Happy Birthday Nur AzZahra!

Tomorrow she will be 2 years old. How time flies, me still remember when she was born, me had just been discharged from the hospital and still recuperating from me surgery. Last week, a few days shy of her birthday, me had the sweetest of experience when suddenly the little AzZahra uttered the word “Oppa!” – grandpa!

Such was the joy of having to experience and being able to relive again those moments in the days gone by where your own little children, now all grown up adults, were themselves uttering their first word of "mama" or "papa" when they were about her age. Me really missed those beautiful period of the growing up years of me children, including Az Zahra’s father, either due to work engagements or them being away from home, after being taken care of by me in-laws in the village.

Watching the children growing up was always the greatest satisfaction of being parents and those happy moments would be treasured throughout our life's journey. Hearing the word "Oppa" coming from me sweet little AzZahra means the world and me would relish that moment and the moments to come watching her growing into an exquisite and impeccable Muslimah - insyaAllah.

Happy 2nd birthday Nur AzZahra!! May Allah blessed you, your little sister AzZuhaira and your parents and may you live your life to the fullest in the guidance of the Almighty Allah – Ameen.


"AzZahra and her little sister AzZuhaira"

Gaddafi Oh Gaddafi!

Today is the 21st day of October 2011, me is supposed to celebrate me “unofficial birthday” today, not many knew that today is actually me real birthday. It is quite complicated actually, to think of me birthday supposed to be today but in the official document it stated 1st of January instead. Nevertheless, me “trajectory” in life had been destined to be as such – a person with two “birthdates”, so no regrets...

To reflect a bit, this same time last year, me was in Saudi Arabia where me had had quite a unique experience of waking up in the holy city of Mecca and on the same day, by nightfall, sleeping in the holy city of Medina visiting the prophet’s mosque before coming back home a few days later. Being in two of the holiest places in Islam in a day was quite a feat in itself, more so if it was made on your own birthday! This time around, in stark contrast to last year, the 21st October falls on Friday, other than going out to the market in the morning and attending the Friday prayer in the afternoon, the whole day was spent at home, alone!

A year had gone by and to recount the many things happening would be quite a chore. Only yesterday me was in Bintulu for a business meeting. It was quite a somber meeting and the outcome did dent me spirit a bit. Nevertheless, the meeting had set me thinking that in business things could change dramatically and we’d better be alert at the slightest hint of trouble if we are to survive – true enough, it was a kind of premonition that our vendor status would come to an end and we are now “graduated” to the next level of playing field! After five years of being a vendor, the insatiable feeling of not having enough is too strong thus making us craving for more…alas the reality is not as such and we have to live with what we have to sustain our business operations.

Arriving home after the tiring trip, me attention was then transfixed at the news that the deposed Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi was killed just that afternoon in his birth place of Sirte in Libya. It did not meant much except that back in the late sixties, while me was growing up, Gaddafi was me hero when he took over power after a military coup. He had been me hero for quite sometimes after that until me realized that he too made the same mistakes other great leaders made – not willing to let go and craving for more when the time is up and in Gaddafi’s case 42 years is just not enough!

Such was our human folly, alas we forget that God is the all Powerful for He is the One that give and take back “power’ from whom He wishes, for His wills cannot be undone….

After all, the “Arab Spring” uprising which had begun in Tunisia then spread to Egypt earlier in the year had ended Gaddafi’s long tenure as a leader who had been blinded by his own hunger for powers…may God has mercy on his soul.

The Meaning of Freedom

Me hope it is not too late to wish everyone, a “Happy Eid 1432!!”. How time flies, for all that we know, Ramadan had long gone and even the blessed month of Syawal is rapidly moving towards a new month.

This short entry is meant to put to an end the “troubling” thoughts that me had had on the real meaning of “freedom”, which has just refused to leave me conscience these past couple of weeks.

It had started on a more mundane note when me was watching the antics of me son’s pet cats named Nini and Abu. Due to space and allergy constraints at home, Nini the mother cat and Abu the son cat, were mostly kept in a cage in front of the house. However, once in a while, mostly while nobody was at home, me took the opportunity to set them “free” albeit only inside the house!

The awesome thing that struck meself when seeing the two “freed” cats were the sense of elation which emanate after being released from their caged environment. Maybe sensing that their moment of freedom would always be short lived, they would immediately, with gusto, swung into action by making full use of their “freed time” horsing and frolicking together around the house. Strangely enough, me noticed this kind of “gusto behavior” was almost non existence with those cats being kept outside the cage having total freedom and all the time in the world – spent mostly snoring!

Seeing is believing, if we human are also kept in a cage or kept behind bars for too long a period, we would no doubt tend to value our moments of freedom more just like Nini and Abu the cats. But for those of us who are taking their God given freedom for granted - without realizing that it could always be “snatched” away from us at any moment, we would invariably failed to grasp its true meaning…maybe not until when it has been taken away from us for whatever the reasons…..



As for Nini and Abu, they can always look forward to enjoy plenty more “moments of freedom” in the future....when the allergic occupants are away working in the office!!

Happy Ramadan 1432H

Today we are in the 12th day of Ramadan. Me wish to congratulate those who had been steadfast in carrying out their duty for the past 11 days. Even though the month of Ramadan only comes once a year, the heightened spiritual experience that the month brings can be worth all the other months of the year combined together. This is what makes Ramadan so special, so much so it has become the only month mentioned by its name in the Quran!

For those of us who are fasting in this blessed month of Ramadan, we should count ourselves lucky for being given the opportunity to experience Ramadan all over again after undergoing the last Ramadan.

Me hope me could still continue to fast and at the same time do as much as possible good deeds which could “add values” to me fasting experience. Me know it is not an easy task but with Allah’s grace and guidance, insyaAllah me could still do it before the month is over…..

A short note not to be forgotten, me wish you all a happy Ramadan al Mubarak

A Brief Stopover in Jakarta

Me was in Jakarta last Tuesday on a day trip to meet with a potential agent for our products in Indonesia. Me still remember, the last time that me visited the city was about 20 years ago to attend a conference in one of the posh hotels in the city center. In between the years, me had the chance to visit Medan in the Sumatra island and the island of Bali and most recently Bandung to attend the graduation ceremony of me Along but never back to Jakarta until now.

Well to say the least, me impression of Jakarta then was about a modern metropolis in the making. Unfortunately, during this short trip me did not see much new development going on in Jakarta – maybe me meeting place and the route taken by our taxi driver were not on the “developed” side of the city. Nevertheless, during the journey to the agent’s office in Jakarta Pusat, the imagery of the city was that of a rundown city, with overcast sky where everything seemed to be so dilapidated and unkempt...and the streets, as it was known to be famous for, were clogged with cars and people...on top of that, it was kind of nerve wrecking experience to be sitting next to a semi “kamikaze” taxi driver!!

But what makes Jakarta, a city of about 24 million people during the day (and me was told,17 million during the night!), captivating and interesting, is that it is the capital city of Indonesia, an archipelago, spread across innumerable islands rich in natural resources and abundance source of human capital. Since the downfall of the old regime and the return of democracy more than a decade ago, the reviews on Indonesia had been mostly positive and encouraging and this sure is good news for businesses. And this has been one of the reasons why me company is looking towards Indonesia as a potential springboard to our overseas markets.

The meeting with the potential agent went on very smoothly. We ended up discussing on the present investment climate and the changes happening after a decade of democracy. Surprisingly, me was told, if outsiders see things being “rosy” for the Indonesians, majority of the still poor and “oppressed population” were actually longing for the good old days with the old regime back in business!

This came as a surprise, maybe the people was so used to being fully controlled by the state or the old regime (as the demarcation line was very blur then), that they could not figure out how to survive when left to the “elements” by themselves. As opposed to the old regime, the present government is more pro business but the business climate was said to still favor those with the right connections. This has apparently become a major stumbling block for foreigners as well the new breed of enterprising Indonesians to adapt as they are mostly professionals who still lack the key component of "know who” in doing business.

Business in Indonesia, as me prospective agent pointed out is still based on being able to “bond” with the end users or more like the “middlemen”. It is still very much based on forging a strong relationship with the well connected comprising of the rich and the powerful in the society. Even the government agencies are said to be helpless in preventing the multitude of "leakages" as they still could not muster the intricacies of the deals being worked out. In a nut shell, for outsiders to be successful in Indonesia, they have no choice but to adapt and create that special bonding through their trusted local agents.



Group Photo after the Meeting

So much for creating “bonding” in Indonesia, me was pleasantly surprised to have bumped into a business colleague while in the airport waiting for our respective flights out of Jakarta. He was a Dato’ and the chairman of our small business Club in Kuala Lumpur. We then got to talking about the little incident during our previous Club’s meeting in Kuala Lumpur where we got “ambushed” by a representative of a radical local NGO who based their worldview solely on racial factor.

True enough as me had suspected all along, the Dato’ was also caught off guard when the meeting he was chairing was rudely interrupted by the “intruder” who had apparently been “smuggled” into the room by none other than some of the dissatisfied Club’s members themselves!

We both agreed at that point, being in business and living in a borderless world nowadays, we should not confined ourselves to looking at solving problems from a very narrow perspective of one's own race....

Sayonara Jakarta, me know me will be seeing you again very soon...insyaAllah.