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.

I have lost another relative and a good former neighbour.

On 26th. November 2008 I lost another relative , a childhood neighbour and a kind host to us each time we drop over her house when we came back to the village ,Kg.Batu 38, Sabak Bernam . Mak Hamid or Hamid's mother , we used to call her . It was a normal practice for us in the village to call some one older by the eldest son or daughter's name . Since Hamid was her eldest son , so we called her Hamid's mother .Her actual name was Hajjah Salasiah/Lasiah , if I am not mistaken . She was about 70 years old and was suffering from what we Malaysians used to call as the 3 in 1 disease ( heart , kidney and diabetic problems ) .I was told she was admitted to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, Klang for some time .Unfortunately I came to know about it only on 11th. October 2008 , even that was informed by some one through a slip of the tongue .

On 12th.October 2008 my wife and I went to the Tengku Ampuan Hospital and visited her at Ward No:7 . She was so happy to see us although she was in pain . Unexpectedly , she asked forgiveness from me and so did I . Before we left her we told her that we would be visiting her again and that we would pray for her recovery .I did not expect that she would die . After that I left for Sarawak . While in Sarawak I called my wife to ask her to visit her at the Hospital to check on her development . Subsequently my wife went the Hospital .Unfortunately , she was not able to see her as she did not know that she had been moved to another Ward . My wife did not pursue further because she thought that she could have been discharged from the Hospital . However on 21st Nov. 2008 I was told by a relative that she was still in the Hospital but was transfered to Ward 8 .On 24th. November 2008 my wife and I went to Ward 8 of the Hospital but was told by the nurse that there was no one by that name admitted into that Ward . So we came back feeling hopeless .

On 27th.November 2008 at about 7.30 am I received a telephone call from Hamid who informed us that his mother had passed away . We were so sad because we visited her only once in the Hospital and now she had passed away . At about 7.40 am we left our home and drove our car to the village to make our courtesy call before her ' last journey ' . We reached the house at about 9.30 am and saw the big crowd there . I had the opportunity to take part in the prayer for her last rites before her burial . Later, I also went to the cemetry and gave my helping hand in the burial process . As it was raining earlier , the cemetry was very muddy . My feet and my trousers was practically soaked with mud .Any way I was satisfied for I had given my helping hand for a good cause .

She was our last relative in the village . Before this I would normally never miss to visit her and her family each time we came back to the village . Now , that she is gone we have no one else to visit there . I guess we have no more reason to be back at the village .

May Allah bless her and may her soul be among the good souls in heaven .

Amin.

We visited Siti Nuralia Zahra at her maternal grand parent's house in Kajang today ( 23rd.Nov.2008 ) .She looks like her sister Alisya.

Today ( 23rd.Nov.2008 )Siti Nuralia Zahra is 7 days old. She looks cute today.

Azman receiving his MBA at UiTM Shah Alam.It was officiated by the Yang Di Pertuan Agong, Sultan Mizan.

Azman receiving his MBA from Yang Di Pertuan Agong , Sultan Mizan at the convocation of UiTM on 20th November 2008

Azman received his MBA from UiTM.

On 20th.November 2008 our son Azman received his MBA degree ( Master in Business Administration ) from the UiTM Shah Alam . Unfortunately , I was unable to attend the convocation ceremony due to some unavoidable reasons . Any way, I am glad that he has finally succeeded in achieving the highest qualification so far , from among his siblings . I hope his success would encouraged the others to follow suit . I have always stressed to my children that they should not stop studying after getting their first degrees . They should strive to get higher qualifications in order to make themselves more markettable . Further more our religion always stress to its followers to make learning a life long process . Infact , there is a hadith ( sayings of the Prophet Muhammad ( pbuh. ) ) that if one dies while in the process of learning ( whatever knowledge that is beneficial to mankind ) he or she would die a worldly martyr ( syahid dunia ) . Another hadiths says that one should pursue knowledge as far as China .The high regards put on those pursuing knowledge should augur young Muslims to better themselves and be competetive to face the challenging years ahead .

Congratulation to Azman .

Yet to be named third grand-daughter.

Cute grand-daughter Adrina

Bestowed with a third grand daughter .

On 15th.November 2008 at about 3.30pm. my wife received a telephone call from our son Aizad in Kajang informing that our daughter in-law Nurhaniza ( Aizad's wife ) had been admitted to the maternity hospital . At about 7.00 pm. Aizad called again to inform us that his wife had given birth to a baby girl . Thanks to Allah for bestowing upon us a bouncing baby girl - a second daughter to Aizad and Nurhaniza and a third grand daughter to us . As it was already late , we decided that we would visit her the next day .

On 16th.November 2008 ( Sunday ) at about 8.30 am. , my wife , son Azman and wife and I , left our home in Klang and proceeded to Kajang . We reached the hospital in Kajang at about 9.30 am . It was a private hospital situated on a row of shophouses in the middle of Kajang town . The ward was on the second floor . The baby girl looked almost exactly like her sister Alisya . From her features I could forsee that she would grow to be a tall lady like her sister . Nurhaniza told us that she would be discharged from the hospital in the afternoon on that day . I suggested she be named Siti Nuraliya . Any way the final decision would be theirs to make .

After about an hour at the hospital we went to Encik Agus's (Nurhaniza's father ) house not far away from there for a courtesy visit . We left his house at about 11.30 am. On the way we stopped at a Nasi Briyani Gam stall where we had lunch . The Briyani rice was superb but the price was a bit expensive considering the fact that it was only a makeshift stall where they do not have to pay high rental .A plate of chicken or beef briyani was RM 11/- while the mutton briyani was RM 13/- . Comparatively it was RM 8.50 and RM 11./ respectively at Nasi King at Taman Sri Andalas Klang .We reached home at about 1.30 pm.

We received a letter from UTM Skudai informing that our daughter Farin had been offered a place to continue her studies for the Masters programme in Electrical Engineering beginning July 2009 . Although I would prefer her to do her Masters overseas , I would also allow her to decide for herself . As the current economic situation in the country today is not so conducive and jobs are scarce , I would suggest for young able students to continue equipting themselves with knowledge and qualifications in order to be competitive both locally and internationally .

She seems to be living in a world of her own.

I am really fed up with my wife's recent attitude . Each time I ask her to follow me to a relative's house at least during the few remaining days of Eid ( Hari Raya ) she would give all sorts of execuses that she could find . The other day she refused to follow me visit a relative from my village who was admitted to Hospital for some cronic health problems . A few days earlier she also refused to follow me to our neighbour's house for the Hari Raya visit . She has a funny character that is difficult to explain and of late it is getting worst . If she refuses to mix with the neighbours , then who would we expect to help us in time of need . She seems to be living in a world of her own . The most she would only be nice to her siblings who comes to the house once in a blue moon . Her interests are completely the oppposite of mine . Even when comes to watching TV she refuse to watch programmes that brings knowledge, like News and documentaries . Her only favourite programmes are music and dramas . It is rather odd for a lady of her age to have interests like that . She would be infront of the TV till past midnight to watch such worthless programmes till she forgets her other important responsibilities . I have been telling her of her bad habits but it looks as if that I have been barking at the hard rock and she remains as stubborn as the hard rock of Gibraltar . Unlike when we were living in Shah Alam where she would frequent the mosques and suraus to attend lectures and classes and got herself involved in social/religious activities . Since living in Klang she had never been to the local mosques even for ' tarawikh ' prayers during the Ramadhan month . Infact there are quite a number of activities for women there .

Sometimes I became worried because we would be isolated by the local community if she continue to refuse to assimilate herslef with them . Not only that , I also pity her for the situation she is in , that is loneliness . I hope and pray she would realise her mistakes and mend them for her own good .

A day in Segamat , a night in Muar and a half day in Melaka .

On 25th.October 2008 I and wife left home for Segamat to attend a wedding .We once lived in Segamat for 6 years ( 1971 - 1977 ) . Our coming back to Segamat was in a way a come back to a place which had brought unforgetable memories to both of us . There I started my real life as a responsible man . Two of my elder children started their childhood lives there ,although they were borned in neighbouring Muar . That was because my wife felt safe to give birth near her mother who was then staying in Muar . Segamat was the place that has taught me and my wife the meaning of life , for it was there that we started our marriage life . I learned most of my policing work in Segamat where I served as a young energetic Investigating Officer . I served under three OCPDs , namely then DSPs Lau Yew Chong , Hj.Musa Hanafi and Tahir Jalil . Only Tuan Tahir Jalil is still alive today while the two formers had passed away . When I was transfered out of Segamat to Johor Bahru in 1977 , I almost cried , because I love the place so much .

The wedding which I was to attend was that of the grandson of former Sgt. Hamzah who was then the OCS ( Officer in charge of Police station ) of Segamat . Encik Hamzah served many years in Segamat till he retired as a Sub Inspector . Having a nice personality , he was well liked by many officers and men . I almost lost contact with him until a few years ago when he phoned me and came to my house in Shah Alam .He even came to my son Azman's wedding in our house in Klang . Since then he has been inviting me many times to come to Segamat . I had always wanted to come to Segamat but because the highway road that I normally travel was a bit far away from Segamat , made me bypassed it .Hamzah's wedding invitation was a good reason for me to be in Segamat again after almost 20 years .

We left Klang at about 9.00 am. using the highway road but on reaching Alor Gajah we swerved into the old road to go to Segamat passing through Tampin , Gemencheh and Gemas .We reached Segamat around 12.30 pm. and straight away went to Encik Hamzah's house in Jalan Pemuda .It was his new house a 1 1/2 storey bungalow . I remember when I came to his house in the 1970s , it was a two semi-D single storey houses one each for his two wives . We were seated at the VIP table and I had the opportunity to meet Hamzah's ' good friend ' , a timber tycoon whom we normally called him Ah Tong . This man had a colourful background .He started as a notorious gangster but turned to be a sawmiller and then a timber tycoon . His timber activities were mostly in Pahang but his sawmill was in Segamat . Today he is a respected Datok and a Tan Sri rubbing shoulders with all the VIPs . Just see how wealth play an important part in one's life . Hamzah maintained a good relationship with this man right from his gangster days and as such being indebted for all his ' asistances ' was given a certain amount of shares in the timber business . Thus he too benefitted from this man . Although I served for six years in Segamat I never had a good relationship with this man . I never liked his character and I never want to ' kowtow ' to people of that background .

After having our lunch we laft Hamzah's house . I then visited an old friend , Mr. Opin Kow at Bandar Baru Segamat .He is the only Chinese good friend that I still have in Segamat . He was also doing the timber business in Pahang but was not as rich as Tan Sri Datok Tan Beng Tong @ Ah Tong . Unfortunately , Mr Opin Kow was struck by a stroke and is now having difficulty to walk . We were there for about an hour . We then left for Muar where we intended to stay for the night .

The Segamat -Muar road was also a nostalgia for me because that was the road I used to travel for my Court cases in Muar . Those days driving on it was easy and we could race fast because there was hardly any vehicles on the road . I could reach Muar in an hour .From Segamat one has to pass through Jementah, Sagil ,Kangkar Baru and Sungai Mati towns . We reached Muar at about 5.00 pm. about a 1 1/2 hour . I had to go to Parit Pinang Seribu where my cousin, Sulaiman Hj.Abd.Samad whom I had not met for almost 30 years , lives .I had earlier SMS him that I would be coming to his house in the evening .It was probably fated for him to settle down in that place so far away from his home town in Teluk Intan, Perak . He is a retired Secondary School Head Master . Unfortunately he is not well for he is suffering from a range of diseases such as heart and kidney problems and diabetes .

We left his house at about 6.00 pm and checked in to Riverview Hotel in the town centre . At first we wanted to stay at the Rest House at Tanjong Mas but the complex was deserted and the business was no more in operation . We then came to the Muar Traders Inn but it was already full and had to content ourselves with the Riverview Hotel . I contacted an old friend Mr. Lim Keok who was staying nearby . He was obviously surprised that I really came to Muar because he thought I was just joking like before . At about 9.00 pm he came with Encik Hamdan , a Court Judge attached to the Housing Tribunal at the Ministry of Housing ,Kuala Lumpur .He was back in Muar for the week end and Deepavali long holidays . We went to an Ikan Bakar Food Court at Sabak Awor near Sungai Abong , just about a kilo metre away . My wife did not join us because she prefered to stay in the room . Any way I brought back mee goreng for her . The complex was built about 2 years ago . The food was superb and the place was nice and descent . I would certainly come to that place if I ever come to Muar again .

The next morning Mr. Lim Keok and his wife brought us to a 'makan shop' situated near to the junction of Jalan Sulaiman and Jalan Petrie , for breakfast . We had mee rebus and satay , a breakfast menu peculiar only to Muarians . We checked out from our hotel room at about 11.00 am. and proceeded to Melaka . We reached Melaka at about 12.30pm and straight away went to Taman Desa Baru at Bukit Baru where retired Chief Inspector Hj.Yahya lived . It was the wedding of his 31 year old daughter , a Doctor trained in Dublin Ireland . She is now lecturing at USM Kubang Krian and also doing her specialisation as a padaetrician .Hj. Yahya was with me in Port Dickson where I was then the OCPD . He was then OCS ( officer in charge of Police station ) Port Dickson . He was a good officer and active in social and religious works . There I also met my former subordinate officer in Shah Alam , retired Sub Insp. Aziz who is now living in Alor Gajah . It was he who recognised me first . I also met ASP Asuar Rahmat who was once with me when we were both Inspectors in Segamat . He is now seconded to the Majlis Keselamatan Negeri Melaka , under the Chief Minister's office . An enterpreneur ( he is rearing about 200 goats ) , is quite happy with what he has .

We left Melaka at about 1.00 pm . and reached Klang safely at about 3.30 pm.

A short holiday in Sarawak.

From the 17th.October 2008 till 20th.October 2008 I was in Sibu, Sarawak visiting an old friend , a Chinese guy but whom I regarded as a brother . He has been inviting me many times to go to Sibu , Sarawak where he is residing .A former Klangite who has left Semenanjong since 2002 . To sustain his survival there , he runs a food outlet in the town centre. His speciality is on Semenanjong menu and this probably appealed to some of the Sibu Chinese population . Although the income derive from the business is just a meagre one , it however is enough to sustain his daily expenses there .

One would wonder why a stranger like him would want to start a new life in a place like Sibu where the majority of the population are the Foochows . Well , according to Ricky the name he is popularly known , he first came to Sarawak in 2002 following a friend for a holiday . At the same time his personal life had a bad turn and his family was a total wreck . He was penniless and his wife and children deserted him . He then decided to remain behind in Sarawak in order to forget his pasts . At fist he stayed at the oil town of Bintulu but later decided to move to Sibu .

I first visited him in 2005 when he was residing in Bintulu . Thus this is my second visit .To make this visit possible I placed my booking with AirAsia about a month ago . Though officially the passage would cost only RM.78.00 but after all the plusses it came to RM 258.00 for the whole journey to and fro . However it is still cheaper than MAS .

I had earlier planned to stay in a hotel , but Ricky insisted that I stayed at his house where he was a tenant there . Incidentally the landlord was a divorcee and who happen to like Ricky . It can be considered that they were like husband and wife .I was given a room to myself complete with the air-conditioning .

In the evening we went to town .We also visited a timber tycoon's office situated not far from Ricky's shop . I was surprised when the timber tycoon told me that one of his children had won a JPA scholarship to study engineering in USA. At the moment he is preparing for the AAD US programme at the UiTM Shah Alam prior to departure for the US . Not only that , he also told me that this year about 60 students from Sibu alone got the JPA scholarships . I asked him why there were so many students from Sibu who won the scholarships and he told me that he was close to the SUPP (Sarawak United People's Party) leadership and that SUPP had demanded the scholarships from the Federal government in return for having won impressively in the last General Election . I thought to myself no wonder , there were less Malay/Bumiputra students who were awarded the JPA swcholarships this year . If the Sarawakians who got the scholarships were deserving poor students I would not mind also . In this case rich people such as the timber tycoon's children were given . This is certainly not fair .

On 18th.October 2008 we left Sibu on a river ferry to go to Daro , a small fishing town situated upstream the Rajang River . It was a 2 hour journey and the fare was RM.17.00 per person . It was an exciting trip on the largest and longest river of Malaysia .The people living along the river lead a simple life far away from the hassle and buzzle of city life .To them having enough to eat , a place to sleep and for the Ibans if there is enough supply of 'tuak' or cheap beer for them to be 'on the air' is enough to make them happy .They would do anything ( of course it include voting for the BN ) the government ask them to do . Pity them , their votes are so cheap .

From Daro we hopped into a van ( a taxi sapu ) to go to Matu-Matu . As there were no transport available there we asked the van driver to send us firther to Oya . For that , the driver asked us to pay RM.18.00 each . Matu-Matu and Oya were small sleepy towns . There was nothing interesting there . There were many acres of idle land which could have been made into good use for oil palm plantation or padi farming .

We were stranded in Oya for almost 5 hours . We were told that there would be a bus service from Oya to Mukah town at about 5.00 pm. Having waited for about 5 hours we began to get restless .There was no hotel there and if stranded there , it would be a great inconvenience to me especially for I need a decent place to ease myself and to perform my prayers .However through the persuasion of a Chinese shopkeeper in Oya , two Malay guys agreed to send us to Mukah for RM 40.00 on their Proton Saga car . It was only about 45 minutes drive .There was no need to argue over the high fee imposed on us for we need to go to Mukah badly in order to check into a hotel .Upon reaching Mukah ,we checked into a small hotel but decent enough for the night's stay .

Mukah is a small district where there is a District Office and the Police District Office . There are 2-3 banks and some shops . There is also a new town centre about 2-3 kilo metres away .

The next day after breakfast at about 7.30 am we checked out from our hotel and walked 2-3 kilo metres to the new town centre to board a bus back to Sibu . It was a long walk especially to me due to my knee pain .The ticket cost us RM 18.00 per person and it was a 4 hour journey . The road was terrible and the bus had to go slow due to that . I wonder how the government allow such a condition to persist for years without any effort to improve the situation . If it were in Semenanjong the people would have made noise and complain to the highest authority . There was a halfway stop over for about 15 minutes for the passangers to ease themselves . We reached Sibu at about 1.00 pm.

In the evening we went to a place called Cheku to eat durian . It was a durian season in Sarawak . I ate some . Unlike my friend Rcky , I am not a good durian eater .

After dinner , we just stayed in the house .

The next morning we had breakfast at a mamak shop where we had roti canai .( There are not many mamak shops in Sibu .I was told there are only 2 mamak shops there ). Then we went to the market to buy some fish to be brought back to Semenanjong for I did not want to come back empty handed .My wife would put up a sour face on me . I bought some salted terubok fish and ' bilin ' vegetable ( which looked like pucuk paku , but it's not ) which could not be found in Semenanjong . Ricky also bought me some buah rabai which is also could not be found in the Semenanjong .Unfortunately ,I did not like the strange fruit . As I was not feeling hungry , I skipped my lunch .

We left for the airport at about 6.30 pm . Having said goodbye to Ricky and his girlfriend at about 7.40pm I checked into the airport . I had my dinner in the plane . The plane touched down in KLIA LCCT at about 10.30 pm. My son Azman and his wife were waiting for me there .

I am grateful to God for the safe journey .

A modest Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

This year's Hari Raya Aidilfitri just like the previous years was a modest one . It began on the eve of Hari Raya evening when I and my son Azman paid a visit to my late father's grave in Seksyen 21 ,Shah Alam . We chose to visit the grave on the eve of Hari Raya because we were always caught in traffic jams when we visited the grave on Hari Raya day . This strategy proved to be worth while because it was a super easy passage and there wasn't many people . After reciting the ' Surah Yassin ' we gracefully made our way home .

On Hari Raya day ( 1st Oct.2008 ) I began with a visit to the Mosque nearby our house . I was among the few the early birds . I preferred to be early because I wanted to find solace by reciting the ' Takbir Aidilfitri ' and thus reminiscing my young days and the good old days with both my parents still around . I tried to remember the days when we were so happy to celeberate Hari Raya together although at that time we were living in pathetic condition .We made use of whatever we had and ate whatever our parents could afford . I could still remember we never had new clothes for Hari Raya and the only good clothes that we had were the two pairs of our school uniforms .Thus we never really celeberate Hari Raya like the children of today does like by going from house to house collecting angpows etc. We just stayed at home and played among ourselves ( brothers and sisters ) only . Perhaps that was the reason why most of us had that inferiority complex feeling .Although there were times when I felt miserably sad each time Hari Raya came , I always console myself by telling myself that my real Hari Raya would be when I achieved my ambition and be successful in my life . Most of us had that burning determination to change our lives for the better . All of us have successfully come out of poverty line through hard work and great determination . Thanks also to the government for providing us the opportunity of a good and sound education system which allowed us to be part of the process .

Few of my good old friends came to visit me in the house . In the evening relatives of my wife came in droves to make it a bit livelier .

On 5th.Oct.2008 morning we sent our daughter Fareen to the Klang Bus terminal for her to get back to her campus in UTM Skudai .