Old shop that have closed down

I was just pondering on the good old days.

There were many

1. Small provisional shops
2. Video rental shops
3. Kodak (Film & Photo shops)
4. Cassette/Music Shops

These shops have closed down because what they sell are overtaken by technology.

Those days, I use to hang out at these shops to buy goods, to rent a video, to buy film for my camera and to buy album in a form of cassette.

My kids will not be able to feel what I felt 40 years ago....

My 6th trip to New Zealand

My 6th trip to New Zealand is to attend

1. My daughter's graduation
2. My brother's graduation
3. Pay tribute to my late sister (Dr Zaidah Mustaffa)

This trip, I take in slow as I travel with my wife, 3 daughters and 1 grandchild who is 2 months old.

I bought a second-hand bicycle and explore these sub-urbans of Auckland with Mauri names:

Mangere
Manukau
Onehunga
Otahuhu
Pakuranga
Papakura
Papatoetoe
Puhinui
Tamaki
Te Papapa
Takapuna
Titirangi
Wiri

Warm greetings from Auckland, NZ

I am a Grandfather

On 26th September 2017 (5 Muharram 1439H) my daughter gave birth to a baby boy.

That means I am officially a grandfather.

All praise be to Allah for giving me the opportunity to become a grandfather.

It is a wonderful feeling. It is very different feeling from being a father.

Nonetheless, I am very grateful to Allah that both my daughter and grandson is fine.

Welcome to the world Rayyan Khairul Nazmi.

 

Setting priorities in life

To a company, you are just an employee.

The day you resign, your work cubicle will be replaced. Your absence will be missed for a day, then the company forgets you. They went on to make their money for they need to, and they have no time to grieve because the expectations they have to fulfill.

This is why, DO NOT MIX WORK with FAMILY. Do not take your work home, cast your family aside and forget about giving time to your children. Because in their hearts, you are never replaced. Because when you are gone, everyday you will be missed. If anything happen to you, it will be your family and close friends crying like crazy for you. Because to them (even though you are one person) you are their world.

So reset your priorities. Be a good worker.. but be a better father/friend/son.

Eid Fitri 1438H

This year Aidil Fitri is no different from other years

6am - Subuh at Surau (+Takbir)

7am - Went to mother's grave

9am - Solat Aidil Fitri at Sek16 mosque

10am - Breakfast & gathering at Aunt's house

12pm - Went to father's grave

1pm - At Che Yah's

3pm - At Pokda's

6pm - At Tokcik's

9pm - At Ok's

Ketupat, Rendang and F&N Orange is my signature raya dish since 1972

My 5th trip to New Zealand

I went to New Zealand for the 5th time.

This time I explore both the North and the South Island on a Campervan with my family.

Enjoy the vidoe

Wedding reception - Kota Bharu

The last of the wedding reception was done in Kota Bharu on Sat 23 Jan 2016.

This was to cater for people in KB (my significant other's side) that could not make it in KL on 2nd Jan 2016.

The reception was very nice indeed in a kampong atmosphere.

It started with doa selamat at 11.45am.

Then makan2 from 12-5pm.

Many people came. Estimated was 500 guests. They come & go as they please.

There was also girls from Rumah Anak2 Yatim Siti Aminah in KB which consists of 35 people.

All in all, this last reception was the closure of my 1st daughter's wedding.

I try to invite as many friends as I can in order to celebrate and share the joy of my historic moment.

To Aliah and Khai, best wishes to both of you in your newly married life.

To guests who came to my event, May Allah bless us All.

Aamiin

Wedding Reception - Groom side

The wedding reception for the groom side was held on 9th Jan 2016 in INTEC hall in Shah Alam.

Now, it is my side to gather my entourage for the groom side.

I found it difficult to achieve 50 people that has been allocated.

But Allah is the best planner, at the last moment, I managed to get to the required number.

My family (5), Faisal & Rudy (2), Jah (3), Kamil's friends (3), Maknab + Siti (5), Che Yah (3), Che Fauziah (3), Makjah (1), Dato Faruk (5) + Busu Bedah (5), Salina (5), Aman (3), Be Wa (3), Za (2).

We arrived at 1pm with the kompang boys.

I was seated at the main table.

Me & wife
Maknab & PC Razak
Dato Faruk & Aida
Datuk Rahman & Maktok
Faisal & Rudy + Makjah naik ke pelamin untuk menenjis.

The food was good and the atmosphere was pleasant.

Thank you all for the time. May Allah help us all. Aamiin

The wedding reception

The reception was held at my house in PJ on he 2nd January 2016.
My guests list is approximately 1,100. This is based on 550 cards that I have distributed since 1 Dec 2015.

The groom side came at 11.30 am. There is this toll-gate created incident where my relatives made human barricades in order to block the groom from entering the house. In order for the groom (and his entourage) to enter, they must pay a sum of money to the human barricade for them to pass through. It was fun and memorable.

I and my cousins, we did selawat for Rasulullah SAW when the groom finally entered the house to join the bride. This was NOT in the agenda.. it was inpromtu and it worked brilliantly.

By 12pm, oceans of people came to the house. I just cannot remember how many came, but MANY came.

I was permanently stationed at the entrance of my house in order to greet the in-coming guests and to thank the out-going guests
by giving the door gifts.

Old friends (MCKK colleagues), neighbours, surau/masjid friends, TNB friends, university mates, distance relatives..  they came with their families.

My ceremony was until 4pm. By 3pm, the food was almost finished! What!!

More food was ordered as may people still come between 3-4pm
Wow! This is really incredible!

I thank everyone who came to my daughter's reception on 2nd Jan 2016. I was overwhelming! I panicked a bit when told that the food was about to finished at 3pm. But I felt relieved when new food came at 3.30pm. We had to even take the food from the main table to serve the guests.

When it finally finished, I am really exhausted. But it was well worth it.

Alhamdulillah.. All praise be to Allah

My daughter got married

My eldest daughter got married on the 1st Jan 2016.

I will write on the days that is affected.

The build-ip to the wedding started on Thu 31 Dec 2015. This was the last day of the year. The house was being decorated in order to accommodate 250 guests at any one time. Massive work was done both inside and outside of the house.

At night, many of my close women relatives came to the house for "berinai". It is something to do with women...

On the 1st of Jan 2016 (Fri), I woke-up at 4am. Got to fetch my Boyan relatives at TBS (Bus Terminal). They came all the way from Johor.
Continue with last minute preparations. Did Jumaat prayers at Kg Tungku mosque.

By 6pm, I have to get ready for the solemnisation (akad).

The close relatives started to come at 8pm. I invited approximately 70 people to witness this historic moment.

Then the groom and his entourage of 50 people came at 8.45pm.
The ustaz came at 9.15pm. The akad was performed in a very nice manner by myself at 9.45pm and witnessed by Ustaz Hazley of Masjid Bulat. I have (by then) transferred my responsibility of my daughter to another person. Aamiin.

Then, all the guests had dinner starting at 10pm and lasted until 11pm. I saw my guests were very happy. They wish me good things. I am so very happy

Alhamdulillah. I thank Allah on this day.. and I shall continue thanking Allah every passing day..

My daughter got engaged

13th Dec 2015 was the date that my eldest daughter got engaged.

Exactly one year ago (Dec 2014), a young man by the name of Khairulnazmi came to my house to ask if he could plan to have
my eldest daughter as his future wife.

On that Sunday (13 Dec 2015), about 40 people came to my house for the engagement. What I plan to be a simple ceremony became quite an event.

My close cousin (Jajak) became my spokesperson with 5 trays of gifts changing hands.

I am grateful to Allah that a young and good person asked for my daughter.

Insyaallah everything will be good.

My advice to my daughters when feeling down

I has been a while since I wrote about my 4 daughters.

They are very important to me. I shall give them ALL the support to ensure they lead a good life. Below are my advice specific to them.

This world, sometimes you will face ups and downs. That is life. It is never up and it is never down.
We need to deal with these situations. That is why reminder by our close friends/relatives is VERY IMPORTANT.

When we are down, like we think that we are not good, not doing well in our exams and feeling that we are not important, come back to Allah.

It is okay to feel down, but it is NOT OK to feel down all the time.

Just let the feeling sink in, and get back to your senses.

I am good. I do well in my exams and I am important to Allah and the people who are close to me. Talk to close friends/relatives about you feeling down. And these people will motivate you back to be feeling positive.

Just be aware that our LIFE is full of ups and downs. The key is your ups MUST BE MUCH MORE than your downs.

The solution - seek advice from close people and seek forgiveness from Allah. Then have a POSITIVE mind.

Insyaallah it works. Well... it works for me. That is why I share this article.

Aliah my eldest daughter is very beautiful and active in sports/activities. She loves cats. Taking Psychology at Auckland University of Technology (AUT)

Aisyah my second daughter is very beautiful and active in arts and photography. She loves fashion. Taking Architecture at University institute Technology Mara (UiTM)

Ain Zahra, my third is very pretty and studying form 3 at SMKP Sri Aman, Petaling Jaya (High Performance School)

Anis Sofia, my fouth is very pretty and studying in Std 6 at SIM Darul Ehsan, Subang Jaya (Good Integrated School)

My daughters are my trustees. I am responsible to them.

Last bit of advice which they already know "Jangan lupa Solat"

Allah will take care of All of us

My 3rd trip to Auckland to visit sister and daughter(2)

Thursday 27Nov. I woke up early to follow my sister to her workplace in Central Auckland. By 9am, she dropped me at Albert Park and I walked (my usual path) to the Domain and Auckland Museum.
I waited until 11.30am for my whole family to arrive at the Domain. We took pictures and talk. At 12pm, we slowly walked to Food Court in Queen's Street to have lunch at an Indon halal restaurant. I ate soo much that what I burned when I walked in the morning were replaced by the amount of food I ate for lunch.

After lunch, we headed again to the Domain where we park our car (3 hours free!). This time we are too full to even walk. We took the bus and drove straight to the north side of Auckland at a suburb called Davenport. Nice little town . We found a much sorted Milk Chocolate in a supermarket which was just being refilled. The cashier limit only one bottle for every customer! Each of us bought one seperately!

We climbed the Mount Victoria and looked at the sea surrounding Auckland City. There was a fort up on the mountain and the scenery is breathtaking. We took many pictures!!

Friday 28Nov. A rest day for all of us... At 1.30pm I drove to Pakuranga mosque (Majd Abu Bakar) to perform Jumaat prayers. The rest of the family went shopping at Sylvia Park. We had a good halal lunch. At night, we went to sister Norleen's house for a very nice dinner. We came back almost midnight!

Sat 29Nov. I went with my sister to Manukau City as her charity organisation (Fatimah Foundation) has a function. A very pleasant and friendly man came and shook hands with me. Later I found out from my brother that he is Len Brown the Mayor of Auckland! What a contrast to the situation in Malaysia!

Then we proceed to go shopping at Victoria Market, where you can open a small corner shop for a small amount! Nice atmosphere.

Then me and eldest daughter Aliah went to the beach in Kare-kare together with her friends from Aussie. What a fantastic beach. There was also a waterfall just before the beach front. All praise be to Allah for creating this beautiful world for us (His slaves) to thank Him.

Sunday 30Nov. Packing day for me. My flight to KL is at 2.30pm. By 12.45pm, I was at the airport. Thank you to my sister and daughter for having me in Auckland. This 3rd time was as good as the previous 2 visits. My wife and 2 daughters also stay for another 2.5 weeks and I travel back to KL alone. There was a 1 hour delay and the airline gave NZD12 for me to have a quick lunch.

What a wonderful trip this is. Alhamdulillah and thank you to sister and daughter, thank you Allah....   

My 3rd trip to Auckland to visit sister and daughter

I spent my holiday this year in New Zealand.

This is my 3rd time in New Zealand and I have full respect for this country. No wonder they are good in rugby!

I arrive in Auckland early Monday morning 24 Nov. My sister & brother-in-law came to fetch me and family at the airport.\

They brought us to their home in Coppins Road, Mount Wellington. The whole day we rested after 11 hours of flight. In the evening, around 6pm, we drove to my favourite beach in Auckland, Mission bay. Had the traditional fish-and-chips and overlooking Rangitoto island. Nice!

Tuesday, I went to Auckland to meet up with old acquantance. His name is Christ Day. I met him on a flight from Auckland -KL in 2012 and we talked about some common interests. In the afternoon, I walked towards Otahuhu.. wonderful walk.

In the evening, the whole family went up Mount Wellington and took pictures. Very very nice!

Wednesday, all of us went on a day trip to Roturua. Roturua is situated 210KM from Auckland. I drove through HW1-HW2-HW27-HW24-HW8-HW5.

We started at 7.30am and reached Roturua at 10.00am. When we started from Auckland, it was raining but when we reached Roturua the shine began to shine. Subhanallah.

Coincidently when we reached the SkyPark, I heard some called "Ayah.." It was my eldest daughter!
She was with her friends from Australia. We hug, but she told me she had to go. I said " See you in Auckland". We climbed the mountain on a cable car called "Gondola". On the way down, the kids used the LUGE while I took a calm walk down scenic route down the mountain.

We then had lunch at Kebab store (Just Kebab). Then off we went to Agrodome for the Farm tour. Nice tour feeding the sheeps. And watching how they sheer the sheep.

We then spent time at the lake and at Kuirau Park where there are many hot springs. Prayed zuhr & Asr before heading back to Auckland. The sun was still up at 7.30pm when we started our journey back to Auckland. Reached at 10.00pm and feeling very tired but extremely happy!
Alhamdulillah

My loving daughters

I have not written about my daughters for some time.

They have all grown up.

The first one is now in Auckland, New Zealand. She should be mature and independent now. Just have to learn about life and experience it on her own.

The second one is studying architecture in UiTM, Shah Alam. She is acquiring skills to be a very good achitect, and I see great talent in her.

The third & forth are still schooling, and I make a point to recite Quran with them 3 times in a week. I sincerely hope the third one will finish (khatam) the Quran before Eidil Adha this year. That is my target for her.

As a father, I will support them and make doa for them to make the best of life in this world.

I seek Allah's power to guide them to the right path and enter jannah together.

Aameen.

Eldest daughter enters NZ University in Auckland

I have not written for some time due to my busy schedule in the whole month of February 2014.
I cannot recall a busier month that I encountered before this month.

My eldest daughter got offer from 1 university from Australia and 1 university from New Zealand. To respond to the university, I have to pay the full annual fee before the university can fully accept her.

To get a loan for such a huge sum is one challenge I have to encounter. Then to get the student visa, is another challenge, as the Visa application centre is in Singapore and not in my country, Malaysia.

My eldest daughter got the offer on 13th Feb. I took 1 week to raise her tuition fees, post it to New Zealand and they officially responded on the 20th Feb. Then I have to fill in the visa application form which has almost 50 questions that the candidate must fill in.

They include questions on the university, the financial backing, the health of the candidate, the countries that they have been recently and many more.

The completed application has to be couriered to Singapore, including the application's passport and other necessary documents. Not forgetting the visa application charges and the fees to pay
for the return courier. The application process takes between 1 to 2 weeks, depending on many factors.

I sent the application on 21 of Feb, but class in NZ starts on 3 Mar 2014. The immigration officer in Singapore called on the 3 Mar saying that the application is ready, but because they issue on the date the the candidate has to register, the immigration officer needs a consent from the University in NZ to say that the U accepts late registration candidates.

Because of 5 hour time difference, I called the NZ university on the 4th Mar, to issue a letter to NZ Immigration in Singapore to say that the university accepts late registration students. Apparently, the university is very strict on registration and did not accept late registration. The university told me to register my daughter for the next semester in September.

I was devastated. Apparently I asked my sister in NZ to appeal, giving all the available reasons. After the University Dean had a meeting on 5th Mar, they agree to accept my daughter to register on the 10 Mar 2014(1 week late)

I already sent my wife to Singapore on the 5th Mar to standby at the NZ Visa Centre.

On the 5th Feb, the said University sent an email to NZ Immigration in Singapore. NZ immigration then released the visa and there was my wife waiting for the passport outside the office in Singapore.

My wife flew back to KL on that same day and the next morning 6th Mar, we all sent my eldest daughter to NZ.

What an experience!

All the while, I pray to Allah that Allah make easy for me in all my daily activities. There is no one to help you in many circumstances accept Allah.

True enough, if you have Allah, you have everything. Come back to Allah & He will make it easy for you.. 

2013 - year end projects with daughters

Another year is about to come to a close.

If you follow my blog constantly, every year-end holiday I did asked my 4 daughters to achieve something together with me.

It started way back in 2009, when the first project was to solve the Rubik's 3x3 cube.

2010, was to complete hafazan Surah AtTaariq and 2011 to complete hafazan Surah Al-Buruuj. But come 2012, I did not specify  anything specific. The reason being that I thought after Surah Al-Buruuj, the remaining Juz Ammar becomes difficult.

The rule is that 1 of my 4 daughters must be able to achieve the set target. The deadline is 31 Dec each year.

2009 - Aliah (1st daughter) managed to solve Rubik's cube; I also managed in Nov2009
2010- Ain (3rd daughter) managed to hafaz At-Taariq; I managed to hafaz in Dec2010
2011- Ain (3rd daughter) managed to hafaz Al-Buruuj; I only managed to hafaz in Feb2012 (2 months delay)

But in 2013, I again set hafaz Surah Al-Insyiqaaq as the project. And this time, I wanted either Aisyah (2nd daughter) or Anis (4th daughter) to achieve it with me.

I sincerely hope we can achieve it.. together..

Make doa for me

Visit to Mount Bromo

 



From my previous blog, I found out that my grandfather came from the island of Bawean. It is a small island 150km north of Jawa towards Borneo.

 

I took the whole family (wife + 4 daughters) to Bawean. However, when we reached Jawa, the boat going to Bawean was cancelled due to engine failure. The boat trip to Bawean is 3 times in a week.

 

Anyway, I then planned a trip to south of Jawa, to a volcanic mountain of Bromo. It was a beautiful scene on top of the volcanic range. We went up the summit of Mount Panajakan (by 4x4) to see the morning sunrise.

 

Then we climb Mount Bromo, which needs a bit of effort to reach the volcano top. The volcano is still active with hot steam coming out of the crate.

 

I am sharing 2 of my favourite photos up on Mount Bromo. I wore none other than Manchester United jersey. Then me & daughters took the air-borne picture with the camera facing the sun. If there is the flash, then the picture will be clearer. Nonetheless, the picture showed our feelings.. 

 

Subhanallah, all praise be to Allah for creating such a beautiful mountain/volcanic range.

 

It was a very good family outing. The result is I am closer to my wife & the kids as we enjoyed the good things together & I always remind them to praise Allah when we observe HIS creations.

 

For mountain in Quran (Ghasiyah:19). "And the mountains, how they are fixed firm" 

Spending time with my 2 teenage daughters..

It has been a while since I write about my kids..

My wife went to London on 9 August 2013 with my two (2) youngest daughters. They will be there for 15 days.

That leaves me the time with my (2) eldest daughters age 19 and 17 respectively. We know that at that age, they have their friends that they like hanging out with. Well, this is a golden opportunity for me to hang out with them, when they are not hanging out with their friends. At that age, they do not like hanging out with their parents... Not fun

Firstly, I must act like their friends, not like a father.

That is easier said that done. Because once you are a father, you will remain a father, bossy & wanting to be in control ALL the time.

Secondly, I must appreciate what are their passion (music & movies).
Again easier said than done. Because of 30 years of gap, things are very different between us. The key word is "appreciate" not follow blindly..

Anyway, I took those 2 above principles, and we had a "good" time together amid many differences.. When there are differences, we just have to accept it, value them & explain the rational and go on...

They are grownups now and as a father, I realize that I may soon have to let them go...

May Allah protect them and make them to be good Muslimats and eventually become Mukminats
Ameen...     

My childhood days....

It has been 5 years since I first started blogging.

Alhamdulillah, I am still able to blog. Allah give me the strength to continue writing. I love to write. But I need to also add value to whoever read my blog. My readers must feel that they have learnt something after reading my blog.

It is time to write about me.

I was born in Terengganu. It is situated on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. I am the second child of my parents. Sadly, my elder brother (who was born in Terengganu) died during childbirth. So, I became the first child. I am also the first grandchild.

Not wanting to repeat what happened to my brother (who died), my grandparents took me from my mother and raised me. My parents did not object, as both of them were in Kuala Lumpur at that time, while I stayed in Kuala Terengganu.

My grandfather was  the Chief Police Officer (CPO) of the state of Terengganu. He was the first Malay CPO of a particular state. The other states, the CPO were British.

So, I was being pampered during my childhood. My "mother" was my grandmother. It was told that I was really naughty when I was 2-5 years old. I don't remember at all.

My grandfather retired in 1968, and all of us moved to Petaling Jaya (a new township at that time). That was where I realised that I have another mother. Nevertherless, I was still a naughty boy.

I went to a primary school in PJ from 1972 until 1977. I got good grades during that time. I lost my grandmother in 1972 (4th July) after she suffered from heart attack. I then adjusted myself back to be with my parents.

One more thing, I was also the only child until 1971. My brother came on that year. Then came my 2 sisters in 1974 & 1975 respectively. I guess, being the only child spoilt me a bit...

I khatam my Quran in 1977. What a proud moment for me. During my schooldays, I usually came 2nd in my class. The no. 1 in class was my good buddy until today by the name of Danial Mohd Noor. He was a genius.
    
I love football. I love playing it as well as watching it.. It is a wonderful game. I used to follow Malaysia, especially when they play in "Pestabola Merdeka". Malaysia was among the best team in Asia at that time. The likes of Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh & Arumugam.

That was basically my childhood days. I only remember during my childhood in Petaling Jaya. It has 22 sections & then they open up 25 more sections (SS).

My 4 daughters are all born and raised in Petaling Jaya. Their neighbourhood is similar to mine & I hope they have a good life just like I do...