I am allergic of exams and datelines.
The nearer they are, the more feverish I become, and I even vomit.
I used to vomit on the mornings of exam days back in my undergraduate days
Now that the dateline for my thesis is impending, the nausea bouts are back...
#####
I used to say "tak nak belajar dah, nak kahwin lah" while I was doing some last minute revision before sitting for an exam during undergraduate days.
Mind you - that only happened during exam fever - other than that I was not so keen on marrying at early age, ha ha...
Donner aka Dr Aida once asked me "Kak A.Z. masih dok rasa nak kahwin lagi ke?" a week after I finished my final exam, and I looked at her quizzingly, which made her retorted "Laa, kan akak yang sibuk dok cakap "nak kahwin, tak nak study" hari tu?"
Rather embarassing really, especially since Donner was my main masseur (the nausea bouts came with headaches and all) during last-minute revision period... and I must had been repeating myself again and again during all those hours
I even planned not to sit for a paper once, felt like my mind had been wiped totally blank, but Donner firmly told me to go to the hall and just answer based on whatever remnants that remained inside my blank mind...
I actually got a 2.1 for that particular paper, alhamdulillah
#####
Now that I am married with kids and struggling to finish writing up my thesis,
I am glad I grabbed the chance to further my studies, here in Japan.
There are so many things yet to be learned, to be discovered, and I believe in taking every chances one gets to learn and improve oneself...
No more uttering nonsense along the line of "tak nak belajarlah..."
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Trivia...
1.
(During lunch in the student lounge, in Japanese,
with a mature PhD Japanese student whose kids are in their twenties)
Y-san: So you make your own bento everyday?
Me: Yes, I have to cook for my family anyway...
Y-san: Your family is with you? Must be tough then...
Me: I have two kids, boys. It is not easy, but I don't mind the extra chores so long as we get to be together.
Y-san: But it must be hard to handle both studying and caring for the family...
Me: That's why I am here in school - can't get anything (academic) done at home...
Y-san: What about your reading?
Me: Most of it done on the train...
Y-san: Sugoi ne, yokudekimashita...
Me: Oh, there's no such thing - I just do what I have to do...
#####
2.
(With Amy, who's currently pursuing her Masters in Sydney on FB)
Amy: A.Z. I dreamt of you last night
Me: Good dream, I hope
Amy: Oh, it was a good one. You came to my home, in Sydney, with other friends, and we caught up on old times.
Me: I hope your dream will come true
Amy: Me too
Me: I've never been to Sydney yet, hehehe
Amy: Must be I was ralat sangat that we did not get to see each other when I was in Tokyo, sampai termimpi-mimpi jumpa u...
#####
3.
A friend shared her experience as a volunteer Bahasa Malaysia teacher in the UK for expatriate Malay kids under 7 years old;
"... puas kita cakap "A untuk Ayam"
dia org jawab ramai-ramai "Noooooo, A is for Apple"
kita kata ye la that's for English but for Bahasa Malaysia,
A is for Ayam
2-3 orang lagi pula kata
"Teacher, that's not Ayam, that's Chicken!!!
CHICKEN, TEACHER!!!!"
ada mak ayah bagitau
anak dia eja buku, "booku"
ni dah balik Malaysia dah la ni..."
#####
4.
Closer at home, Yam's 9 year old daughter, Khadijah Najwa scored all A's in her mid-year exam except for BM.
Yam told me, one of Khadijah's sentence read as:
" Jovan dimarahi kerana mencuru tuan punya epal"
#####
5.
SMS from Fauzee, a fellow PTD who is currently pursuing his MA in GRIPS (and already has 2 girls before the newborn arrived) read as;
"Salam. Alhamdulillah saya telah dikurniakan seorang lagi anak perempuan pada 16 Jun jam 9.36 pm"
The reply;
"Alhamdulillah. Omedetou gozaimas. Mudah2an jadi anak solehah penyejuk mata ayah ibu. Kirim salam kat Ailin, lepas ni kene tukar senduk aar nampaknya (^-^)v"
I said it, but I still couldn't figure out what on earth is the co-relations between baby's gender and cooking ladles?
(Mothers of all boys are sometimes advised to exchange ladles/spatulas with mothers of all girls and vice versa before trying to get a baby of the other gender...)
(During lunch in the student lounge, in Japanese,
with a mature PhD Japanese student whose kids are in their twenties)
Y-san: So you make your own bento everyday?
Me: Yes, I have to cook for my family anyway...
Y-san: Your family is with you? Must be tough then...
Me: I have two kids, boys. It is not easy, but I don't mind the extra chores so long as we get to be together.
Y-san: But it must be hard to handle both studying and caring for the family...
Me: That's why I am here in school - can't get anything (academic) done at home...
Y-san: What about your reading?
Me: Most of it done on the train...
Y-san: Sugoi ne, yokudekimashita...
Me: Oh, there's no such thing - I just do what I have to do...
#####
2.
(With Amy, who's currently pursuing her Masters in Sydney on FB)
Amy: A.Z. I dreamt of you last night
Me: Good dream, I hope
Amy: Oh, it was a good one. You came to my home, in Sydney, with other friends, and we caught up on old times.
Me: I hope your dream will come true
Amy: Me too
Me: I've never been to Sydney yet, hehehe
Amy: Must be I was ralat sangat that we did not get to see each other when I was in Tokyo, sampai termimpi-mimpi jumpa u...
#####
3.
A friend shared her experience as a volunteer Bahasa Malaysia teacher in the UK for expatriate Malay kids under 7 years old;
"... puas kita cakap "A untuk Ayam"
dia org jawab ramai-ramai "Noooooo, A is for Apple"
kita kata ye la that's for English but for Bahasa Malaysia,
A is for Ayam
2-3 orang lagi pula kata
"Teacher, that's not Ayam, that's Chicken!!!
CHICKEN, TEACHER!!!!"
ada mak ayah bagitau
anak dia eja buku, "booku"
ni dah balik Malaysia dah la ni..."
#####
4.
Closer at home, Yam's 9 year old daughter, Khadijah Najwa scored all A's in her mid-year exam except for BM.
Yam told me, one of Khadijah's sentence read as:
" Jovan dimarahi kerana mencuru tuan punya epal"
#####
5.
SMS from Fauzee, a fellow PTD who is currently pursuing his MA in GRIPS (and already has 2 girls before the newborn arrived) read as;
"Salam. Alhamdulillah saya telah dikurniakan seorang lagi anak perempuan pada 16 Jun jam 9.36 pm"
The reply;
"Alhamdulillah. Omedetou gozaimas. Mudah2an jadi anak solehah penyejuk mata ayah ibu. Kirim salam kat Ailin, lepas ni kene tukar senduk aar nampaknya (^-^)v"
I said it, but I still couldn't figure out what on earth is the co-relations between baby's gender and cooking ladles?
(Mothers of all boys are sometimes advised to exchange ladles/spatulas with mothers of all girls and vice versa before trying to get a baby of the other gender...)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
More notes on this and that
Over YM (on the effects of Malaysian civil servants being paid twice monthly)
dt : makin ramai orang susah hati duit tak cukup
makin ramai mengular dan cari part time
makin turun produktiviti di ofis
makin tambah beban org kerja kewangan
makin tambah kos pengurusan
#####
"Civil servants should change their spending habits..."
If one is getting less than RM1500 a month, with 5 school-age kids, living in a small apartment with no place to grow own veggies and herbs, plus loads of this-and-that loans to be paid, how could one still justify paying the meager salary twice a month (in this days when everything is expensive) as a move to help such persons manage their spending better?
#####
The poor in Malaysia are doing poorer than the poor in Japan or UK.
At least in Japan, the poor here have the options to shop at discount stores and 99/100yen shop. Beggars won't mind eating food brought from discount stores because well, at least they still get to eat whatever the richer ones are eating - rice, noodles, bread, veggies, canned food - although in lesser quality and lower prices
Similary, in UK, the poor can shop in discount supermarket chains like Aldi, or Lidl or Netto - to get food at discount prices.
But we don't offer that kind of option in Malaysia...
#####
Once not too long ago, I used to take 2 hours, riding my bike all over Gyotoku for best bargains.
One shop would be selling cooking oil at reduced price, the other offers good quality eggs and bread at 100 yen, yet another would be selling detergents and toiletries at half the normal price. I went shopping from one shop to another, tried to stretch my yen as far as it could.
It was not easy, though we managed to save a little by the end of the month.
It must be harder for those in Malaysia who rarely gets to buy stuff at discount prices from different shops located near to each other...
dt : makin ramai orang susah hati duit tak cukup
makin ramai mengular dan cari part time
makin turun produktiviti di ofis
makin tambah beban org kerja kewangan
makin tambah kos pengurusan
#####
"Civil servants should change their spending habits..."
If one is getting less than RM1500 a month, with 5 school-age kids, living in a small apartment with no place to grow own veggies and herbs, plus loads of this-and-that loans to be paid, how could one still justify paying the meager salary twice a month (in this days when everything is expensive) as a move to help such persons manage their spending better?
#####
The poor in Malaysia are doing poorer than the poor in Japan or UK.
At least in Japan, the poor here have the options to shop at discount stores and 99/100yen shop. Beggars won't mind eating food brought from discount stores because well, at least they still get to eat whatever the richer ones are eating - rice, noodles, bread, veggies, canned food - although in lesser quality and lower prices
Similary, in UK, the poor can shop in discount supermarket chains like Aldi, or Lidl or Netto - to get food at discount prices.
But we don't offer that kind of option in Malaysia...
#####
Once not too long ago, I used to take 2 hours, riding my bike all over Gyotoku for best bargains.
One shop would be selling cooking oil at reduced price, the other offers good quality eggs and bread at 100 yen, yet another would be selling detergents and toiletries at half the normal price. I went shopping from one shop to another, tried to stretch my yen as far as it could.
It was not easy, though we managed to save a little by the end of the month.
It must be harder for those in Malaysia who rarely gets to buy stuff at discount prices from different shops located near to each other...
Thursday, June 12, 2008
A day in the life of...
Huzaifah and Humaidi (aka Ujai and Akif), as 'told' to their Abang Sabah, can be read here.
It's in BM, a light entry on my children's antics -
including stuff like Humaidi cheering himself on, saying "tateh" as he walks;
or Huzaifah's "unique" pose with Peace sign (using one whole hand or L-shaped sign instead of V);
or Huzaifah's quick reply of "amau" whenever Ibu asked him "nak hanger tak?" after an episode of misconduct...
It's in BM, a light entry on my children's antics -
including stuff like Humaidi cheering himself on, saying "tateh" as he walks;
or Huzaifah's "unique" pose with Peace sign (using one whole hand or L-shaped sign instead of V);
or Huzaifah's quick reply of "amau" whenever Ibu asked him "nak hanger tak?" after an episode of misconduct...
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Of grave digging and knife frenzies...
Our condolence for Ariffin and his wife in Kochi, Shikoku, for the lost of their third child even before she was properly born - may they get to be reunited with their precious little one in heaven one day, insya Allah...
Al-fatihah...
#####
Ariffin came all the way from Kochi with his little one flown in a special container yesterday. Hubby and En Amin, the Consular from Malaysian Embassy picked Ariffin and his little one from Haneda Airport and managed the janazah in Islamic Center in Setagaya before going to the Islamic Graveyard in Enzan, Yamanashi.
It cost 70,000 yen to get a burial plot there, and another 30,000 to get the graveyard dug, so the three of them decided to dig the grave themselves, manually digging using the shovels provided there. The caretaker of the graveyard area is a monk, who later hosted a sushi lunch for the three of them after the burial was over. Hubby had his first experience of giving a talqin, as he had never sent any janazah to the graveyard in Japan before.
#####
Not able to find a babysitter, I had to give my zemi session a miss yesterday. I know my sensei would not be pleased with my absence, now that we, the final year students in our last semester, are in the critical period of writing our thesis. Not that I didn't try to get some help - but Faizly happened to have a replacement class yesterday too, so there...
Well, I guess funeral is a bigger thing than just missing zemi, and besides Mak always told me to make things easier for others, while praying and hoping that Allah will make things easier for us...
#####
The amok in Akihabara is the worst street stabbing case in recent years. This sick psycho guy is tired of his life and thus he decided to take 7 others, injuring 10 as well. He drove a rented truck all the way from Yamanashi area, which is about 3 hours away from Tokyo, bought the dagger he used to stab others in Fukui and even consistently posting timely messages on a mobile phone site, among others to record his stopping at a rest area in Kanazawa, announced his arrival in Akihabara and declared "It's time" 2o minutes before his killing spree.
Some experts claimed that the guy might had posted the messages not as a way to declare the attack to the general public, but more as in updating his own realtime blog. Realtime bloggers often update their sites several times an hour, posting entries regarding their activities and feelings.
#####
There were 67 multiple stabbing rampages in Japan between 1998 and 2007, and at least 5 cases this year alone.
The scary part is that usually the guy running amok just wanted to kill, not caring who the victims are (dare demo yokatta). Random stabber ranged from as young as 16 year old to 40 year old - all within the usually 'baligh' age, when they are able to tell right from wrong. But I guess when they do not believe in God - there is no real sense of right or wrong
#####
In a way it must had been something akin to a slap for the Japanese National Police Agency - now that the G8 Summit is near, they have been busy opening Counter Terrorism counters all over the country, usually suspecting gaijins to be possible threats, and one day - a Nihonjin killed 7 and injured 10 others in Tokyo.
Dush dush.
#####
Many Nihonjin interviewed in the TV said that, "...this is unforgivable. It doesn't make sense."
I hope they will also take time to think about similar "unforgivable incidents" happening daily in other parts of the world.
In Palestine, for example...
#####
One respected Muslim Nihonjin from Nihon Muslim Kyoukai will give a talk in Asakusa Mosque this Saturday, 14 June. For more information, please go here.
Invitation is open to all...
Al-fatihah...
#####
Ariffin came all the way from Kochi with his little one flown in a special container yesterday. Hubby and En Amin, the Consular from Malaysian Embassy picked Ariffin and his little one from Haneda Airport and managed the janazah in Islamic Center in Setagaya before going to the Islamic Graveyard in Enzan, Yamanashi.
It cost 70,000 yen to get a burial plot there, and another 30,000 to get the graveyard dug, so the three of them decided to dig the grave themselves, manually digging using the shovels provided there. The caretaker of the graveyard area is a monk, who later hosted a sushi lunch for the three of them after the burial was over. Hubby had his first experience of giving a talqin, as he had never sent any janazah to the graveyard in Japan before.
#####
Not able to find a babysitter, I had to give my zemi session a miss yesterday. I know my sensei would not be pleased with my absence, now that we, the final year students in our last semester, are in the critical period of writing our thesis. Not that I didn't try to get some help - but Faizly happened to have a replacement class yesterday too, so there...
Well, I guess funeral is a bigger thing than just missing zemi, and besides Mak always told me to make things easier for others, while praying and hoping that Allah will make things easier for us...
#####
The amok in Akihabara is the worst street stabbing case in recent years. This sick psycho guy is tired of his life and thus he decided to take 7 others, injuring 10 as well. He drove a rented truck all the way from Yamanashi area, which is about 3 hours away from Tokyo, bought the dagger he used to stab others in Fukui and even consistently posting timely messages on a mobile phone site, among others to record his stopping at a rest area in Kanazawa, announced his arrival in Akihabara and declared "It's time" 2o minutes before his killing spree.
Some experts claimed that the guy might had posted the messages not as a way to declare the attack to the general public, but more as in updating his own realtime blog. Realtime bloggers often update their sites several times an hour, posting entries regarding their activities and feelings.
#####
There were 67 multiple stabbing rampages in Japan between 1998 and 2007, and at least 5 cases this year alone.
The scary part is that usually the guy running amok just wanted to kill, not caring who the victims are (dare demo yokatta). Random stabber ranged from as young as 16 year old to 40 year old - all within the usually 'baligh' age, when they are able to tell right from wrong. But I guess when they do not believe in God - there is no real sense of right or wrong
#####
In a way it must had been something akin to a slap for the Japanese National Police Agency - now that the G8 Summit is near, they have been busy opening Counter Terrorism counters all over the country, usually suspecting gaijins to be possible threats, and one day - a Nihonjin killed 7 and injured 10 others in Tokyo.
Dush dush.
#####
Many Nihonjin interviewed in the TV said that, "...this is unforgivable. It doesn't make sense."
I hope they will also take time to think about similar "unforgivable incidents" happening daily in other parts of the world.
In Palestine, for example...
#####
One respected Muslim Nihonjin from Nihon Muslim Kyoukai will give a talk in Asakusa Mosque this Saturday, 14 June. For more information, please go here.
Invitation is open to all...
Saturday, June 07, 2008
The obligatory entry on Malaysian fuel price hike
(harga) minyak naik = (rakyat) naik minyak?
#####
"Now that fuel prices have gone up, some bus companies have followed suit and more than doubled their fares." (The Star, Saturday 7 June 2008)
That, despite bus operators still receiving subsidized diesel.
And it has been increased to 100% subsidies too, rather than previous allocation of 70% of fuel consumption...
#####
With the fuel price rise, people would expect a better and more reliable public transport system.
Got really surprised to learn that (the already not so efficient) KTM Komuter have reduced their frequency from every 15 minutes during peak hours to every 20 minutes all day long... Eh, they are not getting 100% subsidized fuel ke?...
#####
No more subsidized fuel for IPPs. It doesn't make sense that they get to pay so little yet make so much profit from electricity tariff. And electricity tariff hike is next in agenda...
#####
If the rakyat is expected to pay the 'real-world' price of fuel without subsidy,
I guess it's only fair for the rakyat to pay 'real-world' price for cars too.
The rakyat has already paid a hefty tax as a price for the 'subsidy' in advance.
So if the subsidy is lessened, then the high tax on cars must be lessened too.
#####
If the government wants more people to "change their lifestyle",
then they must also promote radical cyclist-and-pedestrian-friendly measures
Top of the list would involve introducing a much more efficient, reliable public transport system, reaching to a wider possible commuters.
And introducing safe pedestrian/cyclist pathway along the main roads, as well as
introducing stricter law that will ensure motorists to be more cautious of and courteous to pedestrians/cyclists (rather than honking at people using zebra crossing from a mile away, refusing to slow down even a bit...)
#####
And what about alternative fuel/engine?
Here's an interesting article - "Gaza Cars: From Cooking oil to Batteries"
#####
"Now that fuel prices have gone up, some bus companies have followed suit and more than doubled their fares." (The Star, Saturday 7 June 2008)
That, despite bus operators still receiving subsidized diesel.
And it has been increased to 100% subsidies too, rather than previous allocation of 70% of fuel consumption...
#####
With the fuel price rise, people would expect a better and more reliable public transport system.
Got really surprised to learn that (the already not so efficient) KTM Komuter have reduced their frequency from every 15 minutes during peak hours to every 20 minutes all day long... Eh, they are not getting 100% subsidized fuel ke?...
#####
No more subsidized fuel for IPPs. It doesn't make sense that they get to pay so little yet make so much profit from electricity tariff. And electricity tariff hike is next in agenda...
#####
If the rakyat is expected to pay the 'real-world' price of fuel without subsidy,
I guess it's only fair for the rakyat to pay 'real-world' price for cars too.
The rakyat has already paid a hefty tax as a price for the 'subsidy' in advance.
So if the subsidy is lessened, then the high tax on cars must be lessened too.
#####
If the government wants more people to "change their lifestyle",
then they must also promote radical cyclist-and-pedestrian-friendly measures
Top of the list would involve introducing a much more efficient, reliable public transport system, reaching to a wider possible commuters.
And introducing safe pedestrian/cyclist pathway along the main roads, as well as
introducing stricter law that will ensure motorists to be more cautious of and courteous to pedestrians/cyclists (rather than honking at people using zebra crossing from a mile away, refusing to slow down even a bit...)
#####
And what about alternative fuel/engine?
Here's an interesting article - "Gaza Cars: From Cooking oil to Batteries"
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Shorter notes on this and that
My friend Nisah has written a short story based on this entry of mine.
I was made to understand that it might appear in Dewan Sastera this month
It's a worth-to-be-pondered-upon cerpen, so you might want to go grab a copy of Dewan Sastera and find out for yourself how Nisah had interpreted my entry into a (published) short story
#####
message by a friend over YM
"kadang aku pikir
buat masters susah2 pun
bukan boleh naik gaji
buat PTK baru boleh naik gaji..."
oO (kalau macam tu, baik tak payah ambik cuti belajar buat masters)
oO (ambik je cuti belajar buat PTK)
#####
Not that I am an expert on religious stuff,
But I do agree with Faisal Tehrani regarding this issue raised by Dr Asri
Surely there must many more Muslim scholars that we can refer to than just Ibnu Taimiyyah, Albani or Ben Baz...
On a lighter note -
what's with Dr Asri and people named Faizal?
First, there was his public comment on Faizal Tahir
and now Faizal Musa (Faisal Tehrani's real name)
#####
It's tough being a tudung-clad Muslimah in a country where the police are suspicious of Muslims. The other day three Malaysian girls who came all the way from KL for a one week holiday in Tokyo went to Tokyo Dome, intending to watch Larc-en-Ciel in concert. But they had been interrogated by a police detective, who asked for their passports and asked all sort of rather disturbing questions.
"Will we be all right in Narita when we leave Tokyo?," one of them asked me anxiously over the phone after they cancelled their plan of watching the concert and went straight back to their hotel near Shinjuku.
"Yes dear. They will only be too happy to say bye-bye to any person with the slightest hint of being a terrorist suspect"
Yes, Tokyo - although maybe to a lesser degree compared to Hokkaido - is also becoming a virtual police state now that the G8 Summit is near. All (ridiculous) kind of security measures are taken as the government, the police and the mainstream media harp on and on about possible 'terrorist attacks'...
I wish Arudou Debito was there to help the girls...
I was made to understand that it might appear in Dewan Sastera this month
It's a worth-to-be-pondered-upon cerpen, so you might want to go grab a copy of Dewan Sastera and find out for yourself how Nisah had interpreted my entry into a (published) short story
#####
message by a friend over YM
"kadang aku pikir
buat masters susah2 pun
bukan boleh naik gaji
buat PTK baru boleh naik gaji..."
oO (kalau macam tu, baik tak payah ambik cuti belajar buat masters)
oO (ambik je cuti belajar buat PTK)
#####
Not that I am an expert on religious stuff,
But I do agree with Faisal Tehrani regarding this issue raised by Dr Asri
Surely there must many more Muslim scholars that we can refer to than just Ibnu Taimiyyah, Albani or Ben Baz...
On a lighter note -
what's with Dr Asri and people named Faizal?
First, there was his public comment on Faizal Tahir
and now Faizal Musa (Faisal Tehrani's real name)
#####
It's tough being a tudung-clad Muslimah in a country where the police are suspicious of Muslims. The other day three Malaysian girls who came all the way from KL for a one week holiday in Tokyo went to Tokyo Dome, intending to watch Larc-en-Ciel in concert. But they had been interrogated by a police detective, who asked for their passports and asked all sort of rather disturbing questions.
"Will we be all right in Narita when we leave Tokyo?," one of them asked me anxiously over the phone after they cancelled their plan of watching the concert and went straight back to their hotel near Shinjuku.
"Yes dear. They will only be too happy to say bye-bye to any person with the slightest hint of being a terrorist suspect"
Yes, Tokyo - although maybe to a lesser degree compared to Hokkaido - is also becoming a virtual police state now that the G8 Summit is near. All (ridiculous) kind of security measures are taken as the government, the police and the mainstream media harp on and on about possible 'terrorist attacks'...
I wish Arudou Debito was there to help the girls...
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