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Thursday, October 25, 2007

Hardly impresses me...

Hmmm... after spending about a week celebrating Raya, all I can say is that it was a fabulous Raya, an enjoyable (though somewhat tiring) and an unforgettable one. After all, me and wife have a new family member whom we could enjoy the celebration with.

During the course of over 6 months in raising Ikhwan, me and wife have seen tremendous changes on Ikhwan. He now seldom cries and throws his tantrums, unlike in the first few months where those were pretty much his main activities. Ikhwan can be such an obedient and a patient baby boy, without us having to raise our voices, let alone spank him.

For example, whenever we eat, while he waits for us to finish our meals, he would observe us quietly or would just play by himself until we finish. Occasionally, we would also talk to him or try to include him in our conversation during our meals, just so that he won't feel left out. But so far, my wife (especially) hardly needs to stop eating in order to attend to him.

Ikhwan would usually behave for as long as he can unless and until he's feeling really sleepy, or really hungry or he notices his parents haven't realised that his diaper is badly soiled, haha. Ikhwan's extremely good behaviours really make us proud of him. Even our parents and siblings have noticed his good change.

However, during the Raya holidays, with other relatives around, Ikhwan had this sudden change of moods, probably due to tiredness, his disturbed sleeping patterns, the hot weather and the crampy places with all the people around (who mostly he had never met before). Of course, we as his parents felt rather devastated by his crankiness because we knew, Ikhwan was not like that on other days!

Ikhwan's scream and restlessness attracted those around him. To some (relatives), they were understandable enough. But to others, some rather unpleasant remarks came out of their mouths.

I remember in the evening of the 4th Raya, Ikhwan had little rest/sleep due to us visiting a few houses together with my parents. We reached the house after Maghrib, and so we all took turns in performing our prayers. Then, as Isya' entered, everyone was upstairs and I happened to be the only one attending to Ikhwan. It was apparent that Ikhwan was so sleepy at that time and getting him to sleep was not a tough task at all. But just as he entered into the dreamland, there were two cars entering the front gate.

I welcomed the relatives in, telling them that Ikhwan had just fallen asleep. Despite trying to be as quiet as they could when they entered the house (which I was thankful for), Ikhwan was still awaken by them. And this had ignited him to scream and cry.

To the surprise of many, including me (and my wife later on), this was the worst episode. His shriek was painstakingly long and loud before he inhaled his breath for his next painstakingly long and loud shriek. He was also unconsolable. An aunt's attempt to quiet him down also failed.

While I was trying desperately to console Ikhwan (other family members are still upstairs, finishing their prayers), this particular one relative had the inspiration to make some 'remarkable' remarks. Why remarkable? Well, you be the judge:

"Haaa.... dia dah nangis tu Nizar, nak buat camna tu?" (See, now he cries, what are you going to do about it?)

"Biarkanlah dia nangis lama-lama... barulah boleh jadi orang lelaki kuat" (Let him carry on crying for a while.....this will help him grow up to be a strong man) - Errrr....seriously???

"Budak kecik kalau nangis, tak boleh cepat pujuk, nanti dia manja" (A crying baby should not be consoled so quickly, it'd make him a spoilt brat) - Errrr....really???

"Tak payah pujuk dia, dia nak bangun tu, nak jumpa sedara.... ini dipujuk pulak" (No need to console him, he just wants to get up and meet his relatives.....)

"Ada ke dah nangis, disumbat puting, tak boleh bernafas la budak tu!" (How can you put a pacifier into a baby's mouth while he cries? He can suffocate!) - Errrr....never heard such an incident happens before to anyone, mate!

"Ikhwan ada selsema ke, kalau orang dulu-dulu, diaorang sedut hingus tu keluar guna mulut. Kau berani tak nak buat macam tu?" (Ikhwan has a cold? In the past, parents would suck out the mucus from their child's nose using their mouth. Do you dare do that?) - Errrr....what?? Do you really expect me to answer you now???

Saying one thing after another with no pause, I felt like being interviewed by a grown up who at the same time was also showing tantrums :-0. And to say them out so loudly, it was like the relative tried to beat Ikhwan's voice.

I was somewhat disturbed and annoyed by these remarks that I decided to ask for permission to bring Ikhwan upstairs. I could feel that even the other relatives felt that those remarks were inappropriate and untimely.

Some other remarks heard here and there during the Raya holidays:

"Cepat bawa masuk budak tu, kan tengah panas tu?" (Quickly bring the boy in, it's hot!) - Errrr.... we had just stepped out of the car mam, and let me put this cap on my baby's head first before asking my wife to run off into the house with our baby in her hands.

"Panas baju budak ni, sebab tu dia nangis" (The clothings make him feel warm, that's why he cries) - Errrr.... this is a new dress for Ikhwan for this Raya, or you prefer if we let him wear his worn out ones or how about if he stays in his pyjamas then?

"Panas luar ni, bawa masuk".....then after a while........"Panas dalam ni, bawa keluar" (It's hot out here, bring him in...........then after a while..............it's hot in here, bring him out) - Errrr.... arrrgggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh, please... make up your mind!!!!!!!!

While Ikhwan's developments are making me proud, the behaviours of some adults hardly impress me. But in the spirit of Raya, of course I'm willing to put everything under the bridge and let bygones be bygones. Just thought of sharing, that's all, nothing more...haha.

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Attack of the giant fingers....


Attack Of The Giant Fingers.... - The funniest videos are a click away

Captain Ikhwan was the commander of Flight Vista 3 space shuttle. Recently, he was down with fever, and the sickness had infected the rest of his crew. On one fateful day, as he was getting better (though he still needed to put a soaked small towel on his forehead to enable the heat to emanate from his body), he encountered an alien being. It was unclear how the alien managed to get into the shuttle. But the alien, with its tentacle-like fingers looked menacing and hostile. With his crew still very much sick and recuperating in their rooms, Captain Ikhwan bravely fought and defeated the alien on his own, by.................... LAUGHING SO HARD AT IT! Apparently the alien got intimidated by Captain Ikhwan's cute laughter and so, it ran and escaped through a small hole in the engine room (oh yes, the 'giant' alien was a shape shifter too).

News about Captain Ikhwan's commendable act reached the Earth station and so, upon his return to Earth, he would be awarded with the Space Bravery medal. A photo of him, which was taken just before he left for space, and which would be used as the official banner for his commemoration, had been circulated to the public long before Captain Ikhwan's arrival. Earthlings adored him so much, the photo had become a hit with many buying the photo prints or printing it out from the Internet for their own keepsakes.....


Meanwhile, a message had been sent by Captain Ikhwan from space. He said, he and on behalf of his proud parents wished all Muslims 'Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin' and to the rest, 'Happy Holidays!!!!'
Find cute babies here...

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Monday, October 08, 2007

Ramadhan drooling..

I got tagged by Mel Ija to list down the type of foods that I drool over during Ramadhan. Well, frankly speaking, I'm the kind of person who basically eat all kinds of (halal) foods. Foods and drinks which are only slightly salty or sweet or bland, they don't bother me 'coz I'd still eat them all, without making any fuss about it. But luckily, that doesn't make me drool over so many foods during Ramadhan, let alone fail to fight the temptation to eat, hehehe.

I've heard comments before, made by some of us (including fellow Muslims) during the final days as Ramadhan approaches, something like "We'd better eat as much as we want Abdun, because when it's already fasting time, we can no longer eat." Such comments make me snicker everytime I hear it... I mean, is eating all that matters in life? Have they not realised the purpose of Ramadhan other than us not being able to eat and drink during certain hours of the day? I mean considering we have with all those stalls/hotels selling all kinds of foods and drinks during this holy month (including those that we won't normally see on other days), I think we are more spoilt for choice (of foods) in Ramadhan than any other months.

Ok, enough with membebel (ranting/babbling). Back to the topic...... The 5 foods that I feel like having now:

1. KFC's satay sauce (haven't tried it yet)
2. Famous Amos ice-cream (yummy!!)

3. A&W root beer float
4 & 5. Eh, don't know lahh...

Name 5 foods I'd like to have for sahur:

I'm sooo not fussy when it comes to sahur. A drink or two will do, a piece of bread is more than sufficient. In fact, during my bachelor times, I hardly got up for sahur.

Name 5 foods I'd most likely buy for berbuka today:

1. Chrysanthemum tea (not the one you buy from grocery stores but those sold in Bazaar Ramadhan)
2. KFC set menu with satay sauce?
3. Air kelapa (feel thirsty laaa, that's why need to have 2 different drinks)
4. Laksa Johor (the most unique and delicious of all laksa's, followed by Laksa Sarawak)
5. Grilled corn

So readers, especially the Muslim ones, feel free to comment about the food cravings that you have during this Ramadhan. May all of us have a Ramadhan full of barakah.


P/S: The above photo was taken inside a new mosque at Jalan Hang Tuah, K.L. It was a beautiful mosque with marvellous designs and khats.

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Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Bad people...

Get Walt Disney cartoons here...

I remember a few months after I got married, my wife and I went to Kota Kinabalu Sabah with my parents and my sister and her family (darn, I have yet to document that particular trip and share with you some fabulous photos taken there). That was the time when my wife got closely acquainted with my nieces, who started calling her Auntie Ija (the second niece was overly excited to use it.... the name Auntie Ija kept echoing in the apartment we stayed in, and even while we were in the aeroplane).

Whenever there was free time, the eldest niece liked to hear to my wife's stories, from Cinderella to Snow White and stories of her own creations. In all those stories (just like in most other children stories), my wife spoke of the bad characters involved and how their schemes/plots/devious plans hurt the good ones. This was my niece's response whenever she heard about those bad characters:

"Mana ada orang jahat.... orang semua kan baik-baik aja...." (Translation: "There's no such thing as bad people.... all people are nice.....")

Gasp, to this day, her answer appalls me. But can you blame her for being naive? She actually represents all other children in the world, and perhaps us too, when we were young kids. After all, there is this common analogy that goes, children are like a piece of white cloth (represent naiveness and how they are without sins), it is up to the parents/guardians how they wish to paint it.


But then, no matter how beautifully crafted the 'cloth' turns out to be, it is common for parents to worry/fear lest someone or something would tarnish their precious 'masterpiece'. Therefore, other than the parents/guardians, the society is also responsible in shaping all the children.

I think when children reach a certain age (boys or girls alike), we have to sit down and really really talk to them, letting them know that not all people out there are good and not all things are always great. For Muslims, perhaps we can also insert/teach the elements of Haram and Makruh, and tell them there's NO such thing as mildly or moderately or extremely Haram. Haram is Haram, full stop.

We often hear that, one of the things grown ups always tell children is not to talk to strangers. But would you agree telling them just that is no longer enough? I can recall in one episode of a US tv series, a paedophile upon introducing his name, where he lived etc etc to a little girl, he said something like this to her just to persuade her to go with him, "Well, now that you know my name and I know yours, don't you think I am no longer a stranger....?" Freaky huh, but yet such a scenario can possibly happen in the real world.


Gasp, it's like we parents have to think through and explain to our children all the possible scenarios that our children need to know in order to avoid them from mixing with the wrong company or get into unnecessary troubles. I've said this before - raising children nowadays proves to be far more challenging than what our grandparents experienced in the past (minus the war and lacking amenities and stuffs of course).

Some of us may think that good and bad is a subjective matter (or perhaps it's their excuse of doing something bad...?). Hopefully, as the children grow up, their empathy would make them understand why certain people do certain bad things. But let them learn that in their own course because for as long as they are still kids and live under our care, I think we need to clearly define what's good and what's bad, not only to prevent them from doing bad deeds, but also for them to avoid bad people.

A colleague of mine raise three kids with the first two are daughters. She completely agreed with my suggestion the other day that we should keep all the criminal cases reported in the papers, especially those that involve children, as our reminders. In case somewhere down the road, our children (with their raging hormones) can't accept why we are being protective, perhaps laying down all those paper clippings in front of them, can make them understand why....


We can call life all we want, that life is harsh, hard, s***ty, whatever... but no matter how difficult life can be, we still hope whatever problems that we or our children encounter, are something that we can cope with and is common for other people to have encountered the same one way or another, instead of something that NO ONE WOULD WISH FOR, Insha' Allah...

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