Sunday, March 29, 2009

Fadzil and the pacemaker

One's friends are the part of the human race with which one can be human.
George Santayana, Spain, 1863 - 1952

My bosom pal Fadzil turned 56 a few days ago. There was no celebration; he was in hospital and he had a pacemaker installed that very day to help with his chronic irregular heartbeat. A month earlier he had an open-heart surgery to replace a damaged valve in his heart.

His recuperation had not been easy, compounded by his diabetes and his body not positively reacting to the post-operation medications. He was in constant pain and could not talk for a long time (we regularly communicated by sms). Things did not get better when he was recuperating at home and he was readmitted, and finally the decision to install the pacemaker. I pray things will work out better for him from now on.
I have known Fadz close to 35 years now. I used to think he was a bit giddy, but we got on better over the years and today he's one of my best pals. He's somewhat an anglophile, and an obsessive reader and would always pick up and hoard any free printed matters! Always cheerful and positive, he has many friends and is easy to befriend, most of my friends have become his too. He and my brother Ngah are such pals too lately. A good listener, I could always count on him to listen to my sometimes frivolous complaints.
But, my dear Fadz is also rather disorganized and, sorry dear, quite sloppy too. And he's a compulsive smoker! I don't think many people have yelled and nagged him about the above as I did but he always took it well and was never offended. He regards me as a brother and gives me liberty to tell him off! Not that my telling him off made any difference! Haha!
So my prayers are with you brother, for a speedy recovery. And if you do make it here again, I will do my best for us to make a trip to Yemen (though I am more inclined to visit Iran!).

Fadz is rather obsessed with visiting Yemen. During Easter 2006, he and I visited my colleague in Zagreb, Croatia. Fadz got on like a house on fire with Amr, a beautiful and precocious little boy who was an abandoned Yemeni child adopted by my colleague (Fadz was then struggling to build a meaningful rapport with his 12-year old son). His fascination for Yemen grew since then.

We travelled a lot together, he complaining that the expenses were eating into his saving (he took optional retirement in 2005) but he came along all the same. We went to Morocco for Christmas in 2007, to Andalusia, Spain for Chinese New Year and to Jordan and Syria for Easter both in 2008. He was always a good travelling companion.

I will never forget our trip to Andalusia. Fadz was nursing a fractured right arm after his very first attempt at skiing a month before and he had difficulty handling his luggage. He was also by then suffering from breathlessness, for boding worse things to come!
An unforgettable incident was after a conducted walking tour of Cordoba which was quite extensive. By the time we reached our final destination, the Great Mosque of Cordoba, we were both tired. A while later I told Faz I was going back to the hotel but he insisted on completing the tour of the mosque.

I asked the guard at the mosque the direction to my hotel and was surprised that it was on the same street as the mosque and was just a few metres from the opposite entrance of the mosque through which we came in. I was in my hotel room in less than 5 minutes.

A couple of hours later Fadz returned, panting and looking pale and tired. I asked him what happened and he said that it was such a long walk back from the mosque!! He had actually walked back the whole walking tour route to get back to the hotel when it was just a stone's throw from the mosque!

He could not even leave his bed that evening for dinner and I had to bring back food for him. Next morning he could not go down for breakfast and afterwards I had to drag his luggage as we continued our journey by train to Seville. All told we had a good tour of Andalusia.

Back here a week later, we were taking a walk in the neighbourhood one bright early evening and there was a lovely waft of perfume coming from the lily of the valleys sprouting generously in the gardens we passed, an indication that Spring had arrived. I commented,' Look, the lily of the valleys are all out...'. Dear Fadz instantly looked up at the barren trees! So much for his botanical knowledge!

My dear friend and brother, get well soon.
For whoever knows how to return a kindness he has received must be a friend above price.
Sophocles, Greece, 496 - 406 BC

Alone again- a wet, grey and cold Saturday

My brothers and their spouses left for home early this morning after a 2-week stay. We really had a good time together and I don't remember us talking so much just about everything and sometimes laughing our heads off as during this period! Meal times were a feast of sort as my two boys went their way out to please them with an array of food. So now it's time for me to go on diet (from Monday though as Torsten and Mandy are coming for lunch tomorrow).

They were also lucky as their visit coincided with the annual International Motor Show in Geneva, the Badminton Swiss Open (at which Malaysia won both the men's double and men's single, hurray) and finally Baselworld, the biggest annual watch and jewellery fair, all of which they went to. Then there was the 6-day trip to Morocco and day trips to Vaduz in Leichtenstein, Feldkirch in Austria and Evian in France.

On Thursday night we had a short tahlil (prayer for the deceased) and my brother Long's final recitation in our own language brought tears to my eyes. I am just sorry our other brother Ngah was not with us then.

So here I am, alone again naturally (ala Gilbert O'Sullivan la!) on this grey, wet and cold Saturday. Yuccks, the winter is never ending this year! My two boys have gone out separately on their own (free at last!). And I am in a perpetual state of daze, I don't know if it is the sudden drop of atmospheric pressure or a combination of the detox tea and coffee with maca which I drank, or the short sleep I had (was up early to see my family off).

Next Friday another visitor from Malaysia, my young charge/protege of sort. And for the long Easter break, together with my two boys we head off to London. After three years of diligent service I am giving them a treat, I have even got them tickets for 'The Lion King' at London's Lyceum Theatre ( I have seen it in New York). A lovely huge apartment on Kensington Street facing Hyde Park awaits us (I was lucky to secure it as I did last April when I took my brother Wes and his wife to London). Hopefully my friends - Heather & Erin from Canada who will also be in London then, Amanda from Oxford, and Evert can all come to dinner at the apartment. The boys will be delighted to whip up a great meal for them as they had done for them during their visits here.

Torsten just called to confirm our lunch date tomorrow and to politely inform that he and Mandy are vegetarians! Now that will be a challenge for my cook!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Morocco Revisited

I just spent five pleasant days in Morocco. It was my 3rd visit to that country, this time around mainly to accompany my brothers and their spouses. My colleague and host in Rabat was extremely generous and hospitable during our five night stay at his residence. Thank you dear friend.

We spent a day in Fes, another in Casablanca and two days in Marrakesh. Each place was a myriad of sights, colours, sounds and smells.

I particularly liked the scenic drive from Fes to Ifrane. The latter was the most orderly and western of Moroccan cities.

In Casablanca we had the opportunity to perform Friday prayer at the grand King Hassan II mosque and by some arrangement by our driver Tariq, we were given VIP treatment, my brothers and I even praying on the very first row (though I firmly believe that in congregational prayers, no one should have special treatment - we are all equal before Allah)!

We had a very pleasant time in Marrakesh and stayed at the lovely Meridian Hotel. We enjoyed the lively bazaars though I kept reminding my brothers and sisters-in-law to be prudent in their shopping! Anyway it was a lot of fun and they still came away with lots of goodies!
























I don't think I will be in a rush to return to Morocco a fourth time. The immigration clearance in Casablanca had to be the worst I have encountered in all my years of travels! Why can't they simplify things and better-facilitate their visitors, given the millions that come every year? And without prior notice Air Maroc cancelled our flight on 24 March and offered no excuse. Fortunately I opened my email and saw the announcement. So we flew back a day earlier and at a very inconvenient early morning flight and my family missed out on seeing Rabat!

And for the record, more than two months ago when I was booking our flight with Air Maroc, I was quoted one price for one ticket. Ten minutes later, having consulted my brothers about the date, I returned to the website and requested 5 seats and, whadaya know, the prices went up more than RM100 per ticket!!! In just 10 minutes!
Well I now have enough memories of Morocco for life.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Spring at last, hopefully!

My two brothers are here for two weeks holiday and they must have brought the sunshine with them for the weather had been beautiful since they arrived on Saturday. The crocuses in my garden are finally out in full splendour. But weather forcast for the weekend is that of snow. We shall see but I won't be around even if it does snow.

Tomorrow we fly to Morocco for a week. More sunshine Insha Allah.

Friday, March 13, 2009

My friend's 60th birthday

I woke up to an sms from a friend who announced that he turned 60 today and if I could say a prayer for his continuous ‘rezeki’, good health and well-being so he would be able to continue to serve Allah.

Yes, of course of dear friend and comrade. I wish you all the blessings of the Almighty and many, many happy, healthy years ahead.

He and I started a long way back, from our final years at University. His hostel room was directly above mine and many a night I would be distracted by what sounded like marbles rattling on the floor. I finally went upstairs and knocked on his door to confront him about the noise but discovered that it did not come from his room after all. I never found out where the noise came from but he and from then on gradually became friends.

After graduating, we went on to join the same service and underwent a one year training together, and that was when we became closer. I loved visiting his village and roaming his family's acres of coconut plantation and cocoa farm and watching his mother make fermented soya bean cakes.

When he got married I was his best man. And earlier on I was advising him all things for the preparation of his wedding.

It was many years after his marriage that he was finally blessed with a child, a girl. Two more were to follow in the coming years. Before that he used to often confide to me his desperation of not getting a child.

Steeped in religion, he is really the one person who took me 100 percent as I am, never criticizing or questioning my 'worldly' ways! I could always seek sound advice from him as much as he would seek mine on more 'worldly’ things.

His career took a slight downtown at its peak due to his executing something based on his strong moral and religious conviction rather than what was commonly expected from him and the situation. He never quite got over it but retired in dignity and just before that was finally given what was due to him in the service.

Today he is a picture of contentment, living a very comfortable and useful life, often invited to give religious discourses, pottering around in his huge garden and looking after his very old mother, with a wonderful and very supportive, still-working wife and three very successful daughters, two doctors and an engineer. And he will soon be a father-in-law. What else can a man at 60 ask for!

My dear friend and brother, may Allah bless you always. Amin.

" I have learned that a good friend is the purest of all God's gifts,
for it is a love that has no exchange or payment."
Frances Farmer

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Yesterday I heard the rain....

Yesterday I heard the rain
whispering your name
asking where you've been...

It fell softly from the clouds
on the silent crowd
as I wondered on.

At the doorways
black umbrellas
came to pursue me.

Faceless people, as they pass
were looking through me
no one knew me....

Yesterday I shut my eyes
faced up to the sky
drinking in the rain.

But your image still was there
floating in the air
brighter than a flame...

Yesterday I saw a city
full of shadows
without pity...
...and I heard the steady rain
whispering your name,
whispering your name...



See video : http://youtu.be/_UwBPJkxwb0

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

A Long Weekend in Torraviaja, Cartegena and Alicante

The current winter season here seems to be never ending. Snowy, rainy, cold and grey days. I took the opportunity of the recent long weekend, Monday 9 March being a public holiday for the birthday of Prophet Muhammad SAW to make a trip to Alicante in Spain. I spent the first day in Torreviaja and Cartagena and the next two in Alicante. Needless to say it was sunny everyday with the clearest blue sky imaginable. From my hotel window I saw people actually swimming in the sea which I imagined must still be cold. I had a pleasant time and ate a lot of paella and drank lots of fizzy mineral water! A colleague joined me from Madrid on Sunday and we did some sight seeings and spent hours talking and eating and on Monday morning some shopping!
Back to bleak cold weather here!















Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Full circle with Udo Jurgen (and Alfred Brendel and Anne-Sophie Mutter)

Last Friday evening my friend Heinz and his wife invited me to a concert of the German- speaking world’s singing icon Udo Jurgen. The 71 years old Austrian-born singer who lives in Switzerland had a huge following and that one night concert in Zurich attracted a strong 10,000 crowd who clapped, cheered, and danced through his repertoire of songs. I had not been to a pop concert in a long time (the last one 20 years ago, a Tina Turner concert in Kuala Lumpur gave me a throbbing in my ears hours after the concert) but I truly enjoyed this one although I could not make much of the German sung and spoken throughout.

At his age Udo Jurgen still had a charisma and a strong commanding voice. The crowd, old an young loved him and he received endless gifts and flowers from them throughout the concert. The accompanying band with some 15 members, the music soloists and the three African-American back up singers were all superb. We had VIP tickets and sat seven rows from the stage and it was a truly enjoyable concert.

It was a full circle for me with Udo Jurgen. In the early 70s, my brother Ngah married Anita from Germany. When they set up home in Johor Bahru, I loved to visit their house during my term break from University and listen to or borrow the many Udo Jurgen records they had in their collection. I remember one of his songs “Warum nur Warum’ – “Why oh Why’ I think, was recorded by the late Matt Monro as “Walk Away’ and became his biggest international hit ever.

And talking about full circle, it was the same for me with the famous pianist Alfred Brendel and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter whom I saw performing live at the world-famous annual Luzern Music Festival in 2006 and 2007 consecutively.

In the late 70s my friend Evert gave me some cassettes of Mozart’s piano concertos with solos by Afred Brendel which over time became my favourites. A few years later, I bought a cassette of two Mozart’s violin concertos with solos by Anne-Sophie Mutter under the direction of Herbert Von Karajan. She was all of ten years old when that marvellous recording was made. I liked it so much that I bought a CD version many years later. I never thought I would ever see these two great maestros performing live. The two concerts were indeed such treats for me.

Alfred Brendel presented each audience with a book of his poetry titled “Cursing Bagels".

And Anne-Sophie Mutter joined us and our host for dinner after the concert that evening.

So there you have it! Life is indeed sometimes full of surprises.