Life is but a dream ……

Funny to notice that the same words can have different meanings if they are said differently. For example by changing the intonations i.e. variation of pitch when speaking, can convey surprise and irony or can change a statement to a question.

For example the expression “Oh my God” can have a wide variety of meanings. A lady will say “Oh my God” to her female friend when she saw Chippendale (not the chipmunks) show. I will most probably say “Oh my God, look at that Mama” to my wife when seeing something unusual at the bazar Ramadhan.

The word “Sayang” carry different meaning when said differently. In the Kru song:

“Sayang sayang, Sayang sayang Sayang? Sayang sayang Sayang …”

The meaning of the word “Daddy” from my kids can differ from just normal calling, or when they managed to prove that they have reasons to this or that, or if accompanied by tears (it’s a fake, according to my dear wife) will surely melt my heart.

I called my dear wife “Mama” when dealing in domestics chores. When I started to shriek “MAMA!!” that means I have no longer in control of my kids’ behaviour, and she has to intervene fast.

In other occasion I called my dear wife “Ayang”.

“Ayang, let’s go shopping.”

“Ayang, you look beautiful in that dress, but …”

If I said “Ayangggg …” accompanied by a wink, and its past 11 pm, and the kids were all sound asleep, that is different altogether.

The dream final between India and Pakistan was a delight to cricket fans all over the world. While I fancied both teams, somehow I tend to support PAK. The match was full of grappling drama and tense. Even my suddenly-a-cricket-fan wife was in full excitement. The Twenty20 cricket unlike the Test (played for days) or ODI (a full day) is a non-stop 3-hour action full of big blitzkrieg hits, fast swinging balls, mesmerizing spin bowlings, aggressive fielding etc.

PAK and IND had a tight match. Even in the last over, the result can go either way. But alas, PAK’s star batsman Misbah tried a scoop and caught behind by IND’s Sreesanth. So IND clinched the finals beating Pak by a mere 5 runs.

I feel hurt. My heart is troubled by the sad sad news. I want revenge. I want justice.

I want the killer of poor Nurin put to hell. I want him (or her, or they) put to death, and suffer an agony death. I want these people to be tortured. Before these people sentence to the gallows, they must be tortured, humiliated and to be made an example to all psychopaths and child killers and abuser.

Hey you stupid moron, you have a mere days (if not hours) before the police get you. You will be skinned alive.

Just now, after solat Jumaat, most of the masjid in Malaysia said the two rakaat of solat hajat, so that the Almighty will make it easier to find you. Just imagine, it’s Friday. It’s the holy month of Ramadhan. You’ll be doomed.

Don’t repent. Don’t say anything. Don’t beg for forgiveness. Just wait. Just wait for your utter destruction. Hey pig, you’ll wish that you’re not even been born. Curse upon you.

In this holy month of Ramadhan, somehow we cannot (at least in Malaysia) but mention or been to or be seen at the  glorious bazar Ramadhan.

These so called bazars are everywhere. I’m not quite sure what the attraction is. Maybe the variety of delicacies and good food,  all freshly made. Possibly those tempting savoury dishes and cold drinks (my fav: air tebu). Maybe the clealiness or the orderly manner of that particular bazar. What do you think?

Someone said that the best bazar Ramadhan is in Kuantan. Some said in one of the precinct in Putrajaya. Mine is at SS18 Subang Jaya.

I asked my male colleagues how’s the bazar in Shah Alam, where they are staying. I’m in the opinion that being somehow a predominantly Malay surburb, the answers to the question of ‘how is the bazar in Shah Alam’ might be different than my favourite bazar. But I guess, it’s the same all over.

"Ala sama je. Macam-macam stail ada. Yang pakai singlet pun berlambak"

Two things I noticed. Men do go to bazar Ramadhan. Men observed not just foods.

Believe it or not, we have a new cat in the house. Her (it’s a her) name is Angie.

"She’s a cross-breed between Egyptian mouse-cat and Siamese cat." Said Awateef.

"Egyptian what?"

"Can’t you see the bright blue eyes and the short coats."

"But kakak, we already have two male cats and Anjing is a female. You know how male and female animal behave right, and the consequences. In no time our house will be full of kittens, like animal shelter." Hah, this time my dear daughter, I don’t think even you have the answer.

"It’s Angie daddy, not Anjing. By the way, mama had already got her neutered."

"Ohh."

While trying my best observing the fast earnestly, and limiting the limbs and senses as well as thoughts for the pleasure of the Almighty only, and after completing the Tarawikh & Witir & some pages of the Holy Scripture …

… I’m enjoying myself (sometimes with my dear wife) watching the fast-paced cricket matches at Astro Channel 89.

Go Afridi (according to the wifey, he’s very handsome as well), go Ashraful ! We love your blitz.

Last day of Syaaban 1428H

In one hadith by Abu Hurairah (rad), the Prophet of Allah (saw) said:

Fasting is not only to restrain from food and drink, fasting is to refrain from obscene (acts). If someone verbally abuses you or acts ignorantly towards you, say (to them) ‘I am fasting, I am fasting.’ (Ibn Khuzaimah)

Welcome O holy month of Ramadhan
Welcome to me who is not ready
Welcome to me who is with untold sins
Dear Almighty Allah
Shower me Your infinite Mercy
Grant me Your Forgiveness
and release me from the fire of Jahannam.

It really hurt us. All of us. Sakura, our cat was no where to be found last week Sunday. Suddenly the love of everyone in the house was missing. We tried very hard to look for him (it’s a him) around the house, around the nearby vicinity, but he’s gone.

Sakura the Japanese bob-tail cat (emm … looks like a normal domestic cat to me), according to our feline expert Ms Awateef, would not normally wander outside the gate. Unlike the other cat Whiskers who would dash around together with the neighbourhood cats, and only be back at night or at meal time.

We get worried sick. Kak Midah, our friendly neighbour said that maybe Sakura was kidnapped (cat-napped?) by someone, probably some Indian fellas. That’s what happened to my cat previously, she fumed.

After few days Sakura went missing, Ahwaz had this theory fortified, that maybe Sakura already being ‘converted’ and had his name changed to ‘Letchumany’ or ‘Raj’ and might even had a ‘pottu’ on his forehead. Gruesome.

When my dear wife narrated the Sakura-gone-missing story to her friend Kak Normah (a cat lover), she put forward a more macabre theory. Maybe, she said, Sakura has been caught and eaten by the Vietnamese. You know these people, they eat anything that moves. Do you have any foreigners living nearby?

Off course, we had a group of foreigners, looks like Vietnamese renting a house nearby. When we heard Kak Normah hypothesis, suddenly whenever we passed through their house, we saw some of them were eating earnestly as if the dish (cat-dish?) was so sumptuous.

After six long days Sakura went missing, our hope vanished, moreover after listening and beginning to accept the theories by those two kakaks, all hope’s lost.

Then suddenly, last fine Saturday afternoon, my dear wife heard a familiar but unexpected purring sound, and there he was, our cat Sakura. He looked thin and haggard. Only God knows what he had been through in the last six days. What did he eat, where did he sleep. Syukur that our Sakura came back. Everyone’s felt relieved.

I planned to say to my dear wife, that we ought to apologise to whoever that Indian fellas was and those Vietnamese-looking people for making uncalled accusations, but then I decided not to. Recently I realised that there were fewer alley cats around the neighbourhood and only just now I saw a dog with something on its forehead.

Bedok South.

There are a lot of things we take for granted. Especially the little things. The simple mundane things that we often ignore, like the smell of your children’s hair. The wonderful sights of the cloud formations.

Yesterday, I realised this … somehow. How things like walking under the shades of trees on a breezy day derived such pleasure. So were visiting a community library, taking a bus ride, or simply eating fruits coated with asam boi. Nice.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning author once said, “Get a life in which you are generous. And realise that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted.”

Well I really had a nice time and enjoy these simple pleasures of life here.

Golden Lounge, KLIA

Anyone remember the classic b/w Malay movie ‘Singapura Dilanggar Todak’? It’s about a person wrongly executed by the king, but not before he put a curse to the island i.e. thousands of marlin fish jump onshore of Singapore and kill a lot of people at beach (most of the people that time were fishermen).

Then there’s a young and bright boy named Hang Nadim put forward a brilliant idea of using the banana tree trunk as a shield, so that the marlin spear like snout stuck to the trunk, and people could kill the fish, instead of using their thighs.

Few hundred years later, the British thought that Singapore was an impenetrable fortress. All the big guns and artillery were ready facing the possible Japs attack from the sea. But alas, the Japs came from JB. The rest was history.

Back to present, the island now has a majority of 70% pig-eater with slit eyes. The legacy of the hero-boy Hang Nadim was annihilated and nowhere to be seen or heard.

And I’m on my way to this tiny island.