Terengganu trip... in pictures

I have a special affinity for the east-coast of Peninsular Malaysia. I spent my upper secondary school years at a boarding school in Kuantan. During my working years very much later, I was based in Dungun, Terengganu for two years, to handle a construction project.

Whenever possible, I would try to spend my holiday time there. This time around, the trip has a double purpose because we accompanied a rombongan pertunangan of our nephew who got engaged to a sweet lass from Kuantan.

The engagement ceremony was on the day after Christmas. We then took off to Kuala Terengganu the following day. It was quite a satisfying holiday. KT was surprisingly basked in sunshine the whole time we were there. I would like to describe more about our trip but time is a bit short (office stuff has caught up with me). I'll just let pictures do the talking...

Muzium Negeri Terengganu

Masjid Kristal as viewed from the other side of the river

The newly-built Bazar Warisan, less popular than the old Kedai Payang across the road

The latest batik designs on sale

Tasty serunding daging bought from a stall in Pasar Payang

Resort on Pulau Duyong, where the rich Monsoon Cuppers stay

Pok Long's stall at Kg. Ketapang is equipped with the latest in Information & Communication Technology

Enjoying tea-time with the tasty udang, sotong and ikan celup tepung

The latest tourist attraction in KT, a must-visit site for engineers

Pantai Teluk Lipat in Dungun

The filling in the satar and otak-otak at Che Wan's stall in Kuala Kemaman has become `ciput'. The ones sold at Tg. Lumpur in Kuantan are better.

Pantai Teluk Mak Nik in Kemaman... otherwise glamourously translated as Monica Bay

And this signboard confirms it...

Happy New Year to all friends and readers. May 2010 be filled with joy and prosperity. See you all next year.

Dinner in Kuantan

Just a brief update on our east coast trip. We are in Kuantan since Friday and plan to drive up to Kuala Trengganu later this afternoon.

It has been seafood dinners for the past two evenings. The first was at Restoran Timur that I got to know of through a Facebook contact. Last night we had dinner at the popular New Horizon Garden Restaurant that I first read in mamasita's blog.

The following are some pics. Full story after we get back...

Oldstock and his 2nd son at Restoran Timur

We had steamed fish, squids in dried chilli and butter prawns

Cousins, at the entrance of New Horizon Garden

Thai-style deep-fried fish as part of a 6 dish package

Selamat Hari Natal

I once asked my lecturer at Aston College in Wrexham, how he celebrates his Christmas. Nothing much, he said. Just a nice Christmas dinner with family and some friends then maybe sit around the fireplace and enjoy booze and small talk. Christmas nowadays is too hyped-up, too commercialised. People talk more of Santa Claus than of Jesus Christ...

That's almost 30 years ago. I guess if he says the same thing today, he'd probably still be right. Well... whatever it is, I'm going to enjoy my break and do a bit of east-coast traveling. Merry Christmas to all friends and readers who celebrate this occasion. Stay cool, keep warm and take care.

Coincidence and Probability

When I posted about Emila's 2010 Illustrated Calendar a few weeks ago, blogger Wan Lili of Suddenly, Heta! commented that she shares the same birthday as me. I was pleasantly surprised and noted that the chances of that to happen is quite low because this blog of mine doesn't really have that big a following.

Lili's comment reminded me of a programme I saw on The Discovery Channel some months back, about the probability of finding two persons within a group of people who share the same birthday. This problem is also known as the Birthday Paradox and there are quite a number of articles about it available on the internet. The different articles describe the problem in different ways but perhaps the simplest way that I can put it is as follows :

What is the minimum number of people needed within a group so that the odds of finding any two who have the same birthday becomes 50%?

Even for those of us who are mathematically inclined, the initial assumption we arrive at is that it must be a large number. There are 365 days in a year (ignoring leap years for simplicity)... and for 100% probability (i.e. a sure thing), we need 365+1=366 persons. Therefore, for an even chance of finding two people with the same birthday, the number is 50% of 366 or 183 persons.

This answer is wrong. Probability theory shows that we only need to gather 23 persons for the odds to become even (i.e. 50:50 chance). Now how can this be? I don't want to bore you with the mathematical analysis of this problem but you can read the links I've included below for detailed explanations.

This phenomenon is not actually a paradox in the logical sense of the word but it seems so to most people because the mathematical truth contradicts natural intuition. The human brain thinks of progression and extrapolation generally in linear terms and gets confused when some things expand on an exponential basis.

In the second reference article below, Robert Matthews and Fiona Stones carried out a study to test this theory by looking at football matches. In a football match, you can find 23 people i.e. 11 players from each team and the referee. If there are 10 such matches, then probability theory says that we should be able to find birthday pairs in 5 of them (50:50 chance). Matthews and Stones did their analysis on 10 Premier League fixtures played in 19 April 1997. It involved them checking the birthdays of 220 players and 10 referees. Sure enough, they found that there are coincident birthdays in 6 of the matches. In fact, they found two pairs in 2 of the fixtures.

To extend slightly on this subject, the theory also says that we need only 57 people for the probability of any two people with coincident birthdays to become 99%. In other words, if there is a gathering of around 60 persons, I'm willing to bet that I can find at least one pair that share the same birthday.

Graph from Wikipedia, showing the approximate probability of at least two people sharing the same birthday amongst a certain number of people

I did a bit of my own analysis on this matter using the birthdays of my Facebook friends. I compared their birthdays against the sequence of when we became friends. The result is pretty close to the theory. The 24th person who became my FB friend shares the same birthday with the 9th person. I did not have to wait long for the second pair. The 28th FB friend has the same birthday as the 22nd friend.

I was about to do the same analysis on the extended family on my wife's side (parents, siblings, in-laws, nephews, nieces etc.) but then realised that the same-birthday occurrence is found even earlier. My father-in-law (the no. 1 guy) has the same birthday as his youngest son (the 15th family member).

To use the conclusion of the Matthews & Stones research, coincidences really are “out there”, as probability theory predicts, if we take the trouble to look.

References :

1. Birthday Problem - Wikipedia
2. Coincidences : the truth is out there

Last weekend

This post is a bit outdated. I've been meaning to upload the pics much earlier but I was under the weather for the past few days. Just posting something so that this blog is not neglected for too long.

We were in Singapore last Sunday to attend the wedding reception of the niece of an old friend and classmate. I have not met this friend for more than twenty years and it was nice to be meeting him again and catching up on old stories.



In Malay wedding ceremonies, the procession of the bride and groom is normally accompanied by a kompang group. In this instance however, the family opted for a kuda kepang troupe. First time that I've seen this and it does make an interesting difference.



Later that evening, I decided to take a drive down Orchard Road just to have a look at the Christmas lights. It has been quite some time since I was last in the area and the changes are quite surprising. The beautiful lights gave photographers ample chance to practice their night photography skills. Makes me wish to get my hands on a DSLR soon...

To all muslim friends and readers, selamat menyambut tahun hijrah yang baru.

Conversations

She was sitting across him in the cosy restaurant of a 5-star hotel. Her hands were twisting the teacup on its saucer, a clear sign of edginess.

`You’ve not finished your dessert,’ he says, looking at the half-eaten apple pie on the small plate on the table.

`I am not actually hungry,’ she responds. He just nods, sips his coffee and looks at her in silence. It is obvious that she wants to say something but probably finding it hard to know where to begin. The restaurant is practically quite now, with most of the lunch crowd already gone.

She takes a deep breath and then asks, `Why are you leaving?’

`It is time to do so,’ he answers with a subtle shrug of the shoulders.

`There must be more reasons than that?’

`Yes, there are I guess… but it won’t make a difference for you to know.’

`Uh-huh… who am I to be asking you these things, right?’, she rhetorically asks in a resigned tone.

He does not give an answer... because he knows there isn’t a correct one.

Four Fridays on a trot

If you make your living in the state of Selangor, you would be enjoying public holidays on the next 4 consecutive Fridays :

1. 11 December 2009 (Friday) - Sultan of Selangor's Birthday
2. 18 December 2009 (Friday) - Awal Muharram
3. 25 December 2009 (Friday) - Christmas Day
4. 01 January 2010 (Friday) - New Year's Day

That's four long weekends on a trot. You could use the time to go for a mini-break, to catch up on some reading, send your young son for his berkhatan ritual, attend wedding invitations or perhaps organize one of your own...

I bet the TGIF restaurant chain is really looking forward to this.

A good look at books

One of the things I loved about living in KL a few years back is the ability to browse for hours at the Kinokuniya bookstore in KLCC. While I don't actually buy that many new books, spending time flipping through pages of published text and photos is something that I quite like to do. For the buying part of it, I would normally go to the discount bookstore at Ampang Point. Additionally, warehouse book sales are events that I try not to miss.


In Johor Bahru, the only bookstore with a sizeable spread of books is Harris at Jusco Tebrau City. Harris is part of the Popular Book Store group.

This week, Popular Book Store organised a book fair at Danga City Mall and today is the last day. We made our way to the fair this afternoon and picked up a few books that were sold at significant discounts. My wife and I selected 3 books each while my son picked up 2 . I actually wanted to get a few more but I doubt I have the time to read all of them soon. There are still some books that I bought at a Times warehouse sale in PJ three years ago that remain in packing boxes.

All my choices are fiction. Two recent and one old. I had also wanted to get a Charles Dickens classic to re-read but while other titles from Dickens were available, The Tale Of Two Cities was not.

Of the recent books, one is called The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid. I got to know of this book through blogger Dr Wati who posted about it last month. At only RM19.90 less 20% discount, it is a steal.

The books that I've bought today would probably cover my reading appetite for the next two months. After that, I'll be on the look-out for other book sales or maybe even find an excuse to make a trip to Ampang Point.

Spam comments

In the early days of starting this blog, I enabled the `word verification' (captcha) control for submission of comments. I later decided to do away with this step to make it easier for my readers to drop me a line while still maintaining some control by way of moderation.

The absence of this control meant that spam comments can access my blog. Initially, these meaningless comments from god knows where are sporadic. It wasn't much of a hassle to delete them manually. Of late however, the frequency of such comments have become more regular and it is becoming tedious for me to reject them each time I log on. An example of the crap that I get is copied below... this one apparently from Japan :

困っています。 said...
最近寂しくて困っています。夜一人で寝るのが凄く寂しいです…隣で添い寝してくれる男性いませんか？見た目とか特に気にしません。優しくて一緒にいてくれる方大歓迎☆一緒に布団で温まりましょう♪*******@docomo.ne.jp

I am now enabling the captcha feature again (at least in the short term) to see if such spam can be prevented. Sorry to inconvenience my readers on this. Let's see if these jerks can leave my blog alone so that we can return to the norm.

Slaughter and Sacrifice

Surah No. 108 in The Holy Qur'an
Al Kauthar (Abundance)

1. To thee have We granted the Fount (Of Abundance).
2. Therefore to thy Lord turn in Prayer and Sacrifice.
3. For he who hateth thee He will be cut off (from Future Hope).

Translation by Yusuf Ali.

The Aidiladha celebrations this year was merrier than normal because of the ibadah korban that we held within the compound of our family home in Mersing. It is the first time our family has organised a Qurbani (sacrifice of animals) of this scale. It is my first time being involved in the slaughter of cows because all my previous experience in korban involved sheep or goats.

But before I go into detail of our Hari Raya Haji celebrations, just a brief revision on this ibadah of Qurbani. The sacrifice of animals in Islam is the slaughter of permissible animals in the name of Allah on the 10th, 11th or 12th of Zulhijjah in the Islamic calendar. The aim of sacrifice, like all other fundamentals of Islam, is to imbibe piety and self righteousness. It also promotes the spirit of sacrifice for a right cause. To explain its purpose, God says in the Qur’an : “It is not their meat, nor their blood, that reaches God, It is their piety that reaches God”: (22:37).

The permissible animals referred to are domesticated quadrupeds, meaning goats, rams, cows or camels. For the larger animals (cows and camels), it is permitted for the single animal to be shared by up to seven persons. The meat from the sacrificed animal shall be distributed equally to three groups of people : one-third for the poor and needy, one-third for friends and relatives (including non-Muslims) and the final third for the sacrifice-giver's own consumption.

Blogger Zendra has posted an informative write-up on the historical perspective of animal sacrifice in Islam as extracted from the Islamic Voice website -> Re-inventing Zendra.

Our majlis korban this year involved the slaughter of three cows, meaning the participation of twenty-one family members that spanned 4 generations. Heading the list is the patriarch of the family, my father-in-law Haji Md Amin Bin Abdul Karim who is 95-years old. The youngest participant is a 6-month old great-grandson named Qhamarull Suhayl Bin Suhainizam.

My son Angah, giving some soothing words to the first candidate

Cow no. 2 was the largest one

The third cow, giving its handler Sopi, a tough time

The organisation of the slaughter and meat-distribution was headed by our uncle who we fondly call Pak Anjang. The first cow went under the knife at around 10.30 am, after Aidiladha prayers. In terms of size, it was the smallest of the three. It was quite tame and could be led to the slaughter pit quite easily. The second cow was the largest. The third cow put up the most resistance. It took us almost half an hour of roping and pulling before the animal could be subdued. Seeing this spirited fight, some of us joked that the animal reflected the stubbornness of its owners :-)

The slaughter process was done by the time of Friday noon prayers but the more complex process of skinning and cutting the meat resumed after the prayer break. On the whole, the part meant for distribution to the poor came to about 70kg. The beef was cut and packed into 1kg portions and sent to needy households in Kampung Sri Pantai, Mersing. The portion meant for individual consumption actually works out to only about 4.8% of the total meat obtained from each cow (one-seventh part of one-third of whole cow).

Separating skin from meat

Chopping the bones into smaller pieces for the soup

Almost no part of the cow was wasted. Some neighbours wanted the heads while the feet were booked well in advance. The ribs which still had slivers of meat stuck on them, were chopped into smaller pieces and were cooked into a soup in a very large pot. The soup and some bread (french loaves) were then brought to the mosque for consumption by the congregation after Isyak prayers.

Having a hot bowl of beef soup with bread after a hard day's work was like heaven, especially in a large gathering of family members. I probably had 3 or 4 bowls that night.

The next morning, when the pot has cooled down, you can see blobs of solidified fat floating on the surface of the soup. Crap, I thought. Some of those things are probably clogging up my blood veins by now. Better watch my meat consumption for the rest of the week... or perhaps I should resume my weekly swimming sessions to burn off the fat.

More pics can be seen at my Facebook profile -> Fadhil Isma

Emila's Illustrated Calendar 2010

When I first started blogging in April of last year, among the earliest blogs that I linked to was Emila's Illustrated Blog which I came across in the Blog Malaysia directory. Apart from being a talented artist/illustrator, Emila is also a very good photographer.

Last month, Emila invited her readers to suggest suitable quotes that could be inserted in her upcoming calendar for 2010. She was looking for 12 quotations that would accompany her drawings for each month of the year and the selected entry would win a copy of the calendar itself. I suggested a quote from Khalil Gibran for the month of July (my birthday month) and as luck would have it, my entry was chosen.

Last week, Emila delivered the cute calendar to me, complete with a special indicator for the 6th of July. Thanks Emila, for this unique present.

The calendar is available to the general public at only RM12.90 from her online shop at this link -> Emila's Littleshop. While at her shop, you may also wish to browse other unique items on offer.

Salam Aidil Adha 1430 Hijrah

To all Muslim friends and readers, wishing you Selamat Hari Raya Qurban. May all the sacrifices and good deeds you have made in the past year be accepted by the Almighty.

To Muslim brothers and sisters presently in the Holy Land as the guests of Allah, I pray for your safe return.

We will be traveling back to the wife's kampung in Mersing later today to celebrate the Hari Raya. The family has arranged for some cows to be sacrificed. See you all next week. Take care.

Double meanings

I noticed today on Astro TV that the popular local cartoon programme Upin & Ipin has made the transition to English medium and would be aired on The Disney Channel soon. It is quite encouraging to note that a homemade production is progressing to the international stage. But what has an animation series got to do with today's post? I'll get back to that towards the end of this piece. (Image borrowed from Upin & Ipin official website.)

There are many words in everyday use that carry double or even multiple meanings. The English language contain many such words and I guess it is not necessary for me to give examples... but I'd like to anyway. Words like `wind', `set', `pass', `can', `blue', `surf' and `virus' all have multiple meanings. Some of these meanings are closely related but some refer to entirely different things altogether. No wonder many non-native speakers of English find the language confusing.

Take this other example I heard mentioned over a local radio station the other day, where a listener called in to tell the story of his wife withdrawing money at an ATM for the first time. Upon dispensing the cash, the machine asked, `Would you like a payment advice?'. The lady became puzzled and rang up the husband to ask, `Kenapa mesin ATM ni nak bagi saya nasihat...' Lol!

Like any other language, Malay or Bahasa Melayu is also not without its share of double-meaning words.

When I entered boarding school and met students from other parts of the country, I realised that my command and understanding of my own mother tongue is quite limited. I was surprised when a boy from the next room came over and wanted to borrow my `cebok'. All the while, I have understood the word to mean the act of cleaning oneself after doing the `big business' in the toilet. On that day, I learned that the word also means the container that is used to scoop water, which I would call as `gayung'.

`Ketayap' is another word that has two definitions ; a skull-cap worn mostly by elderly Malay men or a type of Malay cake similar to a rolled pancake.

Bahasa Indonesia, while sharing the same root as Bahasa Malaysia, also contain many words that carry a different meaning. `Bisa' in Indonesia means `can' (as in able to do) but in Malaysia it is `poison'. But perhaps nothing can match the stark difference in meaning of the word `butuh'.

Right... now to explain the link of Upin & Ipin that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. This popular animation series about young twin brothers is produced by a firm known as Les' Copaque Production Sdn Bhd. The name of this production company is a play on the phrase of `last kopek', local Malay-English slang meaning the last bit of anything (last effort, last chance, last piece etc.) How this slang came about is unclear but I use it quite freely in daily conversation.

Some years back, I was having lunch at a nasi campur stall with a female colleague who's from Kedah. When I saw the final piece of ikan pari bakar on the plate, I said, `Oh, nasib baik. Ada lagi last kopek ikan pari.'

This prompted my colleague to remark, `Uish! Apa ni sebut pasai kopek!'

Me : `Kenapa?'

Friend : `Hang tau tak apa makna kopek tu?'

Me : `Tau la... kopek tu kan satu perbuatan. Macam kopek buah durian ke, kopek kelapa ke...'

Friend : `Betui la tu... tapi kopek pun ada makna lain. Pasai buah jugak... buah yang ada pada orang pompuan.'

Oops! How was I to know that the word also meant a certain part of the female anatomy? Only then the scary stories of the hantu kopek that catches naughty kids and hide them under her huge mammary glands sort of make sense. I now have to be wary how I use this phrase, especially in front of ladies.

The producers of Upin & Ipin are smart enough to modify their company's name to a French-sounding one. Otherwise they could have run into trouble with sensitive women from Malaysia's northern states.

The zipper club

We were up at KL and Shah Alam last weekend to send our second son back for his second semester at UiTM. After sending my son back to his hostel, I took the opportunity to visit a friend who stays at nearby Section 7.

My friend Yos, had just undergone bypass surgery on his heart 3 weeks ago. On Sunday, he held a kenduri doa selamat (thanksgiving lunch reception) at his house and invited close friends to come over.

I have known Yos since we first met at boarding school in Kuantan. He went on to study in Australia while I went to the UK. We met again when both of us started our engineering careers at the same organization in Johor Bahru.

I first received news of his ailment through our email group in Yahoo just before the operation was to take place. I couldn't make it to KL at the time so I just sent him a text message praying for his successful surgery. So when it was time to be sending my son back to college, it became convenient for me to drop by for a visit.

Yos was in cheerful mood, as he has always been. He told me that he went to see a cardiologist at Damansara Specialist Hospital after feeling some chest pains. The cardiologist, Dr. Daud, who happens to be our junior at boarding school, arranged for a full check-up. As my friend commenced the first steps on the treadmill stress test, Dr. Daud immediately stopped the test and called for a senior cardiologist to review the results. Further tests confirmed that Yos had blockages at 4 locations and that bypass surgery is required.

The surgery was successfully carried out three weeks ago and hopefully my friend is on the road to a quick recovery. Yos is the second close friend of mine who has undergone open heart surgery (the story of the other friend can be read here -> The heart of the matter). He is now a member of the exclusive zipper club, whose members carry the distinctive Y-shaped surgical scars on their chest.

That Sunday afternoon, a few other batch-mates from MRSM Kuantan were also there. One of them asked Yos how healthy he felt at the moment... 60%? 70%?. Before Yos could answer, another friend jokingly asked if he has already resumed the husband/wife activity. Yos sportingly replied that this is in fact, one of the FAQs in the post-surgery info the hospital provided to its heart surgery patients. According to doctor's advice, if the patient can walk 1 kilometre with ease, then he should be able to proceed with lovemaking activity.

Yos then pointed to the children's playground opposite his house. `The footpath around that playground is about 300m', he says. `And I have been completing five laps of it everyday...'

`Yeah?', one of us chipped in. `But have you been doing it with ease?' Hehehehe.....

To my friend Yos, I pray for your continued recovery. Be careful of what you eat. Continue with the therapy and exercises. Pretty soon, you'll be walking that 1km with relative ease :-)

The power of prayer

Over the past few weeks, many of us have said farewell to friends who are headed towards the Holy Land to perform the Hajj or pilgrimage. It is custom for the pilgrims to seek forgiveness from relatives and friends before they depart. In return, we wish them a safe passage, ease in performing the required rituals and hopefully blessed with a haji mabrur, and finally a safe journey home.

Some of us would take the opportunity to request a small favour of our friend, and that is to pray (doa) on our behalf when he/she is in front of the Ka'abah. It is said that the Masjidil Haram in Mecca is the preferred place on earth where The Almighty listens to his subjects and grants them their requests. It is also mentioned that, within the mosque itself, there are a few spots where such prayers are especially heard and have a good chance of being answered. No doubt, such places are highly sought after by all pilgrims and one must really be brave to compete with the crowd to secure such a spot, especially during the Hajj season.

One such place or tempat mustajab as we say it in Malay, is the small zone of the Ka'abah wall between the door of the Ka'abah and the corner of the black stone called Hajarul Aswad. I was advised by a learned man that if I can squeeze my way to a spot on this wall, I should then spread my arms and place my chest flat against it as if in attempt to embrace. And then I should fully open my heart and reveal to Allah swt all that I have longed for all this while.

My first visit to Mecca was during hajj season many years ago. I wasn't brave enough to fight the crowd for this coveted spot. However, at my next visit a few years later for umrah, I managed to find a place on the Ka'abah wall after solat subuh and draped myself on the holy house of Allah for a precious few minutes.

It was one of the most moving experience in my life... with my chest flat against the wall, the house of Allah can feel my every heartbeat. It is as close as you can physically be to the symbol of your Maker.

In such moments, what do you pray for? What do you actually ask of God? You are there as his guest and you feel so humble. Would it then be proper of you to be asking of so many things?

Yes, it is... for Allah swt is All-Listener. And hence, there I was, embracing the Ka'abah with my eyes closed and pouring my heart out to the One and Only, seeking forgiveness, asking for compassion and requesting for help. After some minutes of saying my personal prayers, I continued with prayers requested by some friends back home. Among these is a doa by a female colleague who was still childless after being married for a number of years.

The first few years after my return from umrah, there wasn't any sign that the Almighty is answering her prayers. She was still childless... until one day, someone came to her with the news that a baby is available for adoption. She and her husband decided to take the baby.

We may well say that God has not actually answered my friend's prayers yet... but to me, seeing that the child has become the light of her life, it is a wish that was granted.

Perhaps the point of my story here is to say that we should never give up hope. Some of us may be facing problems that are so complicated that they seem insurmountable. Even after putting in all the effort to try this, that and everything else, the solution is still not in sight. In times like these, when there is possibly nothing else we could do, the only thing left for us to fall back on is the power of prayer.

If we can afford to travel to Baitullah in Mecca, then do so. If we can't, then do not despair. If we know of a friend who is going there, then do ask their favour to say a prayer on our behalf. Good friends would be glad to do it for us.

The need to conform (ISO vs ISA)

In one of blogger Justiffa's earlier posts (Audit Fever), she tells the story of experiencing stress and anxiety in facing auditors checking the workplace compliance to ISO procedures.

For those of us who work in ISO-certified organisations (manufacturing, engineering/construction, service industry), the yearly audit exercise is looked on with some dread. While the main objective of all audits is to detect for conformance to the agreed procedures and improving weaknesses, most of the staff hate to be audited because they do not wish to be seen making mistakes. It is simple human nature. Everybody thinks (or wants to think) that he/she is perfect. Nobody wants to be seen to be doing their job poorly and least of all, being made an example to the rest of the colleagues.

My personal view on quality system audits is somewhat mixed. The primary purpose of setting up and maintaining a quality management system to ISO (International Standards Organisation) regulations is simply that... Quality. If our firm produces quality goods or provide quality services, then we will get very satisfied customers which in turn, would result in more business and hence improved profitability. So why then the mixed views? Because complying to the system entails hard work, especially in the area of documentation and record-keeping. While we can be proud of our staff for being hardworking, not many of them are good in the paperwork side of things.

As an example, in my line of work, we issue design changes and revised drawings all the time. No project is perfectly designed at the inception stage. Changes during construction are inevitable. Hence, any particular section of the work may have to be revised a number of times, for whatever reason. Keeping track of such changes is therefore of paramount importance. We have to make sure that the guy who is actually building the thing is in possession of the latest drawing and not one that was superseded three or four times over.

A proper quality management system ensures such revisions are properly recorded, relayed and implemented. The key area of concern here is traceability... who instructed the change, when was it authorised, were the revised drawings issued properly, was receipt of the drawings acknowledged, etc., etc., etc... So, if we do find the toilet being built in a location where it's not supposed to, we check the paper trail, find out where the cock-up occurred and then decide who gets the screwing.

I guess now you would have an idea why many people hate to keep records.

I am taking time to write on this subject because our company's ISO audit is scheduled for some time this month. I was informed that my project is the one proposed for the external auditor to visit because our documentation and filing system is in reasonably good shape (as opposed to other projects whose record-keeping is not quite up to par, it seems). Ironic, isn't it? I would have thought it would be more beneficial to send the auditor to the other projects so that the weaknesses can be detected and improvements made.

Anyway, what has ISO got to do with ISA? Actually, not much... although the ISA (Internal Security Act) has also got something to do with conformity. You better conform to what the government say or else the Minister of Home Affairs can lock you up without trial.

It's just that every ISO audit exercise reminds me of something someone told me many years ago.

`Aku tak suka lah ISO audit ni! Letih kena soal-siasat. Lebih baik ISA!'

Which prompted me to ask, `Kenapa?'

`ISO kan Ikut Suka Orang... ISA tu Ikut Suka Akulah!'

P/s : Graphic above borrowed from www.despair.com. Saja nak buat Zendra tersedak, heheh... and thanks to Nurie for leading me to this site :-)

Nak potong ke tidak?

When we received our Telekom bill for this month, my wife noticed that the Streamyx broadband charge has increased to RM88 from the previous RM77. When she went to TMpoint to pay the bill, she asked them about it. She was told that the previous charges we paid were based on an introductory offer when we signed up for the service two years ago. Apparently, the rate was valid for the initial two-year contract only and we now have to pay the increased charge if we wish to remain in the same package. We have the option to switch to a cheaper package but the connection speed would be slower.

My wife mentioned to the TM staff that they should have at least sent us a note informing of the increase. Simply inserting a new charge in our bill is quite unprofessional. The staff was gracious enough to admit that it is one of TM's weakness and promise to take note of our feedback.

My first reaction to this increase was to look at other options of Internet Service Providers. The one that immediately came to mind was of course, P1 Wimax, whose cheeky TV and billboard advert is drawing a lot of attention (to those asking for the ad to be withdrawn, I have this to say... lighten up! Have a sense of humour!).

I therefore browsed their website to see what they have on offer. Before considering any of the P1 packages, I have first to check whether my residence is within their area of coverage. The result is No (or not yet, anyway). Nonetheless, I had a look at the cost of the various packages available. For the equivalent service that I'm presently getting from TM Net, the Wimax package is slightly more expensive. In addition to that, I would have to cough up a registration fee of RM100 and another RM60 for activation fee.

All in all, looks like Streamyx is still cheaper. So... tak jadilah nak potong.

I wonder if any blogger friends out there are already subscribed to Wimax. Putting the costs considerations aside, is the Wimax connection better? Would love to hear from you on this.

A short working stint in UAE

It was around this time 3 years ago that I was working on a project at the United Arab Emirates. Our company was involved in the construction of marine structures for a beach resort hotel in the emirate (or state) of Fujairah. The new hotel is about 120km from Dubai and is located on the eastern coast of UAE facing the Indian Ocean.

Our scope of works basically consisted of the construction of two rock-filled structures called groynes and the pumping of sea sand to fill up the beach. The groynes are located either ends of the resort boundary and act as wave-breakers so that large waves coming in from the open sea would reduce in size before impacting on the beach. The primary objective of the design is to create an area of relatively calmer water that is conducive to swimming and snorkelling.

The process of pumping of sea sand is technically known as beach nourishment. The original beach was quite narrow and has coral and rocky outcrops at certain areas. By pumping white marine sand dredged from the sea bed, a wider and more aesthetic beach was created.

Beachfront before sandfilling work

Sand pumping in progress

Construction of the north groyne

It was a tough and challenging work. Apart from the hot weather (temperatures hitting 40 degC), we had to contend with very demanding clients. Working in a marine environment also carries with it additional risk. Bad weather and sea-storms caused some delays. One particular storm was so severe that it battered our tugs and barges. The waves were so strong that the mooring ropes on one of our barges snapped, causing the barge to break loose. Luckily, the barge's movable ramp got wedged between some rocks, otherwise the barge would've drifted away.

Our hired tugboat was not so lucky. The waves pushed the tug towards the shore and run aground over some rocks. The rocks punctured the boat's hull, causing it to take in water. The boat partially sank and rested on the rock bed. After the storm had subsided, we quickly arranged for a salvage company to assist in the re-floating operation.

I left the UAE to return back to Malaysia in March 2007. The hotel opened for operations not long after that. The following photographs showing views of the completed beach are taken from the hotel's website here -> Hotel JAL Fujairah Resort & Spa.

View of hotel and beach with north groyne in the background

View of beach facing south

The view of the Indian Ocean from the hotel is quite breathtaking. It has crossed my mind to perhaps spend a night at this resort, if I ever get the chance to visit Fujairah again... but at around RM600 per night for the cheapest room, I guess it will remain just a thought.

The need to know

Sometime last week a friend from Kuala Lumpur rang me up to ask for a favour. I couldn't directly do what he asked but I can try get help from someone else. So I said, let me check with someone and I'll get back to you.

Called my brother on his mobile but there was no answer. Called wife at home to ask if she has my brother's house number (I know she has, because wife and sis-in-law always chit-chat). Yes? Okay, sms me the number.

Called brother's house. Sis-in-law picks up. Surprised to hear my voice. I ask for her husband. Not home yet she says. Usually home by 9pm. Does not answer his mobile because he's probably still offshore. Anything important? Nah, I said... will call back around 9.

Just about to leave the office at 7pm when brother returns call on my mobile. Need your help, I said, to do this and this.

Brother : Urgent?

Me : Preferably tonight or latest by tomorrow lunchtime.

Brother : Hmm... should be possible. Let me check and I'll call you back.

15 minutes later, brother texted me, saying that favour has been done. Thanks, I texted back. Also texted my KL friend, everything settled.

I reach home. Wife asks why I wanted brother's home number.

Me : Couldn't get him on his mobile. So I need to try his home.

Wife : Was it urgent?

Me : Not so.

Wife : So you called him at home?

Me : Yes, but sis-in-law answered.

Wife : Why did you want to call him?

Me : To ask him to do something.

Wife : To do what?

Me : To do this and this...

Wife : Why?

Me : Because a friend from KL asked for my help.

Wife : Why did your friend need you to do that?

Me (already pissed off by now) : I don't know why! I'm just helping a friend!

Wife starts to sulk. Spoils the rest of the evening.

A few days later, met up with my brother at his house. Apparently, when he got home that night, he also faced a barrage of questions from his wife. Why did big brother call you? Was it urgent? To do what? Why did he ask you to do that?

The interrogation also ended with the terse response of, `I don't know why! I'm just helping out my brother!'

Women... always need to know down to the finest detail. Here's a tip for you ladies, if your husband gives short, sharp replies to your questions, then better stop being curious and don't push it. There's no need for you to know everything.

English can be a very hard language

Here's an interlude for this month. Don't click on the image if you feel offended by culturally sexist jokes.

English can be a very hard language

Do you know what's in your belacan?

An interesting news article in yesterday's Berita Harian Online caught my eye. It is a classic example of misplaced priorities. It seems that a 56-year old lady from Terengganu, Puan Rahani Ali, has been found guilty of selling belacan (shrimp paste) that contained less than a specified amount of protein.

According to the Peraturan-peraturan Makanan 1985, belacan shall have a protein content of not less than 25%. The belacan packed and sold by Rahani has only 23.75% protein, and for that she was fined RM600 by the Dungun Majistrate Court.

The full article can be read at this link -> Pembungkus Belacan Di Denda RM600.

After reading the article a few times, I am actually surprised that the case went to court. To me, the District Health Officer should have considered the educational rather than prosecutional approach. I sincerely doubt the lady knew that there had to be a certain amount of protein in her belacan. Heck... I don't think she even knows what protein is! After all, she only re-packs and distribute the stuff. The belacan is made by someone else.

To be penalised for a mere 1.25% shortfall clearly shows overzealousness. Couldn't she have been let off with a warning? Would it not have been better for the District Health Officer to advise her on the correct thing to do? It is not as if consumers of the belacan would face nutritional problems because of 1.25% less protein content!

This episode is quite an eye-opener. It raises a lot of other questions. I don't think many of us know that there is such a ruling for the production of belacan. Apart from protein, what other minimum content requirements are there? What about salt content or other chemicals? Does the ruling apply to other traditional food items such as budu and cencaluk too?

Well, whatever it is, belacan manufacturers all over Malaysia should beware. The next time you the consumer, buy your pack of belacan, make sure the label carries the requisite nutritional information. Otherwise you may be buying something that is illegal.

Pangkat dan gelaran

Entri kali ini takde kena mengena dengan pingat atau darjah kebesaran yang diberi oleh kerajaan ataupun raja-raja Melayu, tak kiralah samada pingat itu dianugerah ataupun dibeli. Pangkat yang saya maksudkan ialah panggilan atau gelaran yang digunakan oleh orang-orang Melayu untuk ahli keluarga dan sanak saudara mereka.

Kalau anda perhatikan dalam posting-posting saya sebelum ini, saya menggelar tiga orang anak lelaki saya sebagai Along, Angah dan Adik. Bagi pembaca-pembaca Melayu, gelaran-gelaran itu boleh difahami dengan jelas dan tidak perlu diterangkan. Namun begitu, terlintas di fikiran saya bahawa mungkin ada pembaca blog yang bukan Melayu yang tertanya-tanya mengapa gelaran tersebut digunakan. Jadi, apabila tergerak hati untuk menulis sedikit tentang topik ini, saya cuba selidik pula tentang gelaran ataupun nama timang-timangan lain yang biasa kita dengar.

Tidak semua keluarga Melayu mengamalkan panggilan timang-timangan ini dan sudah tentunya terdapat variasi maksud sesuatu gelaran itu mengikut negeri, daerah mahupun suku kaum rumpun Melayu. Sebagai contoh, di kalangan adik beradik saya, ayah dan ibu kami tidak memanggil kami dengan nama timang-timangan. Berlainan pula dengan keluarga sebelah isteri yang mana beberapa ahli dipanggil dengan nama gelaran.

Pada dasarnya, nama timang-timangan yang diberi kepada seseorang itu adalah mengikut turutan kelahirannya. Along adalah gelaran yang diberi kepada anak pertama atau anak sulong. Apabila Along menjadi dewasa dan mempunyai anak-anak saudara, maka gelarannya akan menjadi Pak Long (lelaki) ataupun Mak Long (wanita). Di sebelah keluarga saya, anak-anak saudara saya memanggil saya Pak Long. Secara automatik, isteri saya bergelar Mak Long. Sebaliknya isteri saya adalah anak kelapan dari tigabelas beradik, jadi gelaran Pak Long/Mak Long adalah hakmilik orang lain. Sebenarnya, anak-anak saudara sebelah isteri menggunakan gelaran moden untuk saya, iaitu `Uncle'. Hmmm... pelik juga.

Angah adalah gelaran untuk anak kedua. Asal-usul gelaran ini ialah perkataan `tengah'. Tapi, kalau kita fikirkan dengan lebih mendalam, mungkin boleh timbul sedikit kekeliruan. Ya lah... kalau anak cuma tiga orang, yang kedua tu bolehlah dianggap tengah. Tapi kalau anak dah ramai, kedudukan nombor dua kan bukan di tengah lagi. Apa-apapun, begitulah definasi gelaran Angah. Gelaran-gelaran yang berkaitan adalah Abang Ngah/Kak Ngah, Pak Ngah/Mak Ngah mahupun Tok Ngah/Nek Ngah.

Bagi pangkat adik-adik yang berikutnya, terdapat beberapa perbezaan amalan, bergantung kepada negeri ataupun keluarga masing-masing. Di sesetengah tempat, anak ketiga digelar Alang. Tapi saya pernah juga mendengar gelaran-gelaran lain iaitu Achik ataupun Uda.

Bagi anak yang keempat pula, gelaran yang biasa dipakai ialah Utih (atau juga dieja sebagai Uteh). Besar kemungkinan gelaran ini adalah singkatan dari perkataan `putih'. Menurut Kamus Dewan, orang Perak menggunakan nama timang-timangan ini untuk anak yang keenam. Hmm... nak kena confirm dengan kawan-kawan saya dari Perak, samada betul ke tidak ni.

Lawan bagi perkataan `putih' ialah `hitam'. Itam pula adalah panggilan mesra untuk anak yang ketujuh (di Negeri Sembilan, anak yang kelapan). Alahai... kenapalah dipanggil budak itu Itam, kesian dia. Maka apabila dewasa kelak, jadilah dia Pak Itam atau Mak Itam. Untuk glamer sikit, dipendekkan jadi Pak Tam/Mak Tam sahaja.

Terdapat beberapa panggilan lain yang biasa saya dengar tetapi posisinya dalam turutan adik-beradik tidak berapa jelas. Gelaran-gelaran itu ialah Andak dan Anjang. Sekiranya anda tahu hakmilik anak keberapa gelaran ini, harap dapat dikongsikan pengalaman anda.

Yang pastinya, anak yang bongsu akan mendapat gelaran Busu atau lebih manja dipanggil Ucu. Panggilan Ucu ini hanya boleh digunakan oleh anak-anak saudara kepada bapa atau emak saudara mereka yang paling muda. Saya tak boleh nak panggil anak bongsu saya Ucu, sebab manalah tahu ada rezeki dapat tambah anak lagi... ehem, ehem :-)

A young boy's initiative

This post is somewhat an extension of the previous entry. It is a story about my eldest son, not quite about what he said that caught me off-guard but rather, what he did. It happened many years ago when he was still in Year 1 of primary school.

When it was time for Along to start primary school, we enrolled him at Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Sri Amar, which is located in a neighbouring area across a trunk road from where we stay. There is another school within our neighbourhood that is nearer but we chose to send him to the other school because some of the teachers there are our family friends.

On his first day, I sent him to school in my car. Year 1 students are in the afternoon session and we arrived with plenty of time to spare. The school compound was understandably rowdy with nervous young children and anxious parents facing the start of a new experience. The sound of crying kids and voices of cajoling moms could be heard here and there. My son was as cool as a cucumber… no tears or tantrums from him.

After the students had entered their classrooms, I left the school to return to my office. Later in the evening, I went back to the school to fetch my son. How was his day, I asked. Oh okay… made some new friends, he replied. Not a talkative type, this eldest son of mine.

The next day, I took an early lunch break to go home, fetch my son and send him to school. This time, I just dropped him at the gate because he already knows how to get around. I returned to the office and got busy with work. I was tied down in a meeting and realised a bit too late that I need to fetch my son after school. I rushed out of the office and headed for the school, which is actually not really that far away. Thankfully traffic was not that heavy.

As I reached the last turn of the road about a few hundred metres to the school, I noticed a small schoolboy in the distance, walking on the roadside towards my direction. Poor boy… I thought, to be walking home alone. Why aren’t his parents fetching him or arranged for a school bus?

As I got closer to the boy, I was hit by a bolt of shock. Goodness me, the walking schoolboy is my own son!

I slowed down the car and then stopped when I reached him. I opened the passenger door and my son climbed in. It took me a few moments to recover from the surprise… before I managed to calmly ask him, `Along nak pergi mana jalan kaki ni?’

He simply replied, `Along nak balik rumah la. Habis tu, lama Along tunggu Abah… tak sampai-sampai.’

My next question,`Along tahu ke jalan nak balik rumah?’

`Tahu… ikut jalan yang Abah drive masa hantar tadi,’ he answered confidently.

I was momentarily at a loss for words. The route from my house to the school follows a roundabout way because of a 6-lane trunk road that separates the two areas. The driving distance is almost 3km but a route on foot (if you so wish) is half of that. If I had not crossed paths with my son, he would’ve walked 3 kilometres along unfamiliar roads. The thought of him having to cross the busy trunk road gave me the shudders.

I wasn’t sure what I felt at that time but I guess overall, it must have been a huge sense of relief. I was not angry with my son because it was actually my fault for not giving him instructions on what to do in case I was late. He had taken the initiative to find his way home… the least I can do is to give him credit for that.

As my son settled himself in the car seat as if nothing has happened, I drove towards the school and parked by the roadside in front of the gate. We both got out and I held his hand as we walked back into the school compound towards the canteen. The compound was largely quiet by then… only a few children left waiting for whoever or whatever to take them home.

We reached the canteen and sat side by side on a bench. I then carefully spoke to the him, `Esok atau lusa, kalau Abah lambat datang nak amik Along… jangan pegi mana-mana ye… Along tunggu kat kantin ni, sampai Abah datang, okay?’

`Okay,’ he said.

We walked back to the car and headed home but not before stopping at a coffee shop for a drink. I guess the drink was more for me to reflect on the situation rather than anything else. I ordered Nescafe for myself and ice-cream for my son. I silently watch the young man eat his ice-cream and wonder how a 7-year old boy can be brave enough to make such a decision. I was never that brave when I was his age.

The following day, I made sure I left the office in time to reach school before the kids get out. To test if he understands my instruction, I purposely parked the car some distance away and out of sight. When the classes were let out, I spotted my son among the hundreds of other children. He had a look at the gate where all the other parents were waiting. When he couldn’t see me, he walked back to the canteen and waited there. I stood by a little while longer, just to make sure.

It has been thirteen years now since that incident. Along is now into his third year at a university in Jordan. In that time, he has already made two trips (with friends) to the holy land in Mecca to perform umrah and one trip (alone) to London to visit his uncle (my youngest brother) during winter break.

May the Almighty always watch over you, my son.

Father-son conversations

For the past week or so, a few blogger-friends have posted interesting and amusing stories about the conversations with their young children. The witty responses that come from the mouth of our young ones sometimes catch us off-guard, but they never fail to raise a smile or a chuckle from us.

Recording such beautiful dialogue in blog posts is a wonderful way of preserving the memories. Pretty soon, our children grow up... and we long for the days when we could cuddle them and listen to their innocent banter.

My days of cuddling the boys are already over. As you can gather from my earlier posts, my sons have all grown up into young men. The youngest one is already a teenager. So stories about funny and witty replies are all but just memories. A few of these stand up in mind but maybe I'll post them on another day.

Father and two sons, circa 2000

Father-son conversations are not as common as mother-son conversations. The reasons are quite obvious. In general, sons are closer to their mother than their father. There are things that a son can only tell his mother... especially things that relate to emotions and feelings. It is somewhat not a `manly' thing to do to be talking to your dad about stuff like that. Moms understand these things better. Often, the father is the last person in the house to know. Fathers only get consulted on really formal stuff and in particular, any decision that has a financial impact.

My sons have always been closer to their mother... and it is fine by me. Because I can say the same for myself too. So don't ask me if I know the names of my sons' girlfriends... or if they actually do have girlfriends already. My wife would know.

When the eldest boy got the opportunity to study overseas about 2 years back, I had Streamyx broadband installed at home. The main purpose of which was to allow the mother to be in contact with the son on Yahoo Messenger. And when I fitted the webcam on our home desktop a bit later, she can see the image of her son in real-time, all those 8,000 km away. And then she starts worrying if her son is eating well because he looks so thin...

The technology of today has made the old form of communication near obsolete. I am of course, referring to the art of letter-writing between a son and his parent. I don't think my son has ever written a letter to his mother, not even when he was in boarding school. He would feel hard-pressed to write one now, especially in decent, if not classic, Bahasa Melayu. His YM chats with his mother are in standard everyday informal prose.

I remember as a student, writing letters to my mother in classic writing style... the one that starts : Kehadapan ibunda ku yang dikasihi, semuga ibunda dan ayahanda yang berada jauh di tanahair sentiasa dalam keadaan sihat hendaknya...

My mother was a schoolteacher once, hence my letters to her need to be tip-top. It wasn't too much of a trouble for me because I loved writing. Letters to my mother could be four or five pages long. Comparatively, one to my father would be 2 pages at most :-)

I wonder if my mom still keeps my letters. It would be real interesting to re-read them after all these years. I wonder now, what was it that I actually wrote about. Surely personal and emotional stuff mostly, and probably ridiculously embarassing on hindsight. But one thing I can assure you is that the language is gracefully classic.

The voluntary is more difficult than the compulsory

I am of course, talking about the voluntary fasting for six days in the month of Syawal, or more popularly known in Malay as Puasa Enam.

The act of carrying out six days of fasting within the month of Syawal (also known as bulan raya for Malays) is highly encouraged. Prophet Muhammad's (s.a.w.) hadeeth, as recorded in Sahih Muslim, says : He who observed the fast of Ramadan and then followed it with six (fasts) of Shawwal, it would be as if he fasted perpetually.

On the face of it, it really shouldn't be that difficult to fast for six days, since we just completed doing the same thing for 30 straight days just the month before. Furthermore, we are allowed to choose any six days within the month (except for the first day of Aidilfitri), and these six days need not be consecutive. We can spread them out if we so wish.

So why is it then, many Muslims (yours truly included) find it difficult to carry out this task?

I would humbly venture to give the following reasons :

1. Nobody else is doing it. That's why it is difficult to do alone.

Well perhaps, rather than saying `nobody', it is more correct to say `not many'. Muslims who fast in Syawal don't normally declare to others that they are doing so. Since everyone else around you is eating and drinking as they please, it becomes a real challenge for you to fast in such a situation. Fasting the first day out of six is always the most difficult. You go to work and see someone on the roadside lighting up a cigarette.... and you wonder why isn't that guy fasting? It takes a while for it to hit you back... that you're the one who is fasting and not the rest of the world. It becomes doubly difficult when you reach your workplace because you would always have friends and colleagues inviting you out for lunch or teh-tarik.

2. Many friends invite you for a raya makan-makan

The Malaysian culture of holding `open houses' to celebrate the festivities make it difficult for you to find a suitable day to fast. Sometimes when you have already decided to start fasting for the day, a last minute invitation to a makan-makan would tempt you to break your fast. It is somehow not proper for you to accept a friend's invitation but yet, not partake in the spread of delicacies. Nowadays, many companies hold their `open houses' during working hours, hence it can also be tough to fast during the weekdays too.

3. The willpower and motivation becomes weak

Perhaps, this is the main reason why most of us can't do the Puasa Enam. Fasting in Ramadan trains us to be patient and reserved. We are reminded to be watchful of what we hear, say and look at. The moment Syawal arrives, many of us can't wait to free ourselves of such inhibitions and behave in our normal self. Puasa Enam is not obligatory anyway, so why bother? I have to constantly remind myself that the incentive to do voluntary deeds is only evident to those who seek.


Over the years, I have tried a few strategies in maintaining the willpower to carry out Puasa Enam. Initially I thought that doing two days in every week (say each Monday and Thursday) would be a good method. Unfortunately, the uncertain schedule of my work (outstation travel, site meetings etc.) meant that I missed some days. Now, I am trying a different way... I am fasting for six straight days from Monday to Saturday. I'm sticking to my plan, no matter what. Sorry friends, if I can't join you for breakfast or for afternoon tea.

Random pics of nature

Photos taken at Lembah Warisan Bernam located on the upper reaches of Sungai Bernam near Tanjung Malim. The river is the border between the states of Selangor and Perak.

Entrance to common dining area

View of hostel on the upper slopes

Enjoy a dip in the cool waters of the river

Stones and boulders create gentle rapids

Small boulders and pebbles line the river banks

Jantung pisang

Yellow lizard

Caption corrected to : Rajah Brooke butterfly (Tq Pak Zawi)

Individual chalets located on the hillslope with a view of the river