Rumah Ngaji Ukhwah Safi Al-Amin

My better half hails from Mersing, a small town on the east coast of Johor. Her family home is located in Kg Sri Pantai, about 5km before reaching the town proper if we were to travel on the Kota Tinggi - Mersing trunk road.

According to my wife, her late father built the house more than 45 years ago when he retired from being an Islamic religious school teacher. They had previously lived in government quarters based on her father's eligibility as a state civil servant. Over the years, the house underwent very minimal changes, the most significant being the addition of new bathrooms to accommodate the growing number of grandchildren who come visit during festive periods. As time passed, the house began to age, in line with its old owners. When my mother-in-law passed away, the house lost its shine. My father-in-law later remarried a widow and stayed at her house in another part of Mersing. 

With no permanent occupant, the house began to lose its homely feel. With the exception of one elder sister who lived near Mersing town, all the other siblings on my wife's side have moved out of Mersing, either to pursue their careers or to follow their respective spouses. It was left to this sister and her husband to occasionally clean and maintain the house. When this sister became ill and decided to stay with her daughter in Shah Alam, the old family home slid into further decline.

There were discussions among the siblings as to what should be done with the house. Putting it up for rent was out of the question because we need somewhere to gather during hari raya. The next option considered was converting it into a homestay. To do this, the house would need some major renovations to make it attractive and suitable for customers. The budget for the renovation work and difficulty in getting someone trustworthy to manage the homestay were the main drawbacks. And so the sad condition of the house continued for a few more years until one of my sisters-in-law came up with the idea to set up a Rumah Ngaji (house to learn recital of the Qur'an), based on the model established by the Karangkraf publishing group. This effort would be a social contribution to the local community while at the same time, preserving the legacy of both parents.

This sister-in-law, Hjh Azizah Mohd Amin, decided to opt for early retirement from her job as a lecturer at a training college in Bangi and return home to Mersing and manage the house. In the few years prior to her retirement, the family pooled funds to renovate the house and buy some basic equipment and furnishings. We changed the layout of a few rooms, re-painted the interior, improved the plumbing system and totally re-wired the house to comply with current safety standards. The sitting room area (where classes would be held) was installed with wall-to-wall carpeting.

After a few months of renovation work and preparation, the first class to teach the reading of Al-Qur'an began on 1 June 2018.

Rumah Ngaji Ukhwah Safi Al-Amin (or Rumah Ngaji USA, for short), takes its name from the combination of my parents-in-law's names, Sapiah Bt Mohamad and Mohd Amin B Abdul Karim.

Quranic reading lessons are held for children and female adults and are taught by qualified teachers. All lessons are free.

As with everything else, the classes were suspended during the initial Covid-19 outbreak, in line with MCO regulations. Classes have resumed on 14 August 2020. The first picture below was taken a few days ago after I helped tie up the Malaysian flag in conjunction Hari Merdeka.

Wishing all readers a happy national day in this new normal era.

Malaysia Prihatin. Kita Jaga Kita.

Selamat Hari Merdeka Ke 63

Opening remarks from Hjh Azizah on the 1st day

The first group of young students in June 2018.
Desks were later provided for better comfort

New venture in the new Hijri year

Two days ago, Muslims in Malaysia celebrated the arrival of the new Hijri year 1442. The first day in the month of Muharram is considered significant in Malaysia and is given a special name called Ma'al Hijrah. There is however, a common misconception that this date commemorate the occasion of Prophet Muhammad's (s.a.w) migration (hijrah) from Makkah to Madinah.

The Hijri Muslim calendar was established during the time of Caliph Umar Al-Khattab (r.a). During his reign, one of the caliph's governors remarked that letters from the caliph had no indication of the year it was written, making it difficult for the governor to determine which instructions were more recent. This prompted Umar to discuss with his colleagues and they later decide to use the year of the Prophet's migration as the start of the Islamic calendar.

According to historians, Prophet Muhammad is believed to have left his hometown of Makkah in the month of Rabiul Awwal, the third month of the Arabian year. It took one week for the Prophet to reach Yathrib, the original name of the Madinah.

In our family, the first day of every new Islamic year has even more special significance.

It is the day our first son, Arshad Khalid was born - 1 Muharram 1410 (3rd August 1989). That makes him 32 years-old by the Muslim calendar but still 30 years-old in CE terms.

It is also the day our first granddaughter, Maisarah Bt Arshad Khalid was born - 1 Muharram 1440 (10th September 2018). That means Maisarah is already 2 years-old in Muslim calendar terms.

Okay then, what's this new venture that is being hinted in the title of this post?

A friend of mine has invited me to join his existing F&B business to run a food stall within a food court in Johor Bahru. The outlet has been in operation for over a year and has reasonable sales. I've decided to accept his offer because the venture is an opportunity for my third son to run a food business as a partner while at the same time, employ his culinary skills to cook tasty food and later introduce new menu items. The overall objective being to increase sales and bring the business to another level.

I have been assisting the operations by helping to put together a new menu list which includes photographs of every menu item on offer. Food photography has been a long time hobby of mine. The following are some shots that have already been taken. I still have a few more items to shoot before the full menu card can be published.

We have already decided on the new name that the venture will be known by. I'll reveal that in another post once the full setup has been launched.

An existing menu that is a customer favourite

New menu item we hope would be a top-seller

Existing item but presented in a fresh setup

Another existing item that is quite popular

Aidiladha 2020 under MCO conditions

Today is Hari Raya Aidiladha, one of two Eid festivals in the Muslim calendar. It is also known as Hari Raya Haji or Hari Raya Korban, on occasion of the hajj pilgrimage in Makkah, Saudi Arabia and the ritual of livestock sacrifice encouraged upon Muslims who can afford it. However, the worldwide Covid19 pandemic has caused governments to severely scale down the religious activities.

Looking at the TV footage of hajj pilgrims doing the tawaf around Kaabah this year, the stark difference from previous years is glaringly obvious. The millions of hajj hopefuls who had planned to perform their pilgrimage this season, have to wait for the next. The miniscule coronavirus takes no prisoners.

We are at my better half's hometown of Mersing today. Just a small group of family members. No qurbani activity either. But still, a good time to relax and reflect upon the effect of the presence of an unseen enemy.

At Masjid Bandar Mersing

MCO Haircut Version 2

It has been one and a half months since my son gave me a haircut at home under the MCO situation. Although barbers and hairdressers are now allowed to operate in the relaxed restrictions, I still do not have full confidence of the mitigated risks with respect to close contact with barbers. I have decided to stick with my son until we have a zero-infection status in the whole country.

For this second trimming, I chose to make it easy on my son and went for the crewcut style. It is also a look that I have sported before, having opted for it when I performed hajj and umrah. Should last me a few months until the next cut is needed.

The 'balik-haji' or 'balik-umrah' look

A memorable birthday in 2020

A few days ago, I celebrated my 58th birthday. This year's occasion is somewhat different from previous years because of a few reasons.

We are still in Covid-19 pandemic situation, although the daily numbers are encouragingly showing a trend of newly infected cases in single digits. Hopefully, we shall see zero cases being reported soon. The Malaysian government and its citizens have shown great resolve in fighting the outbreak. With the reduction in the number of daily infections, the government has relaxed the MCO restrictions. This includes the ability to travel between states.

Our second son and daughter-in-law both work at Hospital Sungai Buloh, the reference hospital for coronavirus cases. Our son is considered a frontliner as one of his duties include screening of incoming patients. As such, it is quite difficult for him to obtain leave to come visit us. I therefore made the decision for us to travel north to visit them last weekend. I was also conveniently looking for a reason for us to make social visits after being cooped up at home for three months.

The other (even stronger) reason was that I share the same birthday as my daughter-in-law, Aisyah Bt Abdullah, 6th of July. When their wedding was held in November last year, I had not known of this fact. At the time, I was too focussed on planning for the wedding, it didn't occur to me to ask about the birthday of our newest family member. It was only early this year that my wife told me about it. At last, I have another family member to celebrate the 6th of July every year (note : I had previously written about the Birthday Paradox in a post dated 20.12.2009).

Instead of my son and his wife travelling down to Johor to celebrate the special day with us, my wife and I drove the other direction so we could celebrate it with them. We had a birthday lunch at the home of my brother-in-law in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam, the main menu item being a home-cooked nasi briyani prepared by the mother-in-law of the birthday girl.

Indeed, a memorable family occasion to treasure for years to come...

Only two candles on the cake

Lunch of nasi briyani in both mutton and chicken options

The wedding reception in November 2019. Aisyah and her parents on the right