PANJAT

Jam Seiko hadiah harijadi dari anak-anak baru menunjukkan pukul 11 pagi, landrover yang akan mengangkut kami bersama beberapa pengunjung yang lain hanya akan naik Bukit Larut pukul 1 tengahari. Fikri dan mak dia lebih rela tunggu, aku rasa daripada tunggu baik panjat saja pelan-pelan, walaupun jaraknya lumayan juga kira-kira 10 km dari kaki bukit.
Dengan berbekal satu botol air mineral aku mula panjat, jam menunjukkan pukul 11.30 pagi tepat.
'Wa maanyak kuat!' aku sapa seorang warga emas keturunan cina, nampak sungguh selesa dia memanjat.
'umur belapa sekalang'
'70 taun o' bangga betui dia jawab. Dia stop kat pondok 2 kira-kira 1.5 km dari bawah, aku terus memanjat.
Ramai dah mula turun. Tapi dalam perjalanan aku memotong sekumpulan anak gadis yang nampak keletihan memanjat. Dengar depa berbisik, coba nak bagi semangat kat kawan-kawan yang letih tu kut.
'Tengok tu, atok tu kuat'
Aku tengok keliling, tak ada atok yang lain.
Makin keatas makin sunyi, ada kawasan yang redup menyeramkan, takut juga terserempak dengan babi hutan atau binatang buas. Mana nak lari, kiri tebing menanjak, kanan jurang dalam dengan pokok dan semak tebal.
Terus panjat, tak rasa letih, kaki juga ok, cuma denyutan jantung agak cepat bila jalannya menanjak. Slow down sikit untuk normalkan balik denyutan.
Dah hampir satu setengah jam memanjat, perlu tiga jam jalan kaki untuk sampai Bukit Larut kata penjaga kaunter tiket.
Terus panjat.
Tiba-tiba rasa seram, tengkok rasa meremang. Remangnya tak hilang-hilang. Kata orang kalau rasa macam tu ada makhluk halus sedang perhati kita atau lebih seram lagi dok mengekori kita. Keadaan kawasan memang sunyi, redup dan menyeramkan.
Teringat waktu balik dari lawatan kerja keSarawak dulu, ada makhluk halus yang ikut balik ke rumah. Waktu tu terasa sakit di bahagian tengkok, mungkin makhluk tu dok bertenggek kat situ. Kemudian sakit tu berpindah kat isteri aku pula lepas dia tolong urutkan, barangkali dia lompat bertenggek kat tengkok orang pompuan pula. Alhamdulillah lepas jumpa Dr Zainal, makhluk tu balik semula ke Sarawak.
Tengok jam dah pukul satu, landrover dah bertolak naik ni. Aku menunggu ditempat yang agak landai supaya landrover mudah berenti.
'Apa berat sangat ni!' komplain pemandu landrover selepas aku naik.
Sah makhluk tu naik landrover sama-sama dengan aku.
Sampai diBukit Larut, aku habiskan air mineral dan buang bekas kosong dalam tong sampah sambil berbisik kat makhluk tu,
'Hang ikut botoi ni, jangan ikut aku balik'
Malam tu aku tiduq nyenyak, alhamdulillah. Harap makhluk tu dah dapat balik ke rumah dia.

Sunday 18 Julai @ 2 pm kami checked out dari Kamalodge dan balik.




sekali-kali seronok juga keluar jalan-jalan,
apalagi kalau ada yang sponsor.
Sapa nak sponsor ayah jalan-jalan ni?

STRESS

Dalam rancangan Tanyalah Ustaz ditv 9 pagi ini dengan tajuk menangani stress seorang peserta wanita distudio bertanya:
' Ustaz, mengapa kaum wanita lebih ramai mengalami stress daripada kaum lelaki?'
Dalam kontek perhubungan suami isteri cukup relevan kalau soalan ini ditukar kepada:
'Mengapa para isteri lebih ramai mengalami stress daripada para suami?'
Betul ka persepsi ini?
Jawapan Ustaz: 'Stress tidak memilih jantina. Dalam keadaan stress macamanapun lelaki atau suami berkemampuan menahan emosinya, stressnya tidak ketara, sedangkan wanita atau isteri tidak mampu menahan emosi, mereka meluah dan mempamirkan perasaannya dengan kata-kata dan airmata. Fitrah ini memberi kelebihan pada lelaki supaya tindakan yang dibuat tidak didasarkan pada emosi semata-mata'
Tuhan maha pencipta, dibezakan sifat antara lelaki dan wanita. Bayangkan suami yang terburai emosinya ketika berdepan dengan masalah rumahtangga, apa yang terjadi pada isteri, penampar dan sepak terajang.
'Suami yang penyabar, mampu menahan perasaan dianggap lemah pula oleh isteri' cerita salah seorang kawan saya mengenai rumahtangganya ketika berbual-bual menunggu isya di masjid.
'Kalau macam tu sekali-kali nak kena bagi penampar baru balance!'
'Jangan, jangan. Itu emosi'

Lelaki memang menyimpan perasaan , sukar nak diluahkan.
Wanita sebaliknya.

Apa nak buat ketika wanita meluahkan perasaan tak puas hatinya.
Bagi lelaki obatnya sabaq' lah banyak-banyak. Buat perubahan apa yang termampu.
Bagi pompuan luahlah perasaan tu kalau itu boleh menenangkan, telinga ni akan sabaq' dan tidak akan letih untuk mendengar.



Tu lah sebab kebanyakan oghang lelaki mati dulu dari oghang pompuan.
Simpan perasaan.
Jodoh Allah yang tentukan, apa yang Allah berikan itu lah yang terbaik.
Alhamdulillah.

IKATAN KELUARGA

Lega rasanya kerana anak-anak semuanya telah berjaya, lulus dari menara gading dan kini telah bekerja. Fuad ketika ini masih memerlukan bantuan kewangan dari masa kemasa kerana katanya elaun yang diperolehi dari ' chambering' masih tidak cukup untuk menampung perbelanjaan. Syima, Fadhli tinggal di KL sudah tentu memerlukan banyak belanja tapi alhamdulillah mereka anak yang baik dan mengerti tentang tanggungjawab terhadap ibubapa. Fikri pula sentiasa sabar melayani kerenah mak dan ayah dia, nak buat macam mana nasib dialah sebab tinggal bersama depa.
Ikatan keluarga kini agak kukuh, tak tau dimasa depan macam mana. Keikhlasan, kejujuran, keprihatinan adalah sifat-sifat yang amat penting bagi mengukuh ikatan kekeluargaan. Kewangan? Ya cukup penting, kerana wang jika digunakan dengan ikhlas bagi membantu adik, abang atau kakak yang memerlukan dapat memperkuat ikatan keluarga juga. Tapi bantuan pun ada hadnya juga takkan bantuan dapat dihulurkan sepanjang masa tentunya membebankan walaupun yang menerima bantuan itu adik, kakak atau abang kita.
Apa penyelesaiannya?
Dana keluarga mungkin boleh meringankan beban ini. Tiap ahli menyumbang secara bulanan kedalam dana ini dan dana ini dilaburkan untuk kepentingan masa depan. Ibubapa boleh menyumbang modal permulaan dan anak-anak menyumbang secara bulanan. Dana ini boleh dipinjam untuk tujuan pendidikan, beli aset, modal perniaagaan dll. Pinjaman hanya mula beroperasi setelah lima tahun dana terkumpul.
Macammana? Setuju?

metformin

It took me almost 15 minutes to walk from my house to USM Pharmacy this morning to have my blood sugar checked. Yes if you have abnormally high sugar level in your blood, regular walking can effectively help bring down the blood sugar to its normal level. Lately I have this symptom of dizziness and based on the medical checkup which I underwent two weeks ago it shows that my sugar level is high and Doctor told me that I need to lower my blood sugar level as quickly as possible.
For almost two weeks beginning from the first day of hari raya I had this feeling of lightheadedness and dizziness. In fact on the first day of hari raya after taking some beef soup I had a sensation of disorientation and motion (vertigo) and the house seems to be spinning. I lie down and it took me quite some time before I could again control myself.
A week ago doctor gave me metformin, a drug used by diabetic to reduce the sugar level, to be taken twice daily. I have taken the medication for the last four days now and together with my new food menu, eating more fibre and less carbohydrates, my visit to the pharmacy today is simply to find out whether there is any change in my sugar level or not.
'Pak Cik posa tak?'
'Tak, saya nak check sugar level lepas makan. Saya dah makan satu keping roti pagi tadi'

Today result on 20.10.2009 : 4.5
Past result based on blood sample taken on 7.10.2009: 10.8
'Pak Cik punya sugar level ok, normal'
'Alhamdulillah'


Untuk menjaga kesihatan, amal Sabda Nabi s.aw. berikut:
'makan apabila terasa lapar, berhenti sebelum kenyang'

family tree

I wes expressing my anxiety to my sister over the loosening of family connections nowaday, when my mother chipped in on how her ancestors tighten back the family knot,
'Orang tua dulu dulu kalau adik bengadik dah jauh depa pedekat balik. Kalau nak menikah depa tak mau cari orang luaq, cari kaum keluarga yang dah jauh sikit, ambik buat menantu. Macam ni kaum keluarga jadi tak terputuis'
In those days it was considered normal practice when distant relatives made promises to have their son or daughter married to the son or daughter of other relatives without the knowledge of the couple involved. And this practice of promised marriage or prearranged marriage did happen in my family too, involving my elder brother.
It happened in the sixties. My late grandmother did petty business for a living and used to stop over or visited her distant relative while doing her business. In one of her visit she saw 'ada sekuntum bunga yang sedang mekar ditaman kat rumah kaum keluarganya itu.'

' Aku ada cucu jantan, anak tengona, kerja kerani. Kalau hampa setuju mai la kita pedekat adik beradik, bagi depa menikah.'

Without hesitation this relative of hers happily accepted the offer and my grandmother was given a photo of the bride-to-be to be shown to my brother.

('pedekat adik beradik' is a subtle way of saying or making promise for a marriage) .

My grandmother was very very disappointed indeed when her proposal to 'pedekat adik beradik' was totally rejected by my brother. Imagine the frustration and embarasment she had to undergo.
That distant relative was made to wait and was heard complaining to other relatives,
'Bila depa nak antaq rombongan mai meminang anak kita, la ni ramai dah dok mai minta. Anak kita ni biaq la bagi kat adik beradik daripada bagi kat orang . Lagi pun baguis pedekat adik beradik,
kalau padi kata padi,
jangan kami tertampi-tampi,
kalau jadi kata jadi,
jangan dok biaq kami ternanti-nanti.'

Kesian juga!

When asked later on how she was able to solved the issue without hurting the feeling of her relative, my grandmother had only this to say,
'Tu la gatai mulut pi dok janji dengan orang. La ni biaq abang hang cari bini dia sendiri'

Now you don't have to worry about getting closer to your relatives, you can now surf www.geni.com and built up your own family tree. Your children may use it to find out who their ancesters are as well as their distant relatives. Complete your family tree by visiting your relatives and secure all information from them.




SELAMAT MENJALANKAN TUGAS AS PEGAWAI FARMASI FIKRI.
SELAMAT BELAJAR LAGI FOR ANOTHER YEAR FUAD.

Hospital

We felt relieved when Fikri was given a clean bill of health and was finally discharged last monday after spending five nights in the Penang GH for suspected dengue fever. Since he was on drip days and nights non-stop, and we too got the feedback that his platelets count was going down, we felt a bit worry as to the seriousness of the disease. Furthermore there is no drug presently available to treat dengue and what they do to the patient is to drip them with lots lots of drip solution, hoping that the virus causing the dengue got flush out when the patient urinate.
And of course when your love ones fell sick, you get closer to Allah, supplicating for His mercy and protection and sincerely hope that Allah heals him soon enough. And we do have parents for the sake their children health are ever willing to sacrifice thereupon their own life.
Never forget that illness that befall upon us is a test from Allah and in this very time that Allah wants us to reflect and that He is the creator of all things, the real and the unseen.
The five days that he was there we never fail to visit him. As we walked along the hospital corridor on our way to ward 17, we came across patients with all kinds of illnesses, some sitting alone on wheelchairs, old folks with bandaged eyes, some on stretcher with frail faces and also this old woman sitting quietly and alone on the bed oblivious of what is happening around her. I wonder what's in her mind and what is she thinking about.
I suddenly recalled an event that happened a few week ago. I was reading Quran when my mother came to me and said,
' Bila aku mati hang baca lah banyak2 hadiah kat aku'
Another event that I recalled was when I brought my mother to see her ailing younger sister (Mak Tam) a few month ago.
'Minta doa kat Tuhan kalau nak mati jangan la sakit lama2, tak dak sapa nak pengesoh kita. Kita dok sakit tak bolih nak buat apa, depa kerja banyak, langat ka nak bela kita'
These are some of the things old folks (I am one of the old folks) have in their mind and what their wishes are as they wade with what remain of their life in this world.





FIKRI
TAHNIAH DIATAS TAWARAN JAWATAN PEGAWAI FARMASI. DAH SUJUD SYUKUR?.

*pengesoh - to look after a sick person

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.