a state of ' darurah ' and so we should use our initiative to make good of whaever is available as long as it does not go overboard .

God has answered our prayers .

We were on our way to Maideen Supermarket, Subang Jaya yesterday ( 1st.May 2009 ) to buy shoes for my wife for our trip to Dublin , when I received a sms from our daughter Eileen in Dublin, Ireland informing us that she had passed her final medical exams . We were so happy and thanked God for He has answered our prayers for our daughter's success in her final exams . We were so worried about her because from what we knew she was not very consistent in her studies and was in the habit of doing things in the last minute . That was why I have been grumbling to my wife about her redezvous trips to Europe etc. during her varsity holidays . I would have prefered her to concentrate on her studies rather than waste the precious time unnecessarily . Infact till prior to receiving this good news ,we were not very sure , the planned trip to Dublin would be a happy one . We have been performing ' hajat prayers ' for our two daughters almost every other days especially when it was very near to their exams . Incidentally , our youngest daughter Farin , is also in her final year of Electrical Engineering studies at UTM Skudai .We were less worried about Farin because she was quite consistent in her studies .

With Eileen's success , this means she would return to Malaysia soon to serve the government who has been sponsoring her studies in Ireland . I am glad I have fulfilled my late father's wish to ensure that one of his grandchildren become a doctor . Although my late father did not tell me literally of his wish , from his conversation ( because he often talked highly of a doctor and was of the opinion that a doctor was a noble profession ) I knew that he would be very happy if one of his grand children could become one .I am sure if he is alive today he would be very happy to know of this news . Our daughter Eileen would be the first in the family on my side to be a doctor although she has a cousin sister on my wife's side 5 years her senior already a doctor . Now , we can look forward for an enjoyable and memorable trip to Dublin and Europe next month .

I reckoned I have performed my responsiblity as a father in ensuring that our daughter Eileen achieved success in her studies . Next , would be her own to chart her future . As parents we could only advise and give our opinion but we would not want to interfere on her future decisions . I am sure she knows what to expect as a doctor in Malaysia especially during the housemanship period . I can only say that it would be very challenging , requiring a lot of patience , diligence , tactness and hard work in order to be a successful doctor . What more today , the public demand a high quality service and they would not hesitate to make complaints if the services redered are not up to their expectations .

Our youngest daughter Farin's last paper would be on 5th.May 2009 and we hope she would score high marks in order to achieve the target set by the University of Sheffield for her to do her Masters programme in September . I also hope she would proceed to do her PhD. later on . That would also mean , it would give us the opportunity to be in Sheffield on her convocation in the years to come . Insyallah .

We would be going to JB on 9th.May 2009 to help her drive her car back to Klang .

Finally I would like to thank God again for answering our prayers and hope He would continue to bestow us with goodness . Amin .