From the Land of Mata Ayer

Bismillah, It has been quite a long stretch since my last post. Lots of things happened, definitely. I'm trying my best to get the writing process smoothen up since (I guess) it has been getting a bit rusty.  Last month I attended an Almaghrib seminar by Syeikh Yahya Ibrahim on the Tafseer of Surah Maryam. It is a really great weekend class and I'm really grateful to be offered a partial sponsorship to attend this seminar. The experience of attending an Almaghrib class is priceless, you're going to miss the vibes, the spiritual boost, the people that you met, all of it. One of the things that Syeikh Yahya shared during this class is the power of du'a. If we look at the stories in Al-Quran, we'll notice that there are countless examples of the actors/characters making du'a. Prophet Zakariyya a.s prayed for a child (Surah Maryam), Imran (father of Maryam) also prayed for a son, Musa a.s prayed for a companion, and the list goes on. The point that ...

Ketika melawat Toul Sleng genocide museum di Phnom Pehn semasa workshop YSEALI tempohari, jurukamera berbangsa Kemboja yang mengiringi kami mencadangkan filem ini. Filem arahan Angelina Jolie ini merupakan adaptasi dari novel yang mempunyai tajuk sama, tulisan Loung Ung. Sedari mula, filem ini mengambil perspektif Loung yang menjadi saksi kekejaman Khmer Rouge (yang juga dipanggil Angkar) sepanjang tempoh hampir 5 t ahun dari 1975-1979. Loung merupakan seorang kanak-kanak perempuan berusia sekitar 7 tahun, mempunyai 7 adik-beradik dan hidup dalam keluarga yang agak berada disebabkan status bapanya yang berkhidmat sebagai kapten kepada pasukan tentera Lon Nol. Kehidupan Loung dan keluarganya berubah 180 darjah sebaik sahaja rejim Khmer Rouge mengepung Phnom Pehn dan memaksa semua penduduk untuk meninggalkan rumah mereka selama 3 hari. Alasannya Amerika Syarikat akan mengebom Phnom Pehn. Dengan itu, Loung dan keluarganya serta ribuan warga Phnom Pehn yang ...

Alhamdulillah, pertemuan Februari selesai diadakan Sabtu lepas. Tema bulan ini berkisarkan pendidikan dan ilmu. Mungkin agak berat bunyinya tapi sesi book circle ini diakhiri dengan konklusi bahawa semuanya berkait dengan pendidikan. Saudari Farhana berkongsi buku Anak Rantau tulisan A. Fuadi yang mengisahkan Epi seorang budak bandar yang ditinggalkan bapanya di desa agar dapat belajar berdikari . Jiwa muda Epi yang naif pastinya memberont ak kerana perubahan gaya hidup yang ketara juga ketegasan datuknya yang penuh disiplin. Dari situ Epi bertekad untuk mengumpul duit secukupnya agar dia dapat pulang ke bandar semula. Dalam tempoh itu juga Epi belajar tentang kehidupan dan mengenali manusia.  Saudari Aelina pula berkongsi buku Bad Science tulisan Ben Goldacre, seorang epidemiologist dan penulis terkenal di UK. Dalam buku ini, Ben mendedahkan ubat-ubatan yang dipasarkan dengan cara memanipulasi orang awam menggunakan 'dodgy claims'. Perbincangan...

Bismillah, Since last October, I have been coordinating a monthly book circle for women. Suri Membaca is actually an advocating movement to encourage more women to read even after their university years, being a career women or as a housewife.  This movement is started earlier last year in Klang Valley areas by Kak Nurul Suhadah Shuib and team.  Definitely, this is a teamwork effort since it is impossible to run a book circle only by myself. Luckily I met Kak Kamariyah, another booklover staying in Perlis. So we met and discussed about books and also how to run our first book circle in the northern states! 1) It is 'kind of' easy to start a venture, but more challenging to sustain Our first ever book circle was held at Blackwood Arau and we got 7 attendees who shared books of many wonderful genres. Even Maisarah came down all the way from Penang. Since it was the first time we ever gathered, the choleric-melancholic side of me imagined every possible o...

Bismillah, It has been many many months since the last time I posted here, Lots of things happened in between, of course, that's life. Continued my masters studies in Universiti Utara Malaysia at the School of International Studies since last September. Kind of a leap of faith as I went completely opposite from my chemical engineering degree to strategic studies, however I personally found the subjects to be very insightful.  Hopefully I can gather enough motivation to write about that soon insyaAllah. Alhamdulillah, made new friends here in UUM and generally Perlis. Seems that I'll be around Perlis for quite some time before settling down in the future. Lost 4 cats in October (Gemok, Awang, Tomyam & Bunga) most probably due to poisoning, but got a better replacement Alhamdulillah. Coordinated my first ever book circle in Perlis in October last year and this February will be our 5th meetup already, yeay! In short, life progresses rapidly. There are lots of things ...

Hi Kunyet, I hope you're doing fine over there. We just found out that you're no more with us this morning. No longer meowing excitedly to greet us coming home, or even waiting at the door for food. I'll miss your company when hanging the clothes, day or night, you'll be there. Doing your own job, licking your fur again and again, just to keep me accompany. Sometimes I'll put you inside for a while to wander around the house while I scrambled to hang everything on the clothesline , because you love to playfully bit my toes. And today, we saw you for the last time as my lil' bro covered you with soil. Your body limp, lying still on a patch of grass just by the roadway. We suspected that you were killed when trying to run away from the male cats roaming around for a cat fight a and strucked by a passing vehicle. You didn't make it. It saddened me to know that you suffered alone and passed your last breath there.  I'm sorry that I was not there...

Bismillah, Today I'm not going to talk about the leap of faith in Assassins Creed, which Cal (Michael Fassbender) attempted to save himself.  Google defines leap of faith as 'an act of believing in or attempting something whose existence or outcome cannot be proved'. In other words, to make a big decision which may have a big impact on one's life, with no guarantee whether it'll end up a success or a failure. It can be choosing between furthering your study and become an academician or enter the industrial world, getting married or changing the stream of your study. Some decisions may have a bigger impact in our lives, compared to the others. This has been one of the longest period which I've stayed at home since the last 5 years. With the flexibility and ample of time in hand, post-graduation has really got me thinking. Somehow the transition between university life to the next phase isn't as fast and smooth-sailing as I've imagin...