KASIHAN MEREKA

Baru-baru ini I sempat menonton sebuah documentary tentang bagaimana pekerja buruh binaan di Beijing, China mengharungi kehidupan harian mereka di ibukota negara paling ramai penduduk di dunia.

Hampir semua pekerja tersebut datang dari kampung-kampung pedalaman China dan mereka diupah bekerja bagi menyiapkan kompleks-kompleks sukan di sekitar Beijing untuk sukan Olimpik 2008 .

Apa yang meruntun sayu hati apabila mengetahui yang mereka hanya menerima upah sebanyak USD 0.40 sehari dengan diberi makanan serta tempat tinggal percuma. Makanan yang diberi hanyalah ‘roti kasar’ yang tidak berkhasiat dan dicicah dengan sup kobis yang dikatakan mempunyai bau yang amat meloyakan . Setiap hari tukang masak akan membawa roti serta sup tersebut ( sup dimasak begitu cair ), pekerja terbabit berjumlah labih dari 2 ribu orang. Setiap seorang hanya diberi 2 buku roti dan semangkok sup yang bekas sup dibawa sendiri oleh pekerja.

Daripada interview yang dilakukan, ramai pekerja hanya menerima apa yang diberikan tanpa mengeluh…apa boleh buat…kampong halaman ditinggalkan dan hanya akan pulang semula bersama sedikit imbuhan buat keluarga. Adalah satu keaiban sekiranya mereka pulang tanpa berjaya membawa wang buat keluarga.

Yang lebih mengharukan, mereka hanya dibayar upah setelah tamat kontrak bekerja selama setahun di situ dan kekal bersama syarikat yang membawa mereka dari kampong. Bayangkan selama setahun bekerja tanpa gaji bulanan.Jika ada yang berhenti sebelum cukup tempoh setahun, mereka tidak akan dibayar walau sesen pun. Sungguh kasihan…seperti banduan kehidupan mereka malah lebih teruk dari itu…gaji usd0.40 sehari ..sebulan usd12..setahun usd144…..tenaga yang amat murah nilainya…

Bayangkan setahun hanya dapat makan roti dan sup kobis serta air sejuk yang diambil dari paip…ini bukan kisah zaman perang dunia pertama tetapi zaman moden …millennium ini…

Ada yang berkata jika tidak kerana memikirkan jika tidak makan tidak dapat bekerja kerana tidak cukup tenaga , memang mereka tidak akan makan makanan sedemikian…

Melihat kepada betapa majunya negara kuasa besar dunia itu , rasa seolah-olah tidak masuk akal semuanya masih berlaku…. Namun itulah reality kehidupan di sana..

2005 sempat I bersama anak-anak (darling tak dapat ikut )melancong ke Beijing dan kami amat kagum melihat betapa hebatnya pembangunan di sana dengan system bandaraya serta pengangkutan yang tersusun , diiringi pelbagai tempat tumpuan pelancong, menjadikan Beijing sebuah kota idaman….lengkap sebuah kota moden diadun bersama sejarah tamadun china berusia ribuan tahun, dengan Great Wall of China yang memang ajaib binaannya, The Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Syurga membeli-belah dan sebagainya.
Bila menonton kisah buruh binaan tersebut, terbayang apakah mungkin kaedah yang masih digunapakai di sana masih kekal mengikut kaedah kuno, zaman dinasti-dinasti China yang berkurun lamanya…system seolah-olah’perhambaan/buruh paksaan’ adakah masih lagi menjadi kebiasaan ??? Adakah kerana itu jugalah, jutaan bangsa China berhijrah ke serata pelusuk dunia mencari dan memulakan kehidupan baru di tanah selain dari dari Tanah Besar China ????


Di Jordan ini sendiri telah ramai rakyat China membuka kilang perusahaan dan datang sekali bersama pekerja-pekerja dari sana, tetapi mereka mendapat gaji yang amat jauh lebih baik dari di negara sendiri….

Insaf bila melihat bagaimana manusia terpaksa bekerja sedemikian rupa dan sanggup menerima apa saja sebagai ganjaran asalkan tidak menjadi beban keluarga , masyarakat dan negara….. bayangkan betapa tenaga mereka diperah , namun hasil kekayaan negara hanya dikaut oleh tangan-tangan yang tidak layak digelar manusia bertamadun…..KASIHAN MEREKA………

PAK LAH akan NIKAH

Pagi yang indah, nyaman , berangin dan sedikit berkabus , menyejukkan sedikit hari yang begitu panas sebelumnya...... Berita gembira yang rasanya semua rakyat Malaysia telah heboh mengenainya..saja nak tumpang gembira dan sebagai kenangan dalam my blog....

Copy and paste from Utusan Malaysia 7 Jun 07........

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi memilih Jeanne Abdullah sebagai pasangan hidupnya kerana wujud keserasian antara mereka berdua dan selepas mendapat restu anak-anak serta adik-beradiknya.

Menurut Perdana Menteri, bakal isterinya itu mampu menjaga beliau dengan baik.
Upacara pernikahan mereka akan diadakan di Seri Perdana, Putrajaya pada Sabtu ini.
Abdullah, 67, mengenali Jeanne sejak lebih 20 tahun lalu. Katanya, wanita berusia 54 tahun itu amat menyayangi arwah isterinya, Allahyarham Datin Seri Endon Mahmood.

‘‘Kasih dan cinta saya pada Kak Endon tetap teguh. Tuhan menciptakan banyak ruang dalam hati sanubari kita bagi berlainan orang untuk disayangi.

‘‘Kita boleh sayangi ibu, anak, isteri, cucu, adik tetapi kita tidak dapat bandingkan kasih kita kepada ibu dengan kasih kepada isteri. Jeanne adalah satu daripadanya... itu adalah kelebihan Allah,’’ kata Perdana Menteri dalam nada ceria pada sidang akhbar selepas merasmikan Konvensyen Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana (SME) 2007 di sini petang ini.

Beliau telah berbincang dengan anak-anaknya, Kamaluddin dan Nori serta adik-beradiknya.
Mereka memberi restu kepada perkahwinan itu.

Pagi ini, Abdullah memaklumkan hasratnya untuk mengahwini Jeanne kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong selain menyampaikan berita gembira itu kepada menteri-menteri pada mesyuarat mingguan Kabinet.

Selepas mesyuarat itu, Pejabat Perdana Menteri mengeluarkan satu kenyataan mengenai perkahwinan tersebut.

Menurut kenyataan itu, Jeanne dilahirkan pada 29 Julai 1953 di Kuala Lumpur dan
merupakan anak sulung daripada empat adik-beradik.

Beliau menerima pendidikan di Sekolah Menengah Assunta, Petaling Jaya dan berpengalaman luas dalam bidang pentadbiran dan perhotelan setelah terlibat dalam pengurusan beberapa hotel terkemuka seperti Hotel Hilton dan Hotel Pan Pacific.

Jeanne sebelum ini bertugas sebagai pengelola kediaman rasmi Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan pengurus Kompleks Seri Perdana.

Jeanne mempunyai dua anak daripada perkahwinan lalu, Nadiah dan Nadene.
Perdana Menteri berkata, Jeanne pernah berkahwin dengan adik lelaki Allahyarham Endon tetapi mereka bercerai 15 tahun lalu.

Walaupun Perdana Menteri tersenyum bersulam ketawa ketika menjawab soalan-soalan pemberita mengenai perkahwinannya, tetapi beliau terkelu seketika apabila ditanya tentang perasaan kasihnya terhadap Endon yang meninggal dunia kerana kanser payudara dua tahun lalu.

Kasihnya terhadap Endon akan kekal abadi dalam ingatan, tegas Abdullah pada sidang akhbar itu yang dihadiri kira-kira 40 wartawan.

Kerana kasih beliau yang mendalam, Perdana Menteri mahu gambar-gambar Allahyarham Endon yang tergantung pada dinding di Seri Perdana terus dikekalkan.

‘‘Gambar-gambar Kak Endon yang ada itu adalah ingatan memori yang abadi... kalau nak tambah yang dia (Jeanne) punya tak apalah,’’ kata Abdullah.

Menjawab satu soalan mengenai perwatakan Jeanne yang menyebabkan beliau jatuh hati, Perdana Menteri berkata, bakal isterinya itu adalah orang yang cukup sederhana.

‘‘Dia seorang yang cukup sederhana, peramah, kalau diambil kira hubungan dia dengan orang yang datang ke rumah saya semasa Kak Endon masih hidup, dialah yang sambut kawan-kawan dan tetamu yang datang nak jumpa saya,” ujarnya.

Ditanya bilakah beliau mula jatuh cinta dengan Jeanne, Abdullah berkata: ‘‘Baru-baru ini... kurang daripada setahun.’’


SELAMAT PENGANTIN BARU...... SEMOGA PAK LAH BAHAGIA ............

OH NO !!!!! IT'S TOO HIGH !!!!!!!!.

It’s really hot today….more than 30 C…… just got back from HSBC at Jabal Hussein for some bank transactions….

While waiting for the transactions to be done….I observed people walking outside the bank, most of them were arab ladies …..

This is summer and most of these arab ladies wear modern and fashionable clothing but I find it a bit odd to see them walking in high heel shoes and matching hand bags with all kinds of ‘tudung’ because they were all covered in black coats and boots during winter and all of the sudden they appear in so colourful model-style clothings.

I didn’t bring my digital camera along so I didn’t have a chance to show the beautiful / not so beautiful arab ladies but even if I had the camera with me I might not be too brave to take their pictures openly, I might zoom in from afar….

Wearing high heel shoes/boots have been their daily habit. Just now when I saw one lady wore a golden metallic high heel shoes matched with a golden metallic hand bag..I asked Izzat

“ Agaknya berapa jauh this lady boleh jalan ?? “

Izzat replied :

“ Entah…takut terpeliot je kaki dia ..”

Amazingly….When we were on our way back from the bank we saw that ‘metallic ‘ lady was already quite far from the bank…..still walking but looked like she’s heading back to the bank… Then I told Izzat….

“ Jauh jugak dia maintain jalan kaki…kalau mama lah pakai kasut tinggi camtu, lama dah terduduk tepi jalan..sure sakit punya.”

Izzat just giggled.



I remember one day Zaid came back from his English class in U of Mu’tah, he was telling me how many arab ladies in his class had their feet and shoes ’ terpeliot’ when they were asked by the lecturer to pick up their exam papers from the lecture-hall stage in front. They couldn’t balance their feet when they came down the stage which had only a few staircases. It was really funny …the whole class were laughing outloud especially the male students…..I laughed too …hehehehe….

I’ve given up wearing’ high-heel’ shoes long ago and the highest that I’ve worn was 2 ½ inches .Now it’s summer time , I’m always in my black snickers , easy and fast to move around….I just don’t care what people say as long as I’m comfortable wearing it.


Well, I guess for those beauty conscious arab ladies , no matter how painful it might be in their sharp-pointed- high-heel shoes as long as they feel great about themselves….

Today and Yesterday

Pagi lagi I dah siapkan bekal makanan untuk mimi dan izzat untuk dibawa ke sekolah. Biasanya hanya Izzat sahaja yang bawa bekal tapi hari ini I paksa juga mimi bawa bekal bread&cheese sandwich sebab dinner semalam dia hanya mahu chicken soup sahaja….So I takut dia akan kelaparan bila tiba waktu rehat di sekolah nanti dan hari ini pun masih lagi dalam minggu peperiksaan.

Minggu ini mimi tidak mahu beruniform ke sekolah kerana menurutnya kawan-kawan arab semuanya tak pakai uniform dah ke sekolah ….tinggal 4 hari saja lagi sekolah sebelum summer holidays( cikgu tak kisah sebab taska)…Pagi tadi dia nak pakai skirt dan t-shirt sahaja….. terpaksa pulak menggosok skirt pink dan t-shirt pink serta jeans biru untuk dipakai ke sekolah. Tersenyum dapat jugak dia mengenakan pakaian yang dimahu , t-shirt, skirt serta tali pinggang pink yang dibeli oleh sofie di Ukraine tahun lalu dipadankan dengan seluar panjang jeans serta rambut diikat dengan getah pink&kuning… siap dia kata “ Thanks Mom”…(sekarang tengah praktis …English with mommy…Arabic with abang Zaid and arab friends, Bahasa Melayu with Izzat… itupun ikut mood dia… ada hari dia memang nak gunakan English, bila I tercakap melayu, dia pulak tegur…” You speak English Mom”…. Kalau hari mood tak baik, I cakap English , dia pulak cakap..” You speak Malay, you speak malay !!.“…baru ni ada kawan arab dia cakap arab dengan I, mimi pun bisik kat kawan dia..I tanya mimi apa yang dia bisik, dia kata…” cakap English, mak saya taktau arab ( in arabic )…”…..yang untungnya budak kecik jugak, cepat je dapat pelajari bahasa……. I plan nak masukkan mimi ke SRJK (C) bila pulang ke Malaysia nanti…itu projek dari sebelum mimi lahir…. Biar dia fasih berbahasa mandarin dan kantonis , amat berguna buat dirinya kelak, InsyaAllah. Doakanlah agar “Beijing Project “ ini dapat dilaksanakan, jika jadi kami pulang ke tanahair tahun ini bermakna cerah masa depan projek ini akan terlaksana……

*************************

Petang semalam dalam kemalasan yang teramat sangat nak ke pasar membeli grocery yang dah semakin kurang….nak suruh Izzat dia sibuk mengulangkaji pelajaran untuk final exam yang tinggal 4 hari saja lagi untuk tamat… so, I ajak mimi pergi sekali ke Safeway di jubaihah, safeway yang paling hampir dengan rumah yang telah sekian lama tidak dikunjungi kerana dahulu amat kurang barang di dalamnya…..So off we went by taxi…

Masih serupa seperti sejak lama dahulu, tidak banyak barang tidak seperti safeway di 7th circle yang ada pelbagai barangan…. I pusing-pusing beberapa kali ..belilah apa yang ada ….dari rumah ada terdetik nak beli nenas sebab dah lama tak makan, bila tengok harga nenas kecil yang tak berapa fresh sampai JD2.4 =RM12 terus hilang selera..mungkin bukan musimnya sebab yang ada pun hanya 2 biji dan selalunya tak sampai JD2 sebiji dan jika masih segar ok jugaklah … Benda yang boleh ditangguh, baiklah I tangguhkan, lagipun I sorang je yang teringin….

Semasa tunggu nak beli donut di kaunter cake&pastry, I letakkan my trolley dekat satu shelf sebab nak jengok-jengok roti di situ, tiba-tiba datang this arab guy terus ambik trolley I yang separa penuh dengan grocery items dan tolak my trolley seolah-olah trolley tu dia punya…. Nasib baik I sempat nampak dan cepat-cepat menuju ke arah dia dan kata , “ Excuse me, this is my trolley…. “ Dia pun melihat ke bawah ke dalam trolley dan terus kata…” Oo Sorry, sorry…” sambil tersenyum dan patah balik mengambil troilley dia yang diletakkan berdekatan dengan my trolley di cake section dan trolley dia baru ada beberapa items di dalamnya….Mimi and I nak tergelak pun ada tapi buat selamba je…kami cuma senyum je….

Waktu dah keluar dari safeway, satu hal pulak nak kena cari taxi…biasanya jika ke safeway di 7th circle pekerja safeway akan tolong carikan taxi … I tanya pekerja di situ di mana I boleh dapatkan taxi…dia jawab susah nak dapat taxi di situ…dan setelah menanti 5 minit dan semua taxi yang lalu di laluan luar(jalan besar ) semuanya penuh…. Akhirnya I guna ‘talian hayat’ ….. call izzat di rumah suruh dia datang dengan taxi ambik I sebab kawasan rumah I taxi anytime je ada…. “ok’ dia jawab dengan suara yang sungguh garau ( eeeee dah jadi ‘man’ anak I ) I cakap dalam hati……

Tak sampai 8 minit izzat tiba bersama ‘taxinya’ dan kami pulang bersama dalam taxi yang sama….

I buat keputusan tak nak dah beli grocery di safeway jubaihah…tak berbaloi…kurang barang dan susah transport…….

THe MYSTERY REMAINS.....

Last night I planned to have my blog updated but with a lot of things happened yesterday , I just couldn’t concentrate to write any entry…I ended up deleting what I had written twice…..one with only a few lines of words I my self didn’t really understand..the second one was even worse…I stopped after just a few words …..my mind wasn’t there….I went blank of what actually I wanted to write….

So, here I am , still very early in the morning ..still trying to pour down something into my blog….. Let’s see………

Looking at this time of the year…many grab the chance of school and summer holidays to be in Makkah ….. I’d like to share my unforgettable experiences while I was there….

I remember two scenarios that took place in the holy land Makkah sometime ago when I was there performing my umrah . These two incidents for me really made me wonder and then eccept the fact that it is indeed true that only ALLAH THE ALMIGHTY knows what inside my heart and my mind…. Here it goes….


INCIDENT NO 1

It’s been a hot day outside Masjidil Haram and I noticed everytime I was on my way to the masjid, an old was always sitting down not far from the Fatah Gate and when it’s almost time to pray, he would drag himself ( he couldn’t walk ) into the entrance of the masjid to pray. Sometimes I saw a man offered to carry him into the masjid…one thing I I learned, he wasn’t a beggar…not like many other handicapped adults and children who roamed around the masjid begging for money…he was just not that kind of person, he sat outside the masjid with tasbih in his hands and his mouth never stopped zikr to Allah.

One day , I was very clear with my niat to donate just 5 riyals to that old man…just 5 riyals ..the amount that I was sincere to donate while I was on my way back to my hotel..that’s my plan and my 100% niat was to get reward from Allah ….

I put a 5 riyals ( for donation ) note and a 50 ( to buy something ) riyals note in my pocket and headed to the masjid together with my kids, Sumayyah and Izzat (izzat was only 3 at that time so he always followed me around )…. We were quite late and were able to follow the imam by praying very close to the main door..near the security /policemen…. At that moment I took a glance of that old man ..he was praying just next to us..( we were on the left side and he was on the right side of the main gate )… When we were just started to pray, an arab moman and her daughter( almost the same height like sumayyah ) joined our ‘ saf’..the mother prayed beside me and the girl stood beside sumayyah….. right after saying our salams…those two arabs got off and left……

As I planned I wanted to donate the money to that old man before leaving the masjid….. I searched for the money in my pocket and I did it several times.. I could feel there’s only ONE note left in my pocket…I took it out and the only note left was the 50 riyals note…the 5 riyals or donation was gone…

How could it be ??????

I told Sumayyah that I couldn’t find the 5 riyal note which I was very sure it was there in my pocket…..

Then I remember something…….It must be it !!! That arab lady who prayed beside me..

I remember when I was in the sujud position I could feel something moving somewhere around my pocket but the movement was so gentle/subtle just like very small finger-like object and it happened in just 2/3 seconds..that’s it…Once again I told sumayyah about the feeling that I thought would be the case, she then told me she also lost her tissue (she had runny nose that day ) that she put in her pocket and she could also felt a little-finger ‘touch’ in her pocket while praying….

I made the conclusion those arab mother and daughter were pro thieves which made the masjid as their banks to ‘withdraw’ money…Well , that little girl wasn’t that lucky…she only withdrew a wet-mucus tissue….hehehehe……..

I then waited for my darling at the entrance and I borrowed 5 riyals from him and donated the money to that old arab man and I could still see his face smiling with full of joy receiving that 5 riyals…..At that time I was also full of happiness knowing that I had completed my mission..but a bit disappointed…not with my own money….

I then told my darling about how I had intended to donate 5 riyals to that man and that the money had gone.....my darling didn't say anything......

The moral of the story….It happened almost a decade ago but I am still searching for the moral of the incident….

Was I too stingy to only donate 5 riyals instead of the 50 note ???
I just couldn’t donate that 50 because I still had many stuff that I’d like buy for souvenirs ……….

Why did the lady steal only the 5 riyal and not the 50 riyals ???
My niat was to donate the 5 riyal and the thief took it from me…was it because I didn’t really have the intention to donate afterall ???
No, I was at that time 100% sure with my whole heart to give the money to that old man…

Was my money not 'clean ' ???

I got that money from my teachings..... I love teaching all my life .......

In the conclusion I regarded that episode of mystery could only be answered by THE ALL KNOWING ALLAH …..ALLAH KNOWS EVERY SINGLE THING HAPPENS TO US…NOBODY CAN DENY….

Incident No 2…….to be continued sometime later this month………

Have a great day !!!!!!!!!!

Damai Yang Hilang Entah Bila Akan Kembali........

Entry ke 2 dalam sehari bukan mudah bagi diri ini namun hari ini mood itu datang ........


Semasa dalam taxi menuju ke balad atau Amman city center baru-baru ni I seperti biasa terpaksa menahan bau-bauan yang agak hamis dan hancing apabila tiba di laluan sekitar Jabal Hussein dan Jabal Qalaah…. Bau yang tidak menyenangkan datang dari kawasan bandar dan perumahan lama yang tidak tersusun dan tidak lengkap dengan infra struktur dan tiada nya sewage system yang baik di situ.

beginilah rupa kem pelarian palestine suatu ketika dahulu....(gambar dari internet )

Mungkin driver taxi perasan yang kami macam menahan bau kurang enak tersebut, dia memulakan perbualan dengan mengatakan di situ adalah kawasan penempatan yang dulunya adalah pelarian dari Palestine . Dahulunya ianya adalah dipenuhi dengan khemah-khemah pelarian dan hingga kini jumlah yang bermastautin di sekitar Jabal Hussein adalah lebih dari 100,000 pelarian yang telah menghuni kawasan ini semenjak tahun 1948 . Kini tiada lagi khemah pelarian kerana telah diganti dengan rumah-rumah dan apartment concrete namun keadaan rumah di situ tidak tersusun, rumah dibina rapat-rapat dan kebanyakannya hanya cukup sebagai tempat berlindung dari panas dan sejuk Suatu yang positifnya, kebanyakan pelarian Palestinian di sini merupakan peniaga dan pemborong yang meningkatkan ekonomi negara Jordan ini sendiri.

salah sebuah rumah pelarian yang dilawati di kem pelarian Baqa'ah

I tidak tahu apakah status kewarganegaan pelarian-pelarian Palestine di situ. I pernah melawat 2 buah kem pelarian Palestine …Kem pelarian pelestine di Baqa’ah dan di Irbid yang dikatakan mereka masih lagi di bawah status pelarian…Dalam pendapat I kem palestin di Jabal Hussein (sudah jadi Bandar tiada lagi khemah ) adalah nampak jauh lebih baik jika dibandingkan dengan kem pelarian di Baqa’ah dan Irbid. Baqa’ah Camp adalah yang paling dhaif, ada rumah yang masih tiada bumbung dan hanya berlantaikan tanah pasir.

renungan kanak-kanak palestin di kem pelarian palestin di Irbid

Semasa lawatan NGO bantuan Ramadan ( ada dalam arkib blog ni ) ke kem Baqa’ah , I dapati rumah di kem tersebug tidak ubah seperti rumah setinggan atau rumah-rumah kongsi pekerja binaan yang biasa dilihat di tanahair…rumah yang terlalu rapat dan lorong yang sempit dan kotor dan mereka telah berada di situ hampir 40 tahun, masih lagi di bawah status pelarian Palestine.Kebanyakannya hanya menampung kehidupan dengan hanya mengambil upah mengutip sampah, bercucuk tanam serba sedikit di tanah yang dibangunkan secara bergotong-royong dan dijual hasilnya di pasar-pasar. Yang ramainya hanya hidup dari hasil bantuan dan derma dari beberapa NGO dari sekitar tanah arab dan sebahagian kecil dari dunia luar arab.

beginilah rumah yang terdapat di kem pelarian palestin di kem Baqa'ah

Semasa bertandang bersama sebuah NGO, sebak melihat betapa bangsa arab yang terkenal dengan hidup mewah dan kaya raya , namun masih terlalu ramai daripada mereka yang merempat di bumi anbiya’ sendiri…rintihan yang jarang mahu didengari oleh sebahagian besar dunia arab dan negara-negara kuasa besar yang hanya pandai melaungkan soal hak asasi manusia sejagat..

perumahan yang agak tersusun di kem palestin di Irbid

Kem pelarian di Irbid nampak seperti agak terbela dan terjaga, agak bersih dan nampak lebih ‘maju’ sedikit daripada kem Baqa’ah dan ekonomi mereka dijana oleh Souk Muqayyam yang dikenali ramai yang menempatkan banyak kedai yang menjual hasil kerja mereka seperti hasil dari industri textile yang agak murah di sini berbanding tempat lain.

Apapun semua kem yang pernah dilawati ini akan menjadi ingatan dan pengajaran bahawa peperangan yang tercetus dan masih lagi berterusan di bumi Palestine hanya mendatangkan kesengsaraan yang tidak kunjung padam….rakyat yang teraniaya akan terus disiksa jiwa dan minda , memiliki tanahair yang bebas merdeka seakan semakin terpinggir jauh dari laluan reality dunia masakini ………

Damai yang hilang entah bila kan kembali.....................

I Look I See

Sunday is the first day of the week here in Jordan , same like Terengganu where I used to stay... another week full of joy and happiness, InsyaAllah.......

I'd like to share this song lyrics sung by a popular singer who converted into Islam exactly 3 decades ago (1977), Cat Steven who later changed his name to Yusuf Islam....You can also listen to the song by clikcing the play button at my 'jordan sings' title on the left column of this blog.....


Let's listen ,sing and ponder........


I Look I See

I look, I look, I look, I see
I see a world of beauty
I touch, I touch, I touch, I feel
I feel a world around so real
And everything I do
I dedicate to You
Cause You made me
I am for You

I listen, listen, listen, I hear
I hear the words of God so clear
I read, I read, I read, I know
It helps my knowledge grow
And everything we do
We dedicate to You
Cause You made us
We are for You

I listen, listen, listen, I hear

He sent the Prophet to show us the way
He made Religion perfect that Day
Peace be upon him, upon him we pray Salatullah, wa salamu ‘alyhi

I sleep I sleep, I sleep, I dream
I dream I’m in a garden green
I wish, I wish, I wish I pray
I pray to be here everyday
And everything I do
I dedicate to You
Cause You made me
I am for You

I work, I work, I work, I strive
To make something of my life
I seek, I seek, I seek, I find
I find another hill to climb
And everything we do
We dedicate to You
Cause You made us
We are for You

I look, I look, I look, I see

He sent the Prophet to show us the way
He made Religion perfect that Day
Peace be upon him, upon him we pray Salatullah, wa salamu ‘alyhi (x2)

Have a nice Sunday.....whether you're leisurely lying back on the sofa or busy sorting out job loads at work.......Cheers !!

Weekend Mood.........

It's cold this morning with the overnight temperature dropped from 24 to 13 degree celcius.... It's June and yet it still feels like April....I'm not complaining, I like it this way rather than living in a place where it's daily heat even reaches up to 45 - 50 degree C ....

Greenberry or 'toot'.

This weekend I'm not going anywhere as both izzat and mimi are struggling with their final exam preparations and the exams will only finish next week and after that they'll have a very longgggggggggggg summer school holidays , mid June till end of August.

'Toot' tree.......the fruits ......so sweet.......

I find it a bit funny to think how a four-year-old- girl, mimi has to prepare for her final exam...oral+written exams.... last week she had to memorize all her lessons orally from deen, english, mathematics, arabic , science to civic knowledge and this coming weeks she has to deal with her writing examinations which also covers all subjects taught at school. She's registered under the'tamhidi' or some sort like a 'nursery/taska' but looking at her books and lessons taught it looks more like a kindergarten. I don't really push her to really study for her exam but she seems to have been all set and well prepared for it.

Pink flowers..don't ask me the name...sorry , i don't know....

Last night I watched a programme on al Jazeera sport TV and Izzat and I (mimi was already asleep ) were laughing all thru this programme called " .......... life shots " .

same ' no-name flower ' with different colour.........

It's a tournament where the participants have to shoot the ball into the basketball net and each participant represents an arab country including Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. Each of them have to make 12 shots from 3 different angles..the 1st ball scores 1 point, 2nd- 2pts, 3rd- 3pts, 4th - 4 pts for each angle. that means if they shoot all 12 balls into the net the total score would be 24 points.

We laughed because it looked so funny when out of 6 competitors , there's only one female took part and she's the first person to give it a shot.....she scored 15 points.... it looked so funny because she's representing a country ( this is a grand game with many judges and the indoor stadium was decorated like a disco and they even had a group of high-school cheer leaders who also performed a few 'arab gelek dancings' during the break)..but she seemed like she didn't know how to shoot the ball..so that was it, she got only 15 points...

Then all men got their chances to shoot...... we couldn't stop laughing.. all of them scored below the 15 points scored by the only lady, Diala Khalifah from Syria..... a few even scored below 10 points and oh boy ,they are tall guys...one of them is more than 2 m high.....


The final result ( they have a few rounds of shots )..that lady from syria won the tournament and went home with a cheque worth USD3000 ......

We first laughed and condemned how on earth she could represent her country when she couldn't even hold the ball correctly but with syria was the host country ,the spectators cheered and clapping their hands giving their 100% moral support to this lady....


Then the men were all 'out of place'...... looking at their masculine bodies and height they should've been great basketball players.... I don't know what went wrong , but that lady was the champion.



I remember reading a blog entry from a macho guy living in Jeddah a few days ago with the title 'Women Rule ' ......what to say , it happens again man !!!!!!


Before I pen off I just want to post a few pics taken last week from my backyard... pics of ' I don't know what flowers they are " and a greenberry tree and its fruits... the fruits taste so sweet ..........


Have a wonderful Saturday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kau Pergi Jua...

Ketika membaca entry doctor k. d . di Dublin pagi tadi hati terus terusik dan sayu apabila mengenangkan abah yang telah pergi meninggalkan kami semua 11 tahun yang lampau. Walaupun sudah agak lama berita sedih ini diterima dengan pasrah namun masa terasa begitu pantas berlalu. Terasa baru kelmarin ianya berlaku dan masih teringat lagi saat terakhir abah bersama kami....

Abah seorang yang tegas tetapi penyayang terhadap kami semua. Berbekalkan kehidupan yang rumit dibesarkan tanpa ibu dan ayah serta sikap sanak saudara yang merasakan satu beban menanggung seorang anak yatim piatu ..mengikut cerita abah, keturunan abah datang dari keluarga yang agak senang kerana dari keturunan di raja , tetapi disebabkan masa dahulu bila terjadi sesuatu tragedi dalam keluarga maka abahlah yang dikatakan membawa petaka kepada keluarga tersebut..Akhirnya abah dibesarkan oleh sebuah kelurga berbangsa Sikh dan juga tinggal di rumah kebajikan untuk anak yatim piatu.

Abah bekerja sebagai penggembala lembu untuk keluarga Sikh tersebut ( Lawyer ) dan di masa lapang anak-anak Singh tersebut sanggup mengajar abah membaca dan menulis terutama dalam bahasa Inggeris..lama kelamaan abah amat mahir berbahasa Inggeris walaupun tidak bersekolah. Apabila meningkat dewasa abah diterima masuk menjadi anggota tentera dalam tentera British dan abah lebih cenderung kepada kor kejuruteraan dan membaiki peralatan pertahanan terutamanya senjata yang digunapakai oleh pasukan tentera....

Career abah ini juga telah membuatkan kami sering berpindah-randah dan abah terpaksa selalu menukar kereta kami kerana abah jarang 'masuk hutan ' sebagaimana anggota tentera yang lain ( sebulan hingga 3/4 bulan baru balik ), abah hanya perlu 'masuk hutan' apabila ada senjata yang rosak dan perlukan diperbaiki...abah akan masuk ke hutan dengan berpakaian 'orang biasa' (bukan dalam uniform askar ) kerana tidak mahu disyaki oleh anggota komunis yang abah adalah tentera yang bertanggungjawab membaiki senjata. So, kereta kami sering bertukar bagi menjamin keselamatan abah ketika keluar masuk hutan. Abah memang pakar dalam kemahiran membaiki sebarang peralatan ..apa sahaja dari radio transistor , seterika, peti ais hinggalah kepada membaiki kenderaan seperti motorsikal, kereta dan apa sahaja mesin yang berinjin..Itulah kepakaran abah.

Selain itu abah juga seorang artist yang telented. Abah pernah mengambil upah melukis potraits sahabat-sahabat abah yang mahu mengabdikan wajah mereka ...abah akan melukis dan memuatkan lukisan itu dalam frame yang dibuat sendiri..... Terlalu banyak kelebihan abah yang tidak mampu kami anak-anaknya mewarisi itu semua...

Abah juga minat kepada muzik dari muzik klasik sehinggalah lagu pop dan tidak lupa abah adalah seorang mengkagumi bakat luar biasa biduan negara Tan Sri P. Ramlee ( dulu I ada bagitau I tak minat P.Ramlee , I sorang je tak minat ). Abah pandai menari mengikut rentak lagu dari ballroom dance , cha cha sehinggalah joget Melayu . Oleh kerana I adalah anak perempuan bongsu( adik lelaki 5 tahun muda dari I ) , I lah yang selalu manja dengan abah.... abah sayang kan kami semua dan kasih sayang ayah terpancar sehingga ke akhir hayatnya.....

Penghujung Oktober 1995 kesihatan abah telah mula merosot...abah terpaksa dikejarkan ke GH Ipoh kerana sakit jantung abah menjadi-jadi ketika itu. UBat yang diletakkan di bawah lidah seperti tidak memberi kesan langsung...abah masih lagi sentiasa tersenyum...oleh kerana I pada masa itu telah berhenti bekerja dan menjadi seorang surirumah, dengan izin suami I tinggalkan anak-anak termasuk Izzat yang ketika itu berusia setahun setengah dalam jagaan sahabat -sahabat di Kemaman (siang suami bekerja ). I berulang-alik Ipoh-Kemaman untuk menemani abah di hospital dan berselang-seli dengan adik-beradik yang lain yang ada yang mengambil cuti tanpa gaji kerana cuti mereka telah habis digunakan. Kesihatan abah makin lama makin teruk. Urusan dibuat untuk membawa abah ke IJN bagi melakukan pembedahan 3 saluran darah yang tersumbat.

Akhirnya penghujung hulan November abah dibawa ke IJN dengan ambulan hospital dan abah mahu I saja yang mengiringinya di dalam ambulan tersebut selain Doktor pengiring. Abah kata jika ada apa-apa urusan senang Ina yang akan uruskan. Alhamdulillah layanan di IJN amat baik sekali dan tak lama kemudian abah dibedah oleah Datuk Dr. Yahya dan pasukannya dan pembedahan berjaya.

Seminggu dinanti untuk melihat abah sembuh tidak tercapai, abah masih lemah dan tidak bermaya dan kaki abah kelihatan sedikit hitam di bahagian jari-jemari...abah telah menghidap diabetes semenjak dari masih bujang tetapi abah sentiasa menjaga dan mengawal tahap diabetesnya setiap hari ( ada peralatan menguji air kencing diletakkan di dalam tandas di rumah ). Doktor mulai berbincang dengan kami dan akhirnya kami membawa abah semula ke Ipoh dan tiada jalan lain untuk menyelamatkan abah selain daripada kakinya terpaksa dipotong ke paras lutut kerana diabetes telah merebak dengan begitu cepat. Sekali lagi I iringi abah di dalam ambulan dan menanti dengan penuh tawakal atas apa sahaja yang bakal berlaku. Sebaik sahaja abah sedar dari pembedahan, abah mula mengerang kesakitan dan terpaksa mengereng ke kiri dan ke kanan dan ini menyebabkan jahitan pembedahan tempoh hari seakan terbuka... abah segera dibawa semula ke IJN dan terus dijahit semula jahitan yang terbuka ( I memang nampak isi yang merah dari celah-celah jahitan yang terbuka ).

Abah masih sedar dan sempat meminta kakak menyediakan makanan yang diingini termasuk karipap yang dimasak oleh kakak I yang sulung.

Entah macamana tiba-tiba abah sentiasa menggigil kesejukan dan suhu terus meningkat secara mendadak. Doktor kehairanan dan ujian dibuat dan didapati ada sejenis bakteria yang mula aktif memberi kesan negatif kepada paru-paru abah. Doktor tidak dapat mempastikan apakah jenis bakteria tersebut...antibiotik ditukar dan ditukar namun tiada yang menampakkna perubahan ke arah positif. Akhirnya doktor yang bertugas membawa berita sedih kepada kami bahawa abah hanya ada tempoh hayat paling maksimum seminggu sahaja... Atas budi bicara pihak IJN kami dibenarkan menunggu dalam bilik abah ( dulu IJN tidak membenarkan sesiapa walaupun ahli keluarga menemani pesakit walaupun ketika pesakit nazak, pengalaman bersama sahabat diIJN, ibu tunggal yang anak bujang tunggalnya (pelajar IPT )nazak dan akhirnya pergi buat selamanya tanpa ada sesiapa dibenarkan menemaninya disaat-saat akhir hayatnya.. kami menangis bersama , sayu dan pilu... )

Kami dikira bertuah diberi layanan istimewa. Mak, kak nOr dan I bergilir-gilir menemani abah yang ketika itu sudah tidak boleh bercakap.....hanya menanti masa pergi meninggalkan dunia ini. Sebelum itu semasa I menjaga abah di Ipoh , pernah abah berkata " kehidupan Ina laksana pohon yang rendang yang abah boleh berteduh di bawahnya ".. kata-kata yang penuh makna buat diri ini...

Pagi Jumaat 6 Jan 1996 abah pergi meninggalkan kami buat selama-lamanya... kedengaran hembusan nafas abah yang terakhir yang sebelumnya I sempat bisikkan kalimah Laailahaillallah ke telinga abah dan air mata abah menitis buat kali terakhir... i cium dahi abah dan i rasa semua bahagian badan abah yang masih lagi panas. Doktor datang ucpkan takziah kepada kami sekeluarga dan kami ucapkan jutaan terimakasih kepada para doktor, jururawat dan kakitangan IJN yang selama ini amat baik dengan kami merawat abah tanpa jemu.

Tiada air mata ketika itu kerana I perlu membuat urusan pengurusan membawa balik jenazah ke Ipoh. I called abang di Ipoh yang baru sahaja pulang dari IJN dan beritahu abah telah tiada dan abang akan uruskan semuanya di Ipoh. Dalam pada itu I uruskan penghapusan kad pengenalan dan mendapatkn sijil kematian dan dapatkan kereta jenazah untuk pulang ke Ipoh. Semua urusan berjalan lancar..I iringi jenazah abah buat kali terakhir bersama mak dalama kereta jenazah dengan juga iringan ayat-ayat suci alQuran yang dibaca dalam perjalanana...

Selesai semua urusan dan abah disemadikan akhirnya kembali ke tempat asalnya.....sayu...

Ketika malam menjelma ketika terbaring di sebelah suami yang tiba bersama anak-anak dari Kemaman siangnya,.... pilu dan sayu tidak tertahankan lagi... Berjuraian juga akhirnya airmata yang selama ini I tahankan bagi memberi semangat kepada mak agar usah bersedih hati atas apa yang berlaku... I tenangkan mak dengan mengatakan...sudah suratan takdir abah pergi jua... rawatan dan layanan first class yang diterima dan dibedah oleh doktor pakar yang ternama di IJN yang terkenal dengan segala rupa-bentuk peralatan tercanggih...namun kuasa Yang Maha Esa tiada siapa dapat mengatasinya...

Satu perjalanan hidup yang tidak mungkin dapat dilupakan sepanjang hayat... akhirnya abah pergi jua...Semoga bertemu di akhirat kelak, InsyaAllah.

Al Fatihah buat abah........ Amin.

BARBIE or FULLA or BOTH ????

Today I’d like to talk about the no1 toy for little girls…..DOLLS…

I remember when I was small, I had this one beautiful waist-height plastic doll which my father bought solely for me from Padang Besar( I am the youngest girl in my family ) It had a pair of beautiful blue eyes which could blink ..I forgot whether it had a name…….I stopped playing with it when I moved to Kuching and started my primary school there . The reason why I stopped playing ??? Not that I didn’t want to but as we were moving out from Melaka , we had a lot of stuff to pack and at that time I already had my little brother ( my youngest brother is 5 years younger than I am ), so my mom told me just to leave the doll ( it’s already ‘old’ with one hand missing )… so that was it…the end of my doll days !!

When my daughters , sofie and maya were little they would go out playing with their dolls ( suzana, fara, tasya, boboi…just to name a few of their dolls ) but they had no expensive and branded dolls like……BARBIE…… I couldn’t accept the idea of having a doll with a perfect figure and a perfect mode of life …. And it was way too expensive then… I could buy 5 no brand dolls instead of a Barbie….

Then came my little mimi…… she adores Barbie and even wants us to call her Barbie….

Barbie...looks so gorgeous.... is it for real ???

So who’s Barbie ???

Barbie was invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler (co-founder of Mattel), whose own daughter was called Barbara. Barbie was introduced to the world at the American Toy Fair in New York City. The doll was intended to be a teenage fashion doll. There has been some controversy over Barbie's figure when it realized that if Barbie was a real person her measurements would be an impossible 36-18-38.

Then after being in Amman for several weeks, I found out there’s another ‘Barbie’ sold here…it is Fulla…a famous branded doll look like barbie’s cousin…….


So who’s fulla????

Fulla in muslim outfits.... educate the reality of life.....


Fulla is the name of an 11 1/2 inch Barbie-like fashion doll marketed to children of Islamic and Middle-eastern countries as an alternative to Barbie. The concept of her evolved around 1999, and she hit stores in late 2003. Fulla was created by a Syrian manufacturer from Damascus, and a toy company called NewBoy Toys . Fulla is also sold in Chine, Brazil, North Africa and Egypt while few are sold in America. Although there had been many other dolls in the past that were created with a hijab, such as Razanne and Moroccan Barbie, none of them had ever been as popular as Fulla. Fulla is a role-model to some Muslim people, displaying how most Muslim people, particularly in Saudi Arabia, would prefer their daughters to dress and behave.

Now, when mimi wants a new doll/stationery set/bag/shoes/cap/colouring book/pencil colour set/ dvd movie , she’s a little confuse….which to buy..Barbie or Fulla brand… so, she ends up having a collection of both brands. Like Barbie, the original Fulla is also very costly…. So, watch out for Fulah, Fullah ( see the spelling !! )sold in the store and the price is just a little bit lower than the real FULLA.

During Christmas 06 Sale... see that fulah...JD15 = RM75.... it's a bargain coz it's not Fulla, it is fulah..... The dolls were sold out in a week..mimi wanted this fulah so much but I thought it looked rather scary..same height as mimi...luckily she then was a bit scared of those fulahs...

For me , a combination of FULLA and BARBIE are the inspirations of being good /sophisticated/pious/well-behave individuals for the little ones…..

Which one would you prefer…FULLA or BARBIE ???????????

The Historical Desert Castles

Winter 2006 vacation brought us to two (out of 7 ) historical desert castles found in Jordan…Qasr Harrana and Qasr Amra.

Qasr Harrana.

It is located 65km east of Amman and was built in the 7th century. It is the best-preserved Umayyad castle in Jordan and consists of 61 rooms arranged in two levels surrounded by a central courtyard.

The exterior walls are pierced by narrow openings for lighting and ventilation, not arrow slits as sometimes described. It was also recognized by the historians as the place where the Umayyad leaders held their meetings. Other studies claimed that this castle used to be the transit shelter for the traders coming from all over the arab land.

Originally, a small water tank stood in the middle of the courtyard to collect rain water from the rooftops.Additional water was obtained from seep-holes dug in the valley-bed.

Looking at this beautiful desert castle, I wonder how on earth they could build this ‘ look-like a fort’ castle right in the middle of the hot dry desert ( luckily we went there during winter….cold !! ) …

Standing on top of the Harrana Castle all I could see was miles and miles of dry and bare desert…… it’s such a peaceful moment indeed !!

Qasr Amra

This castle is just 20km from the Harrana Castle, noted for its extensive fresco paintings which cover almost all the interior surfaces. The paintings include themes such as hunting, dancing,musicians and bathing scenes. This unique paintings prompted the UNESCO to include Qasr Amra in its World Heritage list.

This castle consists of 3 main elements :

A rectangular audience-hall with a throne alcove in the middle of the south side.
A bath complex with the cold, warm and hot rooms .
The hydraulic structures including an elevated water-tank, a well and the equipment to drawing water from the well into the water tank.

This castle was not a residential in character , nor was it intended to be occupied over and extended period time. It is just a place to have warm and cosy bath in the middle of the desert.

So, next time when you visit Jordan, these desert castles are always there waiting for you……

Air Tangan Suami Juga Enak

I ambil petikan ini dari berita harian buat renungan bersama.....

Dr.Abu tidak kekok merintis tradisi lelaki masuk dapur memasak untuk seisi keluarga

SUDAH menjadi adat, wanita tempatnya di dapur. Bahkan adat itu tetap kukuh sedari dulu sehingga ke era globalisasi hari ini walaupun wanita sudah mencapai kemajuan setanding lelaki. Tidak kira berapa tinggi pangkat disandang wanita, tugas di rumah seperti memasak masih tetap dipikul wanita.

Si suami pula hanya tahu menunggu hidangan siap diatur di atas meja sambil sibuk menonton televisyen, membelek surat khabar atau berdengkur di sofa. Tidak keterlaluan jika dikatakan boleh dibilang dengan jari suami yang sanggup membantu isteri di dapur.

Apatah lagi yang sanggup meringankan beban isteri, memasak dan menghidangkan makanan di atas meja sementara isteri pula berehat selepas pulang dari pejabat.

Bagaimanapun, Rozima Yahya, 35, amat bertuah kerana bersuamikan Dr Abu Razali Saini, 34, yang bukan saja ringan tulang membantunya membuat kerja di dapur tetapi handal memasak.
Beliau akui air tangan suaminya itu jarang sekali mengecewakan, malah mengalahkan keenakan masakan Rozima sendiri.

Dr Abu, anak keempat dalam keluarganya, mengakui tidak janggal apabila terpaksa ‘turun’ ke dapur walaupun sudah mendirikan rumah tangga. Dibesarkan dalam keluarga yang tidak pernah menetapkan hanya wanita saja ke dapur, Dr Abu berasa agak pelik apabila dilarang oleh Rozima untuk membantunya memasak.

“Mula-mula kahwin dulu, rasa janggal apabila tidak dibenarkan membantunya di dapur. Secara peribadi bagi saya, sepatutnya semua orang kena tahu memasak kerana ia adalah satu kemahiran ‘survival’. Tidak kira lelaki atau wanita. Soal sama ada tugas memasak harus dipikul bersama, itu terpulang kepada individu. Kalau si suami minat, apa salahnya.

“Memang daripada kecil kami lima beradik, empat lelaki dan seorang perempuan dilatih memasak. Bila mak ke dapur, kami ikut bantu. Malah ketika emak dan ayah ke Makkah, saya memasak untuk adik beradik lain. Justeru, tidak hairanlah kami anak lelaki semua pandai memasak termasuk kakak,” katanya.

Bapa dua anak ini mengakui tidak canggung ke dapur apabila ada kelapangan atau apabila Rozima keletihan sebaik pulang daripada bekerja. Gelaran profesional juga tidak menghalang Dr Abu menjalankan tanggungjawab yang jarang mahu dilakukan suami iaitu menjaga isteri di dalam pantang.

Malah, sewaktu Rozima dalam pantang selepas melahirkan anak sulung mereka, Muhammad I’rfan, Dr Abu menggunakan kemahiran memasaknya untuk menyediakan hidangan ibu lepas bersalin untuk isterinya itu.

“Ketika berpantang, saya terkejut apabila suami menghidangkan makanan untuk ibu dalam pantang seperti ikan kukus dengan lada hitam. Saya tanya dari mana dia belajar masakan itu sebab saya sendiri pun tidak tahu menyediakan hidangan untuk ibu lepas bersalin,” kata Rozima.

Beliau berkata, antara masakan Dr Abu yang sememangnya enak ialah asam pedas ikan tenggiri dan sardin goreng sambal. Asam pedas ikan tenggiri Dr Abu diakuinya memiliki ciri dan kriteria tersendiri yang tentunya berbeza dengan asam pedas lain.

“Resipi asam pedas saya pelajari daripada ibu, manakala sardin goreng sambal daripada ayah. Rahsia untuk mendapatkan asam pedas yang enak ialah dengan menggunakan belacan Banting yang berwarna hitam.

“Bagi saya kalau rajin bertanya dan minat belajar, kita boleh memasak apa saja. Ketika Rozima bersalin, saya ke pasar malam dan tanya seorang makcik apa yang perlu saya masak untuk ibu lepas bersalin. Bila balik, saya masaklah seperti yang dikatakannya,” katanya.

Bapa kepada dua anak itu berazam memastikan anaknya, Muhammad I’rfan, tujuh tahun dan Nur I’rdheena, tiga, dilatih untuk memasak. Baginya, memasak adalah satu pengalaman yang manis dan atas alasan itu, beliau mahu anaknya menikmati pengalaman berkenaan.

“Hari ini memasak bukanlah satu tugas yang sukar kerana dilengkapi pelbagai peralatan elektronik. Berbanding ketika saya kecil dulu, di kampung, terpaksa guna dapur kayu dan minyak tanah. Api perlu sentiasa dijaga agar tidak terlalu besar sehingga membuatkan masakan hangit,” katanya.

Begitu pun, Rozima akui, seperti kebanyakan lelaki lain apabila memasak dapur akan menjadi tunggang langgang dan suaminya tidak terkecuali.

“Apa yang tidak tahan, bila Dr Abu selesai memasak, dapur macam baru kena tsunami,” katanya sambil ketawa mengakhiri perbualan.

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Berapa ramai agaknya isteri yang bertuah punya suami serajin Dr. Abu ????

NAMA cermin IDENTITI

What a beautiful Sunday morning with only me alone in the house ( izzat and mimi started another new week of school, just 3 more weeks before summer holidays !! , zaid had to be somewhere backhome for a week...... )

Yesterday evening izzat had a chance to celebrate his 13th birthday with his arab friends (my neighbours' kids)....I just prepared some party goodies ... no cutting cake yesterday since izzat had cut the birthday cake on Friday morning ( a day earlier ) when we had our own family birthday party right before going to the airport to send Zaid flying home...

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Bercakap pasal anak-anak , takkan terlepas daripada memperkatakan tentang nama... nama yang meletakkan identiti seseorang, kita kenali manusia dengan namanya....

The faraway doctor, k.d. had tagged me to write about the names of my 5 children... here it goes..

1. ZAID.......


First, I tak nak tau gender anak waktu pregnant..I siapkan 2 nama, a boy= zaid, a girl =Sumayyah.... so it turned up to be Zaid..... so that's it..we named our first child Zaid... yang membawa maksud kelebihan/mulia dan juga diambil daripada nama anak angkat Nabi saw, Zaid bin Harithah yang diasuh oleh rasulullah saw sehingga menjadi seorang pahlawan Islam dan akhirnya gugur syahid dalam peperangan Mu'tah ( ada makamnya di Mutah, tak jauh dari rumah zaid..)

Harapan I dengan memilih nama ini : punya kelebihan dalam diri ,gagah , berani dan teguh dan mengalir darah pahlawan sebagaimana darah pejuang Zaid bin Harithah....

2. SAFIYYAH...

I masih tak nak tau gender anak bila pregnant...if a boy= Luqman Hakim, a girl = Safiyyah (tak nak dah nama sumayyah kali ni )..... so , it was Safiyyah yang keluar..Safiyyah bermaksud suci/ best friend/serene/ untroubled dan juga merupakan isteri Nabi saw yang berbangsa Yahudi yang converted into Islam......

Harapan I agar nama ini menjadi motivasi safiyyah untuk mencapai apa yang dimaksudkan, sentiasa berhati suci dan setabah Safiyyah isteri Nabi...

( masa my darling and I pilih nama ni kami tak sedar yang my mertua punya nama yang sama (Sapiah ) ..so bila balik malaysia ,bila orang kampung tau nama anak I safiyyah, ada makcik yang kata dalam loghat N9 (...." copek na ha dah ado pengganti Wan eeee..", wan=nenek ) .. "nak buek camno, dah namo tu yang den minat ... " I cakap dalam hati je...hehehe..

3. SUMAYYAH

Kali ni I nak tau jantina baby, dan doktor dah 'confirmkan' it's gonna be a girl, so nama Sumayyah naik semula, tak de nama lain dah.. so ,Sumayyah dilahirkan dengan maksud namanya kebanggaan.... sejarah Islam sekali lagi menjadi sebab utama nama ni dipilih...sumayyah wanita pertama gugur syahid dalam mempertahan kan Iman dan Aqidah...beruntung lah sumayyah yang mengorbankan nyawanya demi Islam...

Harapan I semoga sumayyah kekal menjadi kebanggaan keluarga ( so far dia sentiasa menjadi kebanggaan keluarga ) dan seteguh iman sumayyah serta tabah hidup di perantauan dan tercapai cita-cita...

4, IZZAT


Anak ke 4 I tau dah apa jantina baby and tak de dah nama luqman hakim dan sebarang nama girl.... so, izzat is izzat..easy to call, tak payah nickname, panggil nama penuh je senang izzat..... bermaksud mulia/kelebihan sama maksud nama zaid.... just plain izzat...tiada sejarah namanya yang I kaji... i just wanted the boy to be Izzat...

Harapan I agar izzat terus dimuliakan dan gunakan kelebihan yang dikurniakan demi masa depan Islam dan kehidupan yang penuh mencabar kelak...

5. SYAMIMI

Kali ke 5 ni memang dah ' confirm' a girl.... so I picked Syamimi bermaksud Keharumanku.. nama ni dipilih sebab terasa 'manja' bila ianya dipanggil sebab syamimi hadir dalam hidup kami agak 'lambat' , 8 tahun gap and satu-satunya anak yang I mengandung dalam usia 30an... so she'd be a babydoll dalam family...... dan harumnya mimi akan menjadi buah hati kami seharian tak sah kalau tak di cium pipinya ( only yesterday mimi komplen ...kalau nak kiss tak payahlah kiss yang melekat tu,.chotttttttt , memang kalau kiss rasa nak sedut je pipi dia..heheh )

Harapan I agar mimi kekal menjadi my babydoll to light up my days but bukan jenis yang terlalu manja.....

So....lima anak, lima maksud tersurat dan tersirat....

Thank you k.d for tagging me sebab I pun rasa gembira dapat ingatkan semula kenapa I pilih nama anak-anak tersayang...

I cuma nak tag my friend in Shah Alam..nurrazah8 yang ada anak 8...hope she doesn't mind...

Happy Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!

13 years of joy...... Alhamdulillah.

Izzat is now 13 years old....

SELAMAT HARIJADI !! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! EIDUL MILAD !!

Izzat is my 4th child, born after 5 years without a new baby in the house… he’s cute with fair complexion, brown hair, 2 big round eyes, thick eyebrows , quite big and not so sharp nose and most of all he didn’t cry a lot… easy to handle and care…..

Carrying him inside for almost 9 months…as usual… so much in pain….. morning/afternoon/evening/night/dawn sicks ..24/7… I was admittted twice to the hospital for being so weak…couldn’t move around, couldn’t smell almost all things including the smell of WATER..yes Water …from the pipe, bottle ,cup ..whatever containers…I would vomit at once…. Couldn’t stand the smell of food, detergent, perfume..seemed like my smelling sense was taken away from me…

My sight…all brokedown..no books, no TV..no sunlight …all I did was closing my eyes from morning till night…no talking to anybody…just a few words with Zaid, sofie and maya once in a while…pity them… having no helper…they ( aged 8,.7,.5 respectively ) helped a lot inside and outside the house, they ironed their school uniforms when my hubby had to be away, they bought their own breakfast and lunch …basically they did almost everything…

I remember I had my own plate and cup which couldn’t be washed using dish detergent since I couldn’t stand the smell…At one time my darling was away in Bintulu…before he left, he bought a pack of nasi lemak’ plastic wrappers..so when my kids and I ate any food..we just layered the plates with plastic. We didn’t have to wash the plates with detergent….finished eating…threw away the plastic…it really helped me from vomitting caused by smelling the soap…When I took my bath, I covered my nose with a handkerchief to avoid smelling the soap…my darling was the one who washed my hair… I sat down on a chair..he would scrubbed and applied some shampoo ( could only use Sebamed brand since is has least odour ) while I pinched and covered my nose ….well hair needed to be washed…thank you darling….

One night I was furious when my darling came back from the surau with the smell of ‘minyak atar’/perfume which was my number 1 enemy(threw up there and then )… He knew that I couldn’t stand the smell….I was really mad at him..coming into the house with that killing smell…( I liked the smell before !! )…Pity him…he apologized and he explained that there’s a man in the surau who went on spraying his perfume to all the men there including my darling ( even though he didn’t wear any perfume, he still smelt okay…. My darling is never a ‘busuk’ type one lah )…


Back to Izzat ( I didn’t realized…I write more about my pregnancy than the birthday boy…well, he was inside me..so he’s the one that ‘changed ‘ me/my life afterall… .hahahaha )

Izzat was born almost at noon, 26th may 1994 at the Family Clinic Kuantan……. He’s been a healthy and smart boy ….I had mentioned before in one of my previous entries .. I had the idea of having a home schooling project for him since I sensed that he could be a genius boy.. He could remember what I taught in just a few minutes.... So, I sent him to 3 different teachers when he was approaching the age of 3..for his Bahasa Melayu, English (smart learning course ) and Qiraati….I only taught him Maths at home… He could read BM, English and Quran by the age of 3+ and at 5 he khatam (finished ) reading the Quran…for Maths…he could do the division of numbers up to any limit…( even millions )… at the age of 4.

At 5 while other kids were at kindergarten, izzat was always with me….not much to do..just sending him to his 3 tuition classes …..

One day I passed thru a kindergarten…I saw izzat’s face and he looked so excited seeing the kids running and playing outside that pre-school…. Then , I asked him …

” Do you want to go to school ? “

He nodded…..I felt so guilty at that moment…..I realized if I went on with my home schooling project, he could be a genius but he would have no social skill..no friends to play…he would be a robot....

I went backhome and discussed the matter with my hubyy..and a few days after ..off we went to a pre-school nearby… However, izzat didn’t want to go to that school… He wanted to go the school that he saw the other day…. I brought him there and had him registered there and GONE WAS MY HOME SCHOOLING PROJECT……Izzat started his normal school life…. Since then he always scored top in class and just recently, he got no 1 here in his school in Amman where all lessons are taught in Arabic except for the English language subject… He shared the top scorer with a palestinian boy.. both of them scored 19.4 / 19.5 ~ 100% almost a perfect score , Alhamdulillah… He' s eyeing to go to Manchester ( 2 in 1 package...study and soccer ) to do his undergraduate in 'somekind' of engineering (has yet to decide ), InsyaAllah.

I guess I’m very much blessed having him as my son, he’s a smart, sportive and active..not a nerd…book-worm type….he's now the top striker (soccer) at his school... he’s charming and handsome ( jangan perasan ) and he’s my best companion now(having him around all the time )…still a bit ‘manja’ type and always ‘walking with his pillow and blanket and squeezing his body to sleep next to mimi and me when my hubby is not around…’

That’s my charming birthday boy…. But with one MAIN weakness…always have to tell/order him to take his bath…. ( I think it came from me when I was pregnant ( Izzat ), I forced myself to bathe..just because of the smell of the soap that could make me ‘die’….. )

I LOVE YOU IZZAT.. ….YOU’LL ALWAYS BE MY CUTE BABYBOY .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!

Suatu Hari di Muzium Tradisi Jordan

Cuaca cerah dan indah, masih belum begitu panas,masih agak nyaman dengan masih ada angin yang bertiup sepoi-sepoi bahasa.......

Hari ini mari kita melawat dua buah muzium yang ada di dalam kawasan Rome theatre , Amman...Jordan Museum of Popular Traditions dan Folklore Museum... I kurang berminat dengan muzium tetapi ini adalah cara terbaik mengenali sejarah dan budaya bangsa arab secara umumnya.....

Gambar-gambar di dalam Jordan Museum of Popular Traditions dan Jordan Folklore Museum..... enjoy !!

peralatan membuat kopi secara tradisi

dulang hidangan 'mansaf' ...makanan tradisi arab jordan

pakaian tradisi pasangan pengantin arab secara umum...

pakaian tradisi wanita dari Jerusalem

pakaian tradisi wanita dari Bethlehem

pakaian tradisi penjual 'syai' (tea )

aktiviti tradisi kaum wanita di rumah

antara aktiviti tradisi kaum lelaki


Sememangnya budaya sesuatu bangsa banyak berubah mengikut arus pembangunan setempat....

Sejauh mana kita semua mengetahui budaya bangsa sendiri ????????????

HELPFUL HANDS LIGHT UP MY DAYSSSS...

Gosh…what a nice day…I’ve done all the hunky-punky household stuff….vecuuminig the carpet, cooking for lunch for the 2 kids who had to leave the house early in the morning as their daily routines….5x a week…. Washing clothes??? Nope…not the days yet….Mondays and Thurdays only ( remember ??Water comes twice a week ! )… All had been done early in the morning… Any particular reason ???.....

It’s the girls’ outing today…. in the middle of the week?? Yeap… my girls Putri and Sheila are free today…Sheila has no class ( she’s doing her MA at U of Jordan ) and Putri has her English course in the evening… I have planned to have a lunch date with them for quite sometime but only yesterday that I managed to set the day..so today is D-day… nothing much actually…planned to window shopping at Mecca Mall and then have Chinese food for lunch..Sheila is going home for summer holidays early June and if I happen to go back home for good, this outing will be our last event to be together…InsyaAllah.

******************************************

In my previous entry I wrote how I was so much in need of a HUGGGsss from my lover when I got into trouble….. I’ll tell you another incident where I was also very much in need of my hubby to be with me and the family but it’s a bit different…I didn’t need a HUG but ……..

A few years back…monsoon season in the east coast…my hubby was away somewhere in the south east asia region…..

One fine day turned out to be the day that started all the messy part of our neighbourhood and our life (me and my kids; sumayah, izat and mimi..nilah yang selalu ada, zaid and safiyyah were already abroad ) …

That evening, I saw a few boys coming into our neighbourhood on their motorbikes and then I heard the sound of the bikes were somewhat different…it’s like they were waving thru somekind of water splashing… I just ignored it…then my phone rang… my friend called me and asked me…

“ Raja “, opss… now you know my first name..yesss..I’m Raja Sarinah….

“ Eh rumah you dah banjir je ?? “, she asked in a very anxious note .

“ Ha, banjir ?? Tak delah, tak tau lah pulak…., kejap I tengok , “ I replied…

In my calculation my house would the first to be hit by flood because mine is the nearest to the main road and a very big drain that leads to a river no so far away….

Then when I looked outside…remember that I heard the motorbikes were like splashing water … the road was already flooded….many people had gone to play and had some fun with the water…( i I duduk dalam rumah tak sedar apa-apa , pelik )
“ Eh, betullah you, dah banjir lah, hai kena siap rumah lah macam ni“ I went to the phone back telling my friend about it.

“Okay you..if you need any help just let me know..”, she offered her assistance and hang up.

I didn’t expect it would be flooded since there’s no rain for the past three days… that was the third time that our place got flooded in the monsoon season since we bought the house several years ago…the flood was caused by the ‘extra’ construction of some terrace houses by a developer….

We ( sumayyah, izat and I ) began to clear the house to minimize any damage if it’s to happen… The surau AJK came to help us…they removed our cars to the safer place, they even offered to help around the house but I declined their help since I was still able to do it myself…. Only after I was sure everything was okay …we brought our document case and off we went to stay at my friend’s house in Kerteh ( I chose the one in Kerteh since they are my friends since years ago and they have a very big house and I chose to live in a room which was ‘way’ to far from the living room so as not to disturb the hubby and kids… My hubby was also in the very much favour of the house I picked .. thanks to so many generous people who offered me lodging and shelter )..The last time we had flood, we stayed at the hotel ,but this time with mimi and Izat…I’d better live with somebody since we had to deal with a lot of things later….

The next day….. I wanted to see and check my house… Sumayyah and I ( I left izat and mimi ) headed back to kemaman and the housing area was still ‘floating’… I didn’t thighs )… there’re a few boats out there…..we had to walk for almost a km to get to our house….it’s very tiring walking in the flood…. It’s very painful on my thighs…

At last, we reached our house…. I saw quite a lot our stuff behing our house were ‘swimming’ around the house ..the fence as the border….if not …way to go my benda-benda tu …

Need to get inside the house…the water outside was up to just a little bit above my knees… We peeped thru the curtains which were pulled up the night before ( that’s what we were advised to do… leave the house with the curtains tied and pulled up so that you could see what’s inside the house…) there were cases where robbers came and stole away all the stuff inside and left the house empty during flood with curtains shut)….

I saw the water inside was somewhat below my knee…. We had to wait for the water to subside coz that’s the time we had to really sweep the water and the mud before it got stucked on the floor and walls….

We opened the door by sumayyah’s taekwando kick ( Nampak ladylike tapi boleh tahan jugak her kick) since the door was stucked ) …The house was a mess…


Then… the water started to subside…. With all our strength we swept the muddy water and had to borrow a waterpump to suck all water out…

While I was busy pumping the water, suddenly I heard sumayyah screamed …

“ AAAAAAAAAAAAAA, MAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!, “ and she was jumping like crazy….

I was panicked….

“ULARRRRRRRRRR, “ she shouted so loudly….

“ MANAAAAAAAAAAAA ??? “ I shouted even louder …ular is my no 1 fear ( j.t. ..now you know mine…tell me urs okay !! )

Snakes is our no 1 enemy… what to do ??????

They were actually the baby snakes but for me snakes are snakes.. I’m terribly SCARED…

To my surprise, I was as brave as a pro-snakes –killer…sumayyah was the pro too …I killed 5 baby snakes and sumayyah killed two…how we did it ???? We used a cement bricks and crashed the snakes with it, but we had to scoop the snakes with izzat’s fishing net since the snakes were swimming like crazy in the water…. We were …auuuwwww, eeeiiiiiiiiii, yeakkkkkkk, gelinyaaaaaaaaa, mamaaaaaaaaaaaaa, mayaaaaaaaaaaa… until all the snakes were dead…

That day would surely be in my own guiness world of record…Raja Sarinah killed 5 baby-snakes in 10 minutes….

Looking at all the mess inside and outside the house, I was so exhausted and felt like going somewhere and let go the messy house… I called my darling…

“ Bang, I baru jadi pembunuh ular…eeiiiii gelinyaaaaaaaa, bang you tak boleh balik ke, I tak larat nak kemas…teruk sangat…tolonglah baik, kemas rumah… “ I begged him to come back but this time I wasn’t in need of a HUG… I needed…

TWO EXTRA HELPING HANDS from my lover….. help from other people seemed not the same as from my hubby….

:” Tak pe you buatlah sikit-sikit, kemas je apa yang larat , I memang impossible boleh balik….. “….

At that time I already knew the answer he would give….but just in case he COULD COME BACK…

Well again he COULD NOT come back…..

I didn’t cry but was a bit disappointed coz it’s the hardest moment in my life and there’s no darling to lend his hands…

We were back to our house after 4 days but I was so cautious and always alert of any single creature ‘roaming’ inside my house…..too scared of snakes that I dreamed about that creature for several nights….

So …..from that moment I knew, it’s not only a HUG could be a comfort, but the PHYSICAL ENERGETIC HELPFUL HANDS of my lover is also the no 1 comfort….

Have a nice day with your darlings out there……