Never Too Careful

In the past few days, I can't recall on the number of times I have been sounding like an old broken record in reminding my two girls about keeping safe.

My exact specific words were "If ANYONE...male, female, young or old, in whatever colour and shape, comes close to you and offers you sweets, chocolates, ice-creams, soft drinks or ANYTHING, DO NOT accept. If ANYONE you don't know comes close and asks you to follow them, DO NOT go with them. RUN....SCREAM....ATTRACT attention!!"

This stern warning came especially more frequent after the horrific and heinous murder and rape of Nurin Jazlin.

This morning a friend (thanks... Ita) sent this via email. One can never be too careful these days. We just don't know who our enemies are.

I thought it would be good to share this doa with all of you out there.

Doa to prevent from rape (and other evils)

BM translation:

“Ya Allah, sekiranya Engkau mengetahui bahawa anak perempuanku beriman denganMu dan RasulMu, dan dia memelihara kehormatannya hanya untuk suaminya, maka janganlah biarkan dia menjadi mangsa orang kafir dan orang zalim”.

Anuar Zain's Lelaki Ini

Anuar Zain...people say he's the Jejaka Idaman Malaya. Huh...really ah?? Well, between Datuk K (sapa plak yg kata dia ni jejaka idaman...ooohhhhh tidak, tidak, tidak!!!) and Anuar....I'd put my bet on Anuar ANY TIME.

His latest song LELAKI INI has been spinning on most radio stations in the country. Anuar reminds me of singers like Peabo Bryson, George Benson and other R&B singers. Those singers..you hear them sing you till your heart bleeds...you know, those time masa cintan-cintan days.

So far out of all the local male singers only Anuar Zain has managed to come close to my international idols.

Coming back to LELAKI INI...it's a beautiful song...hence, the lyrics.

Kasih, kenanganku

Ingatkah saat saat dulu

Kasih, apakah dirimu

Merasakan semua itu

Kemanapun langkahku pergi

Ku masih melihat bayanganmu cintaku

Dan kemanapun arah anginku berlari

Hati ini masih kau miliki

Chorus:

Lelaki ini yang selalu mencintamu

Selalu, tanpa ragu

Lelaki ini yang selalu memuja

Hanya dirimu

Yang bertakhta dalam sanubariku

Aku yang mencintakan mu

Hanya dirimu?

Bridge:

Karena cintaku, tak berbatas waktu

Karena cintaku, tak mengenal jenuh hatimu

Hatimu?

Adoiii...nak pengsan dengar..so merayu-rayu!!

Telekung of All Sorts...

When I was in Bandung a few weeks back, one of the places I went to was Pasar Baru. It is a shopping mall famous for Muslim clothes. One can find anything from telekung (ladies prayer clothes) to stuffs for hajj preparation. During my 1st Bandung trip, I got my telekungs for hajj in Pasar Baru. Nice pieces…with moderate amount of embroidery. It has never been my fancy anyway to have those heavily embroidered telekungs. No need to look like a mak datin ahh…

This piece will definately be a "head turner" if worn to the mosque ;-)

The telekungs are relatively cheaper than what one can find in KL. It’s like 1/3 of the price what is normally sold here. So…Pasar Baru is definitely the place to “borong” telekung. On my last Bandung trip, I got like 13 pieces of telekung!! Gosh...when ever would I have the time to wear all 13 of them?? No lah…they aren’t all mine. I had some friends placing orders for nice telekungs if ever I am in Bandung. Sampai 13 pasang??? Well, I just couldn’t decide coz they were all so, so pretty and cheap.

Woo...so, so blue ka?? And so penuh with sulam ;-)

There were many designs and types. You name it…they’ve got it. Nak yang macamane?? Organza, Japanese cotton, Kris Dayanti’s design, sulam penuh on cotton, on silk….Nah…all you need to do is have the money ready. I think between the five of us, who went on this Bandung trip, we got like more than 25 pieces of telekung all together. No wonder one envious lady at the hotel where we stayed, said this to us, “Banyak beli!!”. How could one resist…I know I can’t.

Now…I see a lot of these beautiful telekungs making their appearance during the taraweh prayers at the mosque. There are all sorts…and at times in between the prayers one can’t helping admiring the telekungs around. I wonder…hah…ni telekung dari Pasar Baru in Bandung ker??

Tak kisah lah...yang penting nyer the solat. If we can put on expensive silks to work, apalah salah nyer bila solat telekung pun cantik, clean and comfortable. At times…I can’t help chuckling to myself when I see those “lip-lap” pieces. Not me lah…plus don’t want to timbul “riak” with those “datiny” ones. And….most of all, don’t want to disturb the concentration of others’ solat…with the “lip lap” telekung :-)

Seeking Solace

It’s been 5 days since the first day of the fasting. Alhamdullillah…everything is going fine. Work is not as hectic as the before the start of Ramadan. My working hours are now from 8.00am to 4.30pm. Leaving the office early helps beat the evening traffic rush… everyone seems to be leaving early these days. I guess just like me, most of us want to be home to break fast with the family.

Like the previous years, we normally perform our taraweh prayers at the Shah Alam mosque. This year, Nissa, my youngest has showed her interest in coming along with us to the mosque.

Seeing the mosque filled with jemaah gives the spiritual drive to devote to the Almighty. After all, this is the month where we enter into a period of discipline and worship. I read somewhere the word taraweh comes from an Arabic word which means to rest and relax.

The taraweh prayers at the Shah Alam mosque is conducted 20 rakaat plus 3 rakaat of witir to close the solat for the evening. Some of the jemaahs perform 8 rakaat…there are no hard and fast rule on this. Most importantly, one performs the prayers sincerely from the heart.

As for me…in this blessed month, I want to keep the soul and mind pure to draw closer to Allah – the Most Perfect. Most of all, I pray for His mercy and forgiveness….

May Allah grant us all true solace and comfort, Amen.

Holy Ramadan is Here Again

Thursday 13th September 2007, will be the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month for the calendar of Islam. The main part of Ramadan involves fasting during the day.

Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is an act of obedience and submission to Allah's commands through the highest degree of commitment, sincerity and faithfulness to seek Allah's mercy, to atone for sins, errors, and mistakes and to avoid condemnation to Hell.

Ramadan is also the time when Muslims concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concerns of their everyday lives. It is a time of worship and contemplation.

Gone Outstation

I have been extremely busy lately. Work has me traveling to various locations in the country. Just before the Merdeka weekend, I was in Kuala Terengganu for two days on a training assignment.

Kuala Terengganu is the state capital of Terengganu. Terengganu is one of the three east coast states in the Peninsular Malaysia. The state is bordered by Kelantan and Pahang on the north west and south west, and by the South China Sea on the east.

Kuala Terengganu is a modest town, laid back and friendly. It doesn't have the busy pace nor excitement that can be found in other state capitals in Malaysia.

The boat which we boarded from Seberang Takir

The locals told me and my colleagues that if I wanted some adventure I should try going to town by boat. So on the last day, we decided to try just that. We got onto the boat from Seberang Takir. It was a small passenger boat which could sit about 15 people. The fare was only 80 cents. The ride to town took us only 15 minutes compared to by car where it would have been 30 minutes.

We got down at a small jetty near Pasar Payang or the Central Market of Kuala Terengganu. Pasar Payang serves as both a wet market as well as trade centre for the local community.

Nap time for Pak Cik Beca

On the ground floor, trading stalls selling all sorts of traditional cookies & food stuffs.

The songket samping...check it out ...this particular piece is RM5,000!!! Huyoo...can make as a down payment for a new car.

The boat ride was some adventure for me. But I guess to the local folks..they wonder what on earth were we doing coz we were busy snapping pictures of everything...ahkksss...these tourist from KL they must be saying to themselves.