The Reader

Ramadhan Special Offer

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to listen to a religous talk prior to Jumaat prayers at Masjid Assyakirin,KLCC. I was impressed by the talk given by Ustaz Wan Sohur when he mentioned that the month of Ramadhan is likened to Special Offer Sales at retails shops.

There are so many benefits( pahala and barakahs-The special offer) to be given by Allah swt during this Holy Month of Ramadhan al-Mubarak.It is all up to us to take the offer or not. It is not one day offer;in fact it is a one month offer-very generous of Allah. To get goods on offer by supermarkets,first we must have a need for them and the money to buy them. To get the offers given by Allah swt, we need to do more acts (not talking) of ubudiyyah( Glorify Allah, Humble ourselves to Allah and do what as we are commanded and refrain doing what are forbidden-do nthe wajib and more on the sunnah).

In fact, all muslims/muslimahs can take up the 'special offers' by Allah swt. The question is :To be or not To be.

First day of Ramadhan is already gone.No one can go back to yesterday. It is gone.No money in the world can buy it.Just check what you planned to do and did not do it.The only way is to do to-day...

If we really want to make this Ramadhan better than the last Ramadhan for us,we MUST monitor it on the daily basis. If not, when Shawal comes, we will regret that we had done very little.

2nd Ramadhan,1425

Ramadhan 1425

Alhamdulilah,I am grateful to Allah swt that I can meet Ramadhan again this year.Some of my classmates and friends have returned to Allah swt. Syukran Ya Rabbul 'Alamin for giving me another chance to fast this Ramadhan al-Mubarak.InsyaAllah, I will try harder to make full use of the time given for I am may not see another Ramadhan next year.

As I grow older, I was wondering how many more Ramadhan I may have. The rewards of Lailatul Qadar is too great to miss...

To the younger muslims/muslimahs, please donot assume that you will do your ibadah when you are older.Death can comes to anyone irrespective of age.So, make full use of the time given.

Special book gift

Yesterday afternoon, I was as happy as a child when his father bought him a new toy from Hamleys ,London.

I was smiling from ear to ear and thanked my mentor for a special book gift as shown in the picture. The book is actually a collector's item.It is a special edition limited only to 1500 copies and mine is No: 561.Now,this book is the oldest book on my bookshelf(the second oldest is The Jungle Book,printed in 1951). It is printed by John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd,London,1928! The edges are jagged and the paper is quite thick and I think it feels like pure raw pulp.The book was bought last week at Bosorne Books,St Just,Cornwall.Thank you Tan Sri for your kindness and generousity.

The book is entitled Three Gifts,An Arab Love Story.It was translated by Sir frank Swettenham(sounds familiar) into English from the French version : Tangu et Felime by Monsieur De La Harpe,published in paris in 1780.The book has Marillier's five illustrations reproduced from the French edition.

Verily, I love every page of the book!

Music for my ears..

Last night I went to a friend's house for a social visit and he invited me to sing along with him.He has a complete set for making and listening to music in his home.(see the photo at my moblog).I declined politely and said thanks for the offer.I only can listen and have yet to appreciate the arts of music making and playing musical instruments. He is a few years older than me and he picked up music only a few years ago. Now, he can play guitar,piano and drum.Wow!

When I asked him why he took up music,he told me that engaging in music involves his body and soul-the mind,the vocal and the hands and legs must move in harmony.It is not just the physical activity but also an intellectual as well as the spiritual exercise for him. Then ,he went on to talk about music in sufism-which is beyond me.

Lately,I also took interest in music;not in making music or singing but just listening. After I re-learnt tajweed in details,I began to enjoy listening to the Qur'an. Now, it is "music" to my ears.Alhamdulillah.In my iPod, I have more than one thousand songs and the whole al-Qur'an recited by al-Ghamidi.The Qur'an took about 0.5 GB.

From my little experience in listening to music and Qur'an, we need the pre-requisite knowledge of the both in order to really appreciate the beauty. "Tak kenal,maka tak cinta".

Occasionally, I also took my wife to MPO at KLCC to listen the full orchestra music. I really love to listen to 'gamelan' music being played together with other musical instruments.

Ulek Mayang

Last weekend I was in Kuala Terengganu visiting my son,my uncle and my friends. I also took some time to visit a few places for foods and their historical interests. What I missed most was the Taridera Ulek Mayang which I watched in mid -80's.Another thing I regret during this visit was that I forgot to bring my digital camera(arrgh-all blames are mine).I just love to capture the historic part of Terengganu and the town is now undergoing a lot of change. To my mind, Kuala Terengganu will be the hub of the east cost of Peninsular Malaysia once the airport is ungraded and the RM1billion East Coast Highway is constructed in the next 3 to 5 years. To the entrpreneurs and businessmen,watch the north easterly winds of change. Your next fortune may be there....

As everyone knows,Terengganu is famous for her 'kerepuk lekur',among many other things.And the first thing I did on arrival,we had our 'kerepuk lekur' Kak Yah at Chabang Tiga ,Losong.My wife had a shock of her life for she had not been there for more than 10 years. We still remember that the owner's house was an old wooden kampung house. Now, it is a big bungalow with two cars parked in the porch-one is BMW and the other is a Mercedes! I think it is one of the success story of 'kerepuk lekur' business.I also took time to show my son (a KL boy) to see how the workers 'getel' the kerepuk!

When it comes to where can one gets the best kerepuk lekur,different people have different opinions.It the same thing with 'nasi dagang'.According to my friend who lives around Jalan Sultan Omar,the best is no more from Kuala Terengganu but it is from Dungun.However, according to my friend from Pulau Duyung,ther best is from Durian Burung,near Manir.One experience that I won't forget is having high tea at my friend's house at Pulau Duyung.Not only the food was fantastic( laksan and kerepuk lekur) but the also the view. His bungalow is situated next to the river mouth and I could see the river and the sea from his verandah. To me, he is living at a sea resort everyday of his life.What I lucky guy!

(Note:In the 60's, I used to take the boat ride from KT to Pulau Duyong for 20 cents.Now, it cost 60cents)

After visiting KUSZA( where he is studying), my son took me along the coastal road to Seberang Takir.Now, it is my time to get the shock of the development taking place around the area. The last time I was there in mid 80's.Formerly,it was only fishermen villages with coconuts trees and timber houses. Now, I saw concrete bungalows around. Along the way ,we stopped again for kerepuk lekur and air kelapa muda. I think I should not visit Terengganu more than two days,otherwise my cholesterol level will jump through the roof!

Today, I am taking a rest to recover from the kerepuk lekur hang over:-) and to finish reading a novel while listening to Ulek Mayang...Mayang di Ulek....(now where is the tape?)

Note: I have taken a few photos using my mobile phone.You can see them at my moblog.My apologies for low quality photgrpahy.

24-hrs water cut...

I live in one of the 221 areas affected by water cut starting 9am to-day.Thousands of people in KL,Petaling and Hulu Langat will be affected due to the closure of a treatment plant that needed repairs and maintenance works .By sheer coincidence, I am taking my family for a three-day holidays in Terengganu beginning today. Lucky me:-)

If you happen to live in one of the affected areas,please store a little bit more water than what is needed for a day usage.Water sometimes will take more time to reach areas further away from the main pipeline and high ground/locations. Water has to fill the voids in the pipelines and service water tanks first before it reaches a customer house or office. It is unlike electricity where resumption of supply is instantaneous.

On resumption of supply, usually we will get 'coloured' water due to the presence of sediments from the dirty pipelines.It is better to let the water flows out to waste for a few minutes from your kitchen sink before you use it for cooking and drinking.

As I always quote,water is the most precious commodity when you don't have it. By the way, your water bill will go up as raw water is getting more scarce and cost more to treat from time to time. May be sooner than you expect.

Ramadhan coming...

Let's follow the traditions of the sahabah(companions) of our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW in welcoming Ramadhan al-Mubarak.In less than a week from today, insyaAllah all of muslims/muslimah will once again have the opportunity to fast in the Holy Month of Ramadhan.

Let's offer our du'a to Allah swt that all of us muslims/muslimahs will be granted the opportunity to fast in the coming month of Ramadhan. At the same time, we also should reflect what we have done and not done (also should not have done) in the last Ramadhan. We should try harder this time around to improve the quality and the quantity of what we had done and to do what we had neglected.

The best thing is if we could prepares a TO DO list for the whole month.Better still, treat it as a project to seek the pleasure of Allah swt. Let's celebrate Ramadhan with ibadah(fasting, prayers, Qur'an reading, sadakah etc).

Here is a 'sajak' I wrote a few years back on Ramadhan.

Oh Ramadhan,
Lupalah peritiwa dulu,
maafkan aku kerana mengherdikmu,
Kini aku amat senang bersamamu,
Aku lebih rela dan redha,
Datanglah kepadaku,
Aku akan memeluk ciummu...

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Yes,I do. I am afraid of the dark.Who doesn't?

Is it because of the darkness or the unknown or the unexpected?
Well, I am not afraid of the dark when I am in my house. Sometimes,I prefer to stay in the dark. And most of the time, I shun the lime-lights.It is bad for my eyes.

To the fans of Sidney Sheldon, please don't get angry with me. I have a confession to make. Honestly,I have never read any novels written by Sidney Sheldon. But yesterday, somehow when I got 25% discount from a local bookshop( due to my membership), I bought the latest novel by Sidney sheldon entitled as the above.

To those who had read his previous novels,please share your experience with me.

Btw, I almost read all novels by John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks.Here is the window to my Reading Room.

Leaking pipe..

What would you do if you see water flowing like in the picture? Just ignore it because it is not your job or you will call the authority concerned to take immediate action to avoid wastage of public fund?

This picture was taken using my mobile phone near Pasar Wirawati,Taman Maluri this morning.

Batik Jawa

Yesterday, my mother gave a batik jawa sarung to my wife. It reminds me of my first trip to Indonesia in mid 80's.At that time, there was no ban on import of batik jawa from Indonesia- so I bought a few pieces for my family members. There were really beautiful! My wife still wear them now, but only at home. When I asked my wife why she is not wearing sarung anymore when we go out shopping, she told me it is more convenient to wear long pants. I hope some designers will design long pants batik jawa soon.What do you think ladies?

I am sad to observe that even middle age ladies seldom wear them in public;not to mention younger ones. May be ,they are not any more fashionable. I honestly don't know. But personally, I see the beauty in our ladies wearing them!. What amused me ( almost laughing) when I saw a male French tourist who wore batik sarung on the plane from Kota Bharu to KL a few weeks ago.