Holiday at Genting Highlands.

On 7th. February 2009 morning we followed our son Azman and his family to Genting Highlands for a short holiday . We were also accompanied by our grand daughter Alisya . It has been a long time since my last visit to Genting . I think it was about 10 years sinve our last visit . We parked the car at Goh Tong Jaya and boarded the cable car to the highlands . It was very exciting while in the cable car especially after a very long time like us . However ,at some points I had to close my eyes because I could not stand the sight of height .

On reaching the highlands we had to walk some distance up and down the escalators before we reached our hotel . The rooms had been pre-booked by Azman some times ago . After a short rest we came down to please our grand daughters . At our age we did not find it any more exciting to be at the various play grounds . Sometime I felt ashamed being there because that was not the right place for elderly people like us . Worst still if we were to step into the casinos . The only exciting part was the 3 dimensions cinema . I felt so close to the actors as if we were at the scenes ourselves . I and wife watched the films twice . We were also on a boat ride along the man made canal .

By Maghrib , we were already in our room and did not come out again . Azman and his family and Alisya came out again till almost midnight . While in the room I received a call from my brother Muttakin informing me that our brother Sam @ Samson ( my 3rd.younger brother ) was admitted into the ICU at UHKL with heart problem . I rang up brother in-law Makmor and sister in-law ( Samson's wife ) to confirm the news .

The next day afternoon we checked out from our rooms . On the way home we stopped over at the UHKL . We visited my brother Sam who was already out of the CCU . He told us that the doctor might have to perform ' ballooning ' on his blood vessels . The hospital needed RM 5000/- as deposit before they could do anything . I told him to get our mother to pay because she was then loaded . The money was from our late father's coconut plantaion . Sam was a chain smoker and this could have caused his lung problem .

This brother Sam ,was quite a well off person . Infact at one time he was earning more than me . His weakness was he did not plan his future . He got into trouble when he ventured into the hotel/challet business in Pahang , a business that he did not have any experience . He go cheated and and was indebted . His house in Ampang was mortgaged and when he failed to service his loan , it was auctioned off by the bank . He is now without a house . However he and his family are lucky for they have a roof above their heads to stay ie. the house belonging to his late father in-law in Kg.Pandan. Well , perhaps it was fated this had to happen .

New Year 2010

1st January 2010 was just like any other days .Nothing special .One thing that I realize was that time flies very fast these days . I can't beleive it that I would be 63 years old on 10th. July 2010 , 7 months from today .This age is very crucial . I do not know how many more years I would live in this world. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad once said that the majority of his ummah would live between 60 - 70 years , although there would be some who would live longer or even shorter than that . He himself died at the age of 63 years .

Not that I am afraid to die because every body would die one day , any way . The questions I used to ask myself were am I ready to face God ? Have I made enough preparations - in that sense , have I done enough good deeds to mankind ? Of course I have repented on all the sins that I have committed and determined not to repeat them . That is not good enough . I must fullfill all my obligations to Him . I must also go for my Haj for the second time in order to rectify whatever mistakes I could have done while performing my first Haj . This time I want to make sure that I will not make any mistake so as to enable for my Haj to be accepted as a Haj Mabrur . I want to come back as clean as the piece of white cloth .

Any way who am I to say that . I am just a tiny black dot in the face of Allah . He is the most almighty ,most beneficient , most gracious and most merciful and we have no say .The most we could do is appeal and pray .

The demise of my mother in-law .

We had planned to go to Johor Bahru on the 12th December 2009 . We wanted to send our daughter Farin to go back to her campus after a month long semester break of her Masters programme. We had to send her because we did not want her to drive her Kembara all by herself . However due to my wife's eye disease ( the normal sakit mata ) ,she decided to postpone our trip a day later , ie. on the 13th December hoping that it would then subside .

At aboout 11.20 pm 12th December 2009 while I was in my room upstairs surfing the internet to look for a good makan place in JB ,suddenly I heard my wife cried loudly downdtairs .I thought something must have gone wrong downstairs . A few seconds later she burst into my room crying while informing me that her mother had passed away in JB . Immediately , I told my wife to pack up and and we would start on the journey that night itself .At first she told me that we should go only the next morning . I then told her that even if we were at home we would not be able to sleep that night and we might as well drive slowly .

At about 12.00 midnight we ( the 3 of us ) began our journey to JB . It was a slow drive because I was driving an 8 years old Kembara and I was worried of it's engine. We stopped over at Pagoh to ease ourselves and a quick cup of tea before resuming our journey . There I realised there was a peculiar sound from the engine . However we proceeded to our destination while praying all the way to Allah for His protection . At about 06.15 am we reached my mother in-law's place . After performing my Subuh prayers , I went inside my mother in-law's room to recite the Surah Yassin , verses from the Holy Quran . I manage to read it 3 times and prayed for Allah's s protection during her sojourn to the next world .

My mother in-law was a soft spoken , kind lady who never said bad things about others , no matter how bad she/he was . She had been nice to me right from the days when I was still not well off . As far I could remember nothing that she ever did that could have hurt me . I have the fullest respect for her and infact my respect for her was more than that to my own mother . Her demise would certainly have a profound effect on me .With her passing away , I have an unfulfilled wish , that is to bring her to our new house in Klang .Each time I visited her she would tell me that she would like very much to come to our house but when I invited her to come she would tell me to wait when her health would get better .

She died at the age of 88 , an age that I consider long enough for one to live in this world . All my sisters in-law except my wife and her eldest sister were at her bedside when she passed away peacefully . I was told that a few hours earlier she did ask for my wife and they told her that she would come only next week . Obviously they did not get the right information from my wife . Moreover I believed ( as she has always been in that habit ) my wife wanted to make a surprise visit to my mother in-law . This time it was not my mother in-law who was in for a surprise but instead she was .

Our sons Aizad and Azman and their families and our daughter Eileen who managed to get a compassionate leave from the Hsopital ,arrived at about 10.00 am just in time for them to pay their last respect to their late grandmother .

All the religious rituals were done in the house itself attended by close family members . At about 11.20 am 13th December 2009 my mother in-law was laid to rest at the Muslim cemetry at Jalan Majidee, Johor Bahru .

At about noon we sent our daughter Farin to her campus in Skudai . On the way at Skudai town, we stopped at a workshop to make an appointment to have Farin's car repaired . We were told that the piston was faulty and had to be replaced and it would cost us a few hundred bugs .

Although I had earlier planned to stay in JB for a day or two , I however decided to put it a side and got back to Klang that day itself together with our son Azman . My wife decided to remain behind .We left JB at about 5.00 pm and reached Klang at about 10.00 pm.

Family reunion - small open house

I really did not know what prompted me to hold a small Hari Raya open house cum a family reunion in my house this year .We had it on the 11th.October . Perhaps it was just that I wanted to call the neighbours for a small feast. Normally , my wife would put on a blank face each time I bring out the suggestion to have an open house . She would find all sorts of excuses to avoid having it . It was so difficult to erase her negative attitude . As a result this was our first open house since we moved in to Klang .

I took the opportunity to invite my siblings and their families too . I was so delighted all of them came except two of them . Any way , one of them visited us on Hari Raya day and he might felt that it would be redundant on him to come again . The other brother was living in Seremban and had separated from his wife . He probably wanted to avoid bumping into his ex-wife . ( Incidentally his ex-wife came ) . I was more delighted when my mother too came . ( My mother is now staying with my sister in Puncak Alam ) . I hope whatever rifts within my family would have been mended . It was most disgusting to have rifts within the family for some petty reasons .

Almost all the food that were laid on the table were finished . There was no wastage and we were very glad .

Paying respect to the elderlies.

It has been the tradition for younger people to pay respect to the elderly relatives by visiting their houses during the Hari Raya Idilfitri . It is also a means to renew relationships whom now a days we seldom meet due to our own commitments . I do admit that I too had failed to do so for the past number of years due the nature of my job where I do not have the time to spare for such activities . However since my retirement I have made efforts to mend my mistakes . I would not fail to attend weddings of relatives or some one is sick or some one is dead no matter how far their locations are . I realized that I need their support in the future especially if I were to hold such festivities . Without their support my festivities would be left without many in attendance . Now a days ,I just could not depend on my former colleagues or my former subordinates . That is a normal situation for some one who is retired . Through the years of not getting in touch they tend to forget us .

On 3rd.October I and wife visited my aunty in Bukit Damansara ,KL whom we have not visited for many years since my uncle passed away . She is among the few remaining aunties that I have in this world . From there we then proceeded to Ampang to visit another uncle but unfortunately she was not at home . After Zohor prayer we then came to my sole living uncle in Ampang . He ( my mother's sole brother ) is more that 70 years old but surprisingly he does not look that old . From there we then came to Ampang Jaya and visited my cousin , a former ' ustaz '. He is also about 70 years old . Except for his knee problem , he is as healthy as a horse . His wife is also a former ' ustazah ' . Something special about this lady is that she could heal the sick of course with the will of Allah .

The whole days was spent visiting the elderlies and we enjoyed it very much .

I and wife with our 3 grand-daughters on Idilfitri day.

Idilfitri 2009

This years's fasting month ( 20th.August )was a quiet one . Due to my knee problem I could attend only a few days of Tarawikh prayers . I tried to attend for a few days but due to the excruciating pain on my knee I had to stop it . Any way I did not miss the prayers which I did in my room . Of course I did it while seated on a chair .

This year's Eid ( 20th September )was done in a very moderate manner . This was mainly due to the appreciating increase in prices of things especially household goods . As a pensioner I could feel the pinch of it's effect . Apart from that we had just spent almost RM 30,000/- on our Dublin and Europe Tour in June . To compensate that we had to reduce our expenditure in order to get back to our feet .

Unlike the previous years I visited my father's grave on the eve of Hari Raya . This was to avoid congestion at the grave site on the Hari Raya day .I was accompanied by my son Azman and daughter Farin .

Any way all my children were back for the Hari raya .Inspite of all the ' dificulties ' we enjoyed this special day and thanked Allah for all that He has bestowed on us .

Our daughter Farin received her Electrical Engineering degree.

On 17th.Aug. 2009 I and wife proceeded to JB to attend our daughter Ezreen farina's convocation at University Teknologi Malaysia . Earlier in June her elder sister Eileen Farhana received her Medical degreen in Dublin . Upon arrival we checked in at the Sri Malaysia Hotel . In the evening we visited my mother in law .

The next morning we came to the University to attend the convocation . The crowd had arrived earlier and we found it a little bit difficult to get a parking space . Once inside the hall we were told to put on the health mask in order to prevent the speread of H1N1 which was at it's peak then in the country. The mask were given free to each and everyone of us . It look as if we were in a different planet because of the health mask that we wore . The ceremony was officiated by the Sultanah of Johor who was the University's Chancellor . Unlike the convocation that we attended in Dublin , it was a lengthy process .

Our daughter Farin received a Secod Class Upper Honours degree in Electrical Engineering and the Dean's award for her last semester .We were proud of her achievement because she managed to do it without having to go through her Matriculation . She was one of those Express MARA programme scholar . She was then just 20 years old . After the convocation was over we came back to our hotel . We stayed another night at that hotel .

The next morning we left JB for home .

A frustrating experience with MARA - yet Ezreen Farina proceeded to do her Masters in Electrical Engineering.

Despite of getting 2nd class Upper Honours degree ( Electrical ) , a 7 band in IELTS , 3 simultaneous Deans award and an unconditional offer of a place at Sheffield University to do her Masters degree in Electrical Engineering , our daughter Farin was unable to do so because of MARA's reluctance to sponsor her. True to many's belief that now a days MARA is a very unreliable agency . It was just merely rhetoric talk by the BN govt. to help the Bumiputeras . In actual fact it was just ready to give it's helping hands only to to the UMNO cronies . Since I do not belong to that category, they gave all sorts of excuses . Infact I even wrote to Dato Shafiee Afdal ,the Minister in charge of MARA . The agency played ' wayang kulit 'with me . The Minister gave a 'sokong' letter but the MARA Director replied that it was under consideration . Till the end ( 10th Sept. was the date when my daughter was suppose to report to Sheffield ) there was no positive reply and I told my daughter Farin to forget about it . She did not apply the JPA scholarship because JPA put a condition that it would only sponsor JPA scholars while my daughter was a MARA a scholar .Luckily she was offered a place to the Master's degree programme at University Teknologi Malaysia , Skudai ( her alma mater ) which she began attending on 1st July 2009 .

In the mean time she applied for a fellowship from the University Malaysia Perlis .She was successful in the interview and was offered the fellowship via a letter but was told to wait for the official offer letter . Till today she did not receive the official offer letter and the contract . When she contacted the University for clarification the university seem to be in the dark about it .

Fed up with that she applied for another fellowship , this time from the University Technical Malaysia , Malacca . Like the earlier case she was successful in the interview and was informed by phone that she was offered the fellowship .She is waiting for the contract from UTech.Malaysia, Melaka . I hope this time what had happened earlier would not repeat itself .

Eileen - to report to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital.

On 18th June 2009 our daughter Eileen received a telephone call from the Ministry of Health asking her to attend an induction course for a week in Lumut before beginning her housemanship .She would be informed of her posting at the end of the course . In the mean time I had already contacted the Ministry of Health through a friend of mine to have her posted in Klang which is near to our home .

On 21st June 2009 I and wife with our daughter Eileen left our home to go to Lumut . We went by the coastal road via Sabak Bernam and Sitiawan . We reached Lumut about 2 hours of driving . There was nothing much to see in Lumut except the sea .After dropping Eileen at one of the Holiday Resort where the course was supposed to be held , we left Lumut in the afternoon and reached home in the evening .

On 25th June 2009 Eileen called up my wife from Lumut and informed her that she would be posted at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital,Klang. She was asked to report on 27th.June. Eileen came home on 26th June by bus which was provided by the Ministry .

On 27th June morning she reported to the Hospital but was told to come again on 29th June when the Medical Officer in charge would be around .So, from then on she began her career . I wish her luck and all the best .

On the extreme left is our daughter Eileen Farhana with her graduate mates.

Marble's Arch, London




London Eye







Outside Buckingham Palace

Holiday Villa,London.










Our room the Alpha Suite,at Holiday Villa.











Inside our room.

At Oxford Street,London.

Walking back to our hotel after some shopping.

Strolling the streets in Amsterdam.

Busy Amsterdam.

River cruising in Amsterdam.





Also showing a replica of the ship used by the Duch to invade Malacca in 1641.



The building by the river used to store spices obtained from the East Indies.

Places in Paris.

Places in Belfast,North Ireland.

One of the landmark in Belfast.

There is also a Belfast Eye.

By the river in North Ireland.

At the Giant Pass in North Island.

Graduation Day for our daughter ,Dr.Eileen Farhana at UCD Dublin.

Walking around Dublin City.

Our two grand daughters, Alisya and Adrina at the KLIA before our departure to Dublin.