A tribute to Mohamad...

Today, I'm reminded again of how fragile a life is. This morning, my friend, Mohamad passed away at PPUM around 10.20 am.

He had a stroke on Thursday last week and I went to visit him on Friday. On Saturday evening, I received news that he suffered another stroke and was critical. Friends and family members kept on visiting. And today, I got the dreaded call from Shima around 10.30 am...sigh

I went to MPM and followed En. Isa to Pulapol's surau for the rituals of 'mandi, kapan and sembahyang' before the journey to his final resting place in Batu Pahat, his wife's kampung. We arrived around 12 and soon the surau started to fill up with his friends and relatives. We waited patiently and he finally arrived just before the zohor prayer.

After zohor prayers, we had tahlil while he 'dimandikan dan dikapankan'. Before he 'disembahyangkan', I had the chance to see him for the final time. I couldn't help but cry when I saw his kids kissed him for the final time. He looked so serene, so devoid of life.

He left behind a wife and 3 kids aged 12, 9 and 4. The middle one is a boy who looked just like him. The first-born looked so calm, while the boy and the youngest looked clueless. Amir is the same age as the youngest and I couldn't help being so sad.

Mohamad was such a family man. He would send and fetch his kids every day. He was always jovial and loved to tease everyone. Being in the same dept. we were quite close but I think the guys would miss him more. I saw clouded faces of Eddie, Fauzi and Nawa just now and I bet En Z would really feel the loss also.

Farewell dear friend, Allah loves you more. Semoga rohmu di berkati Allah and digolongkan diantara orang2 yang beriman, insyaallah.

A friend in need...

Yesterday, on my way to Tesco, I received an sms from Sha. I was shocked when I read that our colleague, Mohamad, collapsed and had a stroke the night before. He was in ICU in PPUM. I decided there and then to go and see him but I completed my errands first. I was on a mission to find a new washing machine but failed to do so as there were so many products on the market.

Anyway, I sent the kids back to Tasik Puteri and made my way to PPUM after zohor. Shafiza called to ask me to bring socks and any form of 'minyak panas' for En. Mohamad. I managed to get socks but I couldn't find any minyak panas in BTP...Isk, one shop was closed, another finished its stock and the last one didn't have any...sigh...

I've never been to PPUM before but managed to get into the area of section 16. I detoured a bit when I got into UMSC but soon managed to find PPUM safely. The only problem was parking. I only managed to find the layered parking space in the East Tower while En Mohamad was in the Main Tower. I had to walk very far to reach the Main Tower but everyone was friendly and directed me to the correct area.

He was in ICU on the fifth floor and I saw many people outside the closed section, so I asked which one was his wife? I was lucky because they were En Mohamad's relatives, coming as far as Batu Pahat. His wife told me that he was paralysed on his left side and has a blood clot in his brain but the good thing was he was responsive, so the doctors were monitoring his development. If he started going downhill, they were going to operate on him.

When I had the chance to see him, one of the nurses was doing a routine check up. He slurred, but managed to answer questions from the nurses like where and who he was and I was impressed when he could lift up his right hand and feet. We also felt encouraged when his left feet responded when poked. I saw how glad his wife is, alhamdulillah.

Seeing him lying down, helpless, I felt an acute sadness. He's a tall and thin man and very jovial. Working in the same department, we learned of the antics and quirks of your friends. Our work is stressful because it involves a 'zero-defect' clause and the only time for us to relax would be at the pantry. Sha and me and the clerks used to have fun and made a lot of noise in there. Mohamad would normally make jokes and we would laughed at his antics.

It seemed that he was diagnosed with high blood pressure sometime last year and the stroke was probably brought on by the high BP...sigh. He's about the same age as Sha and me, below forty with three young kids, still in primary school. He's one committed father, sending and fetching the kids from school everyday. He's such a family man.

Mohamad, I pray that you'll get well and get back on your feet, soon. Your young family needs you. Ya Allah, Kau pulihkanlah kawanku Mohamad seperti sediakala, sesungguhnya hanya Kau yang Berkuasa sepenuhnya...

Hadi's a gem...

My son Hadi is a very peculiar character. In terms of development, he's quite a fast learner and he loves watching Discovery Channel and he used to love watching Nat Geo Wild in Sudan. He loves animals and dinosaurs and he has a very good general knowledge compared to his sister.

He is also known to come up with 'gems'. Sometimes out of no where he would 'crack' us up with some thing or other.

Recently, he managed to make us laughed like mad at my in-laws house. He came downstairs without wearing pants, so my FIL asked him, 'How come your punai is so small'. Unperturbed, he answered, "If it's too big, it'll be difficult to carry it around". My FIL just erupted in laughter and I was gobsmacked...muahahaha.

Meeting old colleagues...

Yesterday, Nawar called me and invited me to a gathering at the office today. He told me that since Sha and me are not at the dept. anymore, they seldom have makan2 gathering...hehehe. Normally Sha and me would plan and organise such gathering quite often, the guys just contributed money and the rest would be up to us, with the help of Zu and Nisa of course.

But, unfortunately, I woke up late. I only managed to get out of the house about 10.30 and arrived at the office about 11 am. I was stopped at the gatehouse but I shouted to the new guard that I'm one of the staff there...hehehe. As soon as I arrived at my old dept., I called Nisa to open the door, I totally forgot my old password...hehehe

She didn't realised it was me at first, not until she saw me...then of course, she screamed...hehehe. Fortunately, my old boss was not around, so I had a jolly good time at the pantry with Ruhaibah, Azlina, Kak Aliah and Nisa. Ustaz Zul and Saharudin came to take a look at who's making the noise...muahahaha. I listened to many juicy gossips while I had my fill of the food. We were celebrating Nisa's birthday today...hehehe

From the 5th floor, I tracked down Kak Zubai at the 2nd floor. Here, I saw many old and familiar faces, Isa, Kak Mas, En Salleh, Bad and many more. I was of course very loud and very merry...hehehe. Everyone kept asking me when I'm going to turn up for duty and I told them that I'll be there in January, insyaallah.

Shima called, asking me to go to Dahlia's, an eatery nearby, for lunch. When I got there, she was having lunch with Ika and Juliana. I made my move around 1.30 pm and what a whirlwind 3 hours it was...hehehe. I came back with a promise to join the other officers for a 2 day course sometime in June where Sha from JB will also be there. Hmmmm, this is more for wanting to see Sha other than anything...muahahaha.

p/s: Sha, I think they're going to regret inviting both of us for the course...hehehe

Time out...

I just got back from a wonderful 'time-out'.

A few days ago, I met Kak Normali at Tesco and she told me of a reunion of sorts that was to be held today at PappaKopitiam in Rawang. So, I decided to join them today...hehehe. Who are we? Well, friends who were teaching in SMK Seri Garing around the late nineties and early 2000. Some of us have left the school and either join other schools or join other professions.

So, today after feeding the children and solat, I drove to Rawang. The reunion was supposed to be about 2 pm and I arrived about 1.58 pm. At first, I was the only one there because the others were celebrating Teacher's Day in their respective schools. Then, I saw Kak Huzaina with two of her kids. Kak Huzaina lost her husband sometime in October last year after raya in a motorcycle accident. How sad. She's currently doing her phd with 4 boys to take care of. I'm glad to see her so strong.

Soon, we were joined by Miss Lee Guat Eng, a retiree but she used to be the 'tigress' in SEGAR. Someone who would be feared by students and teachers alike...hehehe. For such a small person, her voice would even 'outdo' mine. She's always serious at work and she controlled the timetable of the whole school. But when it was time to let our hair down, she would be the one responsible to organise such outings as well. It was nice seeing her alive and well...hehehe

Then, I saw Kak An and Kak Faiz, both still in SEGAR, still in their sports gear from the Teacher's Day Games at school. These two were my closest buddies in school, I could tell them anything and expect it to be kept a secret. I miss their company and their support...sigh.

Next, Kak Normali came, followed closely by Kak Gee and Kak Razani...hehehe. Kak Lis is the quiet, artistic type while Kak Sani is the loudmouthed and outrageous type...hehehe. Both used to teach Seni. Kak G is also another lovely soul that I miss so much. Later Kak Hafizah came from Batang Kali and lastly Kak Jannah came.

I chose to sit outside, but we were so noisy. Ehemm, I'm one of the culprits...muahahaha. There were so many stories floating around, sometimes I felt lost but it was a nice and friendly atmosphere. Loud and boisterous most of the time with Kak Sani telling us all sorts of stories...hehehe. Kak Gee said she missed hearing my laughter...hehehe.

This is a kind of confession. I am very bad at keeping in touch. I do not write, phone or even email my friends. I think I am the kind of person that does not normally 'look back'. Once I left a place or group of people, I seem to disappear from the face of the earth. But my strength is in 'picking up where we left off'. There's no awkwardity, I just jumped right back in...hehehe...as if I never made any disappearing act.

So, it was really fun.

What I am doing now...

What am I doing, now? Literally? I am perfecting the art of observation a.k.a 'skodeng'. I am actually observing how the contractor is doing the construction works...from the comfort of my living room...hehehe. Well, as if I know what the workers are doing anyway?!!

So, I play it safe. Rather than look like an idiot out there, I just 'marvel' inside. They started the job on the 4th of May and 12 days later, they managed to finish most of the work at the back (except for the grill) and they're now tiling the front porch, minus the gate. Not bad you know, considering they had only 3 workers normally and the boss of course.

Today, they come in more numbers maybe because there are a lot more work to be done. They work in chain. One tidying up, one mixing cement, one tiling, one cutting some of the tiles and the others are doing their respective job. 'Respective job' means, they're doing things that I do not know how to describe...muahahaha

What I observe about Chong, the contractor? He's very on hand kind of boss. He will do whatever needs to be done alongside his workers. If they're plastering, he'll be plastering as well and I could see no way his workers could 'curi tulang' because he knows what they should be doing. He knows more about tiling than them and he would do it with them. Sometimes, he would check the quality of their work. I am quite impressed with the hardworking man actually.

Having said that, I also could afford to just be in an 'idle' mode because I have a 'project manager' in Rawang. Who? Kak Arah, of course...muahahaha. She would keep tab on the contractor every day, asking about progress and such like. She even has a contract drawn for him to sign...hehehe. She knew Chong for several years already and Chong already know how meticulous she could be, so all are in my best interest...muahahaha

What's my job spec? Emmm...just to open the door and plug in the socket. That's it, plain and simple, sometimes I let the kids do it...hehehe. I could go 'cruising' and 'gallivanting' all over klang valley...hehehe.

Right at this moment, Chong is doing the tiling himself. I think I'll wake up the kids and get ready to go out :)

It's been a month...

It's been a month since I've been back in Malaysia. What a month it has been...hehehe. I think I've been spending money like water and it defeats the purpose of going back to Malaysia in the first place! Sigh... Sorry dear husband...

Well, do I miss Khartoum? Errr, I miss the friends and the company of my husband but other than that, I'm not looking back. It's a chapter of my life that has ended and the sweet memories remain there somewhere as history. I'm looking forward to new adventures and new experiences :)

I think a month of eating at popular eateries, restaurants and hawker stalls is taking its toll. I miss home-cook meals, even though I have to cook it myself...I never thought that I would say this, but I kind of miss cooking...muahahaha. My husband has actually done very well in Khartoum, cooking for himself and sometimes for his friends...hehehe, though he kept on bugging me for recipes everyday...sigh. I can't wait for my 'wet kitchen' to be ready. Maybe another week, insyaallah.

Well, what can I say, a month is definitely a very short time. How time flies when you're having fun...hehehe