Friday 29 December 2006

Sepohon Kayu

"Diriwayatkan, ada seorang Abid dari Bani Israel yang sentiasa sibuk dengan beribadat. Sekali peristiwa datanglah serombongan manusia seraya berkata kepadanya, " Disini ada suatu kaum yang menyembah sebatang pohon kayu". Setelah mendengar berita ini, siAbid itu marah semarahnya. Lalu ia mengambil sebilah kapak dan berangkat untuk menebang pohon yang dipertuhan dan dipersembahkan itu. Didalam perjalanannya muncullah Syaitan berupa seorang manusia tua, lalu bertanya kepada siAbid itu:

"Engkau hendak kemana?" "Aku hendak pergi menebang pohon yang dipertuhan dan dipersembahkan orang" kata siAbid itu. "Kenapa engkau bertindak keatas pohon itu? Kamu tinggalkan ibadat keatas satu perbuatan yang sia-sia, hendaklah kamu teruskan ibadat mu itu" kata Syaitan. "Ini juga merupakan satu ibadat" dijawab siAbid, lantas Syaitan berkata, "Tidak sekali kali aku membenarkan kamu menebang pohon itu".

Akhirnya terjadilah perkelahian diantara siAbid dan Syaitan itu sehinggalah siAbid berjaya mengalahkan Syaitan. Syaitan mengetahui akan kelemahannya dan memujuk siAbid.

"Dengarlah kata kata ku." SiAbid pun melepaskan Syaitan itu dan Syaitan pun berkata " Perkara menebang pohon itu bukanlah Allah mewajibkan kepadamu. Pohon itu bukanlah menggangu ibadat mu dan bukanlah kamu menyembahnya. Tuhan telah mengutuskan para AmbiaNya, dan jika dikehendakiNya pasti Ia memerintah Nabi NabiNya menebang pokok itu."

"Semestinya aku akan menebang pohon itu dan perbuatlah apa yang engkau suka"

Maka terjadilah perkelahian sehinggalah siAbid sekali lagi dapat mengalahkan Syaitan dan sekali lagi Syaitan memujuk siAbid dengan katanya:

"Dengarlah, kini kata ku yang terakhir yang tetap akan menguntungkan kamu" Maka siAbid pun melepaskan Syaitan dan Syaitan berkata:

"Kan kau seorang yang miskin dan menjadi beban keatas masyarakat. Kau biarkan sahaja kerja ini, nescaya aku akan berikan kepada kamu tiga dinar wang emas setiap hari. Kau akan memperolehi wang tersebut tiap tiap pagi dibawah bantal mu. Dengan ini segala keperluan mu akan terberes dengan mudah, dapat menunaikan keperluan keluarga dan dapat pula menolong orang orang fakir dan miskin. Dan dapat menggunakannya untuk mengerjakan amalan yang baik lagi menguntungkan. Jika sekiranya kau menebangkan pokok tadi, maka kau hanya memperolehi satu pahala sahaja. Kemudian penyembah penyembah pokok itu tentu akan mengusahakan yang lain pula".

Perbicaraan Syaitan itu akhir berjaya memikat hati dan fikiran siAbid lantas beliau menerima tawaran Syaitan itu. Maka menurut perjanjian dengan Syaitan itu, siAbid pun menerima duit tiga dinar wang emas selama tiga pagi berturut sehinggalah pada pagi yang keempat, duit itu tiada dibawah bantal siAbid. Meradang benar siAbid dan diambilnya sebilah kapak untuk menebang pohon itu kembali.

Didalam perjalan berjumpa lagi siAbid dengan siorang tua penyamaran siSyaitan itu dan bertanya ia kepada siAbid.

"Kau hendak kemana?"
"Aku hendak menebang pohon itu".
"Kini kau tidak berdaya menebang pokok itu" ujar siSyaitan, maka bergelutlah mereka dan si Syaitan berjaya mengalahkan si Abid. Tercenganglah si Abid lalu bertanya:

"Bagaimana mungkin kamu mengalahkan aku kerana dulu aku telah mengalahkan kamu sebanyak dua kali?'

Syaitan menjawab "Dulu kamu mengalahkan aku kerana kamu berjuang kerana Allah, dan kini kamu berjuang kerana wang dan kerana itu aku berjaya mengalahkan kamu"

Waallahhua'lam.



Tuesday 26 December 2006

Global Consumerism

Standing like a beacon in the night is the symbol of mighty global branding. Started from a very humble begining and grows into every corners of the world carrying the same product standards, is something that we should, to the very least, wonder of how they did it.

From US of A to Egypt, from Ang Mo Kio to Chow Kit, and from Surabaya to Kerteh, the Big Mac will taste as the Big Mac no matter where it was served.

Which puzzles me, why the Kerepok Lekor Losong taste so different from gerai to another gerai which is seperated not even 20 metres away, and that still in Losong, not a continent away?

Sunday 24 December 2006

New Lense

A friend of mine, loaned me a Nikkor 70-300 G lense, hoping that l can, somehow, somewhat can learn a few new things in this super-zoom view.

Tried but still can't get the feeling yet as the image shown above still not as what my friend was hoping when he passed me the lense.

Still long way to go, my friend...

Saturday 23 December 2006

Enjoying Kerteh

A friend of mine was with us yesterday, mainly came to taste the Terengganu's Tengkujuh. The Tengkujuh was very much in it's elements when we went to the Kerteh's Majuikan Jetty for a TT session.

So much that, the simple thing of lighting up a "rokok segeret" was become an art to master in this weather...

Thursday 21 December 2006

Tengkujuh Lagi

Indeed this is the best time in Terengganu. Monsoon bringing in strong cool wind, heavy rains, big waves, high tides and subsequently floods. Along with floods come in "Main Air Bah" or "Water Festival" more or less.

In the days of old, "Main Air Bah" was the most awaiting event in a year, or, it was a genius method of bringing out the happiness from the misery of monsoon.

In the days of old, rain fell down days and nights. In the days of old, in this season, we survived by heaps of ikan kering and ikan bilis. We rationed our food and our parents rationed their money as from November to early January, more or less are the No Income months. Neither can go out for menoreh no can venture out to sea.

Well, not much change till today. Unlike the ultra modern super fishermen in the North Sea, we still shut our fishing industry down during this monsoon season. Not much we can do anyway except bring in our boats to the safe harbour and counting days when the wind be somewhat lesser, thus the waves be somewhat smaller.

Today, the whole fleet of Kerteh Fishing Armada is mooring in Kuala Kerteh. Not a soul ventured out as at Muka Kuala, waves are trashing the "beting" and the risks may not worth the gains...



For some, life really is an adventure...

Wednesday 20 December 2006

Old Buildings

Recently, NST carried a front page comment from Prof Kho Kay Khim over the state of old buildings in Malaysia. From my point of view, it's was a sad case.

Take this Taiping former Court House for example. What this gonna be if no measures are taken to protect this to become rubbles in next few years?

l don't know.... l just feel so sad and so worry...

Tuesday 19 December 2006

Penang, Pinang?

Sempena dengan program DIT anjuran MPN di Pulau Pinang, inilah ulang tayang imej buah pinang, simbolik bagi Pulau Pinang.

Gambar ini amat bermakna bagi penulis, yang merupakan antara imej awal semenjak penulis menggunakan Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

Ceria Tapi Hampa

Tertarik dengan warna warna kerusi disalah sebuah auditorium yang penulis hadiri. Not much of story, but l just like the multitude of colors here.

Nampak ceria, tapi kosong dan hampa...

Man At Work

Captured an image of the gas turbines personnel installing the weights on the blades during the gas turbines balancing exercise. This is inside the gas turbines, the prime mover of similar operating principles with the commercial aircraft jet engines only somewhat bigger. This is a highly specilized job, of which the error tolerance is zero.

But no matter how specialized it is, the concept is very much simple. It more or less like a wheel balancing, where weights will counterbalance the force and to make it equalibrium.

Roti In A Different Way

The plain roti buns but presenting in an attracting way to attract the diners, caught during our company's corporate diner last few evening.

Simple but beautiful... ( IMHO lah... )

Friday 15 December 2006

Of Movie and Book

A few evenings ago, RTM2 has decided to show "Message In The Bottle", a screenplay derived from the paperback of the same title by Nicholas Sparks and actored by Kevin Costner. It was a romantic movie and always be our all time favorite together with "Sleepless in Seattle", "U've Got Mail", "Hang Tuah" and "Ibu Mertuaku"...

I always feel "cheated" whenever l go trough the movie that originated from the book of which l read before. It's some kind of "diluted" from what the writer put it in the first place. In the book, we read it with imagination. In the movie, we saw it as what it was put on the screen...

A glimpse from the book...

"A cold December wind was blowing, and Theresa Osborne crossed her arms as she stared out over the water. Earlier, when she'd arrived, there had been a few people walking along the shore, but they'd taken note of the clouds and were long since gone. Now she found herself alone on the beach, and she took in her surroundings. The ocean, reflecting the color of the sky, looked like a liquid iron, and waves rolled up steadily on the shore"
Message In The Bottle, Nicholas Sparks, Warner Vision

And here is my vision...
Far cry...

Green Hornet's Cousin

Green Hornet's cousin, the Blek Cifor, came in visiting from Pandan Indah yesterday. As most KL folks, they end up at the beach and the Green Hornet was there playing host.

The trait, the shape and the behavior mostly the same, obviously, as they are cousin anyway. Albeit the Bleck Cifor look a little bit, just a little bit, more plump...

A case of one extra baguette may be...

Masjid Haji Said

Salah satu masjid lama di Terengganu yang masih berada dalam keadaan hampir asal. Dimata ramai, kenapa tidak digantikan baru, dibenak penulis, berapa lama kah lagi boleh bertahan sebegini.

114 tahun usia bukan sedikit. Masih banyak yang dalam element asalnya. Wuduknya masih dari sumur, walaupun timba upihnya akur kepada permodenan...

Ada ikan kaloi kah di dalam perigi ini? Wallahua'lam...

Thursday 14 December 2006

Alam Terbentang

The wide open space seems welcoming, blue sky so inviting , soothing wind blowing, gentle waves so calming.... Ahh, nature is a great healer, for the weary soul, for the tired limb... While we ride the route of life, take a pause, inhale a deep breath and appreciate life around us.

Appreciate life, it is just to good to let it go unnotice...

Losing Key

It's become so frustrated when someone lost his key to his house. Home, they said, is a sweet home but alas, what is sweet if he is loitering in his porch thinking when can he be back to his favorite sofa, sitting there, with his pelikat and baju pagoda while drinking kopi tongkat ali ginseng watching late nite news...

Ahh, life may be just need a little thrill...

Saturday 9 December 2006

Of Monsoon, Beach and Hope

December is always be a best time for me to appreciate Terengganu, especially it's beach. l can sit hours by the beach, enjoying watching the waves hitting the rock. Absorbing the salty strong sea breeze. And occasionally walking on the beach, in the horizontal rain, as it is push by strong South China Sea wind.

This is monsoon season. In a perfect monsoon, we will have floods here and there. We will enjoy torrential rain that will fall for hours or throughout the night. Temperature will drop to pleasant 23 - 24 deg Cel and every body seeems wearing jacket.

This the time when we will start eating ubi kayu and kopi o for breakfast. This is the time when warung kopi in kampung will enjoy brisk sale as people can't go out for menoreh. This is the time to be enjoyed...

Beach can also be a perfect classroom to learn a few values in life. Say, something like patience and hope. It's a hope that persuade an angler leave his / her home heading to the beach. Its a patience that glued him / her to the beach.

Which reminds me of a salesman friend of mine, who graduated from the school of knocking people's door, to be of what he is now. Maybe he is now enjoying his fruit of labor, plucked from the tree that he once nurtured with patience and hopes...

At the end of patiences and hopes... rewards are always waiting...

Friday 8 December 2006

Masjid Mercang

Masjid Mercang, Terengganu. About halfway from Kerteh to K Terengganu, this Masjid is one of our fav stop for Solat Jama' whenever we are travelling to K Terengganu or back to Kerteh.

Located on a strech of diversion from main road, this Masjid normally peaceful enough as this image may show.

It's an old Masjid anyway, serve the Kg Mercang community since as long as l can remember.

Thursday 7 December 2006

Roti Teloq Tabuq

Was with Aminol at Ipoh the other day when he ordered "Roti Teloq Tabuq" at his fav Kopi Tiam, little did l imagined that the "Roti Teloq Tabuq" will be served as above. Obviously also l was not expecting that the roti will be served as roti, silently l thought that "Roti Teloq Tabuq" will be roti canai type of stuff...

Tried it and washed down with the kopi susu ( albeit the glass was not the thick, flowery, olden days type ceramic cup ) and it was heavenly...

Do yourself a favor, try it when you are in Ipoh...

Beautifully Old

l am neither an architect nor a building contractor but l when l visited this KL Performing Art Center in Sentul recently, l knew that this time the restoration work was done correctly.

l attended the Group's annual conference in the old KTM Yard which was giving a new leaf of life. The hall (above) was renovated from the circa 1940s building. The bricks columm is original and the utilisation of the old asbestos roofing sheets as a sound absorber perfectly compliment the whole scenery. It just like walking into the old time cocoon...

But l wonder, among hundreds of us there, how many are appreciating this passion?

Wednesday 6 December 2006

Ipoh Railway Station

This is the Moorish design at it's best. Ipoh Railway Station, Kuala Lumpur Railway Station and Sultan Abdul Samad Building may belong to the same league. A design that display the granduer of British Empire in the Far East. A design that stand through times..

l was here at the Ipoh Railway Station recently, an uneasy feeling creeped into my heart as l witnessed the dilapilated condition of this once a hallmark of Ipoh. Taking as overall opinion towards the historical buildings here in Malaysia, most are just left to be rooted away. If in rare case these buildings are preserve, lot of the artistic values of it are gone, only to be replaced with soul-less, modern type facilities...

Tuesday 5 December 2006

Playing Host











Had out-of-town guests late last week - 2 darlings & their parents. Daddy came on a "work permit" while the children and Mom were on vacation. Only managed to spend the latter half of a day with them. Took them to see the latest novelty in the City. Later, although Mom was worn out, one cheeky darling still had the zest to want to go shopping at Jusco!

We'll make it next time dear ;)

Please My Palate



A plate of good char koey teow never fails to excite my palate. To get a good char koey teow, one have to travel to the northen part of the peninsular. Ipoh at least, Taiping may be, Penang surely. Or if you can't, Kuala Lumpur probably.

Was in Ipoh, got an invitation from Aminol for an evening rendevous at a Muslim run, Chinese style kopi tiam. The kopi susu was "out of this world" and the char koey teow was simply amazing.

Oh, that kopi tiam is in the shoplot near the Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan... In case you are there, give yourself a favor. Don't forget, order the kopi susu...

Ikan Koi

l was visiting friend the other day, and took the opportunity to shoot a few pics of these fascinating creature called Ikan Koi. Beautiful creature indeed. Alas, my photography skill is still nothing to shout about.

Beside physical things of food, good water and what have you, these Koi need more than that to glow, they need love...

And this lousy photographer just need more skill...

Monday 4 December 2006

The Taiping Roti Man

l was at Taiping recently. Taiping is a place where my heart is. Everything in Taiping fascinates me.

Took my lense for an evening walkabout and found this Aya, a Roti Man, who was just taken his supply from the bakery, somewhere in jalan of which l forgot. Probably he is doing this for years. Probably when he started this out, a loaf of Roti Benggali may cost his customer only 20 sen...

Welcome Home!




Welcome Home and make yourself comfortable... Especially if your previous house locked you out though you have the correct key...

Welcome Home and make yourself comfortable... This new house will try to accomodate you, even if you just stay here temporarily...

Welcome Home and make yourself comfortable... While your house is under repair...