Perihal kenduri

Selang beberapa bulan, akan berlangsung meeting ahli keluarga besar. Tahap pakcik dan makcik. Sambil hisap rokok. Berteko-teko minum kopi. Kuih-muih dihidangkan sekali. Semuanya berbahasa Jawa yang tidak saya fahami. Yang pastinya, mereka membincangkan kenduri kahwin yang terdekat...

Bila sudah berumur sebegini, semakin banyak jemputan yang diterima dari tahun ke tahun. Jazakallah! Lepas satu, satu. Cepat masa berlalu. Yang bujang semakin pupus.

Dulu-dulu ikut ibu dan ayah ke jemputan. Ada yang saya tidak kenal pun - tapi tuan rumah kenal saya. Heh malu malu. Masa itu dalam kepala hanya memikirkan "Wah hari ini makan sedap. Briyani lagi.... yummy!".


//Aneka cenderahati yang boleh ditempah

Ole-ole, zaman itu kebanyakannya dalam bentuk bunga telur. Kalau kami sekeluarga, dekat sepuluh bunga telur, jadi ada sepuluh telur rebus. Esoknya ibu akan masak nasi lemak!

Sekarang, bermacam-macam. Kek, bekas cincin, malah minyak wangi pun ada. Dulu lain sekarang lain...

Bubuh duit dalam sampul surat

Dulu-dulu sering kali tertanya-tanya, kenapa dalam sampul surat dalam glovebox dalam kereta? Takkanlah tulis surat lepas itu keluar naik kereta dan lipat elok-elok sebelum dimasukkan dalam sampul dan seterusnya ke pejabat pos.


//Banyak sangat duit yang hendak diberi. Ini foto dari website MLM - Korek Hidung Dapat Duit

Pelik...

Lama-lama baru terperasan, adanya sampul surat dalam glovebox adalah bersebab. Kata ayah, segan jika singgah kenduri orang, tidak bersedekah. Tuan rumah sudah bersusah-payah mengatur segalanya. Kita pula datang sekeluarga. Berapa kepala semua? Jadi kenalah 'bayar'. Tuan rumah lega, kita dapat pahala.

Tapi takkan hendak sedekah sembunyi-sembunyi, macam selit bawah meja makan bukan? Jadi salam berisi dengan tuan rumah. Yang saya perasan, orang Jawa memang sudah jadi amalan. Yang lain, tidak pasti.

Selalunya mereka yang sudah bekerja memberi sumbangan. Yang ditanggung (macam saya), makan percuma. Haha.

...

Tahniah kepada:

1) Syafiq Ismail & Syazwani Nasihah

Sampai lambat di kenduri. Kosong sudah dewan.

2) Abdul Halim & Mushirah



//Duduk - Ahmad Fahmi, Saifurrahman. Berdiri dari kiri - Idayu, Haikal & baby girl (tak ingat nama). Isteri Haikal (Hidayah) tak termasuk dalam gambar pula.


//Antara yang sempat berjumpa.

The New Face of Autism Therapy


picked up at Popsci.com
With one in 110 children diagnosed with autism, and therapists in short supply, researchers are developing humanoids to fill the gaps. But can robots help patients forge stronger bonds with people?

Smile for the Camera Bandit, a robot designed to engage children with autism, has stereo cameras for eyes. John B. Carnett
In a small, sparsely furnished room, a young boy in a black T-shirt backs himself into a corner. He’s cautious. Cameras capture his movements, and microphones record every sound. But this doesn’t intimidate him; he doesn’t even seem aware that he’s being observed. His mom, sitting nearby, is not the object of his focus either. Brian (his name has been changed here to protect his privacy) is autistic, and he’s staring across the room at a two-wheeled, gray, humanoid robot with big, cartoonish eyes. The machine, Bandit, is roughly Brian’s size, and it has been trying to engage him by slowly rolling toward him. Continue reading...

Thank you

It's a small step actually. Just like what Winston Churchill said in his speech (refer your Talley O'Connor right at the back). This is the second time I mention this quote:

Now this is not the end.
It is not even the beginning of the end.
But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.


Thanks to Allah. I really hope I can be your instrument of your Mercy.

Thanks to my parents for their endless support. Mak, ayah, dan adik-adik. There's no way I can go on without them.

Thanks to my teachers - be it back in Ireland, here in PMC, and of course the staff in Penang Hospital, Seberang Jaya Hospital and Taiping Hospital. There's more, KK Bayan Baru and Klinik Sadha. One more, Charis Hospice for their excellent insights on palliative care. As what all clinicians in existence would say, we strive for the best interest of the patient. No more, no less.

Thanks to all patients, who were willing to spare some time, and more than happy to share their stories about everything - from the best dining places in Penang, to deeply sibling rivalries on inheritance.

Thanks to my colleagues, from premeds, all the way to final year. It's a roller-coaster ride to remember for life. We will be distant apart soon. Just forget the bitter part, and move on. After all, we're just humans, bound to make mistakes, be it a miscommunication or it was just plain wrong.

Thanks to all for endless prayers.


ps - I found JK Rowling's commencement speech sangat2 best. Read it here:
http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination

Apa Khabar Orang Kampung

Thanks to a special friend (Hafiz Hashim / Ipin), I managed to get my hands of the original copy of this banned movie. Directed by Amir Muhammad, who is seen by the film board as 'controversial' (just a nice way of saying 'you can go to heaven'), I think he just wanted to test the water (again).



So how does it feel watching a banned movie? Biasa saja. Heh, I can say this is the second popular non porn Malaysian movie. The first place goes to The Last Communist, denounced by the press and ministers alike. Heh, who owns the press? By the way, Pramugara Terlampau remained indisputable in the other category - all the stars were convicted!

Upon seeing the lush greenery, (set in Southern Thai) I was immersed with the atmosphere  - well my kampung is wayyy south, Batu Pahat. In fact, this movie should be categorised as 'Nature', sitting next to endless yellow frame series (NatGeo) on DVD shelf.

I don't like spoiling the movie for you, but it is not what exactly what title says. There's no throat slashing, castrating, and all those gore. Heck, this is totally peaceful movie. It's combination of interviews, coupled with Thai radio show (don't worry its subtitled), of what some Communist did in those days. It is more like Majalah Tiga, if you get my drift.

Actually its about the idea that makes this movie banned. Ideas. Questions. Being critical. Daya inkuiri yang tinggi. Heh, for the record, stopping people from being educated (going to uni doesn't guarantee it, look at the UKM 4) is the easiest way to keep on governing. I rest my case here.

Official blog:
http://www.lastcommunist.blogspot.com

You can watch the trailer on Youtube. Original movie? Buy original see original.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVVcvTGLNUk

Jenderam Hulu - a short story

Last year, my  family moved out from Ampang to live in a very secluded area called Jenderam Hulu, deep in Sepang district. Sigh... growing up in Ampang equals to being 'anak metropolitan', therefore staying close to nature is a strange thing. 


Well, Ampang previously a tin mining area, much like Kinta Valley in Ipoh. Pandan Indah was just a huge man-made lake. I can't believe the whole Ampang was so urbanised, it holds almost 60k of population! I was surrounded by concrete jungle back in Taman Cempaka - Ampang Point is a 10 minute drive, Galaxy is reachable in 3, and now Axis Atrium, I suppose I can be there within 2 minutes! 

Fast forward, my home is in the middle of durian orchard, and next to palm oil plantation. It sounds peaceful is it not? Add a PLUS highway which is 400 metres away, the decibel has gone up. However, it is a place where no one can hear you scream... and we've been robbed by a gang of 5 in the early dawn once mind you. Thank God nobody was hurt. Such a life.


As for Jenderam, suffice to say this place has a rich history. During its heyday, it used to be one of many centres of pondok in Selangor, with teachers hailing all the way from Acheh and Jawa. I have no idea how extensive the centre was, however according to elderly lads I meet at the mosque,  for a time this is a centre of choice for many interested souls. 


Then came the British. 1948 was a bleak year for this blessed community. Most of the populations were evicted on the pretext of supporting Communist Party, to Johore and Perak. Purge is the better word.... Haih...


Now Jenderam is famous for Yayasan Al-Jenderami. Masjid Ar-Redha pun selalu ada kuliah. Apa-apapun, Darus-Syifa di Bangi tidaklah jauh sangat. Yeay!

The end of the beginning

Alhamdulillah I'm now qualified. Which means I can start working as house officer...

It is enlightening listening to seniors about their working life. The good, the bad and the ugly. All of it. It's more liberating to note down mistakes they've done, especially if its fatal. Then tales of how (shall)low some of us can go. Just like what Dr Zaid Azhari (ex-218) puts it - Harap saja pakai white coat dan nametag Dr, tapi pemalas, berlagak dan menyusahkan orang!


Then there's stories of how housemen went mental. Semoga dijauhkan darinya...

Allow me to quote from Talley & O'Connor, right at the back:

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
Sir Winston Churchill, Speech in November 1942