First biography this year

Just finished the biography of Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary (in 2 days! haha a record for me) and can't help being inspired by him.

Have to jot some words down as I don't want to forget this book. His father taught him to become a businessman, but his mother made him the philantrophist.

He says "my mother taught us nothing is yours until you have given it away with all your heart in the hope it will make someone's life easier."

He started giving away a portion of his salaries since he started working, not after he has made millions. It reminds me of the story of the man who could call the clouds to bring rain to his farm. You have to give first before you spend, not spend and give from what is left.

He is worth billions but still he has tea and dinner with his family daily, and pray the evening prayers with the children, before starting his meetings with advisors and CEOs from 10pm to 3 am everyday. How long does he sleep? tsk tsk...

All his businesses he acquired for ulterior motives- to create jobs, save jobs, save Malays/ Bumiputera's equities, develop communities etc.. It is just mind boggling reading his large and diverse portfolios. Reading him makes me wonder again of 'keberkatan masa' which is really a gift of Allah to some of His servants. (I wondered about this a lot while reading about the 4 Imams).

Quoting his close friend, Mohamed Ali Alabbar (Chairman of Dubai Emaar Properties- the developer of Burj Khalifa, tallest building in the world)- what makes Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar different from other businessmen is that the more he moves up the more he focussed down (the society).
Generally, businessmen today finds an opportunity and create profits out of it, and as they climb up the ladder, they start to believe in themselves too much. They become super human beings and lose touch with reality (the reality is God selects you among millions and gives you a chance to succeed).

I believe this is not just among the businessmen but also among the professionals too.

Must read book of the year! Chioww...

KursiNya meliputi langit dan bumi.

Kita mesti familiar dengan sebahagian dari ayat Kursi ni kan.. tapi kita mungkin tak berapa sedar konsep langit dan bumi tu berapa besarnya. Sebenarnya Allah beritahu banyak kali dalam Quran, konsep kebesaran langit dan bumi tu. Contohnya, setahun di neraka sama dengan xxx ribu tahun di dunia, bumi/dunia ini tak signifikan, neraka pada hari akhirat akan dibawa dengan 70ribu rantai dan setiap rantai dipegang oleh 70 ribu malaikat etc (maaflah tak ingat ayat mana). Kemudian Nabi Muhammad (saw) pun ada cakap, di neraka tu jarak antara seorang dengan orang yang lain tu sama dengan xx hari (atau bulan/ tahun) perjalanan dan teduhan sebatang pohon di syurga tu menjangkaui xx hari perjalanan dengan kuda terpantas.

Hari tu ada kawan postkan video ni di fb dan saya rasa wow! Ini agak membuka minda tentang kebesaran langit dan bumi itu. Hah dan jangan lupa- the universe is expanding (in Quran and scientifically proven). So saya nak simpan video ni kat blog ni. Hari tu saya tunjuk pada Adam, dia pun excited tengok angkasa lepas yang besar sangat. Kemudian saya cakap pada dia- Allah created all this and He is Al-Akbar ie Super Duper Big. Diam je pulak dia, tak faham kot. Tak apalah, nanti dah besar sikit boleh cerita lagi.

 Enjoy the video!

 

Dah tengok video ni terfikir pulak saya memang sangat possible di galaxy lain ada komuniti manusia lain juga. Lagipun kemungkinan besar ada sebab kalau tak ada macam mana para malaikat boleh tahu sifat-sifat manusia pada ketika Nabi Adam (as) baru nak dijadikan oleh Allah swt (Al-Baqarah , 30). Macam para malaikat dah masak benar dengan perangai manusia tu sedangkan Nabi Adam (as) belum bernyawa lagi. Wallahualam.

Kadang-kadang kita buang masa buat benda-benda tak berfaedah seperti kita tak akan pulang berjumpa dengan Pemilik Universe ni. Sebagai contoh mengemaskini Fail Meja, audit itu ini, menulis laporan maklum balas audit, update sasaran kerja tahunan...what the hell. Waktu sembahyang dah masuk pun meeting tak berhenti lagi. Adoii bencinya saya. Ini belum lagi tengok tv yang makin banyak je benda mengarut.

Kadang-kadang pula terasa masalah yang kita ada macam besar sangat sampai sesak nafas kita, sedangkan di sisi Allah itu tak ada hal untuk Dia. He can solve it anytime. Ya, Dia Pemilik Universe yang sangat besar ini.

Yang Maha Besar dan Maha Tinggi itu pun belum kita betul-betul faham / digest lagi, bagaimana pula dengan 97 nama yang lain?

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3-4 minggu lepas saya ada menulis book review Cool Mum Super Dad. Saya terrrr delete entry itu tanpa sengaja dan saya tak tahu macam mana nak retrieve dia. Huhh. Mula-mula saya stress, tapi saya fikir-fikir balik apa ke jadahnya  nak stress pasal benda kecik. Sudahlah, tak kuasa nak tulis balik hahaha. Tapi for parents out there it is a good book, and for my friends/ families, I have the book so jangan malu nak pinjam.

Bersamamu

I think all of us are familiar with the tv3 program called "Bersamamu" that featured hard core poor of our country every week. I'm not sure if the program is still going on. I don't know if all of us have the empathy towards the people featured in the program, because I'm sure we all have some reservations towards reality programs on tv.

But today I met one lady whom I think would have qualified to be in the program. She is 63 years old. She lives alone, her husband passed away 20 years ago. They had no kids.

She has multiple chronic illnesses namely diabetes, hypertension, heart failure and knee osteoarthritis. Because of her painful knees and also her failing heart she can't walk far- she will become breathless. Since she is living alone, she has to cook herself. The task of preparing herself a meal is quite troublesome. She walks to the kitchen, and this requires a few stops ( to catch her breaths). At the kitchen she will do everything while sitting, and she tries to cook big batches for the next day too. After cooking she would rest, and only maybe tidy up the kitchen after she rest for few hours. She always choose to just cook jemput-jemput for breakfast and dinner as it is easy to prepare (how can we control her diabetes with that? and how can she be healthy with unnutricious meal like that?).

She has no helpful neighbour. Her nearest relative lives 20 km away (her elder brother) who comes twice a week to bring her groceries and also bring her for dr's appointments. Once she fell in the bathroom and hurt her back. Unable to get up, she had to stay in the bathroom for 2 days until her brother came and found her. Hungry and cold, she was hospitalized for a week.

Today when I saw her in the clinic, both her legs are swollen because of her failing heart. I had to give her some diuretics (to pump out all the water in her body) to reduce the swelling. I actually felt bad because with this medicine she will have to go to the toilet every 1-2 hours to pee.

You might be thinking what is her financial source. She receives RM 290 from Jabatan Kebajikan masyarakat and dry provisions worth RM 80 from Baitulmal. Her trip to our hospital will cost her precious RM20 for every visit. When she told me this I was actually thinking of the dinner our family had last week at a 5 star resort on my father's birthday where we spent close to the amount she gets for the whole month.

The condition of her house? I don't know but she is staying in her 'rumah pusaka' which I think must be an old kampung house. She told me her nephew did come to the house to do some repairs few months ago.

So that's a true story of one lady in a remote place in rural Malaysia. I have others, but I'll save those for next time.

Chicken pox

2 weeks ago Ammar was down with chicken pox (chicken pot as Abid calls it), and I had to take 4 days off.

And now it's Adam and Abid's turn! They are behaving quite well despite the itchiness, but I can't take leave anymore and Papaboyz is going to have an exam in 3 days.

On days like this i wish we have a maid :( (or better, i wish I'm a housewife!)

spotty boy

Adam has a very good question:

Adam: Mama, did the virus got it from the chicken?
Mama: errr no.
Adam: When did the chicken get involved?
Mama: It's a long story. But what matters now is not the chicken. It is you, ok? (ie Mama has no idea)

As promised

hehe... waaahhh cepatnyer meng-update! Saja je, takut the intention die off..

This is going to be a very busy month (and i chose to make a new azam this month? tsk tsk). I have a program that I personally designed with a close friend (who is a dietitian) to tackle one of the most embarassing problem (at least to both of us) of our hospital- 30% of our staffs are obese! This is a pilot project but I do hope that it is going to be beneficial and the template of the program can be applied elsewhere.

On top of that I would be attending 2 big seminars that I am considering as a milestone to myself. One is on real estate investment (no relation with my job whatsoever) and another is for a certificate to become an investigator for clinical trials. Our hospital is not a clinical research center yet but I am determined to make it become one. I do feel being involved in clinical trials is an important ibadah, though I don't know whether I'll like it or not.

I hope everything goes well.

"The sweetness in life is in striving"
-Imam Shafiee
(my mantra everytime i feels tired)


Childhood friend

Fazrideen, me, Fara, sis (circa 1985-86)

Sis, Fara, me, Karim (2/9/2012)

We visited her parents for hari raya (our moms were officemates) and exchanged latest news. Of course our lives are not as "happening" as compared to hers. She is as bubbly as you would see her on tv. I was very impressed with her mom's house and kept on saying " Auntie, rumah auntie cantiklah" hahaha. It is just an intermediate double storey terrace house but the interior has been well laid out that it looked spacious and functional and they even have a private Balinese style garden (I imagined myself having early morning coffee with a nice book there). Hmmm now I think I don't need a big house at all. It just have to be nice and comfy. And everything (from superstore to library) has to be within walking distance. That would be my first requirement. Just like our apartment in Manchester.

Azam baru (lagi)

Saya tergerak hati utk membaca post2 lama, terutamanya book reviews, travelling series, life in UK.. Saya hingga terlupa saya pernah menulis semua itu, dan bila melihat gambar2 lama saya tergelak melihat gemuknya jari-jemari Ammar dulu dan nakalnya Abid.

Apabila saya membaca posts mengenai medical/health pula saya merasakan yg pada ketika itu saya hmm.. how to say? Had a clearer mind maybe. I can't even write a poem now. :(

Akhirnya saya telah install Blogger apps dalam ipad saya. Saya harap saya boleh terus rajin menulis (tanpa merapu) terutamanya book reviews dan pasal budak2 nih sebab mereka begitu cepat membesar!

Kadang-kadang

Kadang-kadang rasa rindu nak menulis di blog.

Nak kata betul2 tak ada masa tak betul juga sebab kadang2 ada masa tapi tentulah buat benda lain, yang memang telah ditetapkan KPI nya eg baca buku. Tiada KPI untuk blog.

Hari tu kemas rak buku dan surprise surprise, ada banyak ruang kosong lagi rupanya (sebelum ni bersepah) kahkah... maknanya boleh pergi kedai untuk tambah lagi :)

Macammana Ramadhan tahun ini? Tahun ini saya lembik je, bencinya. Tapi orang bijak pandai kata kalau kita beribadat kerana Ramadhan (solat jemaah, baca Quran, qiam, tak mengumpat dan jaga hati atau berhijab masa bulan puasa je), maka Ramadhan telah berlalu, tetapi kalau kita beribadat kerana Allah, Allah itu Maha Kekal dan sebagai Pencipta Ramadhan lebih layak dihormati daripada Ramadhan itu sendiri.

Oklah, post gambar raya :)

tak senonoh je duit raya penuh kat poket