Gratitude Journal

Sahabat Pilihan -Keteguhan Iman Abu Darda'

2010-10-27T15:30:00.000+08:00

ABU Darda' ialah seorang sahabat yang akrab dengan Nabi Muhammad. Beliau bersikap rendah diri dan bertakwa kepada Allah. Beliau banyak mendapat hadis daripada Nabi Muhammad.

Antara hadis yang terkenal adalah mengenai manusia dianggap gagah apabila dapat menahan perasaan marah.

Hadis ini dilaporkan oleh Imam Tabrani dan Ibin Abid Dunya. Pada suatu hari, Abu Darda' bertanya kepada Nabi Muhammad: "Wahai nabi, tunjukkanlah kepada saya amalan yang dapat membawa saya ke syurga."

Kemudian Nabi Muhammad menjawab, "Janganlah kamu marah. Mereka yang dapat menahan perasaan marah adalah orang yang mengawal diri sendiri supaya patuh dan taat kepada Allah dan Nabi Muhammad".

Abu Darda' mendengar dengan teliti jawapan yang diberikan oleh Nabi Muhammad. Kemudian Abu Darda' mengangguk-anggukkan kepalanya dan berkata: "Tahulah saya sekarang, orang yang dapat menahan perasaan marah adalah orang yang mulia dan dapat masuk syurga."

Abu Darda' juga ahli fikah yang masyhur antara para sahabat Nabi Muhammad. Beliau digelar 'Hakimul ummah' iaitu orang yang pandai dan bijak dalam hal berkenaan agama Islam.

Pada suatu hari, Abu Darda' mendapat berita mengenai kebakaran yang berlaku di kawasan rumahnya. Pada masa itu, Abu Darda' berada di tempat kerjanya. Perjalanan dari rumah ke tempat kerjanya agak jauh.

Kemudian, datang seseorang memberitahunya. "Ada rumah terbakar! Ada rumah terbakar! Semua rumah di kawasan tempat tinggal di kampung sebelah sana semua sudah terbakar!"

Abu Darda' mahu mendapat kepastian mengenai berita kebakaran itu. Beliau menghampiri lelaki yang menyampaikan berita itu.

"Betulkah apa yang kamu cakap ini?" tanya Abu Darda' kepada orang itu.

"Ya. Saya baru sahaja datang dari kawasan rumah itu. Api semakin marak dan menjilat rumah-rumah yang berada di kawasan itu!" terang orang itu.

Tidak lama kemudian, orang itu perasan Abu Darda' adalah salah seorang penghuni di kawasan itu.

"Bukankah kamu tinggal di kawasan rumah itu? Mungkin rumah kamu juga turut terbakar. Segeralah pulang dan lihat keadaan rumah kamu itu. Mungkin ada apa-apa yang dapat diselamatkan," kata orang itu kepada Abu Darda'.

"Terima kasih kerana memberitahu saya mengenai berita kebakaran ini," kata Abu Darda'.

"Pergilah segera pulang ke rumah kamu. Selamatkan barang-barang kamu," ulang orang itu lagi.

"Saya tidak dapat pulang ke rumah sekarang. LAgi pula, sekarang saya bekerja. Kerja ini sudah diamanahkan kepada saya. Saya perlu menyelesaikan kerja ini terlebih dahulu," bisik Abu Darda' sendiri.

Abu Darda' langsung tidak terkejut dengan berita kebakaran itu. Malah, beliau tidak risau sekiranya rumah beliau sendiri yang terbakar. Lagi pula, rumah beliau berada jauh dari tempat beliau bekerja. Sebaliknya, Abu Darda' segera menyelesaikan tugasnya.

"Saya bertawakal kepada Allah atas apa yang berlaku," bisik Abu Darda' lagi.

Abu Darda' terus menyelesaikan pekerjaannya. Bagi Abu Darda', beliau hanya dapat bertawakal kepada Allah. Sekiranya rumahnya musnah dijilat api, itu adalah takdir yang ditetapkan oleh Allah. Beliau dapat menerima kenyataan itu dengan tenang.

"Alhamdulillah, kerja saya hari ini sudah selesai. Saya mahu pulang ke rumah segera," katanya sendiri.

Petang itu, selepas selesai bekerja, Abu Darda' pulang ke rumahnya seperti biasa. Perjalanan ke rumahnya agak jauh.

Sampai sahaja di kawasan tempat tinggalnya, beliau melihat rumah-rumah yang ada di sana habis musnah terbakar. Tidak ada satupun rumah yang berdiri teguh dan terselamat daripada kebakaran itu.

"Habis semua rumah di sini terbakar di jilat api," bisik Abu Darda' selepas melihat rumah-rumah yang hangus terbakar itu.

Abu Darda' meneruskan perjalanannya sehingga sampai ke rumahnya. Tiba-tiba, beliau melihat keadaan rumahnya masih elok.

"Subhanallah. Saya bersyukur kepada Allah. Rumah saya tidak terbakar," kata Abu Darda' gembira. Beliau terkejut dan gembira melihat rumahnya terselamat dan tidak terbakar sedikit pun.

Beginilah sifat orang yang sentiasa bertawakal kepada Allah atas setiap pekerjaan yang dilakukannya. Allah lebih mengetahui mengenai sesuatu perkara. Sekiranya Allah mahu sesuatu perkara itu berlaku, pasti ia berlaku dengan izin Allah juga.

lPetikan buku Sayap dari Syurga terbitan PTS Islamika Sdn. Bhd.

http://www.utusan.com.my/

Never listen with a predetermined notion

2010-10-26T15:41:00.000+08:00

A teacher teaching Math's to seven-year-old Kazim asked him, "If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?" Within a few seconds Kazim replied confidently, "Four!"

The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was disappointed. "Maybe the child did not listen properly," she thought.

She repeated, "Kazim, listen carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"

Kazim had seen the disappointment on his teacher's face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, "Four..."

The disappointment stayed on the teacher's face. She remembered that Kazim liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn't like apples and that is making him loose focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, "If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?"

Seeing the teacher happy, young Kazim calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile young Kazim enquired, "Three?"

The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, "Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?"

Promptly Kazim answered, "Four!"

The teacher was aghast. "How Kazim, how?" she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.

In a voice that was low and hesitating young Kazim replied, "Because I already have one apple in my bag."

Moral of the Story: "When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect don't think they are wrong. There maybe an angle that you have not understood at all. You will have to listen and understand, but never listen with a predetermined notion."

- From Manners in Islam.

Reminder for MukaBuku..

2010-05-14T09:44:00.000+08:00

7 Things to Stop Doing Now on Facebook

by Consumer Reports Magazine
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

provided by

Using a Weak Password
Avoid simple names or words you can find in a dictionary, even with numbers tacked on the end. Instead, mix upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. A password should have at least eight characters. One good technique is to insert numbers or symbols in the middle of a word, such as this variant on the word "houses": hO27usEs!

Leaving Your Full Birth Date in Your Profile

This is an ideal target for identity thieves, who could use it to obtain more information about you and potentially gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you've already entered a birth date, go to your profile page and click on the Info tab, then on Edit Information. Under the Basic Information section, choose to show only the month and day or no birthday at all.

Overlooking Useful Privacy Controls
For almost everything in your Facebook profile, you can limit access to only your friends, friends of friends, or yourself. Restrict access to photos, birth date, religious views, and family information, among other things. You can give only certain people or groups access to items such as photos, or block particular people from seeing them. Consider leaving out contact info, such as phone number and address, since you probably don't want anyone to have access to that information anyway.

Posting Your Child's Name in a Caption
Don't use a child's name in photo tags or captions. If someone else does, delete it by clicking on Remove Tag. If your child isn't on Facebook and someone includes his or her name in a caption, ask that person to remove the name.

Mentioning That You'll Be Away From Home
That's like putting a "no one's home" sign on your door. Wait until you get home to tell everyone how awesome your vacation was and be vague about the date of any trip.

Letting Search Engines Find You
To help prevent strangers from accessing your page, go to the Search section of Facebook's privacy controls and select Only Friends for Facebook search results. Be sure the box for public search results isn't checked.

Permitting Youngsters to Use Facebook Unsupervised
Facebook limits its members to ages 13 and over, but children younger than that do use it. If you have a young child or teenager on Facebook, the best way to provide oversight is to become one of their online friends. Use your e-mail address as the contact for their account so that you receive their notifications and monitor their activities. "What they think is nothing can actually be pretty serious," says Charles Pavelites, a supervisory special agent at the Internet Crime Complaint Center. For example, a child who posts the comment "Mom will be home soon, I need to do the dishes" every day at the same time is revealing too much about the parents' regular comings and goings.
Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on Yahoo!
Copyrighted 2009, Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Entry Rindu Dendam

2010-05-12T17:51:00.000+08:00

Lamanya tak berblog, rindu...

Alhamdulillah, life has been treating me and family well. A few hiccups on and off, tapi that's what's making life more interesting kan???

At the point of writing, my youngest and eldest girl tengah tidur. Amir's playing with his friends. He still has his friends coming over. Ada 6 orang tu, tengah main bola kat padang sekangkang kera. Berapa kali bola kena tingkap, nasib baik tak pecah. Except for the flouresant light yang dah tergantung je tu...

I'm still the 'Makcik Guard' kat sekolah agama the kids. I remember not being too keen about the idea of spending 3 hours every morning at the school. I used to think Papapia's idea was absurd. Tapi tak nak lah lawan cakap suami kan?? So, I reluctantly accepted the duty. Rupa-rupanya ada hikmah.. bersyukur with that opportunity.

Sekarang, I can join the kelas agama which is being held at the nearby surau, 2 days in a week. The timing is just nice. Memang dah lama nak attend these classes. Some of the books used are in Jawi. Kenalah polish my Jawi. Nak baca Jawi tu ok lagi, bila nak tulis tu, ada berkarat sikit...

Sementara menunggu the kids, I also make it a point to study the contents / translations of the Quran. No doubt I can do it at home. Tapi bila kat rumah tu, banyak sangat distractions nya... Alhamdulillah, I've made some progress. Found some inner peace.

Well, what can I say, my gratitude to Allah for all the blessings..

Sepurnama berlalu...

2010-03-30T16:52:00.000+08:00

Dah lebih sebulan, since my last entry. Ni semua sebab baru berkenalan dengan Cik FB. Best jugak, dapat virtually meet old friends. Tapi dengan Cik FB tu tak boleh nak merapu panjang-panjang, ada limit lah pulak....

Nothing much has changed, life goes on as usual. With a few humps & bumps, on and off..

Alia, baru discovered the definition of the word 'later'. Sekarang, suruhlah dia buat apa pun, she will cheekily answered 'later, later...'

Alia, pergi mandi...

Later, later....

Alia, jom naik tidur...

Later, later...

Bila dia suruh kita tolong dia, & Mamamia menyakat jawap 'later, later', tahu pulak dia nak marah...

Aimy, the third kid kena chicken pox this time around. Alhamdulillah, tak banyak scar. She is my most reliable helper. Sangat ringan tulang... She'll be the one who will check on the rabbits' food and water. Kalau kosong, dialah yang tolong isikan...

Lepas seminggu tak pergi sekolah due to her chicken pox, she's having some issues about going to sekolah agama. Dia takut kena marah, kalau tak tahu buat latihan, since she has missed quite a few lessons. Satu hal jugak, nak pujuk dia...

Amir, tahun ni tahun UPSR. Baru mula pergi kelas tuisyen Bahasa Melayu. Mata pelajaran lain, InsyaAllah Mamamia boleh tolong lah sikit sikit. For BM, I'd better leave it to the expert.

Ujian baru ni, dia dapat 'B' untuk Penulisan & Maths. Selalunya Maths dia tinggi, but this time it was totally careless mistakes on his part. He marked 8 answers wrongly on the objective answer sheet. Dalam kertas soalan dia jawap betul, tapi kertas jawapan dia tanda salah. I hope he has learned his lessons well.
As for BM, he really needs to 'sental' his vocabulary, kalau dapat dengan berus dawai!!

Dia ingat perkataan ' rempah ratus' tu, sama macam 'thousand islands'!!! Boleh???

Farah is adapting to life as a fourth former. Banyak homework & tak cukup masa. She's in science stream and at the same time taking Prinsip Akaun as extra subject.

Has some issues as any normal teenage girls would, especially when it comes to outings with friends. Kami memang ibubapa yang konservatif!! She just has to live with that.

Papapia, as always, very occupied with his work. Kalau balik awal tu, kira bonus lah... Not complaining though, for we can see that he still makes time for us. Bila anak-anak sakit, he still plays 'doctor', buying toys and gifts for them.

Tapi, bolehtak Papapia, next time bila beli mainan, janganlah beli yang ada tulis " Adult Assembly Required" on the box?. Macam yang kat bawah ni....

Ni boleh buat Mamamia marah......, sebab Mamamia yang kena jadi 'adult' tu....

Other than that, Mamamia masih bertugas sebagai Makcik Guard. Tapi sekarang dah naik sikit status... Ada students start calling me 'Cikgu' & 'Ustazah'....

Holiday which ended with a BANG...

2010-02-25T15:53:00.000+08:00

You know what we did last CNY break??? ( cerita lama...)

Selepas teruja dgn Mrs Hart's entry cerita pasal her stay at Legend WaterHome Pd, Mamamia telah berjaya memujuk Amir untuk merengek pada Papapia dia to take us to PD.

As usual booking & room reservation was left to the very last minute. Nasib baik ada lagi kosong.. We went on Sunday and came back Tuesday.

Alia was excited bila Mamamia beritahu yang tempat ni ada swimming pool.

"Tak da H1N1 lagi ke ???" she asked. Sebabnya eversince the H1N1 outbreak dah lama kami tak pergi tempat2 yg ada main2 air ni. Everytime she asked to take her to the club's swimming pool, we told her, tak boleh, ada H1N1. So, of courselah dia excited bila dengar nak pergi tempat ni.

Masa nak check in, the staff informed me that our room has been upgraded to Water Villa. Bilik atas air laut. Sorrylah nak accept that one, still phobia dengan Tsunami. Insisted to get the original room ie Garden Deluxe something, something...

The room was big. With 2 king size beds. Kalau lagi satu family pun boleh masuk, tapi kena bentang Totto sendirilah...

Budak-budak seronok sungguh, sebab tak payah nak jalan jauh nak main air. Mama Papa pun of course happy, we could just kept an eye on the kids without living the room. Since the pool is ours, & ours alone, we all had non stop fun. Sampai kecut2 & hitam ~~legam~~ budak2 tu.

Since our room was the upstairs unit, the pool was outdoor ( not like the one Mrs Hart took). But still hidden fr public eyes...

Budak2 biasalah, kalau boleh tak nak balik. Told them, kalau nak datang lagi, kena work hard on their studies. As usual, they said they would. Samada buat ke tidak, tu bab lain...

Lepas check out, Farah wanted to go to the ladies. While she did her business inside, I sat on the the sofa outside. Lama jugak dia dalam tu... After nearly half an hour, my hp rang. It was Farah calling. Nak tahu kenapa???

Pintu toilet dia tak boleh bukak!!!. Mamamia pun masuklah.. Did my share of BANG! BANG! BANG! on the door, tak gerak jugak...

Nasib baiklah reception area dia dekat. Reported to a lady staff who later located the hotel's maintenance staff. Meanwhile, Papapia dah restless tunggu dalam kereta. Apa hal lah pulak kami lama sangat...

After a few more BANG! BANG! BANG! banging on the door by the maintenance staff, akhirnya pintu toilet dapat dibuka.... Farah was set free & we headed home with a promise to the kids that we might come back...

Wishlist...

2010-02-21T16:27:00.001+08:00

Dear Papapia, sempena birthday Mamamia yang tak lama lagi akan menjelang tiba, kindly be informed I don't need you to get me a bag like this. Sebabnya.... I don't have a nice baju or shoes to go along with it.

What I really want is this.

Imagine, the ample leisure time we will have to gather-gather, kalau you dapat belikan I yang ni. You will have my undivided attention, percayalah......

Vision ' See-quel'

2010-02-12T21:10:00.000+08:00

Where was I??

It took me so long to come up with the continuation of previous entry. Macam ni kena buat re-'vision' lah, apa yang I merapu earlier.

Selepas berbulan-bulan using the reading glasses, I found that putting it on and off, to be cumbersome. I was looking for ways to overcome that. A friend suggested Lasik. Eish, tak naklah, takut... Anything to do with surgery, there's the risk factor. Untung nasib timbul, kalau tak untung, I don't want to tenggelam....

My prayers were answered. I came across an article/ advertisement promoting multifocal contact lense. Thank god for such technology, I should be free from the reading glasses.

So, when Farah went for her contact lense trial & fitting, I pun tumpang sekaki. Dah lama betul , I tak pergi buat eye check up. Sekarang eye check-up dah modern. No longer kena masuk bilik gelap tu to find out whether you know your 'L K N D' etc. Sekarang semua dah computerised and digitalised.

The young optometrist tried to explain to me the types of lenses which should be able to correct my rabun jauh & rabun dekat'. There's the progressive lenses & monovision lenses. Entahlah, he explained panjang lebar, and seperti biasa , kita buat muka paham.... To me , as long as I can solve my problem, tak kisahlah jenis apa pun.

Optometrist placed an order for my progressive lenses. The following week, pergi balik for my trial run. Sadly, I could not adapt to this type of lenses. Bila pandang jauh, blurry aje the vision. Reading was not a problem. Seems that for some people it will take weeks and even months to be serasi bersama dengan jenis yang ini.

To get the proper reading ie berapa power dua-dua mata wasn't easy. I pun naik confuse masa eye check up. Sekejap yg ni terang, sekejap tak. Bila tukar lenses no difference. Rasanya optometrist tu pun pening...

Left with the other option, the monovision lenses. Yang jenis ni, uses your dominant eye for distance vision and non-dominant eye for near vision. Selalunya, right handed people, dominant eye dia belah kanan.

Tried it on and it seemed to be working fine. Tapi, kena compromise sikitlah dengan distance vision. Kalau jauh sangat, it gets blurry. I'm okay with that. As long as I can do my reading & boleh jugak tengok jauh, oklah tu...

Masa optometrist tu check the lenses fitting, dia telah berjaya menakutkan I. According to him, there's some tissue growth in my eyes which could be the result of being exposed to UV rays. He said it's normal. BUT, it could get worse & sometimes can impair the eyesight.

Wah, macam ni kena lah Mamamia start pakai shades/sunglasses. Memang dah lama teringin nak beli, but since it wasn't really necessary, I never did get around to get one.

Guess, it was high time to start wearing one. While the optometrist was busy preparing my c.lenses, I told another staff I was interested to get a pair of sunglasses & asked her to help me pick one. Too many choices, I wouldn't know which one would suit my face.

She picked one , I tried it on, & terus tersuka.
"Wah, boleh tahan..... " terperasan sekejap.

Tried a few others, but I still preferred the first choice. Tanya harga... Gulp! telan air liur sekejap. A bit on the pricey side. Bila hati dah suka, made up my mind to grab it. Atas sebab-sebab di bawah.....

This will be my 1st and last pair of sunglasses
Nak protect my eyes from further damage due to the UV radiation ( Ha, ha, Ya lah tu... dah terlambat, Mamamia ooii)
I think I look good in it
I look good in it .. ( eh, dah cakap ek?)

Sebab ke3 & ke4, memang tersangat concrete. The reaction from my kids said it all, when they first saw me putting it on.
Farah's comment, " Tu lah sunglasses yg Farah nak hari tu... Nanti boleh pinjam ek??"
Alia & Aimy complimented that "Mamamia cantiklah"
Amir's comment " Fuyoo Mamamia... macam BINI orang kaya lah..."
Amboi, anak bujang ni, typical male chauvinist. Apasal tak cakap 'macam orang kaya'? Why must you insert the word 'BINI' before the 'orang kaya'?

So, now since Mamamia dah ada that ~~BINI~~ orang kaya look, kenalah practise cara berjalan pulak.. (Teringat pulak part Aziz Sattar berlatih jadi org kaya dlm cerita "Ali Baba & 40 penyamun". )

Siapa nak volunteer jadi Mentor???

Vision 'NOT' 20-20

2010-02-02T18:09:00.000+08:00

My eyesight is poor. Mula memakai spec mata sejak Tingkatan 2. Sebelum tu suka sangat melaram cermin mata kawan-kawan. Tried them on, lepas tu tengok muka kat cermin. Bila berkaca mata tu, rasa macam orang pandai-pandai aje...

Bila diri sendiri dah mula kena berkaca mata, baru tahu menyesal.. Mamamia ni minat bersukan, jadi bila dah pakai specs, sedikit sebanyak membataskan pergerakan. Whenever, there was basketball practise, bila dah remang-remang senja tu, kalau main tak pakai specs, the vision would be so blurry. Susah nak estimate distance... Berapa kali specs bengkok terkena bola, tertampar dek kawan, tak tahulah...

My first ever frame was the 'John Denver / Mahatma Gandhi' style. Bila I pakai, chomei aje ~~orangnya~~ specsnya... Should have kept that frame buat kenang-kenangan.

As the years progressed, tiap kali power naik, ambik kesempatan tukar frame. Dah macam-macam style I tried, yang tinted punya pun ada. Some suited me well, tapi ada jugak yang buat muka 'toye'.

Bila dah stage anak dara, dah pandai nak bergaya, spectacles ni tak mainlah... Dengan duit biasiswa yang ada kumpul sikit-sikit, I bought my first pair of contact lense. Pakai contact ni, memang bestlah, because your visions are not restricted to just within the frame. Nak ganas-ganas pun boleh... sambil maintain ayu... Masa ni power pun dah bertambah, kalau pakai specs memang teballah....

Actually, pakai contact lense ni pun, not as easy as it looks. I have dry eyes, so kalau kena tempat yang ber air cond and sesak dengan orang ramai like shopping complex, mulalah mata tu rasa gatal, merah and irritable. Tapi nak gaya punya pasal, ni semua kira small matter lah...

At present, my 2 elder kids pun dah masuk kategori budak-budak berkaca mata.

Farah started wearing specs masa Form2. Dia ni lagi teruk 'vain'nya. Tak suka pakai specs, unless when she's watching TV, movie or masa dlm kelas. She can't do window shopping, sebab tak boleh nak appreciate barang2 dari jauh. Kena masuk kedai, tengok betul-betul, baru dia tahu dia berkenan ke tidak. Dah lama dia request nak pakai contact lense, but I told her to wait till she get 8As in her PMR. So, when she got that result, dia tuntutlah... Mulalah, Mamamia keluar cerita "masa Mama dulu, kena tunggu duit sendiri, baru boleh pakai contact lense...."

Amir pulak masa Tahun 5, dah mula pakai specs. His first pair, nyawa dia bertahan paling lama sebulan.. Ada ke patut, cermin mata letak atas lantai?? Kena duduk dek kawan dia, habis berderai. When he made his second pair, he was wrongly prescribed dengan terlebih power. Asyik complain pening kepala, took him to the doctor , who recommended Amir to see optometrist. Sekarang dah okay dah... Masalah dia sekarang, bila tidur, kadang2 tu specs pun tak ditanggal...

Somewhere last year, I have progressed to another level. Ageing gracefully, Mamamia mulalah dapat what some people call the 'short arm syndrome' ie how far you have to stretch to see fine prints in the newspaper. Started using the reading glasses.

Quite a nuisance, since Mamamia ni memang hobby suka membaca. Leceh betul bila nak membaca mulalah tercari-cari 'mata yang lagi dua' tu. Dah tabiat orang nak veteran ni, 'forgetful' is becoming my middlename. Kalau lupa mana letak handphone, boleh jugak ring our number. Kalau lupa mana letak specs, ah sudah...

Lagi satu yang tak suka pakai reading glasses ni, sebab memang dah tabiat suka membaca sambil tengok TV. So, when you switch from reading to viewing, with the reading glasses on, mula lah kita tengok macam nenek ni.

I used to wonder, kenapa orang tua-tua suka tengok ke atas, with their glasses on the bridge of the nose. Bila dah nak masuk kategori ni, baru ku mengerti....

( Belum habis lagi cerita pasal Vision 2020 ni, to be continued... )

These kids need supervision lah cikgi2!!!

2010-01-15T08:13:00.003+08:00

Alahai... this morning my parking spot is taken. Got to park elsewhere.

Ni cerita semalam. Cerita pasal sekolah lagi... Lepas masing2 dah makan sebungkus mihun goreng, budak2 prasekolah ni, dah mula berlari ke masjid. Ada amali solat, the next session. I noticed their teachers, were still having their makan2.

Since, Mamamia the makcik guard ni, tersangatlah prihatin dengan keselamatan kanak2 ribena ni, especially si Alia, I followed the kids to the masjid. Didn't want alia to start wandering around sampai ntah ke mana.

Dah jumpa tempat lapang, kanak2 ni apa lagi, main kejar2 lah dia orang.... Makcik guard cuma perhati aje, keeping an eye on her Alia.

Then one girl approached me, & with her littlevoice she politely asked;

"Makcik, boleh tolong saya tak?"

"Kenapa, nak pergi tandas ke?" , I asked.

"Tak, kawan saya terkunci dlm bilik air." tenang aje, dia cakap.

We went into the toilet, & saw a closed door, with the sound of a girl sobbing, coming from inside. I know that toilet has a faulty doorknob, sebab I pernah nak guna hari tu.

I tried opening from outside, and at the same time, pacifying the girl not to panic. Tapi, bila dia tengok, I still couldn't push it open, lagilah dia menangis....

In the midst of it all, a boy came to me, "Makcik, saya nak buang air."

Apahal lah pulak budak lelaki ni masuk tandas perempuan?? I wasn't sure where the men's toilets were, but I asked the boy to go to the toilet yg kat sekolah punya.

Actually, budak2 ni tak dibenarkan guna tandas masjid ni. Tapi dah tak da cikgu yang supervise masa tu, diaorang main bedal ajelah...

I went outside, looking for any teacher, who could help. Tak nampak sorang pun cikgu, saw them still at the canteen. Called out for the gardener who was watering the flowers.

"Pakcik, pakcik, pakcik...." I must have called out more than 10 times. Tak dengar pulak dia.... Had to go very near to him, baru dia dengar....

"Pakcik, ada budak terkunci dalam bilik air. Boleh tolong tak??"

His reply, shocked me " Biarkan dia, padan muka...."

I left him, feeling frustrated. Dalam hati terfikir, ada jugak manusia macam ni...

Luckily, masa tu a teacher came. Told her the situation & we rushed inside the toilet again. Cikgu ni yang size badan lagi besar dari I pun, could not push the door open. After several attempts, she gave up. She said she'd call the Ustaz for help. I remained behind, keeping the girl company. At the same time, cuba umpil pintu tu dengan pen, still couldn't.

I've totally forgotten pasal budak lelaki yang nak pergi tandas tadi. Rupa2nya business dia belum selesai lagi.... He came to me again, this time crying...

"Saya nak kencing ni...." he cried. Kesian budak ni, tak jumpa lagi toilet dia...

Tak sampai hati pulak nak paksa dia guna another toilet ie men's toilet. Got him to use the next vacant toilet. While I was standing outside, he passed me his seluar kecik & besar to hold, through the slightly opened door. Maka disitu lah Mamamia berdiri buat seketika waktu, mententeramkan budak perempuan yang menangis kerana terkunci, dan memegang pakaian budak lelaki yang nak melepaskan hajat kecil.

Then, the ustaz came. With just a simple tinkering on the faulty doorknob, he managed to open the door. Could see the relief on the girl's face bila dia dapat keluar. Apa agaknya her imagination, kalaulah pintu tu tak dapat dibuka???? Mesti lepas ni dia phobia nak kunci pintu toilet.

I was wondering how the Ustaz managed to do it. Nampak senang aje. With the pen I had, mulalah I study the mechanic of the doorknob. Finally, I got it.... Yeay...

Manalah tahu, it might come in handy, kalau ada budak2 terkunci lagi.... Here, Mamamia comes to the rescue.

Benda2 macam ni boleh dielakkan, kalaulah cikgi2 to supervise sikit kanak2 ribena ni...

Last night, Papapia said he might drop by the masjid to make his 'on off' contribution. That's what he does, when he feels like it, he'll do it. (Hopefully, I don't sound as riya', here.). I told Papapia to get the masjid people to fix the toilet door. Tak da lagilah sesiapa terkunci dlm toilet, lain kali...

Hari ni, these students tak da amali solat kat masjid. Ada upacara 'mendirikan masjid', ada pasangan bernikah, ambil berkat hari jumaat, agaknya....

School update

2010-01-12T09:25:00.002+08:00

Into my 2nd week of being a 'Makcik Guard'.

During the 1st week hari tu, I witnessed ada students yg menangis tak nak masuk kelas, a boy banging on the classroom door nonstop, ,wanting to get out fr the classroom, mothers standing outside the classroom to make sure anak2 ok.

This week, no more such incidents. Except for 1 lady yg masih setia menunggu luar classroom her son, yg kalau dia tak nampak kelibat mummy dia aje, will start running out of the classroom. While I'll be sitting comfortably in my car, this lady larat betul berdiri aje luar kelas tu for nearly 3 hours!!!

Still ada new students baru masuk.

Seronok pulak tengok kerenah budak2 ni. Kids these age (4 y.o to 10 y.o) are not pretentious at all. Last week, saw a boy keluar bilik air sambil menjinjing seluar kecik dia. Mesti case tak sempat tu...

Been observing Aimy with her 2 great buddies. Alia seems to be getting along fine with her new friends. They have separate recess sessions. Bila waktu budak2 Tadika rehat, I'll join the kids at the school canteen. Make myself useful, tolong distribute drinks for the kids.

Everyday, after recess for Tadika kids, before recess for primary kids, all students gather at the masjid. Ada praktikal solat.

So far, managed to catch up with my reading. Sempat juga habiskan menjahit the kids' school badges & name tags. Alhamdulillah....

Testing 1,2,3

2010-01-08T16:46:00.002+08:00

Masih menngubah suai rumah baru...

Masih tercari2 tone colour yg serasi...

Sebab ~~tak~~ pandai, my previous entry, dah tak boleh nak baca the comments..

Ni yg cuba, try, test with this short entry.

Dari perkarangan masjid...

2010-01-07T08:12:00.000+08:00

Here's me going mobile. No longer blogging fr the comfort of home.

With the start of the new school year, I've managed to add another job description to my occupation. Mamamia sekarang dah jadi 'jaga sekolah'.

We've decided to send the youngest 2 to kelas agama which school is in the mosque compund. Memandangkan kawasan ni terbuka pada orang awam, we are a bit concerned about the security aspect. Since it was me yg beriya2 nak menghantar the kids here, I volunteer myself to keep an eye on them.

Sekarang ni, pukul 7.10am - 7.30am, Mamamia jadi 'Mak Supirah'
Pukul 7.40am - 11.am, tukar uniform 'Mak Cik guard'.

With the car strategically parked under a tree, positioned myself where I can see Alia's classroom & at the same time overlooking the main gate where people can easily walk in and out of the compound.

From my first 3 days observation, I think we r doing the right thing. Security is a bit lacking. Kalau org yg ada bad intention, memang senang nak plan their modus operandi and execute it successfully. This place is just too easily accessible. Kalau sekolah kebangsaan tu, parents nak masuk perkarangan sekolah, kena report kat pondok guard. Tapi kawasan ni, any Abu, Raju or Ah Seng can just walk in. Nanti tahu2 keluar berita "anak dicolek dari sek ugama". Nauzubillah....

Mamamia kena adjust sikit lah my work schedule, and Alhamdulillah things are falling in place.

Mula2 dulu risau jugak, how to pass the time. But with the help of a book, a laptop, time just seem to pass by so quickly. Ni lah masa nak muhasabah diri. This is my 'ME TIME'.

All praise to Allah, for this opportunity. Now, it's up to me to spend it wisely.

Demi Masa! Sesungguhnya manusia itu dalam kerugian, kecuali orang-orang yang beriman dan beramal shalih, dan mereka pula berpesan-pesan dengan kebenaran serta berpesan-pesan dengan kesabaran. [al-‘Ashr 103:1-3]

A Brand New Year n Decade

2010-01-01T16:21:00.000+08:00

Here's to the bright New Year
And a fond farewell to the old;
Here's to the things that are yet to come
And to the memories that we hold.

Thank you Allah for .......( well, not quite sure for what ) sebab terlalu banyak rahmat which He has blessed upon us. Suffice to say, Syukur Alhamdulillah for everything...