30 YEARS REUNION - 14 March 2009 (new date)

Happy New Year 2009, Selamat Tahun Baru Hijrah and also Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

Apologies for letting this website stagnate since Nov08, but this is one necessary update that must be made.

Yes, the date of our intake's reunion has been changed from 7 March because this date is too close to Maulud Nabi. Respect bah tani, kan.... If you want to buy tickets or book seats for the Reunion gathering, please sms or drop an email to CJ (details in the invitation below).

Please so make an effort to come lah... especially those that never seem to make it the last two reunions. Bila lagi kan dapat jumpa kawan lama-lama??

Oh yes, if you also happen to have a Facebook account (www.facebook.com), then please check out a group I created called MMPSBS/SS 1979 Intake. I'll post more reunion details there, hokay!

COUNTDOWN TO OUR THIRD REUNION

YAY!!! A great big thanks to Maya and the organizing gang for planning and coordinating our third Class of 79 Reunion event - I assume it's the same wonderful, hard-working and highly committed gang that made the past two reunions a great success. You guys are great!

Saw this funny clip on YouTube. The guys remind me of Kamal, Mazlan, Sanip and Reni...hahahaha! Bah guys, jangan tah marah ok? Memang jua kamu atu gauk2..... masa dulu2 lah tu. Tau pulang Bibah masa ani you all udah jadi urang baik-baik. Inda ja?

Hope to see all of you in March!

Our 30th Year Reunion - 2009

It's official ....our next reunion - the BIGGIE - will take place on 7 March 2009. Clear your diary and make an effort to attend, ya!

If any of you have incriminating photos of those good old school and hostel days, do e-mail them to me so we can do a wonderful collage and slide show. Get into the reunion spirit.... it will be mega-FUN!

HARI RAYA DRAMAS & MOVIES

I decided that during this year's Hari Raya celebrations, I'd try and watch all the Malaysian dramas and movies shown on Astro. For years, the best I did was to catch glimpses of them, or a few scenes, skipped parts at the beginning, middle or at the end. Either the timing wasn't right or I wasn't paying much attention. In any case, I wasn't much of a TV person. This time, things were different. It all started with the pre-Hari Raya drama shown on TV3 titled "Lillah" which I only managed to catch midway, but which caught my attention that I watched it through till the end. It was a weepy too - Rusdi Ramli (winner of FFM20 Best Actor award) acting the part of a mentally retarded son of an old and poor woman and I was crying my eyes out so bad that hubby had to get me a handkerchief. Strangely, after having gone through that, I set my mind to watch as many Malay movies that'd be shown during Hari Raya as I possibly could. Didn't know what came over me, call me sad, I don't care anymore. Hahahaha!

And I did. Luckily (for me), the channel showed repeats or the same movies were also shown on other Astro channels, so if you missed them, you'd be sure to catch them again a few days later. I was pretty much on a marathon diet of Malay movies, switching channels back and forth from PRIMA, RIA, KIRANA, TV3, much to the amusement of family members. Never mind! It was their loss.

Much of the story line was pretty predictable - weepies were mostly about the plights, sufferings and mistreatment of 'good' people, who were normally poor people, and of jealousies of heartless 'bad' people who were normally of wealthy backgrounds, and in almost all cases, always ended with the death(s) of the good people, and the bad ones regretting their bad acts and had the added bonus of being forgiven too! I also watched a couple of the horror movies, typically a vengeance story. Errr....don't want to write too much about that. Suffice to say, I was adequately ketungkalan (Asian horror movies always have that impact on me, unlike the orang putih ones....hmmmmmm). The Malay movies have yet to reach Hollywood standards, but personally, despite all that, I was pleased to say that they were quite entertaining and I felt that the hours I spent watching them were time well-spent. I must have missed them since all these years I hardly watched much. Funnily though, they seem to use the same actors & actresses for the movies - never mind lah, because there were quite a few that were very good. I especially think that Rosyam Nor and Rusdi Ramli were amazing! There weren't many love story dramas, which suited me just fine, and I wasn't impressed either with the comedy films - I decided that they just weren't really my cup of tea after having sat down for 5 minutes waiting to be amused.



Will have to wait another year for my next marathon of Hari Raya weepy dramas and horror movies fix.....ehhh, lama jua tu ah!!

Lagu-Lagu Hari Raya

If the new moon is spotted tomorrow, it will be Raya on Wednesday, 1 October! The festive mood is in the air, you can witness it in the firecrackers lighting up the night sky, you can smell it in the hustle and bustle and smoke of the night markets, and you can hear it (loudly) in the music blaring from the supermarkets' ceiling. Ahhh....mood Raya is here!

Speaking of which, if you've lived as long as some of us who regularly check this blog, you will remember some classic, evergreen Raya songs. Some with original (haha, nda pun) titles such as "Selamat Hari Raya", "Takbir Syawal", "Hari Raya Yang Mulia"....

We hear some of these popular Raya songs over and over and over again every year that we never really give a second thought about the lyrics - macam automatik wah, sudah mendangar musik, tarus menyanyi macam robot! I thought some of these lyrics are quite interesting, see if you agree and can relate to any of these compositions:

Airmata Syawal – Siti Nurhaliza (Datuk to you!)

Sayu… hati ini makin sayup
Rindu… terkenangkan desa permai
Wajah ayah bonda bermain di mata
Mengajak ku pulang ke desa
Di hari bahagia hari raya
Lama kutunggu
Bertemu di pagi mulia
Namun tidak kesampaian
Airmata jatuh berlinangan
Kuingin berulang manisnya bersama
Menyambut hari bahgia
Jarak memisahkan rindu pertemuan
Bilakah hasrat jadi nyata
Duhai ayah bonda ampunkan anakanda
Tak dapat beraya bersama
Jauh dari mata dekat dalam jiwa
Teguh kasihku tidak berubah

Musafir Di Aidil Fitri – S. Jibeng

Gema takbir di subuh hari
Menjelang sudah aidil fitri
Tapi hamba musafir diri
Ke sana sini membawa diri
Ayah ibu lamalah pergi
Pergi menyahut seruan Illahi
Tinggal hamba seorang diri
Tiada siapa ingin hampiri

( korus )

Oh Tuhan Yang Maha Kaya
Hamba menangis di pagi raya
Aidil fitri hari bahgia
Tapi hamba dilanda derita
Pusara ayah dan juga ibu
Di pagi bahgia hamba kunjungi
Dengarlah ini ratapan anakmu
Hamba musafir di aidil fitri

Suara Takbir – P. Ramlee (who doesn’t know this??)

Dengar beduk berbunyi
Sayup bergema di subuh sunyi
Memanggil kepada muslimin
Segera berbakti kepada Illahi
Suara azan menyahut
Terdengar sayup memecah sunyi
Memohon restu dengan bakti
Kepada Illahi Tuhan Maha Suci

( korus )

Terdengar suara takbir
Memuji nama Illahi
Rasa dalam kalbu
Tenteram dan aman selalu
Kini tiba masanya
Hati gembira di Hari Raya
Bertemu sanak dan saudara
Bermaaf-maafan dengan keikhlasan

Dari Jauh Kupohon Maaf - Sudirman

Dalam dingin subuh hatiku terusik
Kenang nasib diri di rantauan
Bergema takbir raya menitis air mata
Terbayang suasana permai desa
Rindu hati ini inginku kembali
Pada ayah bonda dan saudara
Tetapi aku harus mencari rezeki
Membela nasib kita bersama

(chorus)

Hanya ku sampaikan doa dan kiriman tulus ikhlas
Dari jauh kupohonkan ampun maaf
Jangan sedih pagi ini tak dapat kita bersama
Meraikan aidil fitri yang mulia
Restu ayah bonda kuharap selalu
Hingga aku pulang kepadamu

(ulang chorus)

Restu ayah bonda kuharap selalu
Demi anakmu yang kini jauh

**************
And now….my personal favourite, it’s so infectious, try not to sing this one below when the music comes on!

Satu Hari di Hari Raya – M. Nasir

Satu hari di Hari Raya
Ku lihat cahaya bersinar indah
Langit cemerlang tak terkira
Tanda kuasa yang Maha Esa
Memberi nikmat pada manusia

Satu hari di Hari Raya
Ku dengar irama yang sungguh indah
Ku coba mendekati padanya
Kira irama itu adalah
Suara pujian pada yang Esa

Satu hari di Hari Raya
Aku menangis tanda gembira
Aku menangis tanda ku cinta kepadaNya

Satu hari di Hari Raya
Ku lihat wajah suci ibuku
Ku lihat wajah kasih ayahku
Ku gembira
Mungkin inilah dia kebahagiaan

*******************************************************************************

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, my loved ones. Maaf zahir & batin. Peace.

PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH) HADITHS ON WOMEN

The following message was sent to me a long time ago by a friend. I saved it in my file so that I can go back to it every time I feel upset and down, and the words generally help calm and soothe my nerves.

I wonder what percentage of Brunei Muslim men are actually aware of these hadiths, and more importantly, if they treat and respect girls and women in their lives as suggested in the hadiths of our beloved Prophet, instead of just forever quoting that typically shallow and unoriginal “I have 4 quotas to fill!” whenever they say they're following sunnah nabi.

• Doa perempuan lebih makbul daripada lelaki kerana sifat penyayangnya yang lebih kuat daripada lelaki. Ketika ditanya lepada Rasulullah akan hal tersebut, jawab baginda, "Ibu lebih penyayang daripada bapa dan doa orang yang penyayang tidak akan sia-sia".
  

• Apabila seseorang perempuan mengandung janin dalam rahimnya, maka beristighfarlah para malaikat untuknya. Allah mencatatkan baginya setiap hari dengan 1,000 kebajikan dan menghapuskan darinya 1,000 kejahatan.

• Apabila seseorang perempuan mulai sakit hendak bersalin, maka Allah mencatatkan baginya pahala orang yang berjihad pada jalan Allah.

• Apabila seseorang perempuan melahirkan anak, keluarlah dia dari dosa-dosa seperti keadaan ibunya melahirkannya.

• Apabila telah lahir anak lalu disusui, maka bagi ibu itu setiap satu tegukan daripada susunya diberi satu kebajikan.

• Apabila semalaman ibu tidak tidur dan memelihara anaknya yang sakit, maka Allah memberinya pahala seperti memerdekakan 70 hamba dengan ikhlas untuk membela agama Allah.

• Barangsiapa yang menggembirakan anak perempuannya, darjatnya seumpama orang yang sentiasa menangis kerana takutkan Allah dan orang yang takutkan Allah, akan diharamkan api neraka ke atas tubuhnya.

• Barangsiapa membawa hadiah, (barang makanan dari pasar ke rumah lalu diberikan kepada keluarganya, maka pahalanya seperti bersedekah. Hendaklah mendahulukan anak perempuan daripada anak lelaki. Maka barangsiapa yang menyukakan anak perempuan seolah-olah dia memerdekakan anak Nabi Ismail.

• Tiap perempuan yang menolong suaminya dalam urusan agama, maka Allah memasukkan dia ke dalam syurga lebih dahulu daripada suaminya (10,000 tahun).

• Perempuan apabila sembahyang lima waktu, puasa bulan Ramadhan, memelihara kehormatannya serta taat akan suaminya, masuklah dia dari pintu syurga mana sahaja yang dikehendaki.

• Wanita yang solehah (baik) itu lebih baik daripada 1,000 lelaki yang soleh.

• Aisyah berkata, "Aku bertanya kepada Rasulullah, siapakah yang lebih besar haknya terhadap wanita? Jawab Rasulullah, "Suaminya". "Siapa pula berhak terhadap lelaki?" Jawab Rasulullah, "Ibunya".

• Apabila memanggil akan engkau dua orang ibu-bapamu, maka jawablah panggilan ibumu dahulu.

• Wanita yang taat akan suaminya, semua ikan-ikan di laut,burung di udara, malaikat di langit, matahari dan bulan semua beristighfar baginya selama mana dia taat kepada suaminya serta menjaga sembahyang dan puasanya.

• Wanita yang taat berkhidmat kepada suaminya akan tertutup pintu-pintu neraka dan terbuka pintu-pintu syurga. Masuklah dari mana-mana pintu yang dia kehendaki dengan tidak dihisab.

• Syurga itu di bawah tapak kaki ibu.
  

• Wanita yang tinggal bersama anak-anaknya akan tinggal bersama aku (Nabi s.a.w) di dalam syurga.

• Barangsiapa mempunyai tiga anak perempuan atau tiga saudara perempuan atau dua anak perempuan atau dua saudara perempuan lalu dia bersikap ihsan dalam pergaulan dengan mereka dan mendidik mereka dengan penuh rasa takwa serta bertanggungjawab, maka baginya syurga.

• Daripada Aisyah r.a. Barangsiapa yang diuji dengan sesuatu daripada anak-anak perempuan lalu dia berbuat baik kepada mereka, maka mereka akan menjadi penghalang baginya daripada api neraka.

HMMM...... IS BAD USAGE OF BAHASA MELAYU A CRIME?

Apparently not! A friend sent me this and I couldn't help laughing. I guess this is one of the consequences for us Bruneians not speaking Malay properly. The widespread use of Eng-Layu (mixed Malay & English) in our day-to-day conversations has apparently led to adverts like the one above. Well, at least it's one of the reasons. It's caught on with the non-Bruneians! I may be wrong, but I suspect the advert was designed and written by an Indian currently residing and working in our country. He (or she) clearly would not have passed the primary PSR Bahasa Melayu exam, or English for that matter; however, I personally think despite the mistakes made, we can safely give the advert writer "A++" for effort. An attention-grabbing advert surely!