SOUL SCRIBBLES

I love mosques; so much so that I include visiting mosques in my travel itineraries, where possible. It all started two years ago in Bali when a friend and I, spending the New Year on the island, decided to venture some 200 km to Singaraja to look for what is said to be the oldest mosque there. It was on the eve of the New Year that we set out on our journey there. We had googled the night before, looking for places to go to, when we asked ourselves, “Where is the oldest mosque in Bali?” We had read about Masjid Agung Jami’ in Singaraja and the oldest handwritten Quran kept at the mosque. The Quran was dated 1830s and handwritten by I Gusti Ngurah Ketut Jelantik Celagi, a Hindu royalty who converted to Islam following a civil war then. It is still legible despite the years. The handwriting is flawless. We were told by the imam of Masjid Agung Jami' that the Hindu prince had studied Islam under the tutelage of one Haji Muhammad Yusuf Saleh. One of the conditions he imposed o...

Melayu itu orang yang bijaksana Nakalnya bersulam jenaka Budi bahasanya tidak terkira Kurang ajarnya tetap santun Jika menipu pun masih bersopan Bila mengampu bijak beralas tangan. Melayu itu berani jika bersalah Kecut takut kerana benar, Janji simpan di perut Selalu pecah di mulut, Biar mati adat Jangan mati anak. Melayu di tanah Semenanjung luas maknanya: Jawa itu Melayu, Bugis itu Melayu Banjar juga disebut Melayu, Minangkabau memang Melayu, Keturunan Acheh adalah Melayu, Jakun dan Sakai asli Melayu, Arab dan Pakistani, semua Melayu Mamak dan Malbari serap ke Melayu Malah mua’alaf bertakrif Melayu (Setelah disunat anunya itu) Dalam sejarahnya Melayu itu pengembara lautan Melorongkan jalur sejarah zaman Begitu luas daerah sempadan Sayangnya kini segala kehilangan Melayu itu kaya falsafahnya Kias kata bidal pusaka Akar budi bersulamkan daya Gedung akal laut bicara Malangnya Melayu itu kuat bersorak Terlalu gh...

If you are a reader of the New Straits Times, you may have seen the changes that we have made to the special interest sections that we called the Life & Times effective last Sunday.  If you’re not (a reader), why don’t you give us a try; well … the SIS, if not the main paper. From August 2 onwards, the Life & Times takes on a new life.  While each pull out section continues to maintain its respective themes, it now has its own titles.  Correct me if I am wrong but I think this is the first time that we've made such drastic changes to the Life & Times.  Before this, we only had separate titles for the Sunday edition.  Once upon a time, we named it Nuance and then changed it to People. I don't quite  remember when we revert to using Life & Times on a Sunday.  So, the Sunday's Life & Times is now Plush, BOTs (Monday), Heal (Tuesday), Flair (Wednesday), JOM! (Thursday), Groove (Friday) and Pulse (Saturday).  We...

When you come to our house on any day during Syawal, you’ll find that my mother would have prepared some kind of dishes, Johor favourites or otherwise, elaborate fare or simple ones, for you and your family or your extended families or friends who tagged along for the visit. If you call ahead a day or two before the visit, you’ll give her enough time to buy the ingredients and cook a storm in the kitchen.  If not, she’ll boil spaghetti and toss it in Prego’s Carbonara sauce, which she has in stock at home. Yes, she’ll go out of her way to make sure that you are fed when you come to the house; never mind the fact that you told her not to susahkan diri nak masak bagai  when you called to inform her of your impending visit. She reminds me of her aunty, who she stayed with her teenage years, whom I addressed as Tok Itam. If we dropped by her house unannounced at Jalan Parit Besar in Batu Pahat, the first thing she would say after the customary greetings, hugs and kisses wil...

Kian Berlabuh Tirai Ramadhan …          Lambaian Syawal Kini Di Nanti … Saya ingin mengambil kesempatan ini untuk memohon keampunan di atas segala perbuatan dan percakapan saya samada di dalam keadaan sedar atau tidak. Jua, di halalkan segala makan dan minum. Sesungguhnya, yang baik itu datangnya dari Allah SWT dan segala keburukan, kesalahan dan kesilapan itu datangnya dari diri saya sendiri.  Semoga kita dapat perkukuhkan ikatan silaratul rahim yang sedia ada, insya’Allah. Tulus Ikhlas Fauziah Ismail

“She can now stick a fridge magnet on her right arm.” “Bionic woman … ” “Oooh, boleh sepak muka orang sampai ke dinding ni …” "She  “She still has her humour intact ...” after telling them that the doctor had to graft the humerus bone. Humerus … humour … get it? No? Never mind. Yes, my office mates poked fun at me. I was away from the office for almost a month. I had popped in prior to the surgery (on the pretext of sending in the medical chit although the aim was to get out of the house) and a few times after (same reason and on the way from the hospital into the city). When the surgeon finally agreed to discharge me, he gave a month supply of painkillers and medicated plasters. I took home the two ice packs. His nurse asked that I see him in two weeks to get the staples off. It was painless when the nurse took the staples out. The wound was healing nicely. But I asked that she bandaged it loosely (I was going into the office and later do a spot of shopping) inste...

There was phlegm in my throat. Lots of it. I couldn’t breathe.  I could hear the gurgling sound as the nurse used the suction to suck it out. Once it was cleared, I breathed in as deep as I could. When I woke up, I was at the recovery room outside the operating theatre. I had an oxygen mask on. “ Kenapa ni ?” I asked the male nurse seated at the table next to me. “ Kakak kurang oxygen,” he said. I asked him for the time. Half an hour later, I was back in the room. It was 2.30pm. I was hooked up to the oxygen next to the bed. I asked the nurse how long I would have to be on it. “ Sampai pukul lima atau enam. Kalau okay, tak payah guna lah.” I had the oxygen mask on until about four. My mother and brother’s family came at about 4.30pm. My niece will be spending the duration with me at the hospital. The surgeon came right after to check on me. The surgery went well. He showed me the x-ray which showed where he placed the six inch plate and screws. He asked if I was in pa...

I postponed the surgery to the following week. “I have to make some arrangements at work,” I told the surgeon. I lied. I could just go through with it immediately but I wasn’t mentally prepared for the surgery. His nurse penned down the date for surgery. She booked the room and cleared with the insurance company on the necessary payment. I was to be warded the day before for pre-surgical procedures. After the appointment, I went to the office and then back to my own house. My staff thought I had done the surgery the way I was carrying myself. I told them the painkiller was my best friend. Seriously, I have no problem being put under for the surgery. My problem is the pre-surgery procedure, especially having to draw blood for tests. You see, I had a painful and traumatic experience when I was hospitalized for suspected dengue in 1974.  I was poked three times in each arm by an inexperienced nurse. She couldn’t locate the vein on my arm to draw blood. A doctor had to draw bl...

I fell at KLCC. Wait, I know what you’re going to ask. “Macam mana boleh jatuh?” I was asked that every time I relate this story. I don’t know really. The floor may have been wet (it happened in front of Garrett’s, the popular popcorn outlet) or I may have tripped after stepping on my long skirt. Or I may have simply misstepped. I felt a sharp pain on my right shoulder. I knew immediately that something was not right. What I didn’t know then was that I had fractured the head of the humerus bone. The KLCC guest relations officer, who happened to pass by, asked if they can take me to the clinic. I told her I needed a hospital instead. When she told me that the medical centre had closed (it was after 6 pm when it happened), I decided to go to Pantai Hospital. I took the Isetan escalator to the groundfloor and headed towards the taxi stand. It was peak hour. There was no taxi in the queue, except for one waiting for her ride to finish work. The lady driver saw that I was in ...

I was in cab on the way home from terawih on the eve of Ramadan when I saw fireworks lighting up the sky near the apartments where I live. They do start early this year, I told my usual cab driver. “ Tak lama lagi nanti kita baca berita ada yang accident main mercun ni ,” Hasanudin said. He was not far from wrong. Today, a day short of a week into the fasting month, I read that a four-year-old kid lost his fingers when the “A-Boom” fireworks he was playing with exploded in his left hand. No one really knew what happened. Only the boy can tell. He may have thrown the lighted fireworks too late or he may have tampered with the fireworks and it blew up on him. The irony is we only read about these mishaps during the fasting month and well into Syawal too. Yes, only during these times; hardly ever during Chinese New Year although fireworks are big during their celebrations. I played with fireworks when I was growing up and I have had a few mishaps myself. The first incident was...

I never had a “pret a porter” Baju Kurung Telok Belanga or Baju Kurung Chekak Musang. Most, if not all, my Baju Kurung, even those for school, were tailor made. The in-seams are hand-sewn. Only the hems are machined together. The sarong? I was taught by my mother to tie my own sarong, even the sarong I wore to school. I can sew my own Baju Kurung but I would let my mother finished up the neckline. I hadn’t mastered the tulang belut technique. I tried learning from my grandmother and my mother but they gave up on me. They find it difficult to teach a left hander how to do the tulang belut. As time evolves, so have the Baju Kurung Telok Belanga and Baju Kurung Chekak Musang. Today, both baju styles come in a variety of interesting - and colourful - designs, including batik, and other materials. The baju on the rack in departmental stores and boutiques are mostly without the pesak (gusset or insert, as in the seam of a garment, for added strength) and kekek (godet, a triangular pie...

Esok, kita akan mula berpuasa. Saya ingin mengambil kesempatan ini untuk memohon keampunan di atas segala perbuatan dan percakapan saya samada di dalam keadaan sedar atau tidak. Jua, di halalkan segala makan dan minum. Sesungguhnya, yang baik itu datangnya dari Allah SWT dan segala keburukan, kesalahan dan kesilapan itu datangnya dari diri saya sendiri.  Semoga Allah SWT menerima amalan dan ibadah kita sepanjang bulan Ramadhan ini. Mohon kita semua perkukuhkan ikatan silaratul rahim yang sedia ada, insya’Allah.

It was a missed opportunity. I should have taken out my phone, put the camera setting on and take her photograph. Oh, I would probably ask her permission first before I snap her photograph or maybe not because I would want a candid shot. She was a rare specie in this day of modern technology. She was reading a book while waiting for her order to arrive. Yes, you read it right the first time. She was reading a book when I saw her. This was at Ben’s KLCC two weekends ago. Everyone around us was looking at the mobile phone screens. You know some were scrolling because they were using the index finger in an upward or downward motion on the mobile phone screen. I saw others furiously typing notes, SMSes or messages on Whatsapp, Telegram or whatever message applications they have on their mobile phones. I didn’t see anyone actually talking on the mobile phone. I am guilty of doing the same thing – checking my messages, checking Facebook or reading the links send to by my frien...

I have fond memories of covering MAS when I was a reporter with Business Times. I go for each and every MAS assignment – big or small, with or without a business angle to the story – and is seen at the MAS Building at Jalan Sultan Ismail almost every other day that the then MD Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman asked, “Don’t you have your own office?” He was the most accessible MD. Phone calls to his office never go unanswered. His secretary vetted all calls but I have never had my phone calls to him barred. Also, she’ll call back if he was busy to take the call or if he was in a meeting. I had many exclusives on MAS – some came from the airline itself, others were sources from within the airline and the aviation industry. I can remember two. The first was about Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli seeking RM8 per share, or RM1.67 billion, for Naluri Bhd's 29.9 per cent stake in the airline. When I received word of it, I sent in some questions to my well-placed contact in the Finance Mini...

I don’t remember the last time I went out on a CSR programme with the company’s Volunteers’ Brigade. I know for sure I haven’t gone out to any since June last year when I fractured the humerus bone of my right arm (where I had to eventually go for a surgery in July to insert a six-inch plate with six screws replace the grafted bone). There were several CSR programmes that I could have gone for sometime late last year and early this year but the brigade chief di dn’t think I was ready for it. “ Eh, dah boleh angkat barang2 berat dah ?” he said when he saw me carrying a box to my office recently. He asked if I could participate in the coming CSR programme. I said yes immediately. Some 40 of us went to Kampung Gintong in Jerantut last Saturday for the gotong royong Suara Komuniti BH. Kampung Gintong was one of the villages affected by the floods late last year. I remembered reading an article about livestock being swept away during the floods there. It was a two hours’ drive fr...