Just sharing

           Gone were the days where shopping is top of the list! Been there and loved it. But that was then. Now? No more.....well... not so much.

Some of the collections of mine!

          Whenever I went abroad, there will always be something for everyone back home, especially to those who are nearest to our heart and who helped us. But usually, most of the gifts were for our children and family members. I am just sharing my feelings and not trying to show off. 

Yosemite National Park, tells us how we should
 take good care of our nature.

Karlovy Vary.
A small town in Prague. Reminded us of our brother Azmi Mustaffa who
is married to Azemina. This town is well known for its crystal
and tableware. Not forgetting their famous mineral water.

          Throughout the years, I learned. The tactic is not to start buying for a person because the list will go on and on and on. And finally, you found out that you bought nothing for yourself! Does it sound familiar to you? You ended paying extra baggage! Lucky thing is that those days the airliners were not as 'calculative' as today! hahahhaha. The only thing that they do not charge today is the usage of the toilets! hahahhaahah.....just imagine!

Every visit to Paris, Montmartre is a must for us. This is where
you can see street artists doing their sketches and paitings of faces, objects, buildings,
animals, flowers and so on. You can see them start from scratch.
I spent hours here without realizing the time flew.

          Now that the children are all grown-ups and some of the family members are gone, not much income, so what do we do? Buy fridge magnets!

Unique buildings designed and built by their famous artist and architect,
Antoni Gaudi. He is one of a kind.
Below are some of his work of art.

          Besides photographs from our analogue cameras, digital cameras or camera-phones, fridge magnets will remind us of the places that we visited. True enough. I have a magnet which I bought 30 years ago from Hawaii. My husband was in the University of Hawaii in Manoa for a management course! When he was busy in his class, I was running around with the rest of the spouses visiting places. It reminded me of an incident when my husband and I drove into the wrong side of the road! We really had a good laugh at ourselves. We had to share a plate of fried rice which we bought from a Thai Restaurant. Not because we are so loving but the cost!! hahahahha.  I remembered walking by Waikiki Beach, in the shopping malls and in the street and I wished to bump into Steve McGarrett from the Hawaii Five-O from the tv series. Hahahahhahah..... A daydream syndrome! I wish I can revisit again. InSyaAllah.

My forever favourite TV Series. The original
actor Jack Lord,  Steve McGarrettMcGarrett died in 1998 at the age of 79.
He suffered Alzheimer for 2 years before his death.

Aloha....

           Fridge magnets come in many forms and made of different materials like ceramic, plastic, wood, glass, fabric and so on. Magnets tell us about the places we visited.  Sometimes it tells us about the history, about preservations of ancient buildings, about taking care of nature and anything that is about that place. Rome magnets are usually about their ancient buildings as far as many centuries ago, Spain's regarding their love of sports in Bull Fighting, Russia's with their colourful yesterday, Bosnia's with their war stories, Tallinn, a small town in Estonia,  attracted musicians from all over the world to perform yearly. The West Berlin and East Berlin separated by the wall. Jerusalem Al Quds with the stories from the Holy Quran about the Messangers of Allah and the people from that era.

The East and the West were
separated by the wall. 

A visit to Jerusalem Al-Quds was an unforgettable experience.

Every step we took, we felt the presence of the Messengers.

Subhanallah.

           

          Each and every place that I visited, left memories. Well, some good memories and very few are not. But that is life. There are ups and downs. Not every trip that you take is great but if it is not, try not to make it worst. If you are the organiser, change to plan B and if you are the follower, just stick to your group or just stay foot! The choice is yours. Nobody can force you to do things that you dislike.

My friends and I went cruising in The Mediterranean

and we visited this beautiful island.

We met some Bangladesh workers selling toys by the roadside and they spoke to us in Malay!

They used to work in our country.

Took 2 cable cars to the topmost. Some turned blue.
Two went back to the foot of the mountain. The rest
enjoyed the view and made loads of photographs.

          So, little fridge magnets not only tell people about the places we already visited but also brought back loads of memories. See, how a little thing like that can bring back all those wonderful memories! This money cannot buy but we do need money to buy fridge magnets! By the way, it is small in size and low in cost and easy to carry. You do not have to pay for the extra baggage for it!

A visit to Bosnia Herzegovina is a true walk of tears. I cried most of the time
imagining the sufferings of our brothers and sisters during the war.
The genocide was terrible and the sufferings were unbearable for the Bosnians.
May Allah give them peace.

When we found out how little fridge magnets did wonders in our lives, we created a wonderful little gift for our guests at our daughter's wedding. She is now a mother of 3 and most of the people who came to that wedding told us what wonderful door gift we made and they still have it stuck to their refrigerator at home. And that magnet brought back memories of the event and the people they met...some are still around and some moved on.  

My daughter Siti Nurhana and Muhammad A'sim.
It was on the 14th of December 2007.
May Allah bless them with happiness 

         So whenever you visit places, remind yourself to buy a meaningful magnet to remind you of the moments you spent there. But, please do not forget the real function of a fridge magnet to help us put a note on the door of the refrigerator as a reminder to do something, list of things to buy, reminders, bills

Bila senja berlabuh

Senja 28 Disember 2018
Kuala Sepetang

Bila senja berlabuh

Sang mentari mengundur diri

memberi laluan kepada si purnama

 menyinari bumi

ketika itu...

kesunyian melanda 

Bila bersedih

hati menjadi tidak keruan

ketika itu...

tiada apa yang mampu kukerjakan

tiada yang dapat kufikirkan

aku menjadi lesu 

Siang terasa teramat singkat

malam terasa terlalu lama

jiwa dihuni kesepian

emosi terganggu

mata dipejam tetapi tak lelap

Keseorangan

Kesepian

Al Quran penemanku

Bait-bait kalimahMu

Seolah-olah berkata kepadaku

Ya Allah....ampunilah

kasihanilah

tenangkanlah jiwa dan perasaan ini

berikanlah aku kekuatan

tingkatkanlah kesabaran

kepada keluargaku

isteriku dan anak-anakku

Keperluanku

 keinginanku

sedikit cuma

kasih sayang dan perhatian

dari mereka

terima kasih atas pengorbananmu

Allah sahaja yang tahu

bertapa bersyukurnya aku

Ziarah, sokongan moral 

dan ingatan 

dari teman, sahabat dan taulan

kehadiran mereka disekeliling 

mengembalikan semangat juang

melupakan kesakitan walau seketika

gurau senda dan gelak ketawa

bersembang tentang kisah lama

kisah pencapaian,

kisah lucu bersama

suatu ketika dahulu

mengamit kenangan 

aku, dia dan mereka

bibir terukir senyuman

masih ada yang sayang

Alhamdulillah

Menziarahi sahabat ... Pak Yahya di Bukit Sentosa, Rawang
pada  1 Januari 2019

Suatu Penantian

Hari ini kembali kesunyian

tiada lagi teriakan

tiada lagi jeritan

tiada lagi panggilan

kedua kekandanya memulakan sesi persekolahan

Abang Ammar di Tahun Lima

Abang Aafi di Tahun Satu

Semoga kedua kekanda Aaira cemerlang

Kepulangan mereka dinanti

Satu penantian yang

penuh kesabaran

penuh debaran

Mana Raysha?

Mana Rayqal?

Peanantian suatu penyiksaan.
Abang mana?

Raysha dan Rayqal

Sepupu Ammar, Aafi dan Aaira.

Sejarah berulang

Permulaan kekayaan. Kaki gajah Long Jaafar disaluti Bijih Timah.
Kekayaan Long Jaafar disambung oleh anaknya Ngah Ibrahim.

Jika kita lupa

Lalai dan alpa

Kehilangan itu pasti

Kekecewaan selamanya dirasai

Mendulang bijih.

Tuan yang hilang haluan

Bangga dengan ketuanan

Khayal dengan kemewahan

Mengundang kekalahan

Hamba yang kuat bekerja

Membanting tulang tak kira masa

Lupa erti kepenatan

Lupa minum dan makan

Memikirkan masa hadapan

Bukan untuk dirinya

Tapi untuk anak bangsanya

Kini menjadi tuanpunya

Kota Ngah Ibrahim kini dijadikan Muzium Matang yang
mengisahkan semalamnya.

Tiada yang kekal selamanya

Tonggak yang dibangga-bangga

Harta yang sedikit dikikis rata

Kuasa hilang sekelip mata

Cucu cicit tak dapat merasa

Hilang segalanya

Kini tuan menjadi penjaja

Itulah bahana

Lupa, lalai dan alpa....

Sejarah berulang

Namun tidak diambil iktibar

Seabad lalu Larut maju

Dikuasai penuh oleh bangsaku

Pekerja asing dijemput membantu

Di antara mereka  tidak bersekutu

Akhirnya... 

Ghee Hin dan Hai San bertinju

Tiga kali Perang Larut berlaku

Kongsi-kongsi gelap menjadi kuncu

   

Inggeris dirujuk untuk membantu

Bantuan selalu mahukan sesuatu

Sultan dan Menteri diperhakimkan

Keduanya dijatuhkan hukuman

Dipenjara di pulau yang jauh

Matinya pun di Kota Singa

Kerana kelemahan

Kerana perjanjian

Akhirnya

Tergadai segalanya

Tinggallah bangsaku bertelegu

Di satu sudut duduk mendagu

Memikirkan kesilapan yang lalu

Bagai luncai dengan labu

We should feel lucky

We came from the same herd but we are totally different in many ways.

We should feel lucky

Being born in full specs

We should feel lucky

To be born free

We should feel lucky

Married to our choices

We should feel lucky

Surrounded by friends and families

We should feel lucky

Being able to see the world

The whole wide world

We should feel lucky

Having discussions with peers

Spending times with colleagues

Shopping with loved ones

Running around as we like

But....

Not everybody is lucky

Not as lucky as we are

Not as free as we are

So......please

Remember the unlucky ones 

Understand them

It is not a choice 

It is not a want

Not even a need

It is a gift

It is fated

We should feel lucky

With whatever given.....

 Alhamdulillah

The world is in your hands...in your palm.

A little grasshopper came to visit

It brought in some news

Listen... listen....listen

Someone is mentioning you

Some is talking about you

Some spread hatred for you

But I know you

I really know you

Little grasshopper hop around

Listen... listen... listen

Care not for them

Feel not for them

Avoid them if you may

Stand up and fight

hop... hop ....hop

Swoooosh...

The grasshopper flew away

I wonder if there is truth 

But

You are just a little grasshopper

Came for a short visit

And carried tales

Unfortunately

You are just a child’s play

Pintu

Tugasnya sangat penting

Ibarat pengawal dengan lembing

Tanpanya, kita resah

Adanya, hilang kesah

Tanpanya, kita terlihat

Adanya, kita tersirat 

Buatannya dari pelbagai bahan

Ada yang rapuh

Ada yang tahan

Tiada yang membelakangkannya

Semua memerlukannya

Baik haiwan mahupun manusia
Terdapat di mana jua
Baik di rumah mahupun ditempat kerja
Tidak lupa...tandas yang utama

Uniknya..

Ia membuka dan

menutup hati kita

Bukalah pintu hatimu untukku

Kanku kunci cintamu di dalam hatiku

Selamanya

Pintu

The Unsung Heroes.....

          

A beautiful sunrise .

           Those days I used to wonder how some of the people I met were so smart, so sharp and informative... So I thought it must be their special diet.

          I was raised in a plantation deep in the jungle of Terengganu State. The people who managed were mostly foreigners. So, their children went to the same school as I was.  They don’t speak our mother’s tongue so we communicate in English.  So I scored! Hehehehhe.

          I visited the El Dorado of the East! A quiet little town now but was once a very rich and a well-known town because of its tin mining. For more than 100 years, Sg Lembing, Pahang was showered with all the best any nation would wish for.  In 1888, the English came in a big group with their families. They brought in with them electricity, types of machinery,  technologies, hospital and medications, schools, duty-free shop, entertainments, sports and of cause the language! 

 

          At a very young age, the children of Sg Lembing were far more advanced than any others around them.  Sg Lembing was ahead of anywhere else. That time, the importance of Sg Lembing was at par with  Singapore and Hong Kong! So advanced that when people of Sg Lembing went places, they were recognised immediately from the way they spent and their modern and classy attire! 

       I went around this town and realised that it is such a well organised small place of living.

They have everything that only some can only hope to have. From the old photographs that I saw in the museum, the town is as it was before! Only the buildings looked worn out and so are the elders. 

 

Sg Lembing Museum.

          I spent two mornings having breakfast in the marketplace and I realised how warm these people are. The friendship among them was something that I remembered when I was young.... they talked to one another about their daily routines, they sat and ate together, joked around and laughing out loud when a joke was cracked by any of them.  Ya Allah, how I missed this so much that I was in tears by just looking at them. This is the kind of Malaysians I grew up with... humble, warm and very nice. But slowly it’s fading away because we were too busy looking for wealth and forgot the one most important thing in life which is UKHWAH!  The elders said that they were even much closer before until politics came in the way! What have we done?

Tok Empat Dol. 

The marketplace where elders meet.

Selling antiques.

  

          The elders shared the same experiences working as tin miners. Sg Lembing was well known throughout the world because of the largest and the deepest tin mine in the world. It is known as the El Dorado of the East.  Besides tin, they have iron ore and copper. The deepest mine is 2,200 feet and the distance of the tunnel is 322km long! Can you imagine! 

 

The Underground Tin Mine of Sg Lembing

          The town was all lighted up at night and lots of activities for the miners were introduced. They even have club-house for the management and for the miners. They were provided with lots of facilities like swimming pool, indoor games like billiard, darts, music and so on. No one knew about movies but they were provided with a cinema! The people went places in a built-in train as the mean of transportation. The rails circled the town and mines. Besides people, trains are used to carry logs, fuel and most importantly is to carry the tin ore from the mines to the mill for crushing and separation purposes .....more than a hundred years ago!! 

A hundred years story about the tin....

          Their health was well taken care of. A hospital with different wards for males and females, 20 bed of each, modern medicines brought from England,  X-Ray machine, a labour room and most of all specialists doctors attended the patients 24 hours! The site is there but the hospital is long gone. What a pity. The Police Station is intact... still standing strong and well preserved. 

Morning greetings to old friends.

          When I looked at the elders, most of them speak English or at least understand English. Their children did well in schools.  They have schools for all races including the natives. The English School was run by the English. So, language is not a problem. many of their children became doctors, educators, lawyers and many more including ministers.  And I believe this little town succeeded because of the environment and the exposures of modernisations provided them with advanced knowledge. The activities around them, the language created people with a good head start.

Uncle Ah Seng. Was a miner since he was 14 years old.

          But, the children are all away. The school system took them away from home. They grew and have their own life elsewhere. Not many young ones stayed behind and because of that, not much change needed to facelift the infrastructure of this town. The old wooden buildings started to give way, but for a structure that can stand for more than a hundred years... that is amazing! Even the bridges made of steel and wood and the hanging bridges are intact and fully utilised!

 

          In the near future, the heroes of the tin mining will be long gone. The numbers will be getting less and less. This is nature. Most of them are in their 70's and 80's. But most importantly is that they have their yesterday.... a successful history that all of them will remember and cherish the memories they once shared together. Their stories keep them alive and standing tall. The worked hard and earned a lot but when the price of tin collapsed in the 1980s, so is Sg Lembing. Washed down the drain.  Mining had to be stopped. Many left. The management left too because they are done with the 80 plus 21 years concessions. Sg Lembing was handed back to the state of Pahang with a full set of everything! Slowly, Sg Lembing was forgotten.

          The year was 1986, Sg Lembing Tin Mine was officially closed. Just imagine, a once well know with its wealth and phosphorus little town suddenly lost from the face of the map. Nothing last forever. I believe that not many knows about this place and how important it was once before even we learned Ilmu Alam or Geography... but seeing is believing.

           The unsung heroes are still out there cracking jokes and surviving.   Their hair discoloured, wrinkles on their faces and some of them already lost most of their teeth. But they are a happy lot and non- pretentious at all. You can see it from their faces and through their smiles. They did many things to keep themselves occupied and killing time and to keep on living. Those who are good with agricultures did farming, run small kedai makan, some sell antiques items  and so on. 

         The beauty is, the elders shared their yesterday and they are very proud of it. They all have the same feelings and they will proudly tell us the stories of the past and that makes Sg Lembing a must place to visit. The people and the history!!

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