Friday, February 25, 2011

Musings on a blessed Friday

Dressing up for work, a line from a song by Aishah on my cd player caught my attention,
" Hasad dengki usah di hiraukan, bersabar lah menempuhi..." (Don't be bothered by jealousy and treachery, be patient and face them). Mmm, easier sung than done, especially when such uncalled for attention came from the least expected source! Anyway, it's a blessed Friday, God bless us all.

Got a forwarded sms from an old friend thanking everyone for the good wishes and prayers for her recent major surgery. For some time now she is not allowed any direct contact with me. For heaven's sake, we are both in our 60s now and I grew up admiring her like a sister due to her great command in English and very broad unconventional outlook, which inspired me to master the language as well and seek beyond the confine of our small town. My prayer for a speedy recovery my dear friend and sister.

I brought home yesterday, from my office, a large framed photo of my beloved parents since the silver frame has gone all stained and dark and I have silver polish at home. During my sleep I dreamt of both of them separately, mother seeing me packing for a trip and a phone call from father telling me it was OK to be myself and not to worry about what others think. May Allah SWT bless them, amin. And Al Fatihah...

A long phone call from Marion in Zurich complaining about the snowy cold weather and announcing that she had already booked her three weeks stay in the Cherating for July. Ah Yong, also in Switzerland and I were also 'sms ing' back and forth all night! Ah, the comfort of friendship. And today HP will arrive from JB to spend the weekend with me. It was also good to catch up with Wen and Mariam yesterday, and also Syed who I have been trying to see for some time. He alternates living in Florence, Italy and in KL and we finally met up and will have lunch together next week.

It's been such a busy week and thank God a scheduled weekend workshop at Genting had been cancelled. I can now attend the Committee Meeting of house owners of our community of 46 houses tomorrow. And I am going to raise among other things, dog owners letting their dogs' barking disturb our serenely peaceful community. I think half  of the currently occupied houses are tenanted by foreigners and many of them have dogs! My Mat Salleh neighbour who moved in two days after I did on 31 Dec has not once switched off their half a dozen or more aircons (wish they'd give me a break when I am working in my garden - all that eternal buzz and humming of the aircons!) and they hardly ever come out of their house when they are home! Aiyo, why live here if you can't live a normal life like the rest of us la!

So much for my musing, have a blessed Friday all.     

2.35pm - Just came back from Friday prayers at a very modest nearby neighbourhood mosque and for the second time in a few months DYMM Agong (His Majesty the King) himself came to perform the prayers too, without the pomp and ceremony, arriving with with his small retinue of staff and with no special treatment. Daulat Tuanku! 

3 comments:

akumangkok said...

Salam Roem,
Do u know why it is sometimes so nice to have strangers as friends on the internet?
Well, for one, it allows u to read their blogs about their friends (intimate and otherwise), their families, their jobs, their grouses and their joys WITHOUT feeling guilty that u are being the makcik-sebelah-rumah-yang-jaga-tepi-kain-jirannya!
Of course as the outsider, I would not understand what u sometimes mean when u did not explain what u meant but still ur nstories are being shared. :-)
I too write about happenings in my life without guilt....so others can read if they so choose.

I am currently reading the book about The Last Empress (of China) written by Amchee Min. It contains her dreams about people in her past (at about the time she reaches ur phase in life too). Thus when i read about ur dreams I was struck by some of the similarities. Maybe, if u like reading novels, u could try this one.

Have a good weekend.

J

airmataemas said...

Sunday greetings June, hope you are well. Thanks for your comment. Indeed sharing one's thoughts, and sometimes feelings can be liberating. I will look out for the book you mentioned ( have always been fascinated by the Dowager Empress story - are we talking about the same person?). Though in my present job I get so many complimentary publications and books but books but hardly the time to read them. Salam and have a nice Sunday, I have a string of programme here! Alamak, no rest for the wicked....

akumangkok said...

Salam Roem,
Talking about the wicked not resting, I must definitely fall in that category. Just spent my three quarters of my Sunday at work.
10pm and I am exhausted.

Yes, it is the Dowager Empress series. Of course I believe the author must have used his/her imagination to bring out the thoughts of the empress but still it goes along the lines of history.

Jeez Roem, I envy the fact that u get many complimentary books. Wish u could throw some this way :-)
Yes, it is difficult to get the time to read and enjoy the reading but so far I have kept up with my resolution to at least read a few pages a day instead of waiting for my vacation time as I used to.

Hint: Leave a novel in the bathroom and u WILL be able to read a page or two!
Have a good week!

J