Midnight bombing?

This true story happened a week ago when I was 500 km away from my home in Terengganu, having driven that day all alone and non-stop. I was to be with my other half who was in her kampong helping to nurse her aged mother of nearly ninety. Not feeling that tired I sat watching Ajazeera. The time was midnight. They were showing bombing ecenes in Algeria. It was then the sound of a heavy thud coming from outside myhouse interrupted me – a bomb! Almost at the same time Makcik’s voice rang clear, “ Ada jatuh, babah!” – meant for me of course, happened to be the only able-bodied male in the house at that moment. I picked up the torch-light, put on a pair of Wellington boots and out I went out of the house into the darkness. A short search and there it was a big durian half stuck in the soft ground. The wind was blowing slightly, slowly shaking the branches of huge, tall durian trees around the house, each old tree about the height of four-storey building. Within a period of about two hours I picked up EIGHT huge fruit. It did occur to me what if one of these ‘bombs’ chose to land on one’s head? But I have not yet heard of one such incident.

Grand-son, Rayyan has found one - too heavy to lift

Rayyan dwarfed against the giant tree

Look at the height of one older than Rayyan's granpa.

The eight I gathered that midnight

So that mid-night I struggled to open freshly fallen durians for the the mid-night feast.

Just from one fruit. Can you finish this or open another?

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

Water project in Algeria

In my posting ‘With a sigh (pt 6)” I mentioned about the water project in Algeria. This point was picked up by Awang Goneng, who left the following comment that has led me to a blog which offers very interesting read on current affairs not likely found in normal western media:

“Dear Abang Ngah, Funny you mentioned the water project in Algeria. Go to the link below and be surprised: http://poorrichards-blog.blogspot.com/2011/03/virtually-unknown-in-west-libyas-water.html#comments
But they've probably bombed it all now.”

I am very pleased to have the ‘poorrichards’ blog in my ‘favourites'. I recommend my visitors a visit to poorrichards.

Thank you Mi.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

It’s Weird

Yesterday morning I heard over tv of another quake in Japan, a smaller one. The bottom of the sea must have gone crazy, cracking and sending vibrations through its mass of water. And here things are truly weird. Monsoon ended over a month ago. End of March ought to see calm sea ready for ‘sotong’ season. But the poor fishermen have not been out to sea for a couple of weeks. ‘Aroh derah’ (the current is strong) they told me. Indeed the sea is unusually rough for this time of the year. Look at the picture I took yesterday afternoon. With the grey looking sea, the dark clouds threatening, it was a frightening to stand on the beach by yourself.

What colour is the sea when it is angry with the sky threatening to crash down?

If that is not enough, we have had a few days of continuous rain. A few days ago we had the second flood in two weeks – floods in March? Yesterday, after hearing about flood entering a friend's Makcik and Pakcik paid him anf family a visit. What a sight to see the ground floor of the house located in a small housing area right in the middle of this beautiful city of the global fame Monsoon Cup. Makcik and Pakcik were invited into the house WITH our shoes on! What a sight it was when the beauticully tiled floor we were familiar with was still partly covered in patches of mud. My friends showed me the pictures he took of his house under water.

The road between the houses

In front of the entrance

The sitting room

In the kitchen

The famous city of Kuala Terengganu is a city by the sea and this friend’s house is just over a kilometer away from the famous Batu Buruk ( Rotten Rock ) beach fronting the vast, open South China Sea. And this city cannot find a solution to drain itself dry of a small flood! My friend and wife spent two days cleaning their house of the mud left by the mini flood. And to think this had already happened a few years earlier.

We can only hope and pray that we would not have to go through anything the like of what the Japanese have just gone through.

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P/S; A Note from Awang Goneng.

Just before posting this Pakcik received from Wan Ahmad Hulaimi a.k.a. Awang Goneng in London, an email, specifically personal but with a short note on the latest position of his second book which many have been looking forward to. Here it goes and enjoy the first 27 pages. "My second book on Trengganu, A Map of Trengganu, has come out in Singapore but Malaysians will have to wait until the week of the KL Bookfair end of April. If you'd like to read the first 27 pages, here's where to go: http://www.monsoonbooks.com.sg/downloads/ch1-0854317.pdf"

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Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanuiaan

Terima kasih

I was about 500 km away from Kuala Terengganu when a call came through on my hand-phone. It was noon on 23rd March; the day SPM results were announced.

“ Ini Syami, Pakcik. Terima kasih Pakcik. Saya dapat semua A”, the boy’s voice came through. I could imagine a broad smile on his face. As if that was not enough I still put in a question, “How about the grade for GCE English?”

“Itu saya dapat 1A.” That satisfied me. ( Many would get A+ for the SPM English but not necessarily 1A under GCE marking, which is more meaningful to Pakcik )

This is the time of the year I can hope to share the joy of my ex Almanar pupils, those who have managed to take in all the scolding during their basic three years at secondary school level and strived forwards.


----------------


I returned home yesterday. And this morning three boys stayed to wait in my house until I finished a class at Almanar, across the road. I was pleased to see the cheerful faces of these three boys.



Right to left: Syami (9 As), Faiz (4As) and Azrol (8As)

At least the few boys I have at Almanar can perform no less. The girls would probably come later to make merry or moan. But these three boys, from deserving families, give me enough reason to put in a quick posting. Syami is the first in his family to be tutored at Almanar, Faiz and Azrol the third in their respective families, their elders being undergraduates at various universities, one of whom is finishing dentistry in Bandung.

A note to my ex Almanar pupils:
I congratulate you all and wish you the best. This is just the beginning. To those who have not performed satisfactorily,Pakcik would remind you that this is not the end of the world. I will always offer you a shoulder to cry on. Come over and we will discuss what we can do next.

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With a sigh ( Pt 6 ) – of different kind

It saddened me to no end to hear of the UN decision on the no-fly zone involving military actions in Libya, short of ground invasion. I am no political analyst, least of all of world affairs. Perhaps I should rightly be blamed for viewing the scenerio from one narrow perspective – Arab world’s inability to correct itself; and these countries are among the world richest in natural resources! America, France and Britain are the main players. Little is highlighted of the views expressed by Russia and China.

How convenient it is to act hastily just because the Arabs themselves have asked for it!

Have we forgotten that easily the Iraq invasion and the number killed? Have we forgotten that easily the number of Muslim Bosnians slaughtered and the length of time taken before a corrective action was taken? Have we forgotten that easily how many Palestinians have been killed and are continued to be killed? Do we put aside the problems faced by persons with Muslim names applying for visa into America, and how many have been denied? Do we forget that easily how the French made sure the Muslim women do not have the freedom to dress the way the want?

Kita cepat lupa.

Members of Arab League want the Western powers to solve the problem within another Arab country – no matter what it takes because the Muslims themselves have failed!

Once, as a young boy, I was taught a saying of our great Prophet.

The greatest of all prophets drew an analogy of the relationship between a Muslim and another Muslim as a building in which different parts strengthen one another. The All-Knowing chose an Arab to be the greatest prophet and the holy Quran in Arabic. Do we not wonder why?

The long and short of it, we have failed.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

------------------------

P/S:

Nearly twenty years ago I had a first hand story, from a very senior European engineer working in Algeria, of a fantastic unground river project for irrigation purposes. A super power was trying to spin it as a underground atomic project! The hatred for that man in Algeria began long long ago. Orang mengantuk disorong bantal.

Moment to Reflect (Pt 3) - The sea! What’s happened?

Yesterday morning when I opened our bedroom window the sight of the sea caught my attention. “ The sea! What’s happened?” I half exclaimed to ask myself.

The surface of the sea was very unusually dark, almost black, with strange formation of waves on its surface under the dark threatening sky. But I brushed what I saw aside, making belief it was just one of those things.

It was almost at the end of day yesterday when I happened to switch on Aljazeera and watched with horror the tsunami scene in Japan. Quickly I took a look at the sea and saw exceptionally heavy sea with wind blowing hard. That should not be so yesterday when the Chinese New had already signalled the end of our monsoon. Later I received a couple of calls telling me that the police had been advising people to be on the alert following the tsunami in Japan. With my other half away for a few days, here I was all alone in a house by the sea.


Second day

I spent the night, praying that I would not be awakened to hear the sound of water surrounding Nuri ( rumahku cahaya hatiku.)

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Regetting that I did not have the presence of mind to capture the sea ywsterday, I decided mkr good today. The sea has not quite turned to normal but nothing like it was yesterday. A fisherman hanging around the beach, unable to go out, remarked that yesterday’s high tide was exceptionally high. I do not think he knew what had likely triggered the condition. I made no attempt to explain.

Second day

/>

Back in my room with my lap top I began to draft this. Lines from AlQuran began to drift by - 'mauj; pl amwaj - wave, surge of the sea' . THey are quoted not less than seven times in Al Quran. In particular I am reminded of an ayat in Surah Hud ( Ayat 42 of Surah 11):

Abdallah Yousuf Ali had the following understanding: “ So the Ark floated with them on the waves (towering) like mountains …..” Yes, it relates to Noah’s Ark, the story that many of us have heard over and over again.

I wonder are ‘the waves (towering) like mountains’ reflect what we today know as tsunami? Wallahu A’lam. The Holy Book has many things way ahead of time and it is not subject to time dimension, one of its miracles. Stop for one brief moment to reflect - Subhanallah.

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With a sigh ( Pt 5 – sec III) – Awang Goneng’s Comments

( C ) Of reading books Vs
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How right Awang Goneng is. He said ‘hold on tight’
‘They probably don't read a book in a week because of tiredness and minyak Cap Kapak (for the aching limbs)’

I know, by comparison with children in other big towns, how much love for reading is among the children in my part of the country. I look at the library of a club in Kuala Lumpur and marvel at the large number of members’ children busy returning and borrowing books, each with more than one copy in hand. I visit the beautiful library of my famed bandaraya and can only draw my famous sigh at the pathetic scene.

The so-called ‘c-cafés’ are found in all the corners of my neighbourhood. They exist even in the midst of low cost housing estates. There is money to be made and the operators have no qualm over the damage their private enterprise does to the young kids. It is a common sight to see children from primary schools spending whatever little pocket money they have at these places, sometimes during school hours. Here I would like to relate a case involving a young brother of a pupil at Almanar.

One day a Form 2 pupil moaned over his failure to persuade his Form 1 younger brother to attend tuition class at Almanar, being so hooked up on computer games with friends. Whatever few cents he receives every morning from his single mother, who worked as a helper in a teacher’s home to supplement the small monthly allowance from Social and Welfare Department, would be spent on computer games. Not enough, the boy worked part-time helping to do the dishes at a food-stall nearby, just to earn a few ringgits, all for the computer games.

And now this rich state is applauded for having started distributing computers to school children. I would have thought the students at the universities ( of ‘taraf anatara bansa’, no doubt) have greater needs for them.
---------------------
We have three desk tops at Almanar for children to work on. Of late I have to begin tight control over these computers after realising that, among other things, the computers were on to provide ‘music while you work’ - working indeed! Furthermore, seeing the many prohibited items sold at ‘pasar malam’, I fear other uses/misuses of our computers; these are not unlikely hearing what the children have been saying to Pakcik. They are a clever lot on the novel uses of computers and hand-phone with cameras. These young kids are one up on Pakcik on taking pictures and sharing them through friends’ hand-phones. I only know how to operate a less-than-one-hundred ringgit Nokia, which is complicated enough for me. One day a boy confided that he had just received a picture of xxxxx through his hand phone. The subject was a known pupil of the same school! In fact the pleasure of sharing such pictures is common among his friends, girls no exception. I shuddered at the disclosure.

In short, who wants to read books which takes ages to read and understand when a computer can give all the things one needs without having a stack of reference books to page through.
------------------
Of ‘tiredness and minyak cap lapak’, I think ‘minyak cap rimaa’ is better.

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Sebagai akhir kalam, Pakcik would like to apologise if dear readers, especially teachers, do not share the views expressed above.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

With a sigh ( Pt 5 – sec II) – Awang Goneng’s Comments

In this second section, as promised, I will express my personal opinion on three areas contained in Awang Goneng’s newspaper column and the comment he left for Pakcik.


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(a) Of methodology

It saddens me whenever I find teachers believing that, firstly, ‘methodology’ is the tool without which teaching is meaningless and, secondly, knowing ‘exam format’ is of necessity to score good results. The business of teaching by old methods and the use of old proven reference and text books are looked upon with disdain. For the lack of these necessities I was once belittled. I relish the thought of relating in brief the occasion I was spoken of as an individual unqualified to teach.

Some time ago a secondary school, headed by a new principle with brilliant ideas, decided to introduce an ‘elite group’ in Form Three. Naturally, the group was made up of the top performers of the previous year’s Form 2 exam. The aim was, of course, the typical number game, to achieve greater number of top scorers in the PMR exam at the end of the year.

Together with their parents, about fifteen pupils with potential to satisfy the thirst for excellent results were called for a special briefing by the principle to mark and publicise the launching of this special 'elite' plan. Among the many steps to be taken for this special group – (never mind the bulk of other Form Three pupils numbering not less than three hundred) – many extra classes and special ‘camps’ would be arranged. It so happened that most of these selected pupils had been attending tuition classes at Almanar steadfastly for two years. Many of them were average performers when, two years earlier, they began their Form One at the school.

During the question time that followed, a father of one of the pupils, the top performer in that group, stood up to make an appeal that, whilst the many extra classes planned for the 'elite' group were appereciated, he hoped that his son and his friends would still have time to continue attending tuition classes at Almanar as they had been doing so for so long. In response to that appeal a senior official of the school proudly declared, in the presence of his boss, that Pakcik of Almanar was nothing more than an x-x-x- , not a qualified teacher by profession, and as such, was unlikely to be familiar with the methodology and exam format required to help pupils perform well in the exam, full stop.

The above father was so disgusted with the derogatory remarks uttered that he decided to call on Pakcik at the end of the day to relate the incident, and to say how sorry he was over the stance shown against Pakcik of Almanar. He was more than convinced that his son with 2A,2B and 1C ( the 'C' was in English) would not have progressed that far over the two years without some help from Almanar. (Incidentally the boy continued to get ‘A’ in English, Maths and Science subjects in his PMR through to SPM.)

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(b) Of extra-mural activities

Of the ‘extra-mural activities’ mentioned by Awang Goneng I have to admit belonging to the old school. My advice to pupils is to enjoy whichever games they like but never at the excessive of their studies. If it is just reading they like, by all means, so be it. But these days one is almost literally forced to take up extr-mural activities under the threat of not getting into a university without the precious 10% points – a must even if one fails in all the academic subjects which account for 90%! Pakcik would probably be a fisherman today as a punishment for getting 0% points in extra-mural activities more than half a century ago when my buddies played soccer bare-footed.


Now let us see what has become of tuition class at Almanar on a sports day.

Yesterday was a record day for Almanar. It was sports day at school and I did not know it. Children were required to attend - or be punished, so I was given to believe. As a result we had a record of ONE pupil who turned up at Almanar for Form 1 tuition class! But that was not all because the one who turned up was a boy, hence another record , 100% male!


Now who is this boy, so brave to absent himself from the school sports?

He is the third, the youngest, of three brothers in a family. His two elder brothers attended Almanar, obtained all the As they wanted in their PMR and SPM exams and are now in universities. And this little brother, in my assessment, has the highest potential of the three. I found it my duty to teach him yesterday and I did it with great pleasure ; he was so much like my own grandchildren. I think, Insya Allah, this boy will perform no less than his two successful elders.
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To be continued.


Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

With a sigh ( Pt 5 – sec I ) – Awang Goneng’s Comments

In the New Sunday Times of 16th January WAN A HULAIMI, better known as Awang Goneng, wrote ‘What use the newest when the method is flawed?’ copied below:

What use the newest when the method is flawed?
WAN A. HULAIMI
elsewhere@columnist.com

FEYERABEND at Sussex University in 1974 was a physical wreck, but his intellectual vigour remained intact. He walked into the lecture theatre hobbling on a crutch, and wrote three questions on the black board: What's so great about knowledge? What's so great about science? What's so great about truth?
That was classic Feyerabend. Now, just under a month to the seventeenth anniversary of his death, he is still remembered as the man who looked at method and pelted it with fruit, some ironic, some rotten, some soaked in his reductio that reduced them all to absurdum.

In conversation with a friend last week I mentioned someone -- a Malaysian -- whose skills in English language teaching was undisputed but who still remained largely ignored. "He is getting on in years," I said. "Perhaps we should tap his knowledge."

"It'll probably shine a ray of light," I said. "Now that we're wandering in a maze."

We both acknowledged that the person we were talking about had made remarkable strides. "But he may be a bit behind in his method," the friend added. "Methodology", he whispered before we both fell silent, for that was the buzzword.

Feyerabend wasn't against knowledge, or science or truth, however elusive the word. He was a philosopher of science, but when he was ill he turned to the "alternative", and it worked. Is there just one science, one way, one route to human knowledge? Or, apropos my friend, one method?

Looking at the way things are going it is easy to see the bandwagon on the road. People are always excited with this or that, the latest and the one that draws the crowd. And even that will soon fall by the wayside when a knight donning a new shining methodology comes a-riding down the road. We often forget that the business of teaching is to teach. Look at all those gleaming computers now in schools, and the Wi-Fi criss-crossing invisibly overhead. In some schools in Britain the teachers get less funding if they resist; and yet there's the Rudolf Steiner schools that refuse to have any of those newfangled gadgets and they are none the worse for that. They are probably able to know as much about Socrates as their counterparts, even if they may be lagging behind in the Facebook.

To be fair to my friend, he wasn't hitching a ride on the bandwagon but was merely stating a fact, that people can be awed by methods at the expense of results, even if it is proven again and again that old methods do work. We can have a pluralism, Feyerabend seemed to believe, even in days when he himself was clinging on to method.

In education or medicine, the dominant science dictates. The tyranny of orthodox medicine -- known pejoratively to its opponents as allopathy -- means that alternative remedies with different paradigms are attacked. There is a general disdain of learning by rote, but learning by rote carries subtle effects that cannot be measured by immediate results in terms of how the mind is shaped, how language is unconsciously absorbed. There are advantages too of course from the questioning method and the analysis of truths, so Feyerabend I guess would have set them both to the work.

"(Science) is one of the many forms of thought that have been developed by man, and not necessarily the best. It is conspicuous, noisy, and impudent, but it is inherently superior only for those who have already decided in favour of a certain ideology, or who have accepted it without ever having examined its advantages and its limits," he said in his book Against Method.

There is the danger of course in thinking that the scientific establishment, now or in the past, is neutral, and the danger of following blindly the mainstream of ideas because it is fashionable is all too obvious. Even Feyerabend's way that rejected method in favour of pluralism may be fraught, for he himself, when bemused by the criticisms of his disdain of method, said that people had failed to see the irony and the playfulness in his work. Still, it was a jolt, and a brutal reminder of how much we are taken in by the mainstream without even stopping to realise that sometimes the show, in Feyerabend's words, "has been rigged".

There are old ways and new methods. Each, as my friend the old English teacher would say, should be judged by results. For his part he has his lifetime's work to prove his worth, not bad for a man who was illiterate until he was about fifteen. He may be lagging behind as far as modern methodology is concerned, and this word came about when we were discussing English language teaching in Malaysia.

We are having problems now as we can all see and read. Our students are failing to articulate, our diplomats are at a loss for words and our teachers are using textbooks that are flawed. We are, forever, looking at what's new in the methodology, but what if the madness itself is in the method

-----------------------------------

Pakcik read the article with interest because in a professional way he touched on a subject which would not be possible for me to express as well. Had he written it in his popular blog ‘Kecek-Kecek’ I would have left my comments there and then. That not being the case I had what he had written copied for keep in my laptop, never expecting to have a chance to comment until I read the following comment he left on my last posting ( Is it the end of the tunnel ).

“Perhaps you should extend your horizon and take people outside your catchment area too if they want to come.

Children are loaded with extra-mural activities nowadays, from navel-gazing to marching around with fake arms (wooden guns I mean).. There are more children at school so there should be more demand for coaching.

And do I hear that some schools are suspicious of outsiders who are interested in teaching for nothing?

Hold on tight, use the free time to watch the coconut trees grow or paint dry or to listen to the kampung folk doing the ratib awor. Or you yourself can do the marhaban, after all, you have many cucus who need their heads shorn (cukur ppala).”


Here I thought I had an opening to say what I had had in mind. Readers who missed Wan A Hulaimi’s article may read what he wrote before I have my say, which I will do so in three sections, this being the first. Insya Allah the 2nd part will follow soon.





Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

Is It The End of The Tunnel - For Almanar ?

On 15th December last year I posted 'Do I call it a day or carry on?', a reflection of frustration and a sorry state of mind. The number of attendance for my classes had fallen to below fifty. Two months have passed and the situation is no better. But my gut feeling tells me something interesting will happen soon, and I hope to be able to draw a sigh of relief, and write about it.

In the meantime Pakcik will sit back, do whatever there is to do for the reduced number of pupils attending Almanar, and watch the sea from the verendah of my house,
NURI

The verendah to watch the sunrise and the sea from


The middle part of Nuri to watch the young coconut palms from

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The question is why should ‘Nuri’ be the name given to a simple retirement home – after all, I once said in a sarcastic tone, what’s in a name? Insya Allah I will clarify this.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

Of L O V E

Hari Maulud

This morning, 15-2-2011 I opened my yesterday’s newspaper to glance through what there was inside before I buy today’s. What a habit that is to browse through a newspaper a day later, just before purchasing a new one! Anyway, I noticed that yesterday was Valentine’s Day and today is our Maulud.

My other half happens to be away to visit her aged mother and I am all alone, suddenly enveloped in emptuness, with no one to say ‘I love you’. It was then a thought suddenly came to me. Somewhat excited I almost ran to get my small white board to write the following very popular Hadith.

It is appropriate to remind oneself of these words – of LOVE - especially when one is reminded of Valentine’s day; more so when it is time to celebrate Maulud.

We have someone to remember and to love , the one who left us with the following words:

Translation - ‘Tidak ada iman dalam diri kamu semua sehingga kamu mechintai saudara saudara kamu senua sebanyakmana kamu kasih dirimu sendiri.’

That is what LOVE should truly mean to us.

Must we think that the martyred Saint Valentine is anywhere up to Muhammad’s status that we need him to remind us of love?

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And so this mornng, when a small group of form 4 pupils sat in front, I gave it all with love.

At the end of the class, three girls chose to stay back to do some work on the computers. Knowing that they had come to Almanar without breakfast, I pulled out a ten-ringgit note for them to buy something from a stall nearby to eat - all for the love of it.

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Allahumma salli ala Muhammad.


Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

3rd Update – What’s happening?

12-02-1012
Here he comes again.
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The Old Man and the Sea.




Again at three o’clock the door bell rang loud and clear, once, twice. I rushed downstairs and through the window I saw him coming through the gate, a plastic-bagful of fish in one hand. This time I had the presence of mind to grab my camera which happened to be hanging with key rings on the wall beside the door.

“ Ada ikang sikit lagi Pakcik,” ( Some more fish, Pakcik) said the man from the sea. He was dressed in his same red and blue ‘fishing uniform’. On the chest of his top was some Chinese ( or was it Japanese ?) characters. For all you know, as ignorant as I am, he might think the writing was Bahasa Melayu saying ‘1 Malaysia’!

“Hold it there. I am taking your photograph,” I gave him the order.

I will not elaborate what he had to tell me. In a nut shell he earned about two hundred ringgits four days ago, the day he brought me some fish. And today he had a similar windfall. I was speechless.

I ended my last entry with the following:

“Semoga
Dari titisan peluh
Tuhan luaskan lagi
Rezekinya

Dalam hati aku berdoa”

One new visitor to Almanar, calling himself/herself ‘p3chandan’, kindly amen that by saying:

“ ….. mudah2 doa Pakcik kpd dia dimakbulkan Insyaallah..Amin.”

Dengan itu biarlah Pakcik akhiri cacatan kali ini dengan doa:

Semoga
Keikhlasan dan kejujuran
Membuka
Pintu rezeki dan rahmat berpanjangan

Dari hambamu
Ya Alrazzak, Alrahman

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

2nd Update – Back to sea

8-01-2011

Angin Tahun Baru Cina sudah berlalu. Laut mula tenang. Terbukalah pintu rezeki.
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It was three o’clock and Pakcik was getting ready for the afternoon class when the door bell rang. Standing in the hot sun and wearing a broad smile with sweat trickling down his face was a familiar face. The moment I stepped out of the door and was within his reach, his right hand stretched out holding a plastic bag containing some fish. The man was Pak Ngah, an old man of the sea.

“ Ni ikang sikit buat Pakcik rasa. Baru balik kelauk,” the gaunt old man said in a soft voice, grinning broadly and watching straight into my eyes. (“Here are some fish for Pakcik to taste. I’ve just returned from the sea.”)



1 kg of kembong and cencaru

It was pointless trying to make a move to pay for the fish, five kembong and five cencaru ( the latter fish is called ‘ikang kerah ekoo’ in Terengganu-speak- literally means ‘fish with stiff tail’) in the plastic bag which weighed about a kilogram. It would mean a few dollars, a meaningful sum to him, but his hurt pride would be greater.

The very fresh fish straight from the sea glistened in the hot sun, reflecting nothing less than a hard day’s sweat. It was a sense of pride to be able to offer Pakcik a part of his first day’s back-breaking work at sea.

Pak Ngah is a man of about sixty. By the local standard he is still young to go to sea. He is a hard-working man who tries to earn some money doing odd jobs when the sea is too rough and dangerous. He has learnt to do simple carpentry work. Knowing that he was out of job last month I asked him to repair a small wooden gate leading out to the beach from our back garden. The gate was hanging loose as its hinges had been rusted away by the salty air from the sea. Pak Ngah did a good job of it and earned himself a small sum which he most needed.

To a simple and honest soul like Pak Ghani a gesture of kindness shown during his time in need necessitates a good gesture in return.

Makcik and Pakcik will certainly enjoy the fish coming straight from the sea but I cannot help thinking how hard it was on him - out to sea before daybreak, burning his body under the merciless heat of the sun until three – just to smile at me with about one kilogram of fish to offer. I only hope he had a good catch today.

Semoga
Dari titisan peluh
Tuhan luaskan lagi
Rezekinya

Dalam hati aku berdoa.


Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

Updated - Video of 'Ombak'

The day after the CNY - 4-2-2010

Pakcik's No.1 was down here with her family for a short Chinese New Year break. Having seen Pakcik's last posting (below) of "Angin Tahun Baru Cina" she left a short video with the following message. Visitors may wish to see the scene at the beach a day before the Chinese New Year.

Here is a video recording of the ombak just before the Chinese New Year :

http://www.1tube.my/video/1585/Ombak-Pre-CNY

Pakcik's No.1

Today the wind has gone and the sea is back as calm as its usual self.

Angin Tahun Baru Cina - The end of Monsoon

I came to settle down in this part of the world, a quiet locality, good seventeen years ago during which time I have learnt certain aspects and beliefs of the local. One facet of life that one has to accept, having a home directly facing the sea, is the ferocity of Monsoon weather and all that comes with it, the effect of salty atmosphere on plants and metal parts of equipment, the inconvenience of incessant rain and so on.

But I enjoy the three months’ spell. The cool weather is a welcome change. In the shelter of my home I watch the branches of trees being swept beautifully and in unison landwards by the north-east wind, the background music-like sound of waves droning above the sound of raindrops falling on the roof, and the frightening sight of the angry sea sending rows after rows of ferocious waves to beat the shore line.


We will surely follow your order, O mighty Monsoon wind

What am I compared to the the vast sea?

This is the period I use less of the airconditioning units, substantially cutting down the size of the monthly electricity bills.

And while I sit in comfort I cannot forget to think of the hard life endured by many families when their men cannot venture out to sea to earn a meager living from the vast expense of the South China Sea, their boats lying idle on the beach.

We can take a rest till the weather is good

I have to remind myself, “ How lucky I am to enjoy the weather when many of them have less food to share.”

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Our Chinese friends are celebrating their new year. The villagers, almost 99% Malays, may not know or care when the so-called Christmas, Hair Gawai or Deposal falls but they surely know when the Chinese New Year (Tahun Baru China) is. Many even expect the day to come and be over with quickly – quietly celebrating in a different way.

The arrival of Chinese New Year signifies the end of Monsoon wind. Believe it or not I have found it so coincidentally correct that the Monsoon wind blows hard once last time about the Chinese New Year ; hence their term ‘angin tahun baru Cina’.

A couple of days ago the wind came and yesterday the sun shone bright. I can expect the sea to start calming down within these couple of days and soon the fishermen will be happy to be out in force.

Pakcik will have to wait another eight months or so to enjoy my next ‘winter’, insya Allah. Life goes on. The sea will soon be calm and I will again enjoy the beauty of sunrise during these twilight years, months or days, whatever He pleases for me.

And my grandchildren will visit us and be able to enjoy lying on their back half afloat in the calm water, watching the glorious sight of the morning sky.

Two heads and two pairs of feet keeping afloat

To our Chinese friends and relatives, indeed we have, Pakcik and Makcik wish them a happy and prosperous new year wherever they are. It is sad to receive an email late last night that an old office colleague, once a neighbour on the same street and indeed a very dear Chinese friend of my family, is in a serious condition in Sydney. Such is life.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

End of the tunnel (Pt 11) – No more nasi dagang

Note: This is a belated posting with Pacik’s apology to Neni in particular.

The traditional 'telor merah' of Terengganu wedding.

“ Pakcik, anak anak tak beri kita berkedai lagi ( my children would not allow us to operate the stall any longer)”

That was uttered by a fine lady soon after the wedding of her daughter whom we all call ‘Neni’ lovingly - befitting her personality. Neni is no longer that shy little girl who joined Almanar tuition class twelve years ago. She is today not only a qualified nurse but also one lucky guy’s wife.


Neni’s mother was the best nasi dagang cook in our vicinity. For years and years she was the one who would prepare nasi dagang for our Hari Raya and our other special occasions. We would not dream of placing orders from another person. Until the intervention of her children she and her husband had been operating a road- site stall that we often frequented for her nasi dagang. We had to be early to beat the crowd unless, as we often did, we called their house the previous evening to keep whatever quantity we wanted.

Today this lady can draw a sigh of relief that her children chose to stop her and husband from working so hard. She used to be up at unearthly hours, as early as two to start cooking. Her main regret was their inability to attend the morning (subuh) prayers at a surau nearby together with their village community. Now that is all over. She and husband can enjoy the community life. With his husband’s pension and children’s contribution they are living a happy life which they deserve, having raised their children to be better educated than they were themselves.

We are sad to miss our best nasi dagang but our joy is greater, that the parents enjoy a leisurely life and, above all, our Neni has a career and has started to have her own family. Perhaps, her next visit to see us, as she often did, she not only bring her smiling face but her man plus a child. Insya Allah.

This is a typical joy that compensates for Pakcik’s occasional frustrations – to see that all is not wasted.


Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

Awang Goneng Reminisces – (Pt 16) – True Life is Stranger than Fiction

As a comment on ( ‘Pakcik’s Number 3 Reminisces - Pt15) Awang Goneng chose to relate something personal, an incident that is common to all of us. We tend to dismiss a coincidence without a second thought. Awang Goneng says his new book (A Map of Trengganu) is devoted to what he claims as ‘strange phenomena of memory and strange encounter. I, for one, am sure to be looking forward this second book of his after the success of his first. Here goes what he wrote to Pakcik:

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Dear Abang Ngah,

What a lovely story. But is this the Amran I used to know in Chapel Side, W2? If so I have some photographs of him taken even before he met his mother-in-law to be.

Coincidence and memory are wonderful things. Since I started writing I have seen them collide, shaping the way I think in many different ways. In fact most of the foreword to my new book (A Map of Trengganu) is devoted to this strange phenomena of memory and strange encounters.

About twenty years ago, when travelling on the Circle Line tube on the way home from work, I sensed that the person in front was studying me very closely. I ignored him and immersed my face in a book. He leant forward and asked, "Wan Hulaimi?" I looked up and said immediately, "Oh my God, it's you Ken!" Ken and I were in the same tutorial group at University about five years earlier. He gave me his card - he was now a solicitor - and we promised to meet again for lunch. We never did.

Two years later, I left my job and had to look for a new accommodation. We thought it would be cheaper in the long run for us to buy rather than rent. We needed a solicitor for the conveyancing work, so naturally I thought of Ken, phoned him up, and he took the task immediately. Time for the exchange of contracts. Ken phoned me up to tell me about the deposit (a few thousand in those days). "Give me a couple of days, Ken, " I said. "I'll send you a cheque."

"No rush," said Ken. "I've already paid it for you."

It has been many years now but looking back at it I still find it quite incredible. A person I'd not seen for many years suddenly appearing out of the blue, to give us a bridging loan, and we weren't even best buddies at university. Was it a coincidence or was he sent to us for that purpose?

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PAKCIK’S COMMENTS.

Mi, it was not AMRAN you were familiar with in Chapel Side. That was indeed my Number 3 but was better associated with “ ------- pudding and pie” !

As for the photographs I myself would like copies to extort him with! You know that he has all daughters, three of them, whom he calls his ‘Charlie’s Angels’. There was an indication to that effect – meeting the would-be MIL first. So he can still hope for boys because he did meet his would-be FIL later.

Thank you for sharing this with us and I am sure many who have read Awang Goneng would welcome your ‘A Map of Trengganu’. Abang Ngah am more familiar with that TRENgganu than the artificial TERENgganu!

Incidentally, is Zaharah not doing something with her collections? Salaam from to her and the kids (which they are as I remember them) from Kak Mah dan Abang Ngah.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

Pakcik's Number 3 Reminisces ( Pt 15) - True Life is Stranger than Fiction

Reading Pakcik’s reminiscence (Pt 14) my No 3 was reminded of an uncanny incident, noted it down and passed it to Pakcik as part of his comments. I am inclined to post this as a new entry. Here is what he wrote to Pakcik:

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1993

Seventeen years ago in 1993, Mdm Quah, who came from Penang, was in London for a short stop-over whilst on the way to the US to see her daughter. In London, she went to Flat 5, Queensgate Terrace to drop off a package for one of her friend’s daughters. When she arrived at the ground floor apartment, she found nobody home. So, she went up a flight of stairs and knocked on the door of the first apartment she saw. A malay boy happened to open the door. Mdm Quah explained to the boy that she was there to leave a package for someone living on the ground floor.

“ I wonder if I could ask you to pass this to her,” pleading for a simple favour.

“ But of course, Madam. That’s no trouble at all,” replied the Malay boy, picking up the small package from the Chinese lady. With a smile she looked at the boy’s face and thanked him earnestly.

That evening the boy dutifully passed the package to its owner on the ground floor.

That was a little incident, an insignificant footnote in both Mdm Quah’s and the boy’s life; in anyone’s life for that matter. Two complete strangers meeting for a very fleeting moment, both in a place far far away from home

2009

Fifteen years later after a normal family dinner I was having a casual conversation with my mother in law. I had just returned from Chicago on business and so we were exchanging travel stories. She was reminded of her trip to the US many years ago. She had had a stop-over in London.

Then she began to reminisce of what she did in London, including a visit to a block of flats on Queensgate to pass a small package to a friend’s daughter.

“Oh,” I said, “what a coincidence, I used to live there when I was studying at Imperil College.”

She said that her friend’s daughter was not in. As it was not easy to get there again, she walked up the stairs and gave a knock on the first door she saw.
“Oh, “I said again, “I used to live on the first floor.”

She then said a Malay boy popped his head out. So, she thought it was safe to ask a fellow Malaysian to hand the package over to the girl, she went on to relate her story.

At that instance, it all clicked – London … Queensgate ….1993 ….. a Chinese lady from Malaysia …. a package … for the girl on the ground floor … ?”

Oh, I said ….. My mouth went agape as the realization hit me. “ So it was you, Ma! “

“ ..and you, Amran!” was all that my Chinese mother in law could say, realizing too what truly happened fifteen years ealier.

We looked at each other silently for what seemed a long few minutes. We both realized, at the very same instant, that we had met before.

I met my wife’s mother even before I had met my wife! I only met my wife-to-be a good two years later after I had graduated and returned back to KL.

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PAKCIK’S COMMENTS:

Is there such thing as coincidence, that a thing happens without a reason?
Here I referred my No 3 to the Quranic Surah Yunus in connection with the creation of the planetary system (ayat 5 , part of which is shown below ).




Muhammad Asad’s understanding of this was :

“ …………. None of this has God created without (inner truth). Clearly does He spell out these messages unto people of (innate) knowledge.”

Mohammad Asad added the following explanatory notes in relation to the above Quranic verse:

“ …………. implying that everything in this universe – whether existent or potential or abstract – is meaningful, and nothing is ‘accidental’ ……..”

Unfortunately, we do not possess the faculty to understand all the “messages”, but that should not stop us from thinking.

No 3 met his wife’s mother years before he met his wife-to-be and Pakcik met her much later. And all these ending with Malcik and Pakcik acquiring a charming daughter-in-law from a Chinese family, one I never dreamed of and bargained for but one we are all very grateful to Allah for. Who can we account for all these to have happened?


Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

Pakcik Reminisces ( Pt 14 ) – With prayers in my heart

Today, Saturday 01. 01. 1011


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1956 diary

Pakcik can never look back to read certain entries in my old dairies without tears in my eyes. So much water has gone under the bridge and all has been well for me. How appropriate it was that I chose Quranic Surah 95 / Ayat 4 as the opening line for that year’s diary.

Sunday 1st January1956 – fifty-five years ago today

And the first line of the new year's entry reads:

Muhammad Asad gave the following interpretation :

“ Verily, We create man in the best conformation. ( ie endowed with all the positive qualities, physical as well as mental, corresponding to the functions which this particular creature is meant to perform )”

Having started the new page thus, Pakcik followed it with a personal prayer, in Arabic, which roughly means :

“ O God, please bless me in the coming year and the years ahead of me.
O God, please endow me with goodness, physically and morally.
O God, please let me be one of those who worship you with their hearts, not just in words.
Indeed you have created me, and so allow me to be one with faith, devotion and success.
And grand me an end after charitable work.”

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The following entry in English followed the opening prayers.

“ It almost makes me delirious when I think of Post School Cert Class. Late as it is for the result of the entrance exam to come, I am yet certain that it WILL come, and it will always be in my favour. It is always my feeling that the Almighty will never disappoint me, for my desire is pure..”

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That was 55 years ago – I had just sat for the Cambridge School Certificate Exam ( the Form 5 exam ) followed by a much dreaded entrance examination for entry into the Higher School Certificate Class ( the Form 6 ).

How pleased I am today to be able to play back and listen to the old cries in my heart, of worry and hope. I realise today the prayers on my first day of new year 56 years ago were answered and I was able to successfully ride over my share of ups and downs in life.

And today, yet another new year, I wonder with humility why, 56 years ago, I chose to end my personal prayers, begging that HE would grant me the end of my term with servitude to humanity. It does appear what I have been doing the last 17 years is the realisation of what I prayed for 55 years ago.Praise be to HIM.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

P/S

To ex and present Almanar pupils.

It appear strange that I usually encourage you to reassess your year's performance and start a new year with a set of resolutions. Pakcik, on the other hand, sat back woth prayers in my heart on New Year's day. Either way, resolutions or prayers must be followed with continuous efforts in earnest without which it is just an exercise in futility.

Pakcik

Stop press – Partial PMR results

Right now I am out of town after telling pupil that Almanar would be closed for one week (Pakcik’s turn to have a break too!). All faces grinned at the announcement. And today PMR results were out. A few children have been in touch with Pakcik – naturally the ones with better results!

After enjoying that papaya, the ‘peace offering’ a few days ago, Pakcik am now riding on the cloud nine.

Results known thus far:

FIVE girls are known to have obtained 8A’s, and at least one with 7A’s. Syukur.

I have nothing more to say – not ashamed to admit that my eyes are literally brimming with tears - This is it, my share of joy, my rewards.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

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P/S Note for Almanar pupils.

Pakcik ucapkan taniah kepada semua yang meduduki PMR. Janganlah kecewa kalaupun bilangan ‘A’ tidak memuaskan. Biarlah apa yang kita dapat kali ini menjadi durongan buat lebih berusaha. Bukan ‘A’ yang menentukan rezeki dan kebahgian kita dimasa depan.

Percayalah kepada NYA dan kudrat NYA.

And finally - A peace offering!

After class this morning I walked to my house just across the road to find a huge papaya waiting on the front doorstep and smiling at me. It was a huge one.



As the size was rather unusual I put it on a scale and, lo and behold, it weighed all of THREE kg. That should be enough for my three meals a day for three days!

Someone knew how to cheer me up, and that I needed it. It is unlikely that any one would confess to this attempted ‘bribery’!

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

They are coming back – Plus bonus

It has been raining on and on and the sea is very heavy. Some people in the state have been evacuated as flood water is beginning to rise. But this morning Pakcik had a pleasant surprise. Compared to just nine all-girls there were seventeen children in class this morning, 14 girls and 3 BOYS. Their faces lacked cheerfulness reflecting the gloomy sky outside.



And the bonus was a new boy, Armin.



Armin is very special to me, being the FIFTH in her family to attend Almanar. The first four are his elder sisters, three of which have gone for further studies. He is the only boy in his family and one with the best UPSR results – 5As. For the parents to continue the tradition of having their children attending Almanar, it shows a vote of confidence, making it a personal record for Pakcik, credited with five siblings going through this humble tuition class ; the previous record stood at four siblings.

So despite the heavy sea within sight of Almanar, it is class as usual. And Pakcik will plod on.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

With a sigh ( Pt 4 ) – Do I carry on or call it a day?

“O, no, … only NINE ….?” cried my first little thought when I stepped into my class at Almanar one day last week. Rising to their feet to greet me were just nine pupils, ALL GIRLS. What has become of all the boys?

These were children of 13+ who have completed their standard 6 (UPSR) exam and are waiting to be slotted into the various prestigious secondary schools (the like of MRSM, SBP, Sekolah Integrasi, Sekolah Elit, Sekolah Kelaster, sekolah agama negeri, not to name the private ones as well) or just into the nameless and humble one close to my home.

Almost 50 of these 13+ pupils have enrolled at Almanar for an interim class which I run during this long end-of-the-year school holidays with the aim of helping them to pass their free time in something useful. Of this number there were 15 boys, a creditable percentage.

But that morning there were just 15 and without a single boy!

What has become to the children of this vicinity? This seems to be the trend within the last few years, despite the known increase in population and the visible increase in the number of schools? Are the parents not interested to see their children spend some time usefully during these long holidays? The situation was far better during my earlier years with Almanar.

I say all these WITH A SIGH.

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I had to put aside my feeling of dismay. Life must go on. Among the nine children present that morning were four girls with 5As in UPSR exam. The government of this state has been very proud of the UPSR results, topping other states for several years. So that morning I had a fair share of ‘pelajar pelajar cemerlang’ (excellent pupils).

In the course of doing some simple exercises in English, I asked if anyone could tell me the meaning of the word ‘these’ in a sentence that began with ‘ These words …..’. There was dead silence. Finally, one of the girls with 5As responded by saying that ‘these’ meant ‘berikut’.

What about the meaning of ‘this’ was my next question. All seemed to know ‘ini’. I followed that with the word ‘that’ and ‘those’. That literally drew a blank. At the end a couple of them plucked up the courage to say that they thought both words ‘that’ and ‘those’ meant ‘ini’ as well.

I can quote many examples of the above nature among pupils of higher forms attending Almanar. I may put a small posting on this one day.

Indeed, some may be proud to blow the trumpet over the improved performance of our children in English.

But I can only DRAW A SIGH.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

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P/S:
I may not seem to be doing justice to the children elsewhere, especially in the urban areas. But I say what I have been seeing the last sixteen years in the area where I am. The social ills among school children, mat rempit, stealing, house-breaking, drug addiction, birth outside wedlock etc keep gaining prominence, and they are very real and frightening indeed.

Moment to Reflect (Pt 2) - The FOAM - Truth or Vanity

The year 1431 is coming to and end. I ought to post something appropriate for the occasion.

I have just written a philosophical aspect of my coconut watch, the ageing and dying generation and the young ones ready to take over. How about the sea, the old timeless ocean? It has a lot to offer.

Within these couple of weeks what is more prominent is the incessant sound of waves beating the shore day in and day out. This is a normal annual event and as I have already settled down here for nearly two decades, the sound from the sea no longer bothers nor disturbs me and my sleep. Instead it becomes a welcome background to this otherwise quiet environment. It is music to the ear to wake up in the middle of the night hearing the rhythmic sound and imagining the rollers rushing ashore unleashing themselves with force onto the vast expense of the sandy beach, sweeping it smooth and clean.

Accordingly, armed with my small camera I walked over to the beach at the back of my home to watch the wonderful, at times fearsome scene of the marvel of nature, the magic of His creation especially when the Monsoon wind blows hard from the vast South China Sea. I was fully aware that somewhere down town, twenty odd kilometers away, some people were absorbed and excitedly watching the glory of man-created Monsoon Cup battle now being held off the coast of the City of Warisan Persisiran Pantai.

As expected the sea was rough, not as rough as it should be when the time comes, but a far cry from one’s picture of a peaceful scene on the beach. There I stood all alone watching the ocean drama. I was not disappointed. Each time a series of waves unrolled themselves at full speed the end result was a vast sheet of white foam covering the whole stretch of the beach - yes, the FOAM. Think about it, the beautiful clean white foam, the froth, the bueh. What has Quran got to say about his?







From my copies of Quranic tafsir I picked up two, one of Pustaka Imam Asy-syafi’i’s Tafsir Ibnu Kathir, and the other of Abdallah Yousuf Ali. I had the verse I wanted written on a white and photographed it. It is part of ayat 17 from Surah 13 ( Al Ra’d )





Pustaka Imam Asy-stafi’i’s Tafsir Ibnu Kathir :

“…..Demikianlah Allah memisalkan kebenaran dan kebathilan. Dan adapun bueh itu akan hilanglah dengan sia-sia, adapun yang memberi manfa’at kedapa manusia, maka tinggallah dia di bumi. Demikianlah Allah membuat perumpamaan-perumpamaan.”

Abdallah Yousuf Ali’s :
“ ……Thus doth God (by parables) show forth Truth and Vanity. For the scum disappears like froth cast out; While that which is for the good of mankind remains on the earth. Thus doth God set firth parables.”

This is what I wish to leave to my readers to see and sleep over. Watch the beauty of Quranic parable of truth and vanity (Yousuf Ali ), kebenaran dan kebatilan (Ibnu Kathir) – the momentary beauty of fresh, white foam (froth or bueh) adorning the beach.

Happy maal Hijrah. May the New Year ,1432 be a rewarding year to my dear visitors and ex-Alamanar pupils, wherever you may be.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.