Floods In Perlis and Kedah

Not Even A Cat Is Spared

When a natural disaster happens, it ultimately affects all, from the youthful young to the energetic elders, and from pretty plants to furry felines. The picture above is of a feline friend that belongs to a friend in Perlis who has been experiencing this calamity since the 1st of November.

One other person who is affected by the huge flood is a dear ex-student of mine who is studying in a university in Perlis. What is more challenging for him, who has had a very sheltered life here, is that he has to undergo the flood by himself and even had to be transported in a lorry that was used to transport sand, just to be saved from the flood! Well, my dear ex-student, experience is an enriching element of life.

On top of that my own sister could probably be in some flood relief centre. However, I am really praying that she is in no way involved and that she and her family are safe and sound at home, possibly have a hearty a dinner while watching news about the flood on their own telly! I have not heard any news from her even though I have made many unsuccessful text messages to her.

As an outsider looking in, my heart and my prayers go out to all those involved in the flood and hope that they be patient and persevere!

Potatoes, Beans and Chicken

Strange Combination

I am a first-class food lover and has undergone many gastronomic endeavours. I have had many different types of food from all parts of the world, be they from my own resourcefulness of trying recipes from different countries or during my study in the UK and travel in France. I have seen many different types of food combined with other types of food, some of which may not have seemed palatable at first glance but worked deliciously well once savoured.

However, not all food go hand in hand with each other as I have unpleasantly experienced during my stay at a local hotel recently. I was really looking forward to the breakfast buffet spread after missing supper the night before. As usual, during stays like this, I always prefer to have baked beans, mashed potatoes (or potato wedges) with sausages for breakfast if only to avoid from the mundane fare that we Malaysians usually have in the morning.

Well, I did have mashed potatoes; I did have baked beans; but there were no sausages in sight even after circling the buffet table vainly twice! When I asked the waitress what would go well with the mashed potatoes and beans, she happily pointed to the Chicken Rendang, which incidentally was for the Nasi Lemak. I cringed at her suggestion that a local dish could possibly marry well with something with a western flavour! I think not dear waitress! I mean, this is not a marriage between a local and a foreigner which would be happily united with the saying 'I do'. For this combination of food, I am happy to say 'I don't!'.

Eid Mubarak

A Chance For Family Reunion

Eid Fitr is the day every one eagerly awaits every year, more so for the Muslims who have been fasting for one month prior to that, and also for Malaysians of other races who join in the annual celebration.

Eid is also an opportunity for family members to reunite after a long absence from each other. Each of us have our own responsibilities to tend to, our jobs and careers and also our families to care for, which in a way hinders us from seeing each other as often as we may want to.

Thus, it is not only an opportunity to catch up with old times and updating each other with current developments, it is also a time to just get together to see each others' faces. It is a time to get to know the latest addition to the family, be they nieces, nephews, grandchild or even in-laws. It is definitely a time to see the expansion of the family.

In a nutshell, Eid is definitely a time when every one should rejoice. It should not just be ignored because it only comes but once a year. If one misses this year's opportunity, then one will have to wait another 365 days to do all the things mentioned earlier; which, in essence, is a very long wait.

Nisfu Syaaban

In the light of Nisfu Syaaban, which literally means, the fifteenth night of the month of Syaaban, Muslims all over the world are looking to practise as much good deeds in anticipation of the coming Ramadhan.


And in light of this auspiscious night, I would like to share some thoughts about 4 of the 9 reasons for an unhappy heart.


1. Anger : When one has anger in his heart, one will not be able to find peace, similarly he will also not be able to find happiness.


2. Vengeful : Being vengeful will eat up ones heart, always thinking of ways to destroy other people. With a heart full of this feeling, one cannot find happiness.


3. Miser : A person with this in his heart, will find ways to avoid from making the smallest of donations for fear that other may share his wealth, or even worse become richer than he is, and is always worried that would happen, thus robbing him of his happiness.


4. Greed : Just like the miser, one who is full of greed, wants all wealth to be his, and it does not make him happy to see other people have a any share of wealth.


Insya Allah, the other five reasons will be shared in my next post.

Adios World Cup

Felicidad La Furia Roja

I have never been a football fan and in a way I suppose I never will be. Well, maybe there was once during the 1990 FIFA World Cup, if my memory serves me right, when I was actually a real football fanatic.

I remember I had just got my posting to teach in a Felda scheme all the way in Johor and I was staying in one of the officer's quarters, which incidentally did not look much like one for I suspected the house actually needed some tending to and a fresh coat of paint. But enough about the house and back to football.

I recall all throughout the month that the event took place, my housemate at that time, prepared ourselves to stay up late to watch the interesting matches which meant choosing our favourite teams. We would set our alarm clocks, go to bed early and let the clocks wake us up. When we got up, we boiled a pot of coffee, took out some biscuits, switched on the telly and huddled warmly in our respective duvets to watch the games. There were only two of us in the house, but the noise that we made cheering for the teams, almost every time woke up the neighbours, who almost all of them had small school-going children and some even smaller.

When I recall those crazy football loving days, I can appreciate how people actually do go crazy over football. However, watching football games like the World Cup now is a totally different ball game altogether; no pun intended! People don't watch the games on their tellies in the comfort of their own homes but they go to food outlets like stalls and bistros to watch the telecast on giant screens with other strangers. True, they go there with their friends but the spirit of football being a game to enjoy in the comfort of your own home is a thing of the past.

Football has now become a culture! If football is the culture that young people nowadays are willing to adopt, what happens to the culture they already have?

Higher Education

Students registering at a local university

A Student's home for the next three or four years.

What can be considered as the final hurdle in a student's education is when they set their foot into one of the universities all over the country (or even abroad, if one is lucky enough!) However, this need not be the last for all because education is a never-ending process. But having the chance to further one's education in a university is, well, something to be proud of, not only by the student himself but by all those who know him.

The student's main task now is to study well and to perform to the best of his or her ability, because the real challenge is not setting foot in the university but to compete with the other students who have abilities and qualities of their own. Forget about where the money to support your education is coming from for that is the responsibility of the parents. Forget about having (too much) fun, because enjoyment will come when you produce good results and hold that scroll in your hand.

Most importantly the student himself must remember that his entry into the university is accompanied by the prayers of his loved ones, by the joy of his friends and by the aspirations that he set to his siblings and younger relatives. And with those prayers, joys and aspirations, fly high and make yourself and everyone proud!

Father's Day

Is there really anything special about this day? This blogger begins to wonder.

Every year we come to the second last Sunday of June and people begin to remember their fathers! The date is so specific that people actually wait for this particular day to wish their fathers and fathers every where 'Happy Fathers day' and to express their love! It is rather sad to think that expressions of love to a father is now confined to one particular day of the year when you really have 364 more days to do so!

I suppose people don't bother to express their love to their fathers the other 364 days maybe because fathers themselves don't display expressions of love to their children. I guess it all has to do with this macho stuff! A father usually suppresses his feelings of love towards his children. He doesn't really sit down and chat his children, let alone hug them, especially not in public. A father seldom makes time to do little things with his children, like reading stories or helping them with their homework. I guess, men in general avoid close proximity for fear of people's contemptuous glances and to avoid being marked as effeminate by the society they live in.

I mean, while we are on the subject of Father's Day, let us ponder why we actually have this day in the first place. Like I said, there is nothing really special or significant about this day when you compare it to Mother's Day! Let's just think about how our society celebrate Mother's Day. First of all, there are so many special programmes like movies lined-up by the television stations to let people know about the plights of all mothers all over the world. At national level, we even organise Mother's Day extravaganzas by having dinner shows at hotels dedicated to mothers, where famous singers croon to mothers all over the country. In fact there are even awards for 'Mother of the Year' (Ibu Mithali) which the government organizes. So special is a Mother's Day.

And then there is Father's Day. Sigh!

Freeloading Family

The other day I was shopping in a hypermarket when I had the unpleasant experience of bumping into this large group of noisy family who were also there to shop, apparently. The thing that immediately caught my attention about that family was that they we all gathered around the fruits section and filling their hungry gaping dirty mouths with the grapes that were on sale there. The grapes were going at RM8.90 per kilo and had already been put in neat bags of a kilo each. This family even had the audacity to open up the packaging and started plucking the grapes one by one eating to their hearts' content, if they had any heart in them to begin with; and I do mean all of them, including the father, the mother, the daughters and sons, the grandmother and a whole group of gaggling aunties! And to top it all off, they didn't even notice I had taken a picture of them because they were too busy stuffing their faces with the grapes.

I have chanced upon this situation more than once but I have never got used to the idea of people who freeload, especially when it comes in family size unison. I always feel that, where fruit is concerned, if you really want something that is for sale and you can't afford to buy a lot, just buy the little that you can afford. However, in this scenario affordability is not the question. The main question here is the idea of honesty. I suppose this group of family have not had that value ingrained in them for the past few generations judging from the people in the family who participated in the grape-feeding frenzy. If the grandmother does not have an ounce of honesty inside her bone how then can she possibility teach any of it to her children and to her children's children.

I feel that these people are not ready for hypermarkets and they have actually driven all the way from somewhere else, probably Mars, just to have a look at what the hoopla is all about, and to happily take advantage of it! I may be a bit judgemental here, but I have no place for people who are dishonest. I mean, you can come from a very remote place but if you have honesty in your heart, you will be safe where ever you go; whether the place has any hypermarkets or not!

A Nation's Wealth should be Common Wealth

The days of share and share alike have gone by passing us all at break-neck speed. Gone are the days when one gets financial gains, and the rest of us share in the wealth and feel the tangible increment. Gone are the days when you get a small slice of the pie, the rest of us also get a slice each. However, in today's situation, things do not look that bright when one can get a huge slice of the pie and the rest is left with crumbs. Worse still, that single person gets the whole pie, crumbs and all. So, we watch in frustration and salivate to no end on the side line, when others get that huge slice of pie, all the time salivating too; only waiting to sink their teeth into that thick juicy pie. And, still we continue to wait and say; just you wait!