Farin's internship at Jtekt Corporation,Shah Alam.

Last Friday ( 7th.April 2008 ) our daughter Farin came home for the week end . She told us that the purpose of her coming home was to survey the factory where she would be doing her internship for about two months during her long semester holidays . She would be having her internship from 5th.May till 30th.June at the Jtekt Corporation factory at Subang Hitech Industrial zone in Shah Alam . It is an international Japanese company ( with branches all over the world ) specialising into making automatic steering for all types of cars. She got the place for her internship there through the good office of my cousin who happen to work as an electrical engineer at the factory . This cousin of mine is a graduate from a Japanese university in Tokyo .

Our daughter Farin actually has got another year to go at the University of Technology,Malaysia , Skudai , before she could get her degree . She would be graduating the same year as her sister Eileen in Dublin . I feel she is too young to work because she is just 20 years old and 21 years when she would get her degree . I would prefer her to continue her studies for her Masters degree at one of the universities in UK/Europe before she is really ready to work . Any way the final decision is her's to make .

On Sunday morning we brought her to the factory in Shah Alam for her to have a look at the location .In the evening we sent Farin to the Klang Bus station for her to get back to her university.

At the end of the month we would be travelling to Johor Bahru by bus . We would be driving Farin's car back to Shah Alam .

The big surprise.

On 6th.April 2008 my mother came to our house for the first time . She was brought by my brother Muttakin who came to visit her at my youngest sister's house in Taman Sunway, Petaling Jaya . My brother invited her to his house which is just within a walking distance from mine . Infact my brother had been trying many times to invite her to his house but all failed . We were suprised of the sudden change in her attitude because normally she would not want to come to our houses . She prefered to stay in our sisters's houses . Then I remember that Allah must have answered my prayers . I have been praying daily to Allah so that she would change her negative perceptions on us and be fair to us all .My mother stayed for the night at my brother's house but had lunch at my house the next day . After lunch I persuaded her to go to another of my brother's house in Meru to which she finally relented . My brother Muttakin brought her to the house before sending her back to Taman Sunway . For this development I could only thank Allah .

I always believe that if we pray to Allah and be sincere about it , whatever we ask for would finally be granted by Him . On many occasions God has always been kind to me . Almost all my prayers has been answered . I am very grateful to Him and I am determined that I would not shirk my duty to Him nor would I want to commit any more sin . Whatever sins that I had committed I have repented and determined not to repeat them . I want to devote the remaining years of my life to Allah .

Tired of our tenant .

We are almost exhausted today .We went to Shah Alam to paint our old house in Seksyen 11,Shah Alam . The tenant had moved out after about 7 years of stay there . We had headache caused by this tenant . The house was almost a total wreck when they left . We regretted having rented the house to this particular family .It was rented cheap ,just RM 750/- per month .Where could they get a double storey terrace house for that amount in Shah Alam . The tenant promised to look after the house well ' as if it was theirs ' . That was the exact word uttered by the tenant when he took the house key from us about 7 years ago .We thought it would be okay since they were going to look after the house well . They ' really treated the house as theirs ' which cost us more than RM.15,000/- for the repair . We have been too nice to them and they took advantage of us . All the toiltes were clogged due to things like plastic , belt and even broken bottles were thrown into the toilet bowl . Doors of the bedroom were broken due to force entry perhaps because they had lost the room key .Water from the tank above our house were flowing like nobody's business because the lever ball was faulty and the tenant never care to replace it or at least inform us .The front compound was dug up where they built a stupid looking pond to keep their fish . The condition was so pathetic . I could not control myself but to curse the tenant every time I visited the house. It's the worst tenant that we ever had and we regretted very much having rented the house to him . Worst still he refused to pay rental for the last 2 months which he insisted should be deducted from the 2 months deposit . As such we could not charge him anything for the defects done to our house .

Thus for the past 2 weeks or so we have been coming to the house to do some cleaning up and painting to make it look presentable for the next prospective tenant or buyer . We intend to sell the house because we feel it is much worthwhile if we invest the money into Amanah Saham which would spare us all the headaches .

Signs of getting old.

My teeth have been dropping off one by one almost once every other 2-3 months . Normally it began by having gum pains ,then swollening of the gums and subsequently followed by the loosening of the tooth before it finally peeled off . I am now left with only half the number of teeth of what I should have . The vital teeth whose function is to chew the food are now gone and I am now finding it difficult to digest food especially the hard one . As such I have lost the joy of having food and naturally the amount of food that I take in is significatly reduced . Before, besides the three main meals ( breakfast, lunch and dinner ) I would have titbits in between but today that practice have ceased from my daily practices . I used to hear from my peers who used to say , " My friend , enjoy your food as much as you can , before the time comes when you cease to enjoy it any more " . Now I realized what they told me is absolutely true .

Age is really catching up with me although I am just only 61 ( in July 2008 ) . I feel I am not as active as before and easily got worn out . That is perhaps the sign of getting old . One by one Almighty God would take away from us the joy ( kenikmatan ) that we usually enjoy , when age is catching up with us . Then we must realize and recognise the will of Allah and therefore we must go back to Him for guidance for our next long journey to Heaven . All that we have on this earth is meaningless if we do not prepare ourselves for that eternal life . Only 3 things that would help us go through ;-

1. Charity that we have given which continue to benefit mankind,

2. Beneficial knowledge that we have imparted,

3. Supplication ( doa ) by our righteous /God fearing ( solleh ) children.

I have nothing much to depend on the 1st and 2nd subjects as my contributions are not that significant . But I do greatly depend much on the 3rd subject if I could count on my children . I do not know how much my children love me and appreciate what I have given them or would they treat it ( my contribution to them ) as mere fatherly responsibility . If that is the case , it would be the saddest thing that could ever happen to me and I would die feeling dejected . However , I hope Allah would not allow that to befall me . Amin .

Shocking result of the 12th.Malaysia's General Election.

Result of Malaysia's 12th.General Election was a shocking one for most Malaysians . I was just hoping for more oppositions in Parliment but I did not expect for Penang ,Kedah ,Perak amd Selangor to fall into the opposition control . I am sure the opposition parties too did not expect to win that big and what more to capture those 4 states . Any way the decision of the electorates has been made and all of us should respect the decision . After all that is democracy is all about . There must be reasons why the people including those in the rural areas are so fed up with the BN government and to have turned against it although they have been known to be staunch supporters of BN . Infact there was a special saying that was commonly used to describe the BN's strength which says ," Even if they put a Monkey to stand as a BN candidate in a rural area , the Monkey would have won " . Obviously today that saying does not apply anymore as seen from the result of the recent General Election . The rural people of today have grown up and they are politically concious of what is going on this country and they could not be taken for granted anymore .

The BN leaders have been too arrogant and overconfident of their win . The people have punished them for their mistakes and they need to reorientate themselves to the new situation in this country in order to win over the confidence of the people . Perhaps God too have punished them for their sins .

What matters most to most of us now is to be able to live peacfully and if possible not to suffer the ever increasing effects of inflation anymore .

Malaysia goes to the poll on March 8.

In about a week's time Malaysians would once again be given the chance to exercise their rights to choose their representatives either in Parliment or in the State Legislative Assemblies. Unfortunately the campaignings are not as incessive and extensive as in the previous General Elections inspite of the fact that this time the campaigning period is the longest , 13 days .This is perhaps because the parties taking part already knows of the outcome of this General Election .

With due respect , the Malays especially , still are so tied down to their so called savior party , the UMNO .This is perhaps due to the incessant brainwashing by the government via the prime medias such as the TV and the newspapers . Even during this campainging period of this General Election the BN has been misusing the TV and the radios which are publicly funded , to campaign for their party . This is definitely a blatant misuse of public fund . Don't the right thinking people especially the Malays realize this ? Don't the Election Commission people notice this that it is an offence under the Election Act ? Well , who dares take action ?

Frankly , I am not against the BN government . I am grateful to the governement for the development made in this country .I have been a BN supporter all these while till I realized the series of mismanagement and blunders commited by the government . The most recent was the VK Lingam's case whereby most of us have lost faith in the judiciary of this country . That Indian lawyer could easily pull by the nose of the Chief Justice of Malaysia so much so even the judgemnet notes were even writen and prepared by the said lawyer . I was rightly dismayed when he could even arranged for the promotions of certain judges including that of the previous CJ which was supposed to be the prerogative of the PM. What does this reflect on the (former) PM ? That he too was easily pulled by the nose by the said lawyer . Surprisingly the so called then de-facto Law Minister Dato Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor who played a major role in the VK lingam's blunder are nominated again to stand in this General Election in Putra Jaya . Unwise decisions such as this by the BN make us wonder whether they are really serious to clean up their organisation and the government as promised .Claims by the PM that BN aspiring candidates are screened by the Police , ACA and other relevant authorities before they are accepted as candidates are just mere empty talks.

In order for Malaysia to have a good and credible government , Malaysia also need a good number of opposition parlimentarians who could be the guardian of the ordinary people's rights and welfare . They could also be a check and balance for the government so that they would not dare do as they pleases . The Malays especially the kampong folks should be made to realize the importance of this fenomena in a democratic country in order to ensure their rights and welfare are well protected . The Malays should not follow blindly and simply swallow what the government tells them . They should be able to think for themselves and make decisions according to their needs and the locality where they live in . Undeniably , we still want the BN to rule but with a good number of oppositions in Parliment who could voice out our grouses and feelings . The government should not take us for a ride and do whatever they like according to their whims and fancies or try to rake as much benefits as they could for them and their cronies out of the government's coffers .They should now realize that to be in the government , that does not mean that they are here to gain anything other than to serve the people . All these years that was the mentality of most of the BN wakil rakyats . That is why most of them suddenly become an overnight millionaires/billionares .

In memory of our late uncle ,Wak Shid .

At about 11.00 am today my wife received news that her uncle which we called Wak Shid ( Pak Rashid ) had passed away at about 8.00 am. He was in his 70s .At first she thought that it could have been a joke or a mistaken identity . I asked her to make inquiries to ascertain the truth of the information . To our surprise the information was confirmed to be true . Immediately , my wife and I got into our car and proceeded towards USJ Subang Jaya . While on the way we received information that the late Wak Shid's body had been brought to the Al Falaq Mosque at USJ 9, Subang Jaya and so we proceeded to that place . We reached the Mosque at about 1.15 pm. As the body was being bathed for the last time before burial , I performed the sunnah prayer ( Tahyatul Masjid ) and then recited the surah Yassin for the late Wak Shid . When the bathing rituals were completed I went to the room where the body was kept to pay my last respect before it was wrapped in a piece of white cloth for burial which was scheduled after Zohor prayers . Before leaving the room I recited the verse of Al Fatihah again .

The late Wak Shid was my late father in law's younger brother . He was a former engineer turned businessman and lived in Petaling Jaya most of the time before shifting to Subang Jaya . His death touched my heart because lately he was close to us . He had been to our house several times although we have yet to visit him in his house . He liked to joke and his presence would make conversation lively . I remember the last time I met him was in October 2007 ( a few days after Hari Raya ) at Asrina's ( our niece ) house in Putra Jaya where she invited us for 'makan ' . Wak Shid and his wife and brother in-law Hassan and family were also there . He was very jovial and we chatted on many subjects . His presence and his jokes made our conversation lively . I noticed that this old man was quite religious . When the time for prayer came , he would excuse himself to perform his obligation to Allah . His knowledge on Islam was stunningly impressive for he could quote the verses from the Quran relevant to our subject of converstaion . What made me impossible to forget him was when he played ' Imam ' during my Asar prayers on that day . At first he was reluctant to be the Imam but I insisted that he should be since he was senior in age to me . I still vividly remember when he performed the 'sujud' ritual which lasted so long that I almost wonder what he was doing in that situation . Obviously he was reciting a long ' doa ' . Any way being a ' makmum ' I obligingly followed . From Asrina's house we parted to proceed to my sister in-law's ( Cik Cah ) house in Shah Alam . Unfortunately Wak Shid and his wife could not joined us there . That was the last time we saw of him alive . I had planned to visit him in his house but due to some unavoidable reasons it had to be postponed several times . One of the reasons we failed to visit him was because my wife failed to note down his home address . I have been reminding my wife several times to note down addresses and phone numbers of relatives so that we could visit them when necessary . Only today that my wife made an effort to find the late Wak Shid's home address , even that after having received news of his death . It was a bit too late which we deeply regreted .

We have lost a good uncle . He obviously deserved a better place in Heaven . The short stint knowing him has tremendously made a great impact on our perception of this good old man . Another chapter of a life had closed . We who still remain in this world should always remember that life is short . Life in this world is just a passing through on our journey to eternal life in the World After . The world has existed for thousands or perhaps millions of years ( since Prophet Adam ) and we do not know how many more years it would last . People have been borned and people have died . The dead are remembered for their good and bad deeds . Those who have entered the books of History would be remembered a little bit longer while the rest would soon be forgotten . Ordinary people like us perhaps if we are lucky would be remembered by our children and the most may be by our grand children too but those unlucky one would soon be forgotten even by their own children . As Muslims we are told that when we die we would leave only 3 things which we will continue to benefit after death :-

1) charity that we have given which continue to benefit mankind

2) beneficial knowledge which we have imparted

3) supplication or ' doa ' by our righteous or God fearing ( solleh ) children

All the rest like property etc. would render useless except perhaps only for the benefit of our living children . It would be most dreadful if none of my children would want to recite the ' doa ' for me when I am dead .

To Wak Shid ,I pray that he would rest in peace and be placed among the faithfuls in Heaven . Amin .

Chinese New Year 2008-Year of the Rat.

Unlike the previous years this year's Chinese New Year celebration was a very sombre one with hardly any sound of fire crackers fired even in the Chinese majority areas in Klang . This was perhaps due to the discovery of a go-down filled with illegally imported fire crackers and subsequently lead to the confisctaion of the item which are most sought by the Chinese community . The boarders of Malaysia-Thailand incidentally are tightly monitored to prevent the smuggling to Thailand of government subsidised goods by unscruplous get rich quick businessmen . The sound of fire crackers could only be heard sparingly whenever there is a Lion Dance in attendance . I personally feel that the firing of fire crackers is unnecessary .It would only lead to negative things such as fire , disturbance of the peace and wastage . After all fire crackers are banned in Singapore and China . Why should there be any exception for Malaysia ?

On the first day of Chinese New Year accompanied by daughter Farin ( who was back from UTM for the Chinese New Year Holiday ), grand daughter Alisya and wife I went to my old friend's house , Mr. Tan Poh Sim in Batu Belah , Klang . It has been the host's practice for many years to serve us with KFC . Mr Tan is a close friend for over 20 years and every year we would visit him and vice versa ( he and his wife would visit us on Hari Raya ) . This friend of mine has lost a considerable amount of weight . He too looked elderly than before . However he commented that I have put on weight and advised me to do some exercises . He is not a rich man but he is very careful in his spendings and that's what made him to be successful property owner today . I do not have many Chinese friends now a days especially after my retirement , but Mr Tan Poh Sim remained to be truly genuine friend after all these years .

At about 2.00 pm we went to another long time friend's house at Kg. Teluk Gong . Mr. Oh Tow has remained close to me despite the fact that I am now retired . I have not gone to Teluk Gong for many years and I was surprised to see the development going on there . I almost could not find my way to the place due to the rapid development around the area . Mr. Oh Tow is rearing birds ( pigeon ) for it's nest ( consists of salivas of the bird ) which is a very expensive food item of medicinal value to the Chinese . He told me he had already invested almost RM 200,000 on the project . I had tasted the bird's nest ( actually bird's salivas ) when I visited Thailand ( it was damn cheap there ) many years ago . I did not find anything beneficial consuming the bird's salivas . It is just the belief by the Chinese community that anyone consuming bird's salivas would cool their body temperature and subsequently enjoy good health . I do not know whether this belief is supported by scientific findings which I very much doubt . I also do not know whether there is any ' fatwa ' by Islamic religious authorities on the consumption of the bird's salivas -whether it is haram or halal ( permissible or non permissible according to Islam ).

On the second day of Chinese New Year I did not go any where .

On the third days of Chinese New Year I ( alone ) went to Kg. Bagan Hailam , Port Klang to visit another long time friend , Mr. Loo . Bagan Hailam is a Chinese village built on stilts on mangroves land facing the Straits of Malacca . Almost 99 % of the people there are Chinese with very few Indonesian /Bangladeshi immigrants who rented houses / rooms there .The majority of them are fishermen . As I could not walk for long distance ( due to my knee problem ) Mr. Loo picked me up at the car park area on his motor cycle and I was transported right to the door steps of his house . Sitting on the verenda of the houses there would make us feel very soothing with the fresh air coming from the sea . After that we went to a seafood restaurant not far away from the house where we had a sumptious lunch of prawns and steamed fish . The restaurant was a new one owned by Mr.Peter Tan who happened to hail from Bagan Datok , Perak , the place where I was borned . I was told the total cost of building the restaurant was about RM 2,000,000/- . It is much bigger in size than the ikan bakar restaurant ( owned by a Malay ) which we used to frequent not far away . Because the roof is high above , it is much airy there . The food are chinese style cooking and it is ' halal ' . Frankly , I still prefer the usual ikan bakar restaurant whose cooking style fits my taste and I beleive of my family too .

All in all , I only went to 3 houses during this year's Chinese New Year - Year of the rat .

36th. Wedding Anniversary .

Today 3rd.February ( 1972 ) is our 36th. wedding anniversary . It was on this date that our ' akad nikah ' was performed in a very simple and modest manner , at my wife's family's house in Jalan Omri, Muar . There was no big feast and there was no sophisticated 'bersanding' ceremony . I got married without the blessing of my family . They did not hand any support at all . They expected that I should have married someone of their choice , someone from their clan . I was determined to break that so called family practice . Only my dear late ' Opah ' (my maternal grandmother) was the one who made things came true for us . When thinking of it , of course I am sad but what to do , it was all fated . But deep inside my heart , I was determined to make our marriage a happy one despite of all the hitches that we have to go through . What was the use of having all the big dos when eventually it was not a happy one or worst still if it ended in a divorce . Of course sometimes I had to bear with all the adverse comments from friends and even from family members of our marriage's simplicity . I just put on a deaf ear and console myself by telling myself that my family is mine and not theirs to decide or to comment . I have proven to them that my family is much a happier and successful one than most of theirs . At least I do not have to beg to seek sympathy and I stand proud even till today . I was quite successful in my career and my children have been succesful in their studies too . All my four children have undergone tertiary education of which two of them locally and the other two overseas .

After our 'akad nikah' my wife followed me to Segamat where I was transfered to . In the beginning we stayed in the Police Mess but later I got a government quarters in Jalan Datok Wan Idris, Segamat . It was tough in the beginning because we started from scratches . ( Unlike my children who began their marriage life with a silver platter ) . We did not even have a proper bed to sleep and furnitures to use because we just simply could not afford it . I still remember we had to sit cross legged ( bersila ) on the floor to have our meals . My salary then was only RM.320/-per month . Luckily things were not as expensive as it is today and we managed to make ends meet by being careful in our spending . I was then using a Volks Wagon car ( a popular brand then ) which I bought it second hand ( two year old )for RM.2,500/- . I still remember the registration number BV 6027 . I had to pay the installment of RM.125/- per month . ( A brand new VW car would cost only RM5,200/- ) . I used immitation tyres for my rear tyres which cost only RM.15/- each . Today we seldom hear of immitation tyres for cars . Only some lorries are still using immitattion tyres . We bought things for our house bit by bit , and even that they were cheap ones . After a few years when there was an adjustment of salaries for government servants , our economy began to improve . Inspite of that I kept on being careful in my spending because I had an intention to buy a house before I reach the age of 30 . In 1975 at the age of 28 years I bought my first house in Seksyen 11, Shah Alam , a double storey terrace house for RM.37,000/- . From then on life ran smoothly for us . My two boys were produced in Segamat but were borned in Muar General Hospital while my two daughters were borned in Klang ,that was because I was then transfered to Klang in 1981 .

I am grateful to Allah for I have been blessed with bounties ( rezeki ) , happiness and good health so far . I hope I would continue to enjoy these benefits for many years to come . Amin .

In memory of Dato Ishak Baharom.

Over the 8.00pm news of TV3 on Wednesday 30th.January 2008 was announced the death of the controversial former Mufti of Selangor from 1985 -1997 ,Dato Ishak Baharom . He was 80 years old and died of probably of high blood pressure . He was buried at the Selangor Royal Mausuleum , in Section 5, Shah Alam on the Sultan's request . The death of this man touched my heart not because he was a controversial Mufti but because he was our former ustaz/guru at the surau of the Police District HQ in Banting Selangor where I was then the OCPD . This was before his elevation to be the Mufti of Selangor . I remember him as a very humble person , soft spoken and very helpful . He came to our surau every Thursday evenings to lead our Maghrib and Isyak congregations and in between the two prayers he would lecture/preach us on religious matters . During the fasting month he would normally be at our surau every evenings to lead our Isyak and Tarawikh prayers . I was OCPD in Kuala Langat for 3 years from 1984 - 1987 and my association with the late Ustaz ( as we usually called him ) was very cordial . During his lectures in the surau I would normally sit besides him infront of my men to listen to him . Although most of us found his lectures to be a little bit dull due to his softspokenness , the subject matter that he used to touch on , were very informative and relevant to our daily Police life . I found out later that the late Ustaz Ishak Baharom was a highly educated person and he possessed a degree on Islam from an Indian University . Amazingly he never told us about his qualification . Infact when he was selected to be the Mufti Selangor we were very surprised of his sudden elevation . Prior to becoming a Mufti he lead a very simple life as a village man at Kg. Kanchong Darat , (Misbun Sidek's village ) a few KMs away from the Banting Police station . He had an old junk ( a 1970 Toyota Corolla ,if I am not mistaken ) which he normally drove to our surau .

He was dismissed as the Mufti of Selangor because of his sincere positive comments on the arrest by JAIS officials of three Muslim ladies who took part in a Miss Malaysia beauty contest . His comments had angered the BN government and Tun Dr.Mahathir , the then Prime Minister of Malaysia who then ordered the release of the ladies and freed them of all charges . Subsequently , he ordered the state government of Selangor to dismiss the Mufti . Since then he was in limbo - not allowed even to preach in the mosques in Selangor and ignored at public funtions . However this good old man took everything calmly . Nevertheless ,I think he suffered in silence .

A few months ago , I saw him at the local mosque here during Friday prayers . He came as an ordinary person and occupied the space among the crowds . Then I found out that he resided not far away from our house .My regret was I failed to talk to him and to ask him whether he could still remember me . Many times I thought of approaching him , but I was a bit shy and worried that he would not remember me . I then thought that I would do so later . But it is now too late .

Perhaps we would meet in Heaven . Amin .

Bad month for us .

It's a bad month for us this month . Simultaneously , our tenants at our two shops and two houses gave notices to vacate the premises beginning the end of of January . This means we will be short of about RM5,000/- beginning February 2008 . So far only our flat at USJ Subang Jaya has been reassigned to another tenant . The rest has still yet to confirm . I hope my property agent would be able to find new good tenants to the remaining premises .Otherwise we would be in great trouble financially . My RM 3,000/- pension is not enough to survive especially with the current escalating price increases of essentials .

To make matters worst this morning when we visited our house in Section 11 Shah Alam which was vacated by the last tenant , we found out that the house was really in bad shape and needed a major repair . I reckon it would cost us about RM 30,000/- for the repair before it could be rented out again .The kitchen cabinet was a wreck , the paint was as bad as the estate houses, the doors were brocken and the ceiling upstairs was rigged with holes almost everywhere . Even the the compund of the driveway looked like a piece of grave due to the undulating land as a result of the fish pond built by the tenant .The last tenant did not take care of our house despite the fact of the low rental given to him .I am now contemplating to sell it off in order to escape the headaches . Any way even if we decide to sell it off , the repair is still needed , otherwise no one would want to buy it .This would also mean that all the rentals collected so far would be spent for the repair and thus render it not worth the rent . It would have been better for us to invest in the Amanah Saham Bumiputra and would heve got better return . Well , that is all about business . We made the mistake for taking the uncalculated risk . That is the price we have to pay .

Actually , this was our first house which I bought when I was a young Inspector in Segamat ,Johor about 40 years ago .It was bought for a mere RM 37,000/- . It was a hard earned money when we had to tighten our expenditure in order to service the bank loan ( Maybank ) . Any way it was worth the sacrifice for the price of the house today could fetch up to about RM. 250,000/- due to it's strategic location. Because of it's sentimental value I did not want to sell it earlier . Now I guess it looks I have no choice but to sell it off .

New Year of 2008

The advent of 2008 was celeberated with joy , laughter ,dances and intoxication madness that possessed our youths . Not that I was not looking forward at the arrival of that auspicious moment - the strike of midnight of the new day , but I was sad looking at what has become of our people who would be the future leaders of this country . The youths seems to have lost their sense of direction and they do not realize that their actions only reflect on their bad attitudes .The country not only need good leaders , but the country also need it's citizens to be responsible , hard working and perseverence in order to achieve the country's vision of becoming into a fully developed nation . To be good citizens we must also be balanced phyically and spiritually , so that our future generation would not be bog down with social problems which could impede the nation's aspirations .

Without really realizing it , I have retired from my job for almost 5 years . Time went by so fast and I am getting old that fast too . At 61 I don't feel that I am too old to live . I am determined to continue on living to see my children getting married having children of their own and to see my grand children grow up . I pray to God so that I would be bestowed with good health in order for me to realize what I had aspired . Unfortunately for me at the moment there is a little problem with my right knee . I cannot walk for long distance because of the excruciating pain . It all started from the left knee . The left knee is almost cured now but it has moved to the right knee instead .Well , that is life of an old man . I am almost confined to my house .During my heydays I did not really take care of my health . I thought it was enough with good food and a little bit of excercise . I did not care to take any extra vitamins or other health supplements .After having been in this predicament ,now I realize the importance of health . Money and and wealth only comes second . Any way I hope I could be cured soon .

Wedding season .

I have been lazy lately to update my blog . Any way there is nothing much of sigificance happened to our fanily . This years Hari Raya Aidiladha ( Haji ) was a simple and modest celeberation . No one came to the house except brother in-law Encik Mahadi and his family . In the morning I and son Azman attended Aidiladha prayers at the local mosque . After that we had a sumptious breakfast consisting of ' nasi minyak ' , ' nasi impit ' with ' rendang ayam ' and ' lontong ' .

On 16th.December 2007 we attended a wedding reception at my cousin's house at Taman Alam Damai,Cheras , KL. We had the opportunity to renew relationships with our relatives whom we seldom meet except on occassions such as this .

On 23rd December 2007 we attended a wedding reception at another cousin of mine at Teluk Intan . We were accompanied by my brother Muttakin in another car .There we met many relatives whom I have not even met . I am glad I met them otherwise I would not have known that I have such a large number of relatives . Before we depart for home we went to the Teluk Intan town to see the well-known reclining watch tower and to have the famous ' mee rebus ' of Teluk Intan .

Next week on the 29th.December 2007 we are scheduled to attend another wedding reception of my good old friend's daughter at Taman Kenanga , Ampang . It seems it is a wedding season .

The urge to travel has struck me again .

The urge to travel has come back to me . I am planning to go to Manchester when Air Asia X launch it's inaugural flight to the UK in June/July 2008 . I have registered with Air Asia to be on board on it's maiden flight to Manchester . I hope my request would be successful . I then hope to cross over to Dublin to visit my daughter Eileen there . This however does not mean that I would not be coming to attend her convocation in 2009 . Insyallah in June 2009 I would be going there again , this time with my wife to attend her convocation . I hope my June/July 2008 flight to Dublin would be a reconaissaence attempt prior to our visit in 2009 . I reckon I have to dig down into my savings to make the journey come through . My last trip to London was about 10 years ago and I foresee there would be alot of development having taken place . However I might not be able to walk for long distances as I did when I was in London . My knee problem has not fully recovered yet . I enjoyed walking the streets of London and travelling on it's MRTs .

In 2009 our daughter Fareen would also be graduating from UTM . So that means in that same year two of our children would be graduating together . She is just 20 years old and would be too young to work . I hope she would be able to procede with her Masters degree programme either in Germany or in the UK . From her exams results so far , if she continues to be so , I foresee that she would get at least a 2nd Class Upper degree . The University of Bath , UK and the University of Karlsruhe , Germany have made positive reponses to her overtures .

I hope our daughter Eileen would procede to do her housemanship in Dublin where the pressure is not that great as in Malaysia . Moreover the housemanship in Malaysia has now been extended to 2 years beginning 2008. It would be too taxing for freshly qualified doctors to work in Malaysia . The senior doctors with the encouragement from the Health Ministry are out to bully these young graduates , the majority of whom are bumiputras . I suspect there is a hidden agenda behind this - that is to discourage bumiputras from taking up Medicine so that this profession would continue to be dominated by the non bumiputras . The Prime Minister recently announced that the government would allow medical graduates to extend their stay overseas to obtain specialisation in their fields of interest . The world too is getting smaller and we could come and go to any part of the world without much hitch .

My wife's niece Amilea has now regretted her return to Malaysia . She is applying to do her specialisation at the University of Malaya . But I doubt her application would be approved by the Ministry of Health considering the long waiting list . My doctor friend told me that the waiting list could be as long as 10 years before one could be even considered .

Ungrateful Malaysian Indians.

I was appalled after reading the demands by HINDRAF ( Hindu Rights Action Force ) which is totally baseless and incredulous .It claimed that the Indians in Malaysia are being marginalised and that they are not given equal opportunities in this country . While in the neighbourhood where I am staying I could see quite a number of wealthy Indians . While sending my grand daughter to school I also see many of them driving porch cars sending their children to school . There is even one street in Klang town ,Jalan Tengku Dziauddin ,which is dominated by the Indians .The buildings/shops in that area and the businesses are owned by them . Professions such as the doctors and lawyers are also dominated by them . The second richest man in Malaysia Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan is an Indian .Tan Sri Arumugam Pillay is another wealthy Indian man .I just find it hard and difficult to accept their claims as the truth .They must have been talking cock and bull stories . Of course there are poor Indians as the other races too . Those poor are those who are lazy and do not want to take the opportunities that are abundantly available to them . Infact the government have allowed the Indians to join institutions like Giat MARA , Institut Kemahiran MARA , MRSM and many more which were actually meant for bumiputras . The government too has allowed the MIC to establish it's own Medical Universities/Colleges like the Manipal Medical College in Malacca and the Asia Pacific Science and Medical College in Sungai Petani whose students are mainly Indians .

Hindraf actually is a society that projects extreme Hindu sentiments which could be dangerous to the stability of the country . Now it has gone too far by demanding equal status as of the bumputras . In other words they are demanding the special position of the bumiputras as enshrined in the Federal Constitution be abolished . This is a dangerous demand which any bumiputra would not accept that .

Hindraf also is suing the British government for bringing in their forefathers from India as indentured labourers and is claiming a certain trillion amount of US dollars which would entitled them a $ US 1,000,000/-each individual Malaysian Indian, if they succeed in the suit , which we all know is very unlikely . They have given the poor ignorant and illiterate Indians a false hope . They are just seeking publicity to become famous for their own personal agenda . Infact the Indians in Malaysia should be grateful to the British for bringing them here because their living standards are much better than their counterparts/relatives in India .They are ungrateful Malaysian Indians . The Indians are dangerous people just as the English proverb/idiom that says , " If there is and Indian and a snake infront of you , do not kill the snake first but kill the Indians first . " . The British knew about this years ago , only we the Malays did not want to believe it . Today , we regret it but it is too late .

The Election Commission has to be reformed .

I did not believe that the government won the election by unscruplous means until I received a letter from the Election Commission bearing the name of an unknown young Malay lady and having an address of our home in Shah Alam . This took place just a few weeks before the 1999 General Election . I believed that the lady was a Puteri Umno member from somewhere else who was assigned to vote in the Shah Alam parliamentary constituency . I did not know how many phantom voters like that were imported from somewhere else during that General Election .I believed the number could have been substantial so as to enable the BN candidate to narrowly win against the Keadilan candidate .That is why I am not surprised if the same tactic would be used again in the coming General Election .

Bersih - a loose coalition of NGOs and opposition political parties have been fighting very hard for the government to reform it's Election Commission so that the coming General Election would be a fair one . All their calls and memos have been received into deaf ears and no action positive was taken by the government to rectify . So , was it fair for the government to stop the masses to demonstrate and made known their grouses through street demonstrations ? The government had refused to listen and instead boasted that they did not have to demonstrate but should exercise their rights as voters in the General Election , just because they are sure of winning the election . But how can the people exercise their rights when the election is blatantly rigged ?

10th November 2007 was a sad day for the ordinary citizens of Malaysia because on that day the government used the Police to intimidate the people and had also unnecessarily used force on them who were just merely exercising their rights as per Article 10 of the Federal Constitution and Article 20 of the U.N. Human Rights Declaration . It was also amusing for the Chief Police Officer of Kuala Lumpur to come out with a preposterous statement that the Police would arrest anyone found wearing yellow shirt on that day . I do not know from where did he learned that wearing yellow was an offence . Worst still was the Minister of Information Zainuddin Maideen's telephone interview with Aljazeera TV news casters . His English was horrible and did not befit that of a Minister of this country . I just could not believe my ears and eyes when he categorically accused the Aljazeera as being bias in their reportings when actually that was the real situation . Infact it was the local TV and newspapers were the one of being unfair in their reportings when they mentioned that the crowd that took part in the demonstration were only about 4,000 (while in actual fact it was close to 50,000) and that the Police did not used force . Was it justified for the Police to fire tear gas on the peaceful demonstrators ? Some of them were even got beaten by them . Aljazeera being an independent TV station was very professional in their reportings and they would not bow down to pressures from the Minister. Bersih had done their part and I think this should be an eye opener for the government to be more responsive to the plight and grouses of the people .

The government's old tactic of suppressing fair reportings would not last long because the people are no more stupid and ignorant like those in the yester years . More and more people now have access to the internet and they gradually know the actual situation . I am not against the BN government but I believe in being fair . I am fed up with the misdeeds and wrongdoings of the government and want them rectified for the good of the nation and not to the advantage of the few privileged BN leaders .

My daughter in law is expecting a baby .

Last Friday 2nd.November 2007 , my son Azman and his wife Shidah left for a holiday in Bali , Indonesia . They are expected to be away till Monday . Before they left they told us they are expecting a baby soon . According to them it was confirmed by the doctor . I was so happy because our grand daughter Alisya is already big and no more considered a baby . I guess we miss the cries and the smell of babies in our home .

I have been praying very hard so that we would have a few more grand children to ensure the continuity of my offspring in this world . This time I would prefer a grandson . However I would accept whatever God decide best for us .

Visiting relatives in Perak .

Since my retirement I have always wanted to visit my relatives in Perak whom I have not met for many years . I realized that we are getting old and that we should renew our relationships at least before we part from this world . So last Saturday on 27th October 2007 early morning I and my wife left our home to go to Southern Perak . We stopped over in Sungai Besar town to have my favourite ' pecal ' and ' soto ' . After the meal I phoned my mother and asked her whether she would like to follow us to Teluk Intan and Bagan Datok . Surprisingly she answered in the affirmative . So , after picking her up in her house we proceeded to Teluk Intan .

We had some difficluties finding the house but after 2 or 3 inquiries finally we managed to locate it . It was a very decent house located in Kampong Padang Tembak , a few kilometers from Teluk Intan town . I was so happy to meet my cousin brother whom I have not seen for almost 40 years. We hugged each other and later we talked over our childhood days . He is about a year older than me . He had suffered from a stroke and was bedridden for almost a year . He went for therapy at the Teluk Intan Hospital 3 times a week since then and today he is able to walk again although his feet and left hand were not that strong any more . We remained in the house till about 12.20 pm. We then went to Teluk Intan town to have the so called famous the Teluk Intan ' mee rebus ' . After that we stopped by the town mosque to perform zohor prayers .

At about 2.30 pm. we came to Selekoh town ,a small town near Bagan Datok to visit another cousin by the name Baadin Ahmad , a retired Felda estate Manager . He was working in the Felda estates in Negeri Sembilan for many years before retiring in the kampong . He is now looking after his own oil palm plantation . There we also met an uncle who was about 80 years old . Later we came to a cousin sister's house nearby . She was already very old and almost senile . I did not know whether she recognised us . Selekoh town brought back memories to my childhood days .It was there that I had my primary school education before my family moved to Sabak Bernam .

On our way back to my kampong in Sg. Air Tawar , we stopped over a relative's house in Sabak Bernam . Here we met Hj.Abd.Latif a distant relative . He told me that he was already 74 years old and was getting weak . He was sad and cried infront of us . I told him not to worry so much because that could worsen his health .

As it was getting dark , we decided to put up a night in my mother's house .

The next morning we went to the grave of my late grand mother at Sungai Air Tawar. (That was the main reason of my coming back to the kampong ) . I recited the verse ' Alfatihah ' from the ' Alquran ' and the doa for her . I prayed to God that she be accepted among the faithfulls and be in Heaven . I was so touched and almost cried .

On our way home we stopped over in Sg.Lias ,Sunga Besar to visit an auntie who was also old and bedridden . She is the last of my late father's surviving sister . Unfortunately no one opened the door when we called . We had to leave the place although we suspected there was some one inside .

I was satisfied with the trip . We were able to meet the old relatives and God willing we hope we could visit them again next year's Hari Raya .

Today is another Hari Raya for me .

I am celebrating another Hari Raya today . Do you know why ? Because I've completed my 6 days of fasting during the Syawal month yesterday . My wife is still fasting today , her sixth day . I am happy I've performed the sunnah fast this year . I have another duty to do , that is to pay zakah which I was determined to do it each year but failed because of unavoidable reasons . I know not all the property that I have belongs to me absolutely . Part of it also belongs to the needy . I would like to share whatever I have with them too . Any way that does not mean I have not been paying zakah all these years . I do but not through the official ( via the Zakah's office ) way .

Age is catching up with me and I am determined to catch up with the loss years of living in ' fantasies ' . If during my younger days I had shirked my responsibilities to God , now I would want to follow strictly to the tenets of Islam . I know it would be almost impossible to catch up with the loss years . At least I would make attempts rather than give up hope . Our Prophet Muhammad ( pbh.) once said God hates people who easily give up hope . I do not want to belong to that category of people .

This week end I intend to go back to my kampong to pay respect to my grandmother's grave and also to visit relatives in Bagan Datok and Teluk Intan . I know I have not been paying them visits for some time because during my working days I was too busy with my ' work ' as not to find time to visit them . Now that I am retired I realized that I have not been fair to them . They are the remaining close relatives that I have in this world and we need to renew our relationships . One of my cousins of my age whom I have not seen for almost 40 years , is now wheel chair bound . He was a graduate school teacher . I would want to visit him in Teluk Intan . I am thankfull to Allah that I am still able to walk about .

May Allah guide me to the right path . The path that He had accepted all the faithfulls to Heaven .

Ameen.

In memory of Opah .

Today , eight years ago on 23rd.October 1999 , my dear grandmother whom we called ' Opah ' passed away at our mother's home in Sabak Bernam . She was then about 90 years old . She died alone in her room without anyone on her bedside ,without anyone to comfort her and without anyone to guide her to recite the ' syahadah ' . She died brocken hearted after feeling dejected because no one seemed interested to care for her . Even her own daughter who was supposed to look after her felt she was a burden to her . As a result she vent her anger on the poor old woman .I do not want to brood over the past because it would only make me angry over someone who had mistreated her .

Actually prior to living with my mother , Opah was staying with me most of the time . She was with me when I was in Muar , Segamat ,Johor Bahru ,Banting and Shah Alam . Of course not all the time . She came and went as she pleased . I do not know why she liked me so much , perhaps because I used to treat her well and entertained her to hear her stories .She liked someone to talk to . However when I was transferred to Port Dickson , she could not follow me because I was then staying alone . My wife remained in Shah Alam for the sake of the school-going children . Even that she did come to stay with me in Port Dickson once when I brought her there for a week or so .

When her health was failing she asked me to send her to my mother's place . Perhaps she was not very comfortable without my presence in the house in Shah Alam .The rest members of my family did not know how to entertain her .But sending her back to the kampong was the biggest mistake that I made which I so much regretted till today . Perhaps she would live longer if she had stayed with my family in Shah Alam .

Any way the majority of her years were with me . She was closed to me . I was told she was the one who brought me up when I was a kid . She would bathed me , fed me and put me to sleep when the time came for me to do so . Even when I was already big child she would also carry me around either on her hips or on her back to pamper me .I was closer to her more than to my mother . She was also closer to me than to my siblings .During the school holidays I would normally stay with my grandmother . She was the one whom I could look forward to . She was my adviser , teacher and mentor . Whenever I had any problem it would be from her that I sought advice .

When I was to get married to my wife she was the one who helped arranged everything . My mother and father were not supportive of my marrying my wife because I was told that they had some one else ( a relative ) in mind . My Opah was the one who did everything from A to Z to ensure that my marriage took place smoothly . My wife should be thankful to her for without her she would not have married me .

She was a strong lady until she had a fall at my brother's house in Subang Jaya during her short stay there . I was later told that she was accidentally pushed by one of my underaged nephews . However ,Opah never complained . After that , I took her back to my house and after finding that she was suffering from pain on her hips , I brought her to the University Hospital Petaling Jaya where she was operated on . An artificial bone ( steel ) was fixed to her hip bone to replace the broken one . However , after the operation she was still in pain and could not walk without the aid of a crutch . The doctor told me that it would take some time for her to adjust to the new affixed artificial bone . From then on I noticed she was not that lively as before . Once a while she would talk about death and told me that her days would come to end soon .Of course I would refute that as nonsence and told her she would live longer to see our ( my children's and mine )successes . She would then told me that she would still see ( from Heaven ) our successes even if she died .

If I were to be asked who was the person that I love most , I would definitely say without hesitation that it was my dear gradmother whom we called Opah . When she passed away I felt I had lost some one very very dear to me in my life . It took some time for me to overcome my sorrows .

Another the thing that I admire most about her was that she was a very kind person . She would want to help others even to the extent that would put her into difficulties .She never complained about others especially her closed ones . She kept all her agonies and sorrows to herself . Being closed to her I knew she was not too happy with some people . She did not want to trouble others . Infact she used to tell me that if she died she did not want to troble us .She had kept some money some money ( which she saved over the years which was more than RM2000/- ) for her burial expenses . I always told her that she should not worry over that because it was our responsiblity that she be given a proper burial .When she died we did not used a single sen from her savings for her burial expenses . I paid everything .

" Opah , you are always in my heart . Each time I go back to the kampong I would visit your grave and would recite the surah ( verse ) ' Yassin ' or the ' Alfatihah ' . Infact it can be said that if it had not been for the purpose of visiting your grave , I would not want to go back there . Opah I pray that you would be among the faithfulls in Heaven . May you rest in peace " .

Ameen .