No escape from the taxman...

In the previous post, I mentioned how this year's Aidilfitri is somewhat special because it coincides with my birthday. It was supposed to be a joyfully memorable day and which I shall remember for many years to come.

Well, it turn out to be memorable indeed, but all for the wrong reasons.

As in previous years, with the exception of the last, we would celebrate the 1st day of Syawal at my parents' home in Singapore. Since my parents are the eldest living relatives in our clan, most of my cousins in Singapore from both father and mother's side, would visit them on the first day of Aidilfitri. This means that their tiny flat in Bukit Batok would be filled to the brim with guests coming by throughout the day.

On the last day of the fasting month, my wife had slogged throughout the day to cook various dishes for the hari raya celebrations. This included the traditional chicken rendang and a large pot of nasi briyani. It was nearly close to midnight when her dishes were ready and it took another hour or so for us to be ready to load the food and our other stuff into my son's car. By the time we left our JB home to head for Singapore, it was technically already Wednesday the 6th of July 2016.

When we reached the immigration checkpoint at the Johor side of the causeway, my passport was cleared. So were the passports of my eldest son, daughter-in-law and youngest son. But there seemed to be a problem with my wife's passport. My wife and I had to alight from the car and go the Immigration Office to find out what the issue was.

The lady officer checked her computer and told us that my wife is on the Inland Revenue Board's blacklist for alleged non-payment of income tax and therefore barred leaving the country.

What?!

My wife left the employment scene 21 years ago when she was pregnant with our 3rd child. She has never been in full-time employment since then. In my own tax returns, I declared that my wife has no income and for which I'm claiming spouse relief. It therefore came as a huge surprise that IRB is chasing her for unpaid taxes.

Of course we had a thousand and one questions to ask but the Immigration officer was not in a position to give reply. All she could do was offer her sympathy and say that many people have been caught in similar situations. She is only doing her job in following IRB's directive.

My wife and I are not tax evaders. I know that IRB has set this procedure to go after those who owe the government tons of money in unpaid taxes. But the least that IRB can do is to first notify us of any possible outstanding amounts instead of resorting to this drastic method of preventing people to travel outside the country. My wife had never received any letter or other forms of communication from the taxman prior to this. In today's age of information technology, IRB cannot say that they don't know of my wife's current address. In fact, they could have relayed the information to me by mail, e-mail or telephone call. My income tax file is very much active and all those contact details are there.

It was turning out to be a bleak hari raya for us. We were not allowed to spend the special day with our parents. We had to turn back. My wife was so crestfallen.

When we got home, my son took out our luggage and rearranged the stuff in his car boot. He and his wife then retraced their route to their grandparents' home in Singapore. They became our representatives for the family gathering. No doubt my son would face endless questions from the relatives on why his mother and father are not home for hari raya.

To add salt to the wound, the long holiday break meant that we had to wait for another 6 days until Monday before we could visit the Inland Revenue office to find out more about our case. This we eventually did. For now we have reached an interim solution with them. It's not fully cleared yet so I'll perhaps write on that part after the case is settled.

So what did we do on the first day of Aidilfitri? We decided to visit my maternal uncle and aunt at my mother's hometown of Pontian. At least we did something meaningful to wash away the sorrow caused by a government who claims that they have the rakyat's needs as priority.... rakyat didahulukan. Ya lah tu...

I'm sure you can detect my sarcasm.

A different type of hari raya this year

A special Aidilfitri

Today marks the last day of the holy fasting month of Ramadhan for the Hijri year 1437. Tomorrow is the first day of the month of Syawal where Muslims celebrate Aidilfitri.

It would be a very special Aidilfitri for me because, for the first time as I can remember, the 1st of Syawal (Hijri calendar) coincides with 6 July (Gregorian calendar). It is also my birthday tomorrow. Praise to the Almighty for this special occasion.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all Muslim friends and readers. May all of you be in good health and joyful spirit.

Double exit

Last week, the people of Britain voted to leave the European Union, not by an overwhelming majority, but by simple advantage of 52% against 48%. This means that a very significant number had chosen to remain. Indeed over the few days after the referendum results, social media was abuzz with so-called claims that many have regretted the exit choice.

Brexit does not affect me directly, so I cannot claim to have a keen interest in the subject or have good knowledge of the implications. Nonetheless, having stayed in the UK for a number of years, I do have fond memories of the country. If I am there now and have a right to vote, I would have chosen to leave.

But who would have thought that Brexit would be an ominous sign for another departure a few days later. England was knocked out of the Euro 2016 football tournament by minnows Iceland.

I have not watched any of the group matches over the past few weeks. A bit strange for me actually, to have minimal interest in the current tournament. Especially since my favourite EPL team Liverpool, has 12 players in the different Euro squads, joint top club with Juventus of Italy. Somehow, the interest has waned compared to previous years. I have stopped being a supporter of England many years ago. In the previous World Cup, I cheered for Holland. But Holland failed to qualify for Euro 2016 so this time around I guess I'll cheer for Wales.

The Wales vs Northern Ireland match was the first one I watched live on Astro. I am rooting for Wales because I studied at Wrexham in North Wales for a short while. Before that, I had not known that the Welsh speak an entirely different language from English. In their language, their country is known as Cymru. It is a pity that I had not taken the opportunity to learn more of the Welsh language and culture while I was there.

I do hope that Wales beat Belgium in the next game and progress to the semi-finals. The chances may be slim but we can always dream. Give me hope, Joe Allen...

The Nine States

The newest addition to our extended family of the Hj Mohd Amin clan is a sweet lass, Nur Diyana Zainal Abidin, who married our nephew, Ridzuan Zaid in March this year. Diyana hails from the neighbouring state of Negeri Sembilan. Literally, the name translates to Nine States but perhaps is more appropriately mentioned as nine districts or provinces.

I am surprised to find out that modern Negeri Sembilan has 7 (and not 9) districts. The original 9 districts were :

1. Jelai
2. Jelebu
3. Johol
4. Kelang (now a district in Selangor)
5. Naning (now part of Melaka)
6. Rembau
7. Segamat (now in Johor) / Pasir Besar (now in Tampin, a town that straddles the NS - Melaka border)
8. Sungai Ujong
9. Alu Panah (now divided between Jelebu and Pahang state)

Diyana's hometown is called Batu Kikir which is in the district of Jempol. As you can see, the present-day Jempol is not one of the original 9 districts.

Anyway, to get to Batu Kikir from Johor Bahru, we took the North-South Highway and exited at Senawang interchange. From there we took the road heading towards Kuala Pilah. I had been to Kuala Pilah twice before, the last trip more than 25 years ago to attend the wedding of a close friend at his hometown of Seri Menanti.

It was an interesting drive on the road to Kuala Pilah. Once past the area known as Bukit Putus, you can see many stalls by the roadside selling smoked duck (itek salai). This is quite unique because duck is not commonly consumed by Malays. Outside of Negeri Sembilan, you would be hard-pressed to look for halal duck meat.

The royal town of Seri Menanti in Kuala Pilah district is an interesting place to visit because of the old palace or Istana Lama. However, on the day we were there, the palace was closed for renovations. From what I read in Trip Advisor, the renovations had been ongoing for a fairly long time, causing much inconvenience to tourists. A sad thing, really.

Another little known fact is that the source of the Muar River (the length of which is mostly located in Johor state) is in Kuala Pilah. I took a detour off the main road to explore the upper reaches of this famous Johor river. As I passed one of the isolated villages, I saw a young boy probably still in his early teens, riding on an awesome looking motorbike which had the shape of an extended custom-made chopper. I was too slow in getting my camera out and hence missed out on an opportunity for capturing a classic scene.

Ok then, that's enough of a write-up on the 9 States for now.

Best wishes to my muslim friends and readers in this holy fasting month. Ramadhan kareem...

Batu Kikir, a town made famous in a local pop song, sung in the Nismilan dialect

Istana Lama Seri Menanti

Sungai Muar in Kuala Pilah

Too late to capture a side view of this kid on a chopper

Smoked duck which was later cooked into rendang itek

Back to writing.... again (I hope)...

My second son Harith, who studies at a university in Makassar Indonesia, sent me a whatsapp message last week. He asked why I have stopped updating this blog. I messaged back, saying that my interest in blogging seem to be waning although I do have a few stories floating about in my mind.

As a form of encouragement for me to continue, my son told me that I have a readership base in Indonesia (hmmm... really?). He has an Indonesian friend who likes to read this blog, especially on things relating to local Malaysian culture. Well, I guess that's a good reason enough as any to keep this sparsely-posted blog alive.

I'll resume with a short post. Below is an outdoor wedding photo of our nephew, Ridzuan Zaid during the reception at his parent's home in Tangkak, Muar last month. The pretty bride is Nur Diyana Zainal Abidin, who hails from the small town of Batu Kikir in Negeri Sembilan.

We had made the trip to the bride's family home for the engagement ceremony some time last year and I had hoped to write more about that visit. I'll try to do that for my next post, insyaAllah...

Ridzuan and Diyana. 16 April 2016

Fatin gets married...

Around 4 years ago I posted an anecdote about an old friend named Atan, who married a young lady named Zaiton, who later gave birth to their first baby girl whom they named Fatin. Read the piece here -> Tan Tin Tun.

At that time, I wrote that I could not remember Fatin's full name. Well, now I can. Last month, I received an invitation card from Atan, inviting us to attend the reception for his daughter's wedding held earlier today.

Nur Fatin Syuhada Bt Hj Atan is now married to a gentleman named Mohd Fahmi Bin A Wahab. We went to the reception a bit early and did not wait for the Bersanding ceremony, hence did not get to meet the bride and groom in person. So I just snapped a pic of their wedding banner to share with this post.

There you have it... Tan Tin Tun revisited.

Congratulation to the newly-weds, Fatin and Fahmi

The invitation card. I wonder if the groom can see the connection between the names of his in-laws and his wife... but I doubt it. The Tan Tin Tun comic in Gila-Gila magazine was way before his time...

Is it worth being brand-loyal?

In our present world of endless material consumption, there are thousands of manufacturers who pitch their products to us in all manner imaginable. We end up buying, owning and utilizing the product after being influenced by advertisements. When we are buying a particular brand for the first time, we would sometimes seek the opinions of our friends or relatives who have possessed that brand before.

After that first purchase, our experience of the product's reliability, usefulness and suitability would influence our decision on the next time we buy a similar product. After going through a number of such experiences, we become convinced that the maker of the said product is top-quality and would have no qualms of buying anything else of the same name. This is part of the process of brand loyalty.

That would be the normal process for me although I cannot deny that some people do buy on impulse. Especially when an item is on offer so cheap. Such is the persuasive strength of commercials.

I am generally a brand-loyal person. I would normally stick to a particular make when the time comes for me to upgrade, replace or simply get new. When I do want to try a different brand, I would normally read up a bit to get more information.

Let's take the example of home electrical appliances. My old television set (the original bulky cathode ray tube type) was Philips. When I wanted to buy a VCD player, I went for the same brand. That TV set gave me great pictures and nice sound. It served me well for many years, undergoing two repairs along the way. I finally had to make the change when the third time it blacked out, the repairman said the parts needed are no longer available. Time therefore, to switch to the newer flat-screen TVs whose prices had fallen to within reasonable reach.

However, the new television set which I bought was not a Philips. I read a few consumer review websites and decided on a Hitachi. Not a very popular brand (Samsung and Sony are tops for flat-screens) and certainly not many outlets selling it. But I did manage to find a store in JB that sells it. This Hitachi has been in use for more than 5 years. It had a fault once while still under warranty. A call was made to the dealer who contacted the local service agent. The service guys came to my house the next day, diagnosed the problem, replaced the faulty component and the set was up and running in no time. I have not regretted making the switch to this different brand and when the time comes for an upgrade or replacement, I would probably go for a Hitachi again.

But it is the only Hitachi in the house. The other appliances are from different manufacturers. The refrigerator is a Samsung, running well. The washing machine was also a Samsung until being replaced recently by a Panasonic. The DVD player is a Sony. By the way, the Philips VCD player still works and is also hooked up to the Hitachi TV although I can't remember when the last time it was used.

The other Sony gadget that I have is a smartphone. I have been a loyal Sony mobile phone user for a long time, back from the days when they started off as Sony-Ericsson. My first SE mobile was a Walkman W660i (as seen in this Blogger profile pic). Sony was a bit slow in getting on the smartphone business. Samsung was leading by miles when Sony came up with their first model. But I still stuck to Sony when I made the switch to Android operating system. It was the small-screen entry-level Xperia X8. I later upgraded to Xperia V, which had a great camera. It hanged up on me once but a quick software fix at the local dealer solved the problem. Other than that, I was perfectly happy with the phone.

In September this year I resumed work at a friend's construction firm. He gave me a mobile phone plus line for business use. Rather than carry two phones, I decided to upgrade to a dual-sim handset. Naturally I opted for another Sony model. The new Xperia M5 Dual was launched just the month before and was attractively priced at mid-range with features approaching the top end. I made the purchase.

Just after over a month of use, the handset started to give me problems. It would suddenly switch off on its own and could not be turned back on unless attached to an external power source or a power bank. I returned the phone to the dealer who mentioned it as an `auto-off' problem. After a week, I called the dealer who told me that my phone is still with Sony Service Centre in Kuala Lumpur. No idea when it was coming back.

I logged on to the Sony Support website and sent an email. The reply came back, saying that it was a battery problem and my phone is expected to be repaired in one-month's time. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. How can a brand-new phone have such a problem? I then checked a few forum websites and found out that other M5 Dual owners worldwide also face the same situation. It is obvious that the M5 has a manufacturing defect.

I continued to send emails to follow-up on my case and even posted a message to their Facebook page. While the Sony personnel did reply to my emails and respond to my message, I felt that they were not doing enough to address the issue. At one stage, I even thought of cutting my ties with Sony, swallow my losses and buy a new phone from somebody else (perhaps an Asus Zenfone or, god forbid, an I-phone).

After the long wait, I now have my M5 back. It has been almost 2 weeks and so far it has been holding up pretty well. We shall see...

Beautiful phone. Bad first experience.

Happy new year to my dear friends and readers. May you all be in good health for the whole year to come.

Giving Tuesday

The above infographic from the grammar check masters, here -> https://www.grammarly.com/grammar-check

The brief encounter...

Ashraf wakes up earlier than usual that day. The sleep of the night before was not sound. And now a full bladder is forcing him to leave the comfort of his bed.

He heads for the bathroom located at the back of the kitchen. It is not yet daybreak but the light from the streetlamps outside filters in through the rear windows. As he is about to turn towards the kitchen, he catches a glimpse of a familiar figure in the dim hallway by the entrance door. He freezes.

He recognizes his father who is putting on his shoes and looking ready to go out.

'Dad, is that you?' he asks, just to be sure.

'Yes, son. It's me. You are up early. I'm just about to go to work.'

Without missing a beat, the son asks another question, 'But you know you're dead, right?'

He sees the figure in the hallway smiling back. 'That indeed I am, my son. But I am going to work anyway. You take care now.... and tell your sister to finish reading the book that I gave her.'

The figure then makes a move for the door and without the need to open it, leaves the house like a fading mist.

The young man remains rooted to the spot. He wonders if he is dreaming or he has just really seen what he has seen. After a while, the urge to pee makes him realize why is up from bed this early.

He makes a shake of his head and walks towards the bathroom...

Johor Football Back To Glory

The Johor football team has created history tonight. They beat the team from Tajikistan to win the AFC Cup final, the first time a team from Malaysia has done it.

It was the narrowest of wins. A single goal against 3 in the net from the opponents which were overruled for offside. An element of luck perhaps, but having started as the underdogs and playing at a venue thousands of miles away from home, every single bit of good fortune is most appreciated.

For the past few years, the impact of Johor football in the national soccer scene has been obvious. Credit must go to the Tunku Mahkota for having the vision and leadership in driving this transformation. It brings to memory the glory days of the late 80's when Johor was the Malaysia Cup champion.

The last time I watched a match at the Larkin Stadium was when the team had Nasir Yusof aka The Professor marshalling the midfield. Maybe it is time again for me to sit in the stands at Larkin to enjoy the live atmosphere.

Congratulations to JDT!  Hope for more success to come.

A Singapore registered car in JDT colours. Pic obtained via Whatsapp circulation...

Mobile blogging

The ability to blog while on the move has been in existence for quite a while now. With the advent of smartphones and tablets, all you need is a stable and preferably free WiFi connection, and you're good to go. Of course you can do it on your mobile data plan but you wouldn't want to use up your valuable quota on something as mundane as blogging, would you?

I'm trying out mobile blogging today just to see if it's a worthwhile effort. It's a real challenge to type on the small screen of a mobile phone but the predictive text input of the SwiftKey keyboard seems to be proving its worth.

I am now in the waiting room of the urology clinic at Puteri Specialist Hospital, accompanying my mother on her scheduled check-up. It's still a while to go before her turn to meet the doctor. Since PSH is kind enough to offer free WiFi, I thought I might just type out something. Browsing the social media gets to be boring after a while.

So what are the other waiting patients doing? Understandably about half are looking at their phones. Maybe a third are snoozing. The rest are simply keeping silently to themselves, probably wondering why life is an endless waiting game...

Interlude

Here's the first interlude for this year...

An elderly couple goes to Burger King, where they carefully split a burger and fries. A trucker takes pity on them and offers to buy the wife her own meal.

"It's all right," says the husband. "We share everything."

A few minutes later the trucker notices that the wife hasn't taken a bite. "I really wouldn't mind buying your wife her own meal," he insists.

"She'll eat," the husband assures him. "We share everything."

Unconvinced, the trucker implores the wife, "Why aren't you eating?"

The wife snaps, "Because I'm waiting for the teeth!"

Mosques in Malaysia

In this post, I'm sharing the photographs of some mosques I have visited in my travels throughout peninsula Malaysia. I hope to extend my collection with pictures of mosques in Sabah and Sarawak plus other parts of the world, insyaAllah.

Masjid Terapung Tanjung Bungah, Penang - May 2010

Masjid Al-mukarramah, Sri Damansara - July 2010

Masjid Jamek Sultan Hishamuddin, Sabak Bernam - February 2011

Masjid Al-Azim (Masjid Negeri), Melaka - November 2011

Masjid Jamek Sultan Ibrahim, Muar - February 2012

Masjid Tengku Tengah Zaharah (Masjid Terapung), Kuala Trengganu - August 2013

Masjid Ubudiah, Kuala Kangsar - May 2015

Social networking for photographers

My first digital camera was a Nikon Coolpix compact bought in 2003. It boasted a `healthy' resolution 3.2 megapixels and cost me an excess of RM1k, a real princely sum at the time. Although not quite top-of-the line, I was fairly pleased with its performance. It was easy to use and produced quality photos. With that camera, I had an enjoyable time taking tons and tons of pictures, both for personal and work use.

After about 6 years of dedication, the camera finally gave up on me. By that time, there was no point in getting it repaired because obviously there were better (and cheaper) products in the market. I bought a Canon Powershot compact as a replacement. Although this camera has a higher pixel count, I somehow felt that my old Nikon gave more vibrant photographs. This fired the urge to upgrade to an entry-level DSLR a year later.

With the large collection of digital photos that I have, it therefore make sense for me to share or store them online, doesn't it? Well, not quite for me. Internet connection those days was real slow and memory storage at a premium. Home internet connection was only available via the pioneer ISP called Jaring (which I sadly heard, has closed shop) at a mere 14.4 bits/sec. High-speed internet was only available at business premises or at cyber-cafes. Uploading a single photo would take an agonizing few minutes.

The first photo-sharing website that I used was Photobucket. I can't remember how many pictures I uploaded to that site but I don't think it was that many. Probably ten to twenty files arranged in a few albums. I am not sure of the quantity because I no longer have access to the site, having abandoned my account many years ago. I'm certain the account is obsolete but Photobucket itself is still alive and kicking.

Later on, I found out that many of my photographer friends use Flickr (owned by Yahoo). When Google became an established IT company, they provided Picasa as a direct competitor to Flickr. Even so, I was not moved to be a user of either of the two most popular photo sites. I prefer to share my photos sparingly as part of my blog posts.

When mobile computing came into the mainstream with the use of smartphones, Instagram became the hot app for photo-sharing. Still, I have not been drawn to ride on that bandwagon, at least not for that particular app. But yesterday, things changed a bit...

I was browsing through fellow blogger Pak Adib's pages (Adib Noh - The Reader) when I chanced upon an old entry where he mentioned that some of his photos are on sale at Getty Images via a new photo-sharing app. I got to know of Pak Adib from the Sentraal Station FB blogger's group and noted that he is a keen photographer. He has uploaded a number of his photos in his blog and very good photos they are.

The app recommended by Pak Adib is called EyeEm. It works primarily for mobile smartphones (both Android and IOS) but there is also a desktop version. I had a look at the app and viewed some of Pak Adib's already extensive collection of photos on show. I have been bitten. I soon signed up for an account and started to upload some photographs, just as a start. I now have the app running both on mobile and desktop.

To my photographer (both serious and casual) friends, do have a peek at this site. If you decide to join, feel free to have a look at my profile. Just search for https://www.eyeem.com/u/oldstock or Fadhil Isma. Perhaps then, we could follow each other.

Port of Tanjung Pelepas at dusk. A similar pic can be seen at EyeEm.