Mop

A few week before retirement I had this thought in my mind - why do wife normally live longer than the husband . The wife as I observed survive many many years after the husband had passed away. I am not trying to deny the will of Allah in determining someone life, but there must be factors behind it that make wife live a healthier and longer life than the husband. In fact statistic show that woman's life expectancy is higher than the man's.
Husband who smoke a lot I think they deserved it when they 'close their eyes' earlier than their wife. The lifestyle they lead not only bad for their organs but also their entire family. I think the government has been right in asking the cigarette company to label their packet of cigarette with pictures of diseased organs and fetuses caused by years of smoking cigarettes.
I think wife is more active when at home especially during weekends doing housekeeping and so on. Have you heard wife complaining about their husband sitting idly, watching tv or reading newspapers while wife is busy doing housekeeping, cooking, looking after babies and so on and so forth? While wife is burning their calories by doing all these things, the husband is accumulating fats and plaque of cholesterol in their arteries. In this kind of situation, no wonder that wife will outlive their husband.
So I started my first day of retirement by mopping the floor, sweeping it, washing plates, so on and so forth. Mopped marble floor look kind of shiny and it really feel smooth on your soles when you walk on it barefooted. Not a grain of sand or dust to tickle you soles and consequently you had this enormous feeling of satisfaction.
'Tapak kaki tu tak rasa apa apa ka?' with a smile I asked my wife, at the same time trying to hide what I have done during her absent from home and hoping that she could feel the different.
'Alaa saya buat kerja ni dah bertahun tahun, TAK TANYA PUN'
Jawapan macam ni yang buat umur husband jadi pendek, betul tak?
Disappointed? or just accept it as an undeniable truth!
So what's your reaction if you get that kind of unappreciative answer?



BUAT LAH KERJA DENGAN IKHLAS, BARU ADA GANJARAN PAHALA. ORANG YG APPRECIATE KERJA ORANG LAIN DAPAT PAHALA JUGA.


*'sugar coated' in the above dialogue.

Penyejuk Mata (qurrata a'yon)

Sejuk mata emak ayah tika menolak daun pintu,
terpandang anak diatas sejadah, sujud menyembah Allah yang satu,
menadah tangan memohon ampun kepada Allah atas dosa emak ayah,
munajad dipertiga malam dengan linangan air mata,
sholat diawal waktu, wajah jernih dibasahi wuthu'
senyuman terukir dibibir, aurat terjaga,
mata memandang lembaran qur'an, lidah tertil membaca firman,

Sejuk mata emak ayah tika melihat anak
santun berbudi, lembut
bersalam mencium tangan, bertemu pipi
atok, mak char', mak ngah, mak dak, mak tam, mak lang, mak cik, mak su
ikhlas menolong membantu pabila bertemu,
bergurau, senyum dan ketawa,
menghormati dan menyalami sepupu, anak saudara,
sahabat emak dan ayah,

Sejuk mata emak ayah tika memandang anak
berpakaian mengikut syariat,
tidak bertindik disatu telinga,
berbakti
untuk agama dan warga,
sentiasa sehat, cergas, bertenaga.

Syima, Fadhli, Fikri, Fuad adalah permata,
buah hati emak dan ayah,
penyejuk mata.



PHARMACIST FIKRI, SETINGGI-TINGGI TAHNIAH.

Toilet

I had just stepped out of the toilet's door when an Indian lady confronted and cynically spoke to me in fluent longat utara,
'Apa Pak Cik ni masuk bilik ayaq pompuan!'
'Ya ka!, sorry sorry, nasib baik tak dak pompuan'
I turned my head looking for something to confirm what she had said and ooh yes there I could now clearly see woman-wearing-gown signboard pasted to the wall for all to see. How on earth that my eyes missed seeing it in the first place. Lucky me, there was no one in the toilet or no reporter around while I was using it. Very unfortunate of me if someone might made a fuss out of it and simply accused me as 'pak cik gatai' or an old peeping Tom or a potential molester. And the allegation is then turned into a sensational news splashed in the newsmedia.
Actually you become oblivious of your surrounding when your mind is preoccupied and wrestled with many problems. Problems are multifaceted, they can be family, financial, business, etc and these mind boggling problems may unconsciously drift your mind away to another unknown dimension. I think this what happen to me that day. I was in another dimension when I entered the wrong toilet. I might have seen the signboard but my mind failed to register it as a lady's toilet. Or was it the age factor that caused the incident?
The embarrassing incident occured at Pasar Dato' Kailan (Allahyarhamah Dato' Kailan is the mother of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) in Kepala Batas. This Pasar is an imitation (not like) of Pekan Rabu in Alor Star. It is worth visiting it if you happen to be in Kepala Batas.
Syima, Fadhli and Fikri were born when we were staying in Kepala Batas. Kepala Batas which was a small and quiet town 30 years ago, has turn into a bustling town with many government offices, a hotel (Hotel Sri Malaysia), beautiful housing areas, dewan mellinium, well-equipped hospital and now is set to become a modern, sophisticated, futuristic administration centre for Seberang Prai Utara District. Big thanks to Pak Lah.




BERSUNGGUH-SUNGGUH DAN BERISTIQAMAH DALAM BERAMAL SOLEH.

Project

We finally agree though risky to put our hard earned money into NSH Maju Enterprise (NSH is combination of the first letter of our names, Ng (age 52), Safiee(58) and Hasim(59)) and initiated our first 10 acres vegetable growing project at Titi Panjang Merbau Pulas.
The project looks viable on paper and money back guarantee after the third round of planting , provided that the vegetables produced are of good quality, high demand, and no glut of the products in the market. Price of sayur as usual not stable, fluctuating every now and then. When the vege price goes down the one who suffers most are the producers, as to middleman, they keep on smiling all the way to the bank.
For good crop growth, chicken dung is a must, blended into the soil a week or more before sowing the seeds. With high yielding quality seeds, adequate fertilisers, competent workers and a comprehensive infra such as drainage, overhead irrigation system, fences, farm roads, strong trellis (for climbing vegetables such as timun, kacang panjang) etc, the risk insha'allah can be very much reduced.
Manual workers are legal Bangladeshi, recruited and trained to become highly motivated workers, hardworking, punctual. With regard to punctuality, we are very concern and strict with them.We will deduct their income if they came late for work. They are also not allow to engage in too much talking while working as this can affect their work efficiency. We make sure that their wages are paid on exact date as promised. We realize that late payment even by one day can demotivate them.
Safiee with his 30 years experience in vegetable planting is the backbone of the project. He is very competent and knowledgeable in running a commercially large scale vegetable farm. He provides the overall expertise, planning and also supervising the 7 Bangladeshis recruited for the project.
Money for the project come from two Finance Ministers MrNg and me.
Work starts at 7 o'clock in the morning and finishes at 6 in the evening. 'Rondaan' in the project area is also being carried out during the night. Hard works are really needed to make it succeed.
Seven acres are now planted with bendi, kacang panjang, and timun and the remainder three acres will be planted with petola. Currently the project produces about 60-90 kg bendi and 200-300kg of timun and the generated income is still inadequate to pay wages for the 7 workers. We still have to go deep into our pocket to make the project running. Hopefully with good management practices, we will be able to reap some profit and generate enough income insha'allah on the third round of planting to cover the expenses incurred.



KATA RANG TUA:
KALAU TAKUT DILAMBUNG OMBAK JANGAN BERUMAH DITEPI PANTAI
START A PROJECT WITH WHAT YOU KNOW BEST.

Al-Hafiz

If I had begun the journey years, years, years ago, I might have arrived at my destination by now. But as people always says, it's better late than never, more importantly when seeking knowledge and improving your spiritual life. With patience, unwavering mental strength, perseverance, long healthy life, and adopting the right method any good muslim or muslimah is capable of achieving the desired destination, insya'Allah.
The first step of my long journey began when I enrolled as participant to a one day course on new effective method of hafazan Surah Al-Qur'an organized by Pusat Islam USM. The new 'kaedah' of hafazan called 'Kaedah Jibril' specifically created for the busy working muslims was presented by the creator of the 'kaedah' himself Ustaz Hj Mohd Asraf Ayob Al-Hafiz. Participants who diligently follow this 'kaedah' are guaranteed success as they will be able to by heart 10 popular surahs out of the 114 surahs in the Qur'an in less than seven months.
'Membaca dan menghafal surah-surah AlQu'ran adalah ibadah yang tinggi nilainya dan merupakan amal soleh yang sangat dituntut untuk dilaksanakan'
Allocate time for reading and understanding Al-Quran no matter how busy you are.
Begin the first stride, start the journey now.
Two well known official Imams at masjid Al-Khalid USM, Ustaz Zamrus and Ustaz Zaid son of Professor Zhari whom I know very well attained the title of Al-Hafiz at very young age. They began their journey early and they now have safely arrived at their destination. How nice to be able to stand before Allah and by heart recite beautifully any of 114 surahs in the Qur'an.
Kak Long, Bang Ngah, Bang Lang and Fuad, have you begun your journey yet?
The destination to your journey is AL-HAFIZ (AL-HAFIZAH).
INSYA'ALLAH.



TAHNIAH DAN KESYUKURAN PADA ALLAH ATAS KELAHIRAN CAHAYAMATA PERTAMA:
NORAZLIN DAN ZAIDI.
AZREE DAN SUHANA.

Cars

My first car purchased in 1980 using government loan was a brand new German technology Opel Kadett 1.2S, plate number KL 2083. Priced at 11000 ringgit on the road, this was the only car I could afford. Popular Japanese-made cars like Toyota Legenda, Mazda Capella, Mitsubishi Lancer, Mazda 323, Datsun 120Y etc, priced around 15000 to 20000 ringgit were a bit expensive for a newly appointed government officer like me.
Opel was a good car and very durable, and it served my family well for almost two decades before we decided to part with it and sold it to Kak Lang.
Another continental car we had at that time was an Italian-made car Fiat 131 Mirafiori. The car belong to Allahyarham Uda Kudus and it was very kind of him to place the car temporarily with us before flying off to Canada with his family. The car, famous in the early eighties was very comfortable to drive especially for long distance travel and I like it very much for its soft, smooth and spongy seats and road stability.
My experience with a Japanese-made car was in 1991 when I bought a secondhand Nissan Sunny for 17000 ringgit and after using it for seven years traded it in for 14000 ringgit in exchange for the new Proton Wira which Fadhli is using it now.
This Proton Wira bought in 1997 is a good car.
'Bang Ngah, if you want your car to look smart, cuci selalu, kalau bolih polish, lagi cantik'
I had just retired from my government service when Fuad (baru first year at that time at Uitm) insisted me day and night to buy him a car. He adamantly refused to use the campus bus giving me all sort of excuses. I tried hard to remain tough but finally had to admit defeat to this lawyer to be. I bought him a Kancil hoping that he would be happy with it. I was utterly wrong.
'Kancil is too small for me la ayah and it gives me lots of problems. I want bigger car'
He sold the kancil and bought a Gen 2.
Right now Syima is using her mother's first car Proton Saga bought in 1991 (Are you satisfied with the car or are you thinking-thinking of buying a new car?) My wife presently drives a Toyoto Altis and left her second car Proton Waja to me. Fikri, nice, cool, undemanding guy of the family, is the only one who has'nt got a car yet.
'Fikri, if you want I can give you your mother's Proton Waja. I'll wait for my Sijil Simpanan Premium to strike, god willing I might be driving a Merce or BMW, who knows!
OR if not, will one of you buy me one?'


SELAMAT MENDUDUKI PEPERIKSAAN TO FADHLI, FIKRI, FUAD DAN KEPADA SYIMA, SAYANG DAN YANG TERSAYANG SELAMAT MENJALANKAN TUGAS. MOGA ALLAH MEMBERKATI SEMUA TUGAS YG KITA LAKSANAKAN.

Rain

It was indeed a moment of jubilation the day the rain began to fall at the end of last february. Two months of hot and dry weather and not a single drop of rain inevitably scorched the grasses, turning them brown, making them scarce and unpalatable for the skinny cattles to graze.
The 200-odd limau madu trees which were planted three and a half years ago on a 2.5 acres piece of land at Tengkorak Batu Bukit Selambau, naturally produced smaller leaves and furled their leaves upward during the dry spell in their bid to conserve water and reduced transpiration.
But for the 20 durian trees planted 15 years ago in that same piece of land, the flower initiation was in fact began during the dry period and alhamdulillah almost all the branches in all the trees are abundantly covered with flowers. It is very interesting to note how the kampung folks rightly describe the development of the durian flower based on the size of the flower buds. The flower buds at their first stage are called 'Jari cicak', they are then called 'mata ketam' as they grow slightly bigger, and finally 'terung belanda', the size just before the buds bloom into flower. Surprisingly drought seems to have little effect on the 40-odd longan trees there. They keep on producing shoots even during the dry period.
Showered by rain, the land is beaming with life again. The scorched grasses turn flush green much to the delight of the four cattles which we rear for the sole purpose of biologically controlling the grasses. The durian flower buds burst and bloom into beautiful yellowish-white blossoms. The canopy of the limau trees are of light green, dense with thousands of magnificient tiny white flowers. What a sight to behold!
Inshaallah the durians, longan, rambutan and limau will be ready for harvesting in September or October. The children are always reluctant to follow me to the orchard when asked to simply because of the mosquito bites and many other reasons only known to them.
Dah besa jadi orang pekan, besa senang, ajak masuk semak sikit dah tak mau.
I know Fuad (pity him) hate durians because of their pungent aroma. Fikri, when he wants to see somebody, refrains himself from eating them (You can always use colgate total or other oral wash to clear off the durian smell from your breath) . My wife, Syima, Fadhli, Sayang, pantang tengok durians, they obsessively love them. Ulaq sawa lalu pun depa dah tak nampak.
Hopefully this time around all of them are willing to go to the orchard, braving out the mosquitoes, picking and tasting the fruits where they are grown.
See you all in six months time, in the orchard!