Anger Is Good For You, But Not Too Much!

Had a veeeeery long and rough day. Three project meetings in one day, had kuih 3 biji for breakfast and biskut kering 3 keping for lunch.

Esok another two project meetings.

Paperworks to be completed.

Oh, have to mention, I confronted S, at his superior's desk with his superior at the desk after I overheard him giving a remark about someone of a lower rank at the office, Z, something about work.

Z ni, I tell you, a bloody hardworker. A very very nice girl. Kami semua sayang dia. So bila Z kena kutuk tak alih-alih, aku sebagai kakak besar kat ofis ni dah pasti get defensive, apatah lagi kalau keluar dari mulut S.

FYI, this S fella memang ada attitude problem, ok. He's very much known as such in the office, sampai other colleagues selalu bengang dengan dia tapi tak pernah confront dia. And berkawan pula dengan typist yang also ada attitude problem. Sesuai la tu, kan.

So, this time, I confronted him after hearing him throwing the unkind remark about Z, and with my files and notes and drawings still in my hands right after a tough meeting, I called him up to pull his chair near his EO, infront of others as witness (like, the whole office saw us, really), and asked him what his problem was about not respecting his Admin Officer Mr.J and his EO Mr.M and picking on Z all the time (this is definitely not the first time I heard him doing this).

Fuh, macam-macam alasan dia keluarkan.

Aku pulak, macam Kak Ilush. Kalau dah marah and nak cakap cepat, aku dah tak reti nak guna bahasa ibunda.

Mujur budak ni pandai English. Siap slang faux British pulak tu walaupun duduk luar KL pun tak pernah. Fuh, menjawab dengan aku, tu! Macam-macam dia cuba defendkan diri dia, tapi at the same time pick the slacks on other people including Z.

Terbeliak bijik mata Lady Boss aku, Pn.A, tengok dia menjawab, defending tah hapa-hapa melata. While other admin staff termasuk EO dok hadap PC je konon buat tak tahu.

Last-last, since aku nak cepat and ada satu lagi meeting waiting for me in the meeting room, aku kasi satu habuan stern warning kat dia, which include the sorang dua admin staff.

"Look, whataver CRAP you have around here, I expect you, S, and sapa-sapa kat admin section ni, to respect and listen to Mr.J and Mr.M as your superiors! I am TIRED of hearing your superiors telling me 'Dah berapa kali saya cakap dah, tapi diorang tak moh dengar!', or even complaints about you lot! We created this posts in the Unit because we need you guys! You guys are the pivots and nadi of the office! So if I hear whatever crap that I heard about yo, S, saying and complaining about other people again, I would definitely not think twice about recommending you, or ANYONE else here, to the Boss about transferring any of you here to other departments, which I know definitely for sure you'd be less happier than here! Understood??!"

Menggigil tangan aku. Budak tu memang kurang ajar. Tapi for my last sermon, dia diam.

When I got back to my room and calmed down, the tech people came in and told me it was high time for me to confront that character 'coz nobody else could have done it. Semua just cakap belakang dia je. Now at least he knows that people have issues with him. Pn.A even congratulated me for confronting him. I somewhat felt relieved to let S and the typist finally know that dari jauh kami perhati diorang berdua.

Nope. Not too great a feeling to be blurting out like that. But I know I had to.

If only kat rumah ada bath-tub, boleh balik rendam diri to unwind... macam kat UK dulu. Adeh.

Weh Kak Ilush, do you know the last time I had a soak-in was in 1998??? Too long, woh.

f~

Benan IX: Adlan Benan Dalam Kenangan

(from Suara Keadilan #126, out tomorrow 30.01.08)

BEKAS Setiausaha Pemuda KeADILan (sekarang Angkatan Muda), Adlan Benan Omar, 35, meninggal dunia akibat kegagalan fungsi buah pinggang di rumah beliau di Putra Height, Subang Jaya, Selangor 24 Januari lepas.

Ibunya, Kamshiah, bapanya Omar dan adik beliau Siti Ardjuni berada di sisi Adlan ketika beliau menghembuskan nafas terakhir pada jam 3.45 petang. Jenazah beliau dikebumi di tanah perkuburan Islam Paroi, Ampangan, Seremban jam 11.45 pagi sehari selepas itu. Lebih 100 orang sahabat handai dan saudara mara hadir untuk memberi penghormatan terakhir.

Menurut Ardjuni, sebelum itu Adlan telah setahun setengah dirawat kerana kencing manis, tetapi ketika itu keadaannya stabil. "Tetapi keadaan kesihatan Adlan mula menunjukkan tanda-tanda kemerosotan sejak Ogos tahun lepas. Keadaan beliau menjadi kritikal ketika dirawat dua minggu di Pusat Perubatan Sunway awal Januari lepas," kata Ardjuni.

Beliau kemudian dipindah ke Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya pada 14 Januari sebelum dibawa pulang oleh keluarga apabila tidak menunjukkan sebarang respon positif terhadap rawatannya. Adlan menyertai Pemuda KeADILan pada tahun 2001, ketika jawatan Ketua Pemuda dipangku oleh Saifuddin Nasution Ismail memandangkan Ezam Mohd Noor ketika itu ditahan di Kamunting.

Allahyarham dilahirkan di Seremban pada tahun 1973 dan mendapat pendidikan awal di Sekolah Rendah Sultan Alam Shah, Petaling Jaya sebelum melanjutkan pelajaran ke Sekolah Menengah Lelaki Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. Beliau kemudian melanjutkan pelajaran ke Kolej Melayu Kuala Kangsar sesi 1989-90.

Adlan kemudian mengambil ijazah berganda dalam bidang Undang-Undang dan Sejarah di Universiti Cambridge sebelum pulang ke Malaysia pada tahun 1997. Beliau kemudiannya melibatkan diri dalam bidang perbankan dan sering bertugas keluar negara seperti di Singapura dan Jerman.

"Dia seorang yang berkarisma, berperwatakan lembut, penyayang dan seorang yang sangat mengambil berat. Bagi dia, keluarga melebihi segala-galanya, malah melebihi kepentingan dirinya sendiri," kata Ardjuni apabila ditanya mengenai perwatakan Adlan.

Allahyarham dikenali sebagai seorang yang bijak, pintar dan tak kurang yang menganggap beliau genius. Di kalangan teman-teman rapat dia diberi jolokan "walking encyclopaedia (ensaiklopedia berjalan)" kerana kemampuan mengingati fakta-fakta dalam negeri dan luar negara secara lengkap tanpa merujuk buku.

Semoga rohnya ditempatan bersama orang-orang yang saleh.

~end

Anger Is Good For Y ou

(click on the link at the title above to read an article of the same title)

I started my morning at the office with such a rush... of anger.

It was almost 8.30am and I was late. I was less than 1km away from the office this morning, but there were a couple of hanj-hanj yang escort whoevers in two executive buses, which contributed to the morning rush-hour jam.

I had to call my assistant to help me punch my card. I could've isi the borang and cite my lateness due to the hanj-hanj dan Tuan-Tuan hanj, tapi I'm not bothered 'coz eventually I know my Boss would only comment "please make up the total of 9 hours for the day". Tak dak masalah aih. Tiap-tiap hari aku memang balik lambat pun, working till 6 and sometimes 7.

And then a familiar car buzzed us by .

It was my Accounts Exec. A young chap of, oh, I dunno. 25? 26?

"Eh, tu S tu 'Bang. I thot dia masuk pukul 7.30am, how come dia tak sampai ofis lagi?" I told Abang.

S didn't see me from that first moment I saw him on the road right to the time we neared our office building.

It was 8.33am by the time I walked up to the office. Checked my card, said my thanks to my assistant, and checked S' card. It was punched at 7.27am, yet he's not even here, still down at the parking lot. The cheek!

Akak apa lagi kan?

"Ni sapa yang punch kan untuk S awal-awal sangat ni???", aku jerit satu ofis.

"Saya, kak lin!" the pregnant typist who sat nearby admitted.

"Yang awak punch untuk dia pukul 7.27, tapi dah 8.34 pun dia tak sampai-sampai masih kat bawah, apa hal???"

"Habis yang orang punchkan untuk kak lin tu??"

Wah. Aku selalu tak berkira pasal rank-rank ni, tapi when a typist talking defensively to a superior like that, then the only thing I have in mind is that she and S bersubahat dalam segala segi.

"Betul, memang ada orang tolong punchkan untuk kak lin. Tapi kau tengok berapa minit je kak lin terlewat? Ingat kak lin sengaja berlewat-lewat, ke? Ada kak lin lewat sampai lebih dari 1 jam??? Ada kak lin balik tepat-tepat 5.30??? Lepas tu, dah la dia masuk lepas pukul 8.30, patutnya balik lepas pukul 5.30, tapi korang ingat kak lin tak pernah check kad O.T(overtime) dia ke, jam masuk 4.31 pm aje dia terus punch untuk O.T??? Korang nak jadi apa ni??? Sembahyang tonggak tonggek tak tinggal, beranak pinak lagi, duit gaji halal haram masuk perut jadi darah daging tak fikir ke???"

You know, pagi-pagi laidat, kalau akak belum dapat my dose of caffeine, jangan kasi akak jerit berguruh-guruh, akak tak leh stop.

And then the EO, Mr.M, i.e the immediate Boss to S came in from breakfast.

"M! Boleh awak tolong sound sikit anak buah awak tu, dia baru bangun tido dah terus suruh orang punchkan untuk dia! Sejam lepas tu baru sampai ofis!Apa nak jadi dengan dia tu???"

"Saya dah banyak kali sound dia kak lin, tapi dia tak pernah nak dengar!"

"Kalau macam tu karang biar kak lin cakap ke dia sendiri!"

Tiba-tiba masa aku toleh ke belakang, Big Boss aku ada. Lantak lah dia dengar ke tak.

* b r e a t h e i n , b r e a t h e o u t *

You know, I know I'm fair. Kalau orang nak claim O.T sebab betul-betul buat kerja, he/she deserves the O.T. I've made that perfectly clear to them. Buat apa aku nak dengki orang nak cari rezeki lebih? Tapi, if you're working in the Unit, tolong buat cara yang betul.

Yang aku tak tahan ni, depa ni punch kad O.T pastu depa duduk depan skrin chatting away or tidur sambil berjiwang dengar lagu. Aku selalu balik lambat, jadi aku selalu juga 'spot-check' kad-kad O.T dorang. And the cheek of them sometimes, the konco O.T will do a favour by hiding the O.T cards while the other koncos sedap-sedap dah balik rumah, helps punch them in, hides them somewhere (rather than putting at the card holder near the punch-clock) and punches-out for the others.

Macam la aku tak tahu, ingat aku bodoh sangat ke?

Aku diam aje. Lagipun they all have a Officer in charge of them, Mr.J. I don't think I want to cross his boundaries, kan?

At the same time, dah banyak kali aku sound dorang ~ I expect my Unit to be clean and the word "keja gomen" not stuck to the Unit. I want them to be responsible of the public money paid as their wages. I want them to have pride and integrity of their work. I keep reminding them that each and everyone of them are important to the Unit, kalau tak masa kami mula buka this Unit, kami tak minta their posts to be created by the Human Resource. And I have promised to be fair to everyone, which I know I have.

Aku juga pernah cakap korang tak payah nak kutuk-kutuk race lain kalau korang sendiri perangai macam mana. Dah la korang Islam.

Tau pulak dorang nak terdiam kalau aku kasi lecture yang macam ni.

I'm known as the Lady Superior yang very seldom marah walaupun bising-bising macam murai kat ofis. I joke with everybody ~ Big Boss, officers, clerks, drivers. I never care about the ranks that much when it comes to making people comfortable ~ they are all there to cari rezeki. We need each other at the office.

I don't mind people buka music or even sing aloud and share with the others at the office, as long as it could make the surrounding people happy. even I do that sometimes, announcing "Baiklah adik-adik sekalian, lagu ini ditujukan buat korang semua kerana bekerja keras untuk Unit ni!", and we'd all have fun while doing our work. Happy employees equals to productivity, I want to believe.

But I suppose my thunderous anger this morning made a lot of them beginning to realise that a happy-go-lucky superior does not mean kau boleh mudah-mudah pijak kepala and fikir boleh buat sesuka hati.

Aku kesian tengok orang lain yang menikus masuk sorok kat meja diorang. I suppose I was very ugly at the time. But I made sure that I did not jangkitkan my anger to them afterwards. I need to show to them that kalau aku marah, aku akan marah ke sorang dua yang terbabit aje. Tak moh dan certainly tak boleh marah satu ofis.

I may not be as professional as I'd like to be this morning. But budak-budak macam ni kadang-kadang tak lut makna professional tak professional ni.

Macam budak S tu, bukannya tak belajar tinggi. Ada degree dari #1 Uni di Malaysia, lagi. Tapi orang kurang pelajaran pun tak perangai macam dia.

* b r e a t h e i n , b r e a t h e o u t *


Fuh, lega aku rasa dapat luahkan dalam ni.

F*ck about being popular, mate. At least I know my conscience is clear.

f~

Hidup Rakyat!

*sigh*

I keep wanting to not write much about whatever I feel on whatever issues lately.

Macam honourables Pak Rustam and Pak Din Merican pernah kata, "Terlalu sakit ati to even bother to write about what's happening, sometimes!". Tapi dengan niat untuk merekod, and also to 'educate' my adik-adik or other readers yang datang membaca, I've to luahkan juga.

You know the last Saturday's supposedly rally tentang kenaikan harga barang at KLCC at 3pm?

I saw myself the video recordings by Ebrahim, who took the recordings at the location, still 'hot from the oven' (watched it through the LCD of the vid-cam):-

1. of the Court Order to arrest a few individuals (Tian, Dr. Hatta, Mat Sabu, Arul etc) should they be seen at the rally area;
2. of the manner Ginie was detained, dari belakang, tanpa sebab-musabab;
3. of Jonson who tried to prevent the police from taking Dr. Hatta and Tian and turut kena tahan;
4. Of polis maki hamun the detainers with words of "bodoh!" and "f*ck you, pukimak!".

Wah. Number one: bukan saja kau tu hanjjj(eng), kau juga lagiiii la bodoh dari orang-orang terpelajar yang kau tangkap. Number two: dan kau guna alat sulit mak kau untuk menyumpah seranah orang??? Hebat polis kita tu, yek.

Generally, they can't even solve the Sharlinie and Nurin cases, and yet pembela-pembela rakyat macam ni yang diorang nak arrest?

Looks like dorang tak takut the one murderer who stuffs things in their other people's daughter's private part, but they're afraid of those who won't even jentik telinga kucing?

Dalam 1,500 yang hadir the rally (which wasn't to be, pun), they arrested 50. They can't even arrest a hell lot of other fucked-up criminals, and yet they arrested these people ~ who are fighting a just cause for them police included, mind you ~ who done nothing hurtful to the public but just some bruised ego to their "Master Hanj-s".

And tinggi mana Hanj-Majistret yang sign the Court Order tu belajar? These people belum buat kesalahan apa-apa lagi, dah kena order suruh tangkap. Mind you, the rally was supposed to start at 3pm, but by 2.45pm dah berbelas-belas orang kena tahan.

Diorang ni sedar ke tidak yang orang-orang yang they served the Court Order ni lah yang membela nasib rakyat termasuk nasib diorang juga?

And gaji diorang ni being paid by the party ke apa ah???

Diorang ni paid to serve the people and protect the people ke, or serve the party and protect the party???

It's quite obvious, innit, how hanjjj they are?

Dulu aku pernah cakap ke Abang, "'Bang, tak baik panggil dorang anjing, tau."

"Eh, memang betul apa. They will defend whoever yang kasi diorang tulang. Tak kisah lah kalau Tuan diorang tu rapists ka, mafia ka, samseng ka. Eventhough the Masters have been cruel to the people which include their family members and friends, they would still bite off the people yang cuba nak improvekan hidup and taraf diorang. Tak nama anjing ke tu???"

I rest my case.

More:
1. I heart this guy's sentiment;
2. Demo di KLCC belum bermula, tangkapan dah dibuat!
3. Che'guBard's own experience (do watch also the vids linked in his blog);
4. Great photo-entry by Eli Wong;
5. Tian's own pre-rally.

f~

Ahy's Work in Impiana! III : some cheek!

I bought the Impiana magazine last night (Edisi Februari 2008).

To my surprise, Bad's house (that Ahy had done in October 2006) got featured again in this month's edition, and yet again, tak payahkan gambar decorator (unlike other entries in the mag), SEBUT NAMA AHY pun tak da! Gambar tuan rumah si Badrul aje, ada la! And again depa duk sebut the wife kasi idea lah whatever.

DUDE! Whatsup, lah???

(Do go back here for my last ticked-off)

Dulu, penulis dia some Faizal Oda. This time, penulis dia Azma Whatevah.

I'm not too sure now if either penulis-penulis Impiana yang ignorant, or tuan rumah dia yang jenis tak suka orang steal the limelight. Gila glamour sorang-sorang, I would say???

Abang kata it prolly be the latter. I would think so too, now!

Cepat-cepat aku call Said, 'adik' aku who is also 'abang' Ahy yang introduced that dude-character to Ahy, and demanded that he calls Bad for explanation.

And then aku call Ahy and told him about that. Ahy terkejut that his work masuk Impiana lagi for the 2nd time. And to the issue of not being mentioned yet again this time, this was what he said to me, with a rather controlled but visibly disappointed flat tone of voice: "Alah biarlah Kak Lin. Rumah dia pun not really the best work that I've done. Bukannya cantik naa. His house was the first house I did. So, belum cukup 'masak' lagi masa tu. Biar je lah dia, Kak Lin." Baik hati betul adik aku ni!

Hmph, memang betul jugak. That house bukanlah the best of Ahy's works, I've to admit that. But, like I said, due credit is due credit, okay! Especially when orang lain punya entry in this issue semua siap ada sebut siapa designer dorang, and yet my bro's not being mentioned??? In fact, the entry after entry rumah Bad was bland than ever, yet still nak tayang siapa designer dia apart from the owner's photo.

Eiiii geram aku.

Just because my bro's freelancing, he ain't got a place even to be mentioned, izit???

I'd prolly leave a message on FB to Leen (The Perunding Kreatif, Nor Azleen Rashid, who was my schoolmate in MRSM) on this. Aku ni dah la peminat Impiana... and when things like this happen, I've now little regards to the magazine, apatah lagi to that Bad character.

Dudes (right from Badrul down to the two writers in Impiana), I'm so upset lah witchuall, dudes. This is my lil bro y'all doing this to lah, dudes.

Some cheek.

f~

The Occasional Loner

It's tea-break time at a CPD PAM talk in Grand Season's, and I'm all alone sitting in the huge Grand Ballroom, not arsed to inch my way along the very long queue for sandwiches and coffee while having light small talks of "long queue eh quite informative that talk was i wished this could all have been made compulsory laa dee daa anyway I don't get your name and where are you from" with strangers.

Oh I am SO glad I'm working at a place where I can afford to not put the rubbing shoulders bit with other fellow professionals as my top-most priority.

I can choose to be the occasional loner that I am.

Oh I SO love going for shows and lectures and talks et al, but when it comes to mingling and getting to know new people... kadang-kadang ada sedikit rasa malas. Melainkan dah ada yang aku kenal, and all it needs when mingling around is to catch up with things.

I wonder if Dedek's around here in the hall. Oh I miss both Fairuz and Dedek in lectures like this. We could SO bitch around, ey Fairuz? (Oi oi kat U.K ada CPD talk juga ka wei??)

Saw ex-A Levels classmate, Ar.Hanaz tadi. Already a partner of a firm. First among the classmates, actually. Still hensem laidat. Wifey's a sitinurhaliza look-alike doctor. Vewy pwetty!

Oh I need to tell one story of one of the lecturers this morning. Young Malay chap (prolly my age. Hey I am young mkkkayyyy :-p). A professional engineer. Has very very good command of English. But has the Tweety-Buwd (Bird) syndrome ~ he pronounces 'r' as 'w'.

(replace the bold-'w' with 'r' as your read this in order to make sense of the words) "Over here we have a wow of gwoups, that consist of the genewal wequirements for the awchitectuwal items... you see, we inspect the cement scweed, sanitawy fittings and accessowies, we check woofs for cwacks, woadworks... and below here are the descwiption of the bweakdwown of the inspections done... "

Cute, kan? :-D No, no, I'm not at all making fun of him, just that I find it such a memorable characteristics of him. I've close friends who pronounce 'r' as 'agh' (roti canai becomes 'ghoti' canai, etc), but so far this guy's 'r's evokes a memory between me and an adik in Edinburgh, zonky years ago.

She used to tell me, "Kak Faz, yok kita have an aiskwim (ice-cream) weekend this week? I buy you my favouwite stobewy aiskwim (favourite strawberry ice-cream), ok?", obviously she was trying to immitate the Tweety Bird here. heh heh.

And from there the "I loike stobewy oiskwim vewy vewy mush" stuck on us all in the apartment for quite a while, especially bila tiba part nak manja ngada-ngada.

Anyhoos, hendaknya jangan lah Abang jadi ahli politik (aku tau dia tak akan jadi ahli politik, sebab tu aku boleh afford to wish that, haha). 'Coz tiba masa aku nak jadi loner and reclusive, I could even not get out of the comfort of my house compound for even two weeks if I feel like it.

Next week, kalau ada rezeki Abang's taking me up to Perlis to cover DSAI's talks. Abang said I may take the car and go around Perlis while he covers the event.

I said, let me use the car, ONLY to get my food. Other than that, if you leave me your laptop and I bring along DVDs and my baju-baju to jahit manik, you can leave me the whole day if you want to. Haha.

Hmm, suka la tu dia, bini tak ngekor. Hmph.

Ok, lecture dah mula balik.

f※

Benan VIII: A Tribute

(updates at end of entry)

I may not know him that well at all, tapi rasa kehilangan satu sinar yang amat sangat.

He was my age. And at 35, he has indeed led a remarkable life.

From the visitors indicator on my blog, I saw that people came "searching" for him, practically from all around the globe.

He's got thousands praying for him, indeed.

At 35, he may not know more than half of these people, but he has left such great impacts on very many of us, ranging across the age and background spectrum.

At 35, I lead a very mundane, almost normal life. But he? He has carved his niche in the hearts of very many great leaders, thinkers and laymen alike.

I may not know you that well, Dear Ben, but it is an honour for me to even know you in that twinkle of time. You are, indeed, like a meteorite ~ leaving unforgettable passing ray to everyone that you passed by.

The world can never be the same without a person like you, Ben. Tidak akan ada penggantinya.

May you rest in peace, dan ditempatkan di sisi mereka yang soleh dan beriman.

And allow me to quote on Dipendra, Ben's friend, "Shine on you crazy diamond."

One hellufa rare crazy-diamond, you are.

Al-Fatihah...

** Read also:
1. Info on Ben's pengkebumian today before solat Jumaat.
2. Ben's "lil bro" 's heart-rendering entry here (do read the accompanying letter from Ben to him dated 1997. Sedih...).
3. A Farewell Tribute from an old friend, Mr. A M Ubaidah S (do read too a tribute of the 2nd commentator, "a voice", in Mr. Ubaidah's comment box).
4. Abg Fudzail's tribute to Ben here.
5. Gartblue's own brief memory of him here.
6. Becok's entry.

26 January 2008, 2:46pm:
This morning I woke up, something about Ben's passing over stirred my thoughts.

I remember the last time we visited him last 10th January at the hospital, it was a Thursday.

I have this 'thing' about me eventually leaving the world, that should my turn finally arrives, I pray that I would go on the best day to go in the week (Khamis malam Jumaat), fullmoon, dan bulan Islam yang baik. Well I may not be the best person to go on the best day, tapi, you know, it's one of the things you pray about, among other things.

While watching Ben's friends surrounding him with prayers that day, deep down I myself pray that Allah would take Ben on the best day of the week. If not on that particular day, which happened to be Thursday, then May Allah saves him further, until the best other Thursday.

And it dawned on me this morning that He did take Ben on a Thursday, and was buried on Friday before gelincir matahari. The day he went was the 16th day of the Islamic month, hence the moon was still in its full stage.

Beautiful, no? Rezeki untuk orang baik-baik, pastinya ada. Alhamdulillah.

I think we should all bookmark this guy, his 'lil bro' that I'm not quite sure what his name is. His new entry after Ben's burial, here.

Also, DSAI's, Kickdefella's and Cocodilly's.

I should sms Juny and apologize for not being able to show up for Ben's tahlils due to Abang's tight deadline this coming Monday. Have done it by my own the last two nights, the least I can do...

f~

Benan VII: He's Gone

An sms from Abang at 4.08pm:

AL-FATIHAH:
Bekas Setiausaha Angkatan Muda KeADILan, Adlan Benan Omar meninggal dunia di rumahnya di Subang Jaya jam 4 petang sebentar tadi.

Innaaalillaaahi wa innaaailaihi raaaji 'uuun...

Kita kehilangan satu bintang yang sangat bersinar.

We will forever miss your lights, Ben.

Semoga Allah menempatkan Ben di sisi mereka yang soleh dan beriman, dan semoga roh beliau dicucuri rahmat.

Takziah, from the deepest of our soul and hearts, to the ever loving family and close friends.

Al-Fatihah...

note:
We were told that Ben will be brought to Ampangan, Negeri Sembilan tonight for his burial tomorrow before solat Jumaat. Abg Din once told Abang & I that Ben has already made all the arrangments of how his 'memorial' would look like ~ solid timber antique doors and all.

f~

Out-joked by Jokers of the Year

My first 100% graphical assistance + 100% graphical masterpiece for Abang's Cartoonkini weekly work.

But of course the idea's 200% by the Maestro himself, that goes without saying la kan! Kelakar gila, don't you think? haha


Jokers will forever be jokers, what can I say.

f~

Malam Bulan Dipagar Labi

Commmmeyyyyy.

click for larger view

f~

Tak payah cuti pun tak apa aih

I was doing translation work in Abang's office, when his reporter and photographer who had to cover the Thaipusam at Batu Caves this morning came back moaning and complaining:
"..hmph! Crowd tak dak langsung! Tak happening betul Thaipusam tahun ni! Kalau dulu, pengemis punya la ramai, kali ni ada 2,3 orang je!"

Kenapa, tak percaya ke? Nah, look at the pics yourself.

(pictures at Tapak Karnival taken by Syafiq Sunny and Ebrahim Harris)

More pics in Suara Keadilan Isu 126 next Tuesday.

Heh. So much about me praying for a Cuti Umum in KL on Thaipusam, huh?

***
Hindu devotees boycott Batu Caves
Andrew Ong Jan 23, 08 3:09pm, Malaysiakini.com

Thaipusam festivities at the Batu Caves Temple in Kuala Lumpur have been somewhat lackluster this year, marred by a below-average turnout believed to be attributed to an apparent boycott campaign.

Visitors to Batu Caves yesterday evening and this morning reported that the crowds were relatively thinner this year - numbering only in their tens of thousands - unlike previous years where devotees could reach more than one million.

One seasoned visitor, businessman S Babu, 32, said he was at the temple at 6am this morning and was surprised by the lack of congestion at the temple.

“Previous years, we can’t even walk. This morning however, it was as easy as an evening stroll,” said Babu.

Another visitor to Batu Caves said an unusual message was played repeatedly on the public announcement system, referring to a boycott or sorts.

“The message express gratitude to those who came to Batu Caves despite SMS messages flying around (calling for a boycott),” he said.

Samy: No change in crowd

According to AFP, one SMS message had called on Hindu devotees who did turn up at Batu Caves to use their sandals to pelt political leaders including S Samy Vellu, leader of Indian-based MIC.

The veteran politician, who has sided with the government and been accused of neglecting the interests of his constituents, however insisted there were at least half a million people at the complex and a million the day before.

"I have come to Thaipusam since I was 11 years old. I know the crowd. It is the same as before," he told reporters at Batu Caves.

"I don't think religious people who went to pray to Lord Murugan will listen to all the naughty fellows," he said of the SMS campaign.

"Who can threaten us? Anyone who threatens us, we can find out where he is. It takes only five hours to find out where he is. They can't run away from us."

Since the Hindraf rally on Nov 25, calls to boycott Batu Caves temple committee have been making rounds through SMS.

The MIC-linked temple managers were blamed for allegedly assisting police who cracked down hard on a demonstration by Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) supporters there last November, using tear gas and water cannons.

When contacted, Hindraf coordinator RS Thanenthiran denied suggestions that the movement was behind the boycott.

“No, we can’t tell people to boycott Lord Murugan... we can’t tell people to forgo their annual vows,” he said.

On the lower turnout at Batu Caves, Thanenthiran said it was a sign that people have not forgiven the Batu Caves temple committee.

“There were thousands at Batu Caves on Nov 25. They witnessed what happened and they will tell thousands more,” he added.

Lower fees

Till now, the actual events surrounding the Nov 25 incident are still unclear.

Some quarters claimed that the police locked several thousand ‘Hindraf supporters’ in the Batu Caves compound in the early hours of Nov 25 before firing tear gas and chemical-laced water on them.

The crowd had gathered at the famous temple before moving to the city to join other participants in the mammoth Hindraf rally later that day.

In an apparent reaction to the boycott campaign, the temple committee has made the RM10 fee to carry offerings in the temple optional.

“It’s up to you. But, if no one pays, how are we to celebrate Thaipusam? We need money for organising the celebrations and for cleaning up the temple surroundings,” said temple secretary M Devarajoo, according to The Sun.

Devarajoo added that the fee for children to carry offerings - milk pots (paal kudam) or kavadi - has been slashed from RM10 to RM5.

Several stallholders and devotees lamented the small turnout and said ethnic Indians should work together to promote their cause.

"The crowd is normally double or triple this size. Now it's so small, so there is not so much of a great mood this time," said N Kumaran, 41, a civil servant who has taken part in the festival for the past 14 years.

Sweet seller Joga Singh said that with the crowds so thin he and other vendors were not making any money this year.

"I think many people are afraid to come because of the SMS to boycott. Our business is suffering because of it," he told AFP.

***

f~

Crazy Pretty

DID YOU GUYS SEE HOW BIG THE MOON IS TONIGHT???

* s i g h ... looking forlornly at the moon alone by herself *

'He' is so darn right - she knows how crazy pretty she is tonight...

Awoooooo! *tukaq jadi A Debab Werewolf in Cheras*

f※

The Farting Joke

I think a lot of us here have received the Lingamtape Joke via sms recently (thanks Kak Dins!!! :-D).

Reading through the news on yesterday's "grilling", where Mr. V(ery) K(iasu) Lingam made really crappy statements (aiyoh Sir, how lah you can put your integrity as low as what you've done lah??? Really tada lingam punya orang) made me want to record the joke here.

My cartoonist husband doesn't find it particularly funny. But I do.

***
Someone farted in the court.

The lawyer asked Tengku Adnan, "Did you fart?"

Tengku Adnan replied, "You must be drunk and mad!"

Then the lawyer asked Tun M, "Did you fart?"

To which Tun M answered, "I don't remember. Anyway, it is my prerogative to either fart or not fart."

Then the lawyer turned to VK 'no-lingam' Lingam and asked, "Did you fart?"

To which VK 'no-lingam' Lingam answered, "That sounds like me, and smells like me!"

***
Hahahahahaha!!!! Siapa lah yang buat joke ni, gua tabik sama lu! Hahahahahaha!!!!

Wokeh... Happy Thaipusam to all my Indian friends and readers... and have a great mid-week break to all!

(gua kena keja buat translation, daaa.... huuuu)

f~

By The Light of The Silvery Moon

I woke up around midnite, feeling as if somebody had switched on the light.

Squinting my eyes open, I looked up... and lo and behold, it was the moon, by the window, directly above my head.

I woke Abang up and whispered, "My God, Abang... look! Look! Padanlah tiba-tiba rasa macam bilik cerah...!"

Hesitantly, Abang looked up, and murmured, "...hmm," and went back putting his arms around me.

Instinctively though, I grabbed my handphone and took a picture of the moon while still lying in bed.

Abang awoke from my shuffling around, "...sempat lagi tu...?"

"Mesti, lah," I said.

I put away my handphone and continued basking under the glllawwwrious silvery light of the moon, with Abang's arms around me, and with Doris Day's 50s tune at the back of my head...

"...by the light, of the silvery moon, I want to spoon, To my honey I'll croon love's tune..."

** see here for full lyrics from the movie of the same title. And listen to Doris Day sing the opening of "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" here (kena scroll bawah sikit).

f※

Is UPM Vet Clinic really like this???

All cat lovers must read this comment!:

Dayana has left a new comment on your post "Adi Sakit Lagi":

salam..

akak memang bernasib baik sebab tak hantar adi ke upm..

sy menghantar kucing sy ke sana atas sakit yg sama,batu karang..tapi at the end sy hanya dpt bawa balik mayat kucing kesayangan sy je kak..

hanya sbb batu karang..mereka beri pelbagai alasan utk bedah kucing sy semata-mata untuk mereka jadikan ujian utk di tunjuk pd pelajar2 di sana..

bladder cancer yg hanya dijangkiti kucing berusia 9+ thn dikatakan dihidapi oleh kucing sy yg baru berusia 3+ thn..

pagi hari sy nk discharge kucing sy..doc di sana kata kucing sy telah mati..tp sy dpt rasakan mereka telah menyuntiknya dgn ubt utk mematikan dia..kerana pd hari sbelumnya dia masih boleh bangun dan beri respon bila ayah dtg melihat dia..

semoga tiada lg kucing yg dibunuh di sana seperti kucing sy..salam..

Honestly, aku tak boleh bayangkan perasan Dayana... :'-(

I'd rather spend more money even on credit card than tanggung sakit hati and sedih macam ni... How could they do this to Dayana's family???

I need to ask my UPM Vet cousin on this. Eventhough my cousin tu doktor kuda, but I'm sure dia boleh tolong ushar-usharkan sket on what really happened...

Conclusion? Tak pe lah, biarlah berhabis pun kat private Vet, asalkan hati tak sedih...

f~

The New Public Holiday

After having a pretty tiresome and full weekend, a Thaipusam break on this coming Wednesday adalah sangat dialu-alukan.

FINALLY depa ni buleh pikiaq that the festivity that would usually hamper the traffic flow in the City Center calls for a Public Holiday given to that particular day in KL itself.

For the uninitiated, KL has never had a Public Holiday for Thaipusam eventhough the perarakan tu kebanyakan besarnya bermula dari KL areas.

Masa aku kerja kat Desa Petaling dulu, for six years aku bitter gila ~ 200m from the office was Sri Petaling, which is dalam Jajahan Selangor. Depa cuti Thaipusam walaupun tak perlu lalu any traffic snarls. Kami yang tak cuti ni, business is as usual ~ running around in KL meeting clients and authorities and trapped dalam traffic-jam perayaan. Bengaaaang siut.

And now... finally!

Ni yang buat aku nak vote for BN this coming GE ni!

Z A S S S S S S S ! ! ! ! !
*mati kejung kena panah petir*

f~

Fernando's Gone

We received an sms last nite at 11 saying that Kris' pressure was dropping too fast and it wasn't looking too good. We were all still praying for a miracle to happen.

Alas, this morning, Uncle Rosli Ibrahim sent us an sms that Kris had lost the fight, and succumbed without regaining consciousness at 12.30pm last night.

Innaalillaahi wa innaailaihi raaji'uun...

His jenazah is now back at his home at 30, Jalan Titiwangsa, and pengkebumian will be held at 11am.

Semoga rohnya ditempatkan di sisi mereka yang soleh dan beriman. Semoga du'a-du'a mereka yang pernah beliau tolong akan memudahkan perjalanan beliau di alam sana.

Dan takziah buat keluarga beliau.

Al-Fatihah.

f※

Note:
1. Jenazah Fernando selamat dikebumikan 1.30 tengah hari
2. Tian's tribute.

Zack's Wedding I

(dari kiri: Lady bertudung pink [tak perasan siapa], Tun Hasmah [in dark maroon attire], Rosmah, Najib, Tun M [in pinkish-maroon baju Melayu] and Hishamuddin.

"Bang, I think Najib was looking at me lah when I took this of him. I think he recognises Zunar's wife, lah. Haha.")

Yes, we are at a wedding. My 'adik' 's wedding. One of the adiks I took care of when they 1st came to Edinburgh at the age of 19-20 and I was already a 24-year-old post-graduate by then.

Zack's wedding. Dr. Zakry Onn to Dr. Natasha.

Zack's dad, Tan Sri Dr. Yahya was the 1st surgeon who did the heart transplant in M'sia.

Zack's mom, Puan Sri Dr. Suraya is Tun Hussein Onn's daughter.

Dengan itu, dah pasti lah ada 'sumber-sumber inspirasi' Abang di sini - Najib Tun Razak, Hishamuddin Hussein - and you guessed it, Tun M. Hehehehe.

Aku tanya Abang, karang yok la salam dia (Tun)! Kalau tau dia mai, kita bawak 1 buku Abang "Cartoons on Tun" kasi dia.

Abang jawab.... eiii tak klapaq aku aih!!!

HAHAHAHAHA!

Ni tengah tunggu depa serve dessert. Sedap juga seh makanan pengantin kat Shang!

f※

Fernando in IJN

This entry is actually a request from Abang.

We were on our way to my distant cousin's wedding in Gurney Heights at noon when Abang received an sms from Uncle Rosli Ibrahim about The Great Lawyer Christopher Fernando, one of DSAI's lawyers, to be in critical condition in IJN.

When we got there at IJN right after the wedding, it was already 3.30pm. Abg Zul Noordin and Abg Azmin Ali had just left. We met Marisa, Kris' daughter, in the hallway.

Visiting hour was over at 1.30pm, so she briefed Abang on her daddy's condition.

Her daddy got a heart attack on Monday the 14th and admitted to the IJN, rested, before being wheeled in for a by-pass yesterday.

He never got round since then.

Apparently he has far more serious problems. He's got blockages everywhere and both kidneys are down. He's now dependant on dialysis, and families & friends are praying for a miracle to happen. He's pretty much in bad shape.

For those who would like to visit him in IJN, he's in ICU Level 1. Visiting hours will be 12.30-1.30pm and 6-8pm.

Adding another name into my daily prayers. Adlan Benan Omar, and Aris Rizal Christopher Fernando.

Dan semoga Allah memberi kekuatan dan kesabaran tak terhingga buat kedua-dua keluarga, Aaamiiiin.

f※

Dear Ben's Relatives and Friends II

Just got back from my hellish two-day retreat yesterday evening and have not been able to check my blog or email during those two days.

I've received quite a number of e-mails inquiring about Ben's further condition and also phone numbers on how to get to Ben, and have emailed and forwarded personally to them.

Again, I could only update whenever my husband and I visit Ben, or when Ben's family member or Abang's friends voluntarily update Abang. Abang would then have to 'edit' the info for my feeding to my blog. Ya, kena 'edit'. I wouldn't want Ben's family members to feel uncomfortable with the updates, really... wouldn't want them to feel like I've somewhat intruded their privacy.

Since a few of you readers would be visiting Ben soon, I'd appreciate if you could either e-mail or leave comments on my blog about your visits so that we could keep those reading these updates updated.

Di samping itu, let us all continue praying for Ben’s recovery. If tak sembuh 100% pun, at least dia boleh cukup sihat untuk continue living and leaving legacies.

Aaaamiiin.

Do drop by:
1. Dr.Mafiz’s own account
2. Abang Fudzail’s heart-rendering tribute to Ben.

f~

End of Coup

Finally, everything was put together by 4.15am tadi.

We even had a mini mock handing-over ceremony among us before calling it a day. Punyala kami lega bila dah siap, who wouldn't, kan?

Tapi, adalah a few things like ayat-ayat and layouts yang tak berapa refined, but since we lack time to polish things, we'd prolly do that masa the half-year review which is in 6 months' time.

Anyhoos. Most of us only slept at 5am this morning. To that, we're now practically walking zombies.

But by 6am tadi, two people + the driver went back down to the office for photocopying into 3 sets, got new wider binding-comb (3" width) and got back up here for the binding since we brought the office binding machine since Day 1.

And by the time depa sampai balik, most of us masih lagi nak terhegeh-hegeh nak bangun tidur and nak bersiap. Aduhai letih betul. Boleh tidur berjalan rasanya.

Ni kami tengah binding the docs. Looking good, I must say.

And I tell ya, with our brand new Manual Prosedur Kerja Unit, even my own grandma can ganti tempat aku di ofis should she feel like beralih angin and kill time in an office.

Boleh le aku cuti panjang bila-bila masa. Dah la ada 45 hari cuti tahun ni.

f※

Hell Den

It's 2.30am, kami semua masih bertungkus-lumus. Deadline for tonight (or morning, rather)? Till everything's ready for binding.

Some boys will be going back to the office at 6am later to make photocopies into 3 sets, and then return back up hopefully by 10 to get all bound-up up by 11am.

We are SO going to sleep tomorrow night, oh yes we do.

f※

Second Day in Reban

Ngantuk.

All 20-odd of us, including the facilitators, decided to call it a day only at 2am last night. Most of us went to bed only at 3. And work resume on time at 8.30am.

Today's another long day. If we're lucky, we could go off by midnite.

But looks like maybe not.

The apartments are spacious and very clean (though LUAR apartment quite eerie, macam cita antu jepun/taiwan/siam gitew). 3 rooms, 2 per room.

Food's horrible though. But the hotshower is fantastic - rasa tak moh keluar dari shower!

Pagi tadi aku betul-betul windukan Labu Labi. Kalau depa ada kat sini, pasti depa tidoq dalam duvet dengan aku sebab sejuk.

f※

Benan VI

Tadi Abang call Juny. Abang sms-ed me, at 12:03pm:

"Lepas dialisis Ben nampak responsif, makan lalu, tapi lepas tu kembali merosot. Pagi ini dibawa ke UH untuk rawatan lanjut."

f~

Dear Ben's Relatives and Friends

Dear concerned relatives and friends of Ben,

I'm sorry if I've not been as good in updating Ben's condition.

Truth be told, I only update if I received any news about Ben from my husband or whenever I joined my husband to visit him. To that, without trying to be too 'harrassing', my husband did sms Ben's sister Juny yesterday, but yet to receive any reply.

Nevertheless, I have just informed my husband pertaining this blog becoming the gateway between Ben and his concerned relatives and friends far and wide, hence he said he would try to call Juny after his deadline this afternoon and apologize to her if his sms-es to inquire on Ben's condition would be seolah-olah mengganggu, and that he would explain to her that his relatives/friends are keeping vigil with his news.

With all due respect to Ben, since I'd like to continue 'living' this blog as my journal, you could still bookmark this link - http://rotikacangmerah.blogspot.com/search/label/Adlan%20Benan%20Omar - which, by the way, is from my blog that contains entries under the label of "Adlan Benan Omar", in order to keep abreast with Ben's news only rather than reading my other daily ramblings, ya?

Prayers for Ben's recovery.... Aaaaamiin.

f~

Off For A Coup-up

Labi nak itut Kak Lin ke Gentiiiiiing. Bawak la Labi sekali dalam beg niii, please please please???

Kak Lin kena keja la 'Yang, bukan untuk suka-suka. Nanti hari Rabu Kak Lin balik cepat-cepat, otey?

Mujur abg Zul tak duduk sekali dalam beg tu, haha.

f※

Barely Breathing

Am now at the office since 9am doing work. Almost all of us from the Unit are, actually. We have all these Office Manuals and Procedures to put together almost from scratch and to finalise before being couped up at one hotel just before puncak Genting Highlands between Monday till Wednesday. Silap-silap esok pun kena datang and polish up apa-apa yang perlu dipolish.

The Timbalan Pengarah of the Human Resource who came to brief us yesterday told us that the last time they went for a retreat for their own Manuals and Procedures, they slept at 4pm on the last night prior to handing over the reports. And apparently since we are one of the 1st three Departments to be shoved off somewhere for this, there would a a possibility that apart from theirs, ours would be looked into as an example by the other following 23 departments later on. Pressure, pressure.

At the same time I have to do some bit of translation works for Abang's paper (BI to BM) and for The Mayor's interview on TV (BM to BI).

Maka, dengan itu:-
1. Kak Lin nak minta maaf kat Ahy sebab langsung tak sempat nak edit and put together your gambar birthday and the purdy cuppies yang Kak Eeda buatkan!
2. Aku owe an antry about some tenants perempuan Melayu singles yang sangat pengotor yang menyewa rumah Mak aku, that if only I have their photos I'd paste them up here, honestly.

In the mean time, I'd prolly update my blog from my wee chokiar handphone je.

And you thought orang keja gomen tak yah keja kuat, huh? heh heh.

f~

Benan V

A reply to Abang from Juny (11.01.08, 11:48pm) :

"Not much difference. He's eating fruits now but very little and complaining of chest pains. Tomorrow another dialysis at the ICU."

f※

note:
A really interesting mini-story on Ben in the comment box at the end of my Benan IV entry. Must read!

To the author, hope you don't mind attaching your blog add somewhere anytime you drop by again :) And thank you for sharing!

I hope that could start the ball rolling, though, in compiling memorable and fond stories about Ben... insyaAllah.

f~

Benan IV

I have promised Abang about putting down words on the 'Net (as opposed to 'putting pen to paper'? :-P) since last November, about the one and only time I met Ben in London but enough to leave a huge mark on me.

It was early April 1995, middle of spring time. Well, to be exact, the stamp in my auld passport told me that I flew out of Heathrow to Prague on the 10th of April 1995, so it must've been a couple of days prior to that, that I first met Ben in London.

I came down from Edinburgh to my childhood mate's place in London as a transit before catching a flight with the rest of the class for our annual study trip to Europe. One of the days I was there, that childhood mate of mine, Romie, took me for a breakfast at the Malaysian Hall.

"I've a friend to meet up. He's from Cambridge. I tell ya, you're gonna be in great awe at this guy. He's simply awesome..." and on and on Romie went about 'this guy' which included how this guy even managed to secure some RM2mill in fund for smthn that I couldn't quite recall (it was prolly for his alma mater i.e MCKK) and looked set to be our future Prime Minister.

"Even the PM Mahathir sendiri cakap personally ke dia, 'I think one day you're going to fill my shoes'..imagine that! We call him 'Benan' by the way."

"Wow he can't be that brilliant can he? How old is he anyway?" I asked Romie. Tak percaya lah aku ada budak terror macam ni kan. heh heh.

"Setahun tua dari kita kot... 23! And he's doing a double degree in Cambridge some more!" laa dee da.

Okay laaaaah, aku terima aje apa Romie kata, kan. After all, I see no reason why Romie had to lie about his friend.

And so we met up at the Malaysian Hall. At first hullo, he was awroite. Pretty burly guy. Rambut that needs trimming badly. Pretty beefy, funny but yet too humble for me to imagine him what Romie told me that he was.

For lunch, we decided to walk down to the Chinatown (I think, lah. Ke, naik tube ka. Tak ingat. Dah la aku tak hafal London tu.) and have lunch at one of the Restaurants there.

He ordered ducks, I think. Can't remember what Romie and I ordered.

Nevertheless, it was here at the restaurant that he started to leave a mark on me.

We spoke about politics (well, Romie and Ben, rather. Aku diam je.). We talked about history, he told us about his Professor hadiahkan dia a set of centuries-old History books as a gift for his excellence in his year, he told us about his centuries-old room with huge old oak door that he managed to live in (live in the room, lah. Not in the oak door :-P. Apparently the room is only reserved for Top Scorers or somethin' like that) laa dee daa.

And then, he spoke Latin to us! I was like, Wayyyyy too much lah this guy, kan! Amazing gila!

And then he recited us a poem that he wrote both in English and B.M.

"I shot an arrow to the air,
Then it fell I knew not where,
Much later in a huge great oak,
I picked it up, still unbroke...

Ku layangkan panah naik ke udara,
Hilangnya jatuh entah ke mana,
Nun jauh di kebun getah,
Bila ku ambil langsung tak patah."

I was duly hooked! Though part of the English version sounded like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Arrow And The Song" ('Long, long afterward, in an oak, I found the arrow, still unbroke'), but I didn't care. To me back then, he was damn kewl, man. His brains macam RAM of a super-computer!

Dengan tak segan silunya I asked him for a favour, to write me that poem on a napkin for me to keep. Dia siap sign lagi. Oh I was so chuffed! Ha ha!

Little did I know that 12 years on, he was almost, almost on his way to become the future Malaysia's PM!

It was also here that Romie mentioned to me that Ben has a younger sister named Juni, who was (and still is, mind you!) a purdy young thang and also multi-lingual. And who Ben was very protective over.

Coincidently, just a few months back, a certain Juni and friends who knew one of my housemates back then, came over to Edinburgh and tumpang rumah kami di St. Catherine's Place for a few nights (see my story in Benan III). Now, that set of ladies also made an impression on us in St.Cats ~ kami yang comot dan kebudak-budakan as opposed to them ladies yang sangat lady-like, elite, prim and proper. They all had handphones, yo. Back then in 1995, handphones were pretttttty b-i-g.

And I went loike... "Benan!!! Get out!! Juni's your sister??? But you don't look like you have a darn pretty sister, with all due respect!", and he just laughed away at my rather blunt remark.

"Dia ada handphone, woh," I added. "Where's yours, lah??"

And to that he repelied, "Naaaaah. I've promised myself, I would never ever carry a handphone UNLESS someone would carry it for me!"

I remember that line till now.

Anyhoos. As with everything else, great moments must come to an end. We all walked down to the nearest tube station and we parted there. Him back to Cambridge, Romie and I back to Romie's place.

And then I flew to Prague, the napkins still tucked safely in my luggage. And this 'Benan character' embedded deeply in my mind.

Aiyoh, buleh ka ada manusia macam ni? Impressive gila, lah! And I thought, if one day he'd be our Prime Minister, I would so second him!

Back from Prague and back in Edinburgh, I still had this Benan character in my mind, and told all my roomates about him amidst the buah tangan I bought them from Prague. Can't remember how my mates reacted to my 'this Benan guy, who is also Juni's big brother you guuuuyssss!'-story, but what I also knew I had to do quickly was to put the napkin that Ben wrote his poems on in my photo album.
I'd never know if I would, in my future life, ever see this great man again. But deep down I know he's bound to be a really great one.

***

A year or so ago, Abang mentioned to me about his friend who has the mind like a sponge. This friend could read and read and can conclude and weave all the info that he reads. With his sponge-like capabilities, he writes politics, economics, history... practically EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. Abang was clearly impressed by this friend of his.

Apa nama dia, I asked.

Benan. Adlan Benan Omar. We call him Ben. Abang said.

No way! I've met him in London once, you know! I told Abang. We called him Benan, and I still keep his poem that he wrote on a napkin!

Alahai, kecil dunia ni, kan???

Why Abang mentioned about Ben was because he heard that Ben tengah sakit masa tu. Abang was very upset. And Ben was still down working in Singapore or something.

And on the 18th November 2007 that Abang (Saifud)Din, Abang and I visited Ben at Sunway Hospital, it was the first time after 12 years that I met him again, on a very different circumstances - he was deteriorating health-wise, but his mind seemed as sharp still.

In the hospital room, there were his mom, his best friends Rizal & Dani, and Ezam.

When the three of us walked into the room, I let myself trailed the last. While Abg Din and Abang shook hands with Ben, Ben peered over and looked at me, and I smiled at him.

He looked like he's lost so much weight. Later on I was told some 40 pounds of him.

Abang introduced, "That's my wife. She said you two have met once."

He pondered some 2 seconds. And then to my surprise, he said, "Yes, I remember you. In London."

I was truly honoured that even after 12 long years, he still remembers me. Truly, truly honoured. And never thought our paths would cross again.

And soon we were to part. We had to make a move; Ben had to have some cleaning-up to do.

But before saying goodbye, I reminded Ben of that handphone incident.

"You know Ben, masa kat London dulu, when I asked you why did you not own a handphone like everybody else, you said..."

"... yeah, I said I would only own one when someone else would carry it for me. Tu..." * cepat-cepat tunjuk kawan dia Rizal*, "...dia la yang tolong bawakkan untuk I!" he said.

And we all laughed.

"Hey I kept to my promise didn't I?" he asked me back.

"Indeed you have, Ben. Indeed you have." I said, masih tergelak.

Ah, he has been a fighter indeed. Not being his closest comrades, I've only heard about his stories of perjuangan. And as how it has befallen to other fighters too, of how his perjuangan had affected the lives of his beloveds. Hopefully soon not to end as another urban legend. I hope someone would take up the task to compile stories about him.

Oh, did I mention that he mentioned to Abang and friends that the doctors had actually put a date on him? His days was supposed to be marked only until the mid-September 2007. And for him to have survived this long just proves that he's still the fighter that he has always been.

Betul kata Juni. We may sound selfish, but really, none of us are actually ready to let Big Ben go just yet... He's just way too big in mind and at heart.

Ezam, Ben, AbgDin, Abang. 18Nov2007.

I tried googling about Ben after that 18th Nov visit, and I found these:

1. Ben's rather imaginative piece
"The Day Hang Tuah Walked Through My Door"
2. Ben's article
"Nasionalisme Haprak Menunggu Mati"
3. Ben's contribution of facts to the furore over Negaraku anthem.
4. Nik Nazmi's own story about Ben,
"The guy who brought me in the movement".

f~

In The Midst Of It All

After jenguk Ben and hantar semula Abg Zul Noordin to Abang's office where he parked his bike, Abang & I had a quick early dinner di Restoran Yussof & Ali bawah ofis Abang.

One waiter approached Abang and asked Abang nak apa.

Abang ambil nasi, lauk, sayur, and turned to him and said, "Kasi telur goreng satu. Mata kerbau, ya." Means, satu telur goreng mata kerbau lah tu.

The waiter, presumably a foreigner, terkebil-kebil tanya Abang balik, "Telur goreng mau, mata kerbau pun mau juga ka..?"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!

Abang tak tahu nak marah ka, nak gelak ka, and so he called someone else who could possibly understand Abang better.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!

***

And while waiting for his mata kerbau (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!) and my capati, I was clicking away on my handphone about our trip to the hospital to visit Benan (see Benan III).

Abang tanya, "Updote blaeg ka?"

Aku pantas je jawab, "Hak ah!" before both of us realizing that he had just slipped his tongue with his words! (Patutnya "Update blog ka?")

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!

***

In the midst of it all. Dalam hilai tawa, ada orang lain sedang menangis.

f~

Benan III

Abang, Abg Zul Noordin and I went to visit Ben at the Sunway Hospital ICU at 5pm. The family took him back to the hospital this morning when he insisted on having a dialysis.

We reached there and there were already so many people around. Apart from his mom and younger sister Juni (a glimpse of green tee on the left), there were also DSAI (in checkered shirt on the right), Ezam (by the bedside), Abg Saifuddin, Ben's closest mates and aides - Rezal (in maroon t-shirt) and Dani, DSAI's lawyers and a few other close 'pejuang' friends.

By the time we arrived, docs gave him an hour-odd more. Ben's organs have all shut down. He was drifting in and out of conscious. Everyone was sullen, eyes tearing-up. Ben's time was visibly nearing.

By 5.30pm, Ben's mom gave permission to the doctors to disengage everything and to prep him for home.

While waiting for Ben's release, I introduced myself to Juni, Ben's very lovely baby sis. Back in my 2nd year in Edinburgh, Juni and friends pernah menumpang my house in St. Catherine's Place for a few days. Juni's friend was my housemate's ex-schoolmate back in TKC.

Understandably, Juni did not recall of me. 'Coz back then they only came back to our house to sleep after pusing-pusing Edinburgh.

That said she is still the lovely yet simple, soft-spoken and mild-mannered lady I remembered her to be. And so I wished her further strength ('coz I'm sure she's been very strong about her bro's condition all these years).

Later on while still waiting for Ben to be wheeled out, Juni approached me and apologized for not remembering me. We had small talks about her brother.

She said, Ben has been diabetic since he was 17. And they have been very very close eversince forever, since there are only the two of them adik-beradik.

She told me she had way too many fond memories of him. He has forever been protective of her. When they were kids, Ben once, out of the blue, bought her an eraser at school and asked his friend to send it to her in her classroom.

And Ben would always protect her and hide his male friends away from her, especially the ones from MCKK. He would say, "Jangan kahwin dengan budak koleq (MCKK)! Tak elok!" Hahaha.

She mentioned that Ben have always wanted to die young but yet leave a mark, "...like a meteorite. I pass by everyone and leave an everlasting spark that everyone shall remember for long," she relayed what Ben likes telling her.

I told Juni to write a book about the Ben she knows. He is indeed like a meteor, amazing memorable light that passes so many lives, he would never ever be forgotten.

I mentioned how strong her mom looked. She said if only I knew how much torn her mother had been. They've had sleepless nights about Ben. She said, they may sound selfish, but they're still not ready to let Ben go. But they know how much suffering Ben has been in, especially in the past year.

Even her 15-month old daughter who is so attached to Ben and whom Ben also called "My Daughter" knew that his uncle is slipping away. She actually wailed in the ambulance that took her uncle home yesterday evening...

We parted when Ben was wheeled out to the ambulance waiting downstairs.

My prayers that Allah permudahkan perjalanan Ben kelak ke dan di alam sana, dan moga Allah kurniakan kekuatan yang tak terhingga kepada ahli-ahli keluarga tersayang dan kawan-kawan terapat Ben.

Aaaamiiin.

f※

Bandar Di Atas Bayu, Di Pagi Awal Muharram Yang Cerah

What a glawwwrious and bright new year morning.

Genting Highlands looks like as if it's another country by itself.

Minggu depan Isnin - Rabu, kami 1 ofis (except 2 orang kena tunggu ofis) dipaksa by the Admin Dept. pergi for a retreat up the highlands to come up with all the Manual Prosedur Kerja, Fail Meja and Sasaran Kerja Tahunan, yukh.

Aku beritahu Abang, nanti Abang lambai-lambailah Alin dari sini.

f※

Benan II

Abg(Saifud)Din just called, informing Abang that Benan dah kritikal.

Ben's mom called AbgDin to say that the doctors minta Ben dibawa balik rumah.

AbgDin will be flying in from K.B tomorrow morning. We may join him to Ben's place.

Permudahkanlah Kau kepada Ben apa-apa yang perlu Kau permudahkan, Ya Allah.

f※

Awal Muharram 1429

Selamat Tahun Baru Islam, everyone!

For some unknown reason (or perhaps, only known to me myself and I), I feel pretty sayu and hiba nak masuk tahun baru Islam.

As a human being, I know I've improved and matured in bits and pieces (and the widening of certain physical areas included). Unfortunately, don't think I've improved much about being a Muslim...

My heartfelt and innermost prayers that hendaknya tahun ni kita semua lebih dirahmati dan diberkati Allah s.w.t. Mana-mana pintu kesenangan dan pintu syafa'at yang tertutup atau susah nak terbuka, I pray that He would permudahkan to us all. Mana-mana kesenangan dan ketenangan yang sudah sedia ada, moga Allah memanjangkannya hingga akhir dunia.

Dan aku doakan kedamaian Malaysia dan keamanan dunia. Semoga Allah memberi petunjuk, pengajaran dan keinsafan kepada mereka-mereka yang munafik. Semoga Allah mempermudahkan lagi rezeki mereka-mereka yang ikhlas menjalankan tugas demi manusia, agama dan negara.

Semoga Allah mempermudahkan kita semua untuk meletakkan agama Islam sebagai agama yang paling dihormati, disegani dan paling unggul di dunia.

Dan semoga Allah beri aku dan keluargaku kekuatan dan ketenangan untuk kami harung sebarang ujian dan rintangan, dan bersyukur dengan segala pemberianNya.

Aaaaamiiin.

f~

Doa akhir dan awal tahun Islam here.

Soul House For Rent III : The New Look

The New Year's house painting that Ahy and his friend Hasrul did at my house in Amanputra had turned out really well (tennnnchew Ahy and Asrullll!!!)... so well that aku rasa berbelah bahagi actually nak sewakan ke orang!!!

Baru-baru ni ada sorang Ustazah anak lima nak sewa... aiseh... kalau lah Ustazah tu anak dah besar-besar, kan best!

Adeh, heartburn aku 'mikiorkannya.

Will be meeting up my future tenants this Wednesday night, and will be bringing the editted (and added) tenancy agreement along.

I'd prolly go along the way of "..harapannya akak dengan abang dapat tolong jaga harta saya seolah-olah sebagai satu amanah. Sayang betul saya nak lepaskan untuk jadi rumah sewa sebenarnya, tapi apa boleh buat, kami berdua kerja jauh, tak berbaloi nak bayar duit minyak dan tol...". Acam, ok ke ayat tu?

Adeh, heartburn aku 'mikiorkannya.

Before

After

f~

Kucing Jalanan & Ceritera Jalanan Lain

Last Thursday night, I bought a scanner as Abang's wedding anniversary gift.

Abang was visibly chuffed.

With the scanner, he now does not have to kejar kedai fotostet before kedai tutup in order to shrink his drawings from B3-size to A-4 and then rush to the cybercafe to scan the drawings and save it in my pendrive (resulting, way too often times, my pendrive loaded with not lesser than 31 types of viruses at one time) and rushes back home to render his drawings on the Photoshop before emailing to various parties.

He could now save a hell lot of money, I'd say (yeayyyyyy!).

He could now scan and merge the drawings and edit and render in his own sweet time.

So, in additional to the books and DVDs that he bought me for the anniversary gift, the day after he got the scanner he actually went to the music store to get me Alleycats 40 Hits that I been eyeing for!

That Friday evening, rainstorm lashed out on KL, cars were jammed up bumper to bumper even at 8pm. But we both didn't care. Abang even took a longer and more congested detour just so we could sing our hearts out to all 40 songs in the CDs! Haha!

So nostalgic lah album ni... I could almost see myself listening to the Lagu Pujaan Minggu Ini on the radio in the kitchen with my maid back in 1981 and 82, back in Taman Sentosa in JB.

While Abang? He said nostalgia zaman cintan-cintun muda-mudi dia dulu. Hmph!

Well, I would say that 95% of the collections are satisfying, cuma too much tangkap leleh selections, lah. They could've added another CD of Alleycats' other catchy tunes, such as "Rayuan di Puncak Genting", and some others that I couldn't remember the titles but they go something like...

"...cinnnnntaaaa itu, bolehdiumpamaaaaakan bagai maaaakan, sambal belachaaaaan..."

"...jaaaangan, taliponlaaaagi! Leeeeha takbolehperrrgi. jaaaangan, taliponlaaaagi! jaaaangan kaaaawan dengannyaaaa. jangankawandengananakkuuuu!"

and

"...aduh sayaaang, aduh intaaan, jika engkau tak kembali.." ...to name a few!

And why ah, David and Loga tak dapat-dapat Datukship or Tan Sriship, I wonder???

Just like Datuk Siti Nurhaliza and the late Tan Sri P.Ramlee, these two duo transcends beyond race, gender and age, eversince 1969 at that, too... and yet tak ada recognition ke? Takkan nak tunggu post-humous lamaaaa macam P.Ramlee baru nak dapat recognition???

Or, perhaps they both have been offered but they declined? Entah lah. But could somebody look into this, please???

And with all due respect, even that Jalaluddin Hassan tu pun dapat Datuk. Like, whok fer la dey??? Just for his contribution in films and dramas, izit?

***

I saw on 'Most Shocking' on Astro 711 last night about the free-trade demo clips in South Korea. How the crowd finally grew unruly and turned violent towards their FRUs. The crowd baling kerusi and bambu dengan bamboo at their FRUs. When the riot-police panjat and stood on their vehicles, the crowd began to shake the busses so violently that the busses looked set to be toppled to one side.

Only then their FRUs rang the bell to spray chemical water and throw tear-gas to the crowds in order to disperse them. Only then, not before! Not when the crowd first attacked the riot police for blocking the roads!

I was like, omaigod, kalau lah the Korean protesters tahu how the scenario is actually like in Malaysia ~ protesters tak kacau FRU tapi FRU sembur juga air and tembak tear gas right in the middle of the peaceful crowd ~ I'm sure the Korean public would go insane to the absurdity of it all!

And I was like, oi oi korang-korang yang ada pegang video FRU mengganas tu, piiiiiiiiiii la hantar ke 'Most Shocking' nu... as "the world's most shocking moments caught on tape", of how the M'sian own riot-police creating riots rather than the protesters!

***

Also, the ass-kissing papers tak sudah-sudah papar semula clips of news of politicians yang pernah ada skandal seks.

Dey, we don't care much about your private life la dey. In fact, EVERYONE in M'sia knows how much more scandalous our No.2 is, cuma tak de video nak circulated je.

Apa kata you guys list down pula corrupted politicians and individuals yang makan duit awam ni, and ask them to step down!!!

Kalau kau ustaz atau mufti sekalipun ~ tak pernah berzina atau buat maksiat~ tapi makan rasuah membukit-bukit... serupaaaaa aje kedudukannya, tak ke???

f※

Material Boy

'Dak Labu ni kan.

Padahal dah ada dua bakul, satu besar and lonjong (kanan), satu kecil sikit and bulat (kiri).

Tapi dia nak guna bakul yang lebih kecil yang kak lin bawa balik jugak. Mentang-mentang lah bakul baru.

Kalau Labi masuk bakul baru tu, habis Labi digigitnya suruh keluar. Sanggup dia mengkerekot membulatkan diri to fit himself inside it.

Dah la vain, materialistic juga 'Dak Labu ni ya.

f※

Mimpi Gigi

Aku pernah baca somewhere, kalau ada mimpi benda yang tak berapa elok, jangan beritahu orang. Simpan aje.

Tapi, I need to record this.

I had a lot of dreaming last night. A reunion of MRSM Jasin Alumni of some sort in a ceramah agama at alma mater.

Abang kata, maybe sebab sebelum tidur tu I was trying to piece out all the information about my family tree(s) that I've gotten for Umi and Ayah masa Eiduladha haritu. It was a very interesting exercise... aku tunjuk Abang macam mana kaitan Bob Isabella and also Wan Zaleha Radzi to my family (both of which do not know of our existence). I'd prolly link the trees up on the Web for my relatives to peruse and tambah apa-apa yang patut.

Anyhoos, part of the dream was that gigi taring atas kiri aku sakit and longgar. Aku goyang-goyangkan, terus tercabut. In the dream I expected a lotta blood coming out of the root, tapi surprisingly tak da. And suddenly, in the dream too I realised that mimpi gigi tercabut has been known as a bad omen, cepat-cepat aku tersedar and aku mengucap panjang-panjang and baca Ayatul Qursi balik. I think that was around 4 a.m.

Now, sejak pagi, aku rasa terganggu sikit. I haven't started doing much office work. Been surfing the 'Net on the meaning of this gigi-taring-atas-kiri-tercabut dream.

I found this for here...

GIGI menurut Islam:
Gigi: adapun gigi maknanya adalah keluarga rumah tangga lelaki. Maka gigi sebelah atas adalah keluarganya yang lelaki dan sebelah bawah keluarga yang perempuan.
Gigi yang goyang: jika sebahagian gigi goyang, menunjukkan ada yang akan berpenyakit. Gigi yang jatuh dan hilang menunjukkan kematian atau hilang buat selama-lamanya.

menurut Barat:
Gigi: hubungan tidak menyenangkan dengan penyakit atau orang yang membingungkan.
Gigi yang goyang: kegagalan dan khabar buruk.
Gigi yang hilang: kemalangan dengan tiba-tiba.

Allahu a'lam.

Aku hanya beritahu Abang about this gigi thing pagi tadi. Abang kata perhaps my mind have been working too much about the family trees tu.

At the office, I only sms-ed Celi about the dream and the meaning I found. Dada aku berdebar-debar je. Psychologically menggugat fikiran aku hari ni.

Na'u dzubillaaaaahimindzalik.

Okeh, nak ke site meeting. Site yang tanah kena curi 0.74 acre tu.

On other note:

And aku malu bila tengok dalam paper ada orang-orang Islam Melayu dok tunjuk muka kasi support kat Menteri Lucah, seolah-olah supporting the Menteri's doing. Whaaaaat lah dey??? Some more, tak da malu tak moh resign. Memang tak da maruah betul. What sort of values are they trying to impose to the public, that this kind of thing is acceptable to the society???

f~

Soul House For Rent II

On the way back from Amanputra, Puchong. Cuci-cuci the house - vacuum, mop, sental, you name it, we did it.

Ahy and his friend Asrul are still there, doing up the paints (olive green feature wall and soft pastel core wall!) and repair works, bless them both! Hey not for free mkay!

But, notes to self:
1. To include clause in agreement that if rumah tak kemas and bersih of sawang-sawang, habuk, dirty bathrooms and dinding rosak from nailings, tapes etc, some amount from the deposits will be retained for cleaning works;

2. That everytime a tenant goes out, must check how much damage has been done.

Will start enforcing the above with new tenant.

I hope my own landlord in Cheras appreciates Abang&I as their tenant. Sawang tak pernah ada - not in the rooms, living, dining nor even kitchen. Lantai selalu berlap (on my knees, noks. Not mere mopping). Bathrooms bercuci almost every week. Kita buat rumah tu ibarat rumah sendiri. Cermat every corner.

Tapi, heart-ache uols bila harta sendiri kurang disayangi...

And semoga Abang has renewed respect for super-wives who work, have kids, masak, kemas rumah, urus anak-anak etc. 'Coz tadi Abang helped vacuum all the sawang pun dah letih - vacuum 10min, rest 10min. Hahaha, paaaadanmukadiaaaa.

Mujur laaa ada Ahy (and Asrul) nak tolong tanpa berhenti...

f※

HAPPY 2008!

HAPPY 2008 EVERYONE!!!

Yeah, that was part of the pyro-show at KLCC from our living room, tapi hampeh tak nampak apa coz guna cam hp je, and also the darn yellow light at the hi-way (on the left side of the photo), blinding the otherwise purrrfect view!

Ah, none of my family members larat nak come over and see the arrays of fireworks from my place.

But last year's was brilliant...we caught the KLCC fireworks at Ahy's friend's place in Jalan Eaton. Cantik!

How I miss Edinburgh's own New Year celebration... the hogmanay (go google in wiki, can?). The biggest New Year street party in Europe, and I've never missed any of the 5 years I was there! (Surprisingly now ada BP5 charge to get in on an otherwise free show. I reckon depa nak control the amount of crowd coming into the 1+km length of the Princes Street, kot)

Wonder how Udi's in Bath, Fairuz's and K.Yeen's in Manchester, Habbu's and Najib's in London, Kak Teh's in Dublin, and Dijji's, and Murni's, and Rain's, and...and... -oh, ramai rupanya kerabat aku kat U.K tu!- countdowns to New Year are like!

Hope the year brings prosperity and health in each and everyone of us, though it will be the 10th-year cycle of the Malaysian economic downturn!

As always, I'm real nervous with every start of a new year. I wished life's like a book, where I could just read the end part first before moving back to the front pages.

Cuma yang paling aku tak sabar is the coming General Election time. Oh, tak sabarnya!!!

And I pray, in 2008, I will achieve something momentus... be it on my personal or even professional front.

Aaaaaamiiiin.

Great New Year everyone!

f※