01 January 2008

Pak Cik reminisces (part 3) - New Year, 50 years ago

The clock on the wall is showing 2.05 am, Tuesday, the 1st of January 2008. Mak Cik is fast asleep after watching the New Year celebration on TV. In the dark and still of the night, Pak Cik have just said a short prayer on the verandah outside our bedroom, a way of saying farewell to 2007 and welcoming 2008. And now here I am, Pak Cik, sitting and thinking. From sheer force of habit Pak Cik have to sit back and reflect on the year that has just slipped by. What have I achieved to thank Him for and what failure is there that I should feel ashamed of myself as a legacy of 2007? And what do I do now for my tomorrow? I thank Him for the gifts of the past year and continue to seek more help for what I must start now to build a better tomorrow.

I reached into a box of old diaries and picked up that for 1957. It was on top because I had dug it out very recently for the note on Merdeka (Pak Cik Reminisces - Part 2). What a coincidence , 1st January 1957 fell on Tuesday as well. The page is full. As always it begins with a short prayer. This one is in my poor Arabic which says :

Bismillah …….. O God, I have not been fair to myself and I belong to the weak. So forgive me and strengthen my faith in You. All praises are Yours and to You I shall return. God, please help me through this new year as You have always helped me. To You goes all my gratitudse. Only you are the Perfect. .Amin.


The weather was cold where I was.
Afternoon temperature - 8 deg C
Evening temperature - 5 deg C
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Pak Cik must be sensing the great change in weather to see it fit to record the temperature readings in my diary. Here I am in my in my room with the air-conditioner set at 23 deg C.

To the Almanar community, the past and present, Pak Cik wish and pray that this new year will be better than the ones gone by. Do reflect on the past, resolve to achieve better and start the act today. As Pak Cik often say to you all, Yesterdays are not ours and we cannot count on tomorrows. Those are His, Alawwalu wal Akhiru. If at all we can claim today to do something and then we can hope and pray that we have a better tomorrow.
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