Opah Chu

Two days before Hari Raya I made my way to Parit. That is where my late father hailed from in Perak.

Parit generally refers to the area in the mid-Perak region, straddling both sides of Sungai Perak and its vicinity, stretching from Parit town to Kampung Gajah downstream. People from this locality are thus referred to as “orang Parit”.

In reality the “Parit area” comprises numerous small towns and kampongs sprinkled all along both sides of Sungai Perak. My father’s very own kampong was called Kampong Selat in Layang-Layang Kiri.

The “Kiri” here denotes the fact that this place is located on the left bank of Sungai Perak if one were paddling the sampan upstream during the old days. And whenever there’s a Kiri, there’d always be a Kanan settlement. Thus, we have Bota Kiri and Bota Kanan, Layang-Layang Kiri and Layang-Layang Kanan, and so on, dotting the banks of Sungai Perak.

Parit was a backwater of sorts. It still is, to a certain extent. That my father managed to get a good education and continued his studies in Liverpool all those years ago still amazes me no end.

My trip to Parit this time was for the specific purpose of visiting my Opah Chu in Padang Tenggala, about 10 kilometers from Parit town.

Opah Chu is Salamah binti Alang Pintal. She is my late grandfather’s youngest sister, and the last of his surviving siblings.

Ever since I was small, I always remember her to be one very kind lady. But what I remember most about her is how much she loved her favourite nephew – my Apak – whom she fondly referred to as Amat.

Whenever Opah Chu meets Apak, she never failed to grab Apak and gave him a loving peck on the cheek as if he was still a toddler. That my Apak was now all grown-up with five kids of his own was never a cause for concern in the slightest.

As a small kid, I was so touched by this gesture. Especially so at the sight of my big and macho Apak looking sheepishly at us after being hugged and kissed by his aunt right in front of everybody.

Even when Apak passed away, despite having problems with her knees, Opah Chu still managed to pull herself right up to Apak’s bedside to give him her last kiss on his forehead and a peck on the cheek. She then raised her hands and ran her fingers lovingly over his face.

That Apak loved her aunt, too, was obvious. I remember whenever we visited Opah Chu during Hari Raya, Apak would always look forward to his Wan Chu's lemang, rendang and dodol.

And as he sampled Opah Chu’s festive goodies, he would never fail to urge us to have a bite ourselves, saying “rasa la, sedap ni Opah Chu punya lemang”.

Opah Chu is now in her mid-eighties. Her knees are giving her problems – osteoarthritis, I suspect. But otherwise she is still healthy and alert. She still remembers many stories and details from her younger days. Especially stories about Apak and stories with her Yop (her eldest brother – that’s my grandfather).

Opah Chu has eight children, all daughters. She is now staying in PadangTenggala with her third daughter, Sabariah.

As I left her that Friday morning, I shook and kissed her hands and wished her Selamat Hari Raya. Quite un-expectedly, Opah Chu grabbed me and pulled me close to her and planted a kiss on my cheeks just like she used to do to Apak.

I almost got teary-eyed.

May ALlah continue to give my Opah Chu good health and the best of iman.

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“Injured semi-pro rider plans comeback”

Don’t be surprised if you read the above headlines in the newspapers over the next one week or so. Because, yes, I am (finally) planning my come back after a long lay-off from riding.

During the long break, I was reduced to merely reading emails about the exploits of my riding mates as they ride off into the sun set and enjoy their rides in such exotic places like Broga and FRIM.

That I missed my rides would be an obvious statement of the year.

Whenever I’m driving, the sight of dirt tracks such as those above would bring an inexplicable urge to grab a bike and hit the trail. Alas, I could only look at them longingly from afar. If I stumble upon a group of riders along the road I would watch in envy as they enjoy themselves. And to make things worse, the Mem Besar by my side would never miss the opportunity to tease and snigger at the sight of me ogling at the riders.

But just before Hari Raya I visited the doctor at HUKM and I’ve been given the green light to ride again, albeit with a stern warning to “behave yourself, and be extra careful next time”.

But, first things first. I have to get a new set of rims for my bicycle because the ones I had had been damaged during my fall last June.

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Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

The holy month of Ramadhan has come and gone. We all know that Ramadhan is the month of barakah where all good deeds are amply rewarded.

I pray that whatever little ibadah that I have had the strength to undertake will be accepted by Allah SWT. I also pray that, having graduated from the madrasah of Ramadhan, my ibadah therefrom will live up to, and be the guided by, the standard set.

Not that it was such a high standard, of course. But I should aspire to keep it - if not further improve upon it.

But most of all, I pray that, by the grace of Allah, I would be given the opportunity to be present come next Ramadhan.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

Mohon Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Of planning philosophy and iftar at Putrajaya new mosque

Masjid Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, Precinct 3, Putrajaya
Photo courtesy of Firdaus Mahadi at Photosantai.com

Putrajaya is a beautiful city. It presents itself as a dignified and orderly town. Some say it’s too orderly and clinical. But that’s another discussion reserved for another day.

When the pioneering city planners set out to plan the city, I’m sure they must have struggled to come up with a convincing concept and a coherent philosophy for it. Try projecting our leader’s obsession for achieving a developed nation status, whilst at the same time, blending it with THE Malaysian identity – whatever that might be – and you’ll get an idea of what kind of a mishmash and hodgepodge you’d get at the end of it.

But eventually they settled on for a philosophy which gives due recognition to men’s existence as the vicegerent of the Creator and his role vis-à-vis his fellow men, the environment, and of course his place in front of God.

Heady stuff, yes. But as a guiding philosophy, certainly workable.

For a start, Putrajaya is already planned to have places of worship for every religion and spiritual belief be it Islam, Christian, Hindu and so on.

Last week end I had the opportunity to take my family to have iftar at the latest place of worship to be developed here that is the Masjid Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin.

Sometimes referred to as the “Masjid Besi” by the press, this mosque serves the people on the Core Island of Putrajaya. Especially on Fridays, this mosque is a much welcomed relief for office workers who have had to endure the heat and traffic congestions when they go for Friday prayers all over Putrajaya and some even as far away as Bangi and Dengkil.

This beautiful mosque can accommodate up to 20,000 people at one time. It has a totally different design to the more classical and Moorish-influenced Masjid Putra. Modern and with simple, clean, design it also uses a lot of steel for construction by comparison.

When we were there, there were around 400 people for iftar. The iftar fare was just nice and simple: dates with some kuih and sirap bandung. After solat Maghrib we continued with dinner. And after solat Tarawih there was moreh, too. But we didn’t wait for that as we left earlier after 8 rakaat of Tarawih.

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Liverpool off to a bad start

Liverpool’s new season hasn’t been off to a good start. I wouldn’t use the word crisis yet. After all, we are only three games into the season.

But, to put things into perspective, Benitez's side have lost as many league games in a fortnight as they did all last season.

And of all people, it is our talismanic captain who has to shoulder most of the blame.

Now, before Liverpool fans out there bombard me with hateful comments, let me be clear that I didn’t say it. Benitez did.

But we all trust Benitez enough to know what needs to be done. So I guess this was it. A kick in the backside for our Gerrard to wake him up.

I hope it does the trick – sooner, rather than later.

No doubt we have three key players to return – Aurelio, Agger and Aquilani. And I bet you that they could make a whole lot of difference. But my only fear is that it would be a case of a bit too late.

If Liverpool misses the title again this year – and that’s a big IF – then I hope Chelsea or Arsenal would win it. Heck, I wouldn’t even mind if Burnley goes all the way.

Anyone, except Man United.

What's your Ramadhan KPI?

Ramadhan is here with us again.

Alhamdulillah. Praise be to Allah for we have been chosen to meet this holy month once again.

I have blogged about Ramadhan a couple of times before (see here and here). The message – intended for myself especially – is this: reap the most out of this one month which has been bestowed the most of barakah by the Almighty.

In this day and age when we are crazy and besotted with KPIs, NKRA and what have you, I’d be inclined to ask: what is our KPI for this Ramadhan?

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My claim to fame

It is not very often that one gets to meet a top leader. Unless one works at his office – or happens to be a member of his family – it is quite a rare event.

But it is much rarer still to be able to meet two top leaders from opposing political persuassions on the same day!

Well, my claim to fame is to have met Tuan Guru Dato' Haji Nik Abdul Aziz bin Nik Mat and Dato' Seri Mohd. Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak within the space of sixty minutes.

This happened two weeks ago on the day of the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office Complex.

It all started when I got a call from our President with the announcement,

“Zi, I’ve got a special assignment for you today!”

You see, Tuan Guru Nik Aziz being the Kelantan Menteri Besar, is a member of the ECERDC. Prior to the Council meeting (upon his request) he was taken on a tour of the Prime Minister’s Office Complex by a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

As part of the tour, a briefing was to be given to the Tuan Guru on the development of Putrajaya, which was where I came in.

As the ECERDC meeting drew closer, he was led to the meeting room and left in the company of other Menteris Besar and members of the Council.

I, on the other hand, was led to wait outside the Prime Minister’s office to be introduced to the PM as the officer from Putrajaya who gave the briefing to Tuan Guru.

So there you have it….my very own little claim to fame.

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Next claim, Hollywood!?

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