Last December, my colleague and me attended a meeting organized by Penang Port in Penang of coz. Upon our arrival at Penang Airport, we were being chauffered to Bayview Hotel, where the meeting will be held. The last time I was in Penang was on Chinese New Year Eve in 2007 and it took us 6 hours driving from Shah Alam, serve us right as we took the risk driving during CNY eve.

What I am going to relate here is the “welcoming experience” that I have to go through the moment we set our feet at Bayview Hotel. When our MPV reached at the front door at the hotel’s lobby, I came out and took out my luggage. I saw a black Mercedes with registration number that I couldn’t remember anymore and one thing I noticed that there was a big badge with the state government logo at the plate number. The driver of the black Merc looked as if he was in such a hurry and I presumed they had just checked out from the hotel. As our MPV had blocked the drive way, the man in the black Merc was unable to pass through. By the time, I managed to climbed the stairs with my bags, he winded down his wind screen and screamed at me, ” Can you please clear the way….” as if I am the one whom drive the car. Our MPV driver was busy exchanging phone number with my colleagues as we were at lost whom and who should we contact to know on the meeting venue and so forth. In respond to the man, I held out my right hand pleading for him to wait for a moment but he started honking. Immediately, our driver went into the MPV and moved it to front vacant area. The moment he passed in front of us, again he winded down the wind screen and tucked out his angry face and said, “Where is the manners of you people…” We were stunt and I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears that a middle age Malay man driving a posh car with his family can be very arrogant. I brushed off all the negativity from my mind though I felt the heat, as maybe he was in a hurry to someplace that is a matter of life and dead. But…to my surprise, he parked the car in front of the hotel itself and there came out he and his posh looking wife and 3 chicks and urbanite young teenagers. They steadily walked pass in front of us into the hotel heading towards the café. And then only I realised the sign at the cafe….”Eat all you can…High Tea…RM10.90 nett per pax….” with scrumptious photos of foods. Out of conscious, I uttered, ” Laaaa….they were so hungry…kesian…” I managed to snapped the Black Merc when he parked in front of the hotel; his car is right behind the red car whilst our MPV was far end the other side of which we will gradually moved to. Also seen was his troupe, his wife and daughter and the man in red was Him..the Black Merc owner. I dare not directly took his photo as I was afraid being barked by him, so I hid myself behind my colleague whom was busy flipping his iternary file…coward me…It must be great owing a Merc ya….luckly we do not have any….

My point here is what has happened to our values, particularly the Muslim, where has the noble Islāmic values gone…Its kind of sad seeing a middle age man with all white hair on his head showing such impatience attitude in front of his children. And what a lesson his children were taught that day, and things will get repeated after this, his children will thought that it is right and deem proper to act like their dad. Can the old “Datuk” (Datuk always show off..especially those being conferred on recommendation by those UmmmNo people…) not think that, why can’t I wait for 5 minutes, these people must had just arrived from far to my home state, lets show a little respect….but I guess not him.

These people are Muslims, sad to say that we muslims have lost these noble values as what the companions saw it in the noble character of the Prophet. But then, the noble values embodied in the great personality of the Prophet is nowhere to be seen in the materialistic world of today. The Muslims today do not really practise Islam as they are supposed to be, our Islam is by virtue of being born of Muslim parents. It is sad that we do not really see the beauty of Islam.

Wahhh…I should stop grumbling but I am trying to get this issue over my mind and I am released now…..

Tracking down the memory lane during the last long school holidays.

I should have blogged this much, much earlier..but instead I put it on hold or KIV and as a result, it delays my other posting..because I want this to come out first. Blame it to the busy life…ya..someone has to take the blame…(its norm in working life..everyone is wrong except yourself, especially people in HR always wrong..read me …ALWAYS!!..sorry got carried away lah…)

Alhamdulillah, D.Pian’s clan safely (and happily..)arrived at their humble shack & little nest situated at Jln Platinum 7/44, Section 7, Shah Alam on 25th November. The kids were soooo excited, what more their ummi though D.Pian as usual, being cool & neutral…kunun…YES!!!! we miss that cute shack, I miss my little kitchen, my dining area and also my mini-mini garden that turned into mini jungle…Not to forget that we all miss Restoran Khulafa…yea..the moment D.Pian turned right after the traffic light intersection to Uitm-Padang Jawa..the boys were screaming..”abah..khalifah..abah..khulafa..” as if they were in far away land for the past 11 months and in desperate needs & hungers for mamak’s foods..teruk punya penangan Khulafa…

On Friday, it was Aidil Adha and we celebrated it at our home. Abah came down and all my siblings were there. We ordered foods from caterer; Nasi Tomato, Dalca Ayam, Ayam Masak Merah, Acar and a complete set of Soto Ayam. Jura brought over Ketupat and Rendang Pedas while Ina cooked Kari Ayam and brought Lemang. It was fun, Inda’s family stayed overnight at our place. We had good time, chatting, eating and updating each other…The kids were extremely happy, all Abah’s grandchildren were there and I can saw that Abah was happy too. I thank Allah that I am able to reunite with them and brought a bit of happiness to Abah.

 D.Pian went back to KK after Raya & leaving me with the kids. Since we were left alone, we took the opportunity to round up Shah Alam la…The kids enjoyed themselves. On 7th Dec, I have to be back to KK & D.Pian swapped places with me. he took care of the kids. On 11th Dec, I was back again in KK until 13th where I have to attend a meeting in Penang & at the same time, D.Pian again back to KK. Abah & E came to look after the kids, but anyway I was away only for a night. Back from Penang, my sisters and me were busy preparing for E’s engangement….dui…Mak is no longer here and as such everything has to be arranged by ourselves…the hantaran, the tepak and what not.

 

The above was the preliminary set up of the hantaran and was put at my kitchen counter. On 17th, we had a Doa Selamat held at my house before we head to Sungai Petani, Kedah for that ceremony. The children again enjoyed themselves, with 5 car including our Alphard, we started the journey on 18th heading north.., it was a Public Holiday- Awal Muharam and the PLUS highway was cramped with cars. We managed to stop in Taiping for our favourite “Popia Basah”…tell you, you can’t find such delicious popia except in Taiping. That recalled when Mak used to bring everybody for shopping at supermarket in Taiping and we will always have popia, satay or bubur gandum with pulut added in…We miss that…

We reached Sungai Petani nearly maghrib and check in at the Park Avenue Hotel. The next day, all the moms were  busy preparing for the hantaran, final touch up while all the fathers brought all the children to swimming pool. We ladies had a peaceful time together. On 20th, morning, after breakfast, we all standby at the hotel’s lobby with all the hantaran. We attracted attentions from the other hotel’s guest as we have 12 children, the eldest 19 years and youngest 1 year mingled around making lots of havocs.

The ceremony went smoothly and as a return from our hantaran we received more hantarans….rezeki…

 Alhamdulillah, everything went as planned. We headed back to KL but my family detoured to Teluk Intan, we could not bear looking at Abah’s sad face as he had to go back to his house alone and as such, we followed his car. The next day, we packed back to Shah Alam but I made special request to D.Pian to stop at the famous Pau shop in Tanjun Malim…at last, I could satisfied my buds on those pau, curry mee and also those Yik Mun’s coffee and tea….

We were back to KK on the 27th Dec after 1 month and 2 days in Semenanjung…the children enjoyed themselves tremendously……Now I miss my Shah Alam’s house..

 

 

As I was glancing through the NST yesterday, I came across one article written by a Malay lady (I presumed, as the name sounds Malay…or maybe its wrong to conclude that, as my name too doesn’t sounds too Malay…:-)..) on this Forgive & Forget issue. I am very intrigues with her point that in life, the most dearest or nearest to you are the ones that actually able to pack that “killer punch” and became your enemies. The ones that you rarely contact or the ones that are slightly more than acquaintance have slimmest chances to step hard on your toes and cause shooting pains. How very true..let me start reminiscing the memory lane though I hate to do that as it reminded me the heartaches that I have gone through. Family, in-laws, loved ones, relatives, colleagues and best buddies are the people whom made us feel downright miserable with the slightest bad gesture or cruel words or statements.

With family i.e. siblings, even when the arguments reach an intense stage, things will be patch up sooner or later. I remember being eldest, I always have to make ways or give ways to my siblings. When we fought with each other and made Mak angrier than usual, it was me whom got the hard pinch at my arms, not Ina nor Inda neither Jura. I always took the blame and if I was mad with them, it will take not more than a day to patch up.

Nevertheless, things are totally different with friends and colleagues. There are no blood ties here and we do not have to patch up and may ended loose ends. How sad, it became even sadder, when you thought that they are your dearest buddies and given chance you will never think of back stabbing them but they did it to you…It may rise from inevitable conflicts and these disagreements may arise from few situations such as:

• People have different personal and selfish interests
• People have egos & like to have them recognized & stroked
• People have different personalities to which other react in different ways
• People remember other’s past actions & behaviours

But in my recent case, they condemn me because I do not have a nice posture and because at times I used to haunch back, therefore I was called “Nenek Kebayan” for nearly 2 years…2 years without me realising that I was being laugh behind my back. 

I am now comprehending & digesting 2 books, hopefully, I will master those contents, that are: Enlightened Office Politics-Winning the game without losing your soul & also on 48 ways getting Power…The more I read, the more I understand these peoples, basically, there are unprincipled people whose primary goal is self-interest, rather than the wider interest of the organization or of other people in the organization. Unprincipled people use a wide variety of manipulative, even sneaky, tactics to achieve their goals. We must never trust an unprincipled people because that trust can be sacrified at any moment if the unprincipled people receives a better offer or sees better opportunity. The unprincipled person often has a short-term focus which follows logically from the person’s overall objectives.

Moving forward, how do you deal with this office politics….I guess now, I must identify who are my allies, opponents, fellow travellers, enemies and neutral are. It is important also for me to study where do these people stand in relation to me. Finally, I must remember my friends….and also my enemies. Do I forgive my enemies…well to forgive is divine..I guess to have less crowfoot near my eyes or wrinkles coming out faster than it should…I forgive them but I will never FORGET them for the rest of my life…EVER…

 

 

 

 

Last  week was my worse working week in my life….why…because of some malicious news that spread around faster than the H1N1 virus at my workplace..ok, I might be taking things too hard…it might merely have been malicious gossip..(to calm myself…) but the intention is to tarnish my reputation, to cause me embarrassment and also the most pertinent objective is to make me upset. So, do I get upset, yes…yours truly got so upset that I cried my heart out and end up with sore eyes and headache (resulted from the over crying). I cried while reciting Surah Yassin that I fidyah to the person whom is responsible on the news  ignition. Since I have been hit with these malicious acts, it reminded me on Mak’s advice to keep on reciting Yassin, stressed on verse 81 that said; ” Verily, when He intends a thing, His command is BE and it is !…” and dedicated to the person whom attacked me. I have lost count on the number of reciting Yassin.

To the attacker, may I remind you on Surah Al-Rum; verse 21: “And among His signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who reflect”

As such, I was destined to be D.Pian’s wife and who are you to criticise the act of Allah..now please let me live happily ever after with my husband…My point is whom I am married to,  is NON OF YOUR BUSINESS and also do not affects my work performance and the whole organization….#$%^&**^&* BS…BS..BS…!!!!!!!!!!!

Being in HR, I am particularly concerned on this 2 requirement; certified and qualified. When someone applied for a position e.g. as a Health and Safety Executive, besides than having a degree to qualify the incumbent, he needs to have a certification from Dosh as his area is a specialize area that is Health & Safety. Never the less, without the certification too, he can also be employed provided he has the relevant experience needed and after that the Company will assist him in getting the certification. What I am trying to proof is..you need to qualify first then only get certified. So which one come first..

At home, we appointed one Ustaz to teach the kids and me to read Quran. It has been since 1999 and our relationship with Ustaz is more of a family relationships. Though Izzat had Khatam when he was in Primary 6, he stills learned reciting Quran till to date. Iman will be finishing his soon but I wanted him also to learn on the tajweed. Ustaz told me that when they completed the tajweed modules, they will learn the technique of memorization. Izzah is still at the Iqra’ stage and she is doing excellently considering that she is only 5 years. Besides than Quran, Ustaz also lead us during the Isya’ prayer after the Quran lessons and after that a short tazkirah, more often than not, advising the kids on aqidah.  To relate to the above conditions, certification or qualification…is our current Ustaz appointed at my home need certification from MUIS or Majlis Ugama Islam Sabah. Ustaz has the needed qualification to teach Quran as he has a Bachelor Degree in Islamic Studies from one of the Indonesian Universities. Ustaz also works at one of the Masjid in KK and we use to see him at Masjid Bukit Padang, assisting the Imam. Now, are we wrong in appointing him and if it is wrong will MUIS raid him,  when he come to our house.

Now, why am I so obsessed with this.. It is because the former Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin (Dr Asri) was arrested for giving an Islamic talk to the residents at Sri Ukay recently and he was told that he did not have any certification to teach them. Impliedly, Dr Asri is not good enough, not educated enough to give a lecture on religious matters and not qualified based on Selangor Religious Authority (JAIS) standard. Therefore he was arrested!!

Personally, I have been reading Dr. Asri’s blog for quite sometimes and I found it very enriching to mind and soul. Maybe in One Malaysia concept, Islam’s standard differs from one state to one state……..

Of late, there are few issues that kept creeping and it is also mind-boggling …why ahhh…mid life crisis…or early signs & symptoms being “makcik aka auntie”. Mentioning about makcik..the way you dress really change your title. Last week, Iman craved for Mac Donald and it was already 10pm. We were at the TV room watching one of the Malay drama that Izzat frequently said, “..it’s a stupid show and I can’t believe we are watching this…” So off we went to McD as it’s just 1000m or less from our home. So, me…without changing my nighties just took the tudung & wore it over..after all drive through, I am not going to come out. When my ordered was taken, I was called auntie…of which I didn’t mind but the very next day on the way back from office..dressed up in office attire at the same counter with the same staff taking order, I was addressed as Kak….Yuppp..this is one of the issues…being categorized in the Makciks Group…I’m old..I’m another makcik next door…no..no..NO!!(in denial state..)…but wait..I am an independent Makcik, stylo Makcik that sometimes dress up in 3 piece suit…wink..wink.

Issue # 2 that perturbed me is the recent 2010 Budget announcement which combined the elements of ‘better’ and ‘worse’..there is in fact nothing to shout out at for the 2010 Budget. Beginning 1st Jan 2010, credit card holders will be taxed whether they are in debt or not. Now, that is definitely a not so good news..I have 3 credit cards, all 3 from Bank Islam; 1 gold visacard, 1 gold mastercard and 1 platinum mastercard. I have to cancel off 2 cards and maintain only one though I have no problem in credit cards debt. Income tax relief also is nothing to scream or shout at..what is there if the savings per annum is merely RM100…sigh..sigh…bear in mind, there are more to pay due to  BIK or benefits in kinds. The car that I’m entitled, the fuel reimbursement, the parking lot that being paid for etc will be accounted in the EA form come year end….Prices of goods remain the same. My monthly groceries is no longer within RM250, last weekend, I spent slightly above RM500, because the trip was joined by Izzat, Iman & Izzah. They just took things from the shelves & I had heartache paying at the counter…

Issue # 3 is on the recent article that I read on Malaysia Today written by the controversial reformist & activist; RPK..by the way where is he..(I pray for his safety..) titled ” 20 point agreement between Sabah & Malaya”. According to RPK, the establishment of Malaysia was much like a marriage where Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak entered into matrimony on 16 Sept 1963. Singapore has, since 1965, seceded from Malaysia. Reading the 20 point made me understand the current scenario particularly on this 2 matter:

Point 1: Religion ; While there was no objection to Islam being the national religion of Malaysia there should be no State religion in North Borneo, and the provisions relating to Islam in the present Constitution of Malaya should not apply to North Borneo.

Point 6: Immigration ; Control over immigration into any part of Malaysia from outside should rest with the Central Government but entry into North Borneo should also require the approval of the State Government. The Federal Government should not be able to veto the entry of persons into North Borneo for State Government purposes except on strictly security grounds. North Borneo should have unfettered control over the movements of persons other than those in Federal Government employ from other parts of Malaysia into North Borneo.

The relationship between Peninsula Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak is no longer sacrosanct, a marriage rocked with broken promises. The East Malaysian states have “descended” in ranks to become no more than a wronged spouse in an unfortunate union, with West Malaysia enjoying political supremacy and socio-economic advantage. Sabahan  feels that they have been sidelined. There is still that uneasy feeling on whether they really are part of the three regions (i.e. Peninsula Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak). Ok, that is the official feeling of most Sabahan..so how do that affect my life personally…

Well, to begin with, I was never and am still never being welcome by D.Pian’s family. I have to apply work permit to work here and now still thinking whether to apply the PR of Sabah. My in-laws hates me so much just because I am not an Irranun virgin (it sucks to think this..) when I married D.Pian. After 17 years, they are still adamant about that. Frankly, I am lonely here, my siblings are all in KL, I miss them..I miss the life over there where weekends we will gathered at one of our house and cook meals with all our children mingling around among their cousins. My kids loves to be in Inda’s house, reason being, “rumah Mak Yang ada swimming pool..”..I loves my sisters companies, chatting and discussing things. Since Mak is no longer here, I took over her place to make sure we siblings stacked together through thick and thin……

Coming back to the 20 agreement point…worse case scenario, if Sabahan decided to call the day from Malaysia..what will happen to us…wahh..very serious ah….what will happen to my kids…where are we suppose to stay and I will officially became an expatriate in Sabah.

Lets put it off in the mean time…had enough in my plate already….

We were being quarantined at Nexus Karambunai for the so-called “Management Retreat” for 4 days & 3 nights for the rejuvenating, revisit, recuperating, rehabilitation and what not..on our next 5 years strategic plan. Basically it was one of  the 1st initiatives or interventions in the long process of Change Management initiated by my division. So..my team and me were busy than the bees in preparations, never the less, Alhamdulillah..praise to Allah..as the current leader in the organization approved the project. In my opening say..I hate to mention speech as it was a very short one..I did highlighted on the importance of working as ONE big TEAM. I also stressed on the need to aligned ourselves so as not to act like the billiard balls that when 2 balls knocked each other they went separate ways…Hopefully, the message is well understood that I do not want to see the same things happened during the last decade of leadership of which performance was determined by the relationship with the number 1 in the organization instead of through Key Performance Indicators & other soft skills. In the last era, the closer you are with the number 1, the pampered you are and the more power you grabbed and resulting into you becoming above the laws. I am praying that those practices obsoleted.

It was a tiring sessions, with 1 holdings company and 4 subsidiaries, definitely the consultants had some tough time. Sessions begins at 8.30am until 1pm, rest for lunch & zohor prayer. Continue at 2pm until 5.30pm for asar & maghrib payers. Continue after dinner at 8.30pm and ends at 11.30pm….The moment we hit back to room..we were flat at our back on the bed. No time to laze at the beach, not even any chance to view the spectacular sun set and what more to catch up some gossiping among the managers & heads of companies….

It was enriching and boosted up our self-confidence & also spurred up our energy towards a better vision, mission to achieve our targets and goals through our core competencies as guides..

I only manage to snapshots some view from my room balcony…sigh..sigh..I have to come back with my kids & D.Pian to enjoy the scenery….

Before Ramadhan, the OC for our new house was released and we were also given the house keys. D.Pian bought a bigger house for us…supaya lebih selesa he said. Now, we are in dilemma whether to move or not. The kids refused as our current house is near to their school..a walking distance, near to their tution centre and most of their friends are also here at Kingfisher Park. To move to Kingfisher Sulaman, though, the Kingfisher word is still maitained, it will be approximately another 4 kilometer further up…

So how….we will decide later, meanwhile, the current house is just nice & strategically located..but what will happen to the new house….

Meanwhile, let me keep dreaming of having a tropical resort’s garden and also to have an English concept for my wet kitchen……

It has been quite sometimes after my last post.

Yep, long hiatus but definitely I was not hibernating, my long pause was due to tremendous workloads be it with the family or at the work place. Before Ramadhan, I was hit by the flu bugs and was badly in shape..to add more stress, it was even worrisome due to H1N1. It started with D.Pian, upon his arrival from Jakarta and definitely, his sleeping partner got attacked immediately and after that all the children. I was all out in retrieving myself back to normal..I doubled my dose of Usana, drank couples of coconut, made the Lo Han Kor concoction, pasting the tamarind paste on my neck, forehead and temples, swallowing honey with lemon etc, etc. After 3 days MC and days of body aches and also struggling with sore throat and hoarse voice, finally, I am ok. That was worse and though I was on MC, I still came to office on the 2^nd day as there was a BOD meeting and I have to be on stand-by (luckily, the BOD members did not request me to present the paper..if not..they will have difficulties in understanding me as my voice is huskier than Tina Turner) as there were 2 papers from my department….my…that drained my energy level and after the meeting, I hit the road, back home.

Ramadhan: Come Ramadhan, Alhamdulilah, I am ready to play my role. I try my best to get the most of Ramadhan and summit myself to Allah during this Holy month. As much as possible, I recited the Quran but still I am unable to finish it when Ramadhan ends…sigh..may Allah forgive me for my weaknesses. I only went to Masjid once for solat tarawikh and the rest I performed it at home after Isya’ and I summed it up with solat witir when I got up for my sahur. Solat witir is the last solat sunat and act as the “closing” up all the solat sunat and as such, if one need to perform more solat sunat after the mid night, then, it is not advisable to perform it after solat tarawikh. Alhamdulilah again, thanks to Allah for giving me strength to carry out those solats during last Ramadhan.

 Syawal : This year is Kota Belud’s turn for Eid celebration. Yours truly as usually will have to perform her culinary skills assisted by my loyal assistant aka maid…but this year..there were requisitions from: D.Pian wanted Rendang Dendeng, Izzat wanted Rendang Pedas, Iman wanted kuah kacang and myself wanted Lontong. And guess what, I cooked all the above….see…I am at par with Chef Wan if not Jamie Oliver, cooking more than 1 dish at a time. Again, I am blessed with the helps from the requestors; D.Pian sliced all the 7 kg meat, Iman pounded the ground nuts, Izzat peeled the onions and stirred the rendang…it was a joined effort by every one of us…though Elis & me performed most.

When ever we celebrated our Raya in Kota Belud & despite celebrating it over here for the umpteenth time, I felt most  melancholy, what more with the fact that Mak is no longer around. To add to the miseries, (as if it is not enough..) the relationships among the inlaws were and are still not warm enough. Though been married for more than 16 years, I am still being regarded as “pompuan Malaya” and “outsider” by my in laws, so much so that they are still adamant about that. It seems from the stories that I gathered, D.Pian was supposed to be matched with Irranun girl not someone like me across the South China Sea….Anyway, that was history, whether they like it or not..we have 3 children..

As anticipated, when we reached kampung…ah…sad..sad…better not to jot it down. I digress…

Anyway….Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri…Maaf Zahir Batin, moga amalan Ramadhan di terima Allah. O Allah, I seek pardon from you..

 

We loves roaming around Plaza Masalam whenever time permit when we were in Shah Alam. A short trip from our home in Section 7 and the most easiest place to get some grocerries; from Giant and also some snacks especially laksa, soto, mee rebus, kuih bahulu and what not from Noraini’s eatery. When the 3 of them Izzat, Iman and Izzah were admitted to DEMC, next building to Plaza Masalam, D.Pian and me end up also sleeping in the ward with the 3 of them and we took turn to go down to Plaza Masalam for break. Recently, on my last trip with Iman in May back to Shah Alam, Iman insisted that he need to go there and me, as usual go to the Reject Shop, to get some good bargain tshirts, nighties and Izzah’s dresses.

Never the less, the recent incident at Plaza Masalam warned me that it is no longer safe for us to linger around…maybe the MACC’s employees being so stressful trying to solve all the corruptions issues in Bolehland and also in their effort to create Bolehland as corruptions free…accidentally…overlook us…and things turn wrong like what happen to late Teoh. My heart goes to the late Teoh’s family, though, I do not know him but he was also a Malaysian fellow whom as a loyal citizen willing to be testified for the sake to uphold MACC’s vision to have a zero corruptions in Bolehland.

As anticipated in Bolehland…the government stance are various; investigation will be done, have faith in PDRM as they are independent, MACC will never do that to their witness, do not speculate, there is no racism, lets not be sceptical or judgemental….