At a time to be jolly ...

Salary is NOT IN as usual despite the memo distributed last week on the early (by 22nd) deposit.
Some staffs do get SMS alert of the delay during the long weekend.
I don't get the SMS alert and also not alerted in any other way coz' i didn't check the balance during the long weekend.
Lucky for me, somehow someone pay her "long overdue hutang" so I can cover the "belanja pasar".

Apparently this is the first ever salary deposit hiccup for this Company with more than 20OOO staffs for the last 40+ years of its existence.
The "veteran" staffs keep mentioning of the splendid record of the 100% on time salary payment of the Company.
The internal team responsible for the task claimed that this is due to the centralized bank boo boo. But the ever sceptical employees perception is otherwise, the blame is on the new "HR" system ... "tu lah memang sistem lama tu jugak yang bagus, sepanjang sejarah M*S ni tak pernah gaji lambat masuk" ... me just smile and "angguk-angguk" every now and then, do not dare to disagree with a group of very emotionally dissapointed collegues. The most I can do is to offer to make some coffee or milo for the disgruntled collegues.

I do pity those who are celebrating their CHRISTMAS ... what an anti-climax ! Sedikit sebanyak pasti agak terjejas ke"excited"an menyambut Christmas. Although not as sad as the flood-stricken Christians friends down south.
BTW our emmdeee also celebrate Christmas. Hopefully his holiday celebration is not too badly ruin with the news of this boo boo.


Kut jadi masa nak raya kita, sure bengkek gakkk !

Anyway , selamat merayakan hari bahagia christmas untuk rakan-rakan Kristian dan selamat bercuti untuk mereka-mereka yang menghabiskan cuti akhir tahun . Semoga anda tidak menghadapi masaalah yang sama, kefutusan fulus, seperti kami, pekerja-pekerja M*S ...

Soccer Day

0723AM 11-23-2006 @ Breakfast table @ BJ .

SMS - Yr sons selected to play soccer this Sat 25 Nov at 8.30 am at BJ Padang. Tq. CE.

The #1 --- Abang kena main jugak ke ? Mmmm OKlah.


Azfar in light blue T-shirt and black track-suit.

The #2 --- Yeee .... bila Mak bila Mak ? Sabtu ... lambatnya Sabtu. Tak sabar Aman nak tunggu Sabtu.

Aman in RED


Good Job to Coach Sarjana & CE & Tadika Bahtera Ilmu. An appreciated effort from fellow parents and neighbours of BJ.
For the results and upcoming events ... please read the below email extracted from BJRA egroups. So BJ Mommy bloggers ... mau join itu Mommy Futsal ke ?

Dear Residents,

The friendly football matches this morning, organised by BJ Sarjana Football Team, was a runaway success. More than 80 children from BJ, Subang Jaya and Sungai Long participated. The children thoroughly enjoyed the morning. In the Under 12, Sg Long beat BJ 2-1, Under 10, BJ beat Sg Long 4-1 and in the Under 8, BJ was was held to a draw (2-2) by Subang Jaya. The matches was well supported by parents. Thank you to parents who contributed snacks and drinks for the children. Tadika Bahtera Ilmu also graciously contributed drinks and nasi lemak. Thank you.

To keep the children gainfully occupied during the school holidays and to promote family sports, BJ Sarjana Football Team will be organising a Futsal Carnival sometime in December. Besides the usual boys, this time we hope to raise at least two girls teams, two mothers teams and two fathers team. This Futsal carnival is opened to all residents of BJ regardless of their affiliation. Keep a look out for the date then.

CE

It does come from the heart, trust me !

A long lost friend , PPP's "APA KHABAR?" email pop up in my mailbox the week after Raya.
It is not such a wonder in today's virtually connected world, where everything is at the tip of our fingers. A few forwarded emails and with the help of the Tetikus scrolling up and down, familar text come to vision. With a "one-in-a-million" name like mine, it is a safe bet. But still one can never be too sure. Further clicks away ... the email reach my proxy mailbox which later is auto-forwarded to my active mailbox.
To the unbelieving eyes, the window session is refresh a few times and the "IT HELPDESK" in me, even restart the computer , not once but twice, ... just to make sure what's read is for real.

All the meaningful coincidences in life ... starting a friendship, cherishing it, lapsing on it and the awareness that out there, after all these years, somewhere thoughtful friends do exist ...

Yes ... in life we do welcome some sweetener every now and then. And what can be sweeter than a friendship extended from the heart !

* PPP - Personal & Private person, it's not People Progressive Party wokey !
pssttt : what i recalled mostly about PPP is the handwriting - i always thought PPP write like a typewriter - very very very neat !

photo source : http://www.ladytypewriter.co.uk/gallery.htm

Sedekad dah hidup

Last week conversation in the car, on the way to AdDaris for "mengaji".

Azfar : Mak, minggu depan abang dah hidup sedekad !
Mak : Mmmmm sedekad tu apa ?
Azfar : Sepuluh tahun. Tak payah nak buat "birthday", abang tak nak hadiah buku atau apa-apa yang kena beli. Umur Mak berapa ?
Mak : 38
Azfar : Macam tu Mak dah hidup hampir 4 DEKAD !


Eyang (nenek) make special breakfast this morning. Baked Honey Chicken Wings, Coleslow and Egg Sandwich. Mak, faithful Giant donor, bought chocolates the night before for the breakfast party.


L to R :
Aman (kaki sakit kejang main bola kelmarinnya), Eyang, Ilyas, Azfar & Aziz.
Baba Uqbah tiada dalam gambar sebab sibuk nak ambik gambar.
Mak & the Ayahanda tiada dalam gambar sebab sibuk adjust Uqbah yang nak ambik gambar.


Today, exception is given to the Ilyas, the next-door-boy in yellow, to come for breakfast before his morning shower. In fact the birthday boy and the birthday boy siblings pun semua belum mandi !!!



And Mak give Azfar a "tak payah beli" present. A more patient, a less erratic , more understanding mother . And a present of prayer ... Semoga Abang Paa di kurniakan kesihatan, kepandaian, kesopanan dan kesusilaan. Dan murah rezeki dan sentiasa dilindungi Allah.

As usual, the winner of any eating contest is ...

The Bye Bye Letter ... not mine lah !

At 10 pm, after dinner and the kids all in bed, already in the lala land, the Ayahanda, finally said the word ... "I am ready to resign, please help to write the Resignation Letter" . In this house, I am always the one have to do the writing up. For this particular occasion I happily obliged.

So I go goggling "resignation letter". I am expecting to get a few standard templates and make some minor adjustment and in 20 minutes I can join the la la land. Aside from the standard "Bye Bye" letter, look what I find goggling .

A simple one like this ... Nixon's resignation letter . Sweet and simple and right to the point.

http://www.watergate.info/nixon/resignation-letter.shtml

And the other extreme of detail resignation letters from several high-ranking US State Department personnel.

One from Mary (Ann) Wright, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Mongolia . She resigned due to her disagreement with the Bush administration's decision to go to war in Iraq without the authorization of the UN Security Council, the lack of effort in resolving the Israel-Palestinian situation, the lack of policy on North Korea and unnecessary curtailment of civil liberties in the United States. Read details below.

On a similar note of clashed principles - John Brady Kiesling's, who resigned while serving at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece.

The letters are rather long, but worth reading.

Ever wonder how does the "Datuks" of Klang Municipal Councils' resignation letters look like ?
I don't want to speak politics here, remember, my assignment from the Ayahanda is to write up his resignation letter, melalut pulak Makcik ni, which I completed in 10 minutes.

Just tickling your conscience with all these principled resignation. Ye lah kan, tak kan nak makan gaji buta . Happy reading and be grateful, there are still principled people around.

Source : http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0303/032103wright.htm

The following is a copy of Mary (Ann) Wright's letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Wright was most recently the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She helped open the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in January 2002.

U.S. Embassy
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
March 19, 2003


Secretary of State Colin Powell
US Department of State
Washington, DC 20521


Dear Secretary Powell:


When I last saw you in Kabul in January, 2002 you arrived to officially open the US Embassy that I had helped reestablish in December, 2001 as the first political officer. At that time I could not have imagined that I would be writing a year later to resign from the Foreign Service because of US policies. All my adult life I have been in service to the United States. I have been a diplomat for fifteen years and the Deputy Chief of Mission in our Embassies in Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan (briefly) and Mongolia. I have also had assignments in Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Grenada and Nicaragua. I received the State Department's Award for Heroism as Charge d'Affaires during the evacuation of Sierra Leone in 1997. I was 26 years in the US Army/Army Reserves and participated in civil reconstruction projects after military operations in Grenada, Panama and Somalia. I attained the rank of Colonel during my military service.


This is the only time in my many years serving America that I have felt I cannot represent the policies of an Administration of the United States. I disagree with the Administration's policies on Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, North Korea and curtailment of civil liberties in the U.S. itself. I believe the Administration's policies are making the world a more dangerous, not a safer, place. I feel obligated morally and professionally to set out my very deep and firm concerns on these policies and to resign from government service as I cannot defend or implement them.


I hope you will bear with my explanation of why I must resign. After thirty years of service to my country, my decision to resign is a huge step and I want to be clear in my reasons why I must do so.


I disagree with the Administration's policies on Iraq


I wrote this letter five weeks ago and held it hoping that the Administration would not go to war against Iraq at this time without United Nations Security Council agreement. I strongly believe that going to war now will make the world more dangerous, not safer.


There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein is a despicable dictator and has done incredible damage to the Iraqi people and others of the region. I totally support the international community's demand that Saddam's regime destroy weapons of mass destruction.

However, I believe we should not use US military force without UNSC agreement to ensure compliance. In our press for military action now, we have created deep chasms in the international community and in important international organizations. Our policies have alienated many of our allies and created ill will in much of the world.


Countries of the world supported America's action in Afghanistan as a response to the September 11 Al Qaida attacks on America. Since then, America has lost the incredible sympathy of most of the world because of our policy toward Iraq. Much of the world considers our statements about Iraq as arrogant, untruthful and masking a hidden agenda. Leaders of moderate Moslem/Arab countries warn us about predicable outrage and anger of the youth of their countries if America enters an Arab country with the purpose of attacking Moslems/Arabs, not defending them. Attacking the Saddam regime in Iraq now is very different than expelling the same regime from Kuwait, as we did ten years ago.


I strongly believe the probable response of many Arabs of the region and Moslems of the world if the US enters Iraq without UNSC agreement will result in actions extraordinarily dangerous to America and Americans. Military action now without UNSC agreement is much more dangerous for America and the world than allowing the UN weapons inspections to proceed and subsequently taking UNSC authorized action if warranted.


I firmly believe the probability of Saddam using weapons of mass destruction is low, as he knows that using those weapons will trigger an immediate, strong and justified international response. There will be no question of action against Saddam in that case. I strongly disagree with the use of a "preemptive attack" against Iraq and believe that this preemptive attack policy will be used against us and provide justification for individuals and groups to "preemptively attack" America and American citizens.


The international military build-up is providing pressure on the regime that is resulting in a slow, but steady disclosure of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). We should give the weapons inspectors time to do their job. We should not give extremist Moslems/ Arabs a further cause to hate America, or give moderate Moslems a reason to join the extremists. Additionally, we must reevaluate keeping our military forces in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Their presence on the Islamic "holy soil" of Saudi Arabia will be an anti-American rally cry for Moslems as long as the US military remains and a strong reason, in their opinion, for actions against the US government and American citizens.


Although I strongly believe the time in not yet right for military action in Iraq, as a soldier who has been in several military operations, I hope General Franks, US and coalition forces can accomplish the missions they will be ordered do without loss of civilian or military life and without destruction of the Iraqi peoples' homes and livelihood.


I strongly urge the Department of State to attempt again to stop the policy that is leading us to military action in Iraq without UNSC agreement. Timing is everything and this is not yet the time for military action.


I disagree with the Administration's lack of effort in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict


Likewise, I cannot support the lack of effort by the Administration to use its influence to resurrect the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. As Palestinian suicide bombers kill Israelis and Israeli military operations kill Palestinians and destroy Palestinian towns and cities, the Administration has done little to end the violence. We must exert our considerable financial influence on the Israelis to stop destroying cities and on the Palestinians to curb its youth suicide bombers. I hope the Administration's long-needed "Roadmap for Peace" will have the human resources and political capital needed to finally make some progress toward peace.


I disagree with the Administration's lack of policy on North Korea


Additionally, I cannot support the Administration's position on North Korea. With weapons, bombs and missiles, the risks that North Korea poses are too great to ignore. I strongly believe the Administration's lack of substantive discussion, dialogue and engagement over the last two years has jeopardized security on the peninsula and the region. The situation with North Korea is dangerous for us to continue to neglect.


I disagree with the Administration's policies on Unnecessary Curtailment of Rights in America


Further, I cannot support the Administration's unnecessary curtailment of civil rights following September 11. The investigation of those suspected of ties with terrorist organizations is critical but the legal system of America for 200 years has been based on standards that provide protections for persons during the investigation period. Solitary confinement without access to legal counsel cuts the heart out of the legal foundation on which our country stands. Additionally, I believe the Administration's secrecy in the judicial process has created an atmosphere of fear to speak out against the gutting of the protections on which America was built and the protections we encourage other countries to provide to their citizens.


Resignation


I have served my country for almost thirty years in the some of the most isolated and dangerous parts of the world. I want to continue to serve America. However, I do not believe in the policies of this Administration and cannot defend or implement them. It is with heavy heart that I must end my service to America and therefore resign due to the Administration's policies.


Mr. Secretary, to end on a personal note, under your leadership, we have made great progress in improving the organization and administration of the Foreign Service and the Department of State. I want to thank you for your extraordinary efforts to that end. I hate to leave the Foreign Service, and I wish you and our colleagues well.


Very Respectfully,


Mary A. Wright, FO-01


Deputy Chief of Mission
US Embassy
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

News from Demit

Today's most "ceria" SMS on my handphone :

"Ida dah lulus "

So now we have a family certified expert in "korek hidung dan korek telinga dan segala permasaalahan kesihatan di ruangan berkaitan telinga, hidung dan tekak".

Doc Ida, your first patient can be the Ayahanda with his suspected ... hyposmia .

Ida & Baby Imran Ali ... gambar tiada kaitan dengan cerita di atas. Cuma karakter yang di sebelah kanan itu adalah juru korek yang di kaitkan dalam cerita di atas.

FOC - Where to go ?

Mr Boss asked why he hasn’t sign my FOC application. Apparently I am the only few who have not submitted the forms.
It didn’t trigger me that my yearly FOC which I earned in 2005 will expire Dec 15th 2006 … in 4 weeks time !!!

Here are my problems :
a) It is difficult to book flight seats at this time of the year, what not with the holiday season.
b) The "ongkos" factor. 2 Eids+school start in a span of 2.5 months ... and no hope of Bonus announcement from Mr MD.
c) The Ayahanda's still-not-finalized plan is yet another major dependency.

I can’t imagine me traveling with the 4 little Wans without another adult. The last air travel (more than 2 hr) was to Melbourne visiting the Doc-sis's family and we had a difficult time trying to keep Uqbah on his seat. Uqbah is a very restless kid plus a bit claustrophobic. He can’t stand being in a confined space for more than 10 minutes. At 2 yrs of age, he's too young to appreciate the Inflight Entertainment. The paracetamol has minimum impact on him. He slept for 1 hour and the balance of the time, he “tawaf-ed” in the plane so many times and we were afraid the food trolley will knock him.

Padan muka sendiri. Plan last minute ni memang memfeninkan kefala, siapa susah ... sendiri juga.

As Mr Tan Sri's bebelan ... "Kan I dah cakap, book 2 3 months ahead, macam I ni ha. Dah settle, November 23rd dah fly ... bye to you" . Ye le Mr Tan Sri, aku yang bersalah .

Last resort is to apply to HR for an extension ... ayooo kena pergi "menghadap". I will leave this for the very very very last option ... just because I don't like to have to "menghadap".

Where would you go if you have FOC air tickets for the whole family on a limited budget and short time like ... 3 or 4 days the most ?



This country do look interesting, isn't it ? No ... that's not Mongolia !
Now who can help me on the "ongkos" part ?

Syawal Greetings

Eid Mubarak ... Minal Aidin Wal Faizin ...

May we be blessed with more Ramadhans to come ...

The so very difficult to take family photos of 12 children ... our attempts ...

My 4 little WANS are the ones in yellow Baju Melayu and kopiah.

Standing L-R :
Azfar * , Iqbal **, Ilyas ** , Nabil ***
Middle Row L-R :
Ilya Yasmin ** , Uqbah * , Aman * , Aziz * , Irfan ***
Front Row L-R :
Imran ** , Aqil **** , Sahli ***

* - anak mak ninuk
** - anak mama ida
*** - anak ibu mimin
**** - anak papa adhit

The Kimanis plan ... yet to be realized

Materialization of a new O&G terminal ... will this be also a materialization of a personal plan of a particular person ? wait and see and pray for the best.
Isn't fun to plan ... and to hope ... and if "tak jadi" ... to re-plan ... again and again :)




Map source ... http://fallingrain.com/world/MY/16/Kimanis.html

http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_business.php?id=155353

September 14, 2005 16:52 PM

PETRONAS New Oil And Gas Terminal To Be Built In Kimanis


KOTA KINABALU, Sept 14 (Bernama) -- Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS) will construct a new oil and gas terminal in Kimanis, about 50 km from here to receive and transfer crude oil and natural gas from the deepwater oil and gas fields in the state, said Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

The decision to construct the terminal was agreed upon after several meetings with the president and chief executive officer of Petronas, Tan Sri Hassan Marican, he told reporters after chairing his cabinet meeting, here Wednesday.

The new terminal would have a capacity to receive and transfer up to 300,000 barrels of oil per day and 1,250 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, he said.

Musa said the terminal to be operated by Petronas would require an area of between 50ha to 52ha and it was expected to cost between RM874 million and RM988 million.

When asked when the terminal would be operational, Musa said it was expected to be fully operational by January 2010.

Musa said the decision to have new oil and gas terminals came because of the existing crude oil terminal in Labuan and natural gas terminal in Kg Gayang had small production capacities.

Explaining further, Musa said the state needed more plants with greater production capacities as several deepwater oil and gas fields had been discovered in the deepwater areas North West of Sabah since 2000 after intensive exploration activities undertaken by the company through its product sharing contractors in offshore Sabah.

"The major discoveries included those in Kamunsu, Kebabangan, Kikeh, Limbayong, Gamusut/Kakap, Malikai, Ubah Crest and Kinabalu fields," he said.

From 2000 until today some 1.4 billion barrels of oil and about 7.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas have been discovered in those areas.

Kimanis was picked because it has deeper seafront, which is suitable for crude oil export and is located at the centre of the offshore fields which make the project cost effective in terms of pipeline distance, he said.

He said in addition nearby towns such as Kuala Penyu and Papar would also benefit in terms of infrastructure and support service development. Musa said a skill-training centre for youth would be constructed near the terminal to provide technical training needed by the oil and gas industries.

Petronas has also agreed to build an ammonia and urea plant in the state at a cost of RM1.52 billion and the site for this project has yet to be identified, he said.

He said the economic spin off and job opportunities following the building of the terminal would be significant and it would help contribute to Sabah's economic development in a big way.

-- BERNAMA

Ye ye dah jumpa tudung raye

Within one week notice, Mama Ilyas has found the matching tudung for the 2 princesses ...


Matching gitu dengan baju kurung hijau yang dibeli minggu lepas ...

Ye ye Baju Raye Kite ...

Tahun ni mak kite beli baju raye kat kite, adik beradik kite dan sepupu-sepupu kite yang dah boleh jalan. Yang kecik baby tu, mak kite tak belikan.

Ini baju raye kite. Warne hijau. Sepupu lelaki kite pun dapat baju melayu sama warnanye. Tapi mak kite kata songkok,samping mak die beli sendiri le.



Ini baju raye sepupu kite yang perempuan. Warne hijau jugak tapi hijau lain siket.



Mak kate kite semua pakai baju raye hijau mase pagi hari raye kedua. Sebabnya mungkin hari raye pertame mak masing-masing dah beli baju raye lain.

Ye ye ye ... dah nak raye.

Sekian. Yang Benar ,
kite - anak mak ninuk.

Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan

Selamat berpuasa kepada semua yang sudah wajib berpuasa atau yang sedang berlatih untuk berpuasa.

Ucapan dari saya
yang belum cukup umur untuk berpuasa maupun untuk berlatih berpuasa ialah ... SABARRRRR YAAAAA

Unrealized plans - check Sept06

We always plan for changes , for improvement or just for the sake of planning.

However well we plan, if it is not what HE decide for us, it will not happen.

Even so, it is fun to plan and strive for the best outcome. Sort of give hope for better future or the least, keep our brain stimulated.

Now let's see how many plans have confirmed "tak menjadi" so far ...


Dream of expat wife life ala-ala the 2 goddess friends in Alkhobar & Qatar - cancelled Sept 06

Road to Brunei - cancelled July 06


So for now, and may be for a loooong time still to come, the "Dear Boss, I am saying Bye Bye to you" letter will remain in the Draft folder.

Merdeka 2007 ... God Willing

If fate agrees with plan ... we will celebrate Merdeka 2007 watching KLCC fireworks.

If Ayah agrees to get the furniture, S*r* M*y* inside peek will look like in the picture below ..., else it will be a bare living area just like BJ living area for the last 6 years.




If God's blessing continue to shower our family, we will be a Seri Mayan family, "tukar angin jadi orang KeyEll" ... else we will be contended staying put as "orang Shah Alam - bandaraya roundabout".




BTW ---- Sri Maya has launched buyer-get-buyer programme - get 1% cash/rebate on successful introduction of buyer . So DO DO DO contact me if you are interested to be my neighbour .

p/s1: The Plan(version July05) was to upgrade from BJ-Teja to BJ-Tropika but it has gone through several revision (version BJ-Lag3nda, version SA-S3ct7Kr1st4lK*nd*, version SA-Sect7rumah_teres_sebelah_asrama_tahfiz_azfar, version BJ-T3j*K*b*h_sambung_dapur) until we finalized with The Plan (version Dec05) and we sign up for S*r* M*y*. Dah tutup, habis cerita untuk sekarang.
p/s2: The Apt/Condo plan must have been influenced by mama2beas apartment blog entry.

Erti Merdeka - di mata anak-anak ku

Cerita setahun lalu disini ...

Cerita tahun ini ... 31 Ogos 2006 .



Uqbah (3+ tahun) :
Mak : Uqbah ... merdeka tu apa ?
Uqbah : melldeka melldeka melldeka (sambil berlari-lari keliling ruang tamu dengan sebelah tangan terangkat)





Aziz (6+ tahun)
Mak : Merdeka tu apa dik ?
Aziz : Merdeka tu dia ada 14 jalur merah dengan putih. Mak tau tak putih tu kenapa ?
Mak : Putih ... putih tak cukup pensil warna
Aziz : Cikgu kata putih tu suci
Aziz : Ayah kenapa ayah tak pasang bendera kat kereta ?
Ayah : Sebab Mak tak beli.
Aziz : Kalau merdeka kita buat benda sendiri, tak payah tunggu Mak beli.





Abdul Rahman a.k.a Aman (8+tahun)
Mak : Apa Merdeka tu Aman ?
Aman : Kemajuan negara.
Aman : Cikgu cakap pasal Merdeka kat sekolah semalam.
Mak : Ooohh apa merdeka tu ?
Aman : Merdeka tu ... dulu orang Jepun serang kita.
Mak : Kenapa ?
Aman : Dia nak suruh kita dengar cakap dia. Lepas tu orang putih datang. Lepas tu Tengku Abdul Rahman, yang namanya macam nama Aman tu, pergi naik kapal. Dia bincang-bincang, lepas tu kita dapat Merdeka.



Azfar (10+ tahun)
Mak : Bang, merdeka tu apa ?
Azfar : Macam yang abang buat kat sekolah tu pakai komputer. Ada warna merah, putih, kuning, biru. Yang jalur senang je nak buat. Yang bintang susah sikit.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SELAMAT MENYAMBUT KEMERDEKAAN KE 49 .
SEMOGA RAHMAT ALLAH BERPANJANGAN.

Pantun Merdeka 1 , Pautan Syair Merdeka 2 ...

31st July 2006

Today is the day , that is yet another major milestone in my working chapters.

My 2 friends, who happen to be my ONLY staffs, are leaving the M** under the Separation Scheme.

So what does this mean to me ?
Food wise - eat eat eat !!! We hv series of farewells (read eat-eat) in the last 5 days. The group farewell at Paya Serai, then I** Durian & Rambutan feast, then The Division farewell with really good Thai Food on Friday. And this morning, the office Nasi Dagang & Cake eat-eat.
Personally, for them, I am happy and wish them all the best. Yes RMMMM (and lots of RM) does not guarantee happiness, but RMMMM (and lots of RM) does give room to pursue other interests in life. And it does give room for some "peace of mind".
And there are opportunities if they want to pursue other careers, within the same line or different line.

Work wise ---- I will be the one doing the 3 persons job, with the help of one contract staff. So what will that mean to me .... ha ha ha ... ask me in a month time.



Oh well ... wish me luck ... and I think I better start my "ganti puasa" .

Crystal Sabah Love For RTAR@TI

My virtual friend, Taty is selling Crystal Sabah.
She is pledging for every buy a portion will be donated to Rumah Titian Ashraful Rohaniah Teluk Intan (RTAR@TI).
Why is she passionate about RTAR @ TI ?

Apparently Taty's family is from Teluk Intan. Taty is now in Sabah following her husband. Taty is still interested to extend her helping hand to RTAR @ TI eventhough she is kilometers away. And walla walla she has very good craft skill and she put it to good use by designing such beautiful accessories. And her kind heart make it possible for her to allocate a portion of the sale proceed to RTAR @ TI.


To view and purchase Crystal Sabah and be part of the Charity Drive do visit http://crystalsabah.fotopages.com / 019-3583209 . Or email Taty at tatyms78@gmail.com .




To know more about RTAR@TI do visit http://angelswithin.blogspot.com/2006/06/rumah-titian-ashraful-rohaniah-teluk.html.

Farah, Opah dan RTAR@TI

Contents and Photos for this entry is courtesy of a kind friend.



Farah, 5 tahun, adalah salah seorang penghuni RTAR di Teluk Intan, Perak. Al-kisahnya, Farah diserahkan oleh ibu dan ayahnya, (atas sebab-sebab yang tidak di ketahui) semasa berumur beberapa bulan, kepada pasangan Kak Ana dan Abang Ajis. Sehingga kini, Farah dibesarkan di kalangan penghuni RTAR.

(RTAR - Rumah Titian Ashraful Rohaniah)
(Kak Ana & Abang Ajis adalah pasangan yang menguruskan RTAR)



Apakah tugas Farah pada waktu makan ?




Nenek berbaju merah itu dipanggil Opah oleh Farah, walaupun sebenarnya mereka berdua tiada pertalian darah. Mata Opah tidak dapat melihat. Opah bergerak mengengsut dibantu oleh tangan. Farah akan menyuap Opah setiap waktu makan. Mereka berdua tiada ikatan darah, cuma takdir menemukan mereka di RTAR.

Untuk cerita penuh mengenai Farah , Opah dan RTAR sila kunjungi blog rakan saya "Angels Among Us, Angels Within" . Jika sudi, tolong siarkan lagi berita mengenai Farah, Opah dan RTAR seluas mungkin. Lebih ramai yang tahu, makin ramai yang dapat menghulurkan bantuan.

Jika anda dapat membantu sila hubungi Puan Rohana Saidin : 019-3685297/019-5756258/016-4494333/016-2644007 / 016-4494333 .

Direction :

Near Hospital Besar Teluk Intan - Kampung Selabak Luar, Bt 3, JalanChangkat Jong, Teluk Intan (selepas Hospital, nampak sign board Bidor,masuk the first Traffic Light ke kanan. Nampak gerai/kedai buah2an & adabanglow warna putih at the back of the gerai/Kedai Buah2an.
RTAR dulunya di kenali sebagai Rumah Amal Hashimiah di Kuala Selangor. RTAR menempatkan warga emas dan juga kanak-kanak istimewa yang yatim, miskin ataupun tidak "dikehendaki" oleh keluarga mereka. Sejak awal tahun 2006, mereka telah berpindah ke Teluk Intan. Sebab musababnya saya sendiri kurang arif.

RALK1

Charity .... even with a trifle

Fellow wonderful readers ,

I have been in touch with Rumah Amal Limpahan Kasih @ Puchong . In Dec 05, I went there with my family to send over some contribution (collected from friends and neighbours) to help them for the school openings. I wrote a short write-up and email it to my neighbours and friends who further forward the email to their friends. Many more helping hands reach RALK. The simple act of writing a simple write-up and the use of techology supported by the kind hearts of neighbours and friends DO MAKE THING HAPPEN. Now they have adequate furniture and beds for their daily use. Thank you very much indeed.

Last 2 weeks, I had another opportunity to visit RALK with my bestest friend, Elin and her daughter. Here is some update on RALK for your reading pleasure.

RALK is founded by Puan Rabaah (the blue head scarf lady) and her husband En Zawawi (not in the picture). The children under their care are orphans or children from poor families. They have 2 helpers Kak As (with the pink head scarf) and another kakak.

Currently there are about 16 kids from age 6 - 15. They are in the process of establishing a permanent place at Kg Sri Aman, Puchong. In the mean time while soliciting for donors, they are renting 2 houses in Bandar Bukit Puchong2. One for the girls and another one for the boys.

We went there to send 20 sets of bed sheets (courtesy of my M*S & I*M friends)

The new green bed sheets do brighten the room ...kan kan kan ...

As well as 15 bright-colored towels gift from a friend, Teacher Shafinaz.


To all my friends who contributed to help my visit to RALK more meaningful, Thank You Very Much. May Allah bless your kind deeds .

I am merely doing the despatch job :)

As of today this is the list of things that you can further contribute (not limited to this list though) :

a) vacuum

b) toileteries

c) barangan dapur (kicap, sos, ikan bilis, kentang, garam, rempah etc)

d) clothes for the children (age 6-15 yrs)

e) time to do reading sessions

f) cash for the daily expenses

g) stationaries

h) .................

To those who wish to contribute to RALK, in deeds or cash or anything, do contact Puan Rabaah/ En Zawawi at 019-2227339 / 03-80601770 .

Kecil tapak tangan, nyiru di tadahkan.

Rumah Amal Limpahan Kasih @ Bandar Bukit Puchong2.

Charity .... even with a trifle

Kerja Mak

I used to work as a Minah Kilang for 13 years.

Started there as my first job, offered during my degree final semester. Accepted it before going for my final exam and start right on once in the homeland.
I've never seriously-serously thinking of leaving the Kilang environment. Grew contended in my comfort zone. Well , I did leave for a year to do my Masters. I came back, unofficially ask for any vacancy and walllla wallaaa ... back as a Minah Kilang.
Never thought I can survive in other field.

Offers do come and go along the way. Not until this one, the ONE , which stuck in my head for weeks. Take it or let it go , as usual. Somehow, I decided to accept this particular offer.

The chain of event that lead to the job offer was so very effortless from my part. Even the h**dh*nt*r had been very accomodating in meeting with me at odd times.

Parking is designated, logistic is better, salary well ok lah not the determining factor ,
environment is a bit risky for my character (as I have been warn again and again by AAR) but i'm willing to take the risk. Prospect, in terms of the work itself ... well actually that's the catchy thing. I got to do similar thing with bigger scope.

So I left the Kilang environment and move to Tr*nsp*rt industry.

When I told the kids of my new employer, kids comments were made :

Rahman (then 6yo) : Mak kerja dengan k*p*lt*rb*ng sekarang ye ... mak jadi p*l*t ke ?

Aziz (then 4yo) : Aziz tau ... Mak kerja yang bawa turun beg dari k*p*lt*rb*ng ye ?

Azfar (then 8yo) : Abang rasa Mak kerja yang jaga parking K*p*lt*rb*ng !

So what actually do I do now to earn a paycheck ?

It's all here ... for now, unless after the BIG-HOT-thing , significant changes happen and redeployment affect me. In the mean time, I will be keep doing what I am doing, of course with faster speed in anticipation of less "kakitangan", and Look Look and See See .

From early this week I should be expecting the worse to happen (work wise) and start thinking of the post-BIG-HOT-thing plan. What to do and How to do ?

Aaaaahhh fenatnya and sometimes scary to think of all this. In the mean time I will keep humming this song in my head ...

I Have a Dream — Abba

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream

And dream I will ... good night zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Mat Kepitku

After a nice 12 days of Mak staying home ... inilah jadinya ... jadi Mat Kepit.

Tak pe lah Mat Kepit, jangan jadi Mat Rempit.

Making good of my MCs

By tomorrow, I will be on MC for 8 days + the 2 public holidays + 2 set of weekends ... it has been a straight 12 days of not going to the office.

Being a good employee, I do check my office email from time to time and call back my 2 staffs and the Admin to discuss issues and updates ... I even had phone discussion w/ the Auditor to clear up things. My eyes are not well, but my brain and mouth still in working condition. And the pink eye virus will not travel thru' the internet and phone line. So they are safe.

Now aside from the work that I've accomplished while on MC ... this is my other achievement :

Before - Uqbah Gondrong

Work-In-Progress1 - The Gondrong counting the minutes ...




Work-In-Progress2 - The center is already Botak - no turning back ...




After - Uqbah Gondrong No More


The work of the 1-eye MAK and Bibik Tutik.

When Pink Turn To Purple

I was wrong ... I am NOT the untouchable Mom ... I am NOT the Super Mom ...

I was infected by the Pink Eye . Got it from Rahman who got it from Uqbah who got it from Aziz who got it from dunno where.

The timing was just not right. My eyes started to feel the itchiness Saturday morning and the pink lines appeared. Duhhhh it was suppose to be a looooong weekend with the Labour Day holiday on Monday. And I got this pink eye. Where can jalan-jalan like this.

So No IJN visiting Baby Faiz ; No joining Arisan at Tante Zardi's house (I miss all the food) ; No merendek shopping for the new washing machine

Dr Sharifah (neigbourhood GP) prescribed the same medication as for Rahman and siblings. After 2 days apparently that particular medication does not agree with my eyes, the eyes swell more and more and throbbing. The right eye was completely closed (sebab sakit bila paksa buka) and I became the 1-eye mother.

Now with only 1-eye open, I was not quick enough to wake up and Gendong Uqbah for his midnight Gendong. Uqbah was not happy and out of no where, crash his hard-head into my eyes ... my already swollen eyes . uwaaaaaaaaa my pink eyes turned purple eyes ....

No photos ... to gross.

So come Wed I drove with my one-eye to Medical Center, waited for 2 hrs for my turn to see the doctor and the doctor in charge prescribed me another set of eye drops + eye ointment + antibiotik.

During the 2 hrs wait, sempat dengar ceramah perdana, from the guy sitting next to me - apparently a veteran staff, about the HOT thing now . I suspect he's with H*.

"Elok you ambik ni, lagipun you perempuan, wife, yr husband kerja kan. You ambik duit ni, settle hutang piutang and have an easy life."

Alamak that "peramah" kind soul bersemangat betul, tak sempat nak menyampuk ...

"Betul Encik, tapi kan saya baru setahun kerja kat sini, alahai seciput je lah dapatnya, lagipun saya suka kerja saya sekarang ni (walaupun kadang-kadang ^%**&^%#@ ) tapi overall OK je. "

In reality I didn't say a word, just smile and angguk-angguk. Apa-apa jelah wahai Encik M**. Mata ku berdenyut-denyut ni ...

My looong weekend turned out to be very looooooong indeed.

So sape-sape nak MC, mari sini kutip virus Pink Eye. But be careful not to turn your Pink to Purple.

Siaran Tergendala Lagi ...

Azfar's scabies is gone , for now ...

But the other 3 (sequential Uqbah - Aziz - Uqbah - Rahman) got infected by "Pink Eye" aka conjunctivitis Wabah Sakit Mata - similar to what this Achedy guy wrote at http://achedy.penamedia.com/newsdetail-1100.html
The eyes become something like this :

Not my kids' eye ... borrow photo from the internet.
More about this Pink Eye

Then Bibik Tutik being extremely tired (taking care of the extra laundry requirement due to scabies) got High Blood Pressure. Luckily we went for an early checkup so we manage to put Bibik Tutik under medication before her actual FOMEMA check up next month. Ayoyo I tell you ...


Finally I settled my e-filing Income tax 2005 Submission.

Not that difficult once you know what number is missing from yr EA form stated Income Tax File Number. Goshhhh the system just said "Nombor Akaun Cukai Anda Tidak Sah" ... No tips on which part that "tidak sah". I wish they could hv give some pointer , not enough digit ke , extra digit ke .... Luckily my tips come from Ms S E ... who is apparently online working at 12midnight. Was chatting and she gave me the tip, try it and EUREKA ... I solved my 2 night unsuccessful troubleshooting.

Anyway LHDN owe us this

... unfortunately we hv to wait for a couple of months before we get to file for rebate and wait moreeee mooooooonths before we actually get the cheques for the rebate. Tak Aci betul le LHDN ni.

Ahhhhh to add more spices ... Baby Faizus Sahli, (the latest addition to my nephews/nieces list), barely a month old, is now warded at IJN

for fullcheck up of his heart irregularity. They have not finalized the diagnosis but what I know Baby Faiz has been warded for the first few days of his delivery and has been on medication ever since. Something is causing his heart to beat extra fast !

Ahhhhh Ayah's Lumut Sail Away Plan is not happening as plan. Now it is already 3 weeks busted the original timeline.

The end result of all these excitement is that ... Mak has very little energy left and a dry cough for the last 1 week.

So what keep me going ... guaranteed hugs from the boys ... every night without fail

and