A busy holiday?!

Christmas break just kicked off yesterday. My mates went back to their homes, most of them live in midlands. Unfortunately, i might be stuck in Wales for the whole christmas holiday! 3 academic coursework need to be done.

1. I'm doing a research that has something related to petroleum, oil & gas. I'll study the behaviour and formation of mantle plumes (some sort of magma coming out from the earth's mantle) and it's relation with mass extinction; hence the formation of black shales! Challenging, yet interesting! Hopefully it's an eye opener for my sponsor! huhu...Cari minyak, cari minyak! (My beloved personal tutor for this course is Dr Andrew Kerr, takde link pulak ke website dia...ish...nanti cari)

2. Creating an A3-size poster on Gower. My school has loads of graphics softwares which are specialised for geological & geographical use. Google Earth is only a laughing stock for us! I have a big ambition with this one. Guess what, with these softwares, I'm able to reconstruct the geographical image of any place, anywhere, anytime (given that i have plenty data for the particular area). Just imagine.......The Battle of Badr, Uhud....Ottoman Empire......whoa....hopefully this dream will come true one day!

3. An essay. huhu.....enough said.

Geology: Physically demanding, intellectually challenging, spiritually fulfilling! All in all, i'll be busy! Main Building will be my 2nd home from now...huhu.

There are other stuff which needs my attention. Apa-apa pun..... hati pun perlu 'dinaik taraf' dengan ilmu, as well as 'dicuci'.
Isnin - Sheikh Hisham's Halaqa: Life of the Prophet, Al-Manar Islamic Centre
Selasa - Sheikh Abdalla Yaasin's Halaqa: Tafseer & Spirituality, Darul Isra' Islamic Centre
Rabu - ......erm.....kena cari!
Khamis - Sheikh Ya'qoob's Halaqa: Tajweed & Quran Recitation, Darul Isra' Islamic Centre
Jumaat - Malaysian Brothers Halaqa.....kalau banyak tak ada.... some halaqa in Darul Isra'
Sabtu - Football 5-on-5 Islamic Society Brothers weekly social.
Ahad - .....tak sure....kena cari gak!

Balance. Improvement. Consistent. itu yg diharapkan, inshaAllah.
allahu'alam.

Guru

Cikgu Sebelum Tadika!!
-Mrs Chin Chin (my 1st teacher, taught me Maths & English at the age of 5. i love you teacher, you're the best!)
*still keeping in touch sehingga kini, sebab rumah dekat dgn rumah nenek (TokJah)!!

Cikgu Tadika
-Mrs Samuel (Child Enrichment Centre, Subang Jaya, Selangor)

Guru2 Sekolah Rendah SS19 Subang Jaya, Selangor
-banyak dah lupa

Guru2 Sekolah Rantau Petronas, Kertih, Terengganu
-pun banyak dah lupa
*tau tau ada a few from SRP yg fly ke UK, most of them from KYUEM. Bila ditegur baru perasan...huhu!

Guru2 Sekolah Kebangsaan SS17 Subang Jaya, Selangor
-Pn Shamsiah -cikgu BM
-Ustazah Norhizam -cikgu PI
-En Shukri -cikgu PJ + KH
-Pn Koh -cikgu Maths
-Pn Noraini - cikgu KT
-yg lain banyak dah lupa, tapi muka ingat

Guru2 Sek Rendah Agama Masjid Darul Ehsan, Subang Jaya
-Ust Hashim (Pengetua)
-Ust Haliman Shah -Tauhid
-Ust Isa - Tajwid & Khat
-dan banyak lagi!!
*banyak kwn2 dari sekolah ni: Izad(US), NikAmalina(Ire), Izza(UK), Black(UK), Che'pah(Aus), Asma'(Aus), Fazrin (Ire) & yg lain2.

Guru2 Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Ipoh
Puan Hajjah Umaimah (mak angkat!! penyimpan rahsia terbesar buatku) - BM
Mr Mano - Bio (sorry sir, i flunked my 1st yr medic)
Mr Ng - English teacher & swimming coach (Sir, you're number1!)
Mr King - Chemistry (i'll remember you til i die, thanks Sir!!)
-dan banyak lagi!!!

Guru2 KMB
-Pn Najihah - Malay A1
-Pn Norhasnah - Business & Management
-Pn ....... - Maths (cikgu, sorry tetiba terlupa nama! banyak pengalaman. mohon maaf pasal pernah cetuskan konflik.)
-Mr Guna - Bio (your notes were so powerful!)
-Pn Norlila - Chemistry (i love the way you integrate Chem & Islam & God)
-Ust Yazid - Agama (Ust, sorry tak abes surah hafalan!)

Guru2 tak formal
-Ust Hasrizal - my on-going teacher!
-Ustaz Alias Omar - guru ttg haraki, usul 20 & lain2 especially waktu involved dalam program JIM & KARISMA time kat KMB. JZKK!!
-Akhi Razi - sedar2 kita sama sekolah, sama kolej, sama Uni....cuma di masa yg berbeza!
-Sheikh Sameh - Arabic Language (Darul Isra' Legend Number 1!!)
-Sheikh Abu Baraa' - Usul Fiqh (Darul Isra' Big Imam)
-Sheikh Abdalla Yaasin - Tafseer (spiritual teacher)
-Ust Nazri Abdul Razak - Tafseer

Kalau ikutkan, the list goes on and on.
Aku actuallyat the moment kat Main Building, finishing some work, and the clock now is 9.52pm. Tetiba teringat kat cikgu2 zaman2 dulu. Banyak hal yg aku buat dengan cikgu. Dari mogok taknak jadi Head Prefect sekolah rendah sampailah ke bengang emo 2 minggu dgn Mr King (STAR) & cikgu Maths (KMB). Tapi konflik tu semua dah selesai.

Kantoi bagi budak Form2 makan (baca: telan, bukak isap) rokok, Pak Pin (Pengetua STAR) tau. Nasib baik dapat backup. Kalau tak....huhu. Sape soh kantoi isap rokok depan aku. Somehow mujur cikgu2 kat STAR ada on my side. Lesen besar nak handle budak2 Form2 yg 'mereng' sikit. Tapi ni suma cite lama.

There are too many experience to be told in one shot. InshaAllah ada masa nanti akan aku taip satu persatu. Semua ni sebab mengenangkan jasa guru2, hati tersentuh bila terdengar lagu "Terima Kasih Guru" nyanyian MIRWANA. Boleh titis air mata.

Kawan2,
Sepandai mana kita pun, setua mana kita, hiduplah dengan berguru. Banyak sebabnya.
Antaranya, merekalah sumber kekuatan dikala kita dibawah!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Terima Kasih Guru
Album : Hikmah Kembara
Munsyid : Mirwana
http://liriknasyid.com

Masih jelas diminda
bisikan suaramu..memanggil
Di situ langkahku bermula
mengejari cita..kau disisi

Lantas ku utuskan
lagu untuk menyatakan
(chorus, part ni yg rasa nak nangis, honestly my friends...)
terima kasih guru
kerna hulur tanganmuku menghargai setulus jiwaku
bicaramu gurukan ku ingat selalu
menjadi azimat kugenggam hingga ke akhirnya

Guru..ibarat pelita
sentiasa menyinar
kamar hidupku..

Guru..kau pewaris ilmu
mendidik diriku
hinggaku berjaya

(chorus sekali lagi!)

Andai diberi peluang
inginku terbang tinggi di awangan
kanku petik bintang-bintangku jadikan hadiah untukmu
moga tuhan merahmatimu
Terima Kasih... (chorus)
---------------------------------------------------------

moga lagu ni menjadi renungan utk kita bersama disamping sebagai halwa telinga.
allahu'alam.

Anak

Guru yg kucintai telah peroleh 3 org anak. Subhanallah. Website nya pula lately ni banyak dipaparkan tentang pengalamannya menjadi seorang bapa kepada 2 anak lelaki dan seorang anak perempuan. Gaya penulisannya semakin lembut. Aku dapat rasakan. Tenang. Anda?

Entah. Lately ni selalu terbaca, terdengar, terborak etc di mana2 tentang mencari jodoh, berkahwin, skill menjadi ibubapa, perceraian....segalanya berkenaan dengan isu rumahtangga. Kat masjid pulak, Uncle Shiraz buat lawak (dan aku alter sikit2 ikut sedap)...

When a Malaysian sees a beautiful woman, he says "Astaghfirullah"
When a Pakistani sees a beautiful woman, he says "Masha Allah"
When an Arab sees a beautiful woman, he says "INSHA ALLAH!"

2 Walimah di Cardiff. Kaedah walimah di UK pun telah diterangkan.

Posgrads di sini pun baru dpt cahaya mata, 4 orang. Akan dibuat aqiqah dan barangkali meminta kami UG utk marhaban.

Aku suka. Aku rasa tenang.

Sebarang petanda? fikir fikir...... la la la

Me

Friends,
Do sit back, relax, and think...

What does it mean by being a/an
1. Muslim
2. Non-muslims
2. Malay
3. Chinese
4. Indian
5. Lain2
6. Malaysian
7. Asian

Identity crisis? A question that needs an answer. Think.

Why bother thinking about it?! Sooner or later, my friends, you'll be living with people of different backgrounds. Befriend them, sharing common moral values, or make war.

Some, even those around us, do have this identity crisis. Look around. Observe. Think. Why?
-------------------------------------------------------
Just finished an exam this afternoon. EA1010 Sedimentary System. Alhamdulillah.

Blogging

I have spent about 40 minutes of my day surfing from one blog to another, most of them were my friends', here in the UK, somewhere around the world, as well as back home in Malaysia. Quite fascinated!

My dear friends,
Now is the era of blogging. Express your feelings, share your ideas, speak your mind! Then & only then people could know whether they have the same shared interest as yours.

Interestingly, controversial blogs are also on fire. Astora Jabat, Yasmin Ahmad & some other blogs. There are also other interesting blogs such as Anwar Ibrahim's, Faisal Tehrani, Saiful Islam, whatever that suits your interests. This is true freedom of speech & freedom of expression. But friends, i would strongly encourage you to equip yourself with knowledge & faith before going into a deep discussion with any of these conroversial issues. Some might be emotionally moving, intellectually challenging, politically attracting! Be careful, always be careful.

Regards,
-Your friend in the blogging world-

Walimah in the UK?!!

I was invited to attend a Walimah in Darul Isra' mosque yesterday. There was also one today.

Loads of people attended yesterday's event, but fewer people were in the mosque today. My 'tok sheikh' invited me to sing a nasheed together with him, and i agreed. He suggested "Tolaa'al badru 'alaina....", i thought i have no problem singing that song, hence i agreed. In the middle of the song, i somehow forgot the lyrics, so "hentam bedal sajelaaa!!"

Huhu~ i forgot that the people whom are listening to our nasheed are ARABS!

How embarrasing.....ahhh...selamba! huhu....i enjoyed it, and had a good laugh with my sheikh when we had dinner together.

My friends,
This is what i was told on how the muslims here get married (the Arab way)
-3 stages; 1)Nikaah 2)Walimah 3)Al-'Urus (note that they have Walimah & Urus separately, unlike us and our culture)
-Groom pays for the dowry, nikaah & walimah
-Bride pays for Al-'Urus
-Nikaah: signing the marriage agreement. The couple is officially wed, and they are allowed to go out together during the day, but the husband must send the wife back to her family before nightfall
-Walimah: announcing the local community that the couple is getting married. Normally held on the day of the nikaah
-Al-'Urus: a few months after the Nikaah. This is the time where the husband officially take the wife to his own house and they can then live together.
-I asked my sheikh, and he said that the average dowry for an Arab girl, muslimaat, now is about £3000 (Tiga ribu pounds sahaja!), and that excludes the walimah & al-'urus

So guys, up for the challenge?

p/s: at least the Imaam there prayed for those who are still single to get married soon! huhu.... (Ameen?!)

Home

I woke up late today, but still managed to pray Fajr before the time ended. Stomach filled with Pakistani-cooked rice & salad & lamb, as there was a 'walimah' going on last night in Darul Isra' Islamic Centre. 3 days in a row!! Yesterday, today & tomorrow! Mine?! haha, a matter to be discussed later.

Called dad, he didnt answer the phone. Called home, no reply. Called Abang, he picked up his phone and we chat for about half an hour. They were at the PC Fair in KL. Abang said that he'll be at home for holiday until the 5th of January. He's finished his assignment with Prof Shad (UiTM Shah Alam), and now he's geared to pursue a family-based project; reconstructing the family tree. One of my cousins just graduated from nursing school in UM, and she's now a practising nurse in UM's paediatrics ward. Sorry Shasha, no more family hospital! Another cousin planned in pursuing his studies (privatey financed) to Japan, and he's planning to have a chat with my sister, Na, since she's been to Japan once, for a month, under the flag of AFS (a.k.a Antarabudaya Malaysia ABM, in which i went to the same programme for a month in 2001).

Abang asked if i would be coming back for holiday anytime soon, since the whole family is at home! Maybe not. Maybe sometime in June till September. Or.....might not be coming back home, might want to go for a work attachment somewhere here. Should I, or should I not??!

That's all for now. Missing my family very much. InshaAllah I'll call home anytime later.

Bersabar wahai kawan....

Entah kenapa sejak kebelakangan ini aku lebih gemar untuk menaip post dalam Bahasa Melayu (baca: MELAYU!) dan tidak Bahasa Inggeris, walhal assignment yang tersimpan rapi didalam beg sekolah kesemuanya memerlukan keringatku untuk menulis dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Ntah.....Biarkan biarkannn.....

Aku dulu buntu. Ingin mencari sesuatu yang boleh dijadikan kekuatan untuk berjuang. Identiti untuk diserlahkan.

Dari situlah aku jumpa kekuatan dan nama. Keluarga. "Kehebatan" sejarah & salasilah keluarga menjadi asbab untuk aku menumpang & menangguk kebanggaan hasil titik peluh orang lain. Aku yakin, ketika itu, yang aku berada di dalam kelompok yang betul. Kesempatan untuk menuntut di salah sebuah sekolah sekular yang ditubuhkan berteraskan semangat kebangsaan menjadi penyeri kepada pakej yang sedia ada.

Aku berhijrah ke Banting. Di situ aku dikenalkan dengan kelompok orang2 yang lebih cenderung kepada agama. Aku pelik. Ada juga kelompok sebegini. Aku diajak untuk bersama2 menimba ilmu, berbaik dengan guru2, memahami erti persahabatan sebenar dan menghayati sejarah perjuangan Nabi. Pendirianku tatkala itu goyah.

Aku fikir dan terus fikir (mungkin salah satu kelemahan, sebab terlalu banyak berfikir sampai orang lain kata aku tidak berbuat apa2 & membuang masa), aku pertimbangkan hak batil, baik buruk dan sebagainya. Aku membuat keputusan.

Inilah namanya perjuangan.

Tiadalah namanya perjuangan andai kemenangan itu mudah untuk diperoleh. Perjuangan yang sebenar apabila kita mempraktikkan teori yang dipelajari, dan dilancarkan secara terus ataupun tidak terus kepada sasaran. Dan perjuangan seringkali menjadi "along" yang mahukan secebis pengorbanan dari kita, sedikit demi sedikit. Adakalanya kita terkorban.

Nasihatku buat rakan2 yg disayangi sekalian,
Sedarlah bahawa perjuangan itu bukan mudah. Ianya tidaklah semudah perbincangan ilmiah semata2. Ianya juga tidak semudah mengharapkan kemenangan yang datang bergolek. Bersabarlah. Kita punya matlamat. Kita berusaha, untuk mencapai matlamat tersebut. Andai tidak tercapai, maka nantikanlah.....anak2 kita bakal menyambung perjuangan ini.

Dan suatu hari nanti kita akan mengecapi kemenangan!