29 March 2006
Attended a 2-days international conference. Saw an elegantly dressed 40ish Malay lady with an active radar. Never saw her before at conferences, seminars or meetings organised by our professional society. Tertanya di hati, "siapa pula kodok ni?"
At lunch, a CEO of fish related company whispered to me and another Prof. "Nampak that lady(the above lady) yang duduk across our table? She is a Datin yang dah dua tahun tak diberi nafkah zahir & batin. I tengah uruskan proses cerainya di Mahkamah Syariah." Saya berbisik kepadanya "Patutlah radarnya agak aktif!" Dia tergelak " She is rich and self sustainable. I dah ada 2 and Prof dah ada dua. Give me your card so that I can introduce you to her." Cepat saya bilang "Saya tak bawa card hari ni!"
30 March 2006
Nearing the afternoon coffee break, the Datin came in with a young, extremely fair and skinny and sexily dressed lady to "our professional conference". Teman sebelah dok tanya "Kodok mana pula yang dia bawa?".
During the coffee break, saw Datin introducing the young lady to many of my colleagues in the society. Tiba turn CEO tu bersama Datin and the young lady. Tiba-tiba CEO tu melambai-lambai saya. Not to embarrass the CEO yang beriya-iya melambai, saya pun joinlah mereka. Datin pun perkenalkan kepada that Indon TV exec. CEO kenalkan saya kpd Datin. Lepas tu Datin hulur card dia. (Puuhh Director of a manufacturing company and she stays at Bukit Antarabangsa). Terpaksalah den hulur kad kapcai den.
Later I told the CEO and Prof. "I have given my card to that Datin". Both pun tersenyum berpuas hati. Saya pun hairan mengapa mereka beriya-iya. Apakah this 47 years old Dr K tak layak dapat a 27-years old Siti? Yang pasti Dr K ni masih sayangkan his early 40ish Siti AlJabri.
p/s Teringat jawapan Guru Polygamy 101 kami apabila ditanya seorang yang teringin "Ya Syeikh.... kita ni dah agak berumur. Macam mana nak cari yang baru? Masih boleh "laku"kah kita?" Jawapan Guru Poli "Yang paling mudah, cari wanita (30-40ish) yang baru 2-3 tahun bercerai. Sebabnya ............"
Monday, April 03, 2006
Friday, February 17, 2006
Siakap Senohong Gelama Ikan Duri
On Valentine’s Day, Shafie was dropped from the cabinet. A UPM DVC, Shafie’s close ally, SMSed me around 4 am the next morning:
“Saya diminta oleh pihak ‘atasan di luar’ utk dptkan feedback rombakan kabinet baru Pak Lah. Tak sedap pun tak apa. SMS kpd saya.”
I SMSed back asking him to reveal who is that ‘atasan di luar’. He refused to name the person on SMS. However he later called and gave me a name. I yet to give him my response. But I did forward the messages to a colleague. He SMSed back “Too late. Damage done!” “Rupanya cerita Hindustan belum habis. Ingatkan hero dah menang. Rupanya cerita masih panjang. Yet to know who are the real hero and crook!”
Today a friend brought an NST and showed me this news. One thing keeps bugging me is “What will Prof Zohadie and Prof Zulkifli’s comments be?” I am more interested to hear what Prof. Zohadie will say about the Pak Lah’s chop (on Shafie.) in a press statement. All my colleagues wished Zohadie gives a short statement. One colleague will love to hear Zohadie cites a pantun “Siakap kerisi gelama ikan duri; Asyik kacau VC, cepat jadi mantan menteri!” Another wished Zohadie would say “Allah makbulkan doa saya. Doa orang yang teraniaya cepat dimakbulkan Allah!” I am wondering if Zohadie will just say “Kapok!”*.
*What is “kapok”? When I was young, I used to bully my cousin’s son who is a few years younger than me. Whenever my mother scolded me for bullying him, he would always say “Kapok!” The first time I heard that word, I had to ask my late father what “kapok” means (as my father had never taught us Javanese). He told me “kapok” in Javanese means “padan muka”.
_______
'Despite rumours, I was hopeful'
June Ramli
NST 17 Feb 2006: KUALA LUMPUR, Thurs.
He had heard speculation that he might be dropped from the Cabinet, but Datuk Seri Dr Shafie Salleh was full of hope that he would be retained.
When the announcement was made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at 2.45pm on Tuesday, and aired live, the former Higher Education Minister said he was not taken aback.
"I heard speculation that since former Information Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, new Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid and I did not win seats in the last Umno elections, we would be dropped from the Cabinet in the reshuffle.
"However, despite the rumours, I was hopeful that I would be retained as a minister.
"But I was not surprised (at being dropped)," he told the New Straits Times at his house in Petaling Jaya.
Shafie watched the announcement in his office at the Higher Education Ministry with his staff and Malaysian Ambassador to Libya Datuk Zulkifli Yaacob.
Asked if he was sad when he heard the news, Shafie laughed.
"I watched the announcement with Datuk Zulkifli. When my name was not announced in the line-up, he (Zulkifli) felt embarrassed, but I told him... No, it’s OK," he said.
Shafie said he then finished some paperwork and packed a few books from his office before leaving the ministry at 5pm.
"I was working that morning as usual and discussing policy matters with a University of Malaya lecturer involved in a training course on international politics and economics for Myanmar diplomats and administrators.
"I even told her that I would visit the university sometime soon."
Shafie said Zulkifli had come to see him to discuss ways the ministry could help Libya become an educational hub.
"Libya looks at us as a good model for Third World countries and he wanted me to help conduct some kind of educational expo there."
Asked if it would be easy for him to switch himself off from his ministerial position, Shafie replied:
"Yes it will, and I think Datuk Mustapa Mohamed (the new Higher Education Minister) is great for the job because he was chosen by the Prime Minister."
Shafie said he would meet Mustapa on Monday to hand over the reins at a simple ceremony.
"I have helped put a foundation to this ministry created in 2003. Now, I think what Mustapa needs to do is to launch it," he said.
Asked whether his spats with former Universiti Putra Malaysia vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Mohd Zohadie Bardaie and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia vice-chancellor Datuk Prof Dr Mohd Zulkifli Mohd Ghazali could have resulted in his exclusion from the Cabinet, he replied: "No, I don’t think so. That is nothing, it was just an administrative matter. "
On whether he had failed the Prime Minister in not turning the country into an educational hub, he said: "For the record, I must say, I used to come back from work every day at 10pm. There is much to do in the ministry. Sometimes my wife (Datin Dr Mizan Adiliah Ahmad Ibrahim) had to bring me dinner.
"I like the ministry and I have worked hard and tried my best to do everything I could."
Did he know why he was dropped? "I don’t know. He is the Prime Minister and he can choose his Cabinet ministers. It is his prerogative. But I can tell you that I am still loyal to him (Abdullah) and I only work for Umno."
On his future plans, Shafie said he would devote more time to Umno and his constituency, Kuala Langat.
"I met Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today. I told him that I wanted to be more active in politics and offer my expertise to the party. I am trying to get an appointment to meet the Prime Minister."
“Saya diminta oleh pihak ‘atasan di luar’ utk dptkan feedback rombakan kabinet baru Pak Lah. Tak sedap pun tak apa. SMS kpd saya.”
I SMSed back asking him to reveal who is that ‘atasan di luar’. He refused to name the person on SMS. However he later called and gave me a name. I yet to give him my response. But I did forward the messages to a colleague. He SMSed back “Too late. Damage done!” “Rupanya cerita Hindustan belum habis. Ingatkan hero dah menang. Rupanya cerita masih panjang. Yet to know who are the real hero and crook!”
Today a friend brought an NST and showed me this news. One thing keeps bugging me is “What will Prof Zohadie and Prof Zulkifli’s comments be?” I am more interested to hear what Prof. Zohadie will say about the Pak Lah’s chop (on Shafie.) in a press statement. All my colleagues wished Zohadie gives a short statement. One colleague will love to hear Zohadie cites a pantun “Siakap kerisi gelama ikan duri; Asyik kacau VC, cepat jadi mantan menteri!” Another wished Zohadie would say “Allah makbulkan doa saya. Doa orang yang teraniaya cepat dimakbulkan Allah!” I am wondering if Zohadie will just say “Kapok!”*.
*What is “kapok”? When I was young, I used to bully my cousin’s son who is a few years younger than me. Whenever my mother scolded me for bullying him, he would always say “Kapok!” The first time I heard that word, I had to ask my late father what “kapok” means (as my father had never taught us Javanese). He told me “kapok” in Javanese means “padan muka”.
_______
'Despite rumours, I was hopeful'
June Ramli
NST 17 Feb 2006: KUALA LUMPUR, Thurs.
He had heard speculation that he might be dropped from the Cabinet, but Datuk Seri Dr Shafie Salleh was full of hope that he would be retained.
When the announcement was made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at 2.45pm on Tuesday, and aired live, the former Higher Education Minister said he was not taken aback.
"I heard speculation that since former Information Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, new Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid and I did not win seats in the last Umno elections, we would be dropped from the Cabinet in the reshuffle.
"However, despite the rumours, I was hopeful that I would be retained as a minister.
"But I was not surprised (at being dropped)," he told the New Straits Times at his house in Petaling Jaya.
Shafie watched the announcement in his office at the Higher Education Ministry with his staff and Malaysian Ambassador to Libya Datuk Zulkifli Yaacob.
Asked if he was sad when he heard the news, Shafie laughed.
"I watched the announcement with Datuk Zulkifli. When my name was not announced in the line-up, he (Zulkifli) felt embarrassed, but I told him... No, it’s OK," he said.
Shafie said he then finished some paperwork and packed a few books from his office before leaving the ministry at 5pm.
"I was working that morning as usual and discussing policy matters with a University of Malaya lecturer involved in a training course on international politics and economics for Myanmar diplomats and administrators.
"I even told her that I would visit the university sometime soon."
Shafie said Zulkifli had come to see him to discuss ways the ministry could help Libya become an educational hub.
"Libya looks at us as a good model for Third World countries and he wanted me to help conduct some kind of educational expo there."
Asked if it would be easy for him to switch himself off from his ministerial position, Shafie replied:
"Yes it will, and I think Datuk Mustapa Mohamed (the new Higher Education Minister) is great for the job because he was chosen by the Prime Minister."
Shafie said he would meet Mustapa on Monday to hand over the reins at a simple ceremony.
"I have helped put a foundation to this ministry created in 2003. Now, I think what Mustapa needs to do is to launch it," he said.
Asked whether his spats with former Universiti Putra Malaysia vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Mohd Zohadie Bardaie and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia vice-chancellor Datuk Prof Dr Mohd Zulkifli Mohd Ghazali could have resulted in his exclusion from the Cabinet, he replied: "No, I don’t think so. That is nothing, it was just an administrative matter. "
On whether he had failed the Prime Minister in not turning the country into an educational hub, he said: "For the record, I must say, I used to come back from work every day at 10pm. There is much to do in the ministry. Sometimes my wife (Datin Dr Mizan Adiliah Ahmad Ibrahim) had to bring me dinner.
"I like the ministry and I have worked hard and tried my best to do everything I could."
Did he know why he was dropped? "I don’t know. He is the Prime Minister and he can choose his Cabinet ministers. It is his prerogative. But I can tell you that I am still loyal to him (Abdullah) and I only work for Umno."
On his future plans, Shafie said he would devote more time to Umno and his constituency, Kuala Langat.
"I met Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today. I told him that I wanted to be more active in politics and offer my expertise to the party. I am trying to get an appointment to meet the Prime Minister."
Saturday, December 17, 2005
To Dye Or Not To Dye
Written: Tue Sep 14, 2004 3:45 pm
A couple years ago, I went to Gedung at Sri Serdang for a quick lunch. While eating my lunch, I saw a yellow haired old man who sat across a few tables away, waved his hand and smiled at me. He was persistent. "Ish siapa pula Punk tua rambut kuning itu?" I told myself. After 20 minutes, I began to recognize this old punk. He is Dayang's husband (Dayang is our faculty typist).
I quickly went to his table to apologise for not recognizing him quick enough. "Sorrylah tak kenal tadi. Rambut hang kuning. Puas aku nak mengenal siapa punk ni!" He blamed his wife's hair dye. "Elok brown on her. Tapi jadi kuning kat rambut aku! Nasib badan!"
______
A couple of months later, I saw this hadith:
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:
When a man who had dyed himself with henna passed by the Prophet peace_be_upon_him), he said: How fine this is! When another man who had dyed himself with henna and katam passed by, he said: This is better than that. Then another man who had dyed himself with yellow dye, passed by, he said: This is better than all those. (Riwayat Abu Daud 33:4199)
If Dayang's husband had stumbled across this hadith, he could have answered "Inilah warna dye rambut yang terbaik ikut sunnah!"
____
Two weeks ago, I "balik kampung". My brother passed me a remark. "Puhhh… rambut belakang hang dah penuh uban!" I said "Ye ke? This is the second time someone told me about it!" My young female colleague was the first person to tell me about it six month ago.
____
Today I came across this hadith:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "The Jews and the Christians do not dye (their grey hair), so you shall do the opposite of what they do (i.e. dye your grey hair and beards)." (Bukhari 4:56:668).
Nampaknya probably it is about time for me to dye my hair blonde or light brown as uban nampaknya dah mula mercup on my misai! Belum terbuka hati nak pakai kuning dan hitam pula tidak digalakkan.
Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported that Abu Qubafa was led (to the andience of the Holy Prophet) on the day of the Conquest of Mecca and his head and beard were white like hyssop, whereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Change it with something but avoid black. (Muslim 024: 5244)
Care to join me? Yang peliknya the westerners yang telah menglamor dan mengkomersilkan sunah!
A couple years ago, I went to Gedung at Sri Serdang for a quick lunch. While eating my lunch, I saw a yellow haired old man who sat across a few tables away, waved his hand and smiled at me. He was persistent. "Ish siapa pula Punk tua rambut kuning itu?" I told myself. After 20 minutes, I began to recognize this old punk. He is Dayang's husband (Dayang is our faculty typist).
I quickly went to his table to apologise for not recognizing him quick enough. "Sorrylah tak kenal tadi. Rambut hang kuning. Puas aku nak mengenal siapa punk ni!" He blamed his wife's hair dye. "Elok brown on her. Tapi jadi kuning kat rambut aku! Nasib badan!"
______
A couple of months later, I saw this hadith:
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:
When a man who had dyed himself with henna passed by the Prophet peace_be_upon_him), he said: How fine this is! When another man who had dyed himself with henna and katam passed by, he said: This is better than that. Then another man who had dyed himself with yellow dye, passed by, he said: This is better than all those. (Riwayat Abu Daud 33:4199)
If Dayang's husband had stumbled across this hadith, he could have answered "Inilah warna dye rambut yang terbaik ikut sunnah!"
____
Two weeks ago, I "balik kampung". My brother passed me a remark. "Puhhh… rambut belakang hang dah penuh uban!" I said "Ye ke? This is the second time someone told me about it!" My young female colleague was the first person to tell me about it six month ago.
____
Today I came across this hadith:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "The Jews and the Christians do not dye (their grey hair), so you shall do the opposite of what they do (i.e. dye your grey hair and beards)." (Bukhari 4:56:668).
Nampaknya probably it is about time for me to dye my hair blonde or light brown as uban nampaknya dah mula mercup on my misai! Belum terbuka hati nak pakai kuning dan hitam pula tidak digalakkan.
Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported that Abu Qubafa was led (to the andience of the Holy Prophet) on the day of the Conquest of Mecca and his head and beard were white like hyssop, whereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Change it with something but avoid black. (Muslim 024: 5244)
Care to join me? Yang peliknya the westerners yang telah menglamor dan mengkomersilkan sunah!
Getting Younger?
Written: Mon Oct 11, 2004 11:03 am
I have just come back from Pulau Sayak, Kedah. A quite kampung! Officially I am now a certified DoF consultant for QAP/SPLAM. My instructor was my former student. 2 participants for DoF auditors were my former students' ex-students(just graduated).
At the airport (masa nak balik), one of the girls asked (barangkali cuba pancing2 my age) "Dah lama Dr mengajar di UPM?" I replied "Dah 22 tahun!" Terkejut dia "Oh masa itu, saya baru 1 tahun!" dan she stopped following me!
Today, while shaving, I noticed uban yang dulunya mercup di belakang sudah merebak ke tepi...... Oh....? Dalam hati terfikir juga "Sooner I will be able to dye my hair blonde.......!"
I have just come back from Pulau Sayak, Kedah. A quite kampung! Officially I am now a certified DoF consultant for QAP/SPLAM. My instructor was my former student. 2 participants for DoF auditors were my former students' ex-students(just graduated).
At the airport (masa nak balik), one of the girls asked (barangkali cuba pancing2 my age) "Dah lama Dr mengajar di UPM?" I replied "Dah 22 tahun!" Terkejut dia "Oh masa itu, saya baru 1 tahun!" dan she stopped following me!
Today, while shaving, I noticed uban yang dulunya mercup di belakang sudah merebak ke tepi...... Oh....? Dalam hati terfikir juga "Sooner I will be able to dye my hair blonde.......!"
Something About Mary
Written: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:31 pm
Sebenarnya this story dah lama siap. Tapi bulan munajat merdeka dah habis. Tak jadilah nak siarkan the full version. So I bagi sinopsis saja..
She is Anne and not Mary. I first saw her on board of Hasry Express bus the same raya Hafsah balik Malaysia. She suddenly stood in front of me and gave that killing smile directly on my face. I was so infactuated by that smile & face for a very2 long time. I made a silly mistake and then made a "very late move" to rectify the situation. Terlalu banyak peristiwa berlaku after that move. We kept in touch for many many years... mostly in a semi-poetic way... I left for US, I ditunangkan, a year later she ditunangkan, cooled off before her wedding, I balik Malaysia, I got married in 85 only to find out she was still single (putus tunang), sambung balik our correspondence, she got married a year later to the only boy she ever dated (once in late 70s), she dapat tiga anak, Allah blessed me with my 1st kid (in Wales) after 6 years of marriage.... And a year later, I sent her my last correspondence maaf zahir batin dalam "Poskad Dari Andalus".
p/s
Months into our "long distance" friendship, I managed to write my only radio drama script "Sayangnya kau tak tahu......!" before my last semester in UPM. It was a fiction (about a boy who merajuk ke Wisconsin and a girl who was too late to declare her love). But jalan cerita somehow hampir2 benar kebenarannya (I later went to Washington and she was 6 yrs too late?). But Tok Udin did not have the chance to direct and produce the drama as Anne was not a Paya Redan girl. She is a Paya Mas girl. A Hafsah produced and directed it. Not our Hafsah but the famous Hafsah Hassan. The drama was aired sometime in 1980. Dapatlah a quite handsome honorarium. Probably I should start creative writing again? I saw Lim Swee Tin (yang cikgu Tajul selalu bacakan puisinya)a couple of months ago. He encouraged me to start it again. May be I should make a sequel to that drama in telemovie as now I got more characters to include! Beware I may include Hj Nasir as the co-star!
Sebenarnya this story dah lama siap. Tapi bulan munajat merdeka dah habis. Tak jadilah nak siarkan the full version. So I bagi sinopsis saja..
She is Anne and not Mary. I first saw her on board of Hasry Express bus the same raya Hafsah balik Malaysia. She suddenly stood in front of me and gave that killing smile directly on my face. I was so infactuated by that smile & face for a very2 long time. I made a silly mistake and then made a "very late move" to rectify the situation. Terlalu banyak peristiwa berlaku after that move. We kept in touch for many many years... mostly in a semi-poetic way... I left for US, I ditunangkan, a year later she ditunangkan, cooled off before her wedding, I balik Malaysia, I got married in 85 only to find out she was still single (putus tunang), sambung balik our correspondence, she got married a year later to the only boy she ever dated (once in late 70s), she dapat tiga anak, Allah blessed me with my 1st kid (in Wales) after 6 years of marriage.... And a year later, I sent her my last correspondence maaf zahir batin dalam "Poskad Dari Andalus".
p/s
Months into our "long distance" friendship, I managed to write my only radio drama script "Sayangnya kau tak tahu......!" before my last semester in UPM. It was a fiction (about a boy who merajuk ke Wisconsin and a girl who was too late to declare her love). But jalan cerita somehow hampir2 benar kebenarannya (I later went to Washington and she was 6 yrs too late?). But Tok Udin did not have the chance to direct and produce the drama as Anne was not a Paya Redan girl. She is a Paya Mas girl. A Hafsah produced and directed it. Not our Hafsah but the famous Hafsah Hassan. The drama was aired sometime in 1980. Dapatlah a quite handsome honorarium. Probably I should start creative writing again? I saw Lim Swee Tin (yang cikgu Tajul selalu bacakan puisinya)a couple of months ago. He encouraged me to start it again. May be I should make a sequel to that drama in telemovie as now I got more characters to include! Beware I may include Hj Nasir as the co-star!
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