Two Years

Two years! Time seems to pass so quickly. It seems only yesterday that we used to sit at Starbucks in Bangsar discussing our Economics notes. And soon we were married. Rahil came along soon. We just celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary last week. After the usual exchange of gifts – she gave me a Tissot watch. She already has a Tissot watch and bought me one with the same design - only mine is a man's watch and just a little bigger. According to my wife, we should wear matching watches and who am I to disagree. I let her choose a pair of small and shiny something from Diamond and Platinum at Mid Valley Mega Mall. I think she is happy and I am happy that she didn't choose something over a thousand and believe me there were a lot of those.

It was nearing Buka Puasa (breaking of fast) time and we rushed to Chilis on the ground floor. On enquiry, a waitress serving food there told us “no place” and walked off. She really needs some lessons in customer service. Anyway, we went in and found a long queue of people. They told us that we had to wait about 20 minutes and berbuka wasjust 10 minutes away. I was tempted to go somewhere else but my wife insisted we stay.

The people there were really kind and gave us both a Teh O Ais Limau (Lemon Tea) to break our fast. We finally got a nice place and the food was great even though we had to wait a bit. Maybe it was due to the fact that we had to wait. When you are hungry, everything is tasty. Next year, we will have Rahil with us.

New Hobby

Just started on a new hobby. It was natural considering that I had a grandfather and a father with green finger. I also obtained my Bachelor and Master degrees in Biological sciences. In case you haven’t guessed it, my latest hobby is gardening.

It was always my dream to have a house with a huge garden with ancient trees and an English garden. However, I was not really interested in getting my hands dirty. I guess, being forced to handle plants as part of your academic studies and being graded for it somehow takes away the fun part from gardening. However, gardening runs in my blood. Our ancestral home had a big garden which was filled with exotic plants, especially fruit trees and vegetables collected from everywhere by my grandfather. Even though my father is a doctor, the first thing he does when he gets up and comes back from the office is to tend to his precious plants. No wonder that the small space outside the terrace house in Kota Bharu has run out of space. He has now turned to greening the space outside the house and helping our neighbours with their gardens.

I finally had my chance when I moved into the new rented terrace house here in Kedah. When I first moved in the little space outside was filled with unruly grass and prickly bushes. I promptly called the friendly neighbourhood grass cutter to get rid of the mess. I had grand plans for the small space outside but work overload meant that it remained empty and soon the grass came back. I finally decided that I had to do something. I went to the nearest supermarket and got myself some gardening tools. It still remained empty as I decided what to plant.

Being a practical man, like my grandfather, I decided to go for edible plants -mostly edible herbs. I guess I am a bit different from my father - he prefers flowers and exotic plants even though he grows edible plants too. I started out with Pudina (Mentha) and Halba (fenugreek). I obtained some plants from my in-laws house. It turns out that my wife’s grandmother has green fingers too. She took some Pudina stalks (which I had bought from Giant) and soon we had two pots filled with the herb. I obtained soem specimins from her for my own garden. As for the later, I had actually bought them to use for my cooking. I just threw a few seeds on the prepared soil and soon they were germinating. They are about 2 inches tall now. Last week I obtained a lime (the one used in teh -o-ice limau) sapling from the local pasar malam for RM5. I also decided that my garden also needed some colour and got myself a bougainvillea with bright red flowers (RM5). This week I am going to add some more plants to my slowly growing garden. I brought some Pagaga (Gotu kola, Centella asiatica ) from my in-law’s garden (again) and am going to plant them today.

Next on my list: lemon grass, chilies, selaseh (sweet basil) and Sundal Harum Malam.

Last Sermon

When I started this blog I decided on two simple rules, namely, avoid political and religious issues. I have been able to stick to them (to some extent). However, considering that the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts tomorrow, I thought it would be nice to share Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) last sermon with all my friends.

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After praising, and thanking Allah (GOD in Arabic) he said:

"O People, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and TAKE THESE WORDS TO THOSE WHO COULD NOT BE PRESENT HERE TODAY.

O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you. Remember that you will indeed meet your LORD, and that HE will indeed reckon your deeds. ALLAH has forbidden you to take usury (interest), therefore all interest obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital, however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer any inequity. Allah has Judged that there shall be no interest and that all the interest due to Abbas ibn 'Abd'al Muttalib (Prophet's uncle) shall henceforth be waived...

Beware of Satan, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.

O People, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under Allah's trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers. And it is your right that they do not make friends with any one of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste.

O People, listen to me in earnest, worship ALLAH, say your five daily prayers (Salah), fast during the month of Ramadan, and give your wealth in Zakat. Perform Hajj if you can afford to.

All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.

Remember, one day you will appear before ALLAH and answer your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.

O People, NO PROPHET OR APOSTLE WILL COME AFTER ME AND NO NEW FAITH WILL BE BORN. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the QURAN and my example, the SUNNAH and if you follow these you will never go astray.

All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness, O ALLAH, that I have conveyed your message to your people".

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The last sermon is known as 'Khutbatul Wada' and was delivered on the Ninth Day of Dhul Hijjah 10 A.H. in the 'Uranah valley of Mount Arafat' (in Mecca). This translation is from the most complete version of this sermon in Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal's Masnud, Hadith no. 19774.

Luxury Proton Car

I have been really busy and haven't had time to update my blog. Anyway, here is something I heard through the grapevine.

I am sure you all know that Proton is working on some new models and you have heard about the Satria and Tiara replacement models. There were also some rumors that Proton was coming out with a sports car. Well, I just learnt that they are coming out with a luxury model - maybe we can call it the Perdana replacement model. Proton is targeting the up-market segment of customers - the BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Lexus, etc. market and they are conducting a feasibility study right now.

This segment is extremely brand conscious. I see a lot of Malaysians going for an old Merc, even though they can afford a brand new Proton car. “Image”, they tell me. Even if Proton makes a luxury car with all the bells and whistles, would these people go for a Malaysian car?

Remember you heard it here first.

PR

The Government has revoked the Malaysian permanent resident (PR) status of 16 suspected Jemaah Islamiah (JI) members. Read it here.

This was expected and the Government should have done it immediately as soon as knew that these people were involved in the Bali bombings.

The topic of permanent residency in Malaysia was always considered a sensitive issue. It is a well known fact that getting a PR here is tougher than in more developed countries like New Zealand, Australia or Singapore. I would like to correct myself, difficult for MOST professional people.

The question that a lot of people are asking now is how these people were able to obtain the coveted Malaysian PR status. These people who did not contribute anything to Malaysia’s economy or prestige but instead ruined the image of their adopted country. This when hundreds of highly qualified professionals were unable to obtain it. I know of one Indian doctor who used to work with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in their Kubang Kerian campus in Kelantan. He was refused the PR status even though he had stayed in Malaysia for nearly 10 years and had 2 children who were born here. All that time, his wife stayed at home as a housewife even though she was a qualified psychologist with a PhD. They have moved to Australia and are happily settled down there. He obtained the PR status within a year there.

The Malaysian Government’s spouse programme to enable eligible spouses of Malaysian citizens to secure employment here, was a step in the right direction. However, they still have to get their employment passes renewed every year. Even before that, they first have to get an employer willing to employ a foreigner, usually on contract. They also can't start a business even if they want to. In the end, most get fed up and leave the country. This has also contributed to the brain drain as many talented Malaysians left the country to follow their foreign spouses who were unable to obtain a Malaysian PR.

Did you know that Vijay Singh, the current World Golf No 1 has a Malaysian wife and had applied for a Malaysian PR…And was refused the status. Any comments?

Audi Mania

I had actually wanted to write about this sometime back but forgot to do so. I was recalling what one family friend told me when he visited Malaysia. He was surprised to see the number of luxury cars on the KL roads. According to him, it would not be surprising if the number of Mercedes Benz cars on KL roads were more than in London.

I doubt it and I had to remind him that many of these cars were reconditioned, half cut-joined and several of them, over 20 years old. However, I guess that there was some truth in what he said. Go over to Bangsar and on any given day - the total worth of the cars parked there would equal our last year's GDP. I am not joking, one day I noticed 3 Ferrari cars parked along Jalan Telawi. I didn't really look at the models but I am sure that each one would have cost over half a million.

Just a few weeks back, had my dinner at Syed's at Kelana Jaya. I am not sure whether there was an Audi exhibitoon nearby or something. I counted a total of 9 Audi's parked around the place and most of them looked new. Are Audi's getting cheaper?

Maybe a Virus

After discussions with a few IT experts (including my father-in-law) I have come to the conclusion that I was not the victim of a hacker rather it was most probably a virus which was responsible for the missing files in 'My Documents' folder. Have anyone faced a similar problem before.

I am a very careful person and have taken the necessary precautions – an anti-virus software, which is updated regularly, a spyware detector as well as well as a firewall. However, despite all my precautions and the fact that my own organization server has its own firewall + anti-virus software running round the clock, I still receive a lot of e-mails with suspicious looking attachments. I guess the problem is that in spite of all the warnings, people are tempted to download these files. Once a computer in infected in our organization, it quickly spreads through the network. This is an ongoing war and we will never be completely safe.

I guess, the only precaution is the mantra “backup, backup, backup”.