WHEN HE'S GOOD HE'S VERY, VERY GOOD; WHEN HE'S BAD HE'S ..............

Just came back from Ipoh last night. I was one of the priviledged grassroots to be invited to this very hyped meeting with our VIP officials. It was in every sense a no holds barred session .Very refreshing , yet not without its share of tense , 'sparks-fly' moments. Nothing serious though, just politics democrasy at its best. Everyone was given an oppurtunity to air his or her views.Some seized the honour of taking the floor and dancing to the music of the ever enthusiastic crowd; others shouted themselves hoarse to egg on the speakers with encores and catcalls, while a majority sat back taking in the morning's event with mixed feelings of awe and admiration.

To me it potrayed a total spectrum of emotions : pent- up anger, disillusionments, love and esprit de core, compassion and even unexpected outburst of sentiments best left untouched. I watched transfixed as each 'delegate' spoke with earnest and a degree of seriousness rarely seen before. Each proposal was carefully presented with every solution laced with pressure, emitting a sense of urgency as if the worries of Malaysia were the burden of this selected group of speakers who were now assembled in the moderately lighted room. But the surprise that awaited me was something out of the blue!

Normally dignified middle-aged leaders ,well groomed and exuding an aura of authority and sophistication were suddenly transformed into angry orators, quoting words so unpleasant that drew gasps of disapproval..... or was it approval from fellow 'grassroots'.I was totally taken aback. One well-dressed professional who was always respectful, mild-mannered and soft spoken suddenly reared his ugly head. He stood straight and defiant infront of the much conveted mike and bared his emotions throwing challenges and provoking the highly charged gallery.I have never seen this side of him before! Reminds me of a Communication 101 class I attended at Marshall U which, among others, dictated that every person had four 'characters' visible exclusively only at certain times and to certain people. Apparently what I was withnessing at that point in time was a side of him that emerged only very, very rarely. And what a sight !!!. This character was like a man possessed.... so adamant, so hostile and so not acceptable!!!.

Perak dialect, vocab and intonation, came to the fore. Words previously regarded as taboo flowed like a burst pipe on a stormy day. It was certainly a day of revelation. Angry young men displaying raw emotions and throwing caution to the winds, well adorned ladies poignantly taking in the scenario and at times tempting to pull some of these boisterous speakers by the ears ,and aged gentlemen trying to come to terms with this new breed of politicians, and lamententing the demise of well rehearsed opinions and polished manners. It was totally unbelievable! All pent up emotions broke loose, some well received,  others unrelevant and uncalled for. 


But at the end of the day, reasons prevailed. Admittedly, issues had to be tackled, personalities had to be cautioned, and actions had to be perceived to have been taken.

The officals who were treated to a show of diversed opinions and display of hitherto unexposed antics had an earful and an armful. The crowd dispersed with hope and expectation that this episode would pave the way to a storming of brains and the setting of new directions for the party; and that in the final analysis the party is supreme, that this sacred 'wadah perjuangan' should be preserved at all cost and that the light at the end of the tunnel is nigh!!!

CELAKA AYAM

Matahari masih terbit di ufuk timur. Helang di pucuk angsana masih berwarna hitam.Cempaka putih masih harum semerbak. Namun suasana tanah air kita diliputi mega mendung yang muncul dengan tiba-tiba tanpa dijangka , jauh sekali diundang.

Nenek moyang pejuang bangsa menggadai nyawa di medan pembebasan ibu pertiwi, tanpa memikirkan kepentingan diri . Kini, di simpang mana perjalanan kita di lebuhraya perjuangan politik ini? Lupakah kita pada perjuangan bangsa ? Mana letaknya rasa kasih dan sayang kita pada wadah perjuangan?

Generasi yang kita warisi tidak berlepas begitu saja tanpa memupuk dan membimbing kita ke arah pemeliharaan maruah dan ketuanan bangsa. Dari bumi Dato' Sagor dan Dato' Maharajalela berbagai pesanan dan pembahasaan diturunkan. Cicit Dato' Sagor , Allahyarham Dato' Mohd. Abas meninggalkan kata -kata hikmah yang diwarisi daripada moyangnya. . . .

Jangan diikut CELAKA AYAM .........

Ada makanan dikais-kais

Hendak berlaki patuk anak

Helang terbang khabarkan diri

Rumah tuan diberak berak

Dibawa bersampan menyeberang sungai

Bertelor sebiji rioh sekampung.........



Oleh itu hubaya hubayalah............agar nasi tidak menjadi bubur!!!

FIRST BORN.........BIG AMBITIONS AND A BIG HEART

My favourite son, aka my only son, was a big baby when he was born one morning on the ninth day of April 1968. He was a big baby ,weighing 8lbs 2 ozs ( sounds very much like dough huh?) - can't help it , that was how we recorded our offspring's weight back then!

He is still my big boy .........with competitive yet easy-going nature ,and persuasive charm . And very caring - almost to a fault! HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY KIDDO and may Allah always be with you.

HAJI ZABRI........SADLY MISSED

Haji Zabri was a fine man, a good friend and a very hospitable host. He passed away peacefully in the wee hours of 1st April 2008. We had been working together for a whole term when I was a member of the state government EXCO. I know I might not have been the best of bosses; but nevertheless we had a fantastic working relationship. He always took the brunts whenever problems cropped up with the constituents!

He was selfless, very frank and was well accepted by friends and political foes alike. I haven't been able to "sembang sembang" with him as much as I had wanted to ever since I left office, but we did remember to meet up once in a while.

Haji Zabri left two daughters to mourn his loss........ and a host of friends. SEMOGA ALLAH MENCUCURI RAHMAT KE ATAS ROHNYA. AL-FATIHAH.

Ah women......when DO we get to be counted?

50 years of independence. 12 times of general elections. Half the country populated by women. And yet the status of women still leaves much to be desired. Examples abound as to how unjust we Malaysians are to women. Yes and I repeat Malaysians .........including women as well!

A case in point. Ever notice how kampong protocol treats the husbands of VIPs? At any public functions at constituency level, the wife of a wakil rakyat/VIP will be accorded a seating place beside her VIP or YB husband. As for husbands of VIPs or YBs, well,please find your own seat!

I would like to share here a very disillusioning incident that happened to me in 1995. I was then a newly elected Member of Parliament eagerly performing my duties and serving my constituents. I was invited to officiate a Family Day function. Family... ok? So I invited my husband to come along. I was full of excitement, this function being one of the first few functions that I would be officiating. As soon as my car reached the venue, I was prepared to be on my best everything, posture, modes of address, speech .....and the like. I opened the door and stepped out gracefully, adjust my sarong, straighten my baju kurung and put on my charming smile, ready for the task ahead, My husband meanwhile understandingly took his time and came out a good two minutes later. But surprise! surprise! ; the head of the reception committe with another person carring a tray whisked past me and headed straight to my husband. "Welcome YB' he greeted while picking a rosette from the tray and proceeded to pin it onto my bewildered husband's shirt. My embarrassed other half whispered something to him and pointed towards me. Our red-faced Mr.Male Chavenist mumbled something and make a Uturn towards me apologising profusely. Turned out he thought that the MP had to be a man! What maddenning logic!!!

Another time, another place. I was officiating a co-operative society AGM. I noticed that all the board members were men, so I thought I would chide them and suggest that they elect at least one or two women to the board ( me being a member of government administeration and all). The women applauded while the men in the audience smiled. Came refreshment time the topic of women board members cropped up again. I reiterated my stand. Then the Chairman of the board offered his opinion . " But..." he said " All the women are grandmas !" This from a man who was himself over the hill , so to speak. He must be sixty something and so were the rest of his committee. Hello! aren't all of you grandpas? The gall of these men!
How come it is all right for them to be committee members at a grandpa's age where as the same is not applicable to women?
And women, come to the fore and say your mind...PLEASE!

MY MIDDLE CHILD..........ALWAYS SOOO.....MANJA!

I remember that eventful afternoon of April 6 many years ago.Allah Almighty entrusted to me a beautiful baby girl with a fair "mango-sliced" complexion and dark wavy hair. You were, and still are, so beautiful, sensitive, warm and very manja. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANJA , AND MAY ALLAH ALWAYS BE WITH YOU.!

Sorry, for the gap guys ( had to leave for kampong)

Now fo find Eric's venue. why must they have two padangs? The smaller kids ' padang was about 3 minutes sprint away We managed to squeeze our way among the audience of mostly parents and wandering children , just when Eric's group was about to proceed to the starting point. Eric was in Class 1A, therefore their class would be the first to participate. Phew ! That was close!

My next assignment was to videotape "Eric in action" in his maiden sports participation. Fine, except I had no idea how to operate his Diddid's videocam! You see, Tok was supposed to capture him in action after undergoing a thorough course in videocam handling from Eric's mom.And conveniently, Tok had to feel dizzy at this all important time and left Opah to handle this very complicated task. Ah well, what to do , just try and leave everything to luck.

Me in action

I positioned myself like a pro (gaya mesti ada) and just press the red button, of course after flapping out what looked like it could be flapped. Good, the screen showed moving objects! Not so difficult huh? Except the images looked giant sizes! Then it occured to me that the cam was in zoom mode. The screen had only one image......Eric's head. There was no time for trial and error adjustment. The race was about to start. Eric was getting ready to run, and Opah was at a loss. Eric leaped from the starting line, Opah trained the camera ,like a pro of course, and pressed the red button. Done! Got the image....... a full screen of the back of Eric's head! 

CONGRATS. Eric.You did very well and you looked so cute when you beamed with pride on getting the medallion. As for Opah......truly glad I was there with you.

My darling Eric and his medallion( picture courtesy of Fairuz)