A beautiful blend.....

 One of the things that I love most besides reading, sketching  and painting is travelling. The experiences throughout the journey made me understand why Allah wants us to go places.  For what? To see and appreciate  his creations. To learn from the past. Through these visits, then only we know how Great Allah is and How Powerful Allah is! Alhamdulillah.

Pokoshko Jeezero

This year I visited Bangkok, Thailand; Bandung, Indonesia; Tokyo Osaka Hiroshima, Japan and just recently Bosnia and Herzegovina. All of these places gave me different experiences. Well the weather, humidity, way of life, food, warm hospitality .... the people, the culture, their attitude, their lifestyles, their homes and families, transportations and of cause their landscapes. Four different countries with four differences in almost everything! I felt blessed to be able to visit, I really do ... Alhamdulillah.

To go places, one have to be ready inside and out. Ready for any kinds of situations and circumstances.  Always be prepared! Currencies need to be handled properly. Need to put aside some,  in case of any emergencies. Language? English helps but if you are lost just google translation. Get the Google Translate to do the job !! But one need to be in the best of health....that is a must! If you have diabetic, high blood pressure, migraine, and so on, then you need to bring your own stock. But do take along common medicine for fever, flu, sea sick and so on. 

Thailand and Indonesia are nearest to my country. A two hours flying and you are already there. In terms of food and beverages, we almost have the same kind of taste ..... only slight differences.  So it is no problem at all.  Shopping is heaven in both Bangkok and Bandung! You'll see that your bags started to multiply rapidly without you realising it! Hahahahahhhahha.

My husband and I flew to Tokyo later by shinkansen to Osaka and Hiroshima. This was our first time. As tourist, Japan gave us a lot of privilages especially the bullet trains tickets. Things are made easier for us that we can purchase train tickets, theme park tickets and even hotels rooms from Japan Tourist Burue or JTB. In Shah Alam, they have a booth in AEON Shopping Centre, Shah Alam.  I am telling you, they are professionals and they really helped. So in other words, my trip to Japan which I covered Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima was superb! Unfortunately, we only spent a week in Japan and it was not enough. We should have lenghtened our stay for another week so we can visit more places of interest.  But, look at the brighter side of it....there is a chance of revisit!!!

Last month, just before Aidil Adha, my husband said that he wished to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina [BiH]. I was puzzled because it was not in our list for this year ... not yet. But his wish did come through. We flew to Sarajevo through Istanbul. 12 hours flying hours inclusive of 2 hours transit time in Istanbul.

The beautiful landscape.

Before getting here, I just cannot imagine how this country will look like. Last 14 years I was on my way, by road from Munich, but an emergency came up and we had to turn back to Munich. Since then, BiH is always a dream place to visit.

The landscape is so beautiful. You can see layers and layers of mountain range near and afar. It makes the color so beautiful from fade grayish, to bluish, to greenish and then the green forests ... if only I could stop and paint ... it would feel marvelous!  So picturesque! The rivers flow freely and can you imagine how clean the water is ... crystal clear.... mind you! Should you go to the streams, rivers or any of the water fountains, just have a sip because the water is drinkable!!! With  mountains surrounding them, this creates ravine and created many waterfalls throughout the country. Everywhere you go, there's always  river flowing, some calm and some fast flowing and there were many lakes too.

 

  

Plava Voda, Travnik

 

The Old Bridge, Mostar

This beautiful land has everything, and everything seems to blend together with the warm hospitality of the people, the tasty food and  the histories of many thousand of years made Bosnia and Herzegovina a must place to visit. 

Being a Muslim, Alhamdulillah, and seeing many mosques, big and small, ancient and newly built, beautiful and  standing tall, gives me a sense of belonging. Nice to see the locals gave salam to us and some even thanked us because they remembered our country helped them during the Balkan War 25 years ago. It was so touching to hear them telling us how helpless they were and the Malaysian troops came to the rescue. MasyaAllah. It makes me feel so proud and blessed.

I hope to revisit again and again. Eversince I came back, BiH has always been in my mind and in my heart. I hope many more people visit this country and experience the real life of the people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and enjoy the picturesque views of the landscapes and  not forgetting the food......oooohhhh wow!

Usah ditunggu ....

Semasa mereka ada dihadapan mata, rasa kasih tidak sepenuh hati. Malah ada ketikanya, kita lupa langsung. Tapi, usahalah ditunggu sehingga tiadanya mereka, baru kita merasa kehilangannya. Di saat itu, kita akan rugi.

Ibu dan bapa adalah dua insan yang terpenting di dalam hidup kita. Malah ibu bapa diberi darjat yang sangat tinggi oleh Allah sehinggakan apa saja yang diredho oleh Allah akan diredhoi Allah.
Ibu bapa adalah wali-wali Allah. 

Sebagai anak yang dilahirkan dalam keluarga yang beragama Islam, yang menitikberatkan pendidikan agama dan menerapkan nilai-nilai murni mengikut syariat Islam, seharusnyalah kita sentiasa peka dengan kehendak dan kemahuan kedua ibu bapa kita.

Tiada ibu bapa yang mahu menyusahkan anak mereka. Apa yang dikehendaki dan yang doakannya selalu ialah kesejahteraan dan kebahagiaan buat anak-anak mereka. Ibu bapa sanggup bergolok dan bergadai untuk anak tetapi adakah anak-anak tahu akan pengorbanan mereka? Ibu bapa sanggup menebalkan muka mereka menghadapi measyarakat atas perbuatan anak-anak, tetapi adakah anak-anak tahu? Sanggup berhutang untuk memenuhi kehendak anak-anak tetapi tahukan kamu? Jawapannya TIDAK kerana ibu bapa tidak pernah menyuarakan dan menunjukkan kesusahan dan masalah mereka. Majoriti anak-anak tidak tahu sebab di pandangan mata mereka, apa saja yang dilakukan oleh ibu bapa untuk anak-anak adalah  itu adalah tanggungjawab mereka dah tidak perlu dikasihani atau difikirkan sangat. Sedihnya.....anak-anak tidak mahu menyelami jiwa dan hati nurani ibu bapa sebenarnya malah segala usaha kedua orang tua dianggap biasa-biasa sahaja.

Benar anak itu adalah amanah Allah untuk ibu bapa. Tugas kita sebagai ibu bapa ialah melahirkan mereka, membesarkan mereka dan mendidik mereka  supaya mereka membesar menjadi anak yang solleh, berguna, baik dan berjaya di dunia dan diakhirat. Ibu bapa adalah orang yang pertama sekali datang bila kita memohon bantuan. Ibu bapalah yang pertama sampai untuk menyelesaikan masah peribadi kita. Lupakah kamu?

Aku masih ingat, ketika anakku belajar di negara orang, tiba-tiba aku mmendapat berita yang dia demam campak. Bayangkanlah anak berumur 21 tahun sakit demam campak yang melitupi seluruh tubuhnya. Hilang rasa gusar dan risau.... langsung aku membeli tiket penerbangan yang terpaksa melalui beberapa buah lapangan terbang lain  sebelum sampai ke destinasi. Hilang rasa takut menghadapi pegawai kastam yang terkenal dengan cenggeh dan cerewetnya. Aku bilang segala ubat yang kubawa adalah ubat tradisional untuk penyakit anakku.....lepas!! Kerana apa? kerana hendak merawat anak yang sakit. Itulah, demi menjaga amanah, apa saja akan ibu bapa lakukan. Allah Maha Mengetahui, Mengasihi lagi Mengasihani.... Tak putus-putus doaku sepanjang masa. Sebulan aku merawatnya. Alhamdulillah sihat anakku.

Ibu bapa tidak pernah berkira dengan anak-anak. Berapa jumlah yang diperlukan, walaupun tidak mencukupi ketika itu, tetap diusahakannya juga. Untuk apa? Supaya anak tidak terganggu pengajiannya. Supaya anak tidak susah di tempat orang. Ibu bapa sanggup mengikat perut asalkan anak mereka dapat makan sehingga kenyang. Ibu bapa sanggup menelan ego mereka asalkan anak mereka selamat di mata masyarakat.

Ya Allah, bertapa banyaknya pengorbanan ibu bapa. Tidak akan dapat kita membalas jasa mereka walaupun dengan segala kemewahan yang kita ada di dunia ini. dan alangkah sedihnya apabila anak itu tidak tahu mengenang budi ibu bapa. Walaupun tinggal dinegara yang sama, hanya beberapa jam jaraknya, namun apabila ibu bapa sakit, anak akan mendahulukan anak isteri dan kerjayanya. Malang sekali, makan minum dan pakaian serta keperluan asasi ibu bapa tidak di ambil kisah langsung sedangkan kemewahan dilimpahkan pada keluarganya sendiri. Jauh sekali mengingati nasihat ibu bapa yang dianggap kolot dan sudah lapuk. Mengapa harus mereka yang sekolah tinggi dan berjawatan tinggi perlu mengikut nasihat dua orang tua yang tidak berpelajaran dan kolot! Jika itu tanggapanmu, sebenarnya kau dipihak yang sangat rugi.

Wahai anak-anak, kekayaan kamu, kehebatan kamu, pencapaian cemerlang kamu ......kamu adalah hasil dari kedua orang tuamu. Tanpa kasih sayang mereka, didikan mereka, pengorbanan mereka, kesabaran mereka dan usaha mereka, kamu bukan kamu sekarang. Usahlah kamu sombong dengan ibu bapamu kerana itu adalah kunci Syurgamu.  Usahlah kamu menyakiti hati mereka kerana seguris kesedihan dihati mereka bakal menyusahkanmu. Kamu akan dilaknati Allah. Setitik air mata ibu akan menjadikan kamu anak yang durhaka.  Jangankan air mata maupun hati yang terguris, malah satu bunyi mengeluh darimu akan menjatuhkan dosa buatmu. Lihatlah bertapa tinggi mertabat ibu bapa Allah tempatkan. Tanganmu tak bisa mencapainya. Sedarilah wahai anak-anakku.......kau tidak akan dapat membalas jasa mereka. Mak oleh itu, jadilah kamu anak yang baik, berbudi dan kasih kepada kedua orang tuamu. 

Hebatnya ibu bapa ini,  walaupun mereka sedih atau berkecil hati, kasih mereka kepada anak tidak pernah luntur. Mereka tetap mendoakan kesejahteraan anak-anak, kebahagiaan anak-anak dan semoga Allah melindungi anak-anak mereka serta menyelamatkan mereka dari apa-apa mala petaka. Siang malam mereka mendoakan walaupun mereka tidak diendahkan langsung. 

Aku dan adik beradikku sudah kehilangan kedua kunci Syurga kami. Yang tinggal hanyalah kenanagan dan yang menyambunkan adalah doa dan amal jariah yang kami niatkan untuk mereka. Semoga Allah menempatkan roh kedua ibu bapa kami Allahyarham Hj Mohd Yunos bin Mohd Doyah dan Allahyarhammah Hjh Mahnom binti Omar bersama para solihin dan diampunkan segala dosa dan kesalahan mereka dan di terangkan kubur mereka. Jasa mereka tidak dapat kami balas tetapi setiap kebaikan yang kami lakukan , semoga Allah menyalurkan pahala buat mereka juga .

Adik bongsuku, Intan.... baru-baru ini menangis ketika menelefonku. Bila ku tanya, rupanya dia amat merindui arwah Mak dan Arwah Abah.  Aku turut merasa sedih dah akan selamanya kami semua akan merindui kedua orang tua kami. Tetapi, anak-anakku DAKAB sekelian,  kamu masih ada ibu bapa. Kami masih berdiri dan bernafas lagi.  Peganglah kunci Syurgamu sebaik mungkin supaya semasa mereka tida nanti, tiada rasa sesalan mahupun terkilan dihati. Sekiranya ada kesilapan yang kamu lakukan yang mengguris hati ibu bapamu, cepat minta maaf. Malah tidak perlu buat salah baru nak minta maaf. Telefon mereka dan dihujung perbualan, mohon maaf dari mereka dan minta mereka mendoakanmu. Doa ibu bapa makbul.......mintalah....

Janganlah tunggu sehingga mereka menjadi jenazah baru kamu hendak menyesali segala perbuatanmu. ketika itu....air mata tidak bermakna lagi.

Silence speaks......

A visit to Sebrenica left us speechless..... not a sound.

Felt like everything was motionless!

It felt calm among the  Syahids......

Jannah!

It took us almost 2 hours to reach this place. On the way, we stopped by a masjid to perform our Dhuha. Alhamdulillah, even the masjid  is not as big as ours back home in Malaysia, but it is enough.  Very well taken care of, clean and it made us feel so blessed to be there.

Ibro, Ibrahim and I continued our journey. It was Sunday and there was a  weekend market somewhere along the way. My eyes only see elderly people. Lots of things sold here. Some of them even sell from their tractors....that shows how fresh the goods are! We did not stop because we were so looking forward for our visit to Srebrenica .... a place that the whole world has been talking and debating about!

We made one more stop at Kalesija. It is a town located in east of Tuzla. During the war, on the 2nd May 1992, it was one of the first town to be caught in the initial Serbian offensive. During the short occupation, the Serbians did many damages inclusive of ethnic cleansing, population displacements and sufferings, destructions of religious buildings and industrial plants. Many people were taken to the camps but on the 23rd May 1992, Kalesija was retaken by Bosnian forces. We visited a smaller scale of Srebrenica...the graveyard of the Syahids in Kalesija.

"IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT GENOCIDE AND MASS CRIMES ARE, VISIT ALL THE CEMETERIES, YOU WILL FIND THE ANSWERS IN THEIR SILENCE" 

We did not utter a word. From the corner of my eyes, I saw both Ibrahim and Ibro wiping their tears. So was I. After making dua for the Syahids, we drove up to Srebrenica.

It was a free-war zone - one of the six such "safe areas" set up in Bosnia in 1993 -  Netherlands Army, as a peace keeper under UN - United Nation Protection Force - were stationed there. Many hundreds and thousands of Bosniaks Muslim seeked shelter there while some decided to walk on foot to Tuzla - another "safe area" under UNPROFOR - through the woods and terrains. The distance to Tuzla was 105 km away but it could be more through the mountains.  Unfortunately, Srebrenica was surrounded by the Serbs and then the ugly incidents happened. Families were torn apart. Men as young as teenagers were seperated from their mothers and wives and was never seen again. I don't have to eloborate what happened in Srebrenica because you can refer to the internet....just type "Srebrenica" and you will have loads of stories and pictures regarding the genocide.

A sea of tombstones...Syahids.

Numbers are gaining.

After visiting Kelesjia and Srebrenica, this is what I think........

It was hard to understand when neighbours, friends, colegues suddenly became someone or something else like monsters who started abusing, torturing and killing your families! What made them changed? They were like exorcised..... some evil spirit must have entered their body......

The answer is plainly hatred which was there in them from the day they were born passing from one generation to another. Hatred towards the Bosniaks Muslim.... a fire that will never die.

They used to share the same place, eating the same food, going to the same school,  speaking the same language eventhough the alphabets are different and inhaling the same fresh air. They lived in harmony when Tito was their leader and when Tito died in 1983, and after living peacefully for 50 years, Yugoslavia started to break up. Their WANTS is similar that is a peaceful life and a prosperous country but their HOPE is different that is to solely own the land......

When Bosnia was declared a nation called the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serb felt challenged because they have a dream of The Great Serbia, meaning to own all the  countries around it inclusive of Bosnia to be under them. Croatia joined in with Serbs eventhough by nature they can never get well together because of their believes....Croats the Catholic Christians and Serb the Orthodox Christians. So two against one!

I visited AHMICI which is situated in the central of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There used to be 1,178 people lived in the village with 509 Bosniaks, 592 Croats, 30 Serbs and 47 classified as others. What the Croats did to the Bosniaks were unbelievable. They locked them in their homes and set fire. 116 burnt and the masjid was destroyed.

The Croats destroyed the masjid in Ahmici and burnt 150 houses and missing Croats homes in the neighbourhood.

Anger, hate and upset blent together and made them SATAN! Gone were the friendly faces of their friends and neighbours and what they needed to do was to kill them all. No mercy. Their sense of love, like and pitiful were gone. The unthinkable events began stages by stages. 

Reuter Photographer captured this photograph of the place where the genocide took place.

Looking at their country, it reminded me of ours. Alhamdulillah we live in harmony regardless of the difference in races and believes. It scares me to see what the Bosnian War did to their people and their country and I really hope and make dua that we will not face the same situation. When war happened, there is no winner. Everybody lose. Even if you think you win you will come back with lots of cuts and bruises or maybe you might be gone forever.

Guilty!!!

So many families fell apart. Mostly died and some were not even found yet. I saw on youtube, a mother waited for 24 years and is still waiting patiently for her love ones to be found and given a proper burial at the Srebrenica Memorial.

Gone were their love ones.

Only memories .....

Another mother lost her husband and three sons. They were buried in Srebrenica. There were no more tears to shed when she talked about her youngest son who was 17 and was beheaded. She recognised his shirt and pants which he wore when they got seperated. His bones were found in different places. What does that mean? They are worst than SATAN! How can a human did that to another human being?

When I saw the long list of names on the Wall of Names at the Memorial, it sadden me when there were rows of the same surname! I cannot imagine how some of the generations perished and that surname did not exist anymore!

Wall of Names .

Fathers, uncles, sons, grandsons....perished!

War did a lot of destructions in families, feelings, buildings and so on. Everything had to be started all over again from square one. War is a human made disaster. To repair and rebuild takes a lot of pain, energy, money and time which is not easy.

As I drove from one city to another, I saw many remnants of the war. Alhamdulillah all the masjid were repaired or rebuilt. Our country helped in the process. Many buildings still have bullet and granade holes. They were left unrepaired for two reasons:

1...because  they want to keep as a rememberance of the war so that the youngsters do not forget their history.

2...because they do not have enough budget to repair.

Many houses were either burnt down completely or badly

shelled during the war. 

They were not repaired because:

a...the family members who survived does not want to stay there anymore with sad and frightening memories and they moved on.

b...the whole family lost their life in the war.

Remnants of the war.

Tears and fears came haunting every single day. Day in day out. As they walked, they faced not a pretty site to look at.  There were many corpses of men, women, young and old, little children and even babies who could be families. They were lying there, dead after being tortured, slaughtered, beheaded, burnt alive, shot and raped! Begging for sparing their life made the Serbs and Croats felt more powerful.So very inhuman! But believe me, the things that they did to the victims will be in their mind until they die. They will have nightmares throughout their life! Their children will walk in shame for having satanic fathers! Just served them right!

The Bosniaks were unarmed and unprepared. Come to think about it, they were only civilians and they do not need  firearms!  But, being pushed to the wall, one has to bounce  forward because there is nowhere else to go. So they moved forward. With the knowledge from some skills soldiers from the ex-Yugoslavia army during Tito, the civilians were taught how to defend and fight.  Tactics and techniques of combating were taught and understood instantly. They fought back to protect their love ones and to defend their country! The enemies thought that they could win easily, but they were wrong! The young Bosniaks stood up and fight . Fight or Die! With the will power,  sense of responsibilities and made dua to Allah Subhanahuwataala, Alhamdulillah they managed .They put up a fight and this puzzled the enemies. Suddenly, out of nowhere...... came the Dayton Peace Agreement! The DPA made the three countries signed  and ceased fire. I wonder why. After many thousands of life  lost, unfound and destructions everywhere, those people just stopped  the war when they smelt that the Bosniaks were winning! I wonder why. Should the DPA was not signed, the outcome of the war might be different....maybe the dream of Great Serbia will only be a dream.....yes....keep dreaming! 

15,000 people attended a Peace March on forest road known as "Death Road".

120 km route. 40 km a day from Tuzla to Srebrenica on 7th July each year.

The Bosniaks  were in danger. The ethnic cleansing was terrible. The world only see what was aired  and depended on which channel. The one against will show the real situation while the other side hid everything! 

When our neighbours are in pain, we should try our best to assist them in every way we can. Make them feel safe and comfortable so that they can move with their life. How can we sit and doing nothing when our neighbour is suffering? Love thy neighbour!

So, being Malaysian, I am so proud of my country for helping the Bosniaks in every way we could afford. The sufferrings of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina attracted our attention. Our Goverment chose not to turn a blind eye towards this problem. Not only we sent Humanitarian aids but also our country's elite squad known as Special Service Group as peacekeepers in the warzone and excuse me.... this was done even before UN decided to send in its own peacekeepers!  A total of 8,000 Malaysian troops were deployed between the years 1993 and 1998. I am so proud of my country!!!! Not only that, young Bosniaks were sent to the Universiti Islam Antarabangsa [UIA]  in Malaysia and these people now are in their early forties and are doing well in their carrier in their country. I met a group of them and they still speak our Bahasa Melayu.  They were so thankful to our country for the matter. Alhamdulillah.

Please read more from the links below.

 http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/24/news/24iht-malay_0.html

 http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/02/21/a-heart-for-the-bosnians/#Ud6obEDldjHYblRc.99

So, this is how I feel and what I thought after visiting this beautiful country. The landscape and the view is to die for. The mountains, the clear water river, the waterfalls made my visit an unforgetable experience! 

Bosnia and Herzegovina is like a beautiful maiden. All the girls, ladies and women hated her because she always stands out in the crowd for her beauty. Everything in her is perfect!  All men,  young and old, wished to own her and even dreamt of her . But beauty is only what we see physically. That beautiful maiden has gone through hell mentally and emotionally.  Nobody can see the bruises on her body, the bullet marks, the broken bones, the tortured body, the burnt , the cuts and the hurt which she had to swallow alone and only she who knows.  No one sees this.  May Allah bless the land of Bosnia and Herzegovina in peace and  harmony .

I am sharing with you my feelings towards this country, a beautiful country indeed with loads of history thousands of years. My country is just a baby. They have been through different occupations and faced many battles and wars....... So let us all put a bit more interest in reading and understanding more about their history. Maybe we will understand more deeply why this genocide happened......

Pregnant woman burnt alive in Bratunac.

One shouldn't be afraid of the humans.

Well, I am not afraid of the humans, 

but of what is inhuman in them.

by Ivo Andric