Berlapang dada dengan Allah swt

Dengan nama Allah Yg Maha Pengasih lagi Maha Penyayang.
Baru dapat call dari KWSP that we'd lost the Ipoh tender though we are lowest.
Not much, just 110k. But it means so much to me.

How do I take this as a muslim & as a businessman?

This tender was floated in August this year & the only Kwsp tender that we think we have the advantage since we did similar job in Institut Kwsp Bangi job last year.
We already lost the 600k UIA job though we're shortlisted & another 600k inUPM.

We sincerely hoping for this job as we don't have that many jobs in hand.

Are we not doing enough?
Adakah kami kurang bersunggoh?
Apakah yg maksud bersunggoh itu?
No hold barred?

Are we doing it wrong?
We bought the document & submit.
We were informed by Kwsp that we're lowest.
We bidded the lowest by 15k. And yet we didn't get the job!
What happened?

Adakah ini bukan rezeki kami?
Obviously, it isn't.
But where is our rezeki?
Apakah lesson we are to learn from this case?

Engkau memberi kpd siapa yg engkau suka
Tidak kah engkau suka kpd kami, Ya Allah?
Kami mencuba sebaik yg kami boleh Ya Allah
Tunjuk kan kami jalan yg terbaik itu Ya Allah.

Kami sedar menjadi umat Islam bukan tiket jadi kaya.
Adakah umat Islam harus jadi miskin?
Atau lebih baik jadi miskin?

Miskin akan lebih membuat kita ingat kapada Allah swt,
Bukankah miskin bole membawa kpd kafir?
Tapi kaya pun bole membawa kpd takabur.
Mungkin kami belum layak?
Mungkin kami belum cukup ingat kepada Allah
dan Allah tahu harta yg lebih akan mendatangkan mudarat?
Melalaikan dan lupa akan Dia.
Akan mendatangkan rasa angkuh?

Mungkin kami tak tahu apa yg baik bagi kami,
Mungkin ini adalah lebih baik bagi kami?

Engkau Maha Adil, Ya Allah.
Engkau juga Maha Pengasih lagi Maha Penyayang.

Pesan kepada bakal pengantin.

Dalam kegembiraan menanti hari yang yang bersejarah, banyak persediaan yg perlu di fikir & buat.

Baju, kasut, jemputan, menu makanan.
Baju apa, warna apa?
Matching kasut?
Berapa ramai yg nak di jemput? Kawan berapa?
Menunya?
Honeymoon pula dimana?
Lepas tu nak tinggal dimana?
Apa yg perlu disediakan?
Perabot nya? Nak masak dirumah atau makan dikedai aje?

Dalam ribut ribuan keputusan yg harus di putuskan ini, adakah bakal ibu & ayah ini terfikir ttg baby yg akan dilahirkan?
Adakah mereka sedar yg mereka akan menyambut kedatangan seorg khalifah?

"Setiap org dari kamu adalah khalifah" itu pesan Allah swt
Apakah usaha kita utk dapat khalifah?

Semasa dalam peringkat janin dalam rahim ibu, baby telah dapat mendengar & respon terhadap
mood, tona suara & perlakuan ibunya.
Suara ibunya amat mengesan kpd perkembangan dirinya.

Anak org Yahudi yg terkenal kebijaksanaanya, di latih mathematic oleh ibunya semasa dalam kandungan, kan berkecenderung menjadi ahli mathematic (for full story pls provide email).
Begitu juga ibu Islam yg selalu mendendangkan ayat2 Al Quran kpd kandunganya. Mungkin dia akan di anugerahkan seorg hafiz. Yg bole baca Quran semasa 3 thn.

Sejak dalam kandungan, cabangan otak dah mula bercantum utk proses pembelajaran, hinggalah baby dilahirkan.
Semasa anak berlajar menjelajah persekitaranya, ibu bapa selalu ucapkan "jangan" itu dan ini agar baby tak jatuh, luka, terbakar, lemas dan apa apa lagi.
Perkatan "jangan"ini bila di ucapkan atau di jeritkan akan "mematikan" perkembangan sel otak.
Ini dpt di demonstrate dalam lab.

Permakanan juga amat penting kearah ini.
Buahan, kekacang, ikan dan susu adalah makanan ruji seorg ibu yg mengandung.
Ini menolong bantu membina kecerdasan baby.


Jadi, memang Allah janjikan khalifah.
Ayah & ibu harus berusaha agar permata hati akan tetap begitu bila dah dewasa.
Walaupun bukan hak kita utk menentukanya.
Tapi Allah juga amat adil.

Come out & write! Ba ba ba......

Come on!
Come out & write ur comment!
It won't hurt you to post your comment!
Don't be shy
Stand up & comment!

Ba ba ba ha ha ha

What they forget to tell us.

Assm,
Most of the times when we attend a kulliyah or tazkirah or majlis ilmu, the speakers try to tell us that, the rewards for our good efforts (ibadah)while living our life, will be realized only after our death. Sembahyang untuk Allah, puasa utk Allah, ibadah kerana nak dapat Allah's pleasure.
Sebenarnya cerita tu kurang tepat.

Bukanlah kita lakukan ibadah hanya kerana nak dapat shorga Allah swt sahaja, tapi nak jaga kehidupan kita sekarang.
Kalu our present life kucar kacir macamana nak beribadat dgn baik?
Bila kita ikut apa Allah swt suruh, bukan saja kita please Dia tapi Allah swt bagi lebih lagi. Di sini pun dia dah bagi. Kadangkala kita x perasan.
Umpamanya;
Sembahyang.
Selain sembahyang itu wajib dan tiang agama, sembahyang adalah utk diri kita sendiri.
Sembahyang ingatkan kita siapa diri kita.
Bila kita gagal dapatkan apa yg kita hajatkan, di landa masalah yg di luar kekuasaan & kefahaman kita.
Bila kita di kurniakan dgn sesuatu yg tidak di jangka,
We know we're not the master of our destiny.
We need to look for our master & tell Him our deepest feeling
Only then we can be at peace, within & without
And behave accordingly
Sembahyang Jumaah.
Kita sembahyang jumaah supaya kita kenal siapa jumaah kita dan kuatkan jumaah kita.
What make Chinese businesses strong? One of the reason they have strong associations to protect their interests. Umpamanya Persatuan Penternak Ayam telah berjaya mendesak kerajaan membuka price control dan ikut market price.
Kita pun perlukan association yg kuat supaya kita dapat jadi kuat.
Org yg sembahyang bersaorgan umpama sesaorg yg dikelilingi oleh serigala?
Yahudi kata kalu org Islam boleh sembahyang Subuh macam sembahyang Jumaat, baru dia takut pd org Islam.
Kahwin.
Kita kahwin kerana untuk kawal nafsu kita dan menjamin kebajikan diri & keturunan.
Mcm2 penyakit org yg mengamalkan free sex without obligation. Free diseases, isolation, family structure breakdown. Tapi free sex nampak exciting? So is smoking & many other things we're not suppose to do.
Zakat.
Kita diberitahu bila kita bayar zakat, harta yg setangkai akan jadi beratus ratus tangkai.
Itu gambaran dari segi monetury benefit.
Faedah bayar zakat ni lebih dari monetory benefit?
Zakat boleh selamatkan society. Bela org susah.
Org susah yg terbela takkan jadi org yg putus harapan. Org yg putus harapan dia dah x kesah apa yg dia lakukan. Hilang pertimbangan. x org ingat pd dia.
Nak rompak lepas tu bunuh org dan lain desperate acts.
Bila masyarakat kita yg susah terbela, kita rasa selamat. Selamat nak pergi kemana mana, siang atau malam.
Tepati janji.
Kita selalu baca atau dengar cerita ttg Along bertindak keras terhadap peminjam yg tidak tepati janji.
Nabi saw sabda yg antara sifat org munafik ialah org yg mungkir bila berjanji.
Apa hukuman terhadap org munafik?
Adalah sifat org Islam apabila berhutang, hendaklah menjelaskanya pd masanya yg kita janji.
Apabila janji masa pilihanraya, siapa yg janji kena tunaikan.

This is shortsighted at best or lacking of knowledge at worst.
Apa yg Allah swt suruh kita buat, faedah nya sekarang dan esok.

Lipat Kajang Raya 2010

Never had Raya shot & since everyone is around in LK, we'd do it.

Raya 2010

As you can see it was a good raya for us. Everyone was here except Ayah Ri.
Maybe we need a bigger space as everyone is growing, including sideways.

Boi & Wan caught a big carp at the tail end of empang simen. It was big by any standard.
Our plan for the boat was k.i.v due to short time frame. Maybe next school break, there will be boat to enjoy the paya.

Maybe next time we should organise some cooking competition for the girls and coconut climbing contest for the boys. The contest shall carry a few hundred ringgit prize money?
What say you?

Jumaat terakhir Ramadhan 2010.

Ya Allah
Kau rahmatilah kedua ibubapa ku
Ampunkan lah dosa2 mereka
Tempatkan mereka bersama org yg kau cintai

Ya Allah,
Terangilah kubur ibuku
Bagai bulan purnama, Ya Allah
Kau lapangkanlah ia
Selapang taman di shorga

Ya Allah
Kau halalkan setiap titik susu ibuku
Yg menghilangkan lapar & dahagaku
Setiap keringat yg dia tumpahkan
kerana membesarkan aku

Ya Allah
Aku berdosa
Kerana melebihkan diri, isteri dan anak
dari kedua orang tuaku
Ampunkan lah aku Ya Allah.

Tak maju?.

One time while we were in the car, on the way back from her hostel, Yaya suggested that I quit my present work, sell my company & apply for jobs in factories.
I asked her why?
She said her friends yg bapak mereka kerja di kilang semua drive kereta besar!

Auw, now I know where the discussion is going.
She was worried about my old Sentra. Now I remember she once told me not to pick her in my older van...
Ha ha my poor suffering daughter.

So I asked her did she know how our beloved Prophet lived.
She said no.
So I told her what I know about how Rasulullah lived 1400 something years ago.
Rasulullah could have asked for the hills around Mekah to be turned into gold, if he wanted to, but he didn't.
Allah maha kaya & Rasulullah adalah kekasihNya. He could have asked for anything.
Why?

I am not a religious man but I am her father & I know a little bit of halal & haram. I have tried my best to earn my keeps in ways that I see fit to feed us.
I told her rezeki manusia berbeza beza. Ada yg Allah swt bagi lebih dan ada yg dapat kurang.
Ada yg sedang sedang.

Does that mean I work less than I should?
Maybe yes? There are ways & means that I haven't tried & I prefer to keep it that way.
Kalu macam tu tak maju la!
Takpe lah. Tak maju pun ok.
My wife also think I should make more so that we can move to a bungalow somewhere. A lot of her friends dah upgrade to bungalows.
I just buat bodoh.
What do you think?

Cooking class

Nampak gaya Kak Long & Hasra tengah training masak tu.
Nanti bole kita singgah rumah dia & try masakan dia.

Antara kita & mereka.

Apakah beza antara kita, org Islam dan mereka, bukan Islam?

Hanya dari segi ibadat? Makan minum? Berpakaian?Pendidikan? Perniagaan? Mencari harta?

Ibarat malam dan siang sebenarnya. Islam ialah cara hidup. Konsep cara hidup kita tak sama dengan cara hidup mereka.
Antara falsapah hidup kita ialah ada Allah swt. Seluroh alam dan isinya dijadikan oleh Allah swt. Manusia bukan di jadikan Allah untuk bebas bersuka suka ikut kehendak hati di dunia ini.

Kita diberi point kalu buat ikut ajaran Allah swt. Kalu tak ikut, akan di denda, hilang point.
Target hidup kita org Islam ialah segala yg kita lakukan ialah untuk Allah swt. Agar Dia sayang pada kita & Dia jemput kita ke ShorgaNya.
Kalu jadi YB, engineer atau lawyer, jadi muslim YB, lawyer atau engineer to please him. Muslim first & ...... later.
Kalu dah jadi engineer yg bijak, idea yg brilliant, jujur, takut Allah, tentu ramai yg nak minta service engineer ni.
Mungkin juga tidak, oleh kerana dia lurus, tak tahu nak tumbuk rusuk, mungkin org penting tak suka nak bekerjasama dgn dia. Jadi mungkin dia tak jadi nak jadi kaya.
Insyaallah, percayalah pd janji Allah. Mungkin duit sedikit tapi berkat.
A little difficult to digest tthis one? Didn't sound like fun.
You can take ur time.

Bukan untuk wang banyak, kereta besar atau rumah besar. Hanya utk Allah swt.
Kita bole berniaga besar. Modal besar & ramai org tompang cari rezeki bersama kita.
Syarat, play & follow the rules.

Ahem, macamana kalu gaji tak naik2 dan niaga tak maju?
Anak & isteri minta tukar kasut, baju, kosen, kereta dan mcm2 lagi lah.
Macamana? Susah lah.
Itu cerita lain ok?

Mudahan kalu Allah sayang pada kita, kita dapat point lagi banyak.
Adakah kita akan punyai cukup point utk ke shorga?
Kita kena collect our daily points!

Ada tengok cerita Life is Beautiful?
Kisah pengembaraan seorg budak Yahudi di Italy bersama bapanya semasa perang dunia kedua di Italy.

Macamana nak bagi Allah swt sayang pada kita?
Kita kena belajar & faham apa yg Dia suka & benci.
Bacalah terjemahan Quran, Hadis Nabi dan buku2 yg di tulis oleh Ulamak.
Bincang bersama kawan, guru dan parents.

Kita kena faham the reason we do certain things & we don't do other things.
Umpamanya dalam soal mencari wang untuk bekalan kehidupan kita di dunia ini.
We have dos & don'ts.
Wang membolehkan kita membeli makanan, pakaian, rumah dan kenderaan.
Makan bole tapi jangan berlebih, itu membazir, nanti banyak masalah. Sakit perut,darah tinggi, jantung, kencing manis dan lain lain yg di sebabkan makan banyak.
Ahem, I should be able to reduce my tummy.
Beli pakaian wajib sebab nak tutup aurat.
Tapi beli branded bukan niatnya nak tutup aurat tapi nak tunjuk ....

"Mereka" akan berusaha mencari sebanyak yg bole tanpa mengira halal dan haram. Pada mereka wang adalah segala galanya.
Wang utk membeli kesenangan, hormat diri, cinta, kuasa. pengaroh, pengikut dan lain?
Mereka anggap wang itu hak mereka yg mutlak, mereka bole belanjakan wang itu ikut suka hati mereka.
Mereka kata"suka hati akulah, duit aku".

Ada umat Islam hari ini yg dapat untung, gaji, bonus dan apa apa lagi, bayar income tax tapi tak bayar zakat. Itu dah macam ikut mereka ha ha

Konsep harta dalam Islam : harta ialah milik Allah yg Allah pinjamkan kpd kita. Ia bukan hakmilik mutlak kita.
Kita tak bole gunakan wang tsbt untuk beli loteri kerana kita akan rugi point!
Adakah cara kita dapatkan wang di senangi Allah swt? Kalu "yes" dapat point.
Adakah cara kita habiskan wang tsbt di senangi Allah? Kalu "No", hilang point.
Adakah proses mencari dan menghabiskan wang ini mendekatkan kita kpd Allah?
Adakah Allah happy with us?

Bacalah...

Cucu Pompuan.

Yg dua di kanan ni sekali tengok dah tau tapi yg tiga d kiri tu tak berapa kenal. Ha ha

Ulu Sungai, Raub.

This is Kg Ulu Sungai in Batu Talam, Raub. I was here for some work in Pusat Diversity, Technology Park Malaysia.

This used to be a Kelah territory but no more.

We met this Tok Batin while we went exploring the river.

Menantu Hj Jantan

I was asked by my wife why I never feature the ladies in the blog. So I look around & found this photo. All are very sweet.

Syukur.

Ustaz bercerita;
Rasulullah sembahyang tahajjud sampai bengkak kaki baginda. Ini kerana baginda membaca surah yg panjang. Lalu isteri baginda, Aishah r.a bertanya kenapa sampai begitu sedangkan segala kesalahan baginda, baik yg lepas atau yg mendatang telah diampunkan Allah swt . Baginda menjawab; Salahkah aku menjadi hamba yg bersyukur?

Physically kita tahu kehidupan di zaman baginda bukanlah sesenang kehidupan kita sekarang. Zaman kita dah senang banyak. Kadangkala baginda berbuka hanya dengan kurma dan air zam zam. Naik kereta tak sama dengan naik kuda.

Adakah ini membuat kita lebih syukur?
Atau kita rasa apa yg kita dapat hari ini adalah hasil usaha kita tanpa kurnia Allah swt?

Apa argument nya?

Kita boleh berusaha sebab kita di berikan "kehendak" oleh Allah swt. Kalu dunia ini di terajui oleh malaikat nescaya dunia kita tak berubah dari dahulu sampai sekarang. Penuh dengan hutan dan binatang. Malaikat tiada kehendak dan nafsu. Malaikat hanya beribadat kpd Allah semata.

Kemudian manusia diberikan "keupayaan". Kita berupaya utk berfikir dan berusaha. Allah mengurniakan kita akal fikiran untuk capai kehendak dan menyelesaikan apa jua masalah kita.
Oleh kerana kita ada akal dan nafsu maka Allah swt berikan kita panduan hidup iaitu Quran dan Sunnah.

Nafsu dan akal adalah kombinasi yg sangat berkuasa dan berbahaya. Tambah lagi dengan adanya bisikan Syaitan. Syaitan akan bisik utk buat jahat. Dia kata takpe, sikit je, sekali je. Tapi sekali akan jadi dua dan seterusnya.

Kita pernah melihat insan yg tidak di kurniakan anugerah ini. Org gila adalah org yg Allah pilih utk menjadi contoh. Harus di ingat org gila tak de dosa. Ha ha :)

Janganlah kita sombong dan mengatakan apa yg kita dapat adalah hasil usaha dan pemikiran kita saja dan bukan kurniaan Allah swt.
Badan yg sihat, pemikiran yg sihat membolehkan kita berusaha. Jangan lupa pada nikmat Allah dan selalu syukur. Syukur jadikan kita org yg lebih baik.

Bagaimana nak syukur?

Selamat hari Merdeka Tok. Tanya lah Tok.

Selamat Hari Merdeka Tok.
Tanyalah Tok apa ertinya berjuang melawan bahaya Komunis sebelum dan selepas Merdeka.

Tok meninggalkan kampong semasa berumur 16tahun untuk mencari kehidupan yg lebih baik bagi dirinya dan keluarga. Dia, abang dia, Tok Teh dan beberapa lagi pemuda kampong dimasa itu telah menyertai Askar Melayu.

Tok tak tahu apa yg bakal yg akan ditempuh sepanjang careernya sebagai Askar Melayu dan kemudian sebagai Askar Wataniah.
Dia tak menjangka yg dia akan menggalas peluru & senjata, mendaki bukit dan menurun lembah, hujan dan panas utk menghapuskan ancaman komunis. Banyak kawan Tok yg terkorban oleh senjata komunis. Tapi Allah swt lindungi Tok & dapat jumpa kita semua.
Tanyalah Tok bagaimana kehidupan sebagai seorang Askar Melayu di tahun 50an dan 60an. (Nanti Hari Raya ucapkan terima kasih kpd Tok kerana memberikan kita kemerdekaan).

Di zaman selepas Perang Dunia ke 2, Komunis sedang hebat memperjuangkan sebuah perjuangan bersenjata menentang Malaya di bawah kerajaan British dan Malaysia selepas merdeka. Ada theory mengatakan mereka memperjuangkan kemerdekaan tapi ada juga Domino Theory.

Akibat perjuangan dan pengorbanan org org seperti Tok, kita hari ini mempunyai kebebasan. Kebebasan utk menentukan berugama, beribadat, belajar dimana, apa nak jadi bila dah besar nanti.
Hanya cita cita dan usaha yg perlu bagi menzahirkan apa yg di idamkan. Tak perlu dapat kebenaran komunis, org British atau org Amerika.
Berapa banyak kita nak makan malam nanti, kita tak perlu menyorok beras macam tok nenek kita di zaman Jepun atau seludup makanan dari Mesir macam sedara kita di Palestin.
Kita bole makan sebanyak mana asalkan kita boleh membeli apa yg kita idamkan itu.

Ertinya kita bole tentukan halatuju kehidupan kita sendiri. Kita lah the master of our destiny?
Jangan lupa the master of our destiny ialah Pencipta kita Allah swt. Hanya dia yg layak jadi master kita bukan British, Amerika atau Jepun dan lain lain nya.

Tapi penjajahan tetap akan berlaku. Ini ialah proses yg hanya berubah bentuk, bukan niat. Negara kuat akan cuba menjajah negara lemah. Mungkin bukan menggunakan senjata tapi dalam bentuk yg lain. Ibarat kata kata dalam filem Godfather, "finance is gun & politic is when to pull the trigger".
Apa yg kita bole buat?

En Manja

Manja of Bt 3 Segari. Dear friend from my years in Malayan Flour Mills. He was a full time boat pilot & part time fisherman then. Now he is fulltime fisherman & part time employee at the flour mill.

I didn't know that he is a sought after chef. Maybe one day we can sample his specialities.

Manja knows a few tukuns around Segari waters & Pangkor if u want to wet ur line.

Trip to Royal Blum

This is the luxury boat u take when u go to Royal Blum. Floating 4star resort.
4 rooms with double single beds is the lazy men idea of going into the wild. Shower & wc on board. Heated pools(believe me the water is warm early in the morning). All u have to do is strip & take ur plunge. Don't forget the float if u forget to swim.
If the fish is not biting u can sing along the Siamese songs at midnight karaoke. Endless round of coffee & tea on the house.

We were blessed when Zul & Bobo, magnificient chefs disguised as policemen joined us. Their steamed baung with tauchu were heaven. Even lowly toman rose to the occasion under their hands.

Fish? There were fishes alright. But the question if we're smart enough to fool them to take ur bait.

City slickers who go fishing according to the books(or magazine) are frustrated lot when fishes are around & none are taking the baits. Their shiny new reels still smelled of plastic.
Lucky the boatman who called his middle age & overweight guests as ayam daging, has few aces up his sleeves.

Suka2 Resort(somewhere in Cenderoh)

School breaks always bring the urge that you need to be somewhere.
City existence is tough on ur soul. U don't really relate to it like u relate to ur kampong. It's cold & impersonal. It's competitive enviroment. Ur in combat mood.
U just need the city to make a living & it's conveniences.

Enjoy it? Mostly no.

That's why you need to be somewhere to get in touch with ur inner self, to unwind, when & wherever u can.

Chance upon Suka2 in the newspaper.
Aznir Malik, self appointed PR guy for the resort wrote a fishy story about the resort & I swallow it hook, line & sinker. Diehard fisho always falls for fishy stories. Me no exception.

Somewhere deep in Cenderoh lake lies a magnificient resort for fisho. You can walk a few steps from your rooms & cast ur baits & have ur catch.

Hj Azlan Bank Muamalat

Sometime in 2003 I had the opportunity to visit Baitullah & Madinah.

I was blessed when Hj Azlan, a Muamalat bank officer, joined our stag party as our guide. He did his haji the previous season & he said he missed Mekah. I guessed it was no coincidence. I was a lost traveler & I need a guide. Allah was great to send someone as nice as Hj Azlan to be my free guide. He did voluntarily. He Offered his services without me asking.

My past

This is Pak Karim of Kg Bkt Tembok, Pasir Panjang, Port Dickson.

The year was 1983. I was an Airforce cadet officer in the nearby Kem Sebatang Karah.
And I was wondering why I was there.
After some soul searching, I packed my bags & left the camp on CNY eve with another cadet, Hamid Karim.

We went AWOL
Hamid also an exUTM. The obvious destination for us was his father house in Pasir Panjang. So I followed him bcos I had nowhere to go. We get to the house just b4 subuh after walking for about 10km.
Pak Karim didn't ask much why we're there early in that morning. Hardly a rest after some food. the MPs arrived with the CO. He told us he's willing to forget the incident if we get back into the truck & follow him back to camp. We declined his offer. He said he was coming back with proper warrant. That would be fine with us.

Pak Karim never asked me why I left the military life.
He didn't lecture me on what a complete ass I had made of myself.
He still didn't until the day I bid him goodbye to get on with my life.
I stayed in his house, eat his food & helped him in his paddy field for three month.
He never asked me why.

I did visit him sometime in 2006 with my family.
He was as happy as I ever saw him & he didn't ask me why I left.

Last week I visited him again on the way back from Melaka.
His eyesight is failing. He didn't recognize me.
Yet he still entertained me & borak with me & told me ada kawan Hamid, nama dia Azman, pernah datang bawa family, jumpa dia.
I was touched.

Thanks God. I met so many great people during my travel.

Maybe 7 years ago

This was sometimes in 2003, if I am not mistaken. Cheap camera does not give fancy pic. Well, we were ready for Aidil Fitri prayer

Tg Sepat beach

You can bring your big kite & do a showoff.
The beach is big enough for a football match.

The fatal Tg Sepat lunch.

We locate a stall by the road & stand in queue, to quell the hunger & thirst,after a day in Tg Sepat beach.

You can tell we are famished.

However, nightime, we spent most of the night, in the loo.

Fabulous couple

Let me introduce you to Shafiq & his wife, Fatimah.
They owned Amansari Resort, a beach resort in Sungai Soi, near Tg Lumpur.

Still haven't got any clue?
It's near Kuantan.

A nice & quiet place by the beach, where you can sit down quietly and figure out the meaning of life.

The catch

Though Pulau Ketam is for poor sportfisherman but the catch is ok.
Not bad at all according to my lowly standard.

Cos you can't compare with the double digit kilos catches somewhere else but the fun factor easily compensate the extra kilos.

You'd suprise at the variety of fishes around the island.

My first boat?

Its not a boat but a sampan. Bought when the fishing bug really had me by the throat. A couple of grand in late nineties.

A boat, an explorer fibreglass boat & a 15hp motor will enable me & gang to explore Pulau Ketam & its vicinity.

Pulau Ketam is the heaven for poor sportfisherman looking for their fishing fix in those days. There are few islands crisscrossed by inland rivers. You can take cover in the small rivers when the weather is not favorable or you can dart across the wider water when the weather is ok.

Kg Ketapang, Pekan

Ini ialah Kg Ketapang, Pekan Pahang.
Tak ingat tahun bila menetap di sini, tapi peristiwa semasa tinggal disini amat jelas dalam ingatan.

Masa tu agaknya tak sekolah lagi. Tak ingat pun memori ttg sekolah. Shall ask Tok about that.

Yg paling ingat main lastik gelang getah. Dulu panggil tagan getah. Loads of getah gelang was placed on top on discarded milk cans or empty bottles. A line was drawn about 15 feet away. Everybody will stand behind the line & take turn to hit the cans or the bottles with slingshot. It's not that easy you know.

The challenge is to hit the can or the bottle & pocket the booty, rubber band or getah gelang. The winner will slides the booty up his arms.
The boy with his arm covered the most will be the undisputed champion. He will strut around until his mom caught up with him for not taking his bath on time.
Berbilur...
That's the word to describe the red marks on your calf after being hit by batang ubi kayu.
Ha ha champion kena rotan. The rest cepat2 pegi mandi.
What a fantastic life.

Dulu banyak lori tanah besar like those in mining pit, parking tepi jalan di waktu petang. Tanahnya warna merah. Its not tanah but boxite.

D'ya remember?

Do you remember this house?
This place? Ayah A would, I guess.

I was in Darjah 6, which meant he was in Darjah 3? What school? I can't recall.
This is the very house we call home
back in 73. Was it called Kg Benggali?

I wasn't expecting to see this place still exist. Smack in the heart of town.

Like being in time warp, minus the people. 30 odd years and it is still there?
Waiting for me to see it for myself?
Maybe it's waiting for Ayah A too.


Still remember konda kondi games? The paperboat race during rains.

Tok colleague, Syed Dollah, fellow from Tekal, rent a house a little further down the road. His son, Syed Badri, I still remember.

The house under the bamboo trees was occupied by a single teacher from my school too. Can't remember his name.

The house( with the public phone attached?) is the landlord's.
A lady with a beautiful daughter.
She sold those ice cream malaysia(those syrup drink frozen in plastic tube) in those hot afternoon.

Alma mater

Recent CNY I'd been to Kuantan, when someone offered my wife free lodging at her resort in Sg Soi, near Tg Lumpur.
An opportunity opened up to do stuff I'd been meaning to do for quite sometimes. Trace my places of personal history in Kuantan, after 30 odd years.

We moved a lot during primary school years as Tok was an Askar Wataniah instructor, teaching villagers the rudimentary of civil defence.

That was in 72 & 73 if I weren't mistaken. The first house we moved to was high up in Bkt Sekilau.

Went to to a town school called Sek Keb Teruntum. Spent 2 years in that school. One of the best years of my primary lives. I was good, the school was good & the teachers were super.

The headmaster was a fellow from Kerdau named Cikgu Ariffin. Cikgu Ariffin went on to become my cousin when he married Embong Waimah, anak Mak Andak Miah in later years. He passed away a couple of years ago. Cikgu Ariffin was the handsome guy in dark suit you see in the pic.
The other is my best teacher, Cikgu Malik.
Really wish to see him.

Go fishing

Why do people go fishing?
Why do people go fishing in the wilds?

There are few ways to explain this.

Subconsciously fishing let me go somewhere I am at ease.
The view calms me down after the rough business of making a living & making ends meet. No peoples of interest, only places of interest.

Then fishing let me go somewhere with people I like. Of course you go with people whom you enjoy their company & vice versa. You can go on making endless small talks without having to gaze into their eyes.

Lastly, fishing connects me to nature.
The setting is natural
Fish where there are abundant of fish food
Places where fish can live & breed

Fish with something that make fish think it's their food
What fish take is natural or something that immitate nature

When fish take is also govern by nature
It teaches something about nature, mind you.

Take your kid fishing.

Pic worth a thousand words?
More, definitely more.
Its pure joy written all over his face.
Over a fat catfish
the lord of Sungai Bt Tiga

It didn't take much
aint it?
Didn't burn a hole in the pocket
No monthly installment
Go the cheap old fashion way

So you know what to do
Take your kid fishing.
If you don't know where
Call me