I bought a new watch

I have had a Guess which i bought at 50% discounted price at KLCC and after 6 years of hesitation I bought a new watch :-) TISSOT T-Load Valjoux T54.1.487.31
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We just moved :-)

We just moved. The flat is nice. located at the second floor. bad view but the interior is better. Mel likes the new place too. Oh yea, we have a "watchman" now. Very helpful. But don't forget to tips them once in a while :-)
The process of getting this new flat wasn't easy. The marketing lady was so sexy, showing her cleavage every time i see her. She was so nice and i easily accept the flat. Don't get me wrong OK. There is nothing wrong with the flat. But this lady wanna play a game. It is a furnished apartment but she did not want to give us kitchen utensils, dining set and iron. All tenants in those building received it without asking but this lady really pissed me off. Besides, I got to use my own money first to pay the water and electricity deposit because they refused to use theirs while my company transferring the money to their bank account.
The fact is, i'm a snappy guy, and only mel knows it well. I lost my temper, so i just bombarded everybody in their office, then this sexy lady started being nice again :P. Don't ever think, customer is always a King here. They just knew how to get the money, and once done, don't expect much on after sale service from them.
Mel kept on calling them too. alas we got what we want :-)
.... and don't count on sexy lady. don't stare at their valley too much as it will distract u :P

Perkembangan Terbaru

My contract comes to the end, and surprisingly my customer offered me a job. I met their HR, but the package wasn't so good, so i rejected the offer. a few people coming over asking my stand, so after having a lengthy discussion, i agreed to continue my current contract with a few conditions. Basically, i will move to a better maintenance flat, a little increment and extra holidays. I could fly back to Malaysia two times next year, so it will be nice. Maybe i could use one for Malaysia and another one for somewhere else. I'm fantasizing now as the official contract has not been signed. Dream on...
Living here quite OK, of course we miss everything back home. But we have to plan for our future. after all we are growing old. On one fine day we will return home. Mel feels bored too; she misses her Unit Trust thingy, so i need to reward her like she used to get. One free ticket to Qatar hahahaha.
If we are talking about life, we never satisfied with what we have. That's why we must have our own objective and never compare ourselves with others. The only thing you could do, just check your present condition. If it is better, than you have improved. If we tend to compare, hatred feelings will come. Hate hurts but never heals and hate is the very worst choice for those who want to be happy.
Dah lama tak update ek. next entry nak tulis pasal kawan kawan lah.

PM Speech

Key points raised by Umno President Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the Opening of the 58th Umno General Assembly
Strengthening Islam
Umno is committed to strengthening Islam and will not apologise for doing so. Islam promotes moderation. During the general assembly in 2004, I laid out the 10 principles of Islam Hadhari, an approach that was understood and supported by component parties of Barisan Nasional.

Federal Constitution
Calls to return to the spirit of the Federal Constitution should be viewed in a positive light, interpreted with wisdom and without prejudice. The Constitution must be viewed as a whole, and selected clauses cannot be interpreted in isolation or out of context.

Racial and religious tolerance
We give assurance that Umno will not endorse a narrow interpretation of Islam. Umno opposes the culture of violence, we oppose a political culture that can disrupt the daily lives and commercial affairs of the ummah. Umno believes that Islam will not grow, nor will it be respected if it is confined to rituals. If we fight for Islam, armed only with slogans and rhetoric, we will not achieve excellence.

Islam and non-Muslims
The application of Islam through the prism of shallow minds and narrow interpretations can cause discomfort not only among non-Muslims but among Muslims themselves. Overzealous enforcement can give Islam a negative image. Failure to understand the needs of adherents of other religions and denying them the rights runs counter to the spirit of the Federal Constitution.

Auditor-General’s Report and ACA
I am happy with the quick action taken by the Anti-Corruption Agency and I am certain that many public servants support these actions, which protect the dignity and integrity of their profession.

The corridors of growth
When our plans succeed, it will transform the face of Malaysia. Development will not just be concentrated in major urban areas but will instead be spread to every area of our nation. This is our noble ambition.

Malays - self-confidence and the future
Worry, fear and a sense of being under threat occurs when Malays are insufficiently prepared. For as long as Malays remain unambitious, they will fear meritocracy. The feelings of inferiority, nervousness and insufficiency are poisons that have been injected into the Malay mentality since colonial times. These poisons must be removed. Malays, when given the proper guidance and fair opportunity, are prepared to compete.

Crime and security
It is caused, among others, by social problems and in some cases as a result of the influx of illegal immigrants. Media reports of crimes have heightened the public’s awareness, but the dramatic manner in which the news is presented gives the impression that this country is no longer safe.

The Government is aware of the problem and in both the Ninth Malaysia Plan and the 2008 Budget, a large allocation has been granted to the police. It should be understood that the large personnel increases required by the police could not be filled overnight. It takes time to hire and train new police personnel. While this is happening, the country and society must be supportive of the police and refrain from undermining the public’s confidence in the force.

The keris and Umno
The act of unsheathing and kissing a keris is part of our cultural heritage, but its meaning has been twisted to spread fear among non-Malays, and the image of Umno and Malaysia has been smeared overseas. On behalf of Umno’s leaders and members, I give assurance that Umno will never breach the spirit of the understanding that has been agreed with other communities at the time of Merdeka. Opportunities are available to all. There is a future for every Malaysian in this country.

The new media and press freedom
Information is now distributed through multiple channels. In this context, we must intelligently balance the need for media freedom with the basis for political stability that we have enjoyed. The Government wishes to see the media industry grow into an industry that is progressive and open, an industry that can carry out its responsibilities with integrity and responsibility.

Power sharing and Merdeka
A country that celebrates 50 years of independence must be populated with a free people – a people who have the belief and confidence in their future. Its people must shoulder the responsibility of defending its freedom; a people who live in harmony between communities and religions; a people who are broad minded and big hearted.

The National Mission
The National Mission has five main thrusts – moving the economy up the value chain; developing first class human capital; addressing persistent socio-economic imbalances; improving quality of life; and strengthening institutional capacity – all of which are universal, constant requirements for national building. The strength of our human capital will determine the success of the Mission. It will determine whether we achieve developed nation status and progress further.

Harga Tepung Naik Lagi!!!

Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd (MMHB) managing director Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin looks at increasing prices differently.

“Undoubtedly, prices for almost everything are going up, but is anything wrong with that?”

He believes that if prices globally are increasing, there has to be a pass-through mechanism implemented by the Government.

“We cannot live in an isolated world. In this globalised economy, we cannot have a protected economy.

“We can live with it temporarily to obtain a balance, but currently we can see the Malaysian economy becoming increasingly distorted because of the millions of ringgit going into subsidies of petroleum, flour or rice, for example.”

He said the country did not have deep-enough pockets to maintain this indefinitely.

He said the wages of Malaysians had also been artificially kept low.

Citing the example of his starting salary 26 years ago at RM1,400, Ameer Ali said: “Now, I am employing graduates at the same salary. There is something wrong here. In every other developed country, the minimum wage has increased by at least 100%.”...... ( The Star )

OK, I read "The Star" today and above excerpt really disturbing me. The fact, it is indeed true. 26 years back with 1400 they could buy a lot of things. They could drive in a nice imported car, and living contentedly in a decent terrace house. What do you expect much from fresh graduate earning 1400 nowadays? Those need to send money back to help their needy parents, in Kampung, they have to have tight budget living in KL. They have desire to buy new car too. Proton must be their dream car, (although Kancil only suit them) and could you imagine how much they left in their pocket?

Ok fine, our PM asking us to think out of box, and try to do something else. Back to reality, do you expect everybody to do business or at least be part of MLM system? On paper Malaysia has prosper a lot, but I bet a lot of people in KL having a hectic life and tight budget every month. We are suffering and being capitalized because our government has not done enough. The gas and toll price keeps on increasing and the car price never been cheap. Satu lagi harga tepung pun naik lagi :P

Public transport and public road not properly planned. The LRT inter-change looks funny. For instance, KL Monorail. Yea, they told us the end station is KL Sentral. But the truth it is 200m away from KL Sentral. As of last year, if we want to change "Star" to "Putra", we have to buy different ticket, that means at the transit station, you have to queue again, unless you have monthly pass :P

Even the India High Commission in Malaysia set their maid price at 1400. Pinoy maid cost around 800 - 1000 and Indonesian could cost up to 450. When you live in KL, and you are married and start having kids, you started to think to hire maid. For young parents, they will opt for Indonesian maid, but how much you could save after paying them and spending on groceries etc.

OK, my father used to say this to me. Last time I earned 400 and while your mom still tapping of rubber trees, our household income was around 550, and we could raise 7 children. But 26-30 years back, with 600 you could buy a lot of things. If we dig the price fact, we would know how cheap was the gas, chicken etc. Compared to this day, those things hiking significantly, and it is unbelievable the fresh grad price remains the same!!!

It is so sad to think about this. I know some of you are lucky enough, if your first job is with MNC like Motorola. They could pay you 2400 and 2700 if you have first class degree. Telekom still competitive in this sense.

It is annoyed to see those having a degree being paid below 2000 and it is more saddened to see those guys not having any job. When people have no choice, they will do whatever they could, and don't expect them to be loyal to you if you couldn't pay them enough.

I’m thinking too much on Fresh Grad. I will be paranoid, if I think about “Tukang Kebung”, org kerja kilang, Supermarket promoter etc.

Then, let's look at our "Wakil Rakyat". To be precise, look at our BN wakil rakyat. I bet they are having a good life. Do they present us well? Do they really fight for you? Look at you, your family, and people around you. If for the past 3 decades you have been casting your vote for them, and you might try their opponent this time??

Seronoknye raya.

Tahun ini tahun pertama kami beraya di perantauan. dua dua belajar di universiti tempatan, so tak pernah la beraya kat obersea kan haha. tapi kalau puasa kat perantauan, ini dah tahun ke 3 aku puasa kat luar. 2 tahun lepas puasa kat indon dan hong kong kerana urusan kerja. Kali ini puasa dan beraya di Doha.

eh aku malas cerita pasal puasa dah la. nak cerita pasal raya. aku kan pemalu sebenarnya. aku jadi tak malu apabila aku dah betul2 aku kenal kawan kawan aku. Khamis malam jumaat aku dapat call dr syed cakap esok raya. ish penipu ke dia org ni. Paper cakap raya hari sabtu. waktu itu zul dan noreen dan anak2 berbuka puasa di rumah aku. lepas itu syam pulak call zul bagi tahu raya esok. HaHaHa semua kalut dan tak ready. ayam, daging mana beli lagi. so Mel pun cakap esok raya rumah org jer lah abg haha.

So keesokan pagi, kami pakai baju raya. aku pakai baju raya tahun lepas la, mel pakai baju raya baru. dia pakai jubah arab tu la. Kami pergi rumah syambing dulu. Dan kami ke malaysian embassy sama sama. mak syambing nagn wife dia taj ikut sbb wife syambing si nani baru beranak kan. sampai kat embassy, aku nak terberak la. masa tgh khutbah tu, aku berpeluh disbbkan panas dan nak terberak. lepas solat sat aku bersosial lah sikit2 dgn rakyat malaysia yang lain lps tu ajak syambing balik rumah dia. sampai rumah dia terus lah melepassss...

so rumah syambing jadi rumah pertama beraya, dapat lah makan ketupat segera mak dia bawak dr malaysia, then kita org start ikut syam beraya. mangaiii byk nyer rumah beraya. tapi kul 1 petang aku dapat call ada masalah ngan MMS trafiic. hantu lah dia org ni, suruh aku kerja. tak pasal2 aku kene kerja sampai 8 malam. tapi mel ikut si syam beraya. kasi can lah kat dia.

hari ke 2 dan ke 3 kami beraya lagi, dan raya ke 4 kami buat lah open house. Tak sangka mel begitu excited nak buat open house sampai dia tidur pukul 5.30 pagi. dia masak mcm mcm. aku tolong jugak tapi tolong tidur muahahaha.
menu yang mel masak hari tu:

1. daging masak hitam (rendang tok) , dia dapat resepi dr makci aku kat gerik setelah call byk kali
2. ayam rendang padang ( sedap nii)
3. Beriani Daging
4. Nasi Impit
5. Roti Jala.

alhamdulillah makanan tu habis dimakan. roti jala lah cepat habis sbb org dah start muak makan nasi impit. lepas habis ja... alamak tak laratnya aku nak kemas. so esok tu kita org duduk rumah kemas kemas rumah jer. tapi malang sunggunh hari open house tu sbb lift rumah aku rosak. semua kena exercise naik tangga ke tingkat 4. terkehel jugak sekor sekor. sampai mel suruh aku turun beli tepung lagi nak buat roti jala pun aku malas hihi.

pas tu, kami pergi beraya lagi kat tempat org org minyak, sampai muka mel masuk lam paper qatar. tapi malas lah aku nak beli. bukan artis pun muahahhaa

byk lagi rumah kami beraya sampai kami lupa malaysia. aku dha malas nak tulis lah. bye

Raya Di Doha

hangat hangat tahi ayam =))

waaa dah lama sgt tak menulis
hangat hangat tahi mohen. eh silap. hangat2 tahi ayam..

Intan.. i'm updating my blog now. tapi caca merba lah. cerita takde sequence nih!!

ok mana nak mula ni. oh ya. seperti yang di rancangkan. actually i have planned it for years, cuma kali ni mmg bernasib baik so i managed to get my umrah visa dan berangkat lah aku sama teman2 for the 1st time ke tanah suci mekah. we went there by car. it took us almost one day to reach there. me, nuar and kak ita, and khai were so excited to get there. So kami tak ikut sgt guidline yang diberi. eh lupa. Mel tak ikut sbb we didn't able to get her umrah visa because she was and still on visit visa. so while i was away, she went to UK for holidaying. As a typical malaysian, everybody wanted to be in London at least once :P. Since she needed to be out of country as well, so i asked her to go there instead of flying back to malaysia. anyway, from london to glasgow, she had free accomodation along the way. Seplah sikit kocek aku kan. Kita lupakan cerita dia tuh. sesape ade frenster add lah mel, noorkamela.bakar@gmail.com gambar aku raya2 kat sini ada gak situ

Jadi masa 1st ramadhan tu, aku pun berangkat lah. sempoi jer pergi. selalu kat mesia ada azan2, kita org biasa jer lah. dari doha ke border saudi tu ambil masa dalam 1 jam jugak. everything went smoothly at the border. lagi pun dah dekat time bukak puasa, tak byk sgt queue. lps ajer boder kami menuju ke bandar hufuf. jalan dia straight betul, mcm jalan Kuala Kangsar - Gerik hehe. Tapi kami stop sat kat mana ntah utk bukak puasa. sib baik lah kak ita ada. makan lah nasi impit dan rendang yang dimasaknya. solat sat pastu terus meneruskan perjalanan. ooo kami pakai gprs. eh silap pakai GPS hehe. jadi dia pun ckp. "drive XX KM and enter round about".. ikut GPS punya pasal lah, kami terpusing kat bandar hufuf dekat sejam. Map dia tak update. ada satu roundabout tu ada 5 exit. "enter roundabout and take 1st exit" . sudah.. "off road... we're calculating" berpuluh2 kali dengar. so just monitor GPS tuh sambil tgk betul tak kereta menuju arah.. alhamdulillah terlepas dan terkeluar dr bandar hufuf. so menuju lah ke Riyadh pulak. aku tak ingat lah berapa jam semua. tapi hufuf ke riyadh tuh mmg dah highway 3 lane lah. macam PLUS. tapi PLUS 2 lane jer kan, cuma certain area jer 3 lane. tapi ini all the way. and no toll and the gas only 45cent per liter. so taram sajalah. kita org naik kereta khai. sangyong nyer jenis octivon. tak tahu lah ade at KL ke belum. kerete ni rupa dia mmg kelakar tapi stable gak lah.. sebab kita org henjut jer 180km/h. takde nyer polis nak jaga kat hi way padang pasir tu. tapi kene beringat jugak, dha ramai mati accicdent. even before kami pi, one indonesian couple baru jer meninggal masa on the way back to doha. anak dia kecil lagi. anak dia hidup, sekarang ni ada org amik anak angkat. sian baby tu. tapi nak buat mcm mana. ajal ni dimana2 tapi kita kene beringat lah.

Bila dah sampai riyadh, kita org isi minyak sat. dekat situ baru nampak sign board "Mekah" ish kalau tgk KM, tekanan jer, aku rasa dr Doha sampai mekah dalam 1500KM kot. letih la nak tulis. citer pendek2 jer lah ek. so kami teruskan lagi perjalan menuju ke mekah. sampai kat satu R&R tu, kami dah tak larat. so kami tidur kat situ pada jam 2 pagi.serius aku tidur tak lena. rasa cam gabra jer. Bila teringat nyace dok bagi amaran kisah dr majalah mastika, rasa takut jer. aku dok berdoa jer byk byk. ok lah lelap mata sat. esok pagi lps subuh dalam kul 5 kami gerak balik. waktu tu bukan aku drive, so aku tertidur ja lah.

Last sekali sampai lah kami ke Taif, so kami menuju ke masjid utk miqat. since nak masuk jumaat, kami decide solat jumaat situ dulu lah... so bersolat lah kami. lps tu start lah nak umrah. mandi sunat, solat sunat dan pakai ihram semua. Pakai ihram kena belajar betul2, yer lah kan pakai 2 helai kain jer. kalau tak kena gaya, ish melayang karang. so lepas dah niat ihram, start kereta dan menuju ke mekah. sesat jugak kat sini sbb jalan yg GPS tunjuk tuh kene tutup, terpaksa cari alternative lain dgn tanya org org kat situ. so start lah slow2 baca "Labbaikallah hummalabaik".. better baca dalam arab lah. kalau tulis rumi sure bunyi tak kena nanti.

nak sampai masuk mekah, ada polis jaga kat border mekah tu. dia suruh parking kat "pilgrim parking area". so kami kena amik cab kat situ. since kami dah suruh Pak Syafie (org indonesia) yang tinggal di mekah handle kami punya accomodation, so dia tunggu kami kat tepi jalan.

masa masuk kota mekah tu, mcm tak percaya. eh aku dah sampai ke. kedai2 dia macam kat mesia jer. mcm kat taiping ke ek. masa tu dok berdoa jer dalam hati semoga semua akan OK. standard la 1st time pi kan. cuak la.. Then pak syafie bawak ke hotel. hotel tu mcm asrama jer. tapiu dha ramadhan, mmg mahal la. bilik aku duduk tu kalau time off peak harga 50 riyal. tapi waktu tu jadi 250 riyal. standard la kan, kalau time cuti sekolah kat mesia pun, harga hotel naik harga. pak syafie suruh bukak puasa dulu nanti dia call kawan dia jadi mutawif, guide kita org utk 1st time buat umrah ni. so kita org bukak puasa dulu. lps maghrib kawan dia tu mai. eh aku lupa nama dah. so kami pun berjalan kaki ke bawah menuju ke masjidil haram.

bila masuk masjid tu, terus turun ke bawah, dah meremang bulu roma aku. perasaan bercampur lah. excited ada, takut pun ada. so bila dah nampak kaabah tu, rasa tercacak jer bulu roma, otomatik lah keluar air mata siki2 sbb 1st time. so ustza tu pun start lah bawak ke kaabah tempat nak mula tawaf. ada tanda lamu hijau. so start lah di situ. mmg ramai org lah. 1st ramadhan kan. nuar ngan kak ita bawak baby kecil fariha sekali. kami gerak slow2 lah. fariha menangis jer. sbb ramai org kot. alhamdulillah lps tawaf, kami solat sunat kat muazam, skip lah hijir dulu, sbb 1st time ni nak tahu cara betul2 dulu kan.

minum air zam zam sat. dalam masjid ni, tong air zam zam mana mana ada. yang sejuk ada, tak sejuk pun ada. pastu kami menuju ke bukit safar, utk buat saie. so start lah dari safar ke marwah sebanyak 7 kali. so mula kat safar, berakhir di marwah. masa saie nih, disunatkan berlari anak2 dekat tiang yg ada warna hijau kat situ.

lepas habis ajer. buat lah tahalul. aku bawak gunting siap2, so kami gunting lah antara kami. so habis lah umrah kami kali pertama. alhamdulillah.

aku cuma cukur kepala masa aku buat umrah kali terakhir. masa kat mekah ni, nak buat bila2 pun boleh. just amik cab pergi ke tenpat miqat. nama dia thanaeim. bergantung lah serajin mana. dok mekah ni mmg tak ingat apa dah. so waktu tu alhamdulillah jadik alim sebentar. ke masjid ajer lah. sekarang ni takde lah jahat, cuma tak lah rajin nak pi masjid setiap waktu cam tu hehehe :D . kat mekah ni, solat lah kat muazam, (depan makan nabi ibrahim, makan ni tapak kaki dia). dan di hijir ismail. diberi keizinan cubalah mengucup hajaratul aswad. Berdoalah byk2 insyaAllah dimakbulkan.

Mel tak ikut, jadi aku takde masa nak pi shopping2 tgk barang kat mekah ni. tapi mmg org suka bershopping gak kat mekah ni. mcm mcm ada. pastu jual beli cakap melayu jer. semua pandai cakap melayu kat kedai. sign board dalam masjid atau kat mana2 pun byk jugak dalam bahasa melayu.

so lepas 5 hari kat mekah, kami pun pi madinah. kat madinah kita org checkin hotel dekat ngan masjid nabawi tu. mahal hotel time posa ni, so kami amik 2 malam jer. basically kat madinah ni 3 hari 2 malam lah. dekat masjid ni, kalau dapat solat kat rawdah (ada karper warna hijau) antara makam nabi dan mimbar. solat lah kat situ. di situ nabi pun cakap, kawasan tu, kebun2 syurga.

lps nak tinggalkan madinah, kita org singgah masjid qoba sat. nabi dulu seminggu sekali dia pi masjid tu.

ini taktahu lah cerita kelakar ke apa. tapi masa on the way balik, sepatutnya kami balik dr madinah ke riyadh terus. tapi disbbkan ikut GPS, kami masuk mekah balik, siap sampai mina dan padang arafaj semua. last last kami tutup GPS tu dan ikut sign board dulu, lepas berjaya keluar baru on balik.

alhamdulillah semua selesai. Jadi korang kalau nak pi tu, pi ja. jgn lah dok baca mastika sgt. mastika tu kata nak bagi pengajaran, tapi kengkadang cerita dia over sgt. dah ada niat tu, teruskan ajer. anyway umrah tak wajib, yang wajib haji. tapi buat umrah dulu pun bagus gak sbg preparation nak pi haji. sbb haji kena plan betul2 sbb bukan sbb duit ajer. masa jugak. queue tabung haji lagi.

dah letih la nak taip. lepas dah habis semua kan, kami pun balik lah doha. tak yah lah cerita apa nampak sepanjang perjalanan tu. cantik lah jugak, tapi sbb jauh sgt sampai ngantuk. hiway straight ajerrrrrr sampai mengantuk. tekan punya tekan tak perasan minyak nak habis. semua panik. aku siap terpk air zam zam kat belakang berapa tong. kalau dehydrate nanti mcm mana. dah la 1st stesen minyak tu dah tak jual minyak. sib baik next stop ada. smapai aja, aku cakap "very very full". cuak gila siut.. mati kat padang pasir karang hahaha.

sampai kat doha 13 ramadhan. 14 ramadhan, (isnin) aku tatau nak buat apa. sbb aku cuti lagi. mel pulak kat glasgow lagi. aku pi travel agent, aku cari tiket balik mesia. yesss aku dapat. aku balik mesia 5 hari jer. aku tak bagi tau sape2 pun aku balik. sbb short sgt kan. smapai mesia, aku balik lah rumah mentua dulu, mertua aku cam tak caya jer. siap masak best2 lah kat aku. adik adik ipar aku pun beli mcm mcm. semua tak bagi aku kelaur duit. aku nak minum air tebu. so aku minum air tebu byk sgt. hari2 beli air tebu masa 5 hari kat mesia. aku dok kl jer. aku suruh bapak aku dr gerik turun kl. aku byk lepak rumah abg aku kat tmn tun.

masa nak balik ke doha aku beli sate 200 cucuk. sate keramat. aku beli awal sehari then suruh adik ipar aku sejuk dan keraskan. so aku dapat bawak balik ke doha. kasi kawan2 kat sini makan utk bukak puasa. suka dia org. yer lah semua kempunan nak makan sate hehe. air tebu sori lah aku tak leh nak bawak balik hehe.

aku sampai doha pagi, mel sampai doha malam tu. so kami dapat bersama kembali after 2 weeks berpisah seketika.

Still alive

HeHe, I have to admit that i'm not a good blogger, and i have less desire to write. i might need to be in other places to have more ideas. the fact is i'm not a good writer too. Still, i have no problem to communicate with people.
Anyway, today is the best day for Mel, we had 2 invitations. Lunch and Dinner. right after Jumaat prayer, we went to zul's house to have our brunch there. We do not mingle much with people, but we do have our close circle. So when there is "makan2" we could see more malaysian. Mel asked me to bring her to landmark, because mark and spencer still on "sale", but i refused to go there. as usual, i need good justification from her :-). she had no good reason, so i just drove ourselves to City Center. We went to nike outlet, and bought herself one sling bag. she didn't realize that she is growing old now. that kind of thing just for young girls. but she had a good justification to buy it so i had no reason to say no.
i feel sleepy by now... i supposed to sum up about our dinner at normah's house. will continue later. anyway i can't wait to be out of Doha again for two weeks from 13th Sept ;-)

August 31 2007

August 31, 2007 commemorates Malaysia's 50th year of independence or 'Merdeka'.

and

We'll be celeberating our 5th wedding annivesary!!

Di hari yang bertuah ini kami pun merdeka juga HeHe

worth to Visit

Guess. which one is geeGrik HeHe. seriously i'm damn lazy updating my blog. I will reserve Dubai entry for a moment. Seriously Dubai is so surreal. very well developed and developing. Their man-made island, and six lane highway with skyline on left and right amazed us. It doesn't look like Arab country anymore. You won't see dessert there, unless you drive yourself to outskirt. Basically, this city is a one-stop-center. You could let your kids enjoy skiing while you were shopping at the malls. The beach was nice where you could enjoy watching mat sallehs tanning themselves with two-pieces on.
They have summer sale when we were there. Luckily I managed to snap my self at Al Buruj on our first day, else i have no proof that I was there. Mel was so excited to get into every shops at the mall of the emirates. Too much temptation for her. She became "sasau" when when she looked at "MNG 60% sale for all items, Guess 50% for all items, Levis 25% for all items, and etc". I pampered myself as well by buying a few, and my friend Nuar bought himself Prada sunglass. Those expensive sunglasses would not transform me into a handsome man, so I rather spend it at my discounted Levis and Guess.
Since Mel became sasau, she just excited watching those and ended up buying one or two only for herself. Good for me as well :P
So, 2 days is not enough to be in Dubai. They have a lot of big malls where you couldn't finish it in one day. If you plan to go during sale, better do sight seeing first, else you became sasau HeHe. "Abang kalau abg kerja sini, yang sanggup hantar abang pergi kerja hari" you're right. I should be thankful being in Doha now, so i could keep my hunny bun sugar plum safely at home. HaHaHaha

Off to Dubai

I haven't taken any flight for quite some time and I kinda miss it. InsyaAllah tomorrow we will be off to Dubai. Mel needs to renew her visa and it is being a good reason for me to be out of Doha for a while. I told a lot about here and nothing much to tell now HeHe. I will update more of my trip in next entry.
Hey, I have my own 'friendster' now. decided to have one after Mel nagging at me using her account to see other ppl page. HaHa. my SIL teased me back because I used to say "Friendster belongs to poyos and it is too childish" HaHa. It's quite cool to see your close friend in inner circle.

I just updated my blog :-). Readers you are not disappointed in me today right?

my cousin's wedding

My cousin (zack) and Anis

herrmm.. suria FM should play this song to Hans. HeHe.

Jodoh.. renungkanlah sedalam-dalamnya

I received this excerpt from my cousin.

Tidak,
Jodoh tiada kaitan dengan keturunan. Hanya belum sampai masanya. Ia bagai menanti jambatan untuk ke seberang. Kalau panjang jambatannya jauhlah perjalanan kita. Ada org jodohnya cepat sebab jambatannya singkat. Usia 25 tahun rasanya belumlah terlalu lewat. Dan usia 35 tahun belum apa2 kalau sepanjang usia itu telah digunakan untuk membina kecemerlangan. Nyatakanlah perasaan dan keinginan anda itu dalam doa2 lewat sembahyang. Allah mendengar.

Wanita baik untuk lelaki yang baik, sebaliknya wanita jahat untuk lelaki yang jahat. Biar lambat jodoh asalkan mendapat Mr Right dan biar seorang diri drpd menjadi mangsa lelaki yang tidak beriman kemudian nanti.

Memang kita mudah tersilap mentafsir kehidupan ini. Kita selalu sangka, aku pasti bahagia kalau mendapat ini. Hakikatnya, apabila kita benar2 mendapat apa yang kita inginkan itu, ia juga dtg bersama
masalah.

Kita selalu melihat org memandu kereta mewah dan terdetiklah di hati kita, bahagianya org itu. Hakikatnya apabila kita sendiri telah memiliki kereta mewah kita ditimpa pelbagai kerenah. Tidak mustahil pula org yang memandu kereta mewah(walaupun sebenarnya tak mewah) terpaksa membayar lebih tatkala berhenti untuk membeli durian di tepi jalan. Orang lain membeli dengan harga biasa, dia terpaksa membayar
berlipat ganda.

Ketika anda terperangkap dalam kesesakan jalan raya, motosikal mencelah-celah hingga mampu berada jauh di hadapan. Anda pun mengeluh, alangkah baiknya kalau aku hanya menunggang sebuah motosikal seperti itu dan cepat sampai ke tempat yang dituju. Padahal si penunggang motosikal mungkin sedang memikirkan bilakah dia akan memandu kereta di tgh2 bandar raya.

Bukan semua yang anda sangka membahagiakan itu benar2 membahagiakan. Bahagianya mungkin ada tapi deritanya juga datang sama. Semua benda, pasti ada baik buruknya. Demikian juga perkahwinan. Ia baik sebab ia dibenarkan oleh agama, sunnah Nabi, sebagai saluran yang betul untuk melepaskan shahwat di samping membina sahsiah dan sebagainya, tapi ia juga buruk sebab ramai org yang berkahwin hidupnya semakin tidak terurus.

Ramai orang menempah neraka sebaik sahaja melangkahkan kaki ke alam berumahtangga. Bukankah dengan ijab dan Kabul selain menghalalkan hubungan kelamin, tanggungjawab yang terpaksa dipikul juga turut banyak? Bukankah apabila anda gagal melaksanakannya, anda membina dosa seterusnya jambatan ke neraka?

Berapa ramaikah yang menyesali perkahwinan masing2 padahal dahulunya mereka bermati-matian membina janji, memupuk cinta kasih malah ada yang sanggup berkorban apa sahaja asalkan segala impian menjadi nyata?

Jika tidak sanggup untuk bergelar isteri tidak usah berkahwin dulu. Jika merasakan diri belum cukup ilmu untuk bergelar ibu ataupun ayah, belajarlah dulu. Jika rasa2 belum bersedia untuk bersabar dgn kerenah anak2, carilah dulu kesabaran itu. Jangan berkahwin dahulu sebab kenyataannya ramai yang tidak bersedia untuk melangkah tetapi telah melompat, akhirnya jatuh terjerumus dan tidak jumpa akar berpaut tatkala cuba mendaki naik.

Berkahwin itu indah dan nikmat bagi yang benar2 mengerti tuntutan2nya.

Berkahwin itu menjanjikan pahala tidak putus2 bagi yang menjadikannya gelanggang untuk mengukuhkan iman, mencintai Tuhan dan menjadikan syurga sebagai matlamat. Berkahwin itu sempadan dari ketidaksempurnaan insan kepada kesempurnaan insan - bagi yang mengetahui rahsia2nya.

Berkahwinlah anda demi Tuhan dan Nabi-Nya, bukan berkahwin kerana perasaan dan mengikut kebiasaan. Jodoh usah terlalu dirisaukan, tiba masanya ia akan datang menjemput, namun perlu juga anda membuka lorong2nya agar jemputan itu mudah sampai dan tidak terhalang. "

Seorang teman pernah berpesan..

"Kadang2 Allah sembunyikan matahari..
Dia datangkan petir dan kilat..
kita menangis dan tertanya-tanya,
kemana hilangnya sinar..
Rupa2nya.. Allah nak hadiahkan kita pelangi.." "

`Cinta yang disemadikan tidak mungkin layu selagi adanya imbas
kembali. Hati yang remuk kembali kukuh selagi ketenangan dikecapi.
Jiwa yang pasrah bertukar haluan selagi esok masih ada. Parut yang
lama pastikan sembuh selagi iman terselit didada...`

p/s: Dapat clip Raja Azura dgn mamat mana ntah. Muka sebijik Raja Azura. tapi adakah benarkah dia? geeGrik penerima universal. so layan jer lah...

We have a Visitor

I thought "OWN"’s flight at 4.00 pm Malaysia time. I failed to contact him, so I just sms’ed Jeghi asking him to ask own to sms me his itinerary. Luckily, I had a good instinct, else nobody would wait for own at the airport. I guess, Doha airport is not ready to welcome people during summer. Same thing goes to own, he couldn’t stand the heat and easily get heated. HaHa. Since he arrived on Thursday morning, I brought him to my friend’s flat for a while. He was a bit pissed off because he tot I wanted to leave him there for the rest of the weekend. I couldn’t let him be in my flat that morning because Mel still on bed and I wasn’t sure what time she would open her eyes.

So, I left my work a bit early (15 minutes before 3) because my dog started to bark. No offence since I used to say this to him and a little puppy kinda cute right. I picked him exactly at 3 and brought him back for lunch. Like all first timer, he had bad impression on Doha as well. “Kalau aku kena kerja sini, aku rasa aku balik esok”. Hey guys, if you wanted to come here, better come during winter, at least this downtown will not look so bad. Then I told him, Doha is a good stop over for him, as we wouldn’t know what Algeria looks like. The only thing we know, they have beautiful girls. The country just south of Spain and people could use ferry to cross over.

We decided to watch Transformer that night. I asked Khai to join us, so we could ride on his prado. I asked own to take a nap for a while as I believe he was jet lagged, but he was busy playing with internet. Sorry my friend, most of x-rated sites have been blocked, only a few good sites from Nyace can still be accessed by me. The show was fantastic. Even though we had to sit in the first row, this non stop action movie with good effects really fires us up. I watched movie for fun, so if it didn’t make me feel sleepy, I judged it as a good movie. So porn still a good movie for me. Opps my little brother-in-law reading this. Hey who cares. They watched it too silently as I catch a lot of bad history in their pc. HaHaHaHa.

After the show, we stopped at Thaly’s restaurant for late supper. We had roti canai, mutton and chicken curry. We were there for almost an hour as my friend asking a lot of job related matter to own. I knew he was so tired because not having enough sleep. Mel and I enjoying our meal very much as we could finish 1 and half each ;-). On our way back, I told Khai that we planned to go to Sea Line tomorrow and he agreed to bring us there. Actually I purposely told him so. HaHa. My car is too small to go there HeHe.

The next day after asar prayer we headed to Sea Line but I was the only one swimming in the sea. Mel, khai, and own just sit in the car having spaghetti and Jajan. I couldn’t help myself for being too long in the water alone, so I just out of it after 15 minutes there. Back to the car, I had the leftover spaghetti before driving back home. Being a tourist, own had a couple of pictures taken there.

We returned home for maghrib prayer before going to Hyat Plaza since own wanted to meet his friend Pod Lah there. We had our dinner together, then we left own and pod lah to have their time. Me and Mel were doing some shopping. There were 50% sale at osh kosh and Barbie so we decided to buy a few pieces for our nephews and nieces. We bumped in again into Nine West shop and Mel bought another handbag added to her collection. The only reason because she just had 2 here, because the rest were in Malaysia. No worries, it will be deducted from her allowance anyway.

On our back home, we drove Pod lah back to his flat since he came by bus. I guess everybody were sleepy so I just turned on the radio and listening to it.

We woke up a bit late the next day. Everybody was busy with notebook. But right after asar, we went to souq iran. This is a must visit place in Doha. The building was old and the decoration was nice. Basically it shows Doha. A lot of groceries shop there, where you can buy chocolates, textiles, abaya, jubah, Sejadah etc. We were there just wanted to have some candid for own.
Then the next place was cornice. You could see nice skyline here. Since the weather wasn’t so good, it was a bit vague impression in the pictures.

Souq Iran

“Abg pukul berapa nak belanja own malam ni” actually it was her to have dinner at apple bees restaurant again HaHa. “pergi terus sajalah”. Mel wanted to buy a few books, so we stopped for a while at Al Jarir’s book store. While she was busy looking for her books, me and own did our maghrib prayer there. About 8.00 pm, we went to the said restaurant. As usual Mel would order spinach for our starter, then Mel and I just ordered one meal as we used to have leftover. Own had his own meal, and as predicted he just managed to eat half only. I asked the waitress to tapau for us.

Back to my flat, own started to repack his stuff because he wanted to leave some here. A lot of foods in the baggage. Since most of it prepared by his mom, so better for him to bring it there and left other stuff here. I asked him to lock the clock at 4.30 am at least as we needed to leave at 5.30 am. As planned, everybody woke up quite early this morning. I had no idea why I needed to start my car a few times to turn on my car’s engine this morning. I guess it just wanted to suspense own. HaHa. Anyway we were lucky, and we managed to be at the airport quite early. After sending own off and wished him best of lucks, me and Mel stopped at thaly’s again but the curry wasn’t ready.

At 6.00 pm, I received sms from own, telling me that he safely landed and he was in Nokia office. Then in his email, he was happy to see beautiful ladies there. Hopefully the country is attractive as their ladies.

Good Luck to you Bro!!!

............

Joey doesn't share food, Tip hates people having the same smell, geeGrik doesn't share theme song.
HaHaha

I failed to find this mp3 song thru the net but able listen to it a couple of times. Bai or bulat please sing this song in our upcoming reunion :-)

Adun: most of pak arab are having fun in Malaysia now and I don't want to disappoint you for being a good fan and a good reader!! anyway own will be visiting me tomorrow before flying to Algeria.

Artist - Tajuklagu: Taufik Batisah - Usah Lepaskan

The Lyrics:

Yang terindah
Terlukis di bibir mu
Tak pernah ku lihat senyum mu
Sebegitu
Pudar kah sudah cinta yang ku beri
Bewarna warni segala
Yang dijanjikan ia

(Chorus)
Usah biarku bersendirian
Usah biar hati mu di tawan
Usah biar diri ku disini
Seorang menunngu tanpa teman

Usah lepas genggaman tangan mu
Usah biar semua berlalu
Usah terlupa perasaan hati
Pertama kali kita bertemu
Usah lepaskan

(Bridge)
Tak mudah ku melupa segala yang berlalu
Ku ingin selalu bersama mu

Chorus

Ku tak peduli apa sebabnya
Engkau dan dia harus bersama
Mendungnya langit bila berkata
Kita patutnya masih bercinta
Usah lepaskan

Usah lepaskan

Yang terindah
Terlukis di bibir mu
Tak pernah ku lihat senyum mu
Sebegitu

My SIL engagement Day - 16th June 2007

Just received a few pictures from them:

akhirnya adik ipar ku yang paling gedik melangsungkan pertunangannya :-)
Aku tgk gambar mereka ni, mcm hantaran dah nak kawin. Zaman berubah. aku dulu sep sep ja. Bukan kesep tahu. HaHa
beberapa perkataan aku belajar dari adik ipar aku yang bongsu yang poyo (asraf)
Sep : Berjimat
Kesep : Kedekut
Poyo : camna nak translate hah. Tapi aku pandai pakai la.
sketchers : penggunaan dia begini. "lu tak sketchers la". ape ke bende ntah.

Lihatlah gambar dibawah ini.

zai dan hantaran nya

Couple yang Gedik (adik ipar aku dan tunangnya bernama K. nama sebenar aku tak ingat)

a "BIG" Happy family (Ayah, Zai, K, dan Mama)
Sembah patik harap di ampun =))

Dan yang ini paling aku tak tahan tgk ni. Cuba baca kata2 yang tertulis tu
Tak nampak?? click la kasi beso.
"Atas nama cinta hati ini tak mungkin terbagi, sampai nanti hingga aku mati cinta ini hanya untuk engkau"

ada byk gambo lagi ni. nak letak lagi ke??

The Sunday Blues

If people back home hate Monday, I dislike Sunday the same way since it is the first day of the week. For the past 6 months, I have not seen Fara Fauzana on Melodi, and no more Pancaindera at my doorsteps every Sunday HaHa. I used to subscribe The Star on Saturday because Mel was interested in Biz Week and I love to see job ads. I will read every detail but never applied through it. Then on Sunday, I scrap The Star but Utusan Minggu. Once I heard somebody throwing paper at my doorsteps I will get it and grab the middle one and pass the main one to Mel. HaHaHa.

Between me and Mel, we are totally opposite to each other. She has passion in her hobby, and I have none. Besides getting addicted to Korean Drama, she loves to read novels. Her interests more to fairy-tale, magical, spell, and charmed. Now she is reading romance story. I used to say this to her. “Ini buku blue. Sat abg cari.” Less than a minute I could tell which part in the book is showing erotic scenes. “Part tu jer tere. Saiko”. HaHaHa. Someone told me Fariza used to love romance novel, so those books consider sacred laaa. Fariza kan antara wanita wanita sopan di iTTM.

Anyway I love to see her reading rather than watching K-Drama. Sometimes seeing her giggling alone irritates me especially when it comes to my bedtime. I just couldn’t believe it, she could watch 160 episodes of Korean Drama. I told her “Kalau budak kecik tgk dah pandai cakap dah”. Although I did not watch much, but I guess I know a few Korean words already:

Anoyosayo : Hello
SarangHe : I love you
Kamsamida : Thank You
De / Kere : Yeap
Yobo : Darling / Sayang.

So when Mel calls me now, I will say those words to her. She kinda love it. Opps Back to work now. Nyace just sent me a good URL with no password. Yummy.

Keep Alive

“abg update blog lah”. Our life here quite dull. I choose to hole up at home after work during this summer. It is too hot to be out there. Sunglass is a must, so I bought mine the cheap one at Mark and Spencer, and Versace for my wife. Ladies always wanted the best. At first I tot of buying branded one as well, but looking at the mirror a few times, it didn’t make me more handsome. So why wasted so much money on it right HaHa;

I guess it is fair for Mel to have it since I did not give her any gift but lunch for her last year birthday. I do not want to spend much on unnecessary stuff and I opt for brand if I really can afford it. One thing I never forget is to give her birthday card. So for her birthday this year, we celebrated at Apple Bees restaurant together with Nuar’s family. Nuar’s birthday just a day before Mel’s. Mel and I used to share meals here because the serving is a lot. But this time we ordered separately because we wanted to taste different meal, and end up we had to tapau and bring back home. We forgot to take our pictures together, because I was busy snapping everybody else. It was funny while we were making our order. The pinoy waitress suggestion wasn’t good. I love to have steak with half done, but she suggested “medium-well”. “more bloody sir” burst us into laughter. Her “medium-well” turned out to be too well. Then when Mel ordered rib eye, she promptly said, “No good. More bones” HaHa. Nuar at first wanted to have the same meal, changed it at the last minute. The taste was good, so Nuar was regretted with the choice made and until now, he keeps insisting his wife to be there again, just to have that rib eye.

Last Saturday, a new guy from Celcom just joined. His first statement arriving in Doha was very funny. “Boleh tak aku resign. Aku nak balik lah”. HaHa. “Ko blom sign lagi, ko nak balik esok pun boleh”. Everybody heard of that conversation was laughing. During summer, Doha airport is not welcoming at all. The airport is dull. Once landed, you have to take bus to the terminal. With temperature more than 40 degrees, the only thing popped into your mind. “Negara apa lah ni panas jer. Nampak padang pasir”. “Aku kelaur je dr kapal tu, aku rasa mcm duduk belakang bontot bas jer.” another statement from him that burst us into laugher again. He was lucky anyway, because he wasn’t alone on his first day. Isyam waited for him and brought him back and we have makan-makan there. After a few days being here, and if somebody brings him to a few shopping malls around here, he will fall in love with Doha slowly.

I was a bit lucky, because I had been to worst. When I was at TAB, I had to be in Guinea in West Africa. My first trip was 3 months and the second trip was 1 month. I felt sorry for those living there. Gain independence in 1956, but not even one traffic light was working at their capital city. Colonized by France and the only thing they left were their language. Nothing to do at all. I felt like being in a big jail there. It was so bad. So coming to Doha wasn’t so bad. Although they just gave me google map to find my flat, I managed to find it. Yea, I’ve got to drive on left for the first time and I got a lot of honk that day.

Ermm.. last night we chatted with mama through yahoo, and she could see us on web cam. I tot I lost 2 kilos, but mama asked Mel to take care of my diet. She said I’m gaining. “Jangan makan banyak nanti besar macam ayah”. HaHaHaHa.

Will try to update more soon….

Reunion

I guess majority of us are happy to be part of iTTM. We could remember very well when our lecturers told us we are cream of the cream. Even though I did not get 10A1, but to know that I was in the same boat really elated me. I felt less cream after Mohaini confronting my results :P

We were happy not because, we had party a lot, but we had very strong friendship and all of you had beautiful heart. Each of us has our own story and nostalgic memory of being there. iTTM was special, because only 3 batches managed to be there. And what makes our 95 batches more special because we knew our senior and junior pretty well.

To bring back those memories, we should have our reunion. We started with pot luck at iym’s house last time and it was doing well even though we planned at the very last minute. Now we are going to make it big and official. It’s not easy to do this. We need commitment from each of us. Without any commitment, this event will not happen.

I have created a survey form and please spend your one minute to fill it up. Based on this survey, we know how to plan this event and make it a successful one. Everybody wanted to attend but when it comes to commitment, only a few will turn out. 5 ringgit could be a small amount to some of you, but some of us will see it big. We want it to be realistic and affordable to everybody so we manage to see those that we miss so much.

Let's make it happen!!

Selamat Hari jadi

If we are in KL, definitely we would be having barbeque for couple of times. It becomes a must event for my in law family. Mother’s day, father’s day and all family birthday must be celebrated. I used to sponsor “secret recipe” to these special events. We save some bucks now HaHa. Just kidding. (Mel’s sisters and brothers reading this. so I’ve got be careful with my words :P)

June is month of celebration. Sisters’ birthday (Mel and her two sisters [zura and zai]). I guess my in law planned very well. oppss. Sorry because I couldn’t join you all this year. Anyway happy birthday to my beloved wife and sisters and may all your wishes come true.

I came to realize those born in June are a good people. Of course, I say so because Mel born in June 19 and a few people that I know well born in this month as well. Pit, wira, and Nuar. They are good people. Basically, these people do have a few things in common.

But I’m still wondering why Tip born in June as well HaHaHa. May be Tip could justify this. [ Jgn marah tip ]

Anyway Mel already got her birthday gift and Selamat Hari jadi kepada makcik makcik dan pakcik pakcik yang lahir pada bulan ini.

Sejarah Gerik

aku jumpa dr internet, tapi kesahihannya aku tatau la. tapi kat gerik mmg ada jalan Tun Saban lah. Reman2 tu pulak baru sekarnag aku dengar :D. Tapi mmg sedara2 aku asalnya dr Patani. Itu jer yang aku tahu.

Dari catatan sejarah, orang yang mula-mula membuka Gerik ialah Tun Saban iaitu anak Tun Perak, bendahara Kesultanan Melaka pada awal kurun ke-16. Semasa kejatuhan kerajaan Melaka ke tangan Portugis, Tun Saban berhijrah ke Hulu Patani dan kemudian berpindah ke Belum, Gerik. Beliau menjadi ketua masyarakat di Belum.

Gerik bersempadan dengan Negeri Reman di utara. Raja Reman menceroboh masuk ke Gerik dan menawan Klian Intan dan Kroh (Pengkalan Hulu). Menjelang kurun ke-19, sebahagian besar daerah Gerik telah ditakluki oleh Raja Reman. Pada tahun 1902, sistem pemerintahan beraja di Reman telah dihapuskan oleh kerajaan Siam dan daerah Gerik menjadi jajahannya.

Pada 9 Julai 1902, kerajaan Siam telah membuat perjanjian dengan kerajaan Inggeris untuk menyerahkan Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan dan Terengganu untuk bernaung bawah pemerintahan Inggeris. Perjanjian tersebut telah ditandatangani di Bangkok oleh Sir John Anderson (Gabenor Negeri-negeri Selat) dan Setiausaha Luar Negeri Siam. Antara syarat dalam perjanjian itu, kerajaan Siam hendaklah juga menyerahkan balik daerah Gerik yang telah diambil oleh Raja Reman dahulu kepada kerajaan negeri Perak. Istiadat penyerahan daerah Gerik itu telah berlangsung di Kroh pada 16 Julai 1909.

Asal-usul Nama 'Gerik'
Kira-kira seratus tahun dahulu, tempat sekarang yang bernama Gerik itu masih diliputi hutan belantara dan masih terletak bawah pemerintahan Raja Reman. Dalam tahun 1870, beberapa orang telah datang dari Patani mengikut Sungai Hangai, lalu meneroka hutan di kuala sungai tersebut bagi dijadikan kampung. Mereka diketuai oleh seorang tuan bernama Tok 'Ad (Tok Sa'ad).

Tidak berapa lama selepas itu, Raja Reman yang bernama Tuan Jagong datang berburu gajah di Gunung Tujuh berhampiran dengan Kuala Kenderong. Baginda mendengar cerita bahawa tidak jauh dari situ ada kampung orang terletak di tengah-tengah hutan.

Ketika Raja Reman menghampiri kampung tersebut, baginda mendengar suatu bunyi yang ganjil terbit dari perdu serumpun buluh. Baginda memerintahkan supaya dipagar keliling perdu buluh itu dengan sasak dan menyuruh orangnya menggali di situ untuk mengetahui apakah benda yang mengeluarkan bunyi yang ganjil itu.

Setelah habis digali hingga ke pangkal perdu buluh itu, maka kelihatanlah berpuluh-puluh ekor dekan sedang menggerit umbi buluh. Oleh kerana umbi buluh itu sangat keras, maka terbitlah bunyi yang berkerit-kerit apabila digerit oleh dekan-dekan itu.

Raja Reman telah menamakan tempat itu Kampung Gerit. Sebutan 'Gerit' itu telah digunakan beberapa lama dan kemudiannya sebutan dan ejaannya diubah daripada 'Gerit' menjadi 'Grik', kemudian menjadi 'Gerik' seperti yang digunakan sekarang.

dekan : sejenis haiwan seakan-akan tikus; masih boleh ditemui di hutan Belum

$20

someone forwarded me this and I used to delete spam emails like this. but I believe you will read it if I put it here ;-)

Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by
holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked,
"Who would like this $20 bill?"
Hands started going up.
He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you
but first, let me do this.
He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?"
Still the hands were up in the air.
Well, he replied, "What if I do! this?"
And he dropped it on the ground
and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.
"Now, who still wants it?"
Still the hands went into the air
My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it
because it did not decrease in value.
It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives,
we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt
by the decisions we make and
the circumstances that come our way.
We feel as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or
what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased,
you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.
The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know,
but by WHO WE ARE.
You are special - Don't EVER forget it."
If you do not pass this on, you may never know the
lives it touches, the hurting hearts it speaks to,
or the hope that it can bring.
Count your blessings, not your problems.

Pak Lah to Wed

HaHa, for some reasons, I don’t have much idea to keep on blogging. My true companion is here and she helps me through all the hard time. So I’m always in unemotional state and when I was about to express my dissatisfaction towards anything, she calmed me down. It left me with unexciting stories to share :P

Thank God, after almost 5 months of bombarding and shouting, alas we managed to solve the electricity issue. We had to spend around 1K for the agent and 2k for the hotel. I hope my company will reimburse all the expenses. If they don’t, it will be another round of fighting. HuH.

Living here, you don’t have to worry much about your work; in fact you have a lot of time with your families. But like it or not, we have to go through all these hassles at the beginning. A lot of foreigners come here to make a living. This country can accommodate professionals and low class workers. Their own people can’t afford to run their own country. I just couldn’t imagine, what will go on here, if everybody left for good. But it won’t happen. For those from India, this country is like heaven because if they return, their life will become worst. Same goes to pinoy. As for Indonesia, besides maids, they have a lot of professional working at O&G. Definitely, Malaysian coming here to earn more. They did not suffer back home.

I went to mini market near to the airport yesterday to buy chicken, and a few bottles of juices, then one Nepali asked me. “Indonesia? Filipina?”. (common question) and I said “No. Malaysia”. Then he said “Malaysia? We want to go to Malaysia. Why are you here”. I don’t want to prolong the conversation because I wanted my chicken to be cleaned, and I could go home faster. I left my car outside with the engine on. Event though I believe nobody would steal it, but I still worried if anything happened. So I just smiled at him and pretending searching other stuffs while he was cleaning my chicken. Actually quite number of them working in Malaysia before, and when they found out we are from Malaysia, they will praise Malaysia a lot. For this, we can’t deny Tun Mahathir contribution to Malaysia.

Oo ya, a lot of things happened involving high profile figure in Malaysia lately. Our Raja Muda (gerik is in Perak OK) just got married with beautiful Tuanku Zara, Razak Baginda (Najib 's defense think tank) was charged for abetting the murder of Mongolian beauty Altantuya (Najib allegedly got involved in the case but he denied such speculation as just merely the rumors). and the latest hot news, Pak Lah is going to wed this coming Saturday with Jeanne Abdullah. His ex-Biras. I guess every Malaysian is happy to have First Lady and for him. It’s not easy to be alone at that age anyway.....

Di ruang rindu

As you most probably notice, you are listening to one nice song here. This song sung by letto
one of the uprising band from Indonesia.

"Yang ‎menarik, meski tergolong band pendatang baru, sebagai sebuah grup ‎musik, Letto paham benar bagaimana mendekatkan diri dengan penggemar. ‎Salah satunya dengan berkomunikasi dahulu dengan penonton sebelum ‎melantunkan lagu. ‎"

Here is the lyric:

dan aku mulai takut terbawa cinta
menghirup rindu yang sesakkan dada
jalanku hampa dan kusentuh dia
terasa hangat oh didalam hati
kupegang erat dan kuhalangi waktu
tak urung jua kulihatnya pergi
tak pnah kuragu dan slalu kuingat
kerlingan matamu dan sentuhan hangat
ku saat itu mencari makna
tumbuhkan rasa yg sesakkan dada
*kau datang dan pergi oh begitu saja
smua kutrima apa adanya
mata terpejam dan hati menggumam
di ruang rindu kita bertemu
* bertemu

Sungguh sakit kepala

Betul2 mental 2,3 hari ni. Bayangkang dpd Januari sampai sekarang issue letrik aku tak selesai2. Sampai nak tercabut urat tekak aku bergaduh ngan org sudan ni. memang penipu. kaki belit. buat kerja sikit tapi nak upah besar. Cakap pun besar. Bila bercakap nak menengking nengking. Sakit hati sungguh. Di sebabkan takde letrik, mel hampir sehari duduk dalam rumah menidurkan diri sampai lah aku balik bekerja. Aku terus check in hotel berdekatan. Sakit kepala dan sakit hati. Aku dah penat gaduh ngan agent nih. aku bagi tahu bos, aku akan balik flat tu bila letrik dah ada. Pedulilah dgn harga hotel. sapa suruh buat arrangement mcm ni. Ni kira aku baik lah ambil hotel harga 455 semalam. Aku boleh balik jalan ke kaki jer ke flat dr hotel ni. so kalau lupa baju ke, air ke, aku berjalan kaki jer ambil. Hotel ini tidak berbintang.
sepanjang hujung minggu, kami duduk saja kat hotel ni. not bad lah with the price. it is more to studio apartment. tapi aku masih merindui flat aku itu. Tadi aku call lagi si sudan tuh. dia cakap dia akan settle kan by today, tapi asik duduk sebut komisen dia. he wanted another 500. dah la aku dah kasik 500 last 3 weeks. Kalau aku check doktor nih, sure darah aku agak tinggi.
mel pulak cool jer. "ala abg duduk jer lah sini selagi letrik takde". senangnye dia berkata2, aku lah yang pening nak asyik call si sudan tu. Harap2 hari ni settle lah, so aku boleh balik flat aku.
weekend ni spt weekend yang lain aku rasa makin bosan betul. semalam pergi main boling tapi byk nya masuk longkang. aku rasa saingan aku tak bagus lah. jadi takde motivasi kah kah kah. lepas tu saingan aku buat mi kari. pastu syam and zul's family datang lah ke suite kami utk menjamu selera. Ok jugak spagheti jadi Mi Hehehe. mana nak cari mi sini jadi terpaksa lah pakai spagheti jadi kan mi. Last 2 weeks masa pergi rumah syam aku tertipu. aku ingat mi betul rupanya, bini dia rendam spagheti dalam kunyit. ceh
aku pening lah. aku rasa mcm nak bercuti. rasa mcm nak balik gerik. aku tgh duduk bayang suasana kampung aku yang nyaman, sejuk dgn ada air sungai dibelakang rumah aku. ahhh sudan tu call. dia nak bagi tahu kesengsaraaan dia menanti org dtg ke flat aku utk menghidupkan letrik. sebut pasal komisen. dulu aku bagi 500 tak buat kerja. Kalau aku ada power lah, aku hantar dia balik negara dia jer.

Singapore - Racial Harmony

worth reading...

Othman Wok (born 1924) was a former Cabinet Minister in Singapore for 14 years. He was the Minister of Social Affairs from October 1963 to June 1977. After retiring from active politics, he was Singapore's ambassador to Indonesia and served on the boards of the Singapore Tourism Board and Sentosa Development Corporation. For his political, economic and social contributions to the nation building of Singapore, the Singapore President awarded him the Order of Nila Utama (2nd Class) in 1983.

Small spark can create big mess

By Jenny Goh

Source: The Straits Times (Dated: July 23, 1997)

Former minister, Mr Othman Wok, spoke to Tampines JC students on Monday on the occasion of Racial Harmony Day. We publish below excerpts from his speech, which dwelt on his experience with the consequences of racial disharmony in the past.

Be wary of people who bring up sensitive issues for political gain
TODAY, July 21st 1997, is peaceful and beautiful. We live together as one big family in this peaceful, clean and safe environment. There is tolerance, understanding and friendliness among us. We are now enjoying full employment, high income, better homes, good schools, first-class medical facilities and
transport system.

We have been able to achieve all these because, after the difficult period of the 60s, there has always been peace and harmony in the country. Racial harmony is fundamental to us if we want to make Singapore the best and happy home for us and our future generations.

July 21st, 1964, was a totally different day from today. It was a public holiday - Prophet Mohammad's Birthday. It was an auspicious day for the Malays and Muslims and they were celebrating it with a mass rally at the Padang, followed by a procession about 3km-long to Lorong 12 Geylang, the headquarters of the Muslim Missionary Society of Singapore.

This was the way the Prophet's birthday was celebrated every year and there had never been trouble. The non-Muslims always looked forward to it. They enjoyed the colourful dress, flags and buntings, and the beating of drums by participants. To them, it was like a Muslim Chingay Parade.

But this particular day was also one full of uneasiness. The atmosphere at the rally was very tense. I was there leading the PAP contingent, comprising the party's Malay and Muslim members.

I had a feeling then that something would happen that afternoon. I saw many policemen around the Padang and felt assured that it was unlikely that there would be trouble.

However, speeches made by Muslim leaders at the rally did not at all portray the teachings of Islam and the Prophet, which stress tolerance, understanding, respect and good neighbourliness among mankind, irrespective of their races, cultures and religion. Intermittently during the speeches, there were shouts of "God is Great" from the participants. Their voices were not that of praising "Allah", but of anger.

In fact, communal tension was already in Singapore a few months after we joined Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963. This was created by a group of irresponsible, chauvinist and extremist political leaders of the United Malay National Organisation (Umno) from Kuala Lumpur.

They played up the sensitive issues of race, language and religion purposely, stirred up Malay emotion and sentiments and caused disharmony among the Malays and the non-Malays, knowing well what the consequences would be.

Why did they do this despite the fact that Malaysia was facing a more dangerous external threat of confrontation launched by Indonesia's President Sukarno, who was against the formation of Malaysia?

All Malaysians, irrespective of their races, should unite and fight him, instead of against one another.
Sukarno claimed that the Federation of Malaysia was a colonialist plot to threaten Indonesia's security and that the people of Malaysia themselves were against Malaysia. A disunited Malaysia would have proved that he was right. Yet this small group of racialist Umno political leaders went ahead to
create disunity among the population.

Malays reject communal politics
The reason was, Singapore Malays, for the first time in the history of this country, rejected communal politics. In the September 1963 General Election in Singapore - the first held when we were in Malaysia - all the Singapore Umno Malay candidates who contested in the Malay-dominated constituencies of
Geylang Serai, Kampong Kembangan, Southern Islands and Pasir Panjang, lost to the People's Action Party Malay candidates.

The Malay voters in these constituencies rejected Umno, a communal political party, and supported the PAP, a multi-racial political party. This really upset Umno leaders in Kuala Lumpur.

Two months later, led by Federation Umno secretary-general Syed Jaafar Albar, the extremist leaders descended upon Singapore and proceeded to champion greater rights for Singapore Malays.

They insinuated that Singapore Malays were second-class citizens, discriminated against and oppressed by the Singapore government. They lied and created suspicion and hatred among the Malays that their religion, language and culture were threatened.

The PAP, they alleged, was a Chinese-dominated government that was anti-Malay.

Their inflammatory and fiery speeches were carried by the Malay vernacular press, especially the Utusan Melayu, which was printed in the Jawi script and therefore could not be read by other races.

I worked in this newspaper for 17 years (1946 to 1963) and was its Deputy Editor when I resigned to become a politician. This newspaper had a large circulation and was read widely by Malays all over the Federation.

The Malaysian Constitution provided for special Malay rights in the Federation, and promised equal basic rights and opportunities for all Malaysian citizens. But the Singapore Constitution stood apart on this key
point. No special rights imported from the Malaysian Constitution for anyone in Singapore on the basis of race, language and religion.

This was a sore point for the Umno Federation leaders. The Singapore Government never challenged the Malay special rights as practised in the Federation. It was their business. What we did was to call
for the reaffirmation of the spirit of the Malaysian Constitution, and that was for a Malaysian Malaysia, a democracy based on the principle of non-communalism and equal basic rights for all.

In Singapore, instead of the Special Malay rights, incentives in education were given to all Malay students. Since 1959, all Malay students enjoyed free education from primary to university level. This was to enable them to continue their studies to the highest level that they could achieve without financial worries.

The incentive was also to encourage them to study harder so that eventually, they would be able to catch up with other students. A highly-educated Malay is an asset to his/her family and country. He/she enjoys the same opportunities as the others in securing good jobs and better salary.

Syed Jaafar Albar came to Singapore many times to speak at Umno meetings and he continued with his inflammatory and communal speeches. The situation became more tense and dangerous. About 10 days before July 21st, 1964, he organised an indoor rally in a cinema in Pasir Panjang attended by officials
and members of Umno branches. There were a few hundred of them.

In his speech, among others things, he accused all PAP Malay Legislative Assemblymen of being un-Islamic, anti-Islam, anti-Malays and traitors to their community. He whipped the audience into a frenzy, so much so that angry shouts were heard from outside the cinema: "Kill them, kill them, kill Othman Wok."

One week later, the Singapore Government called a meeting of officials and members of all Malay and Muslim organisations in Singapore at Victoria Memorial Hall.

That meeting was to hear grouses and dissatisfaction, if any, on national issues and to rebut the accusations, lies and insinuations made by Syed Jaafar Albar. The meeting was attended by PM Lee Kuan Yew, Cabinet members, all Malay MPs and senior government officials.

Bloody riots in Geylang
During the three-hour session, none among those present brought up any national issue. Only nitty-gritty matters were brought up and answered promptly. At the end of the meeting, it was clear that the Singapore Malays had no complaint against the government.

The lies and insinuations by Syed Jaafar Albar were exposed. But this angered Umno. The riots took place at about 4 pm along Geylang Road near Lorong 12. By the time curfew was declared by the Federation Ministry of Home Affairs at 10 pm that night, many people had been killed and injured. The violence spread quickly, particularly in the eastern part of Singapore, but mostly at Geylang Serai, Kampong Kembangan, Joo Chiat and Changi.

The violence lasted for a week; 23 people were killed and 454 injured. It was the most severe violence that Singapore had experienced. We had riots and demonstrations before this, mostly caused by the communist-dominated trade unions in relation to industrial problems. But never a racial riot of this magnitude.

Though order was finally restored, great damage was done. There was hatred, fear, suspicion and disharmony among the multi-racial population. The result was a shifting of the population.

Many Malay families who lived in non-Malay dominated areas before the riots moved to Malay-populated areas. Chinese families who lived in Malay areas moved to Chinese-populated areas. The polarisation of the two communities was very dangerous.

This had to be rectified quickly. We took immediate steps to assimilate the population again and restore harmony, trust, confidence, respect, tolerance and good-neighbourliness. It was not an easy task. But it had to be done.

Our public housing scheme was in full swing. We resettled them and mixed them in the HDB flats. We felt that this way, they would be able to learn to become good and friendly neighbours and understand and appreciate one another's customs and cultures. We took the right decision.

There is now more understanding, tolerance, respect and friendliness among the various races. During festive seasons like Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Deepavali, they celebrate together and visit one another. Today, there is practically no racial problem in the housing estates.

One week after the riots, I was in Kuala Lumpur. A senior Utusan Melayu reporter met me, obviously to find out about the situation in Singapore. He told me that at 2 pm on July 21, 1964, he already knew that the riots was going to happen. I said: "How did you know beforehand when the riots took place at 4 pm?"

He replied: "Oh yes, we knew beforehand. We have our sources, you know." That clicked. Utusan Melayu must have been informed by those responsible
for the impending riots because it was going to be big news.

No attempt was made by the Federation government to institute an official enquiry into the riots until asked for by the Singapore Government.

A Royal Commission of Enquiry to investigate the riots was only established in early 1965. Even before it completed a quarter of the enquiry, Singapore was told to leave Malaysia on Aug 9th, 1965. I was the first person to give evidence before the Commission.

Why Tengku booted S'pore out
In his letter to Dr Toh Chin Chye, who was then Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and PAP chairman, Malaysian Prime Minister Tengku Abdul Rahman said that he decided on the separation in the interest of friendship, security and peace of Malaysia as a whole. There was absolutely no way out. He said: "I am
not strong enough and able to exercise complete control of the situation."

I believed then, and I still believe now, that his other reason for booting out Singapore from Malaysia was the report of the Royal Commission of Enquiry, if published, would definitely point accusing fingers at those guilty in Kuala Lumpur for the violence in Singapore. With Singapore out of Malaysia, there was no need for the Commission to continue with the enquiry as it was dissolved automatically.

What do we learn from all this? We should not take racial harmony for granted. Race, language and religion are very sensitive issues that appeal to the heart. These issues are always under a seemingly peaceful surface. Just a small spark will create a big mess and damage our prosperity, racial harmony,
stability, peace and tranquility.

Therefore, we must always be wary of people who want to create trouble by bringing up these sensitive issues for the sake of political gain. Any such attempt should be nipped in the bud. Many countries like the US, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to name a few, have serious racial problems. We do not want Singapore to be in the same category.

We are now progressing towards nation-building in order to achieve national unity and national loyalty. This will take time. The most important pre-condition towards this goal and our continued success is racial harmony.

All minority races must be made to feel comfortable with the majority. And the attitude of the majority must sincerely show a non-threatening way, not threatening other races, their languages, their cultures and religions. Also by being fair to them by giving them the same opportunities in economic fields, jobs, education, medical services and housing. There must also be a spirit of give and take.

Otherwise the minorities will feel uncomfortable, oppressed and discriminated against. This, inevitably will lead to dissension and disorder because the differences are such that we can never be a homogenous people.
Then we have a situation like in the early 60s and I am sure we do not want Singapore to return to that period.