Unrequited....

Awan bergulung puan di hari senja
Nampak berbalam biru warnanya
Puan di gunung paya hamba di paya
Dalam jambangan temu ingin bersama

Terbang serindit puan dengan kedidi
Singgah di kayu di rumpun kayu
Kasih menitis puan basah tak jadi
Walau bertahun rindu menanggung rindu

Hatiku yang resah ku bawa berdendang
Memujuk diri di jeling tidak
Sepantun berdendang dendanglah asmara
Cuma igauwan dalam igauwan

Berdendang hamba puan bertepuk puan
Senyum dibibir hati berduka
Kasih diberi orang di jeling orang
Terasa hiba tidak terhingga

Ku sulam kasih emas berbenang emas
Orang bertaruh baiknya rupa
Walau pun kasih balas tidak berbalas
Tidak ku kesal itu jadinya....

Good morning world....

A beautiful bright sunny, blue-sky morning, Broery's rich voice filling the air, my week's soiled clothes in the washing machine and I am in a very good mood even if the first sms I read was of Fadzil cancelling our tea appointment today, no excuse offered! Typical lah you brother! Hopefully it's the start of a lovely weekend. My heat-challenged Mat Salleh neighbours decided to honour the world with their two minutes presence in their garden and after some twangy pronouncements promptly reentered their Alaskan cold comfort zone from the kitchen door closing it with a bang. Not trying to be a busybody, but I can't help noticing that they are into their 3rd maid now! I guess the previous maids couldn't stand the totally shut, 24-hour air conditioned ambiance!!!

Had a simple breakfast of an orange, a banana, a raisin scone with olive oil spread, a piece of left-over naan with acar buah and a mug of white coffee, big deal ah! But I had it in my almost completed traditional Trengganu wooden gazebo attached to my kitchen which my young charge has painfully been constructing these last three weeks, and that made it special. He uses hardy chengal wood, Malay carvings and the roof is of fish scale-like earthen tiles which are almost a hundred years old that he found in some kampung and bought for 55 sen a piece and painstakingly scrubbed and cleaned. Am looking forward to its completion so I can throw a garden dinner party, laksa Johor and all, haha! Meanwhile, my elevated back neighbour's half a dozen or so pet cats have been amusing themselves with regular inspection visits of my gazebo's roof. Wish I can have a cat of my own!! Miss my Toby.

My garden is coming up nicely and my frangipani are already blooming. The rest of the plants I put in are really competing with each other who will grow faster. I get much satisfaction to see them grow. I had originally asked for a quotation from a professional landscaper who quoted RM8100 to fill up my garden. Well, I went on several trips to the nurseries in Sungai Buloh and Sri Hartamas and had spent just over RM1200 and I feel more satisfied with my own choice of plants, and efforts and the anticipation of the garden growing into its full glory.Yesterday's late downpour was a bonus for the garden even if it deprived me of my cardio walk up the peak near my house. 

After the rain I took my brother and brother-in-law and their spouses for dinner at Sungai Pencala and we had a really sumptuous meal, a Chinese-Muslim fare at Muhibbah, absolutely delicious (out of this world kerabu pucuk paku to boot). This was capped with dessert at a very beautiful restaurant Subak (http://www.subak.com.my)/ a hill amidst matured natural greens and traditional Malay wooden canopies tucked in some unsuspecting wooded part of Sungai Pencala. A really special ambiance, and the trio musicians sang three kroncong pieces at my request (Kartina Dahari might squirm at the way they delivered her famous songs, but I was entertained all the same!)

I had an easy good week at work for a change though on Wednesday, for the first time in my working life I thumped my fist on the table two hours into a meeting with some 25 of my staff, which went off track. But the meeting ended with me and my staff fostering a better understanding and goodwill after I put things, or rather 'them' into perspective. My message was clear - built your expertise and credibility, and prove your worthiness to the institution, then you can make demands or negotiate what you want! I had four separate delegations afterwards, all trying to explain  the 'rebellion'. It was clear that they rebelled without realising that the cause of their 'rebel' was no issue at all since I had never agreed to the issue at hand in the first place. One thing I realised after that incident was that they were actually worried if I would leave my job, and them!! Haha!

A worker is coming shortly to fill some cracks on my wooden floor. My weekly acupressure massage session is in the afternoon (has done me a world of good lately, felt my stresses completely dissipated by Mr Ng's  magic hands) and a choir concert in Shah Alam tonight (for Norliza's sake! She promised to seat me next to Syafinaz, hehe!). Tomorrow breakfast with YAL and the gang (to test his new Sulawasi cook's culinary ability I bet! Sulawesi got nasi lemak ke?) and an appointment with the pest control people at my Putrajaya house, and Mehboob to mow the grass. Abed has asked me to join him for an afternoon matinee at Actor's Studio. Ayu has gone back to Malang for two months to see her son whom she had not seen for over two years and has put Endang to cover her and I should rightfully be home while she works, being only her second week! How to juggle all these lah. And God knows what else will fill my weekend. But I feel great, Alhamdullilah....

Happy weekend all, God bless!

PS: Guess who proffered me a salam/handshake after the Friday prayer at the Angkasapuri mosque yesterday? Papa rock himself - Ramli Sarip!

An afternoon with Michelle Yeoh

For over two hours this afternoon I was in the company of Michelle Yeoh, briefly spoke to her and shook hands with her twice (her handshake was firm and affirmative and the smile was of course dazzling). She came across as genuinely charming and friendly and really put people at ease. I was too shy to ask to be photographed with her though many of my colleagues did! She came to the event with her mother and a young relative and you could clearly see that beauty runs in the family!

Michelle Yeoh has been appointed as Malaysia's reading icon. The event this afternoon was for her to meet up with young people to tell them about her life-long passion for reading and to inspire them to read (a corner in our National Library will now be dedicated to her book collection). She spoke to them, clapped to their song, read with them and told them about herself. She apologised for her lack of proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia but still spoke a good smattering of it and read a whole paragraph of a book in Bahasa Malaysia by Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor (the first Malaysian to go into space) with the kids. It was nice listening to her speak about her reading habit, and a bit about her movie career and how reading helped her master the many roles she had played in films. She had just finished a 4-month shoot of the film  'The Lady' where she plays Mynmar's Aung San Suu Kyi. I am quite sure she had put her greatest effort in that role and the world will be anxiously waiting for the film's release. 

For me the event pleasantly capped a busy week and I was really pleased to meet Michelle Yeoh in person and know that despite her international celebrity status, she is still very much a Malaysian - warm, friendly, gracious and generous. Viva Michelle, Malaysia is proud of you.

Is this art?

I just came back from attending the Singapore Art Biennale and this is one of the 'installation art' on display at the Kallang exhibition venue! Figure it out lah..... 

Bentan Telani

Bentan Telani bernama pula
Tempat berlabuh perahu Acheh
Niat yang baik mestilah dijaga
Itulah adat kita berkasih

Bentan Telani bernama pula

Tempat kediaman alim pendita

Jikalah ada syarat petua

Ilmu berkasih mestilah setia....

The little girl of Ta Prohm Temple, Cambodia

This little girl was happily swinging on some external roots of a tree outside Ta Prohm temple in Siem Riep. I took some photos of her and gave her a dollar which she happily accepted. Indeed, what bliss innocence is!    

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!