Life a midst the covid-19 pandemic

This is a challenging time.  A time for us to endure the covid-19 pandemic.  We have been through several Movement Control Orders (MCOs) of a two week interval each since March 18, 2020.  Areas are zoned according to the number of new infections detected.  Kajang has seen its worst but had persisted on.  So is our immediate area, Kg. Sungai Ramal Dalam.  Ours is the first area to be disinfected, much to the amusement of many with all the mistakes made.  It was a good trial run for the disinfection process of other places.  Several high level individuals did manage to make complete fools of themselves in the process.  Every time is a time to learn our lesson.  Just make sure that those mistakes will not be repeated elsewhere. 

Getting our grocery had not been easy due to the need for social distancing and the limit of the no of people allowed in each vehicle, the need for face masks, the difficulty in getting face masks, the need to use hand sanitizers and the difficulty in getting hand sanitizers.  Worst of all is the fear of the unseen, the covid-19 virus.  The need for washing of the purchase, clothing worn to be quickly discarded and soaked in soap water and getting our through bath after getting home.

The month of Ramadhan came and left us in the midst of this pandemic.  We endured.  We went through the Ramadhan fasting month performing our tarawikh prayers at home with the man of the house leading.  Normally this prayer is performed in the nearby surau or mosque.  This time around the suraus and mosques are out of bounds except for the few committee members who are allowed to perform their prayers there.  One thing beautiful is that we got to perform our eid prayers at home again led by the man of the house complete with the summon.  This has never happen before.

Hari Raya celebration came with a new approach.  We took care of each other and especially our neighbours.  When normally we would visit each other and spend sometimes at each others' place, the covid raya came with a new approach.  We had our raya goodies delivered to the neighbours' instead.  Just the raya greetings, no salams, no body hugs.  The delivery was made as quick as possible and we hastily retreat to our house.  

As for family visit, the allowable number was 20 at any one time.  We limit ours to real immediate family members, meaning just the children and their family members. We were lucky as everybody, except for our second son, were staying with us.  So the visit by the second son and his family made us whole.

Celebrating our trashman

Ours is a community of self.  So near to the Kajang Municipality yet we are not served by the MPKj.  Except for being at their council building to pay for the annual land tax, we barely had contact with them.  We have the ketua kampung who we see at kenduris.  Maybe the men would see more of him at the mosque/surau.  The wakil rakyat?  We'll see him at close to election time, at an interval of 4 - 5 years at the most.  So much for extracting services from these folks.  Incidentally, DS Wan Azizah's N25 boundary stopped at about 800 m from our community.  So no service from she either!

Who do we see often, and gladly wanting to see more of him?  Our trashman!  Our trash collection is 'privatized'.  We pay RM20 a month for the service.  He used to come twice or trice a week, come rain or shine, driving his modified truck with the sides raised high to accommodate the piling trash.  However, of late he is no longer coming on a regular basis.  Unprepared for this, our trash had been piling and overflowing our bins.  Scavenging cats start having field nights (days at times) and with that the stench and flies.  I had taken to rebagging our trash in much sturdier bags and tying them with strong rubber bands preventing the maggots from wriggling out.

He made an appearance one day armed with newspaper cuttings.  Seemed that private trash operators are now being harassed by MPKj and they can no longer use the dump site that they normally use to dump the trash.  They had been paying for the use of the facility, charged by the truckload, but is now not available for their use.  While negotiation was taking place with MPKj, the filled trash trucks lined the road leading to the dump site.  The smell and the flies annoyed the kampung folks who then took matters in their own hand.  They took to breaking the windscreen and side windows!

With a no-win in sight, our trashman took to looking for alternative dump sites.  The closest that he could find is somewhere close to KLIA, over an hour away (by car).  His truck would take over 2 hours.  So now the regularity of our trash collection suffers.

Can we believe election manifestos or are they just political gimmicks? (Updated)

Thinking it over, maybe that's a wrong title for this piece. It should have read, "Can politicians be trusted".  We have seen what happened to the manifestos brought forth in the 13th GE.  The minority winners had all but gone against their words.

Closer to home, after the PR N25 PRK win in Kajang, Kajang more-or-less remains much the same.  Both divide talk much about easing Kajang traffic congestion and the floods after massive downpours.  Meaning that whoever was elected will bring about the same change. However, these hopes went equally dead as per the election and winning excitements.  To this day, I for one would avoid Kajang town like a plaque unless for the VERY necessary.  Wondering what's happening to the promises.  Wait for another GE or PRK for a repeat of the same?

Today is Bukit Gelugor's turn to determine their representative to the Parliament.  With all but jokers trying to bid against Ramkarpal, the path is wide open for him.  It's not the win that is of concern, but the majority (difference).  I believe the outcome will be announced early tonight.  Yet again, whoever wins, will it make any difference to the life of the ordinary folks in Bukit Gelugor?  Will their worries, concerns and wishes be heard and acted upon in the August House?

Updated:
DAP (Ramkarpal) won with 41,242 votes, an astounding 37,659 majority.  All other candidates bungkus losing their respective deposits.  PCM only managed to garner 3,587 votes; Mohamed Nabi Bux, 799; and Abu Bakar Sidik, 225.  Spoilt votes, 539.

We will have another show come May 31st.  Dyana is indeed a change from the mundane and has made a few peeing in their pants.  Whoever wins, will it drastically change the life of the people in Telok Intan al beit Malaysia?  I wish I have the answer, but I dream that there will be.  I wish you well Dyana.  Do make your candidacy and win a landmark for Malaysia's future, InsyaAllah.

Update:

Dyana lost with a razor thin margin of 238 votes, garnering 19,919 votes in all.  Mah won with 20157 votes.  Spoilt votes, 550.

Personal note to Dyana.

Dyana,

Do not despair, losing in this PRK is no loss but a personal victory for you. You have the age benefit and this experience is of tremendous value for your political future as well as the country's. Time to restrategize and put more effort in this struggle and we'll see you as a winning candidate come GE14, InsyaAllah.

Day 17: Fate of MH370 unfurled

Malaysiakini, March 25, 2014

The confirmation

10.05pm; March 24, 2014: The premier announces that the evidence suggests that MH370 likely ended in the Southern Indian Ocean.

Background:

• The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.
   
• Its whereabouts remains a mystery as 26 countries race to locate the missing plane, believed to be either in the northern corridor, anywhere between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, or in the southern corridor covering Indonesia and to the south of the India Ocean.
   
• This comes after the authorities determined that the plane intentionally made a turn-back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers.

Our heart goes to the passengers and crew of MH370 and their families.  Innalillahhi wainna ilaihirojiuun. Al-Fathihah.

MH370 - Day 8: The route taken

After a week and some clues, the knowns and unknowns of MH370

The Malaysian Insider – Sat, Mar 15, 2014

Lifted whole from Yahoo Malaysia. Mar 16, 2014

What we know:

* It isn't in the South China Sea. The search has been called off there despite various discoveries from debris, oil slick to seismic events.

* Its systems were deliberately switched off separately just before it vanished

* It did not enter Vietnam air space

* It had 7.5 hours of fuel left when it vanished

* It didn't crash when it disappeared

* It changed flight path and altitude

* The plane crossed the Malay peninsula at the border with Thailand and was considered as friendly, and therefore not challenged.

* Its last contact from the plane's systems was at 8.11am on Saturday, nearly seven hours after it vanished from radar screens

* There were two Iranians travelling on Italian and Austrian passports stolen from Thailand over the past two years.

* One man had a Chinese passport with the same number as a Chinese man who never left his Fujian province in China.

* Interpol says there are a few passengers with suspect passports

* There were Chinese calligraphers, government servants, holidaying couples, two infants and 20 Freescale electronics plant officials and workers on board the plane.

* It was a code-share fight with China Southern Airlines. The two men travelling on stolen passports had tickets bought together from a travel agent in Pattaya, Thailand, a day before the flight.

* The plane's disappearance has brought attention to rings specialising in stealing and selling stolen passports out of Thailand.

* The pilot is 53-years-old with more than 18,000 hours flying time and has built a B777 flight simulator at home. His house was raided today.

* The co-pilot is 27-years-old with 2,700 hours flying time and who has apparently taken female passengers to the cockpit while flying.

What we don't know:

* The current location of Flight MH370. It disappeared somewhere north of the Strait of Malacca after its last ping at 8.11am, March 8, 2014.

* The condition of all its 227 passengers and 12 crew members.

* The person or persons flying MH370 after it vanished from radar screens.

* The person who switched off the plane's communication links at 1.07am and transponders at 1.21am last Saturday.

* The motive for its disappearance. It still remains a matter for conjecture.

* Whether it is north or south of the Strait of Malacca. The search and rescue mission is now focused on a northern corridor extending from Thailand to Kazakhstan/Turkmenistan and the southern corridor extending from Indonesia to the south of the Indian Ocean.

What will be, will be

Two things are on the mind right now, primarily the fate of MH370 after the five day disappearance.  The other is the N25 Kajang by-election.  Somehow the lyrics from the song Que Sera Sera kept creeping up.

When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother 
What will I be
Will I be rich
Will I be pretty

And this is what she said to me
Que Sera Sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future is not ours to see
What will be, will be.....

That much I can remember and it may not even be in the right sequence.

There are Allah's secrets that we may never know.  We may seek and we may plan but it is His plan that will finally prevail.  And to Him we are to pray and ask for guidance.

Ya Allah, may the fate of those on MH370 be the best that can be and fairness prevail in the PRK Kajang 2014, InsyaAllah.

It has to be said - the Kajang by-election

Was texting a friend when asked to brief on the preamble leading to the Kajang by-election.  Without being influenced by any prior reading, what came to mind was "the need to pacify spoilt brat Azmin".  Seemed that only Anwar can make him toe the line.  Don't think Kajang needs either of these characters.  Rafizi can explain all he likes and so does former ADUN Lee.  Azmin said Kajang should be proud to have a world class leader.  Who are they taking us for?  Just put a shoe in the place and we will vote for the shoe!  Kajang do not need a bazooka to swat a fly.  Enough of being duped for change in government when it was all about fulfilling just one character's ambition.

For that matter I am wondering what Permatang Pauh folks has to say of their beloved Parliamentarian.  Has he been effecting change in town?  Kajang do not need another absentee representative.  We have been doing things that need doing ourselves, so why pay somebody to do it (when after all they won't be around to do it).  Time to show these dudes what the voters are capable of.

Ushering 2014

I wasn't there for the TURUN demo, but in show of support I'd like to keep these pics from Malaysiakini for posterity.

 The heat started with the 'trouble that is to be' 
press conference from this comic.

 The guling (roll; overthrow?) that was.  Hahaha...cute!

 These posters are worth a thought should somebody 
at Putrajaya be thinking.  Is he?  He's clueless as always.

 Nobody could defy the Jalur Gemilang.  The march is on.

The crowd that was.  
The so said main stream media reported of 'no support'.

Ushering 2014 with the people's fireworks 

(handphone lights improvisation).

Happy 2014 higher price everybody!  With the kind of highway toll being imposed, goodbye KL-KK-Grik-Jeli route.  From now on I will have to crowd the KL-Lipis-Gua Musang route to balik kampung........wondering if I still could.

Confusing the kids

All my grandchildren were at KLIA in the morning of 15 December 2013 to see their greatgrandpa off balik kampung.  Amir, Amira and Asyraf are Nazim's while Adam is Shaida's.  They had a run of the place, literally running all over Level 5 while waiting for Wan to be checked-in.  We were amazed at the level of energy that they have.  While the hubby attended to Wan's wheelchair need, all remaining adults were on the lookout for the grandkids.  My youngest sister, Wan Norzila (La for short), was accompanying Wan for the KL-Kota Bahru stretch.  As she'll be working the next day, the plan was to have one of the brothers waiting at the Kota Bahru Sultan Ismail Airport to take Wan home.  La will be switching flight back to Subang Sultan Abdul Aziz Airport.  It would cost us much less to just let Wan travel solo with MAS's assistance, but we would rather have a family member accompanying so as not to distress Wan any further.

With Wan and La checked-in and going off to the waiting hall we ushered the grandkids to the Anjung Tinjau (Waving Gallery).  Being early morning, the place was less crowded compared to the check-in hall and there were ample empty seats for us adults to rest our tired feet.  There was ample space for the grandkids to race around stopping only to watch the speeding inter-terminal trains or the planes taxing for take-offs or parking.  Soon they grew tired of watching the same and were back to racing each other end to end of the hall.  We let them be for over an hour before giving the younger ones their bottles while Amir and Amira had their juices, then calling it quits to head for home.  Amir and Amira were profusely thanking their parents for such a wonderful trip!  It's not that difficult to have happy kids.

Nazim and family are staying in Subang Jaya close to his work place.  It was the Monday late morning after the airport trip that he got a call from Amir and Amira to settle an argument they were having back home.  Seemed that they were building airplanes from their Lego blocks.  Amir's plane was doing the aerial flights while Amira's was merely taxiing all the way, never taking-off.  Amir was telling the sister that planes need to take-off and fly away.  Not to Amira as the planes she saw at the airport were on the ground parked or just taxiing.  She did not see any flying.  Now who is right?

Incidentally Nazim had his phone on the speaker mode thus attracting the attention of the entire office floor.  After helping settle the kids argument he got back to work.  He, however, did notice that the floor was abnormally silent as if everybody was in deep thought.  Then someone quipped, "Think the sister is right, it was what she saw".  "Planes are meant to fly," someone else responded.  Soon the whole floor was arguing!  It was a much needed break for the floor from their mundane database job.  It was really getting out of hand to have the boss popped his head out the office door to inquire what the commotion was all about.  With things explained, he offered a suggestion that Nazim take the children to the oil palm plantation off the airport to watch the planes taking off and landing.  Indeed such happenings were not seen from the Waving Gallery as the plane take-offs and landings were obstructed from view by the airport structures.  MAB do take note as children do believe what they see.

Caring for Wan

Wan has eight children from three different marriages.  Kak Nah, the eldest is from the first child bearing wife.  However, that marriage was not to last.  True to the Kelantanese spirit they (Wan and his ex-wife) remain friends and we children used to stay over at her (ex-wife's) place during the school holidays.  My eldest sister was brought up by her mother.  Next came my brother and me before my mother passed away.  My remaining five siblings are from my stepmom who brought us all up.  She passed away in 2000.  Thanks to my stepmom we remain close-knit to this day.  A younger sister passed away this year, leaving seven of us to care for Wan.

Wan at tea time.

We believe Wan is in his 90s but no one knows for sure.  In spite his age Wan is in excellent health.  Until a few years back he was zipping around his rubber holdings dotting from Air Chanal, Jeli to Kg. Landar, Pasir Mas in his 4D Toyota Hilux.  He is a very independent person until his sight failed him even with lens change operations.  Lately dementia has also set in.  Sadly he has to give up his independence and rely on us children who willingly take turns in caring for him.  For this I have to salute my brothers and sister-in-laws for they took upon themselves to care for him as except for my late sister all of Wan's daughters are staying out of state.  Kak Nah settled in Kuala Selangor, my youngest sister is teaching in Klang and me though retired chose to settle in Kajang.

For all these years I had only a 10 day turn to care for Wan (28 November - 8 December 2013).  Not that we were not willing but as always, aging parents would rather stay in their own place or close by rather than some place else.  What more when we are out towners.  The opportunity to persuade him over was when my sister got talking to him about a well known eye doctor in Klang.  Seemed that a few of her friend's folks had their sight restored after visiting this doctor.

Another obstacle is to persuade him to take the flight.  Not that he is terrified of height but his rationale is that should there be a crash there would be nothing to cling to as everything will be crashing down!  Good thing that Tabung Haji only offers air passage for the compulsory once in a life time pilgrimage.  He would have taken the sea voyage should one be offered!  It was after much persuasions that he relented to fly into KLIA.

He was with my sister in Klang for a while before it was my turn to care for him.  Kak Nah came to give hand for the period of Wan's stay with me.  Being close to 70 herself, this is her only way to care for Wan.  There is no way for her alone to care for Wan.  This has been a great help for me for I am also taking care of Adam, my two year old stay-in grandson.  We soon set ourselves in a routine with me doing the cooking and bathing Wan.  Kak Nah took care of Wan at meal time for he can barely see what is served before him.  The hubby took care of chatting him up and keeping his wake-up hours occupied.  Nazim once took him to the barber for a shave.  With boisterous Adam in the house, Kak Nah mostly took care of Wan's day need while I took the night shift.  With her hypertension and diabetic conditions to care for, I made sure Kak Nah got to bed early in the night.  My night shifts normally start at about 9.30 pm.

The four-generation shot.

The challenge came in the night.  As he spent most of daylight sleeping away, Wan tends to be awake at night and he wanted to chat away.  He'll remember snaps of his past life and will relive it.  One time it'll be the parang going missing and he'll be searching the room for it.  Later we'll need to take the buffalo into the shade.  Then it's his motobike out there as he lost the key to unlock the gate to bring it into the house compound.  Soon there are robbers creating havoc in the house!  Took us a while to live his 'reality' and came up with appropriate responses.  Yes, the parang is safely in the store, the buffalo has been taken to the shade of that big tree, his bike is safely in as we've located the key, and the robbers were all dead in the gun-fight!  Try repeating that for ten nights plus other incidences and you'll get the hyper-tense situation we were in.

Alas all good things has to end.  After another short stay at my youngest sister's he insisted on going home.  Things were much easier this time around as the fear of flying has finally eased.

Appreciating Education - Zoya Phan's Memoir

My youngest presented me Zoya Phan's Little Daughter for my recent grand 60th birthday.  She was at the MINES Big Bad Wolf book sales recently when she came across the title.  Scanning through it she thought it is my kind of reading, and she was very right.  I thoroughly enjoyed the memoir as I can very much relate to Zoya's experience with my early life and education, minus the war and the refugee camp living of course.  Incidentally I have been saving the my early education story to be part of my Early Years series.  This I never did find time to write just yet.  A lame excuse indeed for being a retiree time is all that one has aplenty!

Though I did Southeast Asia History for my 1969 MCE (SPM equivalent), what Zoya endured was very much a relatively recent happenings (in history terms, that is).  General Ne Win was a personality to reckon with in my history readings then.  Reading Zoya, the general is not somebody you want to be associated with.

I have to plead ignorance of the plight of the Karen people.  Before Zoya I thought Karen is just a minority ethnic community, very much like the Meo/Hmong tribe of Thailand.  Indeed I am very wrong.  I feel for them, to be denied their very own rights in their very own country is just beyond comprehension.  To gradually lose their culture and with that ethnic knowledge cultivated over generations is a lost to all mankind.  I pray that Zoya's struggle will not be in vain.

Deaths came our way

Come this age, places we frequent are wedding kenduris and ziarah those who were invited back by Allah.  They used to say that death of those close to you come in threes.  I had four this past few months.  

We bade our goodbyes to a brother-in-law on June 27, 2013.  He was the husband to my elder sister who had been a father figure to me while I was doing my sixth form in a boarding school away from home and the four years I was in college.  He was close to celebrating his 73rd birthday.  He succumbed to gout initiated complications.

On Eid Fitr, I had a call from my younger sister.  Apart from the usual eid greetings I was informed of a cousin's passing on August 5.  He was my uncle's only son.  His passing was indeed a shocker to us as we never knew of him being sick.  He was 36.  Seemed that his initial complain was of gastric ailment but later zeroed to auto-immunity complications.

At a friend's son wedding reception on August 18, I was informed of another friend's wife being admitted to HUKM for lung complications.  He was hushing it down and not receptive to visitors to allow the wife to rest.  On August 22, SMS were flying announcing her passing.

In the morning of August 21, my husband's cell was shrieking with an SMS.  It announced the passing of our neighbour from our old neighbourhood.  We never knew that he was admitted days earlier to the Kajang Hospital due to stroke.

Innalillahi wainnaiallirojiun.  May their souls be amongst the blessed, In shaa Allah.

The GE13 Outcome

As anticipated the sick chicken was slaughtered and the carcass became crocodile feed.  Nobody wants to gulai the sick chicken.  My brother reported his election post indeed had grilled chicken to celebrate.  It was 23,724 for Kak Lah as against 17,488 for the aye sakit.  

Tok Heng of Pasir Mas was trounced 33,431 to his 25,384 by Nik Abduh.  Che Johe was hailed a hero for not putting in his nomination papers and to allow an independent to be in a straight fight.  Datuk Kamilia was booted out off the party for going in as an independent.  One becomes a hero and the other a traitor.  It's kind of tough for me to process this kind of rationale.

And so Datuk Kamilia has only 447 voting for her.  This figure glared compared to what was garnered by Tok Heng.  Wonder what contributed to the difference.  Datuk Kamilia's defeat is not a loss.  She is saved in the bigger context.  Being a person she is, she can still pursue her manifests on different platforms, InsyaAllah.

Food from the earth

One late evening two days ago my husband mentioned about some nice mushroom growth in our lawn by the kitchen.  Occupied with some errands I made no heed of it.  It was typical of him to be excited over nothing at times.  Come morning the next day, I was out of the house early to hang the laundry when the mushrooms caught my eyes.  What came immediately to mind was, "Those must be cendawan busut (Termitomyces sp.)," one of the most delicious mushrooms to be found.  However, remembering my late grandpa's fate (he died of mushroom poisoning) I was cautious about the whole thing.

Remembering that a few months back we had cendawan busut from a neighbour, I invited her over for confirmation.  She was as excited as I was on seeing the mushroom.  We pulled out a few just to be sure and those long 'roots' was another indicator of the species.  We pulled out a few more for her enough for a serving.

I remember a friend, Dr. Sepiah Muid, as an authority on this species.  I had several takes and MMSed her for confirmation too.  I was happy when her response came back in the affirmative.  We had cendawan busut with squash soup for dinner.

The nature combination that come with cendawan busut growth has eluded our mycologists to this day.  They can never get to artificially germinate cendawan busut what more to commercially grow it.  Even Dr. Sepiah, after over a decade of work on this mushroom, has to call it quits.  It is common knowledge that the cendawan busut spores will only germinate from termite's nest (now one nest is real close to home!  Call the pest busters, then I'll miss on my mushroom).  There must be some form of growth synergy between the mushroom and the termites. Further, the situation for germination will be right only with thunderstorms.  I remember us having those thunderstorms for the past few evenings.  

 The gift that came unexpectedly, Alhamdullillah.

It was stir-fried cendawan busut with loofa for today's lunch.

Incidentally our pisang tanduk was harvested on the same day. Most of the spikes seen here had gone to the neighbours.  True to my father's saying, "Tidak rugi berbudi dengan tanah - There is no loss by being virtuous to the soil".

Nomination analysis - MP for Rantau Panjang

Was talking to my brother this morning on GE13 MP candidate nomination for Rantau Panjang.  Kak Lah (Siti Zailah Yusof) as expected was renominated for PAS.  Kak Lah is much loved by the rakyat to be replaced just by anybody.  She is the people's person.  Come what may, she'll be there by you.  Those assisting her have always wondered where her energy comes from.

"Who is contesting her?", I questioned my brother.
"Aye sakit!", he shot me the answer.
(A sick chicken!)
"What?", I exclaimed in surprise.
"Ore dio (UMNO).  2008 dulu masok calon woke pati bebah, guna lambe aye", he explained.
(Their candidate (UMNO).  Was the 2008 independent candidate using the picture of a chicken as his contesting logo). 

Kelantan is well known for UMNO infightings and polarity.  It has always been puok kite, puok demo (our team, their team).  I think the sick chicken will be slaughtered too this time around.  But nobody's eating a sick chicken.  He'll just go to waste.

"What's going on in Pasir Mas?"
"Che Johe dah jjadi jutawe doh!"
(Che Johan is already a millionaire!)
"Berapo?"
(How much?).
"Katanye duo juto!"
(They said 2 m!)
"Sapo bui?"
(Who gave?)
"Puok demo".
(Their team)
Case closed.

     Heil to Datuk Kamilia!  A lady of principle.  I can testify to that.  She has been that way since I got to know her way back in the 70s.  We were in the same school in Seremban back then.  I'll surely vote for her should I be a KK resident.  Hope she would give a thought to Kak Lah's invitation.  She had never fit the UMNO image and it had kept me wondering all this while.  The KK parliamentary seat will be much watched come May 5.  My doa is all hers.

Election Fever, I caught the bug too

This press statement is for keeps (Source: Harakahdaily, APRIL 19, 2013)

("Roket sudah sampai ke bulan. Anda masih nak guna timbang dacing?")

KOTA BHARU: "Kesediaan DAP menggunakan logo PAS ini saya sifatkan sebagai detik bersejarah dalam perjuangan PAS semenjak lebih separuh abad ia ditubuhkan," kata Mursyidul Am PAS, Tuan Guru Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat.

Beliau mengulas keputusan DAP menggunakan logo PAS setelah Pendaftar Pertubuhan memutuskan untuk tidak mengiktiraf barisan kepimpinan DAP yang ada sekarang.

"Saya ingin melahirkan simpati kepada DAP di atas tragedi yang menimpa mereka di saat-saat akhir penamaan calon besok hari.

"Sudah tentu tidak dapat dibayangkan kesedihan yang melanda ekoran terpaksa mengenepikan lambang rasmi yang telah digunakan zaman berzaman," kata Tuan Guru Nik Aziz yang juga Menteri Besar Kelantan dalam kenyataannya hari ini.

Berikut adalah kenyataan penuh Tuan Guru Nik Aziz.

Penggunaan Logo PAS Oleh Calon DAP: Akhirnya Roket Mendarat Di Bulan

Saya membaca kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh Pengerusi DAP Karpal Singh pada petang ini bahawa calon-calon DAP akan menggunakan logo PAS di Semenanjung Malaysia dan logo PKR di Sabah dan Sarawak di dalam pilihanraya umum 5 Mei ini.

Ini berikutan sehingga jam 3 petang hari ini, DAP belum mendapat mendapat sebarang respon penarikan balik surat penggantungan jawatankuasa eksekutif pusat (CEC) parti itu daripada Pendaftar Pertubuhan (ROS) dan juga tiada tanda-tanda surat itu akan tiba.

Saya ingin melahirkan simpati kepada DAP di atas tragedi yang menimpa mereka di saat-saat akhir penamaan calon besok hari. Sudah tentu tidak dapat dibayangkan kesedihan yang melanda ekoran terpaksa mengenepikan lambang rasmi yang telah digunakan zaman berzaman.

Isu logo sekalipun mungkin nampak kecil bagi sesetengah pihak, tetapi ia melambangkan maruah dan harga sebuah perjuangan.

Dari sudut yang lain, kesediaan DAP menggunakan logo PAS ini saya sifatkan sebagai detik bersejarah dalam perjuangan PAS semenjak lebih separuh abad ia ditubuhkan.

Dalam melayari bahtera politik tanah air, PAS dan DAP sering dilagakan oleh UMNO/Barisan Nasional. Di hadapan bangsa Melayu, pemimpin UMNO menakut-nakutkan mereka dengan bahaya DAP dan begitu juga sebaliknya di hadapan bangsa Cina, mereka digembar-gemburkan dengan imej PAS sebagai taliban, radikal dan sebagainya.

Natijahnya, Melayu Islam dan bukan Melayu terus hidup dalam keadaan syak wasangka antara satu sama lain.

Hari ini, benteng tersebut telah runtuh sepenuhnya. DAP tanpa takut-takut lagi telah merobohkan persepsi ini apabila bertindak berani memilih logo PAS untuk bertanding di kawasan-kawasan yang telah diperuntukkan kepada mereka khususnya kawasan yang mempunyai majoriti pengundi Cina.

Saya kira, inilah saat di mana perjuangan PAS sudah tidak menjadi kegerunan lagi kepada bangsa Cina. Sekalipun ia masih belum diterima sepenuhnya, namun sedikit demi sedikit ia telah hilang.

Saya mengimbau kembali saat ketika Perjanjian Hudaibiyyah dimeterai antara Rasulullah SAW dan orang-orang Musyrikin Mekkah.

Kabilah-kabilah Arab di sekitar Madinah yang masih belum memeluk Islam mengambil keputusan untuk bernaung di bawah naungan kerajaan Islam Madinah.

Di saat itulah, sahabat-sahabat Rasulullah SAW diuji dengan rasa terhina akibat melihat secara zahir bagaimana perjanjian tersebut berat sebelah.

Namun kesabaran mereka segera diganjari oleh Allah SWT apabila perjanjian tersebut membuka peluang Rasulullah SAW menakluki kota Makkah apabila perjanian tersebut dilanggar di mana Bani Khuzaah yang masih belum memeluk Islam dan berlindung di bawah naungan Islam diserang oleh kaum Musyrikin.

Alhamdulillah, ketika UMNO masih menjaja keris tumpulnya merata-rata, perjuangan PAS sudah mula diterima di kalangan non muslim. Ketika UMNO main kayu tiga dengan perjuangan bangsa Melayu, PAS terus ke hadapan membawa misi dakwah dengan slogan PAS for All.

Non Muslim di sana sini tidak lagi segan silu membawa bendera PAS dan sebaliknya tidak pernah kita saksikan mereka membawa bendera keris tidak bersarung milik UMNO.

Saya yakin, benih Islamphobia yang disemai UMNO semakin mati tunasnya. Keputusan DAP ini insya-Allah satu rahmat besar buat PAS. Ia sebenarnya rezeki buat perjuangan Islam.

Mungkin Barisan Nasional merasakan langkah ini bakal membantutkan gerak langkah Pakatan Rakyat, namun sesungguhnya ia mengandungi rahmat yang sangat besar.

Jika Perjanjian Hudaibiyyah membuka jalan kepada pembukaan kota Makkah, maka tidak mustahil langkah kerajaan Barisan Nasional ini sedang membuka kepada pembukaan Putrajaya dan pembinaan Malaysia Baru.

Tidak mustahil tarikh 6 Mei 2013 nanti, perayaan besar-besaran kemenangan rakyat akan berlangsung di seluruh negara menyaksikan keruntuhan Barisan Nasional.

Yakinlah keputusan ini membuka pintu sejarah yang akan dikenang zaman berzaman. Inilah saatnya di mana akhirnya roket berjaya mendarat di bulan!

Salam hormat,

NIK ABDUL AZIZ BIN NIK MAT,
Al-Mursyidul Am,
Parti Islam Semalaysia (PAS)

Bertarikh : 8 Jamadil Akhir 1434H bersamaan 19 April 2013M

Milestone comments on the subject:

# .......the public has welcomed the decision by DAP, heralding it a turning point in Malaysia's new politics transcending race and religion.

# "The rocket has reached the moon, so let's look for the moon!"....................

# backfire in your face, huh? Checkmate, dude!

# Well, suddenly PAS and PKR who are predominantly Malay have so many Chinese members and supporters.

# A truely Malaysian party will be born. No more under racial lines.  When they win, they will have to stay together.  So it’s a blessing in disguise.

# Don’t lose heart, stay humble and fight on for the true Malaysia you have always longed for.  God is with you all in the fight for justice and the good.

The 'Dreamed Kitchen Garden' - made a reality

Remember our dream of acquiring the piece of property neighbouring our home lot?  It finally became a reality about a year back.  I was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing and had stopped dreaming of acquiring it after going through one stumbling block after another, but not my other half.  For the record, he is a real determined person, especially after setting his goal and sight.  It was more for peace of mind than anything else about acquiring the property.  Our present lot is an intermediate lot while this is an end lot.  Our present neighbour in the other adjacent lot is a crowd as it is a multi-unit apartment and pretty crowded (and noisy, to add).  Retirees want some piece of calm and quietness.  Should there be a repeat of development in the lot we are eyeing, then there goes our peace (and sanity to add).

We had finally tracked the real owner (thanks to Facebook!), a private medical practitioner, with clinics in Subang Jaya and Shah Alam.  A pretty loaded person where promise of any amount of money (by our standard) is of no concern to him.  There was no way that we can even talk to him (on the phone), it was just the clinic receptionist taking our calls.  There must be something about medical doctors that they keep their personal number sacred.  But we do somehow got confirmation that the property is his but he is not selling.  We've been getting the same answer all through and any effort for a direct communication with him was averted.  NOT FOR SALE - FINITUM!!!

I gave up easily, not to be our rezeki, I opined.  Not my other half, it made him more determined.  Little was it known to me that that wish was included in his doa in front of the Kaabah when we were in Makkah for our last umrah trip.  He was pulling the biggest cable of all to open the path of contact and mind of the owner doctor.

As normally the case, umrah trip can be exhausting and for the jemaah to come back with coughs and flu.  We were no exception.  Being the one with the lower resistance, I was infected with the cough-flu bugs while in Makkah itself and lost my voice entirely.  I accepted it as part of kifarrah for my past doings and hope for total forgiveness from The Al-Mighty, InsyaAllah.  The other half only succumbed to the bugs when we were back in motherland.

Under coughing fits he announced going for medical assistance and the need to visit a doctor.  I was all for it until he mentioned going to Subang Jaya/Shah Alam to see 'the' doctor.  It never occurred to me that he was going to meet the owner doctor.  "He has to be persuaded, by all means," he said.  I stared hard in response for that was a long way to be driving for a 'simple' ailment when we have clinics at stone's throw away from home.  

He nevertheless made the trip after getting directions from our son Nazim,  (Nazim incidentally handles corporate medical insurance for his office and is knowledgeable of the Subang Jaya and Shah Alam clinics).  Coming home the hubby narrated the doctor reading out aloud our address and was too late in realizing my husband's other intention of seeing him.  He still contended that the piece was not for sale as his ownership was only half a share.  His 'partner-in-purchase' turned out to be another medical doctor!  This was making things doubly difficult for us.  To me the trip was in vain but not to my hubby.  He somehow got the doctor to divulge his private number and managed to persuade the doctor to call the said partner.  That, to my husband, was a step forward and not far off from our goal that had been eluding us all this while.

Even with the doctor's private number, calls and messages were not returned or even acknowledged.  Another trip it was.  Tired with the incessant calls/messages and the repeat visit, the doctor finally relented but not without a catch.  He quoted a non-negotiable price and a 'take-it or leave-it' condition.  It was steep and way above our expectation, but still much below the market price.  We went for it to finally call ours about two weeks after, Alhamdulillah.

Now the garden and lawn is flourishing and is a playground for the grandchildren when they are back for the weekend.

The prized newly acquired lot is cared for with much love.

Amir & Amira helping Che' (Nazim) grilling satay

 in the grounds last Raya.

...then it was fireworks time.

Adam taking a swing.

We have plants only in the periphery to allow more play space.

The jackfruit tree was planted before we even 

acquire the space has come to bearing.

The prized beko plant.

When there is nangka, there has to be cempedak.

We have the space fenced up for the kids' safety. 

The pineapple patch.  Hard to convince the other half that 

the pineapple suckers need to be a lot closer.

The cashewnut plants planted for their shoots.

The starfruit plant has initiated some flowering.

The spindly mata kucing plant has overshot the wakaf.

So much foliage from the passion fruit plant but still no flowers.

Contrary to its name, the katak puru plant is indeed a handsome plant.  

Invitation is open for anybody interested to use it as their 

party symbol for the upcoming GE.